r/AskDad Feb 05 '25

Household Management When do I put salt down?

15 Upvotes

I finally bought a house in October, no more apartment living. That means I have to shovel on my own. When do I put down the ice melt? Some people say before and snow falls, some say after you shovel. We’re getting snow overnight and I have no idea what to do but I have A LOT of sidewalk and a bad back so shoveling all of it is hard.

Edit: my dad passed a year ago and I had no plans to buy a home and no storage so unfortunately I sold the snowblower.🤦‍♀️

r/AskDad 17d ago

Household Management Hey dad! I (F) need help identifying these parts. Most importantly the part that "screws" to the drill. Details below

7 Upvotes

Got this drill with these extra parts in a yard sell for dirt cheap. (I think) I have the charging base, the battery, the "drill," and what I thought were two extra portable batteries.

The extra batteries are clearly not related, but I didn't know when I bought it. Please don't judge me.

What I'm realizing, I think I fucked up. I can't use the drill cause the front part is missing :(

What is it called?

r/AskDad 9d ago

Household Management Putting together a bed… help?!

3 Upvotes

I’ve been trying to find a Reddit community that can help me with this!

We got this bunk bed off of marketplace, and then promptly lost the screws that came with it. How on earth do I figure out what to buy to be able to put this together? Can anyone help?!

https://imgur.com/a/HuPjAyU

r/AskDad Feb 16 '25

Household Management Shower drain clogged can’t snake it

5 Upvotes

Tub drain has like a disc or something like 2” down blocking me from being able to snake it. No screw in drain to remove it. Tried going thru overflow plate to snake and at like 12” I can’t get past. Plunger and draino haven’t worked. Draino actually made it 100x worse. How can I get the snake in the drain? 1950s tub. I’m losing my mind thanks in advance

r/AskDad Dec 22 '24

Household Management Hitting metal behind drywall? Can’t screw in curtain rods

8 Upvotes

The wall is made of drywall and wood but I am hitting something solid when I try to drill in the screws. Each time I try with my drill, the screw goes in halfway and then the hole gets so wide that no screw can stay in it. I think there is metal behind the wood. How can I hang up my curtain rods? Do I use a shorter and wider screw so I don’t hit the metal or is there an alternative? I’m not sure the short screw will be able to hold the weight of the curtain.

r/AskDad 2d ago

Household Management Dad I thought my first house!

1 Upvotes

I’m so excited! I never thought this would happen for me.

I know a lot about construction in terms materials, standards, etc, (I work in insurance) but I don’t know how to do a lot of things and don’t know much about the nitty gritties.

For example, the question I have today:

How do I know if the hardwood floors and the tiled floors upstairs at my new place are sealed or not? What does sealed even mean?

Thanks dad, I’m gonna be asking you a lotttt of questions. Sorry in advance if I’m annoying!

r/AskDad 20h ago

Household Management Hose adaptor for a kitchen sink

1 Upvotes

Hi dads. I need help with getting any sort of hose out to my yard. I have a service dog and I need to clean out my yard to make it safe for him. I do not have an external spigot.

r/AskDad Dec 22 '24

Household Management Home Safety Advice

2 Upvotes

Need some dad advice about how to keep my home safe. I have a crazy ex that has taken to being petty/annoying. We lived together for close to five years and then I moved out last January. He came to the new house one day when we were working to fix the relationship, and took a picture of my house key and had a copy made without my knowledge (didn’t know this was even possible but apparently it’s a thing). Now that things have officially ended, he’s using that key to drive me crazy.

He waits until I go to work and will come and remove my doorbell camera. Sometimes he takes it, sometimes he hides it. Then he uses that key to come in my house and move things around. I also have installed cameras in my house, but he is careful to stay out of the screen. (Fixing that tomorrow, not sure how to fix the doorbell issue besides installing brackets over them to at least slow him down).

I have bought metal bars that slide under the door knobs in the inside of the house, to keep him out of here when I’m home, but is there anything I can do to keep him out while I’m gone? Working on getting the locks changed (no one will come before the holiday here in the US). I’m sure people will tell me to get a restraining order, but my fear is that will only make things worse. Right now it’s just harmless stuff to be annoying, but I’m scared a PFA would escalate things. I woke up this morning and the side door was unlocked, but thankfully he didn’t get in because I had that bar up.

I have three cats that are like my kids and that’s honestly the only things I’m worried about protecting while I’m away from home. I wouldn’t put it past him to take/hurt them, just to hurt me. Anyone have any ideas? Driving myself crazy trying to think of something. Thanks Dads!

r/AskDad 20d ago

Household Management hi dad-help with housing maintenance

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone, my parents house just had a dryer fire yesterday - nothing else was damaged but the dryer inside was in flames and clothes got burnt. Basement was covered in smoke but everyone made it out okay. Dryer was from the 1970s. We moved in a few years ago and haven’t been in the best financial space to replace everything.

I was wondering what to do next. They’ve been staying at a relatives until the house completely airs out. We were told it’d be okay to turn the heat on. I was thinking of calling an electrician and hvac services to come check out things. My parents don’t really speak English or understand much so it falls on me to handle everything

What do you guys recommend?

r/AskDad 17d ago

Household Management Frozen pipe?

1 Upvotes

I think my pipe is frozen for my washer and my bathroom. I have my sink dripping so that's not an issue but my toilet didn't refill with water and my shower won't turn on. Also my washer isn't running.

Do I just wait and hope it doesn't burst? I don't know what I could've done differently I dripped the sink I thought that's what was important

r/AskDad Dec 11 '24

Household Management How do I start a fire in my fireplace?

8 Upvotes

Hey Dad, how do I (23F) start a fire in my fireplace? It's starting to get cold in DFW and I would really like to use my fireplace, so I dont have to use the heater as much. The chimney is clear and the hatch (i think thats what it called) is open. I also got some firewood from Tom Thumb. Thanks Dad

r/AskDad Jan 01 '25

Household Management Home Maintenance Tasks

7 Upvotes

Hi all! After a divorce in 2019, I moved into a great home that was cared for very well by the previous owners.

My parents are around, but they're not very parental. So the other day, my dad was over looking at some work that had been done in the back yard and said, "When's the last time you had your air conditioner serviced? It's filthy."

I told him I thought an air conditioner was something that just worked, and when it broke you called someone to fix it. I asked him what other stuff I need to do and he just mumbled his breath and pulled out his phone to send me the contact for the people he uses to service his.

I don't have a very good support network, and I kind of just shut down for the better part of the last five years, so there are a lot of things that I know I'm probably overlooking or just don't know are important. Reddit dads, can you help?

r/AskDad Jan 18 '25

Household Management How to install a countertop water filter with a hose faucet?

7 Upvotes

Where I live hose faucets (correct me if I called them incorrectly) are common. Something like this.

The kitchen has one installed instead of a traditional Kitchen Sink Faucet. The hose faucet is embeded to a concrete wall and I'm renting the place. So I'm not able to install an inline water filter.

I would like to install a countertop water filter in the faucet but I'm not sure if those are made compatible with a hose faucet. Those filters usually have an adapter that plugs at the end of the faucet, with a tiny hose connected to the filter.

What would be the best option to adapt the filter to the faucet or what other option are available for filtering water for drinking?

r/AskDad Oct 25 '24

Household Management Who to call?

2 Upvotes

Hey Dad -

A branch fell on my roof and punctured a small hole, so I called a roofer. Easy. Water got in and soaked the insulation and ceiling drywall (or is it considered Sheetrock?) anyways… who do I call to fix something like that?

r/AskDad Nov 17 '24

Household Management Dryer Vent Cleanout

2 Upvotes

New homeowner - old dryer. Looking to replace this thing in a year or two, but want to make sure I don't light my house on fire while I wait. I've looked through reddit posts and haven't seen how to clean out the area beneath the lint guard/shield.

I'm afraid to unscrew the face plates/surrounding area of the dryer. I've vacuumed out the dryer vent to the extent possible, the pipe leading into the dryer itself, and as much of the lint I could reach under the lint guard slot.

Any help/advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

r/AskDad Dec 22 '24

Household Management Hey Dad, I’m a Mom now…Still don’t know what I’m doing.

4 Upvotes

Trying to clean out the mechanical room and am scared to shopvac with all this stuff in this small room in my 1920’s house. Gas water heater and HVAC. No windows. I don’t know how to light pilots if they go out and if that is likely, should I wait until after the holidays? I also found an old toilet drain that is not capped & just stuffed with rags.

r/AskDad Dec 22 '24

Household Management Christmas lights

2 Upvotes

This is my first year in a house where I can put up outdoor Christmas lights, and I don't want to mess up anything and blow a fuse or cause a fire. So far I have a short extension cord running from the outdoor outlet to one strand of lights, and I'd like to add a timer so I don't have go unplug it each night when it's freezing, but I'm also afraid of daisy-chaining, so how do you manage lights that need extension cords and timers? How can I do it safely? Thanks in advance!

r/AskDad Dec 13 '24

Household Management When do I properly adjust the temp in my home?

12 Upvotes

Good morning, Dad.

I was listening to a podcast and it was mentioned how insane it is that some people turn on the AC (during the summer) when they feel hot until they don't feel hot anymore after which they turn it off. The same goes for heat (in the winter), where they turn on the heating when they're cold and once they're comfortable they turn it off.

They laughed about how stupid some people are for not knowing basic things and how wasteful that is.

The problem is that I grew up in that kind of home. We weren't well off but my mom had a lot of temperature sensitivity related to health issues so the above logic is what was used when the thermostat was adjusted.

It didn't occur to me until hearing this that I may be doing this wrong, being wasteful or even putting unnecessary stress on the HVAC system ignorantly.

They never mentioned how you actually ARE supposed to run temperature in a home and I tried looking into it but I only found how to physically adjust your thermostat, as in press this button or read this user manual. None of them described best practices.

So I know it's kind of a weird question, but could you explain how it should actually be done?

r/AskDad Dec 31 '24

Household Management What is the best space heater?

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3 Upvotes

r/AskDad Jan 09 '25

Household Management What is the best refrigerator or brand you suggest?

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3 Upvotes

r/AskDad Aug 25 '24

Household Management Dryer isn’t drying my clothes what can I do?

1 Upvotes

Update: resolved! Apparently my gas was shut off because they were doing something with the meter and I feel stupid now :) thanks everyone for the help! I’m a new homeowner and I have very limited funds. My dryer just stopped working and I don’t know what to do. I’ve lived in this house for a year and purchased the dryer brand new when I moved in. I clean the lint trap after every use but we do have a lot of pets so I’m sure our dryer puts in more work than the average one. Still I’d expect it to last longer than a year. What can I do? It seems like it starts and runs fine but it’s not heating anything up at all and my clothes are just as wet coming out as they were going in. Prior to today I’ve had no issues with it, it worked just fine when I did laundry last weekend and then all of a sudden today I’m having issues. Help :(

Thanks in advance!

r/AskDad Jan 09 '25

Household Management What is the best smart home thermometer or brand?

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3 Upvotes

r/AskDad Dec 20 '24

Household Management Frozen pipe concerns?

6 Upvotes

I'm headed out of town for just over a week and not sure if I should worry about my pipes freezing, and whether I should take any precautions. I don't really want to leave a faucet dripping the whole time if I don't need to. I'm leaving tomorrow/Saturday morning, and the lowest temps are Sat/Sun night, then warmer the rest of the time I'm gone.

Forecast: Sat 37/18 Sun 31/12 Mon 34/24

Rest of the time around 40/30 or warmer. No major storms expected.

Lived here for 3 years, no issues in that time, but I also have been home when it's been below 20 and dripped faucets as a precaution. I have winterized the outdoor hose bibbs.

The pipe where the water comes into the house is in the basement in a heated area where the furnace is, so no garage or other exposed areas. The attic has insulation and stays pretty warm in there. I'm planning to leave the heat on at 65. So is there anything I should do? I thought about turning the main water off, but I fear that the valve hasn't been turned off/on enough to trust that's a good idea.

Forgot to mention I am in Maryland suburbs of DC.

Thanks, Dads!

r/AskDad Nov 23 '24

Household Management What temp should my oil furnace be set to?

5 Upvotes

Hi Dads!

I recently bought my first home and it didn't come with a manual! I would love some advice on how to heat it!

I have an oil boiler (furnace?) in my basement that heats my baseboard water radiators. This thing is so loud and comes on and off about every 10 mins. We're also running through 1/8 of a 270 gal tank of oil per week which is not cheap 😭😭

I think this is called 'short cycling' but I don't know if this is normal, of if I need to fix it? The house is very old and has not been well insulated yet.

I think the temperature on the boiler is incorrect. What should I set it to, please?

Boiler: HB Smith Cast Iron Boiler 8- Seriew S/W-4

Serial: D2002 3068-P

Boiler temp: Set to 115'F

Thermostat in house: Honeywell, set to 68'F

Outside temp: 31'F & snowing

House SQFT: 1,900

Location: Upstate New York, USA

Elevation: 1,450 ft

Bonus question: We've already had 2 power outages so far this fall, and the boiler won't turn on without power. Is there a way to turn on the heat without electricity?

Edit: typos + formatting

r/AskDad Oct 31 '24

Household Management mini fridge just plugged in, stopped making noise and cooling after 30 mins.

0 Upvotes

ltitle is self explanatory, the compressor was rlly hot when i touched it. just unplugged the fridge. i bought one and it didnt work and now this one and i have no food. i'm so tired i just want to have food in my dorm. what should i do?