u/chadbaldwin

EDIT: a few people have said to try 8/32 imperial. So that's what I'm going to try next. I only have metric tools, kits and gauges and it didn't occur to me to check imperial sizes on a 60 year old German car. So that's what I'm going to work on. Going to order an imperial thread checker kit....sorry if this was an obvious mistake, like I said, I don't have any experience with this other than wrenching on vehicles with metric fasteners.

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Just to get this out of the way...

No, I'm not a machinist, and I have no relevant experience other than light wrenching on the weekend.

Yes, I actually mean M4 x 0.8mm thread pitch, no, I didn't mean to write M5 😂

I checked the size and threads with 2 different brand kits I have and confirmed they absolutely are not 0.7mm threads, and an m5 screw doesn't fit.

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I have some screws that came off of a 1977 Mercedes. They're a bit rusty and corroded since they're used around coolant hoses and other bits that have been leaking.

They're steel, pan head slotted machine screws, M4 x 0.8mm and are 43mm long (measuring just the threads).

I thought about replacing them with new zinc coated screws....Then I thought I was going crazy when I couldn't find M4x0.8mm machine screws anywhere...then did a bit more googling and learned those don't really exist in modern standard specs.

Most of my searches took me to this subreddit, so I figured I would ask here to see if anyone happens to have a source for oddball sizes like this?

I plan to just gently clean them up and then maybe see if I can send them out to be zinc coated with a batch of other stuff. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask and see if anyone happened to have a useful source...other than trying to salvage replacements from eBay or junkyard.

Also, no, I do not want to tap with a different thread. The part these screws go into is a 60 year old, nearly irreplaceable plastic part that is notorious for cracking and leaking coolant that I REALLY don't want to go messing with. Lol.

Hey all! Our 70lb 11 year old Husky likes to sleep on our bed at night, but it's getting more and more difficult for him to hop up.

Surprisingly, he's still able to hop up no problem with a bit of mental prepping. The top of the mattress is about 2ft high.

We bought a ramp a few months ago, but it was nearly impossible trying to get him to use it. But it was more the kind to get in and out of a car. He would just jump around it, or start to go down it and jump off the side 😂

Sometimes I'll just pick him up and put him on the bed, but he gets really upset when I do that, lol.

There's obviously thousands of options on the Internet. I see tons of items on Amazon, Etsy, etc. But I would love to know what those of you with larger dogs have tried and found to _actually_ work.

Our pup is pretty comfortable using stairs. But I'm kind of thinking maybe a raised platform or something might be better for him while he's still able to hop up, but a platform would make it maybe two smaller hops instead of one big one.

I see plenty of big ugly ramp options on Amazon, and I'm considering them. But they're expensive and I'm not sure he'll actually use them lol.

So, this is my first home, and it's my first time ever working with a contractor or having ANY work done on the house at all. So it's been a very stressful situation and I'm worried I'm getting bulldozed a bit by the contractor banking on this being new to me and not knowing what's acceptable or not or what leverage I have.

I met with a contractor on Saturday June 14th to get a quote for replacing all attic insulation on a single story home. Along with replacing all HVAC ducting.

I tried to research this the best I could and the number I came up with was around $15k-$18k.

The contractor initially quoted me ~$22k for R38 insulation and R8 ducting, including cleaning out the entire attic, "sanitization", sealing rodent access points, installing new insulation, installing new ducting and haul away / disposal of everything.

I pushed back a few times because that was higher than I expected. He "made a few calls" and told me that because they had two other jobs in the neighborhood that they won't need to pay a separate license/bond/work comp/insurnace fee of $1,720. And they could lump my order in with the others getting them better bulk pricing.

So the final quote ended up being $16,928 for everything, which landed in the range I was expecting it to, so I signed off on the work.

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Two days later, yesterday Monday June 16th, the crew showed up to my house. They got all the work done in about 7 hours start to finish.

The contractor called me to asked if I was happy, I climbed up into the attic to look around and it all looks fine, but I also have no idea what I'm looking at.

I asked the contractor on the phone if they pulled a permit for the job, they didn't say no, they just danced around it saying sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, depending on the job.

I googled around and found that as per Title 24, California requires you to pull a permit for duct work (CF-1R). Then provide a certificate of installation (CF-2R) and then you must get a HERS test (sealing/leakage test) done by an independent party which gets you a CF-3R and you can close the permit.

On top of that, the contractors used a sub-contractor to do the work. The sub-contractor they used has a C-2 classification to install insulation, but they don't have a C-20 classification for installing ducting. The contractors, however, have a B classification. Which I've read may act as an umbrella for the sub-contractor allowing them to do the ducting install??

AND, the contract I signed explicitly says the contractor must pull all legally required permits (at my expense) and perform all mandated testing (at my expense). I'll pay it, that's fine. I just want it done right.

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The next day, today Tuesday June 16th...

I happen to have a thermal camera, so I got it out and looked around the house. I notice there's quite a few areas toward the edges of the house where there are hot spots showing through the ceiling that I didn't have before.

Then I climbed back into the attic while hot and running the AC. I inspected all the places where the ducting is spliced together or splitting and taped and I'm feeling cold air leaking out, and I can see moisture forming on the taped joints.

I have the contractor coming over in an hour to go over everything and finalize the work and I'm really not sure what to do.

The contract states that I have to pay certain amounts once certain tasks are completed, like ordering supplies, installing the insulation, etc...

• $7,500 due upon completion of material order / managing fee
• $3,800 due upon completion of haul away of old insulation
• $1,800 due upon completion of haul away of old ducts
• $1,328 due upon completion of sanitize the attic
• $1,500 due upon completion of ducts and insulation install

The only thing I feel like I could reasonably hold back is the final $1,500?

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Please, any advice would be helpful.

My plan for now is to ask if we could retroactively pull a permit for the work and perform the HERS test because I don't want to be bulldozed into being convinced that these issues and practices are normal. If I get permitting and HERS testing involved, that takes the pressure off me to enforce it's done right having no knowledge about any of this stuff.

EDIT: I should also mention I called a random HVAC company to see if they can come out and do an inspection for me as a 3rd party. Probably not super necessary, but it's only $100 and it would get an expert set of eyes on something I'm concerned about.