Home Improvement

[South Dakota Guy]

I put an "indoor/outdoor" carpet type of thing on mine, about a half foot wide and 3 feet long. Six runners in total on a two ten foot long steps. I used a staple gun.

Yours look MUCH nicer, AND thicker. I'm thinking that your plan is better than what I did.

I did have to be careful in the placement of the staples, because they do have a little "traction" raised design.

My bride I think would be happier with YOUR job though! I'll have to not let her see it, lol!

I haven't done the deck stairs yet. The treads arrived today and will be waiting for me when I get home at the end of the week.

You could use screws, or you could use adhesive.
If you go with adhesive get a good polyurethane adhesive or solvent based glue, don't use latex or water based adhesive or glue, they don't hold up well outdoors.
The tube adhesive by liquid nails is easy to apply with a caulking gun and hold up really well.
I don't know how flexible your treads are in low temperatures, but some rubber or vinyl treads get brittle in cold weather and might crack at the screw, particularly if water gets underneath and causes stress from freezing.
Another concern with the screw method is water under the treads will dry much more slowly, which could cause concern with wood rot under the treads.

Here is what the manufacturer says " SAFETY ALL YEAR ROUND: The rubber stair treads are durable in both harsh winter conditions and hot summer temperatures; Rubber is much better at adapting to different temperatures compared to PVC plastic or anti-slip tape". If I use the adhesive, should I spread a uniform layer on the back of the treads? What would you use to spread it?

 

[FarmerTan]

Ive remodeled most of my house interior myself. Kitchen, both bathrooms, replaced doors but had the windows done for me. Gutting bathrooms and kitchen and starting from scratch is the way to go. My home is a little small but large enough for the two of us. All new wood floors including two stairways.
Its fun as long as tour body will allow it.

Just a quick shot of our backsplash for the stove...BTW, I changed over to gas from electric.

Yeah, now that I have the things I didn't 30 years ago, time and money, I don't have the health!

Ah well, time to spend that money I guess!

 

[luvmysuper]

If I use the adhesive, should I spread a uniform layer on the back of the treads? What would you use to spread it?

I'd put a 1/4 inch bead, 1 inch in from the perimeter on the stair, then an X pattern in the middle, and lay the tread down center first by holding the ends and letting the center droop.
If you want to spead it for more uniform coverage, then a larger gauge trowel works great.
A small notch trowel won't work as well but can be used in a pinch.
Spread from the outside in, holding the trowel at a 45 degree angle.
The treads should have come with suggested installation instructions, but companies today are trying to save a few pennies by making you download instructions from the web.

 

[Berwick12]

Teaching moment. When you spray foam filler when it says use gloves. Use gloves. WD-40 makes it manageable so you can use your hands again. Acetone gets off spray foam if it hasn't set. acetone eats through vinyl gloves.

 

[luvmysuper]

Teaching moment. When you spray foam filler when it says use gloves. Use gloves. WD-40 makes it manageable so you can use your hands again. Acetone gets off spray foam if it hasn't set. acetone eats through vinyl gloves.

Funny how we can learn in a day on the job what would take a year in a classroom to sink in!

 

[FarmerTan]

Funny how we can learn in a day on the job what would take a year in a classroom to sink in!

"Instructions?! Who reads those?!"

The guy without spray foam insulation all over both hands for two weeks after a five minute job....

 

[timetofly]

This past winter I finished the basement and turned one room into a bar, Nautical themed. I built the bar and made it look like the stern of the USS Constitution. Lights turn on inside when you open the storage doors, and the lights are visible through the portholes on the bar.
All of the decorations on the bar itself I designed and 3D printed based off of blueprints from the USS Constitution.
I built the pool cue rack from scratch, and inside is storage for billiard balls and racks, and a magnetic door which drops to expose a dart board, darts and chalk score boards.

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@luvmysuper (Phil), with your permission I would like to mentally step into your nicely finished basement, pull up a stool to the bar, enjoy a good bourbon and inhale the pipe smoke.
Nicely done, sir!

 

[luvmysuper]

@luvmysuper (Phil), with your permission I would like to mentally step into your nicely finished basement, pull up a stool to the bar, enjoy a good bourbon and inhale the pipe smoke.
Nicely done, sir!

Thanks!
It looks a lot better now that I'm done, those were kind of "in progress" pics.

 

[timetofly]

Thanks!
It looks a lot better now that I'm done, those were kind of "in progress" pics.

Nonetheless, it is HGTV worthy!

 

[njpaddy]

Invest now and enjoy the improvements while you can. We put off needed repairs for too long and never got to enjoy them. In the year before we sold the house (2020), we had the back deck and stairs replaced, new landscaping, a new roof & skylight, new front door. porch railings, GFCI outlets and other repairs made. Before we had time to enjoy them, my wife called a realtor in for an estimate. The prices were so high in fall 2020, that the house sold in 3 days, for more than it was worth. We were out of our house of almost 20 years in 2 months, and we never got to enjoy the improvements we made.

House prices are falling now, but they'll be back up when interest rates come down. We saw ours fall and rise several times over the years.

 

[ctr]

Nice work. Kudos for upgrading the bathroom outlet to GFCI.

 

[Esox]

My youngest and smallest dog is only 5 lbs and she is scared going up and down the steps.

Dogs can sometimes have a hard time seeing stairs properly, especially if they have shine to them or reflect light. My brother in law had a Yellow Lab that refused to go down the basement stairs for three years. I tried coaxing her down one day and noticed her eyes looking around up and down the stairs and it occurred to me she couldnt see them properly, they were white vinyl. Some 2" tread tape on them and her troubles were over.


The last bigger job I did around the house was this cement work.

I'm not sure if I'd rather do your job or do the one I just finished lol. Its all about the same to me, work. Only the materials differ.

Its pretty common to need to shim a toilet so its level. Caulking hides it all most of it after anyway. Use a neoprene ring instead of a wax ring. Then you can make all the mistakes you want without needing a new one lol.

I gutted, down to the studs, one of the three bathrooms in this house two years ago. It was plaster and lathe. Let me tell ya, that **** is heavy. Its also a dirty, dusty mess. That bathroom is on the second floor and two of us couldnt carry a garbage can half full of it. I ended up making a slide from 16' 2x4's and 3/8" ply. Hung it off the side of the balcony and started shoveling it onto the slide and right into the bed of a buddy's pickup.

Then I removed the 56x32" double hung window, framed it for a smaller slider, installed it, insulated the wall and slapped 1/2" drywall over it all without checking to see if the walls needed shimming lol. This house is framed with full dimension 2x4" Fir and it aint exactly straight or square lol. Plaster hides a lot haha. I had to fill one corner 1 1/2"s over a 30+ inch run, another 3/4" in the middle of another wall and 1/2" at the door near the electrical box. Once finished you'd never even know. Perfectly flat.

Then I installed a Maax Sax soaker tub, Moen Roman Bath faucets with commercial valves that match the sink and an American Standard H2Option toilet. Damn good toilet too... Under it all is Brazilian Walnut vinyl plank flooring. Also great stuff. Laid properly its a 100% waterproof floor.

After the inside was finished, all but the trim which I still havent done yet lol, I pulled all the siding off the exterior back wall, insulated it, strapped it with 1x4, hung tar paper over that and put new siding on then capped two windows on the upstairs back wall.

This year...

I've been dealing with decaying concrete the last few 20 years on the walkway between the garage and the back door. By the time I finished pressure washing all the loose bits away I was using whole cement bricks as fill in two places. That slab is 10"s thick.

First I filled the worst spots. Then I brushed concrete adhesive on the obvious low spots and parged them to build them up and let it cure. Then I did it all again, and again, and again. Four coats in total with the last over the entire top surface. I would have used Ardex K-301 self leveling compound as a final top coat but I was running out of good weather so I just skim coated it as best I could and used a sponge trowel to finish. I had to rebuild the bottom step too, and I did it without forming it.

Theres two gallons of concrete adhesive, 1 1/2 bags (~120lbs) of Type N Portland and six five gallon pails of sand in that repair. Since I dont have a mixer and was working alone I had to mix all the cement in a 2 gallon pail with a trowel. That was more work than the job itself.

Then I laid on two coats of Loxon XP and that was that. The Loxon XP should last 10 years before needing a recoat. Even if I need to recoat every 5 years, I'm okay with that.

While I was doing the coating I figured I might as well pull the walk through door, repair it as best I could and coat it on all faces with the Loxon and the frame while I was at it. I'll make a new door...sometime lol.

Then, since I was on a roll, I also filled, parged and sponged a section of broken concrete top coat a 1/2" thick on the garage floor. If this Loxon XP is as good as they say it is, and it must be pretty good if they use it on the exterior of new commercial construction, I'll do the back patio next summer and the garage floor.

I've been wanting to extend the back wall of the garage 10 feet for a few years. Not sure when I'll get around to that. My head doesnt believe I'm 54 and my body feels like its 25, until after I do the work lol.

Theres always something that needs doing.

Carpe diem

The next thing to be done is a new Tuff Rib steel roof, sometime around the end of September. How surprised I was when I was quoted a price for steel $1200 less than tearing it off, resheeting where necessary, laying Storm Guard membrane and putting Timberline HD shingles on it. Do it once and, hopefully, forget about it.

I've been in the home improvement/renovation business since 1985. Mostly siding and windows but also more than my share of the rest of it.

 

[luvmysuper]

I made this pallet out of some old coffee tables.

 

[LooneyToons816]

You are a true artist Phil, that is extraordinary! The sailor theme carries throughout is epic, the rope wrapped beam is genius

 

[LooneyToons816]

Can we all go to Phil's for a whiskey neat?

 

[LooneyToons816]

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I made this pallet out of some old coffee tables.

Thats a HUGE SPIDER!! Oh wait thats a glove

 

[Berwick12]

Why I love getting lumber from my father in law, I ask for some 2"x4" and he says he doesn't have all that many, he doesn't use a lot, mostly 2x6s. Walks over to a tarp, and he has 3 dozen 2"x4"s... Also, I'm never getting wood from Home depot or lowes ever again.

 

[Billhanna]

Wait. Hold on. You got 2x4s that are TWO BY FOUR!?

 

[Whisky]

Redneck wire pull.

 

[luvmysuper]

Redneck wire pull. View attachment 1513151

The set-up and execution isn't all that different from what professional contractors use, so "good on ya!"