Home Repair and DIY

[Fugee]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
[primer recommendation]

That is very good stuff and cleans up with ammonia and water but stinks something fierce. You really need to have all the windows open, at the very least. I just helped my BIL paint the house he inherited from his parents, who chain-smoked in it for 45 years. We used the Zinsser Bullseye Odorless with good results, though we used two coats to make sure the tobacco smell and stain didn't bleed through. It is oil-based so be really careful with your masking.

[B]N.B. You can have the paint store tint your primer the final paint color, which can cut down on the total number of coats you'll need to go from orange and black to normality.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Fugee
That is very good stuff and cleans up with ammonia and water but stinks something fierce. You really need to have all the windows open, at the very least. I just helped my BIL paint the house he inherited from his parents, who chain-smoked in it for 45 years. We used the Zinsser B*I*N odorless with good results, though we used two coats to make sure the tobacco smell and stain didn't bleed through. It is oil-based so be really careful with your masking.

[B]N.B. You can have the paint store tint your primer the final paint color, which can cut down on the total number of coats you'll need to go from orange and black to normality.

To add to this, I believe oil-based paints are not sold in some states. Also, there's something about not being able to put oil on latex, or latex on oil, without doing something intermediate. Someone else will know this.

[Fugee]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
There are a good 15 paint chips in the room that I'm planning on painting, and phase two of color decision may be going out and buying a quart of the top three colors and putting a swipe or two on the wall to see how they look in situ.

I have 10 yellow chips for my living room, dining room and kitchen. Yellow is really tricky because the chips look so nice subtle and then on the wall the paint becomes YELLOW!!! I love Benjamin Moore Regal (R) paint and they have two things to help make the decision easier and cheaper.

This web site gives you a few cyber walls on which to try the color. They also have little sample-sized bottles of approximately 200 of their colors that are much cheaper than buying quarts of several colors. Unfortunately, none of my yellows are available that way. Your paint store should have a binder with larger (7 x 9 or so) paint chips. You can't take them home but it does help see the differences in similar colors.

[Fugee]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
To add to this, I believe oil-based paints are not sold in some states. Also, there's something about not being able to put oil on latex, or latex on oil, without doing something intermediate. Someone else will know this.

Didn't know about the state restrictions. That's not an issue in Minnesota.

There is (or at least used to be) something about mixing latex and alkyld coats that I don't remember, but the Zinsser oil-based primer can go over and under either one. I think all the Zinsser primers can -- I would use any of them before I used KILZ. The BIL bought some of that first; I wasn't impressed with it and it also smelled awful.

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
Fuck wires. I'm not going to bother. I am going to install one of these and be done with it. All we have are notebooks, anyway, so there really is no point to a wired system. We do very little peer-to-peer networking within the house (where gigabit ethernet would have an advantage over 802.11g), so I don't really see a need.

You seem like a generous guy, but I didn't know you were willing to buy bandwidth for the whole neighborhood/building. Unfortunately, the RF waves can't tell the difference between interior walls which they are supposed to pass through and the exterior ones you'd rather they not. Not to mention the mischief that the 16 yo pimple-faced hacker next door could do while home on summer break and bored with an IP address traceable to me.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Ex_post_Festo
You seem like a generous guy, but I didn't know you were willing to buy bandwidth for the whole neighborhood/building. Unfortunately, the RF waves can't tell the difference between interior walls which they are supposed to pass through and the exterior ones you'd rather they not. Not to mention the mischief that the 16 yo pimple-faced hacker next door could do while home on summer break and bored with an IP address traceable to me.

It's all about security. A few relatively simple tweaks can make a wireless network much more difficult to hack (though nothing is 100% secure).

ETA: in the building where I currently live, there are 4 wireless AP's to which I can connect, including my own. Mine is the only one with security (WEP, etc.) turned on.

[NW Native]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
We haven't moved in yet. That would drive me nuts too.

I lived in an apartment for 3 years that had orange walls, black beams and trim. Kitchen counter laminate was yellow.

I finally asked landlord if I could paint over the orange with a neutral cream color (I bought the paint and the labor). They said 'no' they liked those colors. I replied that I noticed they didn't have those colors in their home. They let me paint.

[Alex_de_Large]

So we've been in out new (to us) house for only 3 days, and, when my wife did laundry for the first time this morning, the dryer stopped producing heat. The dryer runs otherwise (i.e. it tumbles the clothes, etc). I do not know if it is gas or electric: I haven't had the chance to check.

I am assuming that, if it is electric, the heating unit is likely burned out and I will need to replace the dryer. However, if it is gas, is it possible that the pilot light is out, and will simply need to be re-ignighted? Do gas dryers even have pilot lights? Any other ideas? Right about now, I am wishing that I could just call the super...

ETA: we ended up using Baer paint and primer, and it worked really well.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
So we've been in out new (to us) house for only 3 days, and, when my wife did laundry for the first time this morning, the dryer stopped producing heat. The dryer runs otherwise (i.e. it tumbles the clothes, etc). I do not know if it is gas or electric: I haven't had the chance to check.

I am assuming that, if it is electric, the heating unit is likely burned out and I will need to replace the dryer. However, if it is gas, is it possible that the pilot light is out, and will simply need to be re-ignighted? Do gas dryers even have pilot lights? Any other ideas? Right about now, I am wishing that I could just call the super...

ETA: we ended up using Baer paint and primer, and it worked really well.

I used to have a gas dryer that had pilot light that went out. It took awhile to find the pilot, but once I got it relit, everything worked fine. The other thing you may want to check is the vent. I've had dryers stop working because of a kink in the vent. I think there's an automatic turn off if it senses it can't exhaust heat.

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
So we've been in out new (to us) house for only 3 days, and, when my wife did laundry for the first time this morning, the dryer stopped producing heat. The dryer runs otherwise (i.e. it tumbles the clothes, etc). I do not know if it is gas or electric: I haven't had the chance to check.

I am assuming that, if it is electric, the heating unit is likely burned out and I will need to replace the dryer. However, if it is gas, is it possible that the pilot light is out, and will simply need to be re-ignighted? Do gas dryers even have pilot lights? Any other ideas? Right about now, I am wishing that I could just call the super...

ETA: we ended up using Baer paint and primer, and it worked really well.

Welcome to the world of home ownership. I think most dryers are electric these days. At least I hope so. I would take a look behind the dryer and make sure--I don't want you blowing up the house. If it's electric, and it's old, you're probably better off going to Sears and getting a new one--if it's relatively new, you might ask the prior owners if it's still under warranty.

ETA--This may qualify as the most helpful post I've ever given. And the most yawn-inspiring.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
Welcome to the world of home ownership. I think most dryers are electric these days. At least I hope so. I would take a look behind the dryer and make sure--I don't want you blowing up the house. If it's electric, and it's old, you're probably better off going to Sears and getting a new one--if it's relatively new, you might ask the prior owners if it's still under warranty.

I have an electric dryer sitting in a barn in central Texas that he's more than welcome to if he wants it. It works fine. It just took up too much space in my house, and I got a washer/dryer combo unit to put under my counter in my kitchen to save space.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
Welcome to the world of home ownership. I think most dryers are electric these days. At least I hope so. I would take a look behind the dryer and make sure--I don't want you blowing up the house. If it's electric, and it's old, you're probably better off going to Sears and getting a new one--if it's relatively new, you might ask the prior owners if it's still under warranty.

ETA--This may qualify as the most helpful post I've ever given. And the most yawn-inspiring.

No, it's gas. Gas dryers are MUCH more efficient that electric: up to 30% more efficient, actually. I tried unkinking the vent, etc, and that didn't work. It looks to me that the igniting element is shot, which means that repairing the dryer will me almost as costly as buying a new one. Looks like another trip to home depot and/or lowes is in order...

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
No, it's gas. Gas dryers are MUCH more efficient that electric: up to 30% more efficient, actually. I tried unkinking the vent, etc, and that didn't work. It looks to me that the igniting element is shot, which means that repairing the dryer will me almost as costly as buying a new one. Looks like another trip to home depot and/or lowes is in order...

Oh, I'm sure it's efficient, and probably cost effective, but damn, I just don't like the idea of a gas dryer for some reason. At least a gas stove is out in the open usually and you can smell a leak. But a dryer may be in an enclosed space where a leak can accumulate until boom or it's too late. Maybe I just watch too many CSI's. Have fun at HD or Lowe's!

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
Oh, I'm sure it's efficient, and probably cost effective, but damn, I just don't like the idea of a gas dryer for some reason. At least a gas stove is out in the open usually and you can smell a leak. But a dryer may be in an enclosed space where a leak can accumulate until boom or it's too late. Maybe I just watch too many CSI's. Have fun at HD or Lowe's!

You have an electric water heater and furnace, too?

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
You have an electric water heater and furnace, too?

I live in a log cabin Mr. Smartypants.