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Motronic posted:Yep, been in too many places where things were redone or "adjusted" over the years because someone was too cheap to throw a couple of lally columns in the basement. Then a simple repair turns into a bunch of finishes that are totally screwed and a bunch of doors that now have an angled cut underneath them. Yeah that’s going to be our entire house after we get it jacked and leveled. We’re resigned to making a bunch of reproduction trim and doors but thankfully there are several cabinetmakers in my family. It’s not a job for a novice and it’s barely a job for me.
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Jul 25, 2021 23:25
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meatpimp posted:You're right, the metal edge trim would have to be installed before/during the tile install. Thanks for the response. The pattern seems to very gradually slope down to the right along the wall. It’s minor, but hoping the grouting makes a difference. We took down the wall cabinet that used to be above the backsplash and it’s going to be an open shelf above, so hopefully the uneven areas aren’t too visible once floating shelf is installed.
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Jul 25, 2021 23:37
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QuarkJets posted:We are looking at buying a house, and the preinspection report found a slope in one of the bedrooms of 2" per 6'. From what I read, that's a huge slope. What could this mean in terms of structural stability if the other rooms are level? Is the floor in that room just warped or is the house probably structurally unstable and shouldn't be inhabited. Is the house occupied now? Then yes you can live in it. If this is a crawlspace or slab it can probably have helical piers installed. The company that I hired last time was $1600 a pier. If its just that one room it might be 3-4. Then again it could be something else like massive termite damage along the sill. Either way your offer should take this into account.
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Jul 25, 2021 23:52
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meatpimp posted:Off topic, but certainly tangential -- the Forclosure Moratorium hasn't received another extension, and is currently slated to expire on July 31. Latest numbers I saw are that 1 out of 10 mortgages are behind. I guess we'll see, but I think those numbers are somewhat misleading, because the delinquency stats often include mortgage forbearance. The forbearance was basically a free gift that no doubt many took advantage of, even if they could have otherwise paid on time. Even if we assume many are delinquent, the banks learned a lot in '08. The foreclosure process is expensive and time-consuming; it's in their best interest, generally, to work with the borrowers to get back on track. Even if they do start the process, in many areas, it can take over a year for the property to go back on the market.
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Jul 26, 2021 00:09
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B-Nasty posted:Bleach and trisodium phosphate always works for me. From the MSDS, that cleaner looks like bleach and sodium hydroxide, which I've also used to good effect. Gave house a bath today with Mold Armor EZ wash or something and can confirm it is very satisfying. I had no idea my windows were so nasty. House looks 100% less decrepit would recommend. Danhenge posted:When I was at Bob Yapp's window class a few weekends ago he was saying that pressure washing paint off of wood was the #1 reason for early paint failures, because it tends to drive moisture into wood and it takes a lot longer than most people think for the wood to dry enough for a good paint job. So I'd be careful and be very gentle if you go with pressure washing.
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Jul 26, 2021 01:39
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I would love to know more about the proper care and maintenance of wooden windows if you feel like sharing! I will be making a thread about my house sometime "soon" (next few months?), and one of the things I'll be talking about is the windows. The class was primarily focused on refurbishing rather than maintenance as such but I'll share everything I'm doing and what I remembered from what I learned. I'm still getting the materials together because Bob's full system involves some non-original elaborations on the old windows, even if they are kept generally in the original style. So if you do a full refurbishment his way, you reinstall the parting and interior stops using brass or other antiquey slotted screws so that they are easier to remove and do work on the windows later, rather than nailing them back in so you have to pry them off every time. You also end up routing a groove long the exterior of both sashes and a groove on the top window's meeting rail so you can install zinsco zinc weatherstripping along the sides of the sashes and then a rubber gasket at the top, bottom, and in between the meeting rails to maximize the insulating value of the windows. edit: He also sent us a 200 page PDF about a week after the class which had some helpful refresher material and links to the sources he uses but it was like 30 documents that had been smooshed together into one giant PDF. I clipped the PDF apart and it turns out that ~15 of the documents were stuff about restoring windows ~15 were about why vinyl siding and vinyl replacement windows are garbage, including a 60-page whitepaper about the insulating values of replacements vs refurbished old windows. Bob is fairly technologically savvy but he's still 64 years old at the end of the day. Danhenge fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 02:06
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Danhenge posted:I will be making a thread about my house sometime "soon" (next few months?), and one of the things I'll be talking about is the windows. The class was primarily focused on refurbishing rather than maintenance as such but I'll share everything I'm doing and what I remembered from what I learned. FYI, this sounds awesome and I'd love to know more about your window whisperer and how he saves these old things.
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Jul 26, 2021 02:26
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Does making old single glazed windows as efficient/insulated as modern vinyl require a storm window or is there some other magic going on?
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Jul 26, 2021 02:38
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Does making old single glazed windows as efficient/insulated as modern vinyl require a storm window or is there some other magic going on? Every comparison I've seen is more or less "budget vinyl window installed by guys from the back of a Home Depot" vs "master craftsman restored antique wood windows with storm shutters closed and heavy drapes on a cloudy day" But I'd love to be wrong and there be some magic way that my charming single glazed windows can be close to as efficient as modern windows while still allowing me to look out them.
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Jul 26, 2021 02:48
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So, this was the whitepaper that Bob had included in his enormous PDF: https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/blog/test...opment-1996-08/ I haven't read it in detail, but the executive summary has some bullets:
If the existing window is loose, it can often be cost-effective to address this leakage, including air leakage between the window and rough opening as well as between an exterior storm window and trim. If the window is already in typical or tight condition, an upgrade is unlikely to be cost-effective regardless of the cost-benefit test used. If the windows have single glass, it is worthwhile considering installing a second layer, including the options of storm windows, replacement insulated glass units, energy panels and use of Iow-emissivity glass. My take is that well-maintained sash windows with storms are probably not quite as insulating as new, double paned vinyl replacements. However, with storm windows in place they are probably pretty close, and they are going to be maintainable. It's probably safe to assume with replacement windows that your seals will start failing not long after the ten-year warranty period, because if they lasted longer than that the window-makers would warranty them for longer than that. I understand that you can technically reseal these windows but that it is not simple or cheap. Once the seal is broken I doubt they are any better than your average well-maintained double hung window with storm windows. Probably worse. Kaiser Schnitzel, I bet you could make your own wood storms ez pz based on your contributions to the woodworking thread. Bob has a 2-day class where he teaches people how to make his wooden storms, but he described a big chunk of it as just "Woodworking 101." I also took a bit of a look at the storms on their big old Italianate and while I couldn't divine the whole plan just from looking at them, they didn't look that complicated. Scott Saxman sells a storm window plan: https://thecraftsmanstore.com/diy-storm-windows-plans/ and Bob was generally quite positive about Scott so it's probably relatively decent. It might even be the same system as the one Bob uses. I also went ahead and bought Scott's book (https://thecraftsmanstore.com/old-windows-in-depth/) because I figured it would be a good resource if I forgot something or ran into something we didn't cover in the class. Refurbishing old windows isn't that hard, unless you're running into a framing issue or something. I knew it going into the class but I wanted to gently caress up somebody else's windows before I started screwing up my own. I figured $500 + travel was cheap to be able to spend three days picking the brain of a guy who is a nationally-recognized expert and was on PBS for a while. While I was there I learned that he did stuff like help restore George Washington's house on Mt. Vernon. Plus I got to use infrared heaters and wasted a bunch of perishable supplies like glazing and epoxy that hopefully I can be a little more careful with now that I bought them. Danhenge fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 03:23
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Danhenge posted:My take is that well-maintained sash windows with storms are probably not quite as insulating as new, double paned vinyl replacements. However, with storm windows in place they are probably pretty close, and they are going to be maintainable. 100% this guy is awesome. Yes, it's not as easy as new windows, but these places were mostly made for storm windows and you can make BETTER storm windows now. Also, the air sealing thing is probably the most important part. That dude is a gem, he's got everything right.
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Jul 26, 2021 03:31
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I am definitely interested in this old window information. All of our original windows were replaced with garbage vinyl inserts and while my father has a good handle on how to make new wood framed windows for the house in the general sense, how to make these replacement windows airtight is something I don’t have at least.
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Jul 26, 2021 03:39
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Motronic posted:100% this guy is awesome. Anyone in the middle of country who wants to learn how to do an old house thing for themselves should consider taking his class if they've got money to spend on it and don't feel quite confident without some hands-on experience: https://bobyapp.com/workshops/ He's also got some of his old PBS shows up on his site because apparently he negotiated to keep the rights and is working with an editor to take out the ads and stuff and make them available: https://bobyapp.com/radio-and-video/ While I was there he claimed that the big reason his PBS show ended is that he refused to use all the tools and supplies that people wanted to donate to him on the air, because he only wanted to use stuff that he trusted and believed in rather than whatever people gave him for free. This was a not-very-subtle dig at This Old House, although I didn't get the impression he thought they didn't know what they were doing, he just didn't think it was right to let people think he endorsed stuff he actually didn't. I suspect there may be other forces at play, because you don't end up dedicating your life to restoring old houses by being regular, but he was pretty adamant about not suggesting we buy stuff he didn't use himself and he doesn't actually sell any products other than himself.
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Jul 26, 2021 03:39
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Last spring, I spent about three months installing a new floor and all the associated trim and doors and painting in our basement. Hard to find time juggling both of us wfh with two toddlers, but I got it done in bits and pieces. Then in April this year our basement flooded due to a plumber's gently caress up. Their insurance fully covered it, so I hired the repairs out rather than doing the exact same work again. Had to replace flooring, trim, a door, and then the caulking and painting of the trim They were done in like a day and half, two days tops total, lol.
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Jul 26, 2021 03:43
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NOT THE POINT!
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Jul 26, 2021 04:39
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rdb posted:Is the house occupied now? Then yes you can live in it. If this is a crawlspace or slab it can probably have helical piers installed. The company that I hired last time was $1600 a pier. If its just that one room it might be 3-4. It is slab, but today I walked into the open house with a big rear end level and started taking my own measurements. I did confirm a significant slope in that single bedroom, pointing toward an interior wall. The adjacent bedrooms, the hallway, and the opposite half of the sloped bedroom were all level. My journey took me into the garage, which is beneath the bedroom with a slope, and I noticed that the concrete is basically two slabs: one where cars would sit, and then the rest of the garage and leading into the house. The wall with the slope is almost directly over this dividing line, and there's about a 1/4" dip between the two slabs. Seems like the slab sank a little at that spot, and to hell with trying to deal with fixing that; this is a detail that an appraiser may notice, putting financing at risk in a market where everyone is financing without a financing contingency, and I expect a handful of doofuses will submit offers that ignore this detail in the offered price so I see no point in submitting one myself.
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Jul 26, 2021 06:33
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Motronic posted:Yep, been in too many places where things were redone or "adjusted" over the years because someone was too cheap to throw a couple of lally columns in the basement. Then a simple repair turns into a bunch of finishes that are totally screwed and a bunch of doors that now have an angled cut underneath them. I lament not having a basement, but at least our house sits on a concrete slab, which sits almost directly on the loving bedrock.
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Jul 26, 2021 06:51
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QuarkJets posted:It is slab, but today I walked into the open house with a big rear end level and started taking my own measurements. I did confirm a significant slope in that single bedroom, pointing toward an interior wall. The adjacent bedrooms, the hallway, and the opposite half of the sloped bedroom were all level. My journey took me into the garage, which is beneath the bedroom with a slope, and I noticed that the concrete is basically two slabs: one where cars would sit, and then the rest of the garage and leading into the house. The wall with the slope is almost directly over this dividing line, and there's about a 1/4" dip between the two slabs. Seems like the slab sank a little at that spot, and to hell with trying to deal with fixing that; this is a detail that an appraiser may notice, putting financing at risk in a market where everyone is financing without a financing contingency, and I expect a handful of doofuses will submit offers that ignore this detail in the offered price so I see no point in submitting one myself. Have a similar issue in our house (except the inner and outer edge of the room slope down away from the center) but didn't notice if until we tore out the thick carpet and put in plank. Been trying to figure out what's going on while we wait for structural engineer availability but this gives me an idea on something to look at tomorrow.
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Jul 26, 2021 07:11
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QuarkJets posted:It is slab, but today I walked into the open house with a big rear end level and started taking my own measurements. I did confirm a significant slope in that single bedroom, pointing toward an interior wall. The adjacent bedrooms, the hallway, and the opposite half of the sloped bedroom were all level. My journey took me into the garage, which is beneath the bedroom with a slope, and I noticed that the concrete is basically two slabs: one where cars would sit, and then the rest of the garage and leading into the house. The wall with the slope is almost directly over this dividing line, and there's about a 1/4" dip between the two slabs. Seems like the slab sank a little at that spot, and to hell with trying to deal with fixing that; this is a detail that an appraiser may notice, putting financing at risk in a market where everyone is financing without a financing contingency, and I expect a handful of doofuses will submit offers that ignore this detail in the offered price so I see no point in submitting one myself. You walking into an open house with a level probably scared some people. Nice. I agree, let some other fool have it.
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Jul 26, 2021 12:23
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Danhenge posted:Anyone in the middle of country who wants to learn how to do an old house thing for themselves should consider taking his class if they've got money to spend on it and don't feel quite confident without some hands-on experience: Thanks for sharing all this-I might have to go take a class as my windows definitely need some love. Does the book you linked above talk about making new wooden windows or is it mostly all about restoring old? I'm afraid some of mine may be too far gone to restore and I've thought about making new ones, but I guess there isn't much that a whole bunch of epoxy can't fix.
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Jul 26, 2021 13:36
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Thanks for sharing all this-I might have to go take a class as my windows definitely need some love. Does the book you linked above talk about making new wooden windows or is it mostly all about restoring old? I'm afraid some of mine may be too far gone to restore and I've thought about making new ones, but I guess there isn't much that a whole bunch of epoxy can't fix. Book arrives today so I'll flip through and report back. The class doesn't cover Dutchman repairs, but the book might. The epoxy he covers in class is a combo of liquid epoxy and an epoxy putty that you can sand down to match the surrounding wood and then paint.
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Jul 26, 2021 13:45
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I had low expectations for home warranty companies to begin with, but this is something else entirely. Submitted a claim for broken AC on Saturday and still haven't heard back. My title company required us to get the damned thing, and the sellers paid for the thing, but I'm half tempted to just pay out of pocket.
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Jul 26, 2021 13:53
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Gave house a bath today with Mold Armor EZ wash or something and can confirm it is very satisfying. I had no idea my windows were so nasty. House looks 100% less decrepit would recommend. I have restored all of the original wood windows in my house, which was built around 1930. Danhenge posted:I will be making a thread about my house sometime "soon" (next few months?), and one of the things I'll be talking about is the windows. The class was primarily focused on refurbishing rather than maintenance as such but I'll share everything I'm doing and what I remembered from what I learned. I kept mine completely stock, except I swapped out the sash rope for chain. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 14:36
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PainterofCrap posted:I kept mine completely stock, except I swapped out the sash rope for chain. Careful, the original pulleys are built with the expectation that you're using rope, so chain can be rough on them. edit: also, and I know this is stupid, but I can't shake the feeling that if I do the extra weatherstripping & stuff so that the windows are visibly refurbished, whomever comes behind me is less likely to view my work as trash to be thrown away and instead a useful and valuable part of the house Danhenge fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Jul 26, 2021 |
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Jul 26, 2021 14:48
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Bioshuffle posted:I had low expectations for home warranty companies to begin with, but this is something else entirely. Submitted a claim for broken AC on Saturday and still haven't heard back. Why would a title company give a drat over whether you have a home warranty? This sounds like a scam
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Jul 26, 2021 15:51
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Danhenge posted:Careful, the original pulleys are built with the expectation that you're using rope, so chain can be rough on them. If you live in a historic and expensive house in an area of similar, probably. But otherwise the next owners will just see "old" and think "bad". The things that make houses in a historic district near me go for extra money are used as excuses for sales concessions in my area. At least before the current market crazyness. Antique windows, vintage fixtures, and original house layouts are "charming", "historic", and "cozy" unless you're in the wrong area and then they're "inefficient", "dated", and "claustrophobic" and should be updated. At least that seems to be what I hear from people. I don't get it but I put no faith in future owners not to immediately rip out all the walls in my house and replace everything with materials from Ikea and Home Depot.
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Jul 26, 2021 15:51
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QuarkJets posted:Why would a title company give a drat over whether you have a home warranty? This sounds like a scam I think it's a scam, but we didn't get a choice. My real estate agent said it was due to the pandemic but who the hell knows. All I know is they still haven't contacted me back.
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Jul 26, 2021 16:11
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Bioshuffle posted:I think it's a scam, but we didn't get a choice. My real estate agent said it was due to the pandemic Haha this makes no sense. Where is the paperwork for this requirement? Did your REA show you anything in writing about this? I would be livid. Also what is the HW company?
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Jul 26, 2021 16:47
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SpartanIvy posted:If you live in a historic and expensive house in an area of similar, probably. But otherwise the next owners will just see "old" and think "bad". We live in a historic district with spotty enforcement, but enough that ripping out your windows and replacing them en masse could put you in a world of hassle
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Jul 26, 2021 17:16
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I think most people, including myself, have a hard time separating feelings relating to stuff being 'old' from stuff being 'poorly maintained'. If you take good care of your windows you at least have a better shot of people appreciating them, but there is still going to be some attribution error. There are people who like old homes, this is one of my favorite websites to browse: https://www.oldhousedreams.com/ Just have to try and land one of them when you go to sell.
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Jul 26, 2021 17:27
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Bioshuffle posted:I think it's a scam, but we didn't get a choice. My real estate agent said it was due to the pandemic but who the hell knows. Them not working off hours isn't surprising to me. It's a numbers game. The fewer claims the more profit they make. I bet in your docs it says they work 9-5 m-f and every holiday they can imagine off. If your system just leaked out all the refrigerant it wouldn't surprise me if it's not covered. I bet it's only covered under some kind of motor failure.
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Jul 26, 2021 17:29
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Bioshuffle posted:I think it's a scam, but we didn't get a choice. My real estate agent said it was due to the pandemic but who the hell knows. Are you reasonably handy and willing to replace some electrical components with hand tools? A lot of the AC failures are either the contactor or capacitor. I have spares of both on hand for my unit. They last about 10 years and then they're shot, but pretty easy fix if you take your time and work methodically.
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Jul 26, 2021 17:53
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Tezer posted:I think most people, including myself, have a hard time separating feelings relating to stuff being 'old' from stuff being 'poorly maintained'. If you take good care of your windows you at least have a better shot of people appreciating them, but there is still going to be some attribution error. Like I said, I know it's not rational.
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Jul 26, 2021 18:32
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Danhenge posted:Careful, the original pulleys are built with the expectation that you're using rope, so chain can be rough on them. The sash chain I was able to score rides well in the existing pulleys, which are extremely sturdy. I am under no illusions that these windows will survive the next owner after I die. They don't seal anywhere near as well as a modern double-hung unit; I installed new storm windows everywhere 20-years ago. They help. Hell the house is old & drafty, even after I blew in insulation. I'm good with it. I do believe that there will come a time when buyers may cherish original and fully-functional wood windows, not least because I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't immediately tear them all out and upgrade. No matter what you do to yours, the general attitude seems to be that if they ain't super-tight double-insulated units, they'll be torn out. So refurbish & re-build them for you.    
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Jul 26, 2021 19:51
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The number of shoddy tile installers in the bay area is exceedingly high. Like, people don't know how to properly backbutter, dont know how to properly use spacers, are inconsistent with their placement, dont make good cuts with their wet tile saw, try to skip leveling any surface that they want to tile, and are terrifically bad at layout. For the slope house dude who hasn't made an offer yet - 2" per 6' is a very very large amount and usually indicative of some sort of large problem. It's not gonna be an easy fix.
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Jul 26, 2021 20:22
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PainterofCrap posted:Stuff That's cool! I'm contemplating ripping off the old aluminum storms once I finish the window refurbs and replacing them with wood simply because they don't work very well. When I pull off the sashes I'm going to try and clean and lubricate the aluminum storms, so we'll see what happens. Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Thanks for sharing all this-I might have to go take a class as my windows definitely need some love. Does the book you linked above talk about making new wooden windows or is it mostly all about restoring old? I'm afraid some of mine may be too far gone to restore and I've thought about making new ones, but I guess there isn't much that a whole bunch of epoxy can't fix. The book is pretty minimal on any given step, tbh. "In depth" is probably a misnomer, but it'll be useful to remind myself of some of the steps. Nothing about crafting new windows, and only a little bit on dutchman repairs. I bet you could make new ones with some trial an error. Most windows seem to use very simple joinery. Didn't you just by a shaper? You could probably even get all the molding profiles right!
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Jul 26, 2021 20:25
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PainterofCrap posted:The sash chain I was able to score rides well in the existing pulleys, which are extremely sturdy. You can make some good money restoring windows for lazy people like me. When we did our nursery a few years back (had all trim completely stripped and repainted) I decided to keep the old windows and storms rather than replace them. I like keeping 100 year-old windows rather than replacing them with something that might last a quarter of that, but goddamn would it have been cheaper not to, and it leaves me on the fence as to what I'd like to do with the other forty-odd windows this house has. Any time I have to get one of them open to get at the storms, I want to smash them all out.
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Jul 26, 2021 21:20
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Gonna crosspost this from the home ownership thread crust I never know where to ask these questions  Johnny Truant posted:Well, drat. My homie had 20 extra hinges oh the same colour/style as my cabinetry hardware... but they're too small
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Jul 26, 2021 21:33
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Alright goons, we've had a stretch of 90 degree weather recently and my evaporator has started icing up. I've changed the filter and picked up a dehumidifier for my basement today. Are there any other things to look for or try or is this gonna be a big money item for a professional?
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Jul 26, 2021 21:57
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Tremors posted:Alright goons, we've had a stretch of 90 degree weather recently and my evaporator has started icing up. I've changed the filter and picked up a dehumidifier for my basement today. Are there any other things to look for or try or is this gonna be a big money item for a professional? In my experience that's an indicator of not enough airflow. Since you already swapped in a new filter it's either too restrictive of a filter, or your supply air plenum is too small, or your blower sucks. If you already think you fixed the issue by swapping a dirty filter, leave your AC off until it melts and then see if it builds back up.
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Jul 26, 2021 22:26
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