Home Improvement

  • Guest, it's time once again for the hotly contested and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and fill out your bracket!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Once again, only you can decide!

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,144
11,468
I think I mentioned a bit ago that I found a Stihl weed eater buried in the basement from the previous owner. Went poking around trying to get it to run and the first immediate thing was the primer bulb was rotted. Checked Amazon and they were 10pcs for $11.47 but right before buying noticed a whole Chineseum carburetor was only $17 so bought that instead. Guess we'll see how that runs!

 

Lanx

Oye Ve
<Prior Amod>
60,072
131,369
I think I mentioned a bit ago that I found a Stihl weed eater buried in the basement from the previous owner. Went poking around trying to get it to run and the first immediate thing was the primer bulb was rotted. Checked Amazon and they were 10pcs for $11.47 but right before buying noticed a whole Chineseum carburetor was only $17 so bought that instead. Guess we'll see how that runs!

looks like a good deal, probably 100% that carb is gunked up from 10yr old gas anyway.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,144
11,468
Am I going to have to cut this off with a dremel or something? Never encountered this changing bathroom sink hardware at my old homes, but no idea how they got this in there. The drain is like a solid piece of pipe…

7DDF046C-9D38-4221-8CC1-0371656A3BA2.jpeg


*edit: nm got it two seconds later lol
 
Last edited:

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
25,350
37,374
The black on the floor of your basement below tiles is the glue they used to use back in the day. My old houses basement had linoleum tiles and where they stopped you could see the black underneath on the concrete.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,144
11,468
Derp. Yes it is. The sideways picture threw me.

Yeah I ended up having to (or at least what worked for me) raise the drain up and shove a long screw driver through to pin one end against the sink to get leverage and unscrew the two pieces. Then it came out. Was a huge pita.

387B2F49-D882-4A09-9566-20EA68341040.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,144
11,468
I can tell you one thing. After today I'm going to buy a small adjustable wrench that fits in spaces that a grown man's arm cannot fit and is short enough to still turn. These damn full size wrenches are a BITCH to work with and the other 4 sinks are going to be just as tight.
 

Fucker

Log Wizard
11,407
25,670
I can tell you one thing. After today I'm going to buy a small adjustable wrench that fits in spaces that a grown man's arm cannot fit and is short enough to still turn. These damn full size wrenches are a BITCH to work with and the other 4 sinks are going to be just as tight.
I had a few different sink wrenches. I did the sinks on my last house last year with it. Most of them came out ok, but the downstairs ones were all corroded and had to be cut. They were the old solid metal ones that made a huge mess with a high speed cutting wheel. Took for fucking ever to do. I had a plumber do the last one and it took him almost 2 hours. Kind of funny, he's the guy who installed them when the house was built.

basin-wrench-58fa35c55f9b581d59cb6d7b-3994761063.jpg
Plumber-Sink-Wrench-2283729716.jpg
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Lanx

Oye Ve
<Prior Amod>
60,072
131,369
I had a few different sink wrenches. I did the sinks on my last house last year with it. Most of them came out ok, but the downstairs ones were all corroded and had to be cut. They were the old solid metal ones that made a huge mess with a high speed cutting wheel. Took for fucking ever to do. I had a plumber do the last one and it took him almost 2 hours. Kind of funny, he's the guy who installed them when the house was built.

View attachment 418098View attachment 418099
i have both, the red dildo works better because you can actually grip it
 

Creslin

Trakanon Raider
2,371
1,072
Seconded that The black stuff is most likely old adhesive from the vinyl. If you can chip it up with a finger it might be mold if it’s really on there then it’s glue. My basement had the same stuff it was impossible to get off but didn’t really effect the level so whatever.
 
Last edited:
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,144
11,468
Seconded that The black stuff is most likely old adhesive from the vinyl. If you can chip it up with a finger it might be mold if it’s really on there then it’s glue. My basement had the same stuff it was impossible to get off but didn’t really effect the level so whatever.

It probably was mold b/c it came away with a wet cloth and some cleaning.

My issue now is that with the replacement gasket and nut there's a small leak between the bottom of the basin and the gasket. Tightening it has turned it from a drip to just enough to wet the rubber gasket. I may try to put some silicon adhesive around it and see if that helps. But my thought is that will just create standing water on top of that gasket and not address an actual issue.
 

Creslin

Trakanon Raider
2,371
1,072
It probably was mold b/c it came away with a wet cloth and some cleaning.

My issue now is that with the replacement gasket and nut there's a small leak between the bottom of the basin and the gasket. Tightening it has turned it from a drip to just enough to wet the rubber gasket. I may try to put some silicon adhesive around it and see if that helps. But my thought is that will just create standing water on top of that gasket and not address an actual issue.
Silicon adhesive is definitely not a good way to stop a leak. Thread seal tape could work if the the parts are metal. They look like metal so that’s probably the way to go. It works on pvc too just not really recommended because you just need to make sure you don’t overtighten since seal tape makes tightening almost too easy.
 

Noble Savage

Kang of Kangz
<Bronze Donator>
2,341
8,369
Want to start framing in my unfinished basement, but the question is should I use wood or metal studs? I think the biggest issue of metal studs is that they dont hold weight very well so cant hang cabinets from them. But not really sure I would ever be hanging cabinets or other heavy object down there. Just want to future proof if I ever want to I guess.
 

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
6,882
4,236
Any suggestions on a specific luxury vinyl plank flooring to install on the concrete basement floor? I'm seeing a bunch of varieties, some with tongue and groove, some with adhesive edges, some with underlayment built in. We spend a lot of time in the basement, so I want something that will last with high traffic and also insulate fairly well from the cold concrete beneath.
 

Daidraco

Golden Baronet of the Realm
9,071
9,099
Want to start framing in my unfinished basement, but the question is should I use wood or metal studs? I think the biggest issue of metal studs is that they dont hold weight very well so cant hang cabinets from them. But not really sure I would ever be hanging cabinets or other heavy object down there. Just want to future proof if I ever want to I guess.
Use whichever one you want. There are solutions to cabinets and metal framing. Heres good old Bob Vila talking about it. Cabinet question comes in just after 3:00 mark. My g/f's brother does that line of work and he loves working with metal studs.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,366
2,139
Any suggestions on a specific luxury vinyl plank flooring to install on the concrete basement floor? I'm seeing a bunch of varieties, some with tongue and groove, some with adhesive edges, some with underlayment built in. We spend a lot of time in the basement, so I want something that will last with high traffic and also insulate fairly well from the cold concrete beneath.

I went with tongue and groove with built in underlayment from lumber liquidators. Very easy to install and 2 years in I'm very happy with it.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user