Tried retiling my bathroom in Rio Rancho and that thing smoked out on the third row of 12x24 porcelain. Anyone else find a decent budget saw that actually lasts through a whole project?
I'd been mixing it way too thick and fighting bubbles forever, then the old guy next door showed me how it should flow like pancake batter. Anybody else figure out a basic thing way later than they should've?
I was slapping up pre-hung doors thinking close enough was good enough until a trim carpenter called me out on a new build in Rio Rancho. Since then I've been checking every frame with a 4-foot level and shimming properly, has anyone else had to eat crow on their framing work?
I was loading up my truck at the Home Depot on Coors last Saturday after buying a 5 gallon bucket of all purpose joint compound. A guy in the spot next to me saw my bucket and asked if I was doing a big job. I said yeah, patching some walls in my rental. He laughed and said good luck with that mud, it shrinks like crazy. I didn't think much of it until I got home and the first coat on a 12 inch patch cracked overnight. Called my buddy who does drywall for a living and he said always use the lightweight stuff for small patches because it doesn't shrink as much. Now I check the label every time before I buy. Has anyone else noticed a big difference between all purpose and lightweight in New Mexico dry weather?
I stopped by that place on Coors last weekend to grab some framing lumber for my shed project. Walked through their stack and I swear every third or fourth 2x4 had a twist or a bow so bad you could use it as a speed bump. I dug through maybe 40 boards just to find 6 that were straight enough to bother with. The guy at the counter shrugged and said 'that's how they come from the mill now.' I paid $4.50 a board for that junk. Has anyone else tried getting decent lumber in Albuquerque lately or is this just par for the course now?
I watched my neighbor spend three hours on a corner bead last weekend and he kept putting the paper tape on wet. Everyone seems to think you need to soak the tape first. But I learned from an old painter in Rio Rancho that you actually want the compound to be stiff and the tape dry. He had me do a test patch and the difference in cracking was night and day. Has anyone else tried doing corners bone dry?
My buddy kept pushing me to do the attic in my Rio Rancho house and I thought it was just hype but that bill vs last year's $480 finally convinced me, has anyone else seen that kind of drop?
I found out from a tile supplier on Coors Blvd that using those cheap plastic cross spacers on large format tiles can actually cause lippage because they don't grip the edges tight enough. Has anyone else run into this after laying a whole floor?
I thought I could just mix up some stucco and blend it into the existing wall on my southside house, but it took me nine separate tries before it looked halfway decent. The afternoon sun showed every single mismatch. Has anyone found a reliable trick for getting that Albuquerque swirl texture right on the first pass?
I put up some heavy shelves in my garage last month and used those cheap plastic anchors from the hardware store. First shelf came down at 2am and took a chunk of drywall with it. Turns out the box said they were only rated for 20 pounds and my shelves were closer to 40. Switched to toggle bolts and they have been solid for 3 weeks now. Has anyone else had a similar surprise with anchor ratings?
He finally walked over and showed me I was putting the primer on AFTER the glue, not before. Anyone else have a pro tip that made you feel like a complete beginner?
I spent a solid hour at the Home Depot on Coors watching an old guy explain how to use a banjo for taping, and he showed me that wetting the tape first stops those bubbles every time. Has anyone else had that lightbulb moment with a basic tool you just always skipped?
I was putting in a new range hood vent and marked where the duct should go. Turns out I forgot there was a stud right in the middle of where I cut. Ended up having to patch a 8 inch hole with drywall and reroute the duct through the cabinet above instead. Whole thing took an extra 4 hours. Has anyone else hit a hidden stud when doing something simple like this?
I stacked up all the scraps from the last two years of projects and counted 105 board feet sitting there. Mostly old fence boards from a tear down off Central and some pallet wood. Anyone else end up with way more material than they expected after a few projects?
He said it was a waste of money and time, so I skipped it on my living room. Three months later the paint started peeling off the joint compound in 2 spots near the window. Has anyone else had primer fail them or was this just bad luck?
I used to always brush my living room walls here in Albuquerque back in 2017 because I thought it gave more control, but now after seeing how fast and even a 3/8 inch nap roller works on my 12x15 spare room last week, I wonder if I was just wasting hours for no reason - anyone else fought with this debate on their own DIY projects?
I was picking up some concrete patch for a slab at my place and this older guy just started chatting me up. He said he used to work for a company that did foundation repairs and showed me how to inject epoxy into hairline cracks instead of ripping out the whole section. Has anyone else tried this method for small foundation issues or is that just asking for trouble down the road?
I was retiling my kitchen backsplash last month and saw these diamond coated grout removal blades online. Paid $150 for a set of three different sizes. First one snapped after 10 minutes, second one wore down halfway through one line of grout. Ended up using a simple $12 carbide scraper I had in my truck from pressure washing jobs. Took longer but actually worked. Has anyone else had better luck with those expensive blades in Albuquerque's hard water areas?
I used to do corner bead with those paper faced metal strips you get at Lowe's for like $8 a pack. They always bubbled up on me or I'd dent them trying to get the mud smooth. Last month I was helping a buddy tape his garage in the North Valley and he handed me a roll of vinyl corner bead with this adhesive strip down the middle. No staples, no nails, just peel and stick. I figured it'd peel off in a week but it's been six weeks and that stuff is solid. The mud goes on way thinner too because you don't have to bury metal. Has anyone else switched from metal to vinyl and noticed a big difference in how fast the job goes?
Honestly I used to hate peel and stick tile, thought it was cheap looking and a waste of time. But my sister Maria redid her whole bathroom in Albuquerque for under $200 with the stuff from Lowe's on Central and it's held up for 2 years with no peeling or fading. She said she'd rather spend that money on a weekend trip than waste it on a contractor, and that kinda hit different. Has anyone else changed their mind on a cheap material after seeing it done right?
Bought a cheap dust collection attachment for my drywall sander off Amazon for $30 and figured it would be useless, but after sanding a 12x12 bedroom, there was barely any dust on the floor. Has anyone else found a budget dust management trick that actually worked for them?
I was trying to get my kitchen uppers level on that awful stucco wall in my 1950s house and nothing was working... ended up wedging a stack of old poker cards under one corner and it sat perfectly. Took about 15 minutes to shim everything with different card amounts. Has anyone else used something random like that instead of buying actual shims?
I was picking up some gravel at that place off Isleta and saw a whole pallet of lime mortar mix sitting near the registers. Caught my eye because I've been reading up on old adobe repairs and how modern cement can wreck them. Anyone else spot new materials like that popping up around town?
So I've got this old stucco house up near the North Valley, built in the 50s. Last month I noticed a hairline crack running down the side of the garage. I figured hey, drywall mud is cheap and I had a bucket left over from patching the bathroom. Big mistake. That stuff doesn't breathe like stucco does. Now I've got this dark gray splotch that stands out from a block away. My neighbor came over and said I should have just used a stucco patch mix from Home Depot for like 12 bucks. Has anyone else messed up mixing materials like that or found a way to blend the color back in without redoing the whole thing?
I used to just grab whatever DAP tube was cheapest at Lowe's and fill cracks in my stucco every spring. After last year's monsoon season I had huge peeling strips where it pulled away from the wall. Switched to a polyurethane based caulk from Sherwin Williams on Candelaria and it cost $18 a tube but it actually flexes with the temp changes. Been 8 months now and zero cracks coming back. Anyone else find a better fix for that stucco expansion issue we get here?