r/DIY

1997 House Door Bell Wiring Cannot find transformer. The old door bell was wireless battery operated but I removed the chime today and found black and red cable taped to another black and red cable so I opened the back of door bell and there also cable but not connected to anything just with tape around it . Went to the panel couldn't find transformer . Checked utility room same also garage. Where could it be or was it never active just run but I don't even see that cable downstairs by the panel

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Behind wireless chime

I am going to be re-caulking/silicone my bathtub. I read that you should fill it with water to weigh the bathtub down, which will create a bit more of a gap. But my question is how long do I leave the water in there after Im done? do I have to wait for it to dry?

57in x 17in. They're to go between my mattress and bed frame at the foot and head, to keep them from sagging down when weight is applied. My first thought was just go to home depot, probably super easy to just get that done. I'm never one to just do something without researching it first and apparently I'd end up paying a lot for extra cuts and paying for more wood than I need, which I don't really care about. What I do care about is inconveniencing and annoying retail workers who already have a lot on their plate. Was just wondering if anyone had any alternate suggestions or ideas.

As the title suggests, I'm going to build a shed against the garage wall. I want to have a dust collector in the shed, and run other lines through it from the garage. I want to cut a nice clean access hole, say 12" x 12" or may be smaller, and leave something that if a shed comes down, it can just be closed up and look clean and nice. I don't know what it is called to look at online resources. Can you guys help with some direction? Thanks!

We had these cracks in the drywall and hired a contractor that we trust to mud the wall and fix the cracks. However, the cracks came back. What options do we have to fix them so that we can paint the wall?

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I am doing a full house renovation. Well I am hiring people to do most of it but I have committed to doing the painting.

We had all our old mismatched skirting boards replaced with "primed" skirting boards. We are having the new radiators fitted next week and I hadn't got the the skirting so today went around and glossed below where the radiators are but I hate it compared to the just primed.

I have wiped it all off and am going to consult my wife tonight but wondered if you all think it would look weird and terrible?

Anyone stuck with just primed?

She initially just painted the concrete floor. The paint bubbled in some areas and it got dirty in some areas. So she put more concrete/patio paint on top. This is for her art studio. It’s going to see some light traffic and a lot of paint dropped on it.

Is there any task I can do in a weekend to try to fix it up for her? I have a truck and can rent a sander. My budget is $500 for a thousand square feet. I’ve looked into epoxy but I don’t know if that’s a good idea to put on top of the paint. I can sand it down a bit if necessary. Alternatively I don’t know if there is some kind of polyurethane type seal that I can throw down on top of the concrete to make the paint stop flaking. Any tips?

My ac unit went completely out in my house ~2 years ago, I had and still have no money to fix it, so I installed a few window units in the house. Every one of them is leaking into the house causing the wood around the windows to warp and has ruined some paint in places. How do I correctly seal the window with the unit in? I’m at a loss and now have to pay to get the water damage fixed

My wife bought me a cordless drill for my birthday because she knows I enjoy doing small DIY projects around the house.

Honestly, it has been a bigger upgrade than I expected. All the little jobs that used to feel like a chore suddenly became easy and even enjoyable. I've fixed wobbly cabinets, adjusted doors that wouldn't close properly, and finally hung a mirror that had been sitting around waiting for almost two years.

It sounds silly, but being able to take care of these things myself makes me feel useful and productive.

So now I'm wondering: what is the next tool that gives a similar "wow, why didn't I buy this years ago?" feeling?

If a cordless drill was the first game-changer, what should be second on the list?

I am relatively handy but tend more toward electrical/framing/drywall than plumbing. I’ve done some black pipe gas lines but not water distribution.

I now live in a condo building rather than a single-family home. Three units with patios (including mine) access a single spigot. At present, the owners have garden hoses run from the spigot with a 3-way splitter; the longest is about 70 feet of hose, which is a lot of opportunity for failure. Some like to leave them pressurized so as not to have to run in and out to the spigot to turn water on and off. (No patio gates, have to go through the building and around to access the spigot.)

Fine until it’s not, and then we have a leak for hours or days until someone notices. Leaks are usually at the spigot, but the maintenance folks could also clip a hose with a weed trimmer.

I’d like to install a permanent solution, with 1” (1 1/2”?) galvanized as distribution line and individual spigots for each patio. BUT the wall is stucco, and cutting in is not going to happen. So I need to attach to the existing spigot. I also don’t want to hire a plumber; the strata won’t pay for this as it benefits only 3 owners, and getting the other two to contribute will be a challenge as it is.

I can connect with a short length of hose, fewer points of failure but leaves us with the same issue of hose pressurized all the time and a potential rupture nobody will see. How can I safely connect solid pipe to the existing spigot? Only thing coming to mind for me is a splitter, backflow preventer, dielectric union to prevent corrosion, short (like 3”) piece of pipe and then a union to a longer piece to the first elbow. Feels unnecessarily complicated.

Better ideas would be welcome!

Hi,

Yesterday IKEA installed a drop in kitchen sink (HAVSEN). The silicone is honestly looking uneven and it is bothering me. It is the kind of issue that is not noticeable, until you do and then it is impossible to ignore.

I contacted IKEA and they told me that "It's better to leave it as ripping it out could cause more damage to the counter top and the sink". I did push back and they finally accepted to send the same company out to fix the job.

I read online that yes, it can cause more damage if done with little care, and given how the first silicon was applied I do not trust the company to do that much of a better job.

I am then wondering, would it lead to less damage and better results if I did it alone as a beginner or is it better to let them fix it again?

Thank you

Edit: added picture for clarity

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I searched through every github link i could find (I found nothing really helpful), and a big problem is that my Hoverboard doesnt have the normal Mainboard instead it has 2 different ones one on each side. I have an st link v2 and pins soldered to the mainboard (Thats the only thing I found out) I have visual studio code with platformIO and I also have the stm32 utility thing. I dont really know what to do know. I would really appreciate any help

Ryobi 2300 PSI Brushless RY142300 Pressure Washer.

I will be using Simple Green to soap my vinyl siding and then rinsing it off. I want to do one section at a time, not the whole house at once. I would like to soap one side, then rinse. Then soap the next side, then rinse.

If I use the on-board soap dispenser, I dont see a way to shut the soap off. How can I do this?

I feel like I’m losing my mind. Every diamond cup wheel seems to be too large for the angle grinder guard or too big for the shroud. Anyone have a combo where the guard or shroud actually covers the cup wheel to protect the user??

I’ve googled myself to insanity trying to find something that works. Even bought 2 different sets of grinders and cup wheels and nothing fit properly.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all

We have moved into a 200 year old house and want to replace the kitchen. The floor looks like one large piece of stone but has a crack in it that makes it uneven, 2mm higher on one side than the other.

Should we have the floor levelled before doing anything else or can we go ahead and cover the floor with tiles or laminate?

I have a window ac unit that requires a net to be stuck to the window for the hose to go through. The sticky back Velcro they provided to attack the net to the window was coming off so I’ve decided to take it all down now the heat waves in the uk are calming down but they’ve left a horrible thick sticky residue behind. The window is a velux so the residue is on a painted wood surface. I googled it and I’ve tried warm soapy water and I’m currently working my way round with cooking oil which is doing it but it’s taking a painfully log time to do. Is there any quicker working methods or residue remover that won’t damage the painted wood? Thanks!

I got an idea for a side hobby/business that would involve recycling scrap wood to make into a small inexpensive decorative and customizable product. In order to keep costs low and also just to be eco friendly by repurposing scrap wood I was wondering if it’s common if any hardware stores or even carpenter shops or lumber yards will give or sell their scrap wood?

I live in an apartment and I have large windows on the east and west sides of my unit, heat just pours in during the mid afternoon, my apartment goes from 67° at night to 76° during the day on these hot summer days, I hate to completely black out my windows… I love the look of DIY stained glass inserts but I’m really unsure if that will help at all. I currently have blinds on all the windows and black out curtains on my largest windows which makes me sad not getting in any natural light… any suggestions?