I have a general contractor who is constantly fighting me on things. I call him out for crappy work and he hand waves it away saying it’s not a big deal. This bathtub issue is probably the worst of it and I was wondering if maybe you can help me understand it.

We were 1 day away from stucco when I noticed this bathtub issue and took these pictures. In the picture we are looking up to the ceiling above a recessed front door into the floor beneath the bathroom.

If we filled the bathtub up, wouldn’t it just drain into this ceiling area? I think it’s just wide open into the tub and the knockout is on the 4” drain pipe.

I could see up into the drain so I assumed it was not connected and we were about to be in for a world of problems. First he says it’s an alternate drain and it’s done right. Then his plumber comes by and says oh shit this isn’t done and fixes it. Now after the fact he says nothing would have happened because of the knockout cover.

Thank god it’s fixed (hopefully) but I’m trying to get him to acknowledge the monumental failure.

Thanks for your help

This was on my bucket list ; playing with a mini excavator.

Though the actual work was done by my step bro

Next I’ll do the form and order some lill stones to prep the surface, some steel reinforcement and put all in place before getting some concrete.

Hello there,

Family member had a plant in a jar on the windowsill over a longer period of time and over time (i guess while watering) water spillage has made its way under the jar and made quite the damage to the sill. Is there a good way to fix such a damage? Will obviously from now on have something underneath the jars to prevent this in the future.

Appreciate any tips!

Hey all! This is a bit of a follow-up to a post I made a couple months ago regarding our bathroom reno: https://sh.itjust.works/post/56769265

Long story short, the mortar bed subfloor was crumbling away, and I could literally tear up chunks with my bear hands, so we decided to take it all out. I'm going to sister all the joists to re-level the floor, put in blocking for under the clawfoot tub, then 3/4" plywood subfloor, Ditra, and tile. But that's not what this post is about.

This post is about all that copper plumbing. I think the stuff above the tub spout is relatively new, but I think everything below that (tub supplies, toilet supply, sink supplies) is a lot older, maybe original, which would make that close to 70 years old. Some of it looks pretty crusty and corroded to my untrained eye, so my question is, should I redo any of that copper while I've got the wall open? If so, to what extent, and with copper or PEX? I mentioned earlier that we're putting in a clawfoot tub, so we won't need basically anything above the tub spout. I know clawfoots traditionally have supplies coming up through the floor, so I may end up reconfiguring to accommodate that, but I'm also considering taking the easy way out there and using some flex hose coming out of the wall.

I don't have a torch or a PEX crimping tool, so either way I go I'm gonna have to buy a new toy. But which one? How would y'all go about this? Thanks in advance for the input!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46571903

Original post:

So I'm on my way to the store to pick up a voltage tester b/c our showers have been noticeably room temperature today. We own our place so I'm attempting some basic DIY troubleshooting steps before I call a plumber. Found this 4-minute video guide to resetting an electric water heater. At 2:30 into the video, right after the plumber removes the cover plate and insulation, the white plastic cover in the video has two holes, and the top hole supposedly has a bright red button to reset it.

I’ve already flipped off the circuit breaker and removed the metal cover plate. The problem is, on mine the white plastic covering on the thermostat only has one hole, there is no big red reset button on my thermostat. Any tips on where else to look for the big red reset button? If it makes any difference, I am located in the US, and I believe the brand of my water heater is State Select, model number ES652DORT 210.

Side question - should I take steps to protect myself against the outer insulation wrapped around the overall water heater? I kinda just went in there guns blazing and didn't think about gloves, masks, etc.

Photos:

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!

EDIT: Today I learned there are two thermostats, and the big red reset button is on the top one! Unfortunately, pressing it did not click like I was hoping. This leads me to believe I have a bad heating element as suggested in the comments. My next step is to get a multimeter so I can check continuity, resistance, and amperage. Thanks to those who have weighed in so far.

Photos of the top thermostat:

The house I live in has an existing oil-based boiler for both heat and hot water. The hot water tank (50 gallons) will likely need to be replaced in the next few years as it is more than 10 years old, probably approaching 15. I am on well water without a water softener, and I assume that the previous owners never did any sort of maintenance with the current hot water tank. (A neighbor mentioned that there is some sacrificial part that can be replaced every so often to extend the life of the tank.)

I keep reading that the hybrid heat pump water heaters are incredibly efficient, and I hate having to burn oil during the warmer months just to heat my showers. My plumber tells me that it's a really efficient system and that I should keep it intact as long as I can. He also seems a bit old school in his opinion and preferences, as he scoffs at the idea that I would eventually like to replace the whole boiler and system with a heat pump system instead.

Is there a good place to learn about how my existing system works, and any way to compare to possible savings (or pitfalls) of switching to a new system? Are there other options, such as tankless hot water heaters, that I should consider? I gather that recovery time with a hybrid heat pump water heater will be much slower than the existing system, so should I also calculate for a larger system (65 or 80 gallons)? Two adults live here full time but we frequently host guests and family gatherings, and we sometimes need enough hot water for 10 or so adults to shower. There are three full bathrooms in the house and one day we may add a fourth.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45847204

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45847124

For quite a while I had been longing to measure the waterlevel in my well.

The first attempt with a HC-SR04 failed due to distance (4 meter deep well) and problems of how to mount it in the well. Then I came across the JSN-SR04 sensor. It's all running on an esp2866 (I found it to have better wifi than the esp32). Several parts re-used from old projects. Added small solar panel to keep it all self contained. Data is sent to homeassistant (mqtt) and a bit of log/debug data to syslog.

Due to circumstances had it been lying on my desk quite a while, but finally, today I was able to install it!
I screwed a drainpipe cap to the lid of the well and mounted the sensor in another. A simple pipe connector in between works like a charm.

Removed the plastic and wire guard rail that was put in originally and now I'm unsure what to replace it with. Any ideas?

anybody who is interested in this community would probably be interested in this video

Home inspector and certified builder Tobias Condill joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about house safety maintenance. What are the biggest red flags spotted during a home inspection? What are the dumbest home maintenance DIY fixes? What’s the most common cause of house fires people don’t know about?

This all on same breaker. Left, spliced wires are hot, but do nothing and there's no switch for them.

Wires on the right are on a switch that controls two other lights closer to the breaker.

Can I just removed the splice and terminate the hot wires into a box mounted on the rafter?

i think the spliced goes to these wires, then leads somewhere else?

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/57512484

Had this local lumber yard trying to charge me $100 A BOARD FOR 8 FT PIECES!!!

It's wavy cedar siding. It's actually pretty common here up northern US.

I can't imagine that price is right. I could see $50 or $60. Or is lumber really that insane?

I just need like 4 of them for a repair..

This dishwasher leaks out the door. It seems there should be a gasket there. Unclear why it isn't there, but based on manuals and videos I can find, this model always has one, and it's typical of all dishwashers.

GE has the part listed, and I ordered the correct part number from a cheap third party site. But I can't get it to stay in there long enough to even test shutting the door.

Should I use some kind of high temp adhesive? What if it doesn't actually fit, like it doesn't let the door properly shut? Will it be difficult to remove the adhesive and try again? I hate dishwashers, but this is for someone else.

Thanks for any input

Edit https://www.geapplianceparts.com/store/parts/assembly/HDF330PGR6WW

I haven't gleaned any extra clues there but I'm at a loss. Stupid thing is listed for $430 u.s.

Hello! My bathroom faucet has an insert aerator. We attempted to remove it in order to remove the chalk in the faucet, and broke the bottom part off as a result. The keys we have to remove the aerator are now not working, and we can't quite get it out.

Does anybody have any suggestions? We've tried using thin pliers for electronics to grab it and twist, but we can't get a good enough grip. A few photos attached: the remaining part inside the faucet, the broken off bottom part, and the keys that we have.

I'm currently working on renovating the bathroom in our 1958 home. I just finished tearing out the shoddy job some flippers did a few years back, and found some issues with the floor that have got me scratching my head. I've learned that it was common practice back in the 50's to have a mortar slab subfloor, and it looks like that's what I have in our bathroom (except where the old bathtub was, where there was just 2 layers of 5/8" plywood). The tile was adhered directly to the slab with no decoupling membrane, and the only way I could get it and the thinset off was with a rotary hammer. I'm afraid that might have been too aggressive though, because now there's a bunch of cracks in the subfloor. I'm not certain if the cracks go all the way through because the bottom/sides of the slab are hidden. But I'm also not certain the actual original mortar slab is cracked, or if the flippers put a super thick layer or two of leveling compound down, and that's what's cracked, because in one area where I accidentally made a deeper gouge, it looks like there's about an inch of smooth grey mortar-like substance at the surface, but beneath that is a lighter-colored concrete-like substance with an aggregate mixed into it.

I'd like to get some more opinions on what's actually going on here, and what my next steps should be. Can I put leveling compound down as-is, do I need to patch/fill the cracks, do I need to fully chip away this smooth, grey top layer, or do I need to tear out the slab completely and lay a new plywood subfloor?

Imgur link for reference: https://imgur.com/a/xF7go4z

I can add more photos if needed. Thanks in advance!

I guess "hire someone" is always an option, but it's a difficult task sometimes, especially finding someone reliable. It's not even that the larger thing is outside my ability, it's just "ugh, I don't have time for this".

Curious if anyone has any tips and tricks to overcome this kind of paralysis.

Ok so this is fun. We are finally redoing our deck on our house that was built in the 70's.

The stair treads were these nice wide low-angle kind, using a bracket made by Erecto-pat, which is no longer in business at all! I find it baffling that NO ONE makes a stair step bracket like this, at least nowhere that I can find! Literally the only thing I could find on the entire internet is this ebay listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324682985573

If anyone knows a similar part, that would be super helpful. Otherwise I am going to have to go to a custom metal fab shop to get some made!

Side note, their patent expired, so if you wanna make some bucks, start making some of these up! They work perfectly for stairs. The only reason I need new ones is some are rusted after all these years.

I'm not sure what other lemmy community might be fitting for this post, so here I go. Feel free to redirect me if you know of another community that might have an answer for me.

Starting this year, my whole kitchen starts smelling really weird whenever I turn on my electric oven.

It's not inside the oven. I just turned it on, and when the smell was starting to appear, I opened the oven and smelled the warm air. It was smelling as normal, so it's something outside the oven.

It's an odd smell that doesn't smell like anything I've ever experienced. I've talked about this with a friend, they suggested it might be the insulation around the oven that might contain some kind of bacterial growth. My washing machine did flood my kitchen a bit between the years, but since the oven has a drawer underneath, I'd be surprised if the insulation got wet somehow. Could the insulation get bacterial growth from just high air humidity for a few days?

Are there things I could to to test whether the air is safe to breathe? The smell just smells... off. It's not a sharp smell, but I do feel like I get a slight headache whenever I smell it, which might just be placebo because of the deeply unpleasant smell.

I'm at a loss as to what I can do short of replacing the whole thing, which seems overkill.

Fixed a water supply valve leak. Decided clean the slightly clogged drain as well. Really appreciate the manufacturers that do that much more.

Hola!

I am in Spain, and just today found out the model of my AC (it's very difficult to access). It's a Fujitsu General ARH 45 LUAN split system.

I was thinking of getting a smart controller for it, but so far I have been unsuccessful figuring out if there is a smart solution for this AC - native or third party - so I would be grateful for any tips and ideas.

EDIT: The AC is a duct type system with just a wall-mounted control (no IR receiver).

We recently moved into this place and the shower has this crack in the tiles.

I imagine this is quite bad in terms of humidity creeping into the wall?

Is there a way to fix this without having to redo the entire wall?

Thanks for thinking along!