Latest DIY

Fisher's Mom

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
I'm feel very "Bob Villa" right now. Last week I ran cable for my neighbor so she could have TV in her bedroom and dressing room. I hadn't ever done it myself before but I had seen it done. It all went smoothly except there were intermittent internet problems when she would turn on her TVs. After a little research, I realized I had attached the cables to the wrong ports on the splitter in the back. (Had an out cable on the in port. LOL)

Then yesterday, I had to replace the garbage disposer here. It developed a crack in the housing and was spewing water! After seriously considering J Bond (and reluctantly giving up that idea) I bought a new unit. Installing it was no problem but of course, the pipe next to it started leaking. Argh! So I ended up replacing a couple of sections and voila! - no more leaking! (I've never actually replaced plumbing before and it scares the crap out of me. I know it makes my husband swear a blue streak whenever he has to do it.) I'm really pleased that I was brave enough to put my big girl panties on and go after it.
 
My wife is the plumber around here also the gardener as neither things I can stand doing. If left to me I would call a plumber to unstop a sink.
 
I would love to hang out with Dawn sometime! I think she and I would have so much fun, Joe. She's some kinda woman!
 
I love DIY threads.

Here's a project I've been at it for the last several weekends. I demolished all the damaged wood decking at one corner of the house and concreting that entire section.

Here's a before and 'current progress' pics of my concrete project.

P1040163.jpg


P1040303.jpg
 
I love electrical work, but plumbing I do just a little (as little as possible). Good on you for getting the job done. That is always a great feeling.
 
That looks fantastic, Food. I was hoping you'd have some new pics - that's a huge project. You didn't pour the steps yourself, did you?
 
Lefty said:
I love electrical work, but plumbing I do just a little (as little as possible). Good on you for getting the job done. That is always a great feeling.
Click to expand...
I'm scared of electricity, Lefty. Even though I turned off the power to the whole house, not just the kitchen (just in case LOL), I had to take a deep breath before I attached the wiring with the little screw nuts.
 
Fisher's Mom said:
That looks fantastic, Food. I was hoping you'd have some new pics - that's a huge project. You didn't pour the steps yourself, did you?
Click to expand...

Thanks Mom.
I poured every cubic foot of cement with my little mixer I bought for this project, working section by section. I know redi-mix is faster and cheaper but they would have to pump cement more than 100 feet from the street. Not only that, since I work over 60 hours/week I don't have the time to wait around for the cement truck to show up. This way, with my own little mixer and palets of 90lb concrete mix from Home Depot I can work according to my schedule and convenience. :D
 
Fisher's Mom said:
I'm scared of electricity, Lefty. Even though I turned off the power to the whole house, not just the kitchen (just in case LOL), I had to take a deep breath before I attached the wiring with the little screw nuts.
Click to expand...
Next time you are in Walmart, or your local hardware store pick up one of these babies (Circuit tester)

20050501_Electrical_Testers_page001img002.jpg


You use it by touching the probes to the wires, if the light turns on do not work on the circuit since it is live!!!! No light means no electric which is safe to work on. Make sure to read all the safety instruction with this.
 
Good for you Terry!
Plumbing I can manage. I've replaced toilets, pipes, disposers, etc. I used to do electrical stuff at work but at home for some reason scares the crap out of me. I have a new lighting system for my bathroom that DS bought me six months ago and it's still sitting there. lol (I may call JoeV to do it. lol) The wiring in this house is so wonky.
Looking good Food. That is a huge project!!
 
FooD said:
Thanks Mom.
I poured every cubic foot of cement with my little mixer I bought for this project, section by section.
Click to expand...
OMG!!! That is amazing! There is a lot to cement projects. The framing and the reinforcement is really, really hard work, but essential that it be perfect. And then pouring and smoothing - I am damned impressed, Food. It is gorgeous! Wow!!!
 
Lefty said:
Next time you are in Walmart, or your local hardware store pick up one of these babies (Circuit tester)
Click to expand...
DH has several of those, but of course, no instructions. LOL And I'm not sure I trust him to tell me how to use it. I think I will buy one just for myself and save the instructions. Thanks, Lefty!
 
I don't mind electrical work, carpentry and such, but my abilities just leak away when it comes to plumbing! Good thing for me my wife is accomplished at pipe work. I can replace sinks and such, but if the elbow joint is leaking or a washer needs replacing I am screwed!

Currently, our washing machine agitator is on the dryer, awaiting delivery of a set
of dog cams... little doodads that make the top part of it agitate. I finally pulled it
apart, decided it was a DIY and ordered the parts. Soon, I will be able to wash more than 3 pairs of jeans at a time again......... i hope. :)

Kudos to everyone who conquers their Tim the Tool Man fears and jumps on it! :)
 
I'm impressed FM! You are quite talented.

That looks great Food! Can't wait to see the finished pics.

DH is going to have a couple of weeks off during the holidays so we are planning to do a little remodeling here as well. I didn't realize that our water company is offering a $100 rebate per toilet for up to 2 toilets if you replace them with 1.28 gallon flush toilets...the same ones they have at Sams Club for $99 each. Nothing like upgrading your home for free...and saving money on the water bill!
 
That circuit tester that Lefty recommends is an essential, must have tool. ...and cheap too. I also use a non-contact current detector which comes in handy at times. I have one made by Fluke.
 
We have a circuit breaker box with about 50 breakers in it. It controls all the power to this property. Electric isn't a big deal for me in most cases but used to had the fuse type boxes. Our electrical set up is really pretty good with our phone lines being kind of funky, but then it was all done 25 years ago and phone lines have sure changed over that time especially with DSL almost every where. It was also done before they got into that time of aluminum wiring so we had good copper wiring and copper plumbing pipes except for the sprinkler system which is PVC pipe.
 
Mama said:
DH is going to have a couple of weeks off during the holidays so we are planning to do a little remodeling here as well. I didn't realize that our water company is offering a $100 rebate per toilet for up to 2 toilets if you replace them with 1.28 gallon flush toilets...the same ones they have at Sams Club for $99 each. Nothing like upgrading your home for free...and saving money on the water bill!
Click to expand...
Heck, yeah! Our water company gave away free, low water usage toilets a couple of years ago - 2 per household. We've only installed one of them because the other 2 in the house are commercial style tankless and we're afraid of messing with them. LOL But I think these are 1.6 gallon flushes - I hadn't heard about the 1.28 ones.
 
Same here. We couldn't take advantage of the low flush toilets because our toilets were different. We have those old Kohler toilets which are wall mounted with above floor drains. Replacing them with standard toilets mean re-routing the toilet drain from behind the wall to under the floor. I hate these toilets. I guess they were in style back in the day. One day I'll replace them with one piece units, open the floor, and re-route the drain pipes.
 
We have three toilets in the place, 2 in the apartment and 1 in the office all of which are all 1.6 gallons American Standard round which I hate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top