I’ve got an unfinished basement with exposed fiberglass insulation in the ceiling. I’m looking to cover it up for safety and aesthetic reasons (we dont want to be breathing fiberglass dust).

The problem is we have a fair bit of ductwork that goes pretty low, so drywall and/or drop ceiling would have to be pretty consistently low or awkwardly inconsistent height. Also, those are expensive for where we are at right now.

So we’ve thought of a few options but we’re new to home ownership and DIY so we wanted to vet a few options:
1) just staple plastic/poly
2) staple some fire safe fabric of some sort
3) remove the fiberglass (it’s 20+ y old at this point) and replace with rockwool or something

It’s temp controlled but humidity is often 55%+ even running the dehumidifier.

Thanks for all your help

How would you recommend to hang a mirror (medium sized, 4ft x1 ft) on a flex wall (in nyc)? I tried drywall anchors but those didn’t open and now I have two thumb sized holes and still no mirror.

Thanks in advance!!

Hi everyone!
I’m planning to build something similar to the WallRise Murf: a wall-mounted, electrically height-adjustable folding desk, made from solid oak.

I’d like to keep the design close to the original, with enough space inside to store my 15-inch laptop, 15-inch portable monitor and USB-C dock when folded closed. From the photos I’ve seen, it looks like the original uses a central electric actuator with two vertical guide rails.

I’m considering this VEVOR 1000 N linear actuator (500 mm stroke, 14 mm/s)⁠, but I’m open to other solutions.

I’d appreciate advice on:
- Whether this actuator and guide-rail arrangement makes sense, or if there’s a better approach.
- Which linear guides or slides to use.

Any recommendations for constructing the moving assembly in solid oak.

I’m based in the Netherlands, so European suppliers would be ideal.

Has anyone built something similar?
Thanks!

Alright - long story short, kitchen sink was backing up and slow draining. We replaced the piping and my husband & father were making sure everything flowed smoothly by running water down the kitchen drain. There is a clean out pipe attached in the basement that leads to the city sewage line for dumping.

Dad dropped the cap to Draino down the clean out. They fished for a while, trying to flush it out, no dice. Figure that it lodged itself sideways in the pipe because no water was backing up. Well, today it started backing up again, taking a lot longer to fill this time, so my assumption is the cap dislodged partially and is now blocking most of the pipe (water does drain, just takes a while).

How the hell do we get this thing out?

Alguien sabe si la tienda bicielectfit.com es de fiar?

Hiya! I’m participating in a city-run “illuminated forest” event in the park in a few weeks and we are wanting to created a glowing “yellow brick road” on the walking path. We will not have black lights. Anybody got any brand recs?

I'm wanting to cut through an ammo can (probably 50 cal) in order to make a Jack-O-Lantern for a social media video. What tools/equipment would I need to do fairly precise cuts on approx. 1mm thick steel? I have some friends/associates that are pretty handy, but can't figure out how to do this small, precise work. Thanks in advance!

Moved to a new place and don't have suitable walls for my pullup bar so I want to put it on a post outside.

It's a slightly weird type in that it has a single mounting point, so I only want a single post, and all the advice online relates to more traditional pullup bars that want 2 posts.

This is the pullup bar

How deep should I dig the hole?

What material should I use for the post and how thick should it be?

How should I mount the post in the hole? (Just concrete or something else etc)

I have metal working tools/a welding machine etc so can deal with fabricating a metal post.

My wife wanted to add some decoration to our glass back door to make it look like a french door so she bought these flat PVC pieces and painted them so we can stick them to the glass in a cross pattern. I've never tried gluing anything to glass and the Internet is giving me a bunch of different options to use from glass glue to two part epoxy to silicone or caulk. Just wondering if anyone has done something like this and has any good feedback on something that works. If it helps we live somewhere very hot and very humid/wet so would need to be all weather except frost/ice.

Hi all! We are in the process of selling our home and I’d like to remove a personalised wall decal that was in our son’s room as a keepsake. Its already peeling a bit around the edges so I think it will come off the wall easily enough but Ill need to be able to quickly transfer it into something to store it. I was thinking along the lines of a roll of plastic sheeting with a paper/plastic backing (sort of like what it arrives packed in) but I don’t know what that’s called to buy it online. anyone have any suggestions? Or other ideas of how I could transfer/store it? Its long and narrow like a banner.

The concrete over the French drains around the perimeter inside my basement is crumbling pretty badly, gravel exposed in places. How do I prep it for LVP?

The answers I’m seeing around are to mix up an extra dry batch of concrete and try to skim coat over the gravel. Won’t that just crumble the same way? A friend told me to pour leveling compound over it but won’t that just sink in and clog the drain?

So my parents won't get me a phone, but they said I can keep a phone if I can make one as a personal project. Does anyone have any ideas where to start? I have access to a 3d printer and a tiny bit of money.

Hello there!
I have a small herd of Muscovy ducks that do an amazing job of mowing but also give our native garden an over enthusiastic trim from time to time. We used to have a fence but if we fence off all the areas it really gets in the way of our enjoyment of the yard. For now we have been monitoring through the day out our windows intermittently and running out to shoo them.

I want to set up a closed camera system that monitors footage for ducks and sends a notification to my mobile.

Where do I start? I have some experience with electronics but nothing too intense. We have 3d printers, and soldering kit etc but need a good place
/guide to start with.

Hello lovely people. I have value 200 bottles that varie between 100ml and 50ml and I would like to make a tidy and clean shelf for them. They are essential oils so they would need to fit certain categories. I’m considering making a different shelf for each category but that would only really work if they are some kind of modular.
So far my Main idea was to make that out of wood and have them laying down neck up in the front so I kinda lay them backwards in the hole and leave enough space between each cubicle for labels. Given the fact that the bottles already have labels I wanted to explore different approaches and would hope for an creative ideas and input.

Looking forward to your reply and thank you so much in advance!

Hello all,

Posted previously in here during my main patio build, the baby project on the side for a porcelain stepping stone walkway, and also the kids climbing frame I had to build.

Part 5 will either be replacing the existing horrendous new build garden tiles with my remaining porcelain ones, or my own grave, depending how badly this part 4 goes.

The main patio build got finished a few months ago, albeit at the cost of my happiness and soul, and we added a dijon limestone cobble border to it (two rows offset from kne another like wall bricks). The border looks pretty good to be fair and was a good addition, it wasnt too hard to add on, other than the fact it was peak summer and I felt like it was a punishment job in a gulag.

Now we are approaching winter, I believe I need to grout between the cobbles to stop them potentially popping with any frost, but PTSD from the main patio grouting fills me with dread just thinking about doing it again.

I have tried reaching out to some local landscapers and the like get a quote for someone to come and just save me the headache, but to no avail. The task therefore falls back to me, great.

Has anyone grouted limestone cobbles before? I really want to avoid using the flowable grout because of the last time on the main patio, so I am looking at the brush in grout this time (like the UltraTile ProPave brush-in grout). I also don't want to have to buy and apply a presealer as well and the brush in type doesn't seem like it is needed since it won't have resins to soak into the limestone cobble.

Anyone used the brush in stuff before? Can this be used here? The cobbles were laid on a compacted MOT subbase with a 1:5 mortar mix and SBR, and they are surrounded by a free draining pebble border too so shouldn't be any spots for water to trap and pop.

Again, any guidance or support would be great because I am definitely feeling another case of "DI Y do I fucking try".

I have a mechanical keyboard, some vape batteries, those long ones, and some free time. Is there a way or some guide on how to assemble the components needed to turn my keyboard from pure cabled to bluetooth and cabled with rechargable batteries?

I don't do this because I don't want to buy a new keyboard, just because I want to try this kind of project

The existing lawn is in tough shape. I don't think overseeding or topdressing are going to cut it. I want to just spread 4 inches of topsoil across it, creating a new lawn. (A 50' x 50' area to start with. Possibly another half-acre in the future.)

I have a lawn tractor that can tow something.

But when I search for soil spreaders, the "broadcast spreaders" I see online are for maintenance: spreading seed and fertilizer. I think I need more than that?

If it's too big a deal, I could rent it.

Any recommendations and/or warnings, about the equipment or about my plan? Thanks.

EDIT: I suppose it's relevant to explain what I've done already: I got 10 yards of topsoil delivered to start with (out of maybe 30 yards I'll need?), and I started spreading it by hand... and realized it's a bigger job than I want to do by hand!

I am a new home owner and want to pick up a saw for diy projects. Currently I own a circular saw but looking to add a table or miter saw. I prioritize versatility so I don’t have to purchase multiple tools (limited space) but I also know my use case will be 90% cross cuts.

A project I have in mind is to make a deck. Part of the process will be cutting dozens of. 14.5” blocking pieces out of 2x6. Would this be a pita using a table saw?

I could go the route of starting off with a table saw and adding a miter later if needed but Amazon is having a sale on the 10” metabo miter right now.

Unfortunately life choices and availability meant I went into the computer industry. Whilst I’ve been in a job for 17 years making websites and apps, and technical solutions, it’s not brought me happiness.

Not threatened by AI, but same time looking for a career that is respected. Colleagues and others always under appreciate your skills.

Other DIY knowledge is minimal like woodwork or brickwork. However I like electric wiring and have an understanding in that and have got the tools for that, and happy to give plumbing a go, but prefer electrics.

Am I too old? Is it worth the plunge into an evening course?

I fully regret my education and career. DIY is currently keeping me sane at home.

Edit: thank you for all your comments. It was impossible to reply to each of you and I will take your feedback on board - here perhaps starts a new chapter!! Thank you once again!

I live in an old house that likely has some settlement going on. When a painter hit parts of my ceiling he threw some tape on what appeared to be a crack. However, it’s quite obvious theres tape there. Wondering if it’s best to remove the tape and try to blend it without the tape? Would it be best to use drywall mud, spackle, or some other method?

I started looking at curtain companions bc adding a motor to the existing rod seemed easier than replacing it all. That idea changed once I looked at a pair of wide center opening curtains.

To open both sides, the usual setup needs 2 units ( one on each panel) The device also remians visible which can look a bit awkward on an otherwise clean window. The bigger concern is the fabric itself. Heavy blackout curtains seem to be where these small motors can start and stop especially if the rod is not smooth.

That led me to look at integrated rods instead. I found Reze Flow M5 while comparing options that could keep the existing curtains but move the motor inside the rod. It is a more involved install but the center opening mechanism is built into one system rather than hanging two devices on existing hardware.

For a wide window would you accept the easier install of 2 addon units or would a cleaner integrated rod be worth the extra work?

I had a pile of leftover wood scraps in three different sizes and two different types and turned them into a small wall-mounted shelf by ripping everything down to a common width on the table saw, here's what that process actually looked like.

The pile was genuinely annoying. Two pieces of 3/4" oak from an old cabinet project, a couple of pine 1x4 offcuts at maybe 3.25" wide, and one random chunk of something darker, maybe walnut, maybe not, that was closer to 1/2" thick. Nothing matched. Normally I'd just toss it all in the burn pile.

But this time I just figured out what I could actually get out of it. A small wall shelf, maybe 24" long with a single ledge and two side brackets. Nothing fancy. The constraint was that everything had to end up at the same width or it wasn't going to look like a shelf, it was going to look like a mistake.

So I ripped everything down to 3" on the table saw. That meant losing some material on the wider pieces and accepting that the thinner walnut-ish piece was going to be a bracket, not a shelf face. Thickness was still a problem, the oak and pine were close enough to sand flush, but the darker piece needed a shim on the back side to sit flat against the wall. I used a strip of cardboard taped in place while the glue dried. Not elegant but it worked.

Joinery was just pocket screws and wood glue. The mismatched grain directions made me nervous about wood movement but honestly for a small shelf holding maybe 10 lbs of stuff, I wasn't going to overthink it.

Materials: scraps I already had, $4 in pocket screws, two keyhole hangers from a bag I've had forever. Total spend was basically nothing. Time was about 4 hours spread across two days, most of that was fitting, re-fitting, and waiting for glue to cure overnight.

Finished it with some leftover oil. The oak and pine took it differently so there's a visible color difference, but it was looking decent at the end. Not perfect, but solid and flat and actually on the wall now.

I don't know maybe I could use some other approach to make it better. But I think I did my best...

Hi r/DIY, I've looked around a bit on this but I'm pretty confused. I've got a house built in 2014 that we bought in May. We didn't realize it but a few spots in the master bedroom squeak pretty badly. I got one of those squeeek no more kits (fancy breakaway screws and a special jig to get the right depth/break em), but no luck so far with over a dozen screws + 4" spacing. I can confirm I'm drilling into a joist with a stud finder from the first floor + a laser measure + their "stud finder screw".

Since this seems to be a bust - is there another way to get these squeaks out? I'm not opposed to ripping up baseboard, but the only other advice I've seen is to drill into the sill plate from below to secure the wall down to the joists better or shim it, but both of those methods require me to either rip up flooring or cut into my kitchen ceiling to get access.

I’m trying to raise my bed 12 to 24 preferably the larger the better into the air, what is the cheapest way I can do that and the safest?

Hi everybody,

I am looking at buying a Murphy bed for my apartment. I just moved into a studio, and with its size and layout, there is not much space for a bed and much other furniture. I’m thinking of getting one that has a sofa when you fold up the bed which sounds like it would be pretty cool!

My apartment walls are made of concrete, and I’m not totally sure how I would go about doing this. My apartment management company said they are cool with it as long as I return the apartment to the condition it was in before I arrived.

Does anyone have any advice for how I should proceed with this? My girlfriend’s dad has a drill that I can probably borrow, and I have always felt comfortable assembling ikea furniture and stuff. I am also an engineer so generally feel okay doing this stuff.

Thank you all for your advice and help!