Continuing Thread: What Are You Fix-It'ing Today?

[oldE]

Aside from dismantling the 8 x 16 run in shed which was ripped off of its anchors during the wind storm Monday night, I had the pleasure of getting the drain back working in the barn this morning. Luckily, it was just a missing bolt which fastened the extension to the valve.( The valves are below the frost line the handles are in the unheated barn.)
On another positive note, I got back the set of hay wagon wheels with new(er) tires and got the wagon off the blocks in front of my shop.
Sometimes I allow myself to fantasize about a life without horses, but I have no idea what we would do with the extra money.

Best
Les

[jyl]

Originally Posted by jyl

Installing cheap Chinese Android head unit into my wife’s W211. This is not like all the other car audio head unit installs I’ve done. The car uses fiber optic cables from head unit to amp, so I need a fiber optic (MOST) decoder box. It also uses Canbus, so I need a Canbus decoder box. Removing the CD changer, need a fiber optical terminator so there’s not an “open circuit” in the MOST system. Ugh. I’ve gotten the head unit wired up and running, now tracking down why I can play music but have no sound. Something awry with the MOST decoder box I think, I hope.

Finally finished this, sort of. Thanks to Randy_P for the help!

[mthomas58]

Attic re-do project. After getting the Christmas decorations down from the attic I've been working on reorganizing, adding storage space, lighting and safety railing. Very tedious, time consuming, dusty and itchy project but it will be worth the effort.

Several years ago I replaced our rickety wooden attic stairs with an aluminum unit that I've never really liked since the ladder is steeper, the treads are narrower and the cover was too close to the treads leaving zero toe room. I built out the cover adding 1 1/2" of toe room which made a huge difference.





Then I built two pony walls with handrails providing needed safety and easier access. The location of the plumbing vent is unfortunate but I did not think it was worth the effort and expense of relocating it.







I removed the old plywood decking that was laid down loose in an overlapping fashion and reinstalled the old material plus 6 addl 4 x 8 sheets cut to fit and screwed down which will double our storage space. I also added 4 additional light bulb fixtures to the previous sgl bulb pull cord fixture and added a light switch in the hall.



Finally, I will be adding some fans to direct soffit ventilation inflow towards the very short ridge vent single gable ridge vent which do a very poor passive cooling job. Must be careful not to locate the fan(s) too close to the ridge vent so they pull hot air from the attic vs pulling outside air from the ridge vent which would make my poor ventilation even worse. The roof is poorly designed for ventilation. The electric fan was removed when we had the cedar shake roof replaced with asphalt . I let my roofer talk me into ditching the fan and going with a ridge vent (big mistake). The asphalt roof is much hotter that the cedar shake and the A/C struggles to keep up in the summer.

[Bill Douglas]

that's a nice robust and safe solution. Great to have usable attic space to put suitcases, Christmas decorations and car things away. GF keeps talking about me having half a Porsche 911 in the attic. Makes me sound like some sort of nutter LOL

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

GF keeps talking about me having half a Porsche 911 in the attic. Makes me sound like some sort of nutter LOL

Same situation here! Garage attic will be next - its a mess.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by oldE

Aside from -snip-

Way to go Big Les!

Originally Posted by jyl

Finally finished-snip-[/img]

Nice clean job, John! Congrats! I put double dins in both my Silverado and Volvo 5 speed 850 wagon and ABSOLUTELY LOVE them!

Originally Posted by mthomas58

Attic re-do -snip-

Smart to put focus on the safety aspect there, Mark. Nicely done! I removed everything from my attic when I had it re-roofed 2 years ago, so hardly ever go up there but have thought about the addition of a fan or fans. Thing is the temps came way down after the metal roof was put on and my electric usage as well so don't really see any urgency.

I do have to work on my Mom's attic - the pull down steps especially. The house has been vacant since she moved into an ALF in April and this is the time to do that work - so thanks for the 'reminder'.

NICE work, my friend!

[mthomas58]

Here is the fan I've ordered from Amazon : 20" 3-blade 4,650 CFM. Going to start with one. 88% 5-star rated

[A930Rocket]

That’s a great idea on the stairs. We use pull down stairs all the time and it’s hard enough going up on the balls of your feet, but going down can be a real test. They beat a scuttle hole though.

[A930Rocket]

This past weekend I installed a new side trim piece on the driver seat of my F150. After getting in and out 20,000 times it had broken and was hanging on.

Also, I did a little more work on the 330. I removed about 10 pounds of wiring and 5 pounds of sound deadener. Now I need to clean it with a lacquer thinner, before I paint it, light gray to match the rest of the interior.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

That’s a great idea on the stairs. We use pull down stairs all the time and it’s hard enough going up on the balls of your feet, but going down can be a real test. They beat a scuttle hole though.

I have the scuttle at my place. The ceilings aren't very high so a 6' step ladder works just fine. I never thought about putting in retractable steps.

Nice work on the BMW. Gray is one of my fav. colors - seems to be so "universal" in application.

=========

New subject......

Was just using these tonight to cut some cardboard and thought I'd pass along a recommendation for them. I bought mine in April '22 and they've paid for themselves a hundred times over.

I mostly use them when I have to cut cardboard but I'm sure they could help with other materials.

WORX WX082L 4V ZipSnip Cordless Electric Scissors

Were around $39 when I bought mine and have gone up a little but still worth it, IMHO.....

[mthomas58]

Attic project update: Fan arrives later today. In the meantime, I thought I would experiment with some foil coated bubble wrap radiant barrier as my research indicates it can be effective in lowering attic temps. The product is relatively inexpensive at $65 for a 16" x 100ft roll so I thought I'd give it a try and the initial results are promising.

Its a sunny cool day here in Atlanta - currently 52 degrees. This section of the attic roof is in full sun and I'm getting a 13 degree differential in temps with and without the barrier which is installed with a 1-1/2" air space between the sheathing and the barrier using 1'x2" furring strips.

This is bringing back memories of my 911 A/C project :-)

[mthomas58]

Attic fan installed.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fBgVkHTa-Q8

[Baz]

Originally Posted by mthomas58

Attic fan installed.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fBgVkHTa-Q8

Mark - thanks for the updates and video!

The idea then is just to provide a nudge of the air towards your vent?

Thanks!

[Baz]

I bought this attic fan back in July 2022 for the exact same purpose, but it's still in it's box.

Cool Attic CX1500 Gable Mount Power Attic Ventilator with 2.6-Amp 60-Hz Motor and 14-Inch Blade

Most in the ratings seem to be mounting the fan up against their vents. I wasn't sure this was the way to go so just held off until I could get a better handle on things.

[Baz]

I have one of these also I could use to help regulate it's operation:

BN-LINK Digital Cooling Thermostat Controller for Cooling Device Circulation Box Fans 40-108F 8.3A 1000W

[porsche930dude]

Im always jealous when i see these attics with high celings. I have to crawl around in mine. I worked on a house once that had a giant fan in the center of the house hallway going to the attic. It worked like an air conditioning system pulling the air out of the house.

Today i worked on my buddys polaris 4 wheeler it had no brakes. Fluid was empty i filled it up and it pumped out the rear caliper. The brake pad was so gone the piston over extended lol never seen that before. new pads on the way. Also building an english wheel its going well

[Baz]

Originally Posted by porsche930dude

I'm always jealous when i see these attics with high ceilings. I have to crawl around in mine. I worked on a house once that had a giant fan in the center of the house hallway going to the attic. It worked like an air conditioning system pulling the air out of the house.
-snip-

I have one of those in my house and it still works! I hardly ever use it though but maybe I should. The louvers don't seem to close all the way so would probably benefit from some lubrication and cleaning.

You always know when you're watching a YT vid made by a Canadian when they use the word "out".......

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Baz

Mark - thanks for the updates and video!

The idea then is just to provide a nudge of the air towards your vent?

Thanks!

Correct. The attic experts say that natural convection in a passive environment does not begin moving air from soffit eave intake to ridge vent exit until the attic reaches 130 degrees.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Baz

I have one of these also I could use to help regulate it's operation:

BN-LINK Digital Cooling Thermostat Controller for Cooling Device Circulation Box Fans 40-108F 8.3A 1000W

Thanks for the link to this temp control switch. Right now I've got the fan connected to a smart plug that I can control with my phone and I have this temp and humidity sensor that I will use to test the effectiveness of the fan at various temps as well as the foil radiant barrier and I'm thinking about adding a dehumidifier that should help with cooling.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JP2TDSC?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

[911 Rod]

I bought this old tombstone grinder and it didn’t have tool rests.
It does now.
I already have an even older one, but I bought it anyway.