Project Update Thursday - 19 Jan 2012 – Conversation in Home Improvement

BMitch

Jan 19, 2012 20:00

Welcome to Project Update Thursday

JoeFish

Why thank you

Aaron

So I have a question: how do I fix outlet box holes that are too big in plaster?

JoeFish

ugh plaster. Bad memories.

The way I did it was tell my wife to fix it :)

auujay

I would just patch it with joint compound, if the gaps are really big I would cut it back enough (basically to a stuf) and replace it with drywall.

BMitch

@Aaron Cut a bigger hole, and put in a drywall patch

Aaron

Jan 19, 2012 20:06

It's kinda irregular though

@BMitch I'm trying to do less work here

auujay

cut a new square hole

BMitch

@Aaron repeat until you have to drywall the entire house :)

Aaron

I don't think the joint compound would really work, it's kinda just a jagged edge on one side

auujay

pics!

Aaron

Yeah now that I have the iphone -> imgur app they will be there soon

auujay

Jan 19, 2012 20:08

do you really need to fill in all the way around the box, or just enough that it will be coverd by a faceplate?

Aaron

Also the outlet box isn't attached to a stud, it just kinda moves around and I can push it in, out, up down etc

@auujay just to be covered by the faceplate

auujay

do you have room to stick some extra lathe back behind the wall?

you could put a strip behind the wall and try to hit it with a few screws from the the front

but I bet it would be tough (or impossible) to hold it in place before getting the screws into it because the you want it to cover the hole...

if you can get extra lathe installed, that would give you something to "plaster" over (I would still just use joint compound)

BMitch

@auujay wrap a piece of string around your filler, or if it's thick enough, stick a screw in the middle that's sticking out so you can hold it. Then just pull back on the string/screw while you drive a screw through the plaster to each side

auujay

nice

BMitch

Remove string/screw when both ends of your filler board are secure

auujay

Jan 19, 2012 20:16

last weekend i grouted my shower surround, now we can ALMOST shower in the remodeled bathroom

unfortunatly I don't have new pics up to share

i still need to get the glass guys to come out and put in a custom partition wall at the end of the tub

i need that in place so we can put up the shower curtain

so for now we still have to go to the basement to shower...

JoeFish

I finally insulated the new exterior wall in my basement. <3 spray foam!

auujay

did you use all spray foam?

JoeFish

No, just around all of the edges.

Pink 'glass in the bays.

But the foam alone made a huge difference.

auujay

just with the "great stuf" type cans of it?

JoeFish

Yep. This was the 'low expanding' stuff meant for doors and windows. In a blue can.

Since the wall was there to take up the gap left when I took out the 12' glass sliders, and put in a 6' French door.

Aaron

Jan 19, 2012 20:24

what size drill bit do I need for "drywall" screws in plaster to pre-drill a hole?

BMitch

I've never predrilled drywall, but maybe it will help with patching plaster...

just find a bit slightly smaller than the non-threaded part of the screw

Aaron

yeah that was going to be my plan

Steve Jackson

@Aaron 1/8th or a skosh smaller, I'd guess.

BMitch

Steve Jackson

Ha!

BMitch

Jan 19, 2012 20:26

there, I fixed the door stopper

Aaron

cause I tried putting up the doorbell, and the plaster wall does not want to be screwed into

the doorbell chime that is

JoeFish

lol

BMitch

ok, you guys are too quite today, here's another...

Steve Jackson

Anyone seen a small profile LED nighlight?

amazon.com/gp/product/B001CYMGM8/…

BMitch

got something like that

Steve Jackson

Jan 19, 2012 20:33

I have these, they're good, but too big. I need a smaller one for my bathroom

It's basically GFI crammed under "medicine cabinet".

BMitch

hmm, mine is bigger than that, guess it's time to go amazon searching

Steve Jackson

I need it to be fairly flat, like these, and basically cover only the outlet so I can close the medicine cabinet.

I searched on amazon first, just thought i'd throw it out there

Aaron

I really like decora switches and receptacles because you can use the same faceplates for both

Steve Jackson

We'll be starting on boring projects here soon, need to move some bedrooms around.

Aaron

I don't like them because the screw holes for the faceplates are outside the mounting holes, and my wall holes are "all jacked up (tm)"

BMitch

Jan 19, 2012 20:41

I need to do this to my front door

Steve Jackson

@BMitch Any new discoveries from the neighborhood job site?

BMitch

I'm discovering that construction workers put a lot of holes in the roof

everyone that goes up there puts up their own harness and takes it back down when done

I'm pretty sure none of them seal up the holes when they are done, so if any water gets under the shingle, they're getting wet

Steve Jackson

Oh great.

Karl Katzke

I've warned my friend who's having hardi plank done about that. :-P He was like, "No way, I can't believe that." And then guess what happened.

(Sorry, I was in a work call since project update thurs started.)

As for me: I finally got the grout halfway done on my kitchen floor. Only laid the tile in, like, October.

I'll finish it up tonight.

BMitch

yeah, the pump jacks also get nailed into the roof, everyone puts holes up there

Karl Katzke

Jan 19, 2012 20:50

"Eyyy... roof, it don't need to be no seeeealed, senor..."

Aaron

so there's little tile on the bathroom floor

do I just need to get the dremel with the grout removal blade, a prybar, and go to work?

BMitch

Even the scaffolding guys put holes in the roof

Karl Katzke

@Aaron What're you trying to do again? Remove it?

BMitch

That's my view out the office window today, always a distraction

Aaron

@KarlKatzke, yeah, it looked in OK condition, but some of the pieces are starting to come up and we're like, we just need to do this correctly

Steve Jackson

Jan 19, 2012 20:56

@BMitch "Hey - are you going to seal those holes up when you're done???"

Karl Katzke

@Aaron What's underneath it? Wood, or concrete?

Aaron

@KarlKatzke a friend of mine refers to that sort of thing as the "it's ok" guys - "eeess ok"

@KarlKatzke Unknown!

Steve Jackson

@Aaron Air chisel is quick and easy - did you buy the compressor?

Probably not the best idea if it's a plywood subfloor though :)

Karl Katzke

@Aaron Well, is it slab-on-grade foundation, or is it pier on beam foundation or 2nd story? :-P

Aaron

@SteveJackson yes I do have the little pancake compressor

@KarlKatzke first floor, and there is a basement

JoeFish

Jan 19, 2012 20:58

Mmmm, pancakes.

Karl Katzke

OK, so it's probably a wood subfloor if there's a basement below it. Are you removing the tub and vanity as well in there?

If you're removing the tub and vanity, what I would do is use a circular saw or a toe kick saw to cut all around the edges, and then peel up the subfloor and the tile as one.

Aaron

It's a half bath, so no tub

and the sink doesn't actually touch the floor - it's just held into the wall and no vanity

Karl Katzke

Even easier.

So yeah, I'd just pull the tile and wood that's down up, and then put down new tongue and groove plywood, paying attention to the screwing schedule. Then tile over it.

Note that you need to use modified thinset when you're tiling to plywood, and I would definitely use an anti-fracture membrane.

Steve Jackson

You don't use durock?

Karl Katzke

Oh god no.

Every floor I've seen done with durock has cracked at the edges of the panels of durock.

Hence the specific advice to use tongue and groove subfloor plywood.

Steve Jackson

Jan 19, 2012 21:09

Interesting. My brother is a tile mechanic, I'll have to bring it up. I assumed he always uses durock since he's usually complaining about carrying tons of it.

Karl Katzke

Yeah, a lot of tile guys do it anyway. I don't think it's a good idea based on the houses I've seen done with it, but those houses probably had insufficient structure to boot.

BMitch

Heading out for a bit, I'll probably miss the cutoff to close up the PUT, but I can always do it late if no one else beats me to it. Have a good weekend folks!

Karl Katzke

Which meant that it's actually the deflection of the floor as people walk on it that caused the shifts in the durock that caused the cracks.

Steve Jackson

There's definitely a lot of "we do it this way because we do it this way" in construction companies.

Later @BMitch

auujay

i used DITRA for underlayment when I layed my tile floor

it costs more than CBU but it is lighter and not particularly hard to work with

Karl Katzke

Jan 19, 2012 21:14

/me nods. The solution I know is properly screwing down tongue and groove and putting an anti-fracture membrane over it, because the toungue-and-groove arrangement keeps the floor from rising at the edges of panels, and the anti fracture underlayment (DITRA or other) allows the wood to move laterally as temperatures and humidities in the structure changed.

auujay: You still, if you're applying DITRA to plywood, need to use modified thinset despite what Schluter says about it. Unmodified don't stick to plywood too hot.

auujay

they say to use modified between the plywood and ditra, use the un-modified between the ditra and tile

that is what the directions in my package said and what I did

it has held up great so far, but it has only been about 2 months :)

Karl Katzke

Oh, they changed the directions then. :) About time. The old directions said don't use modified anywhere.

Yeah, I just finished my floor with the DITRA on it. Slab on grade... in TX on clay soil, so 'slab' isn't as descriptive as it might otherwise be.

Karl Katzke

Jan 19, 2012 21:27

I'd take pictures and make a blog entry, but I'm working by myself, and the stuff sets up as fast as I can put it down. :-P

(Using epoxy grout)

Steve Jackson

bummer

Steve Jackson

Jan 19, 2012 22:02

Thanks for joining us for this week's Project Update Thursday!

Project Update Thursday - 19 Jan 2012

Home Improvement

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