Home Improvement

Tester101

12:35

Um... @Aaron I think you need to work on your straight cuts.

Did you chew through the ceiling?

lsiunsuex

looks like the cut out for a mouth on a pumpkin :)

Tester101

13:06

WOW. Could you imagine insulating a whole room with "GreatStuff"?

2

Q: Are there any DIY polyurethane foam insulation options available?

I recently had a leak (hurricane Sandy) in an "eave"-like space that required the removal of a part of my drywall ceiling. All of the insulation that was above the ceiling was drenched. To replace it, I was wondering if it would be better to use the poly spray foam insulation instead of the fiber...

You better buy it by the pallet.

lsiunsuex

15:21

kinda confused

tigerfoam.com/index.php

says R-7 per inch - kinda low, no?

as opposed to an R-13 fiberglass bat ?

Tester101

But how thick are fiberglass batts?

homedepot.com/buy/…

3 1/2"

3.5 * 7 = 24.5

lsiunsuex

was gonna ask that next

so in a 2x4 cavity - depth being 3.5 inches - if you filled the cavity you would get an R of 24.5 then (as you said)

so 12x12 foot room == 144 sq ft - thats 1 inch - so you'd need roughly 3 kits to do 1 12x12 room (to fill the cavity entirely)

not including doors, windows, etc... obviously

3 of the 200 board feet kit or 1 600 bd ft kit

my math is really wrong on this i think

Tester101

15:40

It's probably more expensive, but I don't think it compresses over time, it won't grow mold (I don't think), provides more insulation in less space, and can be installed faster (depending on the user).

Chris Cudmore

When I had my basement done, they told me to stud at least an inch away from the wall. That way they could spray up to R30.

It also allowed them to spray behind the studs, creating a single monolithic interior cladding for the basement.

lsiunsuex

not questioning the expense - just how much i would need - 2 walls, 12 feet wide by 8 feet high

== 96, x 2 = 192 feet - 3 inches deep - so the 600 kit ?

Chris Cudmore

Get the guys in to do it.

It cost 1300 for ~75 linear feet.

Canadian.

And they cleaned up afterwards. Which was worth a lot to me.

Tester101

That's not a bad price at all. How long did it take?

Chris Cudmore

Half a day, including clean up. Then you have to leave for the rest of the day. There's a lot of VOC while they're doing the job.

lsiunsuex

15:49

i'm not good at figuring out feet stuff :( how much is 75 linear feet?

so like 8x8 (feet) is 64 feet - is that linear ?

Tester101

I wonder sometimes if DIY is really the cheaper option. If you factor in the markup you're paying for the products, tools that need to be purchased, and your time. Do you really make out in the end?

Chris Cudmore

75ft perimeter * 8 ft high * 4inches. 600 sq. ft * 4 inches thick.

Tools and equipment is a big factor for me. Most of the time I'm going to be doing XXX once.

Tester101

@lsiunsuex Draw a line 75' long, then bend it into a rectangle.

Chris Cudmore

Actually, it was 3 sides. I'm in a backsplit. There was no reason to do the rear wall.

Tester101

@lsiunsuex if you have 2 walls 12' wide, that would be 24 linear feet.

Chris Cudmore

15:52

If XXX = porn and XXXX = moonshine, solve for X

2

lsiunsuex

really confusing me haha

Tester101

The company probably just assumes 8' tall walls, and likely charges for taller walls.

lsiunsuex

so 75' /4 is a wall 18.75 feet along each edge

Chris Cudmore

No, it's 3 25' walls.

The fourth wall was an interior wall

lsiunsuex

was going based on what @Tester101 said but i looked at it the wrong way - was taking the 75 feet and making a wall out of it, not a room

Chris Cudmore

15:55

@Tester101 Precisely.

Tester101

@lsiunsuex Yes it would cost ~$1300 to do 4 walls that are 18' 9" wide. Or ~$1300 to do 1 wall 75' wide.

lsiunsuex

so that being said, 2 exterior walls at 12 feet long each - 24 linear feet (assuming 8 feet tall)

Chris Cudmore

@Tester101 +$3 for a pot of coffee for the workers.

lsiunsuex

so if its $17 per foot, $415 for 2 exterior 12 foot walls

Chris Cudmore

Always feed and drink your contractors.

Well, there's a minimum as well.

I think I was quoted $3 per sq ft.

lsiunsuex

15:58

i just took your $1300 / 75

Chris Cudmore

But it might have been less.

Tester101

@lsiunsuex plus foreign exchange, and possibly travel (assuming they'd have to drive from Canada).

lsiunsuex

i'm sure someone in buffalo does it

Tester101

Probably not at the same price though.

lsiunsuex

right, obviously

Chris Cudmore

15:59

Well, my walls were 7.5, and there were windows, and things. so my figures are approximate. and it was $2.50/sqft.

lsiunsuex

if theres a minimum, the 600 kit isn't looking bad -

Tester101

@lsiunsuex Don't forget to add product to compensate for learning curve.

Chris Cudmore

How much experience do you have working with this stuff? That counts for something as well. It's not like you have more than one shot at it.

lsiunsuex

true

Chris Cudmore

You'll also need ventilators.

Plastic sheeting to mask the entire room,

+,+,+

Tester101

16:01

It's one of those jobs that you can do yourself, but it's worth it to pay somebody else to do it.

Like roofing.

lsiunsuex

+ my exterior is planks of wood (not sheet plywood) and asbestos shingles - to do a spray foam and POSSIBLY someday removing all that and do a vinyl siding - would ruin the foam i think

Chris Cudmore

How's the smoking going?

lsiunsuex

saturday had 1, sunday broke down, bought a pack - had 3 - now that i have them, had 4 this morning :(

i cant be trusted with smokes - having 1 is not an option - i can't have any

Chris Cudmore

Cigars. You can buy them one at a time.

lsiunsuex

yeah, in the ghetto ha

Chris Cudmore

16:03

That way you're not stuck with a surplus.

lsiunsuex

although i scored an awesome thin crust pizza dough recipe sunday. solid!

i kneaded this one by hand (as opposed to a kitchenaid stand mixer) and the wife noticed the granite tile on the countertop bending as i was doing it... building a prep area outside this spring

Chris Cudmore

And you better plant lots of Basil and Oregano.

lsiunsuex

dude, thats a good idea! i can do a planting box above the countertop next to the oven!

Chris Cudmore

Put a lot in the garden as well. That way you can rotate the plant you're currently harvesting, so you don't kill it.

lsiunsuex

16:37

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nFAK8Vj62WM

Chris Cudmore

I'll see your penguin, and raise you a monkey in a fur coat.

lsiunsuex

saw that

Chris Cudmore

cp24.com/news/…

Tester101

They should fine the owner for animal cruelty too.

Chris Cudmore

They fined him $500 for an illegal pet.

Fun and coolness are illegal in Ontario.

lsiunsuex

16:50

thats a nice coat - he was treating the monkey very well

Tester101

And $500 more for making the monkey wear that ridiculous coat.

Chris Cudmore

Apparently they are terrible pets. They take more care than a small child, for up to 20 years.

Tester101

What's wrong with the coat it was born with?

Chris Cudmore

The only ones that do well are the circus monkeys, which are constantly stimulated.

lsiunsuex

my parents put a knitted coat on their dog - always thought it was a touch weird

Chris Cudmore

16:52

If you don't have a job for it to do, don't get one.

Tester101

Any animal that throws it's own poo, is considered a bad pet in my book.

lsiunsuex

i can throw my own poo - i just choose not to

Tester101

How many faces have to be bitten off, before people stop keeping these things as pets?

lsiunsuex

i need a cooking book for programmers. i have questions like, what does adding oil to something do in baking bread / deserts ? water? why 1/4 oz yeast - why not 1/2 or 1 ?

how are times determined also - why do brownies stay in for 38 minutes but the wife's sugar cookies only for 8 min ?

lsiunsuex

17:22

woah - theres a cooking SE cooking.stackexchange.com

Tester101

duh

lsiunsuex

seriously didnt know

lsiunsuex

17:33

according to their stared posts in the chatoom, their as much dicks as we are hahah

Tester101

Whoa! That guy just sledded away!

@lsiunsuex Stack Exchange is inhabited by jerks. It should be in their corporate slogan. "Stack Exchange, where jerks discuss various topics".

"Self esteem too high? Try asking a question on Stack Exchange."

3

No <strike> in chat?

In other news... Tamper resistant receptacles are a pain in the neck, when you're trying to stick things other than a plug into them.

Niall C.

17:54

@Tester101 ~~Sure there is~~

---text--- --> ~~text~~

Tester101

Thanks @NiallC.

Chris Cudmore

@lsiunsuex I find this stack to be the least dickish.

Tester101

@ChrisCudmore I think that's because none of us are "experts" in the field.

We are all here to learn.

Chris Cudmore

Well, isn't that the nature of DIY?

If we were experts, we'd be DI for money.

and I'm in the middle of a coffee emergency.

Tester101

@ChrisCudmore Does that mean you ran out, or you spilled it in your lap?

Chris Cudmore

18:08

I ran out.

But the situation has been rectified.

lsiunsuex

18:20

The Evil Greebo

19:42

@lsiunsuex Bwahahaha

Tester101

20:24

Given that 1 kWh = 3,600,000 joules, and 1 calorie = 4.2 joules. How many kWh's does my house have to consume, before it becomes obese?

lsiunsuex

42

Niall C.

@Tester101 Not enough information... how much exercise does your house get?

lsiunsuex

952 kWh

assuming 4000 calories a day

@NiallC. + age, weight, height, ethnicity

Tester101

@NiallC. Not much, it just sits around mostly.

Niall C.

So how heavy is it now and how tall is it? We can easily calculate its BMI from there

Tester101

20:31

@lsiunsuex 90+, ?, 2 stories, it's yellow (so I guess Asian?).

lsiunsuex

is there a calculation for weight of a house based on SQ FT ?

Niall C.

Assuming it's about 25' tall, it'll have a BMI of 30 (moderately obese) at about 28.25 tons

Tester101

yo, you callin' my house fat?

@NiallC. Do you have a BMI calculator that goes up to 25' and 28 tons?

lsiunsuex

stop feeding the house bacon!

Niall C.

@Tester101 I have a formula that I can feed into calc.exe in Windows

lsiunsuex

20:36

you should probably tear it down and replace the wood studs with aluminum - that'll make it loose a lot of weight

Niall C.

The roof adds a lot of weight; take it off

And windows can be heavy, so pull them out too

Tester101

If it doesn't have a roof, can it really be called a house?

lsiunsuex

use canvas tarps

Tester101

So mobile homes are lighter, because they move around more?

lsiunsuex

mytarp.com/6-x-100-coolaroo-shade-fabric-90-shading-wheat.aspx

Tester101

20:39

@NiallC. How many kWh's should the house consume, to maintain its current weight?

Niall C.

@Tester101 Is it male or female? Males usually require more

BMitch

Most houses live a very sedentary live, but I do take my tent out for a walk from time to time, and I'm pretty sure it has a very low BMI.

Tester101

Hmm... Not sure, how can I tell? It doesn't have any discernible protrusions.

We'll say female, since it has a front and back door.

Niall C.

Indoor vs. outdoor plumbing

Tester101

indoor

BMitch

20:45

@NiallC. Age, 2 years; height, I'm going to use the 10' length; weight, maybe 4lbs; race... well it's brown so I'll go with Indian. What does the calculator do with that?

Niall C.

@BMitch 4 * 703 / (120 * 120) == .195

@Tester101 Female then

BMitch

@NiallC. So the formula is: Weight (lbs) * 703 (constant) / Height^2 (in inches)?

Niall C.

Body mass index

The body mass index (BMI), or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for estimating human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was devised between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing "social physics". Body mass index is defined as the individual's body mass divided by the square of his or her height. The formulae universally used in medicine produce a unit of measure of kg/m2. BMI can also be determined using a BMI chart, which displays BMI as a function of weight (...

BMitch

Thanks

Woah, just noticed the holiday sledding theme on the gravatars.

Now we just need to get some hats

anyone else remember xsnow?

Niall C.

@BMitch Now that you've reminded me of it, yes.

BMitch

21:00

I haven't run that in years, but such a fun linux/unix program for the holidays.

The Evil Greebo

21:16

@BMitch The who on what now

BMitch

@TheEvilGreebo We sled away now, watch me.

The Evil Greebo

watching

LOL

that's awesome

Chris Cudmore

That's great.

The Evil Greebo

@BMitch thanks, come on back now ;)

BMitch

@TheEvilGreebo I'm back :)

The Evil Greebo

21:19

NOW you're back

(no icon = you don't exist)

Chris Cudmore

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

2

BMitch

I may have been a zombie for a short bit there

The Evil Greebo

Get yer shotguns. time to kill @BMitch

Aaron

@Tester101 There was already a j-box in part of it, and instead of just cutting the edges I nibbled away at the inside in some large cuts

Long story short, it was craigslist sawzall time, followed by a carbide reinforced blade, and it still was slowing down at the end

that thing was good for about 6 inches

3

that's what didi the trick in the end

BMitch

@Aaron Sometimes I just star your comments so they'll be taken out of context. :)

3

Aaron

21:32

but holy hell, I cannot imagine taking that stuff down slowly

Aaron

21:44

Homeowners should remember not to install carbon monoxide detectors directly above or beside fuel-burning appliances, as appliances may emit a small amount of carbon monoxide upon start-up.

So, like, exactly how close should I put my CO detector to my gas log set?

I do want to know when it start emitting CO

wax eagle

@Aaron you want to know when the concentration becomes dangerous'

Aaron

Correct

emitting too much CO, I should say

Chris Cudmore

22:29

CO in small amounts isn't really a problem in that it doesn't bio-accumulate. It's like bleach or acid. You've got to get enough to kill you, or you'll experience no ill effects.

What it does is make itself MORE attractive to your red blood cells than O2.

So you don't get oxygen into the system.

What you're monitoring for is a high, persistent concentration in the air. Not occasional puffs from start up.

Aaron

right

so where do I put it?

More than likely any concentration will be as a result of the log set malfunctioning

although it has a pilot light burning all the time, so I'm not sure how much it would actually emit upon 'startup'

Transcript for