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Charmonium

Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
10,545
3,540
136
Red Squirrel said:
I just made an exploratory hole in the chimney that's in my garage as I wanted to see if the firewall continues behind it. I found that it does not, and the firewall kinda relies on the chimney and vise versa, the way it's all interlocked. I want to get rid of the chimney and it looks like it will be a bigger job than I thought as it will be structural in nature.
Click to expand...
I assume that you're not using the fireplace since you made a hole in the chimney. But just out of curiosity, do you have CO detectors in the house? I have oil heat and I have them peppered all over the place since you never know when a vent joint might come loose, some mortar will develop a crack, etc, etc. Those things are absolute indispensable. I especially like the ones that now give you a peak level. This is the best model I've found so far. It doesn't reset the peak reading automatically like some models do - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Y6V5CI
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,568
13,803
126
www.anyf.ca
Charmonium said:
I assume that you're not using the fireplace since you made a hole in the chimney. But just out of curiosity, do you have CO detectors in the house? I have oil heat and I have them peppered all over the place since you never know when a vent joint might come loose, some mortar will develop a crack, etc, etc. Those things are absolute indispensable. I especially like the ones that now give you a peak level. This is the best model I've found so far. It doesn't reset the peak reading automatically like some models do - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Y6V5CI
Click to expand...

No I don't use it, it's one of those old style ones, they suck more heat out of the house than what they actually produce. The fireplace has an electric insert which is basically just a decoration and I want to just make it a bare wall so I can put the couch there. And I'll want to remove the chimney which is in the garage and it will buy a bit more room in there. My living room setup is terrible right now as there is no way to set it up so that the couch is actually in front of the TV. When I have friends over I just move it in front of the fireplace.

I do want to look at getting a high efficiency wood stove at some point though as a source of extra cheap heat. Great for the -40 months too. The logical thing would be to get an insert and put it in there, but it does not solve the living room arrangement issue. I'll probably put it in the garage and have glycol lines running into the house in a heat exchanger and then have hot water radiant heat throughout. Or I might put the stove in the basement and the heat will eventually circulate throughout the house. When I shop for a wood stove I'll try to see if I can find ones that are already designed for heating water. You can buy actual boilers but they're way more expensive and bigger than I need.

I do have two CO detectors actually, they're mandatory here now. Not a bad idea to have anyway.


As a side note I measured my roof for solar panels today. I have nowhere near the money right now for that project but I seriously want to start saving and planing for it.
 
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John Connor

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
Thought migrating my forum database to Amazon RDS would be nice to offload server resources. But it slowed the site down slightly. Probably since I was only able to use a T2 Micro instance for the 12 month free tier.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,568
13,803
126
www.anyf.ca
My toilet randomly died. It fills super slow. If I turn the supply valve off and on it starts to fill normally again. Checked the seal for the internal actuator valve and it looks fine. I'll try replacing it anyway tomorrow and go from there. Failing that I'll just replace the entire assembly. At least I sorta have a work around to get it to flush. It's basically like a Windows computer. :p Turn it off and then back on.
 
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,244
17,895
126
Red Squirrel said:
My toilet randomly died. It fills super slow. If I turn the supply valve off and on it starts to fill normally again. Checked the seal for the internal actuator valve and it looks fine. I'll try replacing it anyway tomorrow and go from there. Failing that I'll just replace the entire assembly. At least I sorta have a work around to get it to flush. It's basically like a Windows computer. :p Turn it off and then back on.
Click to expand...


Fluidmaster ftw
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
My beloved democratic republic is about to collapse from decades of massive apathy and months of hate speech.
 
CraKaJaX

CraKaJaX

Lifer
Dec 26, 2004
11,905
148
101
CAD license isn't working locally so my designer can't print off drawing sets that I need for tomorrow.
 
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
100,244
17,895
126
Ate a Halloween sized Mars bar. Lament the dissapearance of peanuts in Mars bars.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
My fancy clip on 3D glasses broke before their first movie. I had to sprint back to the counter and use the gross freebee glasses from the theater. They did not fit well over my actual glasses.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,568
13,803
126
www.anyf.ca
sdifox said:
Fluidmaster ftw
Click to expand...

Yep that's the one that's in there. I bought another and a seal and the whole assembly. Will try to replace just the seal, if not, the whole assembly. Surprisingly cheap too, like 20 bucks in parts. A lot of people probably change out the entire toilet when this happens. lol

But first, I will finish my coffee. Then check this after.

EDIT:

Wow that had to be the easiest DIY fix ever. It was in fact just the seal. Toilet is running again! It's weird though, the new seal looks exactly like the old one, the old one was not damaged as far as I could even tell. Weird how such a simple thing can make a difference. The toilet actually runs faster now too.
 
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Svnla

Svnla

Lifer
Nov 10, 2003
17,986
1,388
126
The weather is starting to get cooler so I will have to do a wash and clean of my winter jackets, heavy blankets, and other winter clothing thingies and be ready for cooler weather/winter this coming weekend. Time to go to the laundromat and use the largest machine ($7 per wash).
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,568
13,803
126
www.anyf.ca
It's still fairly warm here. Today the high was like 18 degrees. I put on my winter coat figuring it was cold out and felt like an idiot when I realized it was 18 and I had a winter coat on lol. That's shorts and tshirt weather let alone even needing a coat at all.

While the nice weather is great, I just hope it does not mean a green Christmas. It's just not the same when there's not at least a couple feet of snow on the ground.
 
Imp

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
Sack of shit hoarder decided he needed more containers to store his garbage.

Edit: I was on the shitter yesterday and heard a continuous noise that sounded like rustling or something being chewed on in the next room. No one else was on the same floor and the lights were out. Probably a mouse.
 
Last edited:
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,568
13,803
126
www.anyf.ca
Imp said:
Sack of shit hoarder decided he needed more containers to store his garbage.

Edit: I was on the shitter yesterday and heard a continuous noise that sounded like rustling or something being chewed on in the next room. No one else was on the same floor and the lights were out. Probably a mouse.
Click to expand...

I heard quite the racket myself in my bathroom the other night, no hits on the mouse traps yet, and that kinda worries me, means they linger up there for quite a while before they finally decide to go for the peanut butter. When I was up on the roof I noticed some potential entry points where flashing is not done properly, but it will be hard to fix because of where it is. Actually THAT is what I wanted to get at Home Depot today that I forgot, I wanted to see if they sell tar in just a bucket that I can use to fill these type of gaps. I think my best bet is to just tar the hell out of everything I possibly can and hope for the best. I could also look at screening in that whole general area, it's basically where the overhang of the higher roof intersects with the lower roof, so there is kind of a triangular cavity in there that is hard to get to but could potentially be an entry point for mice.

Which got me thinking, I'm surprised BX wiring is not code for inside attics.
 
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