DIY and Home Repair

[Hannahrain]

I spent the morning spackling and trying to recreate the preposterous and apparently unattainable butter yellow color that some asshole decided was a good one to paint my living room wall, and it got me to thinking about the other things that I'd like to do to make my home homier and my place place-ier. Which got me thinking about you people and the internet. Which got me thinking about the Russian space station, which got me thinking about cosmonauts, which got me thinking about cosmopolitans, which got me thinking about Cosmo, which got me thinking about fucking ridiculous quizzes and polls that are a waste of everybody's time and space. And voila, there I was thinking about you people again. And here we are.

Tell me about the things you're doing to your home (and/or the relevant DIY in other parts of your life) to make it less of a shithole. And don't play like it's not a shithole. I've already send out a research team to check up on you and verify that it is.

[J~$$$$]

Hey man, I got your permit right here. Thats right don't look to long it might blind you.

[TomAz]

diy? do they not have mexicans in oregon?

[Hannahrain]

We don't. They're irked by the prevalent bastardization of their cuisine by people who make a fuss about GMO corn tortillas and use soy sour cream and know what spirulina is. Not to mention the staggering number of white supremacist groups that stake claim to the land outside our two metropolitan areas. There are places where I, even as a blonde, green-eyed "camouflage" Jew, don't really care to tread.

[TomAz]

I had to google both GMO and spirulina.

[caco0283]

diy? do they not have mexicans in oregon?

Not cool Tom.

[TomAz]

aw ronnie. you can make them lunch.

[justinaqui]

I slapped a new mailbox in front of the ole homestead last weekend. It looked pretty sharp until some dickhead bird shit on it the other day.

[IDCrisis]

Hannah, I know you're getting ready to paint and stuff, but can we still hang pictures in your DIY thread? And, Tom, don't feel bad. I had to look up "DIY."

[lizng]

My whole fucking house needs some DIY attention. The worse offender is my kitchen because the previous occupants tried to make it swanky by putting up blue wallpaper and now it's starting to fall down. Oh, and then there's my powder bathroom that has one little recessed can light and a sloped ceiling, so it's dark and spooky like a truck stop bathroom. So, I need to install some more lights and hope I don't electrocute myself.

[seandlr]

My whole fucking house needs some DIY attention. The worse offender is my kitchen because the previous occupants tried to make it swanky by putting up blue wallpaper and now it's starting to down. Oh, and then there's my powder bathroom that has one little recessed can light and a sloped ceiling, so it's dark and spooky like a truck stop bathroom. So, I need to install some more lights and hope I don't electrocute myself.

Wallpaper in a kitchen? Dumb asses

[lizng]

Yup, and it's nice and greasy behind the stove even after scrubbing. It's also dark blue, which is the worst color for a kitchen.

[menikmati]

Let's see...my house needs a ton of work too...the whole bathroom needs to be sanded and repainted over again...and some new blinds need to be installed in there, because the old blinds rotted away, and so now you have to have the window closed if you take a shower (unless you don't mind the neighbors window right next to it and being able to peek in), which then causes a mold problem...it sucks.

Oh and the screen door needs to be replaced because a former jealous lover of my sister came over one day and punched it (denting/tearing/damaging it), and now it's just gotten worse (the screen part was held together with tape, and now the door won't even shut properly)...he paid us some money to fix the damages a long time ago but it was never spent on repairs/new door obviously. So much to do...

[Hannahrain]

Okay. But what are you people DOING.

[lizng]

Well, I'm going to give my cat an enema when I get home. And then I'm going to bitch about how I hate the wallpaper in my kitchen.

EDIT: You know what, fuck that wallpaper. It's coming down this weekend.

[Hannahrain]

I think, Lizng, that that would technically and literally make your home more of a shithole. Thanks so much for your interest, but that's not quite what the team here at Hannahrain is looking for.

EDIT

Alright. Welcome back.

[york707]

Menik's house:

[miscorrections]

I caulked up all the baseboards in my antepenultimate apartment to prevent ants from getting in, is that sufficiently improving?

Oh also does anyone know anything about regrouting showers? Yes, I've heard it's a bitch, but has anyone actually done it? My current apartment could use it and I could use a project.

[lizng]

...and some new blinds need to be installed in there, because the old blinds rotted away, and so now you have to have the window closed if you take a shower (unless you don't mind the neighbors window right next to it and being able to peek in), which then causes a mold problem...it sucks.

and now it's time for some unsolicited advice: Blinds will probably just rot out again and you might be better off putting up some frosted window film.

[miscorrections]

Could do plastic blinds. Wood blinds absolutely do not do well in humid environments.

[menikmati]

and now it's time for some unsolicited advice: Blinds will probably just rot out again and you might be better off putting up some frosted window film.

Well there are frosted windows....so the issue is getting some airflow in the bathroom I think, because if you don't, then the water just sits in there after a shower or whatever and gets all musty in there, so we pretty much have to keep the bathroom window open at all times (there is no fan in there or anything, just a heat lamp).

[menikmati]

Our chimney needs to be fixed too...it's capped off right now (has been since the earthquake up here in 2000)...the owners are too cheap to fix it though, so it's just sitting there unused, and we end up freezing in the winter.

[TomAz]

Erik, have you considered installing a fan?





ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. ERIK! yes. make a project of installing a fan in your bathroom and make a video series on it!

[lizng]

Well there are frosted windows....so the issue is getting some airflow in the bathroom I think, because if you don't, then the water just sits in there after a shower or whatever and gets all musty in there, so we pretty much have to keep the bathroom window open at all times (there is no fan in there or anything, just a heat lamp).

Well eff my advice on that; carry on with your blind replacement mission. Or move to a less shitty place.

[york707]

yeah, the fan is definitely the way to go. And roommates will appreciate it after you've eaten spicy foods.

[menikmati]

I caulked up all the baseboards in my antepenultimate apartment to prevent ants from getting in, is that sufficiently improving?

Oh also does anyone know anything about regrouting showers? Yes, I've heard it's a bitch, but has anyone actually done it? My current apartment could use it and I could use a project.

I caulked all my baseboard like that too, though I always think I got everywhere, and then every now and then I find ants coming in through a new place.

And for re-grouting showers, I use to do tile work (a lot of grouting that is) with my brother, the first hard part would be to clean out the existing grout joints...then after that, it's not that hard...just pick out what type of grout you wanna use, then mix it, and buy yourself a grout float, and some sponges, and have a few buckets of clean water...then basically you just use the float and grout over the joints (usually diagonally over the joints), then you just lightly wipe away with the sponges (also diagonally), then at the very end do one file clean wipe, then seal it up a few days later, and you're good to go.

[seandlr]

Let's see...my house needs a ton of work too...the whole bathroom needs to be sanded and repainted over again...and some new blinds need to be installed in there, because the old blinds rotted away, and so now you have to have the window closed if you take a shower (unless you don't mind the neighbors window right next to it and being able to peek in), which then causes a mold problem...it sucks.

Oh and the screen door needs to be replaced because a former jealous lover of my sister came over one day and punched it (denting/tearing/damaging it), and now it's just gotten worse (the screen part was held together with tape, and now the door won't even shut properly)...he paid us some money to fix the damages a long time ago but it was never spent on repairs/new door obviously. So much to do...

Just wondering, why do you need to sand down your bathroom walls?

[menikmati]

Because there is like some mildew or whatever in the corners and parts of the ceiling (because again, there is like no fan in there, so getting some airflow is like impossible in there)...and the quick fix is to sand down to it, use some mildew cleaner, and then repaint.

[seandlr]

Well, if you plan on repainting your entire bathroom and if I were you, I would only sand the areas where the mildew is at and hit it with a mildew killer, and from there just get the right primer that adheres to glossy surfaces and seals stains. You'll save a shit load of time and a shit load of dust.

[menikmati]

no yeah, I meant I was only gonna sand the mildew areas...not the entire walls lol, no way...and yeah some primer would be a good idea.