What home improvement work did you do today?

Am I wasting my time air sealing my attic? Back story is that my attached garage was un-insulated. Did the walls with batts and plan to do blown in for the ceiling. YouTube (my most trusted source of expert information) says I should seal the top plates and any fixture/wire/plumbing penetrations. While I'm at it above the garage, might as well seal the house and blow in some extra insulation there too.

I understand that normally an attic company will vacuum out all the old insulation, seal, and replace with new insulation. I think my time is worth less than the 11 year old insulation and don't have a vacuum system to pull it all out, so I'm just moving out of the way, sealing, and re-fluffing back into place the best I can. Oddly satisfying.

 

I wouldn’t say it’s a waste to plug up the small air leaks to improve efficiency. A house can be toooo airtight though. You need fresh air introduced into the home, especially if you have a fireplace or gas appliance. These will burn the oxygen in the house, and without a fresh supply to replace it, the appliance will not operate properly, and the humans may not operate properly.

 

Good point. All electric here and also don't worry, I can't reach outer top plates near eaves so I'll still have leaks. Just trying to maybe slightly lessen the stack effect to increase comfort/reduce electric bills.

 

Looks great. By the way, the head you are cooking in your microwave looks like it needs about 5 more minutes.

 

It’s pretty close to done, all the hair burnt off already. Any longer in there and the brains will scramble. Don’t have enough reserve to waste any.

 

I ordered a replacement cover for our old Broan bathroom fan in our downstairs bathroom. Broan makes some cool covers with lights but the "compatibility" list had pretty much every model number but ours. We have a "658" and it's compatible with a 657, 659, etc. They said it wouldn't work with mine when I wrote them and when I called them (I'm persistent). I'm tired of replacing bath fans so I went ahead and bought it anyway.

This thing has a heater that I never use so basically I unplugged the heater we never use (they have little outlet plugs the heater and the fan plug into inside of the unit) and plugged the light from the cover into the little heater outlet. The mounting system was different so I just used the original screw from the existing fan, found a big ass rusty washer in my shed, and attached it with that (I'll replace it with a different one when I get a chance). Suck it, Broan!

I also put a dimmer switch in. When they put the bathroom light in, they put the switch out in the little hallway. When people are here, they never know where the light switch is. Since it dims down, I can also use it as a night light.

 

Do you have a whole house fan, one that is on a timer that vents the living atmosphere out of the house. Some areas of the country are concerned with Radon inside the house also. Also, the venting of an attic is also important…

 

No attic fan or whole house fan. Around here (central Indiana) people seem to only use passive venting, baffles from sofit vents to ridge vents + extra roof vents near the top, unconditioned space.

Radon only seems to be a concern in basements here as well. I've installed a mitigation system and have a monitor running 24/7. I'll be sure to see if it had any impact. If anything I was thinking sealing the top of the house may reduce stack effect and draw LESS radon in through the basement.

Overall I'd imagine this builder home is still plenty leaky enough to breathe just fine. Hopefully I didn't just introduce mold and radon issues!

 

Simple Reno became a full blown " fixing someone elses's " git'r done mess..

Pix show a level floor , once paint is done, flooring will go down BUT the clowns that did the bath...that is my siding in that shower closet ...and the floor was patchworked...

all new under the new shower enclosure i the only way we will do it..

Good thing is both the ceiling and walls are being receptive to NEW paint...

Just another day in Renovation Land... Plus I am of most of the work I

see being done here...

 

Continuation from 9698. Our landscapers finished up last Friday with our patio extension, and paths, as well as redoing the drains and adding some, as well as burying most of the house drains to the French drains. A lot of work not readily in view. Anyways, we can walk around the house without mud in a controlled fashion now. I’m glad I got the electrical to my lawn shed as I’d hate to be digging a trench to it now. The landscapers have to pick up some equipment today. They did a great job imo.

 

Looks great!

 

Is anyone out there using deformable LED lights in their garage? Looking for some guidance...

I have a 2 car garage, just guessing it's about 20'x20' without going out to measure. I currently only have one ceiling lamp socket in the center of the garage which can accommodate a single light bulb. The base has an electrical outlet built in which is where the garage door opener plugs into. Needless to say, a single light bulb doesn't really do much to light up a garage.

I bought a 2 pack of the deformable lights from Amazon (8K lumens each). My plan was to install 2 additional ceiling lamps in the ceiling and install the deformable LED's about a 1/3rd of the way back from the front wall. This would light up my workbench/tool area and hopefully provide a lot more light in the rest of the garage compared to what I have now. Later, I ordered another 2 pack of the same lights (giving me 4 total) thinking that I could also add one in place of the current light bulb in the center of the garage. (2 forward and 1 in the center of the garage).

Now I'm wondering if I should place 2 about a 3rd of the way back from the front wall and the other 2 a 3rd of the way back from the opposite wall which would be positioned similar to a 5 on a pair of dice (keeping the center bulb).

Just hoping someone can tell me how many they used and where they positioned them and if they were happy with the overall outcome. Contractor friend is coming this Saturday to help run the additional wiring and I hope to have a plan in advance where I want them.

Thanks for any suggestions or ideas.

 

Not for those but I have these in my basement. They link together and I just used a screw in adapter to give me an outlet since they just use 2 prong plugs.

Bbounder 6 Pack Linkable LED...

BBOUNDER 6 Pack Linkable LED Utility Shop Light, 4 FT, 4000 LM, 48" Integrated Fixture for Garage, 40W Equivalent 250W, 5000K Daylight, Surface + Suspension Mount, Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LGTKPP1

 

Changing out my flame sensor so my heater will work! Seems like I go through 1 a year

 

I thought about doing the linkable fluorescents too since I could just tap into the current outlet in the center ceiling and not need an electrician. I was hoping that spreading out the deformable LED's would give more light, but who knows...

 

Widened the garbage can walkway this morning..

 

How big and boujee are ya and trash can to get a widened sidewalk?
Looks good? If DIY...even more impressed

 

Yes it was all diy, the original path was only 18” wide..purchased a mixer to speed up the process for $280, rental was $125. Since I’ll be using it to for other jobs decided to just buy one.

 

Bathroom refresh, and a built in cabinet/ lit shelves.

 

Tell us about the under shelf lighting . Great job!

 

Thanks!

I made the shelves from 3/4" sanded ply. Mitered all edges and glued/ pin nailed together. The lights are a 12VDC LED strip inside of a metal channel/ diffusing cover, both purchased from Amazon. I routed a channel on the bottom of each shelf to attach them and they're powered by a Lutron Caseta plug in lamp dimmer, (outlet is below cabinet, only had to fish the 12VDC wire to the LED strip). This allows control via a wall mounted remote which to me was much easier than pulling romex to install a new single gang box in the wall for a switch.

 

Did it make a big difference? I want to do some concrete around my house. Debating picking up one of these

 

Started this project over the summer. Purchased new cabinet doors and had someone spray paint them and come in and paint the cabinets. Changed out our Corian countertops with quartz. We had been trying to decide if the back splash should be changed since I only did that six years ago. Decided to change it out with white. Just need to clean up a section of tile tonight and call it done. Also replaced the lighting with recessed LED's.

 

It sure did, beats mixing by hand. I wouldn’t do any other way..

 

Trying to finish a new closet but not sure if this is a single piece or two wood pieces that ill have to do. Anyone know? I for one don’t know finish carpentry

 

It’s two. The header trim piece and that vertical trim pieces are nailed together and then the header piece nailed up into place. It helps hide the track on the sliding doors.
Then regular face trim is installed

 

Thanks. Yeah I get that’s its main function. I’ll have to measure them and see if I’m gonna have to rip down some 1x boards or what.

 

Let the trim work fun begin…



Also got a quick idea of how I will be cutting these to line up where the base/case meet. Should look good

 

Pictures are a little out of order, but...I finally finished refreshing our staircase. Sanded all of the oak looking varnish, boxed in the newel post, removed carpet and replaced with vinyl. Aside from a paint color change on the tan wall, I can finally relax for a bit!