u/Krasnolaundry

I want to get a table saw for various reno/DIY purposes, but am a bit nervous about it due to how dangerous they can be with kickback etc. Would rather not lose a hand or my spleen if I can avoid it.

Anyone know if there's somewhere I can do a short course on safe table saw operation locally?

(Photos in post body)

One of my doors has sagged a bit, so I was going to do that trick where you pop the pin out, shim the door and then bend the hinge bits to realign them. After scraping a century of paint off the top and bottom of the hinge, both appear to be perfectly flat and solid, without a central pin? Confused. Are these hinges fixed in place or something? Any idea if you can take the two sides apart with these?

(Sorry for the bad pics, I don't have the best light in the bathroom, and also super awkward angles. But I've poked and scratched around both the top and bottom, and both seem to be fully solid, and don't appear to have any cap parts either. It's just the hinge teeth, with each alternating one connected to the alternating side of the door.)

(Also don't worry, I know the photos look like lead paint carnage, but I am being safe and wetting everything down.)

https://preview.redd.it/946hhmum6d9h1.png?width=1130&format=png&auto=webp&s=15929b9638d1dd946ab2325911d8630d16e7be6e

https://preview.redd.it/wg09yn2o6d9h1.png?width=776&format=png&auto=webp&s=6a0bcdc6c205dbab9c43934a0a4889617d514de4

(Bottom side)

(Top side)

In between the Audhd and my chronic health issues, I haven't been able to hold down a job for several years. I'm fortunate to have a supportive partner, so I don't have to stress about money (though the guilt of not contributing is definitely a factor, we're not rich, but that's a different post).

My form of contributing has been doing as much of the cleaning as I can manage, and also working on fixing up our house when my energy levels are high enough (I can manage a few hours a day on most days, but it's not reliable). I'm happy doing this, but I am objectively quite isolated.

I go for days without leaving the house leaving the house, and I've realised a big part of this is simply the spoons involved. To most people, the time and energy involved to get ready to leave the house is no big deal, but when you have a reduced capacity equalling less functional hours in a day, the act of getting ready feels like it uses up like 1/4 of my time and energy. And then being out in the world equals an increased drain on resources due to sensory stuff, unpredicability, and physical effort.

I don't want to be a shut in, and I hate how hard it feels to do these simple things. Like right now I need to take a package to the post office. It's a 20min walk there and back. That's a distance I don't have too much struggle with on a casual walk. But when it's an errand, even a low stakes casual one, I am so resistant.

Getting ready makes me anxious. Probably because of how often I used to forget something like brushing my teeth or leaving my phone at home etc when I used to work or go to school. I've pavloved myself into feeling like getting ready to leave the house is a high stakes thing with a high chance of failure.. So I tend to get ready in spurts, with breaks. Brush my teeth - break - get my clothes - break - get dressed - break - etc etc. So the whole thing ends up taking an hour or more depending on how anxious I feel. And then there's recovery after. So what should have been a 30min thing at most turns into like 2 hours sucked out of my day. And given that I have 4-6 usable hours at most, that's 50 - 67% of my day gone.

I hate this. If anyone has tips for making leaving the house feel less burdensome I'm all ears.

I think our (pre-existing) wood burner has a draft around the flue where it meets the ceiling. It's a bit of an issue because we've been battling the neighbour's insane amounts of smoke that comes directly at our house, and I presume it's getting into our ceiling cavity and then leaking into our living room. (No need to comment about the neighbour issue, we're in the process of trying to find out the owner's details (tenanted), but need to minimise the smoke in the house in the meantime).

Wondering if it's ok to just seal with some fire-rated sealant, or if there's some kind of fire-proof insulation foam/wadding that we can shove around it? I assume we'll have to take the ring down to that properly. Or is this something that can only be done by a licensed plumber?

Random question, but I figured it was worth an ask. I'm thinking about turning some of these boxes (Kmart and Spotlight both stick them, probably some other stores too) into filament storage boxes with some window sealing foam. Because the plastic is quite flimsy I expect they still wouldn't seal properly without extra clips on the long side. Before I bother trying to model something, figured it was worth asking here because one of you may have already done something like this.

https://preview.redd.it/ye7zdzpfu66h1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=e7e93a55c553a95d989f31b57acc00eb5ab715b8

(Victoria in case it matters)
tldr: who is responsible for enforcing chimney/residential smoke pollution regulations? Local council has told me they don't enforce chimney regulations. EPA website says to report to local council.
___

We recently bought a house in a regional Victorian town, and now that winter has set in we've realised we have an issue with the neighbour's chimney (I think it's a potbelly stove). Essentially, from what I can gather as someone with no expertise in the area, their chimney does not meet code. The top ends well below the top of the roof line, and is between two roof peaks, which results in smoke being funneled between the two roof sections and getting trapped in our yard, which then also works its way inside.

For context, during the fires over the summer our town got super smoky, but we could barely smell it inside because our house is actually pretty well sealed for a weatherboard house. With this smoke from the neighbours, it's so thick that our yard is in a haze. I'm currently sitting in my living room with my new powerful large air purifier wearing an old covid mask because it's so smoky in here, and my throat still hurts.

I reached out to council to try and find out how to deal with this, and they've told me they don't enforce chimney regulations. So... who does? Surely some agency has to, because it's messed up if people can just build chimneys willy nilly and cause health issues to their neighbours as a result.

Unfortunately the house is tenanted, so I can't just have a chat with owners, because I don't know who they are. And tbh even if I did, would many people really shell out to rectify and issue that wasn't affecting them but was affecting their neighbours?

I guess worst case scenario I could offer to pay for half or all of the work, but I don't really think I should given that issue is that their property is not up to code.

Council's best offer was that they can help with mediation, but wtf is the point of regulations if there is no one to enforce them?! Am I missing something here?

Any advice? I'm choking here.

We've just bought a house and need to get a few electrical things done. Any tips for working with tradies? Ie finding good ones, knowing what a fair price is etc? Like, is negotiating expected or is the price firm?

How much do you expect to pay for something like getting bathroom ceiling light changed to a heating light fixture, or installing a new light fitting where there currently isn't one?

Anything you wish you'd known before hiring an electrician for a job?

In my personal opinion, one of the things that makes tile paint very clockable is how obvious it is that both the tiles and grout have been painted. I'm going to be renovating in a couple of years, but in the meantime I'd love to change the colour of my kitchen backsplash, but I definitely do not want that solid white gloss over tiles and grout look.

Wondering if anyone's successfully either masked off their grout when painting, or gone in after the fact to either regrout or paint a different colour, and had it look convincing?

Also curious whether there are any textured tile paint options out there? All I've seen are the flat gloss options which just look like, you know, paint.

I've been having a reaction at the site of injection for a while. I spoke with my provider and she told me that this is often a reaction to the lubricant on the needle rather than the medication itself. Has anyone else encountered this and found a needle they don't react to? I'm open to using to insulin needles to manually extract from the pen if need be.

I've tried the following so far:
- Unifine pen tips 0.23 x 4mm 
- BD Ultrafine 0.23 x 4mm
- BD 6mm insulin syringe

I'm getting reactions from all of these. Based on research they all use silicon lubricant, and as far as I can tell silicon lubricant is the norm for needles. I've seen suggestions that it may be something in the individual formulations, rather than the silicon itself.

I recently had a booking at an Australian hotel (Vic) through hotels.com. The hotel room was, quite honestly, a health hazard. Splatters of dried mystery substance on the bench. The wall around the toilet paper holder had brown staining. Mouldy dirty looking shower. And to top it off it smelt like a combination of dog pee combined with super strong cleaning/air freshener, which started giving me a headache almost instantly.

We left straight away and booked at another hotel. The hotel staff told us to sort out the refund through hotels.com. I have attempted to do that twice, and both times have been told that the property has 'decided' not to give us the refund as per their cancellation policy, which states that you can cancel up to 24 hours before the booking, and after that you can't get a refund. Which, sure, fine, if you're just changing your mind, but surely this falls under consumer law of not delivering what a customer paid for?

I have photos of some of the gross stuff, and hotels.com know this, but I just got the second refusal email. Anyone got some advice? Any use taking this to fair trading? Do they help consumers get refunds with situations like this, or are they just the body that generally follows stuff up?

I don't know if it's worth getting a lawyer to write up a threatening letter, but tbh it's the principal of things. I'm pissed off. This isn't right. In any other industry, you would receive an instant refund for a faulty item. But here they're acting like they can just 'decide' not to issue a refund despite provide an unsanitary, unsatisfactory product. I just can't accept that, and I think as consumers it's important we don't let companies get away with things like this.

I have a bathroom similar to the one in the images (bath only attached to 2 walls, other 2 edges open) with coved edge terrazzo. Unfortunately, the cast iron bath has several significant chips, as well as being a very unergonomic shape which makes baths an uncomfortable neck strain. Ideally I'd like to replace it with a similar but more comfortable vintage bath tub in better condition.

The issue is that from what I've gathered, removing the bath risks ruining the terrazzo. I'm just not sure how to proceed, as the terrazzo is really beautiful and I'd be heartbroken if it got ruined.

I'm not keen on the idea of epoxy reglazing, as I've lived with that before and found it not durable enough. Also as far as I'm aware, you can only reglaze once, so it's really just a temporary fix that pushes the problem down the road.

I've also looked into bath inserts, but I have only managed to find white and maybe black acrylic ones, which I think wouldn't fit the vibe of the bathroom (I'd rather a colour, and I feel like acrylic baths tend to feel a bit cheap.

I have some out there custom ideas that I'm not really sure about the viability of, like getting a custom copper or brass bath insert made, or perhaps a custom Pyrolave insert (though I assume that would be $$$$), which is ceramic glazed, CNC machined lava rock.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? Did you figure out a solution that was satisfactory?

Is there a method of removing the bath that would reduce the damage risk?

Any other ideas?

https://preview.redd.it/w6g4gb6bse3h1.png?width=1365&format=png&auto=webp&s=244502f10a233917af118726f0a924f3aed0a9da

https://preview.redd.it/4osreuffse3h1.png?width=1084&format=png&auto=webp&s=5192a8562e99cddf732e573bd459af382edbb27f

I have these doorknobs on several doors, have done some research and they seem to be copper plated steel with a japanned finish (or maybe an imitation japanned finish, using chemicals?). I'd like to clean them up, because as you can see, they're a bit dirty and have some paint on them from the previous owners sloppy paint job. Some of the other ones in the house also have some thick textured build up on the knobs. Any tips for doing this without too much risk of stripping the finish?

https://preview.redd.it/vzt5u7841t2h1.png?width=1078&format=png&auto=webp&s=f8d30eb79ed61b5a9d79991926d96a41900c733f

Considering options for our spare/guest room, and came across this murphy bed kit. As it's just the mechanical parts, rather than the whole bed and cabinet, it's much cheaper than a full murphy bed. I have enough DIY skills to be able to construct the rest or retrofit an existing bed. Wondering if anyone has tried this? Worth the effort or nah?

(Screenshots for those who don't like clicking random links:)

https://preview.redd.it/ynx8nj3jve2h1.png?width=2568&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e137b8017ef1d0e781018c8d1ac1a78bf207cc2

https://preview.redd.it/da1ov5ssve2h1.png?width=968&format=png&auto=webp&s=7351d4de7fb1bc1f2379e13982602571f4ecea64

All the recommendations I see are US/UK products. Anyone had much luck with anything easily available in Australia?

I managed to find an auction notice for my house from 1918, and in the features it mentions 'hall curtains'. I have a house with a similar hallway to the one pictured, with this kind of a fretwork feature (not my actual house). Would the curtains have hung in the fretwork area? Would the purpose be for privacy or heat retention or something else? I do know that the fretwork was traditionally a sort of divider from the fancy front of the house where you're more likely have fancier cornices etc, so visitors could visit your parlour without seeing you shame (jk). So I guess a curtain makes sense. Would love to see some visual examples though if someone has some!

https://preview.redd.it/gpon0qbep2zg1.png?width=576&format=png&auto=webp&s=48661bc04dc1b15500cbc5376eb47c0e1a79c3ea

I hate even writing this, but I (F, 35) just don't know what to do with mother (F, 58). My parents are from a previously war-torn country, and grew up with a feeling unsafe and mistrusting of the government. So I do have empathy about everything I'm about to explain, but I'm also at my wits end with it all.

My mother is the most negative person I know. She's so rooted in a fear and distrust state that everything is a drama. Everything is terrible, always. Every time I speak with her it's always big dump of all the bad stuff in her life and in the world in general. She barely asks about me. It's not like there's no truth to any of it, there are things she has a genuine right to feel bad about, but EVERYTHING is always so defeatist. The perpetual victim. Since the pandemic it's gotten a lot worse and now she just swims in everything awful that is happening in the world. Not only is everything a conspiracy, but she needs to know everything about these terrible conspiracies, and then spend hours monologuing about the terrible things that are happening. It's just reached the point where I don't want to call or see her, because I know it will just be awful and depressing.

She's also incredibly emotionally immature, and takes everything personally. So if I try to say 'hey, let's talk about something else', she will take that personally, and it usually results in an argument and her crying, because everything in life is an attack on her. It's just not possible to have an adult conversation with her. To calmly explain my perspective and boundaries without her seeing it as a personal attack. From an objective perspective, I understand what is happening, I understand she's existing in this permanently on alert nervous system, but from a personal perspective, I just feel so anxious about interacting with her that I have been going lower and lower contact with her without even consciously making the decision to. I just feel a massive knot of anxiety every time I think about reaching out to her, and keep putting it off.

Now just a little aside that tbh I actually do see where she's coming from with some of these conspiracies, and it's not that I don't agree with her, it's that I don't want to spend my life focused on everything that's terrible in this world. Until I see an action I can take to improve something, I will keep myself lightly informed, and that's it. I have had chronic anxiety my whole life (presumably a result of growing up with such a highly strung parent), and I have worked very hard to find a little bit of peace in my life and at least dial that anxiety back a few notches. So I'm not ok with her dumping all of that shit on me every time we speak.

She also has very little self-awareness. I've tried bringing up things that have helped me with my anxiety, and she will in all seriousness tell me that she doesn't have anxiety, and that she thinks she's a positive person. There's also no way I'd be able to convince her to see a therapist, or even a doctor tbh. Because, guess what? She doesn't trust them.

The thing is, I also know she tries her best. She sacrificed a lot for her kids, and would literally give us the shirt off her back. She's not a vicious, vindictive person. She does her best, but it just happens that her best is coming from a vessel of anxiety, doom, and fear. So for me it sort of feels like no-win situation, because either I spend time with her and just keep having my anxiety reactivated, and almost certainly end up having an argument; or I go low contact with her and feel terrible and guilty over it, because I know her intentions are and have always been good, and so to her it will seem like a betrayal with no reason.

I just, I don't even know if there's advice to be had here. I don't really see a way out of this. I guess even some commiseration with those of you who have a similar family member might be comforting. But if by some miracle someone out there has dealt with a person like this and managed to help them find their way into a better headspace, or has any advice, I'm all ears.

I know this is probably a pretty obscure combo, but figured I'd ask just in case someone has made one. I want to be able to use my ozito batteries with my Victa hedge trimmer. The kinds of batteries in question:

https://preview.redd.it/y7v2v4rd9uxg1.png?width=1600&format=png&auto=webp&s=86fd6604bdcc33287dbba46181510997d3e5a049

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