Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [construction]

355 questions
25
votes
6 answers

Safe/professional way to transport lumber with just a roof rack

I'm doing some home improvement, and have the necessary skills, tools, etc, for the job. There is one thing I'm lacking: a large pickup truck for transporting lumber. A buddy of mine used to have one, but he had to trade it in for an SUV to get the…
Cloud
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Where do measurements start on a ruler/tape measure

I feel really dumb asking this question, but I need help reading the lines on my tape measure. I need to make precise measurements, but given the thickness of the inch lines, I'm not sure how. I've added lines in the following picture. I assume 1…
Ben A.
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18
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10 answers

Could a layman build a house from plans?

i am looking at pre-made architectural house plans on the Internet ranging from 300 to 800 square feet, some multi-level. I have no housebuilding experience. I don't imagine many of the millennials for which these are designed do.. I'm not even an…
DVCITIS
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17
votes
5 answers

Is there an ideal height for a workbench?

Is there a universal standard height that people try to go for when building workbenches? Should DIY tabletops be tailor made to the height of the user and how does the ideal height of the tabletop correlate to the person?
Ambo100
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16
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3 answers

Any problem to build a house that covers a same-sized hole in the ground?

I have recently bought a piece of land to build a country cottage and perhaps eventually move there permanently. The terrain is sloped with only a few flat spots. The former owners dug a large rectangular hole in one of these flat spots, with about…
heltonbiker
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3 answers

Why did they hammer nails in half way and bent them over to secure supports?

In my 1950s house they hammered nails in half way and bent them over to secure the supports to the beam. Why was this technique used?
Jay Prall
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4 answers

How do builders prevent water damage during construction?

There is a new house under construction near me. I pass it daily. The foundation is done and they are working on framing now. We had a big storm recently, and so all the framing and presumably the basement were exposed to the elements. How do…
nuggethead
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2 answers

What should I keep in mind when building my house myself?

I inherited a piece of land and want to build a house on it. Nothing fancy: one floor, 2-3 rooms. Since I don't really have the money :D to build it "in one go", I'm going to build it over a longer period of time, bit by bit. Also, I want to build…
user9898
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10
votes
4 answers

Low water pressure on a hill solutions

The problem I just ran a 650 foot 1-1/4 inch pipe from my water source, up a hill, where the rise is about 35 ft. I expected some water pressure loss, but I have much more loss than I was expecting. This water line will eventually run into a…
trueCamelType
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3 answers

What is this type of interior wall?

I don't know much about what I'm doing, and I need help. I'm trying to cut a hole in my wall for a 1 gang low voltage bracket. Do you know what type of wall this is? It's very hard to cut into with a drywall saw. Do you perhaps know how I can cut…
Kaden Nelson
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9
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3 answers

How can I eliminate home shaking caused by vibration from heavy traffic/poor road condition?

I need your help! I own a house near a state road (trucks, buses are allowed) near Philadelphia. With the bad snow years the past few years, our road condition deteriorated but not so badly (little bumps), but badly enough to shake/vibrate my home…
John
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9
votes
3 answers

How to remedy roof overhang not level

I'm building a garden shed with 2x4's and have some roof overhang on the sides. Due to an inadequate design, exacerbated by a change in the design on the fly, the overhangs are slightly bending downwards. The problem is that the overhang is only…
Kenneth
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9
votes
5 answers

Why does my home’s ceiling and wall have lines, bumps, and bulges?

A home we recently purchased has its fair share of wear and tear. These are things we noticed when we bought the house but just did not seem too concerning. Now about a year in - not sure if these opportunities have become more showing or we are…
user149475
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5 answers

Are these integrated diagonal wall braces structurally important?

I was helping a friend expand the width of a closet door, and when we pulled the drywall off the interior wall frame, we noticed some 45-degree wall braces in the interior wall. I am pretty sure they are just for convenience during construction…
TylerH
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2 answers

Is there a good way to lay out a right angle?

Today we set up batter boards and put out marking strings to prepare for constructing a round deck. We wanted 2 strings that marked the center lines, crossing each other at 90 degrees. We set up batter boards and ran strings between them. Then we…
Jay Bazuzi
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