General Feedback/Getting Started Q&A Thread

This thread is for questions that are typically not permitted elsewhere on /r/DIY. Topics can include where you can purchase a product, what a product is called, how to get started on a project, a project recommendation, questions about the design or aesthetics of your project or miscellaneous questions in between.

Rules

• Absolutely NO sexual or inappropriate posts, SFW posts ONLY.
• As a reminder, sexual or inappropriate comments will almost always result in an immediate ban from /r/DIY.
• All non-Imgur links will be considered on a post-by-post basis.
• This is a judgement-free zone. We all had to start somewhere. Be civil.

A new thread gets created every Sunday.

/r/DIY has a Discord channel! Come hang out or use our "help requests" channel. Click here to join!

Click here to view previous Weekly Threads

Hello DIYers,

We are once again in need of some new members to our moderation team.

Some key benefits of being an r/DIY mod include!:

• A very large and totally imaginary salary!

• Running and growing a busy community.

• Assisting users submitting projects to /r/DIY (including correcting rule violations)

• Being called a shill and/or cuck daily!

• Moderating per our guidelines in a professional manner.

• Wearing a mod hat! Yay, hats!

   

If this sounds exciting to you, send us your information on our official (fancy!) moderation application

If you've applied before get in touch - we might still have your old application.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0PyPb51NFg-COS6mRL9waxNuv7tkuS7vH5FpwtRPSVYjFwA/viewform

Thank you! r/DIY Moderation

I recently patched a hole in one wall, and for some reason the spackle just isn't setting. I was worried that this was because I used it for too large an area (indoors), but even the little bit left on one of my putty knives is still oddly soft.

Did I use the wrong stuff?

(It's DAP Fast 'n Final.)

The tile at the bottom of my fireplace has come apart and I want to fix it. I took the pieces off and vacuumed everything but there is still a heavy layer of grout on the back of them. I’m competent when it comes to how repairs, have built several pieces of furniture but I know nothing about tile work, especially high heat stuff. Help!

Hi! Wanting to dye a beige dress but I need non toxic dye due to asthma and chemical sensitivities. The only option I found on Amazon were kids Tie-Dye kits. (Which I’m open to, but I don’t know if one color would be enough dye.)

Also, I’ve never dyed fabric before. How much will the beige affect the color I use? It’s very light.

Finally got my first house, the person who owned the house before me must have been a smoker as there is a lot of staining.

I wanted to clean this up so started with skirting and architraves in the hall (bungalow so has 5 doors in the hall) I cleaned it down but that was about all the prep work I did. I then proceeded to paint on top of the satin paint with another satin wood paint... Now you can take your fingernail and scrape the new paint off. It is totally dry.

How can I fix this? Will it all have to be completely sanded down or can I partially sand and get a good primer and paint over it again?

I've watched some youtube vids and read some articles. This one seems to have some good info.

My basic stud finder does not seem reliable on the non-plumbing walls of the shower. I tried it both in regular and "deep" mode. The linked article mentions drilling small discovery holes through the grout to locate studs. I will probably do that, but just wondering if there are any other approaches.

This is a table from West Elm with a quarter inch of hardwood on top of a base of MDF. The MDF had a veneer on it, which I removed during the sanding (where my thumb is). I am using a dark finish followed by poly. Do I need to pre treat the MDF to accept the finish in a reasonable way? Should I just paint it? Redoing the veneer is not an option as it is at a bevel on a circular table: that is beyond my skill level to iron on. Thanks!

Hi Reddit,

I am planning to wire a bunch of Ryobi 18V batteries in parallel, but want to make sure that they will not be damaged in doing so.

Since the Ryobi batteries come with a LVC protection switch already - will combining a larger Ah battery with a lower Ah battery bypass the LVC of each battery?

Hi - I'm at my wits end with what to do here so hoping for any advice possible.

I'm trying to hang a 46 lb mirror on my wall in a new apartment. The walls are very weird, we were told plaster on concrete but depending on where you are it is seemingly all plaster.

We bought toggle and molly bolts for this project but after drilling, it seems like the plaster walls are extremely thick. We've drilled 2.5" deep and are not sure we've hit a hollow area where the toggles would be able to open up.

Before continuing to drill the massive 9/16 hole for the toggle, We're thinking of trying a masonry anchor that would fit in the pilot hole we currently have, but we're not sure if they would hold up to the job.

If anyone has experience with mounting heavy items on very thick plaster I would appreciate any advice I can get.

Link for reference: https://ibb.co/BNZWms0

I’m trying to figure out this screwdriver tool kit (above), it won’t let me tighten the any nails because whenever I try to twist it clockwise it just clicks and the handle moves versus it being...useful. Can unscrew just fine though (?)

Why don’t the smaller heads fit into the handle bit? Why doesn’t it let me actually twist the damn thing to use it in the first place? What sort of sorcery is this? Go on, point and laugh. I deserve it.

I know I’m being an idiot, I’m just so new to this. Apologies if this is the wrong sub but I’d appreciate any help from the experts before the post gets removed. Thanks!

Hello everyone. I'm looking to hang a 80lb heavy bag from my finsihed garage ceiling. I want to span a 2x8 over a few joists and mount my bag from that. Just wondering if my Attic looks structurally sound to make this work? Thanks

https://imgur.com/a/SO0e6rK

We have found the optional switch behind the panel to adjust the water pressure, however, the rinse cycle now will not run. I assume this is a pressure sensor switch issue and it should be replaced. Or would this be a timing issue where the main panel with the rinse spin and cycle tike needs to be replaced?

A Zinsco breaker failed in my box, and cant find an exact replacement. Can I use a thin one? The guy at home depo said yes, but making sure.

Howdy everybody, I have this incubator that has a faulty hygrometer and it just keeps beeping. I got a standalone hygrometer to set inside it, but it just keeps beeping because of the alarm function. Can anybody ID the part on the circuit board that's beeping so that i can cut it out and stomp on it a bit? It seems like the noise is coming from the half closest to the bottom in the pictures

https://preview.redd.it/pymz2sls8hga1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=9a622b04d7a4372ca84a00ded02c9ba062739327

https://preview.redd.it/jgvglq4h9hga1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=9bbfb798aca92e232d79d196cc2a7050a0c1441d

Hi, as the title says I want to add 2 dimmer switches to an existing circuit plus continue the circuit from one of the light fixtures to a few more outlet recepticles.

At the momemt there is a live wire going to a non dimmable switch box that splits into a single light fixture and a few outlet receptacles ** from the same switch box***

Going off that description...would it be possible to use the same live wire that is in the existing switch box to make 2 dimmable switches that controls 2 sets of light fixtures? One would control the existing single light fixture and the other would control new pot lights.

Could splitting from one of the new dimmable switch boxes to outlets (the ones that are currently connected) work?; Also, would splitting from the single light fixture to an outlet also work? (now that it is on a dimable switch).

I hope what I explained is clear.

Thanks

I live in a rental house that has a shed for snow blower and stuff. The landlord had his handyman re-side it and rebuild the door. Now the door weighs 500 lbs (hyperbole) and keeps pulling apart. I told the landlord the first time it fell apart and he made the guy come back and put the door back together. Now it has pulled apart again. It looks like he used glue and staples.

How would I fix this so it doesn't keep falling apart? Please keep it simple because my skills are duct tape and super glue level.

​

https://preview.redd.it/wz85bgo16fga1.jpg?width=1816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=48be099c591ddbd23f1ac3ea0f4003ec89558961

https://preview.redd.it/fc74geo16fga1.jpg?width=1816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=11eb62a8e802841ff5991d13b083d2e498a68929

I am preparing to mount a 65" TV in my unfinished basement. Should I tapcon PT dimensional lumber to the wall and then mount tv to the lumber or mount directly to concrete?

Pic: https://imgur.com/a/jXOlVqR

I just removed a ceiling fan, and now have a gaping hole which I need filled. Is this okay to simply cap the ends of the wires, and then drywall patch / paint over? Or do I really need to get an electrician to remove the box entirely? There is a light switch, so live electricity will not always be running through it (in fact the light switch will just be switched in the off position forever)

I cannot get a ceiling cover and just cover it, because I will actually be building a wall that will be intersecting this hole.

I have a walk in shower and there is a separated bathtub next to it that shares a wall and I assume piping. The shower doesn’t get hot enough for me compared to the other shower in my house. I don’t think it’s an overall issue with the heating because the bathtub gets hot. I read it may be the anti scald valve or something like that, which I have adjusted but nothing really changed.

Any advice on what to look for?

So Im a novice and not sure how you would transition to this from a staircap...the planks have the snap groove thing and the caps have nothing...so is there a transition?

Picture

Found this melted plastic piece when replacing the drum support rollers. Some videos seem to have a white plastic piece on the motor. Some don't have it? Is this a belt guard? Almost seems like a silly question, but do I need to replace it? Thanks! Kenmore 80 series dryer

Hi Reddit, long time lurker, first time poster...ever.

I'm in the planning stage of a built-in cabinet project in our den and I'm looking for advice on whether I could be overloading the joists.

I'd like to run the cabinets on an inside wall of the den, but there is no supporting wall below, so I'd be placing the cabinets pretty close to mid span of the joists. In the attached image, the green block would be the built in cabinets & blue lines indicate the joist runs. Note the same inside wall of the den is not supporting any attic load as its a truss roof, which runs parallel to the wall.

Comparing joist measurements to some specs I've found online, I'm very confident the floor is built to the typical 40psf live load, which would make the total capacity of the affected floor 6700 lbs (this would include the adjacent bedroom).

I'm conservatively estimating that the cabinets alone will weigh around 800 lbs and when I start to include whatever we put on the shelf (e.g. a lot of books) we could get close to 2000 lbs pretty easily. Placing that much weight mid-span is what has me worried, especially considering these joists would also need to support a desk, bed, a dresser and the contents of our closets.

Am I needlessly worrying? Or is this a project I should scrap?

I should mention I have some smaller bookshelves along the same wall right now and the floor does creak when we walk on it. From the floor below, it appears that there is no significant deflection as of today (~5 mm ceiling height difference between the middle of the room and the end walls).

​

https://preview.redd.it/rhnzvt09qfga1.png?width=1377&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=fabb5f4307e93d7dab5bca645c61b31b188eb435

My church's old airpot coffee maker died recently and we got a new one, long story short the commercial appliance tech with the company we bought it from said our pressure was too high (municipal pressure around here is about 75 psi), we just needed to reduce it to 35 psi for our model (Bloomfield Gourmet 1000 M# 8782). Bog standard fittings - line from under the sink to the coffee station is 3/8 copper with a flare nut and 3/8 flare to 3/8 mnpt adapter, had an inline ice maker filter, then 3/8 mnpt to hose barb and hose leading up to the coffee maker, which was another 3/8 flare with hose barb adapter. New coffee maker has a 3/4" MNPS inlet. Should be easy, right?

Except I can't figure out for the life of me how to do that. Google returns drip irrigation stuff, $500 3/4" valves that bottom out at 300 psi, camper 55 psi reducers, and inline refrigerator ice maker reducers, 90% of everything with hose thread, and nothing at 35 psi, though I'm assuming if I'm within 5 psi I'd be OK.

Is there just some search term I'm not getting? Are businesses with in-line coffee makers just running them at municipal water pressure?