DIY Home repairs

[sfzombie13]

@Shadey

inspectors, a lot don’t have a clue and guess when they are not sure

the amount of inspectors getting into the field without a clue about construction and how things are built is what got me into it. i walked through with mine and found a few things he missed and he suggested it. that’s where i hope to get a lot of business, having a gc license also and 20 years experience. they are right about the furnace though, regardless of how it’s preforming right now it is at the end of life expenctancy for furnaces. they are like old men, some peter out way too early and some live well past their time. no way to tell which one is going to go tomorrow though.

@thainer

errors and omissions insurance

in wv, you have to have insurance before getting the license. 250k liability though, e&o is optional, not mandatory. i gladly got it though, along with half a mil per occurrance and 5 mil aggregate. 250k could be one claim and i plan on doing more than one per year.

you guys are right about inspectors though, not much to them in order to do the job and not get sued. the language has to be very precise also. you can never use the ‘m’ word (mold), and a few others. it’s all ‘microbial growth’ snce we are not labs and cannot specify what type of mold it is. it took me a bit to get used to talking like that but it reminds me of back in the military somewhat.

[Stiickygreen]

We sold a house in 2015 we’d lived in for 25 years and where I had a commercial grow from '92 to 2014. I drywalled/textured holes where ventilation was…removed some circuits I’d ran to the space and generally tried to cover any evidence of my grow time there.

Add “Mylar” to the list…actually…“space blankets”. Early in the 90’s pickins were slim for grow supplies and I did all I could to not go to the hydroponics store…2 hours away. Enter space blankets. Affixed to a wall they were far from ideal but better than nothing. During our inspection the inspector saw a small peice of SB and that alone sent him on the warpath. From there he went into the attic…and found spots of mold. Then the word “GROW HOUSE!” emerged… and out came the boys in white suits and a 12K bill to “mitigate” the mold. Sucked…but then again…the folks buying the house bought it @ full, highly inflated price…so we just paid the bill. Even so…take it as a warning if you are selling a house to be as thorough as you can to not let the cat out of the bag. Legal or not…it opens the door for all sorts of shit.

[Nitt]

Hey guys.

I think I want to get a sander of some kind, and would like some suggestions. I don’t know much about them. I did a little “youtubing”, and amazon/homedepot browsing. That’s about it.
I’m going to be doing some drywall “repairs”; nail/screw holes, dents and other holes up to maybe 4" or 5", and even a couple 6" and 8" holes from old ducting (where I’ll put the appropriate size “plug” in the whole, screwed into some backing material, then put mud in the remaining gap of the perimeter and sand that). Some of the screw holes are actually in wood, and in a ceiling/above head (not drywall) - might I just fill those with wood filler and paint that to match the ceiling (somewhat)?

Anyways… It just needs to be decent looking.

I don’t think I wan’t something cordless. Corded is fine. Was looking at a couple $80-100 (CAD) dewalt, bosche, and milwaukee models. But I don’t know if I should go with orbital, or …1/4 sheet, or what. And what accessories I might need (just the sandpaper pieces?). decent dust collection would be nice (containment/filter box), but also vacuum attachment would be nice - not absolutely necessary I guess.

Advice appreciated.
Thank you.

[catapult]

Either grab a cheap 80-100 model; Bosch, Dewalt, Makita or if you want to upgrade for more power, speed, and excellent dust removal Festool is the way.

https://www.festoolusa.com/products/surface-preparation/random-orbital-sander/576340---ets-ec-1253-eq-plus-us

[sfzombie13]

if you plan on doing anything with drywall mud use a damp sponge and you can thank me later when there is no dust.

[Hashpants]

Sanders dont work well on drywall. They cut into the paper around the area and it doesn’t finish up well. We just use an extra skim of mud thinned with a bit of water at the end, and sand with a sponge block by hand. Go for the medium to rough block to save time. For woodworking we use dewalt 5" orbitals with dust collection bag. They dont last forever, but the price is right.

[Foreigner]

Agreed about the sponge block.

That’s a good idea with a final thin skim. I didn’t do that.

I’m partial to Bosch for power stuff.

[OG619]

I use to do a lot of unnecessary drywall sanding when i first started. Just make sure to mix mud thouroughly and right consistency for you too work with, make it smooth as possible, come back with trowel to knock down high points and light sanding with a sponge. For ceiling work use one of these on a stick, and for small patches “butterfly patches” work well as pictured. And as far as sanders im liking my milwaukee cordless orbital but wouldnt use it on drywall unless its really bad.

[Reznfingeez33]

I love the floors. Looks like that Burnt look

[BTYGMO]

Great thread… Best advice I ever got doing drywall was mix hot batches. Mix a hot batch they cure in less than an hour. Do your first pass with the hot batch. Then you can mix the hot batch and regular batches to fine tune a rapid cure with just a little more working time. This lets you do multiple passes on the same day and sand all in one day. You will need to work fast. Get ready before you mix. Have everything ready in hand and mix small batches to keep it workable. The guys that do this commercially cannot afford to show up a second day. This is their secrets. Cheers !!!

[Nitt]

@sfzombie13

if you plan on doing anything with drywall mud use a damp sponge and you can thank me later when there is no dust.

@Hashpants

We just use an extra skim of mud thinned with a bit of water at the end, and sand with a sponge block by hand.

@Foreigner

Agreed about the sponge block.

@OG619

Just make sure to mix mud thouroughly and right consistency for you too work with, make it smooth as possible, come back with trowel to knock down high points and light sanding with a sponge.

It sounds like some of you are suggesting a pre-made “sanding sponge” (a sponge like block with sanding grit embedded on the outside, right?), and maybe someone else is suggesting a sponge (like the yellow one pictured above) with no grit on it, that you just wet/make damp.
Is that right?

I’m not likely going to be mixing up any mud. Just buying a smaller tub of something pre-mixed. Is that a bad idea?

Also, for the screw holes in the ceiling (which is wooden “stips”) should I use “wood filler” to fill those?

Thanks.

[mota]

@OG619

For ceiling work use one of these on a stick

Rather than an old school rectangular pole sander, I suggest a round, foam backed pole sander, and not just for ceilings. I preferred them for walls too. The sandpaper rounds and sander head are velcro backed.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Radius360-Pole-Sander-R360/204808490

@Hashpants

[Power] Sanders dont work well on drywall.

I couldn’t agree more. I would never use an electric sander on drywall. You are just asking for problems.

I know you’re only doing some spot work, however, if you were taping a large room or a house, I’d also suggest focusing on only verticals or horizontals, one at a time. Do all of one, then when it’s dry, light sand at tape joints and then finish taping. I suggest this for all three coats. I found it far easier to get quality transitions this way.

I agree with @catapult, Festool makes great tools (if you can afford them). Their track saw is to die for, and they’ve really come down in price. Used to be well over a grand.

@Nitt

I’m not likely going to be mixing up any mud. Just buying a smaller tub of something pre-mixed. Is that a bad idea?

Pre-mixed mud isn’t really mixed and ready for use. You need to mix it thoroughly before using it. You’ll also need to add a little water as you mix. As for consistency, when you mash/turn the mud in the bucket, you don’t want to see anyplace that looks like the mud is “breaking,” which is to say you want the mud to be completely smooth with every stroke. While you can add too much water, in my experience you literally cannot over mix.

@Nitt

for the screw holes in the ceiling (which is wooden “stips”) should I use “wood filler” to fill those?

If you have some sawdust from the same wood, which is to say the same color, you can mix it with wood glue and use that for patching. I usually couldn’t find filler that matched well.

@OG619, in the last picture, the one of the actual plug, I like the wide margins. I would, however, suggest also putting a bit of backing behind the plug to secure it to the wall. A small strip of plywood would work. It doesn’t need to be as big as the hole. It’s only there to screw the plug into in a couple of places.

[Shadey]

Yeah they are burnt, I was pleased the way they came out.The bedroom floor planks had 7 coats of paint on them so I had to run them through my planner first, then burned with a blow torch, then sanded down to reveal the grain and varnished. It was a bit time consuming but worth it I think. The floor in the bathroom I made with new wood so just had to burn and sand those. The ones in the room above had paint on them as well but I found it burned off quickly and saved time not running it through the planner and didn’t cost me a new set of blades.

There are several good tutorials on YouTube for doing it, you can apply a colored stain over it as well which gives amazing effects.

[mota]

My son did the same thing for the back platform and two steps leading down to grade from French doors. The platform is pretty wide as are the treads. I wasn’t really sure about it at first, but have come to think highly of it. It has worn well and now has a nice patina.

[sfzombie13]

i used to sand drywall with a screen on a pole. now i just use a sponge. i just did a wall in my house to fix a hole in teh ceiling. you don’t have to do anything except let the mud dry and then sponge it. or not even all the way dry. you just gotta watch not to get too much water on the drywall or it will not be good.

first i’ve heard about hot mixing. i’ll have to try that, this waiting all day for mud to dry sucks. when we worked commercial jobs we had enough units to do at once it did not matter to return the next day as we would be finishing for weeks sometimes.

[Nitt]

What is this sponge called (from your post above):

Is this equivalent?:

QEP 70005Q-3VP XL Grouting Super Sponge, 3 Pack, Grout Cleaners - Amazon Canada

Not sure how you use it…?

[sfzombie13]

just make it damp and wipe the ridges. naturally the closer you scrape it the less you wipe but it works. just don’t get it too wet.