What home improvement work did you do today?

Yard clean up, including the pleasure of destroying the limb that damaged my truck in Thursdays night storm. This place is a mess. 2 hours with a leaf blower and my hands still wont stop tingling LOL..... lots more to do.

 

You can definitely do it. The worst part for me has always been grouting but if you take your time and do little areas at a time, you'll do fine. Also, I buy everything premixed. It costs more but I don't have to deal with mixing that shit (again, no patience).
Our house had the microwave vent hood above the stove and I replaced the microwave when we moved here. I ended up replacing that microwave with a vent hood a few months back (and discovered cabinet jacks!) and had to add to the backsplash that was behind the microwave. Unfortunately the subway tile the other owners used was "canvas" and I couldn't find a match so I was able to use what was left and bought some accent tiles to make a stripe... I love the height of the oven hood now and the best part is that when I'm cooking, nobody is trying to get in front of me to microwave something.

 

I finally bolted my air compressor feet isolators on after two years haha. It’s been sitting on the pucks, just not bolted.

 

Great work! Love the hood range.

 

I feel your pain. The tingling hands is definitely an issue for me after leaf blowing.

 

Best use for hockey pucks I've seen yet.

 

Body lift!!! stack em high, fit 35's bud.

 

I was checking out the manual online and they don’t break down the minimum distances between gas and electric stoves. I have 20 inches from the stove burner to the microwave. The way the install directions look, there should be a minimum of 13 1/2” which seems really low. Am I reading this correctly or am I missing something? Thanks for sharing your concern. I bought the microwave because it was the same dimensions as my old one so I didn’t even give a thought about clearances. Shortsighted I know...

 

Haha they’re useful little things.

 

your photo clearly shows 30” clearance from range-top to bottom of micro.
1/3 more than you currently have.

2 concerns here.
1... a grease fire in your micro hood.
2.. wiring meltdown inside the unit.

both of these are how houses easily burn down.
Your insurance will investigate how the house was destroyed & wont cover you because you did not follow the manufacture instructions.

If it were me... I would replace it with a nice hood fan.
Put the micro on the countertop.

 

The clincher for me was when I was trying to cook something on the back burners and it was awkward - felt like I had to climb under the microwave to see how things were going back there. You'll get better suction from a dedicated hood range and countertop microwaves seem to be a lot cheaper (and more spacious) than a vent hood one.

 

before you go & TEE off & add gas lines.. there are things to consider.

does your current meter have the capacity for added BTU’s of any new appliances.
Call you gas provider to find out meter size & available BTU’s then calculate the BTU’s of all appliances old & new.
If it’s undersized, you will need to upsize the
Meter.

A home owner running gas lines with-out a license & permits is a disaster waiting to happen.
House burns down... no insurance coverage.

Just some things to contemplate.
.. Slayer

 

Im sorry, don’t mean to be a dick..but I hate to see someone who heard somebody go down the wrong path.

I’m a homebuilder and there is a better & easier way.

Never take a hammer & do some bashing of anything when remodeling ever.

Always dis-mantel in the reverse order of the installation. It’s cleaner, easier, less of a mess & lower risk of damaging other surfaces or what is buried in the wall.

Never use pre-mix anything.. it will not adhere properly.
Always mix your own mud & grout. Do what the pro’s do.
Never use mastic, always use thin-set.

Never use a grinder or snap cutter if you can help it. Rent a good tile saw.. unless you don’t care what your cuts look like.

.. Slayer

 

I see said the blind man. Thank you for correctly interpreting the photo from Maytag. I just went with a replacement for what was already there from the original owner of the house. They had Sears install all the original appliances which have all malfunctioned within 3 months of each other, minus the dishwasher. I’m surprised that Sears did the install with the clearances that were there. Of course, the appliance shop I bought the microwave from didn’t even ask about my clearances. Shame on me for not doing my own due diligence but atleast I caught it now, thanks to you, and a $250 mistake is better than a $250k mistake. Thank you Slayer for your input and knowledge. It’s appreciated.

 

I've had good luck with the premixed mud and grout. I tried mixing my own thinset for my first tile job and it was a nightmare. I couldn't get the consistency right and it kept drying up on me. But I hear what you are saying. Especially with the tile saw. Worth every cent.

 

Prepped the center area for beach pebbles. Painted the RV tow hitch and exhaust. Now it’s chill time.

 

Made some shelves for my car detailing trailer. Ain't half bad. Not necessarily home improvement, but whatever lol.

 

I've always thought the more things you ask something to do, the less better it does each of them.

 

How much of the homes do you build? I don't mean to be a dick, but there's a lot of check writers who have the title of "home builder". We'd call them "Briefcase Builders". It's been 2 days since I removed some tile by smacking it with a hammer and I've done it that way hundreds of times.
Do in reverse? So to remove tile, he should first remove the grout, then remove the tile? You must not have ever had to demo/do repairs as that's how you break the tile, unless it's on the floor.

"Never use pre-mix anything.. it will not adhere properly."

Not true. Fusion is an excellent grout and it what I use on my stuff in wet areas. Quartzlock is also OK....I just don't like it. There are probably other urethanes out there that I don't know about as I'm retired. You are somewhat correct in getting the lower end premixed grout. The somewhat in that a lot of people don't get the mix right when using cementacous (?) grout so it cracks or they wash the color out in some areas, so it's a trade-off. But not much to a backsplash and if this is the only one they'll do, I see no reason why they shouldn't rather than screw up mixing it. I've seen a lot of new construction people doing premixed for the backsplashes. Don't know what it is as didn't care enough to find out, but very little water use in cleanup. Looked pretty slick.

"Never use mastic, always use thin-set."
Not true. Don't use mastic in wet areas like a shower, tho if one reads the data sheet, it's OK. I've used it on guest bathtub surrounds, backsplashes, and walls in general. If you have waterproof backing and 'waterproof' tile, don't use it as it'll take forever to cure. Same with thinset, tho to a lesser extent. Use a Dryset/speedset/'hotmud'. I mostly use thinset tho due to the type of work I do and the flexibility of use.

"Never use a grinder or snap cutter if you can help it. Rent a good tile saw.. unless you don’t care what your cuts look like."

Again, not true. A snap cutter can give you a cleaner cut than most wet saws, certainly a rental where the blade isn't very good and the unit is, well, a rental. Cuts glass cleaner too. 2 days ago I cut a bunch of sheet glass, ripped it into 5/8" pieces, so couldn't do it on the snap cutter. Wetsaw left it a bit jagged, so I had to polish the edges back to smooth and clear--real PITA as it must have been about 200 pieces.
You can use the hand grinder for irregular cuts/cutouts/holes or the cuts you're going to bury if they're rough and can't take the edge off of it. If he's going to use stone, then he should rent a saw--or use a hand grinder with a new blade.

I was going to go over all of this stuff when he was getting ready to do it, but I guess now he knows a bit more than he did before and will decide whether or not to do it. I think he should and can. We all are gear head types here, so mechanically inclined or else we'd not be here. For the guy wanting a gas stove, unless he's on propane, he should have 1" going in from the meter and that supplies a LOT of BTUs. I give people here credit for knowing their capabilities, what they are comfortable doing, especially with gas/electricity. And he already looked into running a line to it, so he's thinking about it. I gave him an option how to do it. And to call an hvac guy if he wants to do it. And.....he'll have to go to a contractor's store to get the material to run it underground, along with the fittings.....just don't tell him that.

 

carry on sir.. bash away!

I guess we are different types.

I prefer to surgically remove.

..Slayer

 

My wife will be the first to say sometimes I work like Bam Bam, so guilty as charged here.

And this is why I'm not a Reloader...or bake....you have to be surgically precise in your recipes, something I am not most of the time. I pay hornady to do the brainwork for me and am OK with that. One of my Buds is from a tile and stone family, so I worked with him for a a while so I could add that tool to my toolbox. I've had the privlege of knowing people in a few different trades who have taught me them. And they were all old school people, which can be invaluable, but also amusing. 20 years ago stone guy was still using a 4' level when I gave him a laser level to use. Yeah, after saying he didn't need that....next thing I knew, he was using one. And of course he said "I was thinking about getting one....."

Seriously, when you're doing repairs, the only way to get a field tile out is to break it. I do cut the grout out around it before I hit it so it won't transfer the shock to the surrounding tiles and crack them, but you can't get behind it and you'll have to regrout it anyway. I do agree with your general statement though about bashing walls as wife likes to watch those remodeling shows and I sometimes cringe when they start bashing away at a wall. Those are the people that don't know much but have seen others do it on hgtv or the like. Doing demo on a remodel can be a great way to cost a person more time/money than they should. More than a few times I've come across elect/water (cpvc) lines where they shouldn't be, put in by someone before HGTV but not caring to research how it should be done if they aren't in that trade. This is where my colorful vocabulary comes handy.....

 

Hey, any suggestions on what I can spray on poison ivy or sumac that will kill it without killing the redtips?

 

Milk crates hold everything from my torches to my mini shop vac in my service van. Just saying that maybe Dukin Donuts is still a good location to "find" milk crates just sitting out back.

 

My tiny tile experience was a 60's era tile bathroom. I dont care if you know the "president of tile removers" only smashing hammers and pry bars could get those tiles off the walls and floors.

 

Your pic isn't showing up but I don't think there's anything that will target only poison ivy. Sucks if you're allergic to it but long sleeves, pants, gloves and rip it all out or pull enough of it out that you can isolate it from what you want to keep and spray it with RoundUp or BrushBGone but they need to be applied to the leaves.

 

Loved it didn't you?
Older tile will be set in mud and the mud set into wire (lath). In commercial applications, the lath is in segments and quite industrial, structural themselves. I was asked to do a repair on an old commercial building one time. They moved the toilets in a few bathrooms and now they had holes in the wall where it was, so you could look right through the wall, through a utility area and into another bathroom that had the same thing done. It was amusing because they knew some people that "could do tile" until they showed up and saw nothing but air to put the tile on. I think they meant "I can slap tile up/down on something".

They don't do it like that anymore, but in some instances it is set on mud. So now it's easier to 'do tile'...thus easier to remove it. Everything in life seems to be a trade-off.

 

It's funny, when I was young this stuff never bothered me. Now if I just brush up against the red tips I get rash up and down my arm. What's more funny, it doesn't effect my wife, so....sounds like a job for Supervisor Man...

 

Started the process of redoing the back yard.