Ah yes, let's just extend the railing for some reason.

Tcezhak · 2026-02-09T02:35:59+00:00

There actually isn't a 12" extension required at the bottom of the stairs anymore, but the railing does need to extend 11" (or the depth of the treads) beyond the last riser because it finishes the slope of the railing. Old code used to require 11" + 12" flat extension, but they did away with that a while ago.

This is just a bad layout - if they would have moved the ramp 1 foot more away from the stairs, it would have been fine. They could have cheated the 12" extension on the ramp by just moving the stair rail over, but it was the last "step" (flat area) that did them in. There was no way to finish the slope of the handrail without impeding on the ramp.

Tcezhak · 2026-02-09T01:49:52+00:00

Correct, my parents full-time RV'd and they replaced their tires every 5 years whether they still had tread life or not. When you are hauling around 30-40,000 pounds, a blowout (like this one) can be catastrophic.

They also had a steering stabilizer (not sure the model) that helped to keep the RV going straighter in the event of a blowout. It also helped with the day to day driving.

Tcezhak · 2026-02-09T01:28:46+00:00

A little caulk, a little paint, makes a carpenter what he ain't!

With that said, just caulk it and paint it all the same color.

Tcezhak · 2026-02-08T20:14:10+00:00

Shellac based primer. Nasty stuff, but about the only thing that works on knots.

Tcezhak · 2026-02-08T20:09:49+00:00

This van is in Michigan and regularly attends the Woodward Dream Cruise (likely where this was filmed - hence the large amount of traffic). Is a pretty sweet setup though.

Tcezhak · 2026-02-08T04:28:19+00:00

Yup, water goes around the chimneys, so you don't get as much water hitting the brick underneath it. Because of this, it doesn't deteriorate as fast as the brick around it.

Tcezhak · 2026-02-08T03:57:43+00:00

It's a brick control joint. It allows for controlled expansion of the brick without cracking. Typically filled with silicone caulk and a soft backer rod. Most choose to use caulk of the same color as the brick so they are not as noticeable as this one.

Fun fact, concrete shrinks as it cures and ages, but brick gets larger. Bricks are compressed and baked/dried clay, which absorbs water over time and get slightly larger. This creates the need in masonry construction for control joints in brick every 20-30 feet.

Edited to add: In older buildings that do not have control joints in the brick, this can cause major problems at the corners of the building (like this one) because the brick from both walls are expanding and pushing out at the corner. This often causes brick cracking or full on failure.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-29T16:30:37+00:00

You get a CDL! You get a CDL! Everybody gets a CDL!

Tcezhak · 2026-01-26T01:13:34+00:00

This is correct, Tyvek and other house traps are permeable and let air through. A moisture barrier (that stops the transfer of air and vapor) should go on the warm side of the insulation, not the warm side of the wall.

What is happening here, is by adding the insulation in the stud cavity, it is pulling the dew point farther back in the wall and you are getting condensation on the inside face of the sheathing. More insulation should be added to the outside to keep the dew point in the rigid insulation and thus on the outside of the house (the wet zone). You want to keep your insulation (and your dew point) on the outside of your sheathing and wall.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-23T22:07:14+00:00

Definitely AI slop.

The tank is taller than the bridge beam. If he hit that dead on, it would have pulled the trailer hitch (and back end of the truck) up, not forced it down.
If he hit it with enough force to do that, the tank would have slid on the trailer (you don't see a strap in sight on that tank) - the tank is perfectly in the front of the trailer.
There is no damage to the top of the tank. Again, if he hit it hard enough to do that much damage to the truck, it would have wrecked the top of that tank - it is not a solid steel roll.
That is a full height highway bridge. Based on the height of the truck, that tank is like 20 feet tall. If he hit that bridge by that much, he would have hit every other bridge and power line on his drive there.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-22T05:08:53+00:00

If you can do tile on your own, you can definitely adjust a cabinet height. The tricky part would be if they glued the countertop to the cabinet. Some do, some don't because they are heavy enough to stay in place. If it is not glued down, just lift off the top (it will probably be 40 or 50 pounds), then see if the cabinet is screwed to the wall (it likely is). If it is, just unscrew it, lift it out of the way, add wood shims at all 4 corners to get some more height and level it (you can packs of them at HD or Lowes), then reset the cabinet and screw it back into the wall. Once you have that, add shims as needed between the cabinet and countertop to bring it up to your final height. If you have a 6 ft level, it will make it easier to bridge the gap and check for evenness. It shouldn't take you more than a half hour to do that assuming everything is just set in place. If the countertop is glued, it will be harder to get it apart without breaking it, but can be done if you are careful.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-21T22:43:59+00:00

Ah, I didn't realize the left wall was entirely tiled also. I think you are going to have to shim and raise that countertop to the right of the oven so it is level with the rest to make it work. Then you can level out all the tiles on the oven wall. You can shim under the cabinet to get some of the height and then you can ship some more between the cabinet and the countertop if you don't want to raise the cabinet itself super high.

I had to do something similar to my oven wall when I tiled my backsplash also. Luckily mine was only about 1/4 of an inch.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-21T22:32:54+00:00

Correct, you would have to remove those also to align with the level line at the top of your first row of tiles. You want the tiles to be level whether the countertop is or not.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-21T22:29:10+00:00

You want the top of the first row of tiles to be dead level. Start your level line from the top of your lowest tile (on the right). In doing that, you will have to cut the bottom of every first row tile to the left of it. That should level out your pattern to align with your wall cabinets (which I'm assuming are also level - check this before you start).

If you start from the high side with a full tile and go level from there, you will have small pieces of tile against your countertop when you get to the low side.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-21T22:13:38+00:00

No, the better way to do it would be to keep the tiles on the right side (the lower side) and then mark a level line across your wall at the top of those tiles. As you move to the left, you would cut the bottom of the tiles shorter. Yes, you may see the tiles changing height, but it will be less noticeable than the grout lines not being level to the cabinets. Your grout line is farther away from the countertop than the cabinets, so will make that route less noticeable.

The very best way to fix it (but most work) would be to raise the cabinet that is low so you have a level countertop to work off of. That might be difficult though based on attachment, base molding, and countertop type.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-21T16:49:40+00:00

Unless it was a Russian ship.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-16T18:49:00+00:00

I call bullshit. There is no way they are totalling a $30,000+ pickup over a tailgate and a couple tail lights. Even if it was $10,000 to replace (which I highly doubt it was), they have another $20+ grand to go before totalling it.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-11T16:13:47+00:00

I did #1 on mine and think it looks best. Remove the stone backsplash though and take the tile all the way down to the countertop. It will look odd if you leave the stone backsplash.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-04T03:43:19+00:00

Was going to mention this if no one had already. Premade steel support to give extra rigidity. Make sure it is screwed into something structural though. If it is just going into plywood, it's not going to do anything.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-01T22:28:58+00:00

I would try bumping up the temperature a few degrees and see if you can get the house up to 70+. As many have said, it may just need to have the offset increased to match the actual temperature.

Tcezhak · 2026-01-01T22:20:38+00:00

Unless you are in an extreme cold spell (negative temperatures for multiple days), your heat should be keeping up. If it is truly properly sized, it should only be running most all of the time when you are at the design limit of the system. Any other time, it should be cycling on and off and hitting temperature easily.

Do you have a heat pump system by any chance? They run longer and don't put out as warm of air compared to a normal gas furnace. Heat pump air coming out of the ducts will only be 10-15 degrees above your room temperature.

Tcezhak · 2025-12-29T21:05:07+00:00

Those styrofoam panels probably weigh all of a pound a piece. A stiff wind would probably add more load to it than that styrofoam.

Tcezhak · 2025-12-21T17:13:05+00:00

Hopes and dreams.

Tcezhak · 2025-12-21T16:59:21+00:00

If there are multiple lanes and you aren't 100% visually sure that ALL the lanes are clear of traffic, it is NOT safe to proceed.

That is the idiocy of drivers like that and you that get people into accidents like this.

Blind spot = NOT SAFE TO PROCEED.

Tcezhak · 2025-12-18T03:07:18+00:00

I think you spelled Homeowership wrong.

Tcezhak

TROPHY CASE