Woodworking/DIY/Home Improvement Mega Thread

[MikeDeTiger]

If your vent hood is on an exterior wall and that part of the house is siding rather than masonry, installing ductwork wouldn't be so bad.  If it's on an interior wall or the exterior is masonry, then it's a lot tougher job.

Exterior wall, but it's bricked.  

It's possible a new microwave might improve something.  The current one has the charcoal recirculating thing--which I don't understand--but I'm not sure what effect it might have because the vent seems to have no suction.  It switches on and makes noise, but it doesn't draw steam from the stovetop in the least.  

That microwave is gonna have to be replaced before long.  I'm not familiar enough with microwaves to know why they would degrade rather than just work or not work, but it's taking increasingly long to heat our food.  Plus, the door already came loose once and I had to re-secure the hinges with a rivet gun because once the hinges go bad, you can't get to them to do anything about it.  It's a little bit ghetto.  I wonder if a new microwave would help.

As far as the "recirculating" part, I suppose the filters are supposed to trap the vapor somehow and it theoretically dumps dryer air back out?  

[betarhoalphadelta]

Our house in Cincy originally had a down draft cooktop vent, since replaced.  We redid the kitchen and got an induction cooktop and the plumbing was still there for a downdraft vent and my wife wanted one (I think they are mostly ineffective).  It was very cute, you pushed a button and the vent would rise up from behind the cooktop and then suck.

Except, in fairly short order, it would hang up, sometimes open, sometimes half open.  I went at it with silicone and adjustments, and finally called someone who replaced the motor.  It still got hung up.  I don't advise them.

My MIL had one of those in their last house (when still in OR). They had a kitchen island cooktop in that house, so I suppose the previous/original owner wanted to not have a giant vent hanging down in the middle of the kitchen--although that looks like a chef's kitchen these days lol. 

I never heard of them having issues with it coming up/out of the countertop, but I also am not quite sure it was particularly useful at actually sucking away any of the products of cooking... 

[utee94]

Exterior wall, but it's bricked. 

It's possible a new microwave might improve something.  The current one has the charcoal recirculating thing--which I don't understand--but I'm not sure what effect it might have because the vent seems to have no suction.  It switches on and makes noise, but it doesn't draw steam from the stovetop in the least. 

That microwave is gonna have to be replaced before long.  I'm not familiar enough with microwaves to know why they would degrade rather than just work or not work, but it's taking increasingly long to heat our food.  Plus, the door already came loose once and I had to re-secure the hinges with a rivet gun because once the hinges go bad, you can't get to them to do anything about it.  It's a little bit ghetto.  I wonder if a new microwave would help.

As far as the "recirculating" part, I suppose the filters are supposed to trap the vapor somehow and it theoretically dumps dryer air back out? 

It's not so much vapor but grease/oil that the charcoal filter is supposed to capture and then return cleaner air into the kitchen.  IMO they don't work very well.  It's possible that a new microwave with a new vent fan motor would be stronger and provide better suction, but I honestly don't think it makes much of a difference regarding how clean the air is, that is recirculated.  The whole thing is just kind of worthless.

A pro can probably cut a vent hole to the exterior through the masonry, but it's likely not cheap.  I wouldn't want to do that as a DIY project myself.

[Cincydawg]

As far as the "recirculating" part, I suppose the filters are supposed to trap the vapor somehow and it theoretically dumps dryer air back out? 

They have (ostensibly) an activated charcoal filter that removes "odors", not moisture.

[MikeDeTiger]

Then I guess it doesn't matter that the vents don't hardly work.  I don't care about odors, I just hate to see steam wafting to the cabinets and the kitchen ceiling.  Though I must admit, the house was built in 2006, and I don't see any signs of problems with the finish on the cabinets or the sheetrock on the ceiling.  Still, it bugs the hell out of me.  Wife cooks a LOT with the stove and I don't see how moisture wouldn't do some damage over the long-term.  

[847badgerfan]

It's not so much vapor but grease/oil that the charcoal filter is supposed to capture and then return cleaner air into the kitchen.  IMO they don't work very well.  It's possible that a new microwave with a new vent fan motor would be stronger and provide better suction, but I honestly don't think it makes much of a difference regarding how clean the air is, that is recirculated.  The whole thing is just kind of worthless.

A pro can probably cut a vent hole to the exterior through the masonry, but it's likely not cheap.  I wouldn't want to do that as a DIY project myself.

I vented mine through the soffit. 

[Cincydawg]

If I'm cooking, my wife will say "That smells good!" and then turn on the vent fan.

Which makes noise I guess.  I didn't want one at all but she did, and she found it and paid for it, the dang thing was about $700 as I recall.  It has lights which are somewhat handy, that's all I use it for.  Sauteeing garlic and onion smells good to me.

The stove was about $3300, but I'm Ok with that item.  We didn't replace the dishwasher, which she keeps telling me needs to go, but I'll adjust the racks or something and it's fine.  A new better quality DW is nearly a grand these days.  Before tariffs.

[MikeDeTiger]

I vented mine through the soffit.

Need to look into that.  

[SFBadger96]

I'm your basic liberal arts guy, but I grew up in a family of makers that also didn't have much spare cash. We weren't poor, but we were a long way from the average of our fancy little suburb. My dad taught design and manufacturing and built our house and rebuilt his 1950 GMC 3/4 ton with his own two hands. I'm hoping I'll get the truck someday--my wife is less excited about it. My mom sewed for a living for a while, and continued as a hobby until her body wouldn't let her anymore. From that childhood I grew up with the idea that broken things can be fixed, and worn out things can be repurposed.
So the other day I'm on the train and a random guy compliments my vest. It's not that exciting--a red vest that I bought probably 11 years ago. But I rescued it 10 years ago. When I caught an open pocket on a door handle, it tore a pretty big hole in it. It looked bad. So I sat down at the sewing machine and fixed it. I'm not that good at sewing, but I'm competent at basic tasks. This one was more than a simple stitch because of the way the tear turned around the pocket. Nonetheless, here it is 10 years later getting compliments from a random guy on the train. And I bet that very few people have ever noticed the fix without me pointing it out.
And I'm proud of that. (Obviously, since I've included it here).

[MikeDeTiger]

Very strangely, during my two-year stint in Georgia, when I was in 8th grade, there was a class period that was broken up into rotating 6 week electives throughout the school year.  One of them was sewing.  I was like What.  The.  Hell.  I remember my dad joking told me to fail it. 

I don't think I could remember how to set up a sewing machine anymore, but I am able to use a needle and thread and re-secure a button, and that's mostly all I need.  My wife has a nice sewing machine, and my grandma is talking about giving my wife her surger, which she's really excited about the prospect of.  

[betarhoalphadelta]

Very strangely, during my two-year stint in Georgia, when I was in 8th grade, there was a class period that was broken up into rotating 6 week electives throughout the school year.  One of them was sewing.  I was like What.  The.  Hell.  I remember my dad joking told me to fail it. 

I don't think I could remember how to set up a sewing machine anymore, but I am able to use a needle and thread and re-secure a button, and that's mostly all I need.  My wife has a nice sewing machine, and my grandma is talking about giving my wife her surger, which she's really excited about the prospect of. 

Yeah, we had a home economics class that had a sewing component. We needed to make a pillow. I made one that looked like a boom box. 

(For the youngsters, a "boom box"... Nah, don't have time for that...)

However, all sewing, to the extent that I learned it, has fallen out of my brain now. I can't do any of it. 

The one that I do recall is that my mom demanded I take a typing class freshman year of HS. To this day, I thank her for that. I am a very fast typist, and I type *FAR* faster than I can write, and this is important because I'd be in big trouble if my fingers couldn't keep up with my brain, with the amount of writing I do on a computer...

[MikeDeTiger]

I really learned sewing by hand from my family.  The school class was only learning how to use a sewing machine.  We made aprons 


Agree about typing.  It wasn't required, but the Baton Rouge school district highly recommended it for 6th graders, which is when I learned it.  Because of that, I can still TLDR you guys to death here, all these years later, with very little time spent on it 

[SFBadger96]

I did need a refresher on using a machine several years ago--before I did this fix--but gave it to myself to help teach one of my kids how to sew. They are now studying fashion design, and have taught their younger brother how to sew--which he has done to repair and modify some of his things (like, twice, I think).

[FearlessF]

great! a sewing thread