Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
20
votes
2 answers

What are the black pads stuck to the underside of a sink?

I found some hard black pads with a honeycomb pattern stuck to the bottom of my sink. Some of them are starting to disintegrate and fall apart. Wondering what the purpose of these are and if I need to be concerned about their deterioration and if…
Guy
  • 2,113
  • 14
  • 37
  • 51
20
votes
15 answers

How can I stop bolts from loosening over time?

Here is a picture of what I intend to use: I believe (and could be wrong about this) that over time as the structure is moved, the nut that was fastened to hold the structure together will gradually loosen. Is there way to make the nut so tight and…
quantum231
  • 707
  • 1
  • 9
  • 18
20
votes
1 answer

Mystery wall plate by front door

Our neighbors have this mystery wall plate by their front door. We have the identical house (both built in 1929) and we don't have one. The fire department was there today to investigate a smoke alarm and they were apparently very puzzled by it. It…
jeguyer
  • 341
  • 1
  • 8
20
votes
6 answers

Why is my background energy usage higher in the first half of each hour?

I have a smart electricity meter, which reports half-hourly readings to my supplier. I’ve noticed that when I’m not in the property, there seems to be an oscillating pattern to my energy usage: the first half of each hour often has a higher power…
DavidH
  • 311
  • 2
  • 6
20
votes
7 answers

What surface can I work on that super glue will not stick to?

I have a broken LEGO piece that I want to try to superglue together. It would be A LOT easier if I could do this on a flat surface and even let it rest there for a while afterwards. But if I do that I will most likely glue the piece to the surface.…
Vilx-
  • 1,095
  • 4
  • 11
  • 21
20
votes
3 answers

How do I unscrew this screw to disassemble a dresser?

As you see it looks like it should just unscrew, but it doesn’t turn. I guess the little arrow on one side should point up/down — but even when I do that, the screws don’t slide out. The other side of the wood doesn’t have a s
Tim
  • 301
  • 2
  • 3
20
votes
2 answers

Asphalt or concrete, which job first?

I have an asphalt driveway with a concrete sidewalk meeting the edge of it. They both need to be replaced. Which job needs to happen first?
Carol
  • 201
  • 2
  • 3
20
votes
2 answers

Why not put pipe dope on female thread?

What is the risk of having pipe dope in natural gas line? Not blobs of dope, but a thin layer or bead on inner (female) thread. Most instructions on using pipe dope on gas pipe says to put pope dope on male threads with no reference to female…
codechimp
  • 787
  • 1
  • 11
  • 21
20
votes
7 answers

What's the cheapest way to wire these lights that are 400' away at the end of the driveway?

We recently built a house and added 3/4 conduit underground from outside the breaker box to the top of the driveway for a future project to add stone pillars with LED lights (example pictures below). The distance from the box to the top of the…
RetiredATC
  • 1,174
  • 6
  • 11
20
votes
7 answers

Why is my house energy efficient only in winter?

My electric utility company sent me a graph of my home's electricity usage over time as shown in the picture below. My home beats what the company considers as efficient homes in the neighborhood when the average temperature is below ~50F. As the…
Fijoy Vadakkumpadan
  • 589
  • 2
  • 11
  • 23
20
votes
2 answers

What is this measuring tool with two sliding rods for?

I was going though my dad's and his dad's tools and found this tool. The two iron pins can go up and down and be locked by the screws. Is it a measuring tool? How do you use it?
cindy
  • 201
  • 2
  • 3
20
votes
8 answers

I've released a lot of lead-paint dust in our house. What to do?

We hired some contractors to help us re-paint our 1.5-year old kid's room. They started this morning by scraping several parts from the walls. A few minutes after they started, I thought I should test it, so I ran to the store, bought a test-kit…
M -
  • 516
  • 2
  • 5
  • 16
20
votes
4 answers

Make a built-in desk level with uneven floor, or true level

I'm making a 13 ft-long (4 m) built-in desk along one wall of a room. Adopting the engineer's creed that anything worth thinking is worth over-thinking, I used my neighbor's tripod-mounted optical level to make level marks on the wall. It turns…
RustyShackleford
  • 2,777
  • 5
  • 40
  • 61
20
votes
11 answers

How to remove very stuck stripped screws?

These things are caught in hard wood. I made the dumb mistake of not drilling pilot holes. Rubber band trick failed Screw drill and removal bit failed JB welding a bolt worked for 2/5. Trying again, failed for the remaining three a third…
SwimBikeRun
  • 371
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
20
votes
2 answers

What type of tool or bit is a metal shaft with splines?

I inherited a load of tools from my father. Among them was this bit. I have never seen one like it, and don't know its purpose. It has six straight splines set at an angle to the long axis of the bit and sharpened to act as cutters. The diameter at…
John Seater
  • 201
  • 1
  • 3
1 2 3
…
99 100