icing wrote:Anitrak wrote:Do I rip out the wallno. your best bet is to leave it, because,early next spring you're going to dig a big ass hole/trench on the outside and lay some drain pipe pointing downhill/away from the building. then consider fixing the interior. sounds like a huge big job, but it's really just digging. one saturday and like $30. or do it now.Good thought. That's really easy to do. That's why I come here.

Anitrak wrote:Do I rip out the wallno. your best bet is to leave it, because,early next spring you're going to dig a big ass hole/trench on the outside and lay some drain pipe pointing downhill/away from the building. then consider fixing the interior. sounds like a huge big job, but it's really just digging. one saturday and like $30. or do it now.

Update on my basement crack.Renting a back hoe to dig out a 7 foot basement wall. Going to put up a membrane and tar it up. The way that the yard has settled right in front of the windows is going to keep pooling and frankly I'm more apt to nip this in the bud now rather than wonder what else is going on behind those walls. Plus I live in Indiana where it's just cold and went all winter. We're going to have some good 50 degree weather coming up and I don't want to keep wondering if my basement is gathering water while I'm gone. Wish me luck.

Madman Munt wrote:I helped my Dad put a double-glazed window in his garage recently. If you watch those installation-cunts on youtube you will observe them knocking in the beading tap-tap-tap in seconds like it's nothing. When you come to do this you will find it is not nothing; if you haven't developed the knack it will seem really hard. Either you tap too soft and it don't do shit, or you tap too hard and it feels like you'll smash something. That's if you can even hit the damn thing flat-on. It will keep popping out and you will curse. Also, if your rubber mallet is not of the "non-marking" variety, it will leave bloody great bash-stains all over the virgin white frame. You will panic as these will not appear to wipe off. So here are some tips:Rubber mallet: try to get a narrow-headed one that won't mark the plastic. Using a fat head means you'll hit the bead with the edge of the head which makes the mallet pivot and you won't be able to direct the force properly. You can put the mallet head in a sock to prevent marking! This also enables you to slide the mallet across the glass to get a flat-on impact with the bead.Start in the corner and move along slowly, lots of small, firm taps- don't let it pop out. If in doubt, keep tapping in the same place, then move along just slightly. If you move along too much the tap will have the opposite effect and pull the bead back out. Mallet bash-stains can be removed with a pencil eraser. This is time consuming and hard work so best to avoid them in the first place. Apart from those minor problems the installation went well. Not a job to be afraid of. Forgive my ignorance but what is the beading?

elisha wiesner wrote:Forgive my ignorance but what is the beading?The plastic strips that run around the inside of the frame and seal in the windowpane. You need to bang them in after you put the glass in.

I helped my Dad put a double-glazed window in his garage recently. If you watch those installation-cunts on youtube you will observe them knocking in the beading tap-tap-tap in seconds like it's nothing. When you come to do this you will find it is not nothing; if you haven't developed the knack it will seem really hard. Either you tap too soft and it don't do shit, or you tap too hard and it feels like you'll smash something. That's if you can even hit the damn thing flat-on. It will keep popping out and you will curse. Also, if your rubber mallet is not of the "non-marking" variety, it will leave bloody great bash-stains all over the virgin white frame. You will panic as these will not appear to wipe off. So here are some tips:Rubber mallet: try to get a narrow-headed one that won't mark the plastic. Using a fat head means you'll hit the bead with the edge of the head which makes the mallet pivot and you won't be able to direct the force properly. You can put the mallet head in a sock to prevent marking! This also enables you to slide the mallet across the glass to get a flat-on impact with the bead.Start in the corner and move along slowly, lots of small, firm taps- don't let it pop out. If in doubt, keep tapping in the same place, then move along just slightly. If you move along too much the tap will have the opposite effect and pull the bead back out. Mallet bash-stains can be removed with a pencil eraser. This is time consuming and hard work so best to avoid them in the first place. Apart from those minor problems the installation went well. Not a job to be afraid of.

wotown wrote:twelvepoint wrote:Similarly, is it common to have battery backup for sump pumps? I imagine I'd want to prepare for power outages if there are rains heavy enough to flood the basement? When I bought my house there was a car battery next to the sump pump, but no one's explained to me how to connect it, so I've just had a car battery sitting there for 8 1/2 years. I do know it's a standard practice and I really ought to learn how I'm supposed to hook it up.Imagine if you had a car battery with a sump pump you'd need some way to keep it charged off regular 120VAC, as well as a pump that ran on 12VDC? Off to Google I go....

A couple questions, some of which are water related!My family is moving in December from a small condo in Cambridge MA to a house-house in Arlington (next town out from Cambridge). Anyway, place is in great shape, but the inspector tried the sump pump and it was dead. He said to pick up 2 since the main one will inevitably die when it's most needed. Anyone have a recommendation? We were budgeting up to $200 per pump. The pump is pretty small, about the size of a big butternut squash, and not one of the four foot long deals that I remember people used to have. Similarly, is it common to have battery backup for sump pumps? I imagine I'd want to prepare for power outages if there are rains heavy enough to flood the basement? Lastly, the logical end of this kind of preparedness (short of a fallout shelter) would be to get a generator. Anyone have any suggestions on sizing these? Portable vs permanent exterior install? I suppose if there were an outage I'd want to keep the fridge running, along with the forced hot water (gas) heating system. Plus some lights I guess. Can't imagine that would be over 5KW.

Does anyone know how to change the wiring on a doorbell if it only rings WHILE the doorbell is being pressed down?The doorbell has a pair of wires running to to the transformer & a pair each to the front and back door.Internet told me to wire a "hot" from each to the doorbell (which has screws for Transformer, Front and Back) and then nut the neutrals. I'm thinking maybe I nutted the hots and wired the neutrals? Any other thoughts? The pairs of wires are red and blue.

twelvepoint wrote:Similarly, is it common to have battery backup for sump pumps? I imagine I'd want to prepare for power outages if there are rains heavy enough to flood the basement? When I bought my house there was a car battery next to the sump pump, but no one's explained to me how to connect it, so I've just had a car battery sitting there for 8 1/2 years. I do know it's a standard practice and I really ought to learn how I'm supposed to hook it up.