Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

[Wingboy]

Tried concrete paint in the garage many years ago. First winter it came up in almost one layer. Lol.
I did the basement laundry room with a textured product called Hardrock 15 years ago. Vacuum, washed and etched with acid. Looks the same as it did when i put it down. Very good product!

 

[nobbie48]

I don't know which vaughan place you are referring to, but investment hardware has some cheap, ok discs. For a floor, I would rather use a cup as a disc will have a lot of angle to it, but I don't know if a cheap cup exists.

I used a 4" diamond cup in spots but the control wasn't great. There's rough and there's gouge. A bigger cup would have more stability but most are designed to remove concrete fast. I would like a finer grit.

Cheap diamond stuff at Princess Auto.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

One thing I did while building this house was pre-wire it for audio so still on my list to do soon is to install KEF ceiling speakers in the living and kitchen area (each 24x18' rooms). Had I known they would be using 2ft of blown-in insulation in the ceiling I would have made time to install the speakers earlier (I was figuring the old lay-down between rafters insulation). Will make doing this install a bit more messy and time consuming.

 

[GreyGhost]

One thing I did while building this house was pre-wire it for audio so still on my list to do soon is to install KEF ceiling speakers in the living and kitchen area (each 24x18' rooms). Had I known they would be using 2ft of blown-in insulation in the ceiling I would have made time to install the speakers earlier (I was figuring the old lay-down between rafters insulation). Will make doing this install a bit more messy and time consuming.

Can you get to the top? It's not easy to airseal them from the bottom. Next time, build speaker boxes into the ceiling so you don't need to worry about insulation or air leakage.

 

[sburns]

Talked to buddy...

without seeing it ..
- clean clean clean some more
- dry out properly
- vacuum the area to remove any loose particles so that the paint won't flake off at those points
- latex primer

if it's shiny concrete, you'll need to grind it to provide 'grip' for the paint to hold onto. The cleaning/vacuuming is the most important part.

Wow thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Hardwrkr13]

Can you get to the top? It's not easy to airseal them from the bottom. Next time, build speaker boxes into the ceiling so you don't need to worry about insulation or air leakage.

Yes, it's a bungalow so easy access. I'm hoping there's some laydown insulation between joists under the blown-in stuff but if not I'll add some overtop the speaker to seal it better and to keep the blown-in stuff from getting into the speaker back.

 

[GreyGhost]

Yes, it's a bungalow so easy access. I'm hoping there's some laydown insulation between joists under the blown-in stuff but if not I'll add some overtop the speaker to seal it better and to keep the blown-in stuff from getting into the speaker back.

I'd still figure out a way to air seal them to minimize losing warm air into the attic. Some rectangles of poly and acoustic caulk could work.

 

[GreyGhost]

Many lessons have been learned about backyard ice rinks. If I ever try this again, I am buying a proper rink liner that is the correct size. Sealing the seam between the two parts of my liner has been a nightmare and the tarp I used for the majority of the rink is reasonably waterproof when used as a tarp, but when used as a pool liner, it is not. Still remains to be seen if I can salvage this project. I can get it to flood now and freeze a 1/2" skin but then the water percolating through the tarp drops the water level which puts an airgap between the ice and water and stops the whole process. Grr. It's been a long time since a project completely failed.

 

[nobbie48]

While it isn't the house it is something I do in the house, make things. I am making a trinket box for a friend's daughter and it is made from spalted maple. Spalted is a PC word for rotting but the colours of the wood are like an abstract painting.

Because the spalting is random one never knows what the wood will look like inside. It's like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get

I went all out on this one doing grain matching on all four corners. It wasn't perfect but pretty good. Then I took another pass on the saw and all the matched grain became sawdust. The box is still a nice shape but the grain matching isn't as obvious. Crap.

Then I added another split receptacle in the kitchen. While pushing up the fish tape it caught the fibreglass insulation and pulled it up leaving an uninsulated pocket between the lower part of the studs. I did an IR Scan and yup a cold spot. Am I anal enough to worry? It depends on how long covid lasts. I'll probably punch a small hole in the drywall under the counter and squirt in low expansion foam.

 

[mimico_polak]

Many lessons have been learned about backyard ice rinks. If I ever try this again, I am buying a proper rink liner that is the correct size. Sealing the seam between the two parts of my liner has been a nightmare and the tarp I used for the majority of the rink is reasonably waterproof when used as a tarp, but when used as a pool liner, it is not. Still remains to be seen if I can salvage this project. I can get it to flood now and freeze a 1/2" skin but then the water percolating through the tarp drops the water level which puts an airgap between the ice and water and stops the whole process. Grr. It's been a long time since a project completely failed.

I should take a pic of one of the front yard rinks in our area....massive and looks great. Will take a pic next time I find it at random while I walk.

 

[mimico_polak]

Previous owner of the house put in a stone face around the bottom fire place, and ran a too short HDMI wire in behind it. Now I'm trying to figure out how to do 2 90deg turns about 10ft apart to get a better/longer HDMI cable in behind it...I'm tired of looking at wires hanging b/w the TV and PS3.

 

[GreyGhost]

Previous owner of the house put in a stone face around the bottom fire place, and ran a too short HDMI wire in behind it. Now I'm trying to figure out how to do 2 90deg turns about 10ft apart to get a better/longer HDMI cable in behind it...I'm tired of looking at wires hanging b/w the TV and PS3.
View attachment 46650

Too short it doesn't reach the PS3 or too short it is buried in the wall? If you can see both ends, the first option is always use the existing wire as a snake to pull the new wire (and normally an additional string or two to make it easier for the next time you need to get something through). If that doesn't work, did they do a stone return on the bookshelf side? A flex drill bit can span that distance.

I am very annoyed at how little conduit is installed in houses. For your case, a conduit from behind the TV out to the bookshelf side and another back into the other room costs almost nothing at construction time but makes everyones life easier later. In general, I wish there was a conduit run between utility space and a closet on each floor in every house. That way when the new fangled standard wiring comes out, you have a simple way to get it to every floor.

 

[GreyGhost]

I should take a pic of one of the front yard rinks in our area....massive and looks great. Will take a pic next time I find it at random while I walk.

That will sadden me. My wife (who is theoretically the project manager on this) keeps showing me pics of her co-workers rinks. Frig me. One is like 50x100 with real boards. Not exactly in the same class as my attempt to use scrap material on hand.

 

[mimico_polak]

Too short it doesn't reach the PS3 or too short it is buried in the wall? If you can see both ends, the first option is always use the existing wire as a snake to pull the new wire (and normally an additional string or two to make it easier for the next time you need to get something through). If that doesn't work, did they do a stone return on the bookshelf side? A flex drill bit can span that distance.

I am very annoyed at how little conduit is installed in houses. For your case, a conduit from behind the TV out to the bookshelf side and another back into the other room costs almost nothing at construction time but makes everyones life easier later. In general, I wish there was a conduit run between utility space and a closet on each floor in every house. That way when the new fangled standard wiring comes out, you have a simple way to get it to every floor.

Yes too short on both ends. Can’t reach the tv as it bends when trying to plug in.
Can’t pull the cable as it’s stapled into place.
I don’t want to rip the rock off but at this stage it seems like the only option and then cut a channel into the cement board and put the cable in.
Used a bore scope and there’s a mashup up wood and aluminum studs back there.

 

[mimico_polak]

That will sadden me. My wife (who is theoretically the project manager on this) keeps showing me pics of her co-workers rinks. Frig me. One is like 50x100 with real boards. Not exactly in the same class as my attempt to use scrap material on hand.

Ya this one looks awesome. They even put up netting to keep the pucks in on one side....the one facing the neighbours and the owners front windows.

 

[GreyGhost]

Yes too short on both ends. Can’t reach the tv as it bends when trying to plug in.
Can’t pull the cable as it’s stapled into place.
I don’t want to rip the rock off but at this stage it seems like the only option and then cut a channel into the cement board and put the cable in.
Used a bore scope and there’s a mashup up wood and aluminum studs back there.

Ok, new plan. 85" TV should hide the wires. Think about all the wasted time and aggravation that solves.

 

[mimico_polak]

Ok, new plan. 85" TV should hide the wires. Think about all the wasted time and aggravation that solves.

I’ve got a 60” that is itching to be put up. But the opening for the mount is too small....ugh.

My buddy just came up with the simplest solution....HDMI extension cable to connect to the old ones.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

That will sadden me. My wife (who is theoretically the project manager on this) keeps showing me pics of her co-workers rinks. Frig me. One is like 50x100 with real boards. Not exactly in the same class as my attempt to use scrap material on hand.

My sister's hubby did that for their 4 kids. Full authentic boards and all. Gotta admit it looks and works great and those kids are out there daily on it so if it keeps 4 kiddos out of the house it's all worth it (they all play hockey/ringette on teams as well).

 

[Hardwrkr13]

I am very annoyed at how little conduit is installed in houses. For your case, a conduit from behind the TV out to the bookshelf side and another back into the other room costs almost nothing at construction time but makes everyones life easier later. In general, I wish there was a conduit run between utility space and a closet on each floor in every house. That way when the new fangled standard wiring comes out, you have a simple way to get it to every floor.

I installed central-vac conduit from attic to office and basement for those reasons as well as wiring conduit from attic to behind tv and to both sides of tv. Leason learned as I should have ran larger conduit around tv as some have a couple cat6, an hdmi, and 8 speaker cables. Like garages, conduit can never be big enough.

 

[GateKeeper]

I would like to remove all the popcorn ceilings

I would like to install pot lights upstairs and main floor

I would like to renovate the kids bathroom, and the master bathroom

These things above I just can’t seem to do....or I am getting lazy...

But

I have painted the entire house, redid all the trim, did the garage floor, did the concrete pad for the hot tub

maybe my DIY days are behind me...

.