Thread: Home improvements

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Think it so easy? Let see you do it wise guy. How do you change lightbulbs?

That remark was relating to an old joke.

I replace many lightbulbs a week and most of them don't twist in anymore!

The newer LEDS are actually a pain because they are obsolete when they are installed many times so parts are hard to get. Many times it is easier to replace the whole fixture but then if you have one oddball fixture in a room it is sure noticable.

LEDS certainly last longer but they are not lifetime.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

I come by it through genetics. My father might have been worse than I. But I can honest admit it. He thought of himself as handy. But some of the worst memories of my childhood involved him fixing things. I remember one day in particular. A small leak from the kitchen sink. He got under there with the tools he had and disassembled everything. Then couldn’t get it back together. Then he sent my mother to the plumbing supply asking for the exact same parts. The only difference was that there was about 50-75 years between those dates. While she was gone, he stayed under the sink staring at the mess with a flashlight and smoking cigarettes like he worked for Phillip Morris. When the new parts didn’t fit, he resorted to tightening them down with such force that he bent them so out of shape that the inevitable plumber had to do major work to repair. It cost him twice as much and fifty years later I’m still talking about it.

His problem was sending your mother to the store. I am sure that she did her best But how could she know and communicate his problem?

Never send someone else to the store to try to fix your mistakes.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

I come by it through genetics. My father might have been worse than I. But I can honest admit it. He thought of himself as handy. But some of the worst memories of my childhood involved him fixing things. I remember one day in particular. A small leak from the kitchen sink. He got under there with the tools he had and disassembled everything. Then couldn’t get it back together. Then he sent my mother to the plumbing supply asking for the exact same parts. The only difference was that there was about 50-75 years between those dates. While she was gone, he stayed under the sink staring at the mess with a flashlight and smoking cigarettes like he worked for Phillip Morris. When the new parts didn’t fit, he resorted to tightening them down with such force that he bent them so out of shape that the inevitable plumber had to do major work to repair. It cost him twice as much and fifty years later I’m still talking about it.

This is hilarious!! What a memory It must have really been something when you were younger.
The things we remember LOL

My father was pretty handy but one fun story regarding him is when he wanted to replace the seed discs on a planter. We had a used planter he wanted to take parts off. The one side came off easy and he spent over an hour on the other until my brother came by and he had it off in a few seconds. One side is right hand threads and the other was left handed!

Not realy home improvement but I have thought about this many times over the years and if I run into trouble with something I am not emberassed to ask someone for a different point of view.

The internet sure has changed the ability to get a different point of view.

Originally Posted by 32t

His problem was sending your mother to the store. I am sure that she did her best But how could she know and communicate his problem?

Never send someone else to the store to try to fix your mistakes.

See, and I thought changing the bulbs would be an easy win.

Originally Posted by 32t

His problem was sending your mother to the store. I am sure that she did her best But how could she know and communicate his problem?

Never send someone else to the store to try to fix your mistakes.

Well, he had to. Who was going to guard that situation and smoke all those cigarettes?

Originally Posted by 32t

My father was pretty handy but one fun story regarding him is when he wanted to replace the seed discs on a planter. We had a used planter he wanted to take parts off. The one side came off easy and he spent over an hour on the other until my brother came by and he had it off in a few seconds. One side is right hand threads and the other was left handed!

Not realy home improvement but I have thought about this many times over the years and if I run into trouble with something I am not emberassed to ask someone for a different point of view.

The internet sure has changed the ability to get a different point of view.

You should have seen him sharpen knives. He would take fine cutlery and ruin it. I didn’t know the first thing about sharpening anything back then. But you don’t have to know how to do something to know when it’s being done wrong. His stones were so dished out it even looked terribly wrong to me as a 12 year old. The knives started out like new, but dulled (my mother loved a glass cutting board) and then they would end up il-shaped and scratched all over…..and still dull. In the end he’d blame the knife. Always the wrong knife for the job. He was always on the hunt for “a good knife”.

And that is fun with sites like this.

This is a razor forum but If I have trouble sharpening my knife some one will answer.

Even if I am having trouble with or want to brag about my drywall or car.

Finally digging into that leaking foundation issue, and had to remove the finished walls and studs in the basement to really access the situation.
After finding the crack, and spending the greater part of the day opening it up to receive the repair, I found lower on the wall a previous repair that stopped short of the issue and probably is why I’m dealing with it now.


Sica makes a foundation repair product that uses both hydraulic cement, and expansion PU adhesive to facilitate a stronger repair that penetrates through to the wall exterior.
Figured I’d give that a go, and leave the drywall off a season or two to ensure the repairs solid before I redo the wall.
Home repair like this will be a new one for me. Hopefully It’ll work.
Will post up some WIP shots as well.
Cheers.

The kit uses T fittings you glue to the cleaned crack where the T’s are evenly spaced.

Hydraulic cement over the lot.

Once cured, inject the foam, after filling the voids with water, starting at he bottom, and working your way up as the foam advances to the next T.

Can see a few spots the pressure lifted off the new cement, but i can trim that all once dry.

Here’s hoping it works a treat.