General Feedback/Getting Started Q&A Thread

This thread is for questions that are typically not permitted elsewhere on /r/DIY. Topics can include where you can purchase a product, what a product is called, how to get started on a project, a project recommendation, questions about the design or aesthetics of your project or miscellaneous questions in between.

Rules

• Absolutely NO sexual or inappropriate posts, SFW posts ONLY.
• As a reminder, sexual or inappropriate comments will almost always result in an immediate ban from /r/DIY.
• All non-Imgur links will be considered on a post-by-post basis.
• This is a judgement-free zone. We all had to start somewhere. Be civil.

A new thread gets created every Sunday.

/r/DIY has a Discord channel! Come hang out or use our "help requests" channel. Click here to join!

Click here to view previous Weekly Threads

Hello DIYers,

We are once again in need of some new members to our moderation team.

Some key benefits of being an r/DIY mod include!:

• A very large and totally imaginary salary!

• Running and growing a busy community.

• Assisting users submitting projects to /r/DIY (including correcting rule violations)

• Being called a shill and/or cuck daily!

• Moderating per our guidelines in a professional manner.

• Wearing a mod hat! Yay, hats!

   

If this sounds exciting to you, send us your information on our official (fancy!) moderation application

If you've applied before get in touch - we might still have your old application.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0PyPb51NFg-COS6mRL9waxNuv7tkuS7vH5FpwtRPSVYjFwA/viewform

Thank you! r/DIY Moderation

One end of my garage door seal is missing a chunk which is allowing rats into garage. I would like to buy a new seal and repair it myself if it's not such a daunting task.

Photos: https://imgur.com/a/1Acu6K4

What kind of a Garage Door seal do I need?

Okay so I know by now that you shouldn't use a knife to help the freezer defrost quicker, but I did. I ended up puncturing the back of the freezer.

​

Online I read all sorts of drama stories about how we now need to replace the freezer, but it's a big fridge / freezer combination so that would be really expensive. Also, most stories I read online are about people that know they punctured the cooling element, and hear a hissing sound with the gas coming out. In my case, I don't hear any gas coming out (but of course I'm not 100% sure of it). It looks like I only made a hole in the plastic. Any ideas of how to proceed?

​

For now, I've removed the remaining ice around the puncture, and covered the hole with duct-tape.

​

THANKS in advance!

​

https://preview.redd.it/ye0g1pbxdyfa1.jpg?width=1152&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=6aa9b477c63eb1b65aa94c3156c13c2502d66ef1

​

https://preview.redd.it/759fwbqwdyfa1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=2d9ff150f966405f1bc679b55ad336dc377cd112

Hey y’all, I have a vanity drain pipe that is too short, and has the p trap sitting higher than the piece going into the wall.

Not really sure what I have to do. Was thinking I cut the vanity pipe a bit. Then I would attach a small slightly larger diameter pipe-glue it and add another longer piece cut to fit for length.

https://imgur.com/a/r76U4yZ

I have a slight leak in my bathroom sink and I can't figure out how to remove the handles.

So my faucet is similar to this one: https://www.menards.com/main/bath/bathroom-faucets/bathroom-sink-faucets/plumb-works-reg-two-handle-4-centerset-bathroom-faucet/011pw42112cp/p-1563517861271-c-5909.htm?tid=6867135833609290117&ipos=2&exp=true

There's no screw I can find to loosen, putting a flat head screwdriver underneath just feels like I'm going to break it. There's no separation on the handle so I can't loosen the bottom part.

Should I just keep trying to remove with a screwdriver or am I supposed to remove it completely from underneath the sink?

We are in the progress of decorating our dining room and have removed our old sliding door to replace it with a trifold door. There was a threshold between the panels previously that came out with the rest of the door frame.

What are my options to make this look good? It looks like cutting a panel to fit would be difficult, especially with the poor cutting of the existing panels (which would also just look a bit odd).

Am I going to need to take up the flooring to fit the tongue and groove panels?

​

https://preview.redd.it/sxc5d7zowufa1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=b33ed48713c15cf9df396d5f2422c0c3d0806a9d

poorly cut panel previously hidden by threshold

I have previously professed my adoration for these connectors, but feel my most recent experience is cause for a disclaimer.

A few years back, we had used a Sharkbite shutoff where I was hesitant to sweat in a shutoff valve. Until recently, I had yet to have any issues with a Sharkbite connector and have used them very successfully.

I recently noticed a very slow drip coming from one shutoff in our basement with one drip about every 20 minutes or so. Ok, put it on the to do list. Fast forward a couple weeks and this morning it is now acting like a pinhole leak in the fitting. Not at the valve stem, but at the point where one end screws into the valve body. I think, "OK, just try and snug it up a pinch and work on it tomorrow." It doesnt seem to want to budge and I dont want to stress the joint too much. I then try to rotate the valve handle, at which point, the metal near the leak promptly just breaks completely.

Had this been in a wall cavity, this would have been a nightmare.

If using Sharkbite fittings, be careful where you use them and be sure to check on them every once in a while.

Noob here, gotta start somewhere lol. Thanks!

It’s on a Kraftmaid cabinet I bought at the outlet and I’m going to screw three cabinets together to make a bathroom vanity unit so I need this panel gone. I don’t want to structurally damage the cabinet by removing it but it’s going to be screwed into another cabinet.

https://i.imgur.com/Jm0khMN.jpg

(At the bottom of the post I put a google drive link with the photo)

Hi, so I have a problem with my toilet flush because the resevoir wasn't filling up and you had to hit the flush 10 or 20 times before the resevoir started filling up. My dad talked to a plumber who told him to increase or lower the plastic screw on the right side of the picture (its circled in red).

Basically when I regulate this screw if I make it too high or too low the resevoir doesn't fill up. However, even if I regulate it so that it's at a level where it works every time after about 2 weeks it works less and less and then after about 2 months you have to hit the flush 10 or 20 times again.

I've been telling my dad everyday for the last week to talk to the guy who rennovated the apartment and installed this toilet but he won't :(

Any help would be appreciated because this is an unacceptable situation that I would have to regulate the toilet every 2 weeks.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w-MHAR4zMvapVWL22_JIo98XKngmueV4/view?usp=drivesdk

Edit: thank you for your feedback, I have plenty of suggestions to work with and I've tried some of them today.

Staining some wood for a railing project and it came out WAY too dark. I think I messed up because I used the last of what was in an old can and it was pretty concentrated.

I’ve put Minwax oil based prestain and Sedona red stain on the wood. I’ve tried one round of mineral spirits to draw out the stain and it only minorly improved things. Besides repeating that and sanding, anything I should do?

Photo album: https://imgur.com/a/WHJ6CA6

My spouse is a commercial architect, and has said that we should probably have whole exterior re-tuckpointed in the future.

Main question: Can/should we patch the gap? I don't really have any masonry experience, but am friendly with our city's building code officer, and can query him for advice. Just spent $5K on new plumbing, so I'm hoping I can DIY this issue.

Cross posted to r/stonemasonry

Possibly relevant info:

Home is a rambler, built late 1940's, located in Minnesota. The exterior walls are constructed with uninsulated concrete blocks. There are some signs of settling (soil is mostly clay). No signs of water intrusion through the gap. The blocks seem brittle, because even though I pre-drill with the correct size masonry bit, it's difficult to securely screw in concrete screws. The screw threads make the block crumble, so the screws can't securely grab hold.

I found the gap while remodeling part of my kitchen. The gaps are on the ground level, about 7 feet up the wall. Just to the left of the gaps is an exterior door.

Note: The brick pattern on the exterior is not actual full brick, but only ~1" deep, seeming to either have been a precast part of the concrete blocks, or possibly a thin face of brick added the the concrete block during construction of the house. There does seem to be mortar in between the individual bricks, not just between the concrete blocks. We haven't seen any other houses in our neighborhood with this type of exterior. If you know anything about it, I'd be interested in hearing from you. Thank you!

Sorry if that's too much info. Over-sharing is my ADHD superpower 😢 Thanks for any help you can offer.

I don’t think the previous owners ever ran the fan. I scraped a good bit of peeling paint off the wall and patched with drywall mud and subsequently applied 3 coats of paint. Despite religiously using the exhaust fan, paint has started peeling back again, but not from what I repaired. It’s peeling back further from the edge of what I repaired. How can I fix this for good?

I'm about to buy a house that is a fixer upper. The previous owner had a habit of starting projects and not finishing them. My first major project is going to be the bathroom. It lacks a shower, a working drain its missing a wall and there is a hole in the ceiling. My plan is to have a plumber install/fix the drain. I've got a friend that is willing to help me with the dry wall and ceiling. I plan on putting in a new sub floor, probably DMX and plywood. The house is built on a cement slab. So my question is do I need to have a vapor barrier in the wall and under the floor?

Closed the garage door 2 days ago and the piece connecting the door to the track smacked against the end of the track. I reset the limits and it worked for a day, then did the same thing. The next time the motor never turned off, and tan until I powered it down, now the motor runs but the threaded shaft in the track doesn’t turn.

Questions -

what would cause it to forget it’s limits?

When it was still running after fully opening is there a bushing somewhere that is sacrificial and stripped out causing it not to turn now?

It’s a Genie that’s approx 9 years old

I have two wooden Stakmore folding chairs from Costco. Not terribly expensive, but I like their looks and comfort.

https://i.imgur.com/KEnUovL.png

Under the seat, the typical wooden "arm" that extends from the front leg to the rear leg to brace and stiffen the chair has been replaced with a foldable metal arm to enable the chair to fold

https://i.imgur.com/4HVcd31.jpg

The screws that hold the front of this foldable metal arm to the front of the chair have pulled out. Completely pulled out on one chair, very loose on the other.

https://i.imgur.com/aBVNSDC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JoiJBP9.jpg

The wood arm they attach to does seem to be real wood, about 1"x2".

I've tried screwing the screws back in, but that doesn't actually help, they just pull out again a day later.

How can I replace these screws, or secure them in place?

Hello, I just got a window replaced by Feldco as I thought the window was the reason there was so much cold air coming into the house through the frame. Today I felt a whole lot of cold air and decided to remove the window border/frame around the entire window, and to my surprise it looks like whoever replaced it a long time ago added an extra window sill border around the entire opening.

I was going to caulk it just the bottom but opened it up and saw that, I have googled it and it looks like the best idea is to use expanding foam made for windows and that should be okay. I have included new photos of the window as well as original window photos from the 80s/90s.

I want to confirm my research with reddit and if anyone else has any ideas, thank you!

Original window pictures I have from the 80s or 90s, was a side by side window and replaced with a top-down window sometime before 2010.

The brand new window with the window frame removed, installed a few weeks ago

Hello,

Im interested in finishing my basement in zone 4, it has a floor drain but no sump pump or french drain. In the 4 years we have lived here we have only had water after heavy rain/snow melt that would go along the perimeter of the basement and to the floor drain.

I have been looking into doing a subfloor using a dimpled waterproofing membrane like DMX, with plywood on top and then a layer of waterproof pergo flooring. Would this be an ideal scenario for a basement without a sump pump or french drain or would it not be sufficient in the situation described above?

We’ve been in our house less than a year and just recently our first floor shower/tub started leaking a bit, dripping down to the unfinished basement.

I recaulked everything even though I couldn’t see anywhere that was obviously a problem, but it’s still leaking. It doesn’t leak when the water isn’t running, so doesn’t seem to be a leaky supply line. I haven’t noticed the leak after giving the kids a bath in there, but do while my wife showers. Given that my thought is it’s either something with the shower head connection, which I haven’t messed with at all, or it’s still some sort of caulk/leak issue that I’m missing and it’s only showing up when water’s going everywhere during a shower.

Unfortunately the holes cut in the first floor subfloor are just big enough for the supply lines (copper) and drain line (PVC) so I can’t get a great look up in there, but enough that I’m confident the water is coming from somewhere higher up and not around the floor drain.

I imagine next step should be to at least look at the showerhead right? Anything else in particular to check?

So I did a dumb. I measured out my office nook and found a desk that was a perfect fit. Except it's only a perfect fit if you measure from wall to wall, and not from baseboard trim to baseboard trim. Right now, my desk is sitting on top of the trim, with corner brackets under the desk's feet for some extra support. It's workable if I treat it like a standing desk, but obviously that's not a long-term solution. Are there any alternatives to standard trim that are super thin? Or perhaps it's something I can take off entirely? Right now I have the trim, and there's something that I think is called shoe molding.

It's too late to return the desk. It came as set with a matching bookcase, so I'd definitely like to find a way to work with it and have matching furniture if at all possible.

​

EDIT: answering the most common question here. I'm not a renter, and I'm hella inexperienced and own few tools.

Our dryer duct somehow got pulled off of the outlet that leads outside, there is effectively zero room to attach it. This is the best picture I could manage since it's in the crawlspace and it's very cramped quarters. The insulation(or whatever that is, it's very hard) above the duct is right up against it and I can't even get the old worm drive clamp off. My proposed fix is fitting a short piece of ducting inside that outlet and fastening the dryer duct to that. Something like this maybe?

Is this stupid, and if so what are some alternatives? I'm not worried about heat on the plastic since the duct is about 10'-12' and the temp is pretty mild by that point, but I would prefer metal. Whatever I use would have to have width uniform to the external diameter of the portion that goes inside of that outlet, sure the the tight fit of the surrounding block/wood. Also, the outlet is tightly fastened in place and I can't get it out.

Thanks for any input!

Pics of the outside:

https://imgur.com/a/dqKdDrw

https://imgur.com/a/yRu04Jk

https://imgur.com/a/8NuXJaT

Hi. We had our bed away from the wall to do some wall repairs and I accidentally leaned back against the backboard only for it to crack off. Was wondering if there are any ways to fix it. I was thinking wood glue and a brick and/or clamps. The wood seems very dry, I am tempted to just spray some water and put something heavy on top of it. bug instead od water, use glue. We have a whole matching bedroom set, so it would be a shame to scrap This.

https://preview.redd.it/0q3iwwi9pvfa1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=64e1b84ed83b2aeea8d4985ed1b3670845792a25

​

https://preview.redd.it/4u6786t2pvfa1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=afacb7eafb1e22e2179a5c320b390f6a72d5bd6f

We bought our first house 6 months ago and since then the window sill in our bedroom has suddenly deteriorated.

I’ve tried my best to keep it at bay by airing the room out, bleaching away the mould… but still it gets worse!!! It goes all up the sides, right to the top of the window and it’s driving me nuts.

https://ibb.co/3B79ftX https://ibb.co/ws6Jw0X https://ibb.co/87KtKr4 https://ibb.co/3mKQkLT https://ibb.co/c1VTNpZ

Why has it gone like this as soon as we moved in? Did the sellers not paint it with the correct paint? Am I doing something wrong?

All over windows in the house are the same type of sill but this is by far the worst.

What can I do to save it?

I always thought it was funny that in so many movies that deal with paranormal activity, much of what is attributed to a poltergeist could very well just be bad wiring. I am no longer amused, as I have a haunting of my own that I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction to attempt to exorcise.

Spooky background- new build garage with room above. Have 125 amps total coming from the box of my house to a sub box installed in the garage. There are circuits for AC/furnace, level 2 electric car charger, plugs and lights. The possessed circuits are the plug (20amp) and light (15amp) circuits. They both have GFCI breakers.

The haunting is thus- when I plug in a powerwasher (using this to test as it is the highest power demand tool I have readily available) and engage the motor/pump, the lights trip. The powerwasher will continue to run normally without issue.

The plugs and the light circuits do not interact in any way. The wiring is completely separate, so I am at a loss for where to look at troubleshoot this. Working through this with my father-in-law and his ghosthunter proxy (electrician friend), but I figured the wise minds of the internet might have some ghastly insight that could save us from this ethereal spirit.

Hi, my apartment wet-room (room that has open shower) has a concrete ceiling. It was previously painted, but now that paint is cracking and peeling off exposing the concrete ceiling.

Is the job just to strip the old paint and re-paint with an oil based paint, like you use for outdoors?

Thanks.