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We are on city sewer
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# ? Jul 12, 2021 23:58 |
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# ? May 31, 2024 08:10 |
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Are you sure your house is not and has never been infested by rodents/rats? Rat poo poo in the walls can cause that if it's not sewer gas from the drains
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# ? Jul 13, 2021 00:28 |
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NomNomNom posted:Is this an acceptable amount of damp to contemplate finishing a murder room? There's a sump pump and pit located in this room, only operates during heavy rain. To my knowledge there is no French drain. Is that just painted concrete block? Is there anything plumbing related near that wall? Any idea what the humidity level in the room is? If you can't find a source, maybe a dehumidifer down there would help.
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# ? Jul 13, 2021 00:47 |
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Just painted concrete, exterior wall, no plumbing. Right outside is a stairwell which has a drain at the landing, that drains into the sump pit. There's a dehumidifier in the room, maintains the space at 50%
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# ? Jul 13, 2021 12:39 |
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Our laundry room has a lingering smell. It's sweet, kind of pungent and fruity, not unpleasant. Reminds me of passion fruit. Definitely smells organic and not like some artificial scent that spilled behind a cupboard or something. Any idea what this could be? There's no sewage or mould smells otherwise. The room also houses the furnace, water heater, an old water softener system from the days when it was on a well, a water distillation system, a basin sink, and a floor drain. The house is on a septic but there are no septic smells outside and you don't get the fruity smell anywhere else in the house.
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# ? Jul 14, 2021 20:01 |
just another posted:Our laundry room has a lingering smell. Sounds like a smell from some kind of detergent, carpet powder, fabric softener etc of some kind maybe? I know you said not artificial but maybe if it was spilled a long time ago and the more volatile stuff cooked off then could that be it?
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# ? Jul 14, 2021 21:17 |
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Did you cross through any oily barriers lately?
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# ? Jul 14, 2021 21:25 |
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https://www.hunker.com/13406100/my-basement-has-a-sweet-smell Internet says mold. I'd moisture test and then start cutting open finished walls. Maybe wear a respirator. But BonoMan posted:Did you cross through any oily barriers lately? if this is it, gtfo asap
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# ? Jul 14, 2021 21:49 |
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After several downpours, the incredibly lovely gutters the PO installed on the back porch have gone from "eyesore" to "uh oh" and I need to figure out how far up to push this up my to-do list. The porch sucks and now I know one more reason why- it's because the gutters have been diverting water on to it instead of away from it. Most worrying is what's going on over on the other side: I guess the concrete block was supposed to help catch the water? The porch and roof are (hopefully) getting ripped out and replaced next spring/summer, but in the short term how concerned should I be about this? As far as I can tell, this is getting nowhere near the foundation, so my only concern is either the porch rotting away under my feet or one of the footings crapping out and dumping whatever is on that corner. Unless there's something else I'm missing. Anything worth doing to mitigate this for the next year or is it just not worth spending any money on?
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# ? Jul 14, 2021 23:45 |
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As long as it won't pull down the rest of your house let it be? That looks seriously janky though, please tear it down as soon as you can.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 01:48 |
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Your Porch Is A Piece of poo poo
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 01:53 |
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It was one of those "ok, yeah this has gotta go" things when we first looked at the house, but the longer I stare at it the more baffling decisions I find and the more concerned I become. At least they left behind a really nice natural gas grill.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 02:05 |
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So I have this latch. This was on a storm door in back. A few weeks ago wife was coming in from a walk and the thing broke. We're not sure what happened but it wouldn't catch anymore and in the mean time a spring and some other piece fell out. I can't even find the other piece so this is officially kaput. Trouble is I cannot for the life of me find another one just like this. The off-the-rack latch I got from Home Depot doesn't fit properly and doesn't look anything like the original to begin with. Anyone seen anything like this? Just throwing a hail Mary here before I start screwing around any further trying to make the new one fit. It fits into the door just fine, it just doesn't catch where the old one did.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 14:09 |
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A client wants me to remove the peeling wall paper in their small bathroom I'm redoing, I've never done this before. Soak it with a spray bottle and remove it with a paint scraper? Is this going to be a success orrrr
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 14:41 |
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:A client wants me to remove the peeling wall paper in their small bathroom I'm redoing, I've never done this before. Soak it with a spray bottle and remove it with a paint scraper? Is this going to be a success orrrr You just never know with wallpaper. If the wall was properly prepped (primed before), there's only one layer, and it hasn't been painted over, it may peel off like peeling a hard boiled egg. Usually, though, it's not that easy, and you resort to steaming/wetting and scraping/peeling bits as carefully as you can without terrible damage to the sheetrock. I'm a big fan of the Wagner power steamer. It takes some practice to get the feel for how wet you need to get the wall (wetter than you'd think) and how to move it while peeling. They make a mess, so you'll need lots of disposable drop cloths/plastic.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 15:31 |
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Wife wants a sectional. Where should we be looking? Most of our stuff is Ikea or hand me down. Edit: this is in NJ, if that matters
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 19:11 |
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https://www.article.com/browse/27/sofas-sectionals
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 19:23 |
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:A client wants me to remove the peeling wall paper in their small bathroom I'm redoing, I've never done this before. Soak it with a spray bottle and remove it with a paint scraper? Is this going to be a success orrrr I just did a bedroom. I started with the spray bottle gel stuff + a scoring tool + a scraper and it was miserable, so I opted for this steamer thing: https://www.amazon.ca/Wagner-Sprayt...26374387&sr=8-6 There's some videos on Youtube for how to use it/similar devices. I continued to use the scoring tool with the steamer. Worked much better, my only complaint was that the plastic head deformed slightly with the heat so it wasn't always forming a great seal with the wall. A ton of glue residue was still left on the wall, and I still had to go over problem spots with the spray stuff or the steam machine again because it didn't always peel off nice.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 19:42 |
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Toebone posted:Wife wants a sectional. Where should we be looking? Most of our stuff is Ikea or hand me down. They’re not as stylish as the Article ones, but if you want to sit on the sofa before you buy it, La-Z-Boy had some surprisingly inoffensive ones for a decent price when we were looking.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 20:43 |
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The place we bought had a very large garden at one time that was irrigated with water pumped from the river. The garden is completely shot now, though, and will need to be tilled. I know there are pipes/hoses on the property, as well as electric cables. Is there any way to map the wires without spending a small fortune on a magnetic locator or is my best bet to just sever the wire at the house and then tear it all to poo poo with the tiller? My guess is the previous owner did all the pipe laying and wire laying himself so maybe it's better to start fresh.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 20:51 |
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Harry Potter on Ice posted:A client wants me to remove the peeling wall paper in their small bathroom I'm redoing, I've never done this before. Soak it with a spray bottle and remove it with a paint scraper? Is this going to be a success orrrr If you're a contractor how's your drywall skill? I wouldn't waste the hours hoping for it to work, just take down the drywall and rehang it. Or put a real timebox on it with your client letting them know how sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but you can't know until you start. If it's plaster then would they be OK with drywall replacing it? It does open up the lead and asbestos question obviously, which could add significant time and expenses to the "simple" wallpaper problem.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 21:42 |
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replaced the main sump pump. Then the sump backup battery. Then the water heater died and we did tankless. Then the water softener just died a week or so ago and new one just got installed today. The continued progression to the left is extremely concerning, especially given that it’s a hybrid heat pump system 2 years past a typical lifespan. RIP our house emergency fund. It is nice to have all of the main house systems easily accessible at least. The blue Lowe’s bucket is a kit with everything needed (hoses, pump, etc) to do the annual tankless flush sans the vinegar. devmd01 fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Jul 15, 2021 |
# ? Jul 15, 2021 22:25 |
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for your load bearing wall.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 22:40 |
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devmd01 posted:
Get another 45 degree fitting so your HVAC condensate drain is actually draining into the sump pump, and not onto the floor next to it!
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 22:42 |
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Toebone posted:Wife wants a sectional. Where should we be looking? Most of our stuff is Ikea or hand me down. Biggest thing with furniture is what's your budget? You could spend 2K to 20K. Material preference? Shape? Personally I recommend you stay away from the big chains, especially ones that are publicly traded. Start with a good local furniture store, preferably family owned. They'll be happy to work with you, and they want to establish a relationship.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 23:10 |
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H110Hawk posted:If you're a contractor how's your drywall skill? I wouldn't waste the hours hoping for it to work, just take down the drywall and rehang it. Or put a real timebox on it with your client letting them know how sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but you can't know until you start. If the drywall is in good shape what about pulling trim and putting up 1/4" sheetrock over that mess? Just another possibility that works out sometimes, and a lot easier than all of the demo work and trash hauling. A lot cleaner for the rest of the house as well.
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# ? Jul 15, 2021 23:21 |
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B-Nasty posted:You just never know with wallpaper. Yes you do. You always know that it is going to suck giraffe dick. It’s never easy. It’s always three layers of terrible cheap textured wallpaper laid on top of cheap non-latex paint that make spots that you can NOT get off until you break out the scraper and put a fresh blade on it and gently caress I JUST COMPLETELY DESTROYED THIS ENTIRE WALL WHY DIDNT I JUST TELL THE DRYWALL GUY TO GUT IT PLEASE END ME NOW. My master bedroom suite looks ok now, but the memories I hold for it are nothing but pain and suffering. I hold putting wallpaper up to be only slightly less criminal than putting up popcorn ceilings.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 05:30 |
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Motronic posted:If the drywall is in good shape what about pulling trim and putting up 1/4" sheetrock over that mess? Just another possibility that works out sometimes, and a lot easier than all of the demo work and trash hauling. A lot cleaner for the rest of the house as well. This went through my head but as I sat in our incredibly cramped bathroom I couldn't imagine losing a cubic inch all the way around doing this. That being said ours has such lovely "hand texture" that sanding it flat enough to put up the thinnest sheet rock would probably result in a net gain of volume. There is enough texture on those walls to likely replaster them smooth if it were returned to raw material and lathe.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 05:41 |
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can you not just prep and paint over wallpaper like folks do with old paint?
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 06:21 |
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Sometimes yes https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/the-rental-house-before-after-photos/?mc_cid=e721347f32&mc_eid=b6eb449e3e
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 06:31 |
El Mero Mero posted:can you not just prep and paint over wallpaper like folks do with old paint? PO at my place just sprayed it with joint compound and did a knockdown texture. Which totally explains why half the place is knockdown.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 13:57 |
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I skim coated the seams in the wallpaper, sanded, primed it, and painted over it. Not perfect but sure beats stripping wallpaper in a vaulted stairwell. Now it's the next guys problem.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 15:32 |
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One of our rooms has wallpaper that only goes along the top trim of the wall and it has been painted over. No idea if I should attempt to remove it or just keep painting over it.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 18:56 |
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I keep seeing "Article" pop up around here. Do they make good furniture? Is it well-built and robust, or simply trendy/good looking (not that I could tell if it was or not)? What about their outdoor offerings? Looks like they have a few. We're vaguely in the market for a new couch for our living room and also some porch furniture, and we're wary of wayfair/overstock for a purchase like that.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 19:14 |
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We need to get new gutters on our house. Is it worth it to invest in expensive and professional gutters with guards, or just go with traditional and maintain it frequently? Does it actually add value to the property or no?
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 22:34 |
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Synastren posted:Is it worth it to invest in expensive and professional gutters with guards, or just go with traditional and maintain it frequently? This is very subjective based on how many trees you have and personal preference. I would have gladly paid double what we did for ours, but that's in the middle of the woods where I could be up there every other weekend clearing them out. Do you have an idea how many times a year you would be cleaning them and what the price difference would be? You could do some quick math to estimate the approximate "cost" per cleaning assuming a lifetime for them.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 23:34 |
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Synastren posted:We need to get new gutters on our house. Are your gutters on the second floor? If so, go with the guards because gently caress going up that high. Similarly, if the gutters are hard to access for reasons. I have a 1 story bungalow, I get on a ladder once or twice a year. I also only have one deciduous tree in, uhm, leafing distance? I do want to do zinc gutters next time though. My parents have copper gutters which are amazing, but I have far more methheads near me.
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# ? Jul 16, 2021 23:41 |
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NomNomNom posted:I skim coated the seams in the wallpaper, sanded, primed it, and painted over it. Not perfect but sure beats stripping wallpaper in a vaulted stairwell. Now it's the next guys problem. gently caress, this is a great idea and I think I'll do this in my dining room...
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# ? Jul 17, 2021 00:05 |
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Are laminate transition strips not as durable? We just had flooring put in and two of the t-molds already have good gouges out of them. Not sure what would have caused them besides the dog's nails.
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# ? Jul 17, 2021 00:43 |
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# ? May 31, 2024 08:10 |
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DaveSauce posted:I keep seeing "Article" pop up around here. I bought a pair of article chairs in February because I liked the look, and the price was right. They definitely feel a step up from other furniture at the same approximate price point-- your Ashleys and whatnot, but a step down from some higher end furniture I have. The fabric seems fine, but the padding feels thinner, and they are lighter than I expected.
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# ? Jul 17, 2021 00:51 |