Woodworking, DIY, and home repair thread

[Spaulding Smails 1551]

17 hours ago, utee94 said:

Thanks.  I'm perfectly fine continuing to use my pit as a charcoal grill and let the wife use the propane grill in the outdoor kitchen.  Just have to get it working.  She said she's okay with me picking up a Blackstone, but not until the patio propane grill is fully operational.

So, I have some motivation here...

 

From a bit of experience, I think trying to repair those is a time suck and never seems to work out in the long run.  I'd look at Bull.  I've had really good luck with their products.  Dependable, look good, and relatively inexpensive.  They make "collars" if your cutout isn't exactly right.

https://bullbbq.com/product-category/grills/

[utee94 15752]

1 hour ago, Spaulding Smails said:

From a bit of experience, I think trying to repair those is a time suck and never seems to work out in the long run.  I'd look at Bull.  I've had really good luck with their products.  Dependable, look good, and relatively inexpensive.  They make "collars" if your cutout isn't exactly right.

https://bullbbq.com/product-category/grills/

The Bull looks nice.  The one that will fit is basically the same as what I have, the replacement cost is around $4K, like the BBQs Galore Grand Turbo.

Anyway, I'm committed to the project.  I've got new burners, new temp gauge, new spark igniters, new knobs, and new ceramic briquettes on the way. I've inspected the valves and it looks like I'll only need to replace one of them.  The back burner rail is in okay condition, but the back crossover tubes are pretty much toast.  I can't find anywhere that carries them so it looks like I'm going to have to get those fabricated, luckily my next door neighbor is a kick-ass dude who manages the shop floor at a metal fabrication company and can hook me up with those for nothing more than a case of beer.

Current estimate of parts is around $550.

Of course, this whole thing could end up taking me 80 man-hours and $10,000 to complete.  Either way I plan to post up pics so y'all can watch the hilarity unfold.

 

Edited May 23 by utee94

[Jkwellborn 6670]

We are also here for pictures of you with no eye brows.

[fattyflattie 4637]

3 hours ago, utee94 said:

Current estimate of parts is around $550.

That doesn’t seem bad. I looked at rebuilding a cheaper but decent grill once and with the price of parts, it made no sense at all. 

[uoftorange 1386]

It really shouldn't take that long to retrofit it with the new stuff as long as the mounting points for items aren't rusted out.  Enjoy the project!

[Gil Bang 25905]

On 5/22/2024 at 10:33 AM, utee94 said:

So, when I'm grilling, I prefer to cook with lump charcoal using the cooking grates on my outdoor bbq pit.

HOWEVER, my wife really likes the convenience of the propane grill that came built in to the then-new outdoor kitchen when we bought our house 12 years ago.  It worked well for many years, but unfortunately time hasn't been all that kind to the grill-- most of the burners are corroded and burned out, the igniter doesn't work, the knobs have all basically melted to the point of near uselessness, and on one of the valves/knobs, if you attempt to light that particular burner, flame will come shooting back out of the valve and around the knob, directly onto the human standing next to the grill.  None of these are good, ovbviously.

So I was thinking, man, that grill's a mess, we should just buy a new one.  Well, searching up on the web, the exact replacement for this BBQs Galore Grand Turbo model, is $4,000.  So after I got my eyes back into my head, I was thinking, "maybe a cheaper model exists."  But about the cheapest I can find that would fit the same opening in the outdoor kitchen countertop, is still something like $2,400.

So now I'm thinking, I'm really cheap, and I wonder what it would take to repair it?  Many of the parts are available online, but not necessarily all of them.  At a minimum it's going to take new burners, new carryover tubes, new knobs, new igniter, and new ceramics for the vaporizer/flavorizer tray.  Depending on the issue with the valve that shoots flame outward toward the humans instead of inward toward the food, it might need valve replacement, or it might just need venturi tube cleaning.  Also much of the mounting apparatus inside the grill has corroded and turned to dust, so it might require the purchase or fabrication of some new mounting pieces.  Luckily the exterior of the stainless grill and all of its grates., are still in excellent shape.

I'm planning on posting up my progress here for anyone interested, and also, if any of you have experience doing this and know where to find obscure parts, please let me know.

TL; DR -- I'm rehabbing my 13-15 year old BBQs Galore built-in Grand Turbo propane grill, any help is appreciated or if you just want to laugh at me that's okay too.  

Home Depot sells built-ins for 800-1000 or so.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Outdoor-Cooking-Outdoor-Kitchens-Built-In-Grills/N-5yc1vZc6t8?NCNI-5&searchRedirect=built-in grills&semanticToken=i10r20r00f22000000000e_202405232115084933291515119_us-central1-jdxf i10r20r00f22000000000e > rid%3A{a20918973accd4f9aac1b916d542fea2}%3Arid st%3A{built-in grills}%3Ast ml%3A{24}%3Aml ct%3A{built-in grill}%3Act nr%3A{built-in grill}%3Anr nf%3A{n%2Fa}%3Anf qu%3A{built-in grill}%3Aqu ie%3A{0}%3Aie qr%3A{built-in grill}%3Aqr

[utee94 15752]

3 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Home Depot sells built-ins for 800-1000 or so.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Outdoor-Cooking-Outdoor-Kitchens-Built-In-Grills/N-5yc1vZc6t8?NCNI-5&searchRedirect=built-in grills&semanticToken=i10r20r00f22000000000e_202405232115084933291515119_us-central1-jdxf i10r20r00f22000000000e > rid%3A{a20918973accd4f9aac1b916d542fea2}%3Arid st%3A{built-in grills}%3Ast ml%3A{24}%3Aml ct%3A{built-in grill}%3Act nr%3A{built-in grill}%3Anr nf%3A{n%2Fa}%3Anf qu%3A{built-in grill}%3Aqu ie%3A{0}%3Aie qr%3A{built-in grill}%3Aqr

Need 38" wide

[Okie State 3789]

The only gas grills I'll ever buy is a Weber. I haven't been impressed with any of the other brands I've used. They look nice, but don't get hot enough.

[Gil Bang 25905]

1 hour ago, utee94 said:

Need 38" wide

https://www.lowes.com/pd/NXR-740-3006BILED-Stainless-Steel-4-Burner-Built-In-Grill/5013809369?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-ggl-_-CRP_SHP_PLA_SOL_Online_C-D-_-5013809369-_-online-_-0-_-0&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ruyBhDuARIsANSZ3wqa529J3mTYtk6JApdq4w9NsHRg80skNjabnRwiWR8Syhwc6jmv14caAilJEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[utee94 15752]

12 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/NXR-740-3006BILED-Stainless-Steel-4-Burner-Built-In-Grill/5013809369?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-ggl-_-CRP_SHP_PLA_SOL_Online_C-D-_-5013809369-_-online-_-0-_-0&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ruyBhDuARIsANSZ3wqa529J3mTYtk6JApdq4w9NsHRg80skNjabnRwiWR8Syhwc6jmv14caAilJEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Cool, thanks, I might check into that.

After taking apart the grill, I actually don't think the burners are in bad shape.  They were caked up with a lot of grease and grime, but their bodies are still solid, zero evidence of burn-through, and the burner holes are all in good shape.  They're originally made of extremely heavy cast stainless steel, and the venturi tubes right at the valves are still fairly bright shiny metal.

If I don't have to pay for new burners, it drops my parts cost down considerably, maybe $150 or so.  I'm gonna give these all a good wash, and then see how they perform.

[Gil Bang 25905]

2 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Cool, thanks, I might check into that.

After taking apart the grill, I actually don't think the burners are in bad shape.  They were caked up with a lot of grease and grime, but their bodies are still solid, zero evidence of burn-through, and the burner holes are all in good shape.  They're originally made of extremely heavy cast stainless steel, and the venturi tubes right at the valves are still fairly bright shiny metal.

If I don't have to pay for new burners, it drops my parts cost down considerably, maybe $150 or so.  I'm gonna give these all a good wash, and then see how they perform.

I know out here, there are companies that specialize in outdoor kitchen cleaning and repair.  I've seen a before-after, and they really do make the stuff look new.  

[utee94 15752]

8 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

I know out here, there are companies that specialize in outdoor kitchen cleaning and repair.  I've seen a before-after, and they really do make the stuff look new.  

Yup, I  saw some great before and afters and contacted a couple companies around here, and the minimum cleaning cost was $350.  Any repairs are on top of that were at a parts + $200/hr service fee.

Hence, my decision do DIY it, if I can.  

Right now it'll be the burners themselves.  I think I'm going to be able to clean them up, and the good news is that I can do that, test and see if they work properly, and then continue or not based on those results, with zero dollars spent other than some cheap cleaning supplies I already have (the parts I've ordered so far are all through Amazon and easily returnable).

[Gil Bang 25905]

take before and after photos, and post them here.

[utee94 15752]

5 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

take before and after photos, and post them here.

Yup, will do.  As well as any pictures of myself without eyebrows...

 

[Gil Bang 25905]

include your wife's tits

[thunderlounge 7779]

 

Picked up. Graco Magnum X7. Don’t ask me why, but somehow they had it through instacart for 150 off @ $249 vice $399.

Seemed like a damn decent deal. Needed other stuff so went in-store. No sale price listed, but if they sell it online cheaper, they’ll honor it in store. Surprising to me, they honored it, even though it was listed through OC instead of on their main site.

Neato. 
 

Picked up a full dremel oscillating multitool kit ($130) for $30 on instacart from Lowes a few months ago. Got 2. One for a Christmas gift, and one as a backup for me.

Fixin to stain the deck the next weekend it doesn’t rain, so good trial for it. Then will use it on the hall bathroom at some point in the next month or so.

Wish I would have found that deal before I did the LR/Kit/hall/stairs/entry by hand.

 

[Jkwellborn 6670]

I’ve got a magnum x5 and it’s great. I’ve also got a 360 vsp or whatever it’s called. It’s pretty good for smaller stuff. We have another Graco striper at work and it’s pretty good.

[Ignatius 4015]

On 5/22/2024 at 2:51 PM, Spaulding Smails said:

Given the relatively small amount of doors, you may want to consider upgrading hinges.  Look at Blum.  You can get adjustable, soft-close hinges.  Easy to install and adjust to get them dialed in and perfectly leveled.  

This is good advice…

[Celery Man 20913]

Ok we’ve established my level of competence with home mx, can I get some input here -

so, this is near the garage, I believe is the main shutoff inside the house (but, y’know, I’m a dumbass about this). There was a house shoe where the pitcher is that was soaked, I noticed this at 5:45 pm as well as some water surrounding it. That white thing is shitty particle board and it isn’t super bloated and warped, so I think I’d just started or just happened or just finally saturated the shoe enough to spread. Wife also said that she noticed that the bottom of the dog food container was wet this morning (and had not noticed that on previous mornings). 
 

it has been about 3 hours and there’s a drop or two of water in that pitcher. What do I need to do here, or should I just go ahead and call a plumber tomorrow. Heading out of town next week and I don’t want a disaster.

 

here’s some shit I paid other people to do

Spoiler

 

[EE2B 1561]

12 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Ok we’ve established my level of competence with home mx, can I get some input here -

so, this is near the garage, I believe is the main shutoff inside the house (but, y’know, I’m a dumbass about this). There was a house shoe where the pitcher is that was soaked, I noticed this at 5:45 pm as well as some water surrounding it. That white thing is shitty particle board and it isn’t super bloated and warped, so I think I’d just started or just happened or just finally saturated the shoe enough to spread. Wife also said that she noticed that the bottom of the dog food container was wet this morning (and had not noticed that on previous mornings). 
 

it has been about 3 hours and there’s a drop or two of water in that pitcher. What do I need to do here, or should I just go ahead and call a plumber tomorrow. Heading out of town next week and I don’t want a disaster.

 

here’s some shit I paid other people to do

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Looks like you have a leaking pressure regulator. The part that doesn’t make sense to me is if the arrow is correct, what appears to be hot water goes into the regulator and the Pex coming out is white (painted?). I would call someone and let them change out/repair the regulator if your skill set is not there. Is that near your water heater? 

[Jkwellborn 6670]

The may have just used white pex because they had it and got white paint overspray everywhere.

[Celery Man 20913]

15 minutes ago, EE2B said:

Looks like you have a leaking pressure regulator. The part that doesn’t make sense to me is if the arrow is correct, what appears to be hot water goes into the regulator and the Pex coming out is white (painted?). I would call someone and let them change out/repair the regulator if your skill set is not there. Is that near your water heater? 

water heater is far away, up on the third floor.

1 minute ago, Jkwellborn said:

The may have just used white pex because they had it and got white paint overspray everywhere.

this would track based on the attention to detail in other parts of the house, and yeah it looks like it just got splattered with paint 

 

thank you very much btw, that's bigly helpful - if I can't get a plumber out tomorrow or monday AM, (or over the weekend I suppose), is a leaking pressure regulator the kinda thing that is a precursor to a big flooding the downstairs type disaster (if I can't get a plumber over before i head out of town for half of next week, can I just stick a pot under this and deal with it later)?

Edited June 7 by Celery Man

[UT_OB1 2203]

2 hours ago, Celery Man said:

water heater is far away, up on the third floor.

this would track based on the attention to detail in other parts of the house, and yeah it looks like it just got splattered with paint 

 

thank you very much btw, that's bigly helpful - if I can't get a plumber out tomorrow or monday AM, (or over the weekend I suppose), is a leaking pressure regulator the kinda thing that is a precursor to a big flooding the downstairs type disaster (if I can't get a plumber over before i head out of town for half of next week, can I just stick a pot under this and deal with it later)?

Lol i like how they made the valve on the right useless.  I’d turn the water off for peace of mind. 

[Gil Bang 25905]

3 hours ago, Celery Man said:

water heater is far away, up on the third floor.

this would track based on the attention to detail in other parts of the house, and yeah it looks like it just got splattered with paint 

 

thank you very much btw, that's bigly helpful - if I can't get a plumber out tomorrow or monday AM, (or over the weekend I suppose), is a leaking pressure regulator the kinda thing that is a precursor to a big flooding the downstairs type disaster (if I can't get a plumber over before i head out of town for half of next week, can I just stick a pot under this and deal with it later)?

Keep a bucket under it.  It will hold for a few days.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

UYeah, that's a super easy DIY fix. Get a five gallons bucket and sit it under there until you get a couple hours to fix it. Empty it every few days and you don't even need to get in a rush. Obviously get a new regulator. Online will be cheaper and with a bucket under there there is no need to rush unless it is leaking bad enough that you can't keep it dumped. When your new regulator comes in, close the supply valve and open all your faucets. If you can unscrew the little nut thing on the bottom, drain it the way. Of not, unscrew the entire cup looking part enough to fill the bucket,  but not so much that you can't screw it back in if the bucket fills up. Once the system is drained, swap out the regulator, keep all your faucets open, and slowly open the supply valve. When water is flowing normally through your faucets, close them. 

[AUinHsv 578]

Repeating - if you are going out of town just run off water at street as you drive away. No need to worry that way. If you time it right - have new regulator when you get back. Don't have to turn it off twice

Edited June 7 by AUinHsv

[Celery Man 20913]

thanks y'all - this is massively helpful. hard to google stuff I don't know fuck about when I'm juggling a baby and a toddler and a million other things.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10186]

They have repair kits, but it's going to be easier and not much more to just replace rather than repair. Plumber can do quick/easy of definitely can DIY if you like.  Either way I'd still turn house water off when you go out of town next week just in case.

[hookem2010 2609]

Needed to touch up paint on a couple doors, then get the drawers sanded and painted. There are some imperfections if you get up close, but pretty happy with the transformation.

 

Edited June 7 by hookem2010

[thunderlounge 7779]

48 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

There are some imperfections if you get up close, but pretty happy with the transformation.

There always are. Then you go look at other places in the house, and the old stiff has them too.

Point of that?

It won’t matter for long. Enjoy your result instead of tweaking over it. 

[dieucla98 2942]

1 hour ago, hookem2010 said:

Needed to touch up paint on a couple doors, then get the drawers sanded and painted. There are some imperfections if you get up close, but pretty happy with the transformation.

Fuck ya man, you should be. Great work.

[AUinHsv 578]

Yeah that is cool. I haven't seen dual color cabinets and those look good. Any reason you didn't use the original backsplash tile? Seems like it would look good wiht white cabinets

 

[hookem2010 2609]

9 minutes ago, AUinHsv said:

Yeah that is cool. I haven't seen dual color cabinets and those look good. Any reason you didn't use the original backsplash tile? Seems like it would look good wiht white cabinets

 

You think I'm making those decisions? I am welcome to make suggestions that may or may not be considered.

In all seriousness, we weren't sure we were going green on the bottom when we started. We (lol) also pulled a cabinet off the wall left of the windows and brought the backsplash up, eventually planning on putting up a pair of floating shelves. In person, the new backsplash looks far better and less dated. I did not put it in, BTW. That shit looked not fun to do.

[hookem2010 2609]

49 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

There always are. Then you go look at other places in the house, and the old stiff has them too.

Point of that?

It won’t matter for long. Enjoy your result instead of tweaking over it. 

Good point. With a 2 year-old boy, and another coming soon, all of our shit is about to get wrecked.

[Celery Man 20913]

My wife made a similar choice with blue on the bottom and white up top.

 

The after picture looks significantly better than the before.

[hookem2010 2609]

2 hours ago, Celery Man said:

My wife made a similar choice with blue on the bottom and white up top.

 

The after picture looks significantly better than the before.

I was mid-project when I saw your cabinets in the Dad thread and thought "Damn, I hope mine turn out half as nice as those."

[Etexhorn13 3042]

What are these cables coming out of a comcast box at my new house and can I cut them or have them removed? Wraps around the garage then goes in the ground, comes out near the house and is run along the side of the house. I don’t need to mess with the ground wire but the black one is in bad shape. 

[Jkwellborn 6670]

Is it the cable line? Those people are lazy when they install at an existing house.

[Etexhorn13 3042]

23 minutes ago, Jkwellborn said:

Is it the cable line? Those people are lazy when they install at an existing house.

This was all preexisting, we are in the process of moving in. House was built in 94 and i assume it’s the cable line but is there any reason I would still need those? I will never use cable again and we don’t have a landline. 

[hookem2010 2609]

The house we moved into was also built in 94. So many wires of unknown purpose.

[thunderlounge 7779]

10 hours ago, Jkwellborn said:

Is it the cable line? Those people are lazy when they install at an existing house.

Exactly what it looks like to me. I have one just like it, the bastards.

 

[Jkwellborn 6670]

This was all preexisting, we are in the process of moving in. House was built in 94 and i assume it’s the cable line but is there any reason I would still need those? I will never use cable again and we don’t have a landline. 

I meant, the house was there and at some point a cable installer came and did that. During a remodel or new build now, people hide that stuff. A few years back, they wouldn’t. They definitely don’t put a lot of effort into doing it when the house is getting cable. Unhook it and see if anything screws up.

[Etexhorn13 3042]

1 hour ago, Jkwellborn said:

I meant, the house was there and at some point a cable installer came and did that. During a remodel or new build now, people hide that stuff. A few years back, they wouldn’t. They definitely don’t put a lot of effort into doing it when the house is getting cable. Unhook it and see if anything screws up.

Makes sense, thank you. My fried was scrambled last night when I was trying to figure out what you meant lol. 

[thunderlounge 7779]

8 hours ago, Etexhorn13 said:

Makes sense, thank you. My fried was scrambled last night when I was trying to figure out what you meant lol. 

 

Avatar checks out.

[fattyflattie 4637]

On 6/9/2024 at 10:04 AM, Etexhorn13 said:

Makes sense, thank you. My fried was scrambled last night when I was trying to figure out what you meant lol. 

I’ve switched cable/dish/internet a few times over the last 11 years we’ve been in our home.  Every one of them just left their shit there.  It’s on my to do list to get rid of a few of those boxes.  They are hidden from street view but it still bothers me. 

[CycleTex87 2958]

This^^^

[hookem2010 2609]

I should finish sanding my drawers today. For anyone considering a DIY cabinet face-lift, it is not particularly challenging or technical. I am not handy. It does, however, take probably as long as you would expect. I'm 3 months in. I've worked steadily, but certainly not constantly, other than the week or so sanding and painting the boxes.

Try to be as deliberate as possible, even when you really can't imagine another minute of sanding/painting/cleanup. I also should have probably labeled the doors and hinges, due to small differences in size.

Once I get these drawers painted, I just need to install some floating shelves without destroying the backsplash, and my project will be complete!

[AUinHsv 578]

6 hours ago, hookem2010 said:

 

Try to be as deliberate as possible, even when you really can't imagine another minute of sanding/painting/cleanup. I also should have probably labeled the doors and hinges, due to small differences in size.

 

Not to rub it in but very glad I labeled my doors. The previous owner, for some odd reason, put about 15 cabinets at the top with doors about one foot square. I would never have gotten 30 doors back without a label.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10186]

On 6/8/2024 at 10:42 PM, Etexhorn13 said:

This was all preexisting, we are in the process of moving in. House was built in 94 and i assume it’s the cable line but is there any reason I would still need those? I will never use cable again and we don’t have a landline. 

Make sure you won't need it for internet either. I'd just unhook, roll up/cut and secure end under the eve in last picture so an installer could always use later if ever needed.

[Gil Bang 25905]

I didn't take "before" pics, sadly.  

The hallway to the two back bedrooms and bathrooms was ugly.  The ceilings are lath and plaster, and the "popcorn" wasn't the water-based acoustic stuff that they use now.  It was more like stucco.  

I scraped and re-textured the living room several years back, and it was a major PITA.   Major.   The hallway had the same ugly ceilings, and I didn't want to go through that again, so I went over the popcorn with 1/4 drywall.  I took out the old square metal and glass recessed lighting, and replaced it with canless LED fixtures.   I didn't want the hassle of taping the drywall ceiling to the walls, so I just cut the drywall tight, and installed crown molding.  There was a hideous sub-panel, and the cover didn't fit right, because I had replaced a few old breakers, and the only available replacements are shaped differently, so the cover never went on the way it should, so I built a little door and frame to cover that up, and painted it to match the walls. 

I've got one more coat of paint to go, and it will be finished.  It's a big improvement over what we had.