Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with DYI

need attic insulation advice

cheemee — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:40:57 -0800

attic insulation question: I live in a split level home that has two separate attics. Is it counterproductive to have one attic better insulated than the other? (more specifics inside) Both attics were already insulated with fibreglass batting rated at around R-12 when I moved in. I recently added R-40 batting to one of the attics, and am contemplating leaving the other attic as is at R-12. I have heard from non-professionals that I should not leave it this way, as it's doing more harm than good; I would have been better off leaving both at R-12 rather than insulating one attic only.

Anybody with any know-how or previous experience care to share their thoughts? Basically I'm trying to decide if I should insulate the other attic, or if it's ok to leave it as is.

Possibly relevant info:

-the attic that I have already added insulation to is slightly lower than the other attic
-location is Vancouver, BC (temperatures range from roughly -5 to +30 degrees celcius)
-cost is not an issue
-house is approxmately 30 years old
-I did not enjoy adding insulation to the first attic

thank you!

Creating printed paper boxes (cheap and easily)

cjorgensen — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:05:26 -0800

Help me make some paper boxes I want to make some little boxes that would hopefully fold up to about the right size to hold standard (3 x 5) note cards.

I would like something like what this guy is doing, but without having to buy a laser.

I am hoping there is some kind of micro-perforated, pre-scored option out there, but I am not finding any.

I would like to just run them through an inkjet printer, punch them out, and fold them up. I am open to other ideas, but I have tons of papercraft books, and know how to make boxes. I'm just hoping to mass produce more than what I'd like to do by hand.

I know this option exists for business cards (which is all google gives me), but was thinking there has to be a box option as well.

Ideas?

Where can I buy dryer components in New York City?

idledebonair — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:56:18 -0800

Where can I buy dryer components in New York City? I need new solenoids for my Whirlpool Dryer, where can I buy them in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens, today?

Redoing Bathroom Without Taking a Bath

Xurando — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:40:33 -0800

Bathroom Renovation Filter: DIY vs. Contractor We are planning for a bathroom renovation. We would like to keep the cost under $2000. We are replacing a vanity/sink fiberglass shower unit, and tiling floors. I think the hardware will be half the cost. I am concerned about the cost of labor.

When I look at the overall project, my brain says "I can do that." Can I really? What haven't I considered? In the end would I be better off just hiring a plumbing contractor and biting the bullet?

Bonus points for links to inexpensive beautiful, practical bathroom fixtures.

Yves Klein's sponge reliefs - how to?

ClarissaWAM — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:49:27 -0800

I want to make a sponge relief à la Yves Klein, but I don't know how. So I have a friend who loves Yves Klein, and I want to make a "sort of" sponge relief for her. Yves Klein sites (understandably) don't seem to have "tutorials".

All I've got so far is "buy sponges, cut them to shape, glue to canvas and paint blue" which is a bit dire. (NB the canvas I intend to use is only 30x30cm - it needs to go on a plane.) I'm open to anything and everything (even ideas vaguely inspired by Klein - as long as the intention is clear).

Semi-bonus question: I am not too concerned about the colour itself, I'll make my own - however if anyone has a "OMG I saw this paint that totally reminded me of his blue," I'm all ears.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

How can I make a DYI wall map?

benrodian — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:04:31 -0800

How can I make a custom DYI wall map of my neighborhood using GoogleMaps or something similar and free? I want to make a poster-sized map of my new neighborhood so I can learn the streets. I checked into getting a custom Thomas Bros map, but that costs $300. I'd like to use free online tools to make a detailed map of a (roughly) 2x3 mile area that I can print at an online poster shop for $29 (20x30 inches).

Does anyone have suggestions that will make this easy? The best way I can think of is to cut and paste a bunch of sections from GoogleMaps and then link them all together using PhotoShop, but this will take awhile and I'm worried that I'll lose a lot of legibility in the transition from 72dpi to 300dpi.

Ideally, this poster will be kind of nice looking and the street names will be legible when printed.

Thanks!

Neither a brain surgeon nor particularly ham-fisted, should I dissassemble my iBook?

blueberry — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 00:05:29 -0800

The internal hard drive on my G3/600Mhz iBook is not long for this earth. I'm looking for advice from MeFis who have replaced the drive themselves; specifically, if faced with the task again would you say "Hell no!" or rather "Wow, that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be"? Disk Utility tells me that the old SMART thing says it's failing and recommends that I move anything I want to keep off of it. Just in case, I tried running DiscWarrior on it, but it only get's so far and then hangs.

While the drive kinda works right now, it's being flaky -- forgetting preferences, often getting stuck in what seems like an endless loop allowing me to enjoy the spinning beach ball simulator -- and is no doubt only going to get worse, probably soon.

(I do have a complete bootable backup (thanks SuperDuper!) so I'm not worried about the data)

I'll either buy a new 60 or 80Gb drive to put in or, less appealingly, put in a 20Gb drive I have sitting around.

I've looked at the 16-page step-by-step guide for opening the iBook to scoop out it's tasty nougat center (the hard drive) but frankly it's looks a bit the Frodo-esqe task.

My thoughts are that I'd open her up on a wide clean table, the guide and tools in front of me, putting each set of different screws in it's own little container or whatever so it's not like I'd be taking it apart in the gutting room of a pitching Alaskan fishing trawler.

My fears are thus:

- opening the whole thing up and then getting stuck mid-way
- doing everything and then, when trying to get it all back together it doesn't fit (picture me sitting on it like an over-stuffed suitcase pleading "Come on!")
- getting it all back together, going to turn it on and something doesn't work.

Your experienced thoughts?

(okay, and I just found this similar post from February of this year, but will ask again in case there are more people since who can respond)

----

A bit of background: When I originally bought the iBook it came with a 20Gb drive (that's the one I might put back in). In May of 2003 I took it into a local Mac shop and they put a new 60 Gb drive in. That's the drive that's now dying. As an optional bonus question: how long should one expect a new drive to last? I'm a bit dissappointed as it's not like I was using the iBook while riding a bronco. Is 2.5 years an acceptable/expectable lifecycle for a laptop drive? Might the iBooks "man this thing gets hot!" problem have factored in to the short life of the drive? And what exactly is wrong with the drive? I assume it's not like bad sectors or something it could learn to ignore, so is it like the motor driving the reading/writing arm is failing?

While I'm hoping that next year I'll be able to replace the machine with a newer, faster intel version, I'd like to keep this little guy up and running. That said, I'm a bit hesitant to spend $80 an hour (for probably 1-2 hours) simply for someone to open her up.

least visible/ugly power extension codes?

grafholic — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 13:57:01 -0800

least visible/ugly power extension cords? long story short, I just moved into a studio apartment and they chose most retarded locations for power outlets in the main room, which means i have to wire around extension cables to use several of my electronics including phone and DSL.

i am looking for thin, very invisible and not so ugly power extension codes to do the job (unless wireless power extension box is available??).

my room walls are painted white if this information helps.

yes, getting a permission from the landlord, opening up a hole and creating another power outlet would be the alternative to this, but i have had many bad experiences with electricians in the past and would love to avoid this route if possible.

DYI guitar tung oil finish

dong_resin — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 21:56:18 -0800

DYI Guitar players: anyone finish a mahogany soildbody with tung oil? Any tips for the virgin? There's a lot of info on the web, but some of it contradicts itself. I'm looking for firsthand experiences here.

Crafty Cards

seanyboy — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 01:32:58 -0800

Ideas for birthday Cards. I'm pretty clumsy, and have little / no artistic ability, but I like to make my birthday and (in five months time) christmas cards. Does anybody have any simple / easy recipies for good birthday cards. I tend to make really tiny cards with either bits of magazine pictures or small leaves stuck on them. It's all getting a bit boring, so would love some new ideas.

drywall repair

kmel — Wed, 17 Dec 2003 04:58:35 -0800

Talk to me about drywall repair. [more inside] I'm down with patching, but then you have a spot that's smooth when the rest of the wall is textured. They're not always in spots that can be covered up with pictures!

Also, our previous homeowner was big into faux, so we are left with a fake rock wall that I think was make by slathering on joint compound (or something) and drawing the "rocks" into it. Is it best to sand it down, replace the drywall altogether, or smooth it over with (what)?