Home Repairs/HoneyDo List/Advice & Tips/etc.

[buckeyebri]

Bri, might be faster to lay 1/4 " drywall over it. I agree with the wet sponge trick, I,ve used it a lot.

Now that might be the ticket. Since I am already about done, I will see how this goes. I have another room that the 1/4" idea might be good.

 

[Mac]

A little old trick that I learned is smoothing it with a wet sponge first. A lot less sanding...

Hmmm didn't think of that. I've used wet sanding blocks to sand before, but those build up the damp dust too quickly. I'm actually skim coating part of my kitchen remodel now. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Best Buckeye]

Hmmm didn't think of that. I've used wet sanding blocks to sand before, but those build up the damp dust too quickly. I'm actually skim coating part of my kitchen remodel now. Thanks for the advice!

If you are wet sanding you need to let it set up a while, maybe 60-70 percent but you don,t want it to get too hard either. The trick is get it just right. You need to do some trial and error on it
If it doesn't dry enuf then you wipe away compound and if you let it get too dry then you will end up sanding it.

 

[AuTX Buckeye]

wife and I close on our first house (new build) on Monday.. It will be a few days before we move in, so I'm going to tackle sealing the grout on our tile floors

Questions are:
1) any recommendations on sealing product to use
2) we have tile surround in the master shower does that need to be sealed too?

Thanks.

 

[Mac]

New sink/faucet installed tonight. Ripped out the old off-white ceramic (which weighed about 1,000lbs.) which was rusting around the edges.

 

[Mac]

wife and I close on our first house (new build) on Monday.. It will be a few days before we move in, so I'm going to tackle sealing the grout on our tile floors

Questions are:
1) any recommendations on sealing product to use
2) we have tile surround in the master shower does that need to be sealed too?

Thanks.

I used a 511 (the brand) spray on sealer for both my showers that I tiled. Haven't had any issues. I would go with that again in a heartbeat. Although the fumes were bad, ventillation is key if you use this. Here's what I used:

511 sealer

Honestly the only thing sealers do is prevent stains. Water penetrates the tile, grout, etc. even when sealed

 

[Mac]

Well, after about 4 months, I am 99% done with the kitchen remodel. Have to paint the trim beside the dishwasher yet, but I am waiting until we get all new appliances.

Before (when we purchased the house, no that is not our garbage hanging on the walls, etc)

After

 

[jwinslow]

Congrats. Did you merely repaint the cabinets? We've thought about that color, but almost all of our wood is dark brown (wood tables, trim, etc).

Have you found that it shows dirt easily?

 

[Mac]

I used a Gel stain, and a liquid de-glosser to get rid of the original clear coat. Wife found this blog, and I followed it for the most part, installing some of my own methods along the way. I had never used a gel stain, and honestly, I'm not sure I'll use your typical liquid stain again. Non drip, easier to make even, but it is a little more expensive. I then used Minwax water based polycylic. I went with a semi-gloss, but it turned out more like a gloss. Kind of disappointed in that, as I wanted it more like a satin/semi-gloss. Oh well.

I don't notice it showing more dirt easily, the only thing I noticed is it does show is water spots after doing dishes. A quick wipe down takes care of the water spots though.

 

[OneBuckeye]

My yard is a hot mess. Bought my house in august. I live in san Antonio and have a very rocky soil with some type of grass and lots of broadleaf weeds and thisssls growing in the yard this spring. Have a sprinkler system I run once a week ( very dry) due to watering reatrictioms . Any OSU turf experts out there? Please advise.

 

[Mac]

IMO, you need a broadleaf weed preventer and lay it down ASAP. Not sure how much rain you get there, but you're going to have to get it saturated into the ground somehow. Once you have that issue under control, I'd think about overseeing/split seeding/etc

 

[jwinslow]

What time of year do you Ohioans start to put down your weed and fertilizer treatments?

We are 1.5 years into fixing our weed infested yard (bank owned for a while before us)

 

[Thump]

What time of year do you Ohioans start to put down your weed and fertilizer treatments?

We are 1.5 years into fixing our weed infested yard (bank owned for a while before us)

First application of the year should be layed down when the soil temp reaches the mid 50's. Apply to dry ground with rain expected a couple days later.

Here's a site I use to track soil temps.

http://www.greencastonline.com/tools/SoilTempMaps.aspx

BTW, no need to buy Scott's.

Stuff is overly-priced and honestly does not work as good as the cheaper Pennington or Sta-Green brands.

 

[Thump]

Well, after about 4 months, I am 99% done with the kitchen remodel. Have to paint the trim beside the dishwasher yet, but I am waiting until we get all new appliances.

Before (when we purchased the house, no that is not our garbage hanging on the walls, etc)

After

Great work Mac!!

Looks like all that is left is to update appliances when funds become available.

 

[Mac]

First application of the year should be layed down when the soil temp reaches the mid 50's. Apply to dry ground with rain expected a couple days later.

Here's a site I use to track soil temps.

http://www.greencastonline.com/tools/SoilTempMaps.aspx

BTW, no need to buy Scott's.

Stuff is overly-priced and honestly does not work as good as the cheaper Pennington or Sta-Green brands.

All of this. Scott's is overrated!!!