Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[Walt34]

What travelover said. Normally to stop a four-stroke small engine I turn the fuel off and let it run until it quits from lack of fuel. If it didn't come with a fuel valve I'll put one on it. The practice prevents a lot of carb fouling problems.

[doneat54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover I put myself through engineering school working on small engines. I'd just smell the oil for gas, change if contaminated, remove spark plug and pull it over until gas quits coming out the plug hole, then reinstall plug and start it. It just got super flooded from bouncing around and sitting at an angle. If the carb continues to leak, replace the needle valve (and seat if applicable).

Filled it with oil today, added gas to the tank, cleaned the spark plug, and it started right up, first pull. Oil was a little "foamy" looking after running for 30 seconds or so, so I will drain and change it again in the next week or so. Shut off the fuel valve while it was running when done splitting and just let it die.

[NW-Bound]

Just replaced the bathtub spout in the upstairs bathroom. It caused a leak down to the ceiling below, that I have not attempted to fix for perhaps 10 years. I feared the worse, and thought perhaps it took tearing down the downstairs ceiling to get at the bad plumbing of the bathtub drain. With the bedrooms upstairs unused (kids are long gone), there was no hurry to fix this.

Yesterday, I finally attempted to locate the leak. It did not look like the leak was at the drain, but I gave it a light caulk just to be sure. Then, I took off the cover plate of the tub overflow outlet, and let out a curse. Damn plumber never did caulk around that outlet!

When my daughter filled up the tub for a soak, water would come up to the overflow outlet and leaked around the receptacle. Damn! I saw some soap scum there, so of course the water did come up that high.

When the caulk set, my wife did some cleaning up of the shower stall. Water came pouring down the ceiling below. DAMN!

It turned out that the bathtub spout leaked, when the flow was diverted up to the shower head. The O-ring of the spout has gone bad after 35 years, and water squirted back along the 1/2" pipe, and went into the wall and then down below.

All that water flow was covered up by the spout shroud, so went unnoticed. I had to use a saber saw along with a Dremel wheel to cut out the spout shroud. With the pipe poking out of the wall exposed, I saw that the DAMN plumber put no caulk there either.

The new spout has been installed. I am still waiting for the caulk to set before the real acid test, but this really looks like it. Fingers crossed.

While I shopped for the new spout, also picked up spackling compound and drywall tape to repair the ceiling later.

[NW-Bound]

Yesterday, I replaced the front shock absorbers of my class C motorhome. The RV has been sitting since I came back from the Alaska trip in 2018. Then, 2019 was the year for a European trek. My plan has been to alternate between RV'ing and Europe, and to do only one long trip each year.

I bought premium quality Bilstein shocks with the intention of putting them on for the 2020 RV trek around the Great Lakes, but that never came to pass. Don't know if I can go anywhere for 2021 either with my wife not being able to leave the side of MIL, but I got to do something with the shocks, instead of just having them sit in a corner of the garage.

Then, I changed the oil. Took the RV to Costco to put some gas in, to bring the level up to where I can run the genset. Will have to change the oil of the genset too.

I hope the genset will start up. The last time I started up the RV and drove it around a few miles was perhaps a year ago, but the genset has not been cranked since the Alaskan trip. The genset would not run anyway, because fuel was too low in the RV gas tank.

PS. I installed Bilstein shocks for the rear a few years ago. That's 35K miles ago. I am going to check to see if the rear shocks need to be replaced again.

[mountainsoft]

Our "new" house is now 16+ years old. Wow, time flies. Our kitchen walls were starting to show signs of wear, various splatters, dinged corners, and some of the inside corners were pulling apart as the studs dried out. So, I spent a few days washing, trimming, patching, masking, and repainting our kitchen while my wife was out of town. It's always amazing how much work goes into something that essentially looks the same when you're all done.

I'm also building a large 16' wide entertainment center for my brother and sister in-law. I started on this project, and a matching office cabinet, at the end of November and am STILL working on it. I'm almost finished building, but will probably spend at least another month disassembling it all, staining, and applying the finish. 4-5 hours daily, I'll be glad when this project is finished.

[John Galt III]

Replaced a connection between two speaker wires in my stereo system. (Had to add wire2 to wire1 to increase the length of the run years ago, to reposition speaker) Previously, I had just twisted the wires together, and taped them over. This resulted in occasionally losing the sound to one speaker when I walked next to the patch, which was on the floor, under a rug. The fix was to buy some crimp connectors, and install them. Nice tight connection now between the wires, and the sound stays on.

[NateW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Just replaced the bathtub spout in the upstairs bathroom. It caused a leak down to the ceiling below, that I have not attempted to fix for perhaps 10 years. I feared the worse, and thought perhaps it took tearing down the downstairs ceiling to get at the bad plumbing of the bathtub drain. With the bedrooms upstairs unused (kids are long gone), there was no hurry to fix this. Yesterday, I finally attempted to locate the leak. It did not look like the leak was at the drain, but I gave it a light caulk just to be sure. Then, I took off the cover plate of the tub overflow outlet, and let out a curse. Damn plumber never did caulk around that outlet! When my daughter filled up the tub for a soak, water would come up to the overflow outlet and leaked around the receptacle. Damn! I saw some soap scum there, so of course the water did come up that high. When the caulk set, my wife did some cleaning up of the shower stall. Water came pouring down the ceiling below. DAMN! It turned out that the bathtub spout leaked, when the flow was diverted up to the shower head. The O-ring of the spout has gone bad after 35 years, and water squirted back along the 1/2" pipe, and went into the wall and then down below. All that water flow was covered up by the spout shroud, so went unnoticed. I had to use a saber saw along with a Dremel wheel to cut out the spout shroud. With the pipe poking out of the wall exposed, I saw that the DAMN plumber put no caulk there either. The new spout has been installed. I am still waiting for the caulk to set before the real acid test, but this really looks like it. Fingers crossed. While I shopped for the new spout, also picked up spackling compound and drywall tape to repair the ceiling later.

Great job NW-Bound locating the source of that leak and fixing it. That is not an easy one to find. I had a similar leak in an upstairs bathroom that leaked onto the first floor ceiling drywall and into the hallway light fixture. It literally took me months to locate the leak source. Originally thought the tub drain/foot was leaking. I eventually found it by pouring a pan of water down the tiled wall just below where the shower pipe exited the wall. DW watched from the first floor hallway for water to drip. The tile grout had a crack running horizontally a couple of feet between the tiles and as water from the shower ran down the wall it went into the crack and then ran down the inside of the wall to the first floor ceiling. We fixed it by having Bathfitter install vinyl surround. For what you get, its very expensive.

[Kroeran]

The foam ones we had installed 6 years ago are shrunken shadows of their former selves. The crows have started picking at and dislodging them, putting the issue on DW’s radar.

Damn things are too high up for me to deal with, so I am forced to engage the gutter grifter industrial complex. Seems to me half of guys my age die from ladder falls and the other half from bike accidents.

Last guy that came by swung for the fences and quoted $30000 because the lovely 1946 wood soffits and fascia whatever needed to be covered with maintenance free aluminum.

Previous guy fired me as a client because I enquired about replacing loose gutter nail pops with gutter screws, instead of replacing the gutters.

Found a company that knows what a gutter screw is, and they may be coming by this week for a quote on tightening the gutter fascia gaps and leaks and discuss guards.

I would rather pull the foam and do maintenance on the gutters when needed. Not a lot of trees close or high enough to cause much trouble. I can think of several ways to clear the gutters without getting on a ladder. DW has a different view on the matter.

Seeking opinions and insights on the issue.

[Out-to-Lunch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kroeran The foam ones we had installed 6 years ago are shrunken shadows of their former selves. The crows have started picking at and dislodging them, putting the issue on DW’s radar. Damn things are too high up for me to deal with, so I am forced to engage the gutter grifter industrial complex. Seems to me half of guys my age die from ladder falls and the other half from bike accidents. Last guy that came by swung for the fences and quoted $30000 because the lovely 1946 wood soffits and fascia whatever needed to be covered with maintenance free aluminum. Previous guy fired me as a client because I enquired about replacing loose gutter nail pops with gutter screws, instead of replacing the gutters. Found a company that knows what a gutter screw is, and they may be coming by this week for a quote on tightening the gutter fascia gaps and leaks and discuss guards. I would rather pull the foam and do maintenance on the gutters when needed. Not a lot of trees close or high enough to cause much trouble. I can think of several ways to clear the gutters without getting on a ladder. DW has a different view on the matter. Seeking opinions and insights on the issue.

All I can say is that the ones my neighbor and I installed are still going strong. I reference my neighbor because he installed his about 10 years ago. Mine are admittedly only from 2014. I used "Gutter Stuff" brand.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kroeran ..... Last guy that came by swung for the fences and quoted $30000 because the lovely 1946 wood soffits and fascia whatever needed to be covered with maintenance free aluminum. .....

Just for reference, around 15 yrs ago, I had a guy install white aluminum fascia and soffits over my wooden ones that needed painting. He cut out large holes in the soffits for more air flow, to be close to what a new house would be like, and better than the tiny holes I did have.
The charge was $3,000 which was close to the cost of just painting the wood every 10 years, so it was a no brainer for me.

[Finance Dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kroeran The foam ones we had installed 6 years ago are shrunken shadows of their former selves. The crows have started picking at and dislodging them, putting the issue on DW’s radar. Damn things are too high up for me to deal with, so I am forced to engage the gutter grifter industrial complex. Seems to me half of guys my age die from ladder falls and the other half from bike accidents. Last guy that came by swung for the fences and quoted $30000 because the lovely 1946 wood soffits and fascia whatever needed to be covered with maintenance free aluminum. Previous guy fired me as a client because I enquired about replacing loose gutter nail pops with gutter screws, instead of replacing the gutters. Found a company that knows what a gutter screw is, and they may be coming by this week for a quote on tightening the gutter fascia gaps and leaks and discuss guards. I would rather pull the foam and do maintenance on the gutters when needed. Not a lot of trees close or high enough to cause much trouble. I can think of several ways to clear the gutters without getting on a ladder. DW has a different view on the matter. Seeking opinions and insights on the issue.

Install perforated leaf guards. I've done this on my personal home and one rental.

I am a retired home inspector, so I saw lots of gutter issues. Don't buy the cheap chicken wire type...I recommend something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/FlexxPoint-Gu...79375920&psc=1

[Kroeran]

Thank you for comments.

This guy is very persuasive for that version of guard,

https://youtu.be/fJ2yue80aVU

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finance Dave Install perforated leaf guards. I've done this on my personal home and one rental. I am a retired home inspector, so I saw lots of gutter issues. Don't buy the cheap chicken wire type...I recommend something like this. https://www.amazon.com/FlexxPoint-Gu...79375920&psc=1

How are these with pine needles?

[Sniggle]

Replaced the driver side axle in my son's car, as the CV boot failed. The CV boot kit was only $25 dollars cheaper than the complete axle, so it was a no brainer to go for the complete axle. A job that should have taken 45 minutes took 3+ hours and a trip to the autozone, but I built that slop into the project.

Issues:
- control arm cotter pin broke pulling it out. After futzing trying to push the remnants out I finally drilled it out. If I had done that right away it would have saved my 30 minutes.
- No 22 mm box wrench. I could have sworn I had one, as I did the other side last year. That was the trip to autozone.
- Getting the control arm bolt out was a puzzle

All and all, cost me about $55 (42 for driver shaft, 13 for wrench). I enjoyed the experience, the key being that I allotted a whole day for the job:-)

[Finance Dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover How are these with pine needles?

Needles will go in if aimed straight down.

We don’t have many pine trees in Indiana.

If u are concerned, try gutter helmet. Only disadvantage is that during downpours the water runs right over the edge.

[Finance Dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sniggle Replaced the driver side axle in my son's car, as the CV boot failed. The CV boot kit was only $25 dollars cheaper than the complete axle, so it was a no brainer to go for the complete axle. A job that should have taken 45 minutes took 3+ hours and a trip to the autozone, but I built that slop into the project. Issues: - control arm cotter pin broke pulling it out. After futzing trying to push the remnants out I finally drilled it out. If I had done that right away it would have saved my 30 minutes. - No 22 mm box wrench. I could have sworn I had one, as I did the other side last year. That was the trip to autozone. - Getting the control arm bolt out was a puzzle All and all, cost me about $55 (42 for driver shaft, 13 for wrench). I enjoyed the experience, the key being that I allotted a whole day for the job:-)

I used to be an auto tech...replaced hundreds of those. Side cuts with leverage easily removes cotter pins. Need an air hammer ball joint spreader to get control arm bolt separation. I used to be able to do one of those in 20 minutes but that was on a lift.

https://youtu.be/dOlcNTAgp-Q

[Out-to-Lunch]

Replaced a leaking cartridge in our shower/tub combo. Easy-peasy, even including the requisite TWO trips to the hardware store, which stretched the job out to 75 minutes.

Edit: I should say that the 75 minutes included: deciding I wanted to do this, taking off the knob to explore and find out what brand I had, watch a few youtubes, wade through a number of eerily similar, poorly written pages on the differences between the Moen 1200 and 1225 cartridges, two trips to hardware store (the second to swap out a 1225 for a 1200!), installation, cleaning the crud off of the crenellated knobs, and reinstall.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Out-to-Lunch Replaced a leaking cartridge in our shower/tub combo. Easy-peasy, even including the requisite TWO trips to the hardware store, which stretched the job out to 75 minutes.

I've had to do it twice with 20 year old Moen fixtures, the cartridges didn't come out easy for me, needed to buy a special tool that screws into the end of the cartridge and a lot of tugging.

[Out-to-Lunch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 I've had to do it twice with 20 year old Moen fixtures, the cartridges didn't come out easy for me, needed to buy a special tool that screws into the end of the cartridge and a lot of tugging.

Interesting!

Mine was at least 23 years old (how long we have been in the house!), and probably a lot older, and it came right out. Phew!

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Out-to-Lunch Replaced a leaking cartridge in our shower/tub combo. Easy-peasy, even including the requisite TWO trips to the hardware store, which stretched the job out to 75 minutes. Edit: I should say that the 75 minutes included: deciding I wanted to do this, taking off the knob to explore and find out what brand I had, watch a few youtubes, wade through a number of eerily similar, poorly written pages on the differences between the Moen 1200 and 1225 cartridges, two trips to hardware store (the second to swap out a 1225 for a 1200!), installation, cleaning the crud off of the crenellated knobs, and reinstall.

I had to guess what "crenellated" meant, looked it up on the Web, and I was right.

I had to replace a valve cartridge in my shower stall once. The house was only 10-year-old then, yet that cartridge was already discontinued by Moen. It was a good thing I found a distributor still having some in stock, so bought two to have a spare.

PS. I don't remember how I tracked down the number of that cartridge. Darn, my memory is getting poorer everyday.