ciferecaNinjo @ ciferecaNinjo @fedia.io

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Joined

2 yr. ago

It freezes but I guess I wouldn't expect pressure on the masonry because the chimny seems to be a cast iron tube so I would think the expansion would be forced to happen vertically.

48cm per year & humidity is around 70%.

Going from memory, when I was standing on the roof I think at least the first few cm/inches are open. It might be hard to get close enough to stick my head in, but maybe I can toss a snake cam in for a better view.

I briefly considered adding a 2nd floor to a 1-story home, and the 2nd floor would be a self-contained passive house, effectively, because for environmental reasons I’m unwilling to build anything that’s not passive (that needs heating and cooling). The new floor would need its own support system (could not simply be supported by the existing structure). So the cost came out to the same building costs as it would be for building a whole new home. Upon realizing this, I scrapped the idea. I might as well be building a separate home on an empty lot at that point.

One factor to consider: you never want to be the best house on the block. The low value of other homes will pull yours down while your higher value will prop their values up. Not sure if your plans are significant enough for this to matter. Or perhaps it doesn‘t matter to you anyway. Just something to be aware of.

My assumption would be it’s for airation. I’ve seen pipes like that before and have no idea why they are so high off the ground.

I know someone who has a septic tank with an airation appliance. It’s basically a dog house with AC power and an airator on a timer that you can hear periodically turn on. Perhaps that’s an alternative. I would figure an electronic appliance would more effectively air out the septic.

FWIW, I’ve heard that if you let vines grow directly on the exterior (or if you run cables and plant the kind of vines that need to climb cable), the vegetation will insulate/shade the house from the extreme sun.

I can’t say it’s 1st-hand knowledge but perhaps worth looking into. Evaporatie cooling might have a small role in that too. Of course the caveat is if you let vines grow directly on the stucco, they will destroy the stucco which many folks consider a bad trade-off. The other caveat is plantlife brings insects so you might not want to bring insects right up to your walls.

Thanks for the suggestion.

When it rains sometimes it drips water along the top interior window frame. One one occasion water collected behind the interior wall paint and formed a water balloon. I took a guess at how the water was entering and corrected it. But even after that I still have water dripping from the top window frame.

I like the lime idea. Lime comes in many forms (e.g. quicklime, hydraulic lime). I’m not sure I’d be keen to work with the stuff that needs a complex number of steps with a mixer that can withstand heat. Suppose I buy “white lime” (which is marketed as a whitewash for trees as an anti-pest control, and for cosmetic changes on brick walls). Will that do the job? I think I simply mix it with water. How do I bond it? With PVA?

(edit) Since I guess you speak French, perhaps you can tell me if this stuff is right for the job:

https://www.espace-emeraude.com/chaux-blanche-white-lime-2-5-kg.html

^ I have some of that stuff already on-hand but it was opened 14 months ago, so it might be oxidized into chalk. I’m not sure how to test to see if it’s still usable.

It appears the #Cantillana varieties of lime render are simply rendered on with no bonding steps or additives.

I would be thinking along the lines of #Steampunk. Rivets, fake leather, copper paint, exposed gears, guages, rope, etc.

The thin grid-style rebar that’s used in concrete might work. Though you’d want to paint it.

If you decide to keep the vented dryer, it’s worth noting that humidity is good for energy efficiency in the cold season. Some vented dryers in some parts of the world are even designed with no ducting (the dryer just vents where it sits). Not ideal, but just a bit of perspective. Anyway, this guy explains how and why to vent into the house.

Ideally you would have a humidistat that vents into the house until a threshold is reached, then switches to vent outdoors. If you don’t want a complex ventilation project, it might be wise to simply vent indoors in the cold season and space the loads a day apart, and manually move the ducting to go outdoors in the summer.

Probably good advice, but I should note that I’ve been in several home improvement stores the past few days and they all have green particle board. One even had green plywood. I’ve seen how conventional particle board becomes like a sponge to water, so it’s a bit surprizing that they can treat it well enough to make it suitable for moist environments.

I told a salesman that although I would prefer a foam cement board Wedi type of thing, it’s too expensive. He then suggested the green particle board. It looks like they soaked the sawdust so that every spec of wood gets the water-resistent treatment before pressing it together. So perhaps it would be good for this.

I’m currently leaning toward using sticks of green (treated) solid wood for the frame, and ordinary drywall for the surface because I have this on hand. Then I would smother the whole thing in a liquid rubber of sorts. The particular liquid rubber I would use is most common in roofing but they advertize that tiles can be glued to it.

(edit) The liquid rubber brocure lists things it can be applied to.

“To be applied on bituminous foundations and on the most common construction materials such as concrete, stone, wood, steel, aluminium, cement plaster and polyester”

Hmm.. no mention of drywall. So perhaps I will need to make it entirely from wood before using the liquid rubber on it.

I can’t even see the drawing. Perhaps an incompatibility between lemmy and kbin.

I’ve heard that the lint filters that are on the top of the drier and pull out upwards are supposedly much better than the kind that are just inside the door.

More generally speaking try to limit your dryer use. It just adds wear and tear on your clothes and costs money to use. Hang dry when you can.

That’s really the best answer.

Note as well that if air drying is not an option, the ventless dryers are much gentler on clothes than vented dryers because they don’t run at high temps. So clothes last longer.

They barely exist in the US. Europe is far ahead in this regard. In Europe you won’t even find one of those extremely wasteful vented dryers in most shops.

I did some research on the US market for ventless dryers. The pricing is terrible but if climate matters to you, you will take the hit. One thing that really disturbed me is among the few that are available in the US, only a couple of them is not part of the #internetOfShit. So if you want a dryer that does not connect to the network options are very limited. All the non-discontinued Miele models are “smart”, but this one might be worth a look because it’s 110v and not designed to be on a network. Some Whirlpool ones are wifi-free (this was the biggest one I found but it requires 220v). And indeed it’s hard to find ventless dryers in normal sizes. Most are ½ the size of vented dryers.

(edit)
If you don’t find a suitable ventless dryer, consider putting a dehumidifier in a closet & make that the drying closet. You could perhaps rig up a drain so you don’t have to empty tanks of water.

I sometimes pour a kettle of boiling water down the kitchen drain to melt the fats. I recall seeing a youtube video of a guy boiling pvc fittings to separate them and reuse them, which caused some concern for my habit of pouring boiling water down. But he had to boil those fittings in a pot for like 30 min with all sides of the fitting getting heat, so I’m not worried.

Budget permitting, it’s best to pour the hot water down 15-20 min before going to bed, then just before going to bed pour 50—100ml of enzymes. Enzyme-based maintenence cleaning is most effective when the sludge they will consume is warm. Let the enzymes feast on the nasties all night long.

Does the shutoff valve have to be in the shower? Could it be moved to the other side of a wall outside of the shower?

The valve joins a steel pipe to PEX. Both pipes are still bedded in concrete even though I cleared away the concrete that the valve was embedded in. The valve could be moved but the pipe joints remain in place because it would be too big of a project to unbury all of it, cut the steel pipe & thread it, etc. So if I move the valve the box would still need to be accessible in case the joints fail.

I need to update that other thread. I’ve already drilled a 14mm hole in the wall and ran a shaft through it which is now attached to a right angle gearbox mounted on the new valve, which has a replaceable cartridge. So what’s left to do is getting a custom handle on the shaft that goes through the wall and I need to build the box.

Thanks for the feedback.

While you could cut a V and bend the board, I would not trust it to be waterproof and you would need to seal it with the sealant anyway

I think this is where the different kinds of boards differ. Some tests¹ demonstrate Wedi is not waterproof but Schluter KERDI and another brand is. This guy says KERDI board can be scored and snapped to fit into a car, and unfolded at installation and it maintains its waterproof properties.

If I opt for foam board then it would probably be Wedi so indeed it would theoretically need a waterproofing system on top. I say theoretically because I don’t think the shower is waterproof to begin with (it’s apparently tile directly on concrete rendered over brick). But I should still probably practice doing it right.

it would probably be stronger to just do a butt joint with sealant.

I’ve noticed construction board is fastened using a big washer of sorts and a screw through it. If the board is 10—15mm thick and I use those washers on a corner, they would overhang. I suppose I could cut the overhung portions off with an angle grinder. I’m also unclear on how strong the joint is if a screw is driven just into the foam to fasten the butt joint. Wouldn’t the screw pull out without much force? Perhaps I’ll use a 2×3cm piece of wood on the inside corner and screw both boards to that since I have that wood on hand.

Or when you say “with sealant”, do you mean no screws and sealant alone?

1. not sure I linked the right video.. I can’t access videos right now to verify.

I’m building a small box in the shower which I will tile over. The box will cover a valve and must be semi-accessible. The valve will actually be controlled from the other side of the wall, so the box need not be opened routinely -- only if the fitting leaks or goes bad will access be needed.

I have an unlimited free supply of Ikea pressboard because neighbors throw it away daily. But I would not use it in a shower. Ikea pressboard is like a sponge with water. It’s also too thick. I have rigid space constraints. No limit on the box height, but the walls of the box must be thin (e.g. 10—15mm thick is what I have in mind). The construction board seems well suited for wet areas.

This is the old box, which was previously a solid block of concrete:

https://fedia.io/m/plumbing/t/58279/Advice-needed-exposed-water-valve-in-shower

My building style is to make everything accessible and servicable. So in that pic you see a floor tile around the box. That tile is actually removable. I went to great lengths to give a solid mating subfloor but without gluing it down. So if needed I can just remove the caulking around that tile and get under the showerpan. This is why the box walls must be thin. If the box is big enough to overlap the floor tile, then it would ruin the accessibility of the floor tile. Unless I somehow figure out how to make the entire box easily removable.. then it wouldn’t matter if it rested on the floor tile.

indeed buffet was my first thought too because it would give the extra countertop space he wants. But otoh, he doesn't want to bend over for the extra storage. There could be cabinets above the buffet though.