I'm looking to purchase my first home, and budget wise, I will likely be buying a house that might need some DIY or updating. I'm fairly handy and have done some furniture refinishing, painting, and repairing in previous rentals. What sort of DIY things have you done to your homes to make them more eco friendly? I'm definitely planning to install some smart home features right away, like a thermostat. Would that be something I can do myself? What else could I easily do myself that can help me save money in the long run?

I have been told it is only surface damage and the actual support is not heaving and I should be able to just shave it down and re attach a bracket with a new 6x6. I have been told to just use a jack hammer to break all the concrete post and pour a new one. Any suggestions?

Does anyone knows how to pull the cables off of this type of connector?

Hi! Does anyone know where I can buy a shelf bracket like this where the surface is all flat throughout? I looked at home depot, rona, and canadian tire, but they all looked like this:

Had a close call with an electrical fire, heard crackling and smoke coming from socket. Opened it up to find the live side had come lose and was burning through. Realized that these sockets are not to code (in kitchen close to sink and not GFCI) and want to correct this with the replacement.

The breaker for this socket and a few others in the kitchen are on a double 15 AMP breaker, and the incoming live side has 3 wires + ground (black, white, red, ground). I'm unsure how to connect this to a GFCI socket, should I just mimic what is being done here?

Meaning it would be...

• Black line and load connected to the hot wire line screw
• Red line and load connected to the hot wire load screw
• White line and load capped (yellow cap in picture) with a wire connecting them to the white wire line screw
• Ground to ground screw

Would the same setup work with a GFCI?

https://preview.redd.it/404mnreoapod1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8bda710af0771a89560b134311358b68d1b7939b

https://preview.redd.it/jk0movfpapod1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64661ba2d3cbc1640aac6c2cd1f280dd1c9a0a9a

https://preview.redd.it/vvvasi2qapod1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b7c33e8fd178ef91ac0bea96aecb1a7057919d3c

https://preview.redd.it/xi4ns0fqapod1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aeab690f0b7dbb637dded4d97061f09e5cfc3e6

https://preview.redd.it/0l0qs0oqapod1.jpg?width=709&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54f7dd0f83d8c25717da7d0754c6b26940c7ffc9

I have this empty pond in my backyard that I want to fill and cover with grass. It’s about 116”x64” and 32” deep.

Can I throw in some of the cinder blocks that line the edges in the bottom to help fill it, or are they too hollow that it might cause sinking later on?

What materials should I use to fill it in order to avoid the ground from sinking later on and where’s the best place to purchase it around Toronto?

Thanks in advance for any help

Hi Everyone,

I want to change the pendant lights and light shades installed by the builder and was wondering if anyone has used the WAGO 221 connectors instead of wirenuts ? I just don’t feel confident enough with wire nuts.

These are the ones I am talking about:

I can't find anywhere in Canada that sells aluminium roller blinds tube, I can only find those in US stores or places like Amazon and Aliexpress, and all of those charges a significant amount of shipping.

Does anyone know of I can find these type of tubes in Canada?

Hey guys, a bit of a rabbit holey question here from a Calgarian, code dictates pressure treated wood for base plates, so a few questions stemming from that.

1. For base plates in a basement, will I have to use a 2x4 rated for ground contact against interior concrete? or can I get away with above ground PT wood to satisfy code/mitigate the worst issues in case of flooding etc?
2. In the case of needing to find PT lumber rated for ground contact: for cuts made, I can only seem to find cut-n-seal/sealers rated for above ground applications. Any ideas on where I can find a sealer good enough for ground contact?
3. should I be applying sill gasket regardless of PT fidelity? or is that only a necessity for untreated wood?

Thanks!

Asked to repost in this subreddit

Located in Southern Ontario. Have a cold room under covered porch and looking to insulate the concrete ceiling and the upper portion of walls that are above ground level. Planning to use 2" XPS foam board, tuck tape seams and spray foam the gaps. My understanding is that the foam board needs to be covered as per building codes here.

So, I'm thinking of using 1/2" drywall (perhaps the mould-resistant type). I'm looking for recommendations on how best to hang the drywall. I'm debating on whether to use furring strips or attach directly against the XPS board. Either way, I suspect I will need to use something like Tapcon screws. Any other material, methods or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. TIA

Installing crawlspace fans

I was told installing a few would really increase air flow in the crawl space. We have a very light spattering of black mold showing up that I want to stop ASAP. We have a few slats that slide open and closed on either side of the crawl space that is suppose to help air flow in the seasons...but was told these are very ineffective and actually counterproductive. How easy is it to install a couple of bathroom fans down there?

Hey guys, my basement has 3/4 walls insulated/finished but the fourth is only partly insulated as seen here (pics https://imgur.com/a/J6PVBZZ ) about 4 feet is bare concrete that i'd like to DIY if possible to mitigate some heat loss. What material or materials should I be considering? Looking at rigid insulation like 1.5" durofoam to mount to the concrete but not certain if it'll trap moisture and contribute to mold etc. Any ideas on what safe material options to go with ideally in this scenario? I don't plan to cover it up with studs/drywall. Btw I'm in climate zone 4b (Calgary, Canada) pretty dry climate here and winters can get down to -40C typically.

Edit: also, not sure what's on the top half right now, looks like drywall attached to foam of some sort, then black plastic film before it meets the concrete. Not sure how to make sense of it, or if we should tear it down and do something else

Any advice is appreciated!

Cutting laminate countertop

I soon need to buy a new set of washer and dryer and the ones that I want are a few inches taller than the current ones. It is already quite a tight fit right now so I need to cut the laminate countertop above the washer and dryer. Removing the whole countertop isn't really an option because there is a sink on the the same countertop. What is the best way or tool to use to cut the countertop? I thought a reciprocating saw but I feel that might be hard to cut in a straight line. TIA

This is one of those cases where I'm sure I know the answer but I'm hoping someone will tell me different: if, hypothetically, someone who really should have known better managed to put a screw through a conductor, is there any way to do a splice that can be buried in-wall without an access panel? I know the traditional "right" way to do this is to do the connection inside a junction box and leave the box accessible, but I also see products out there that are using Wago inline connectors, heat shrink, and zip ties to make a "maintenance free" connection. Is there any way that meets code?