What home repairs are you working on?

My application for unemployment is held up until the 29th because my former employer hasn't responded yet to a routine inquiry regarding the dates and amounts of severance pay. Pondering the possibility of not getting unemployment has encouraged me to re-consider my plumbing situation. I have decided to give JB Water Weld a try, to patch that cracked vacuum tank. I will apply it this morning, let it cure overnight, re-assemble the toilet tomorrow, and test for leaks for a day. If it doesn't leak, then all I need to do is replace the water supply line to the toilet, because the shut-off valve very slowly un-shuts itself. I will replace it with a more modern one that solidly turns off after a single 90 degree turn. But if the toilet tank continues to leak, then it's definitely time for a new toilet. Either way, I hope to finish everything this weekend so I can return to full-time focus on the job search.

The other affordable solution is composting that waste!

humanurehandbook.com/downloads/Chapter_6.pdf


but seriously, good luck, I hope the JB Water Weld works. I feel like whenever a good glue works and saves you money, it's a blow against entropy and a tiny miracle.

The good news is that the JB Water Weld did not leak. It turned hard as rock as it cured, and the water didn't seem to be a problem for it.

The bad news is that it wasn't the right solution for this repair. I applied it just a little too thick on the exterior of the tank at the cracked locations, so I couldn't get a tight seal with the tank bolts. I sanded it down as much as I dared, and it still wouldn't sit right. I could try to sand down to the plastic, and just rely on the JB Weld layer on the inside to prevent leakage, but I suspect that one of the tank bolts can't get make even contact with the plastic due to that inside layer.

I would totally be willing to use JB Water Weld in the future if I need a waterproof patch in a spot where precise fit isn't an issue. In fact, my utility sink/laundry tub in my basement leaks a little from a crack in the bottom, and JB Water Weld seems like a great potential solution. Replacing that sink would be a serious pain, because the legs are literally embedded in the concrete floor of my basement. I would need to rent a jackhammer to chop it free.

New toilet installation went well. My uncle showed up again, to help with carrying heavy porcelain and to give me some guidance. Taking out the old toilet went okay, with only two issues. First, I got a little careless while slicing through the caulk seal around the base, and sliced into the linoleum floor under the backside of the toilet. Second, the existing flange had slots for sliding the upthrust bolts, but no wide spots for pulling the bolts up. Decided to leave the existing hardware in place because they were in good shape and the old toilet never shifted during use.

The selection of American Standard toilets was a bit limited at the huge local Menard's, but I ended up choosing the Vormax for the tall and elongated structure. It's easier for an old person to get on and off a tall and elongated toilet, and I'm not getting any younger. Also, the big base nicely covered the slices in the linoleum floor. I was going to put it on my Visa, but my uncle insisted on paying instead, because my parents helped him out so much back when he failed to get into medical school. He went to work for my dad's construction company for several months, and I remember working with him at a couple of the sites.

Installation went almost perfectly. It wasn't until we were nearly finished that I noticed that we had installed it at a slight diagonal. We had the floor bolts at the right distance from each other, but apparently they weren't quite at the same distance from the wall. It was getting late in the afternoon and my uncle had dinner plans, so I pronounced it good enough for now. Assuming that I get my career back on track soon, I am planning to remodel that bathroom in 2021, so adjusting the placement of the toilet can wait until then.

The Vormax has a relatively quiet flush, but it really gets the job done. I wish there was a little more water in the bowl during use, but it will probably be very efficient in water usage.

So our basement bathroom, the one I gutted, needs the drain centered and a shower put in. The cheap guy gave us a bid of $4,550.

We are going to pay someone to move the drain, and then put in a $1,000 shower insert. So we'll be into it for about $2,000 at the end of the day.

Fun fact: every pipe in our house, including the toilet drains, is made of copper. Now I'm afraid tweakers are going to sneak in and start cutting out pipes.



LABOR
Jackhammer up concrete around drain, dig
up concrete, replace and move drain.

1 485.00 485.00

LABOR
Rebury hole with dirt and level out with
concrete

1 235.00 235.00

LABOR
Replace shower valve and raise up shower
head to reasonable height. (Price includes
labor and materials)

1 395.00 395.00

LABOR
Install new insulation in wall, treat affected
wood with Killz

1 185.00 185.00

LABOR
Frame out missing portion of 2 X 4 wall
near toilet and frame out new curb for
shower.

1 225.00 225.00

LABOR
Install new denshield drywall in shower
stall. (Price includes labor and materials)

1 385.00 385.00

LABOR
Install custom 34" by 34" by 88" cultured
marble shower splash, includes floor, curb,
ceiling, trim and accessories

1 1,925.00 1,925.00

LABOR
Purchase and install a custom brushed
nickel shower door/clear glass

1 650.00 650.00

LABOR
Install shower fixtures handle, plate and
shower head. Cost of fixtures depends on
customer selection. (Basic chrome is about
$85 and brushed nickel and oil rubbed
bronze about $185)

1 65.00 65.00

*This bid includes estimated materials. Any additional materials not
included in bid and provided by us shall be extra, additional
unforeseen labor shall be extra. Customer will be notified beforehand if
any ADDITIONAL labor or materials become necessary to complete
the job correctly.

TOTAL $4,550.00

As soon as it gets warmer I wanna repair the roof and I decided that I can do it on my own, but I need some special equipment. I want to choose a nailer, but I don't want to go to a store to buy it, cause you know the virus and all the noise around it. So I did some research at home and came across several similar reviews (like this one for example). I set sight on Porter Cable Roofing Nailer RN175B, so I would be more than happy if someone here have used it and would like to share their experience.

I haven't used that nailer but if it's Porter Cable it's likely tough as nails. I bought a tiger saw from them at a pawn shop that had clearly been abused, in 1998 and I still use it regularly. Indestructible.

That's some buckazoids though. You sure you don't want to rent something? Is this a repair, or a replacement?

Roof repair is high risk, high reward home improvement to me. Just had my roof replaced last year and it is a fucking mint.

My roof is 21 years old and I’ll probably look into getting it replaced soon. Sure as shit ain’t gonna do it myself.

My roofers fucking sucked, I called the state inspector to double check their work after how shoddy they were. Nerve racking as fuck.

We use the Hitachi nailer, but the Porter Cable one is probably just fine for non-commercial work. I am not a roofer, but I can and have done roofing, mostly for patio covers or additions. I will definitely be paying a company to do mine when it is needed.
Speaking of, whoever re-roofed my house before I lived here (most likely my father-in-law made the decision) just put it on top of the original layer of shingles and now I'm having several problems with leaking. Trying to re-flash where I can but it doesn't seem to be helping. I might have to get mine done sooner rather than later.

I paid $10K to get my roof replaced in 2019, along with my detached garage roof. Took them one and half work days to get it done, and it was nearly immaculate. I did find a couple of shingles that weren't laying flush with the rest of the roof. Took a camera phone picture and texted it to them, and they sent somebody over within an hour to make the adjustments. I knew the racket was going to be terrifying for my cat, so I made him a quiet fort to hide in that week, with a cardboard box and some pillows.

I just bought a house so the list is endless but the short list is to epoxy paint the garage floor (which is a HUUUGGGEEE PITA to do properly), build a shed, build some garage shelving, replace lots of dated florescent lights with LEDs, and try to sneak in a Philips Hue light system without the wife finding out how expensive that is

What do the Hue lights do that the $10 ones from Costco don't?

Yeah, mine was like 10k too. Motherfuckers didn't clean up after themselves (still finding roofing nails) and they left like 20-30 misnailed shiners. I was worried about what they fucked up that I didn't have the expertise to find but the state inspector said it was mostly fine. They replaced all the shingles they fucked up but the hell of it is that there's always this doubt in the back of your mind there's just water pouring into your attic every day after a snow or rain because of a fuck-up or some invisible thing they didn't do.

Home improvement is super nerve racking for the same reason car repairs are super nerve racking: incomplete information.