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Leperflesh posted:I'd be more concerned with the wire swinging back and forth, allowing the ladder to sway and dip and whatever. I would not want to stand on that as it shifted under my feet. Being on a ladder mid-strand is pretty common. With a fiberglass ladder. And hooks that go around the support strand so that the ladder won't slide off. Not to mention the fact that he's leaning way back toward some trees rather than working on the strand in front of him, so swaying is a much bigger issue.
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# ? May 14, 2013 23:28 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 19:05 |
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you ate my cat posted:Being on a ladder mid-strand is pretty common. With a fiberglass ladder. And hooks that go around the support strand so that the ladder won't slide off. Not to mention the fact that he's leaning way back toward some trees rather than working on the strand in front of him, so swaying is a much bigger issue. He was swaying pretty good, but not nearly enough for the ladder to go fully upright, or lean backwards. Still, I prefer my fiberglass ladder with cable hooks and my line belt with pole strap. When I am working on a ladder for an extended period of time I will don my belt and hook the pole strap round the rails and one rung so that I can lean back and have both hands free while I work.
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# ? May 15, 2013 00:31 |
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Jeherrin posted:And relabel it 'magic/more magic'. My former apartment had a unlabeled breaker. When you flipped it, a grinding noise would start emitting from somewhere in the ceiling. This was a duplex so I didn't have any attic access to see what the hell was happening up there. We used to say it was a retractable machine gun turret. On reflection, I might want to stop renting from this company.
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# ? May 17, 2013 19:49 |
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Helena Handbasket posted:My former apartment had a unlabeled breaker. When you flipped it, a grinding noise would start emitting from somewhere in the ceiling. This was a duplex so I didn't have any attic access to see what the hell was happening up there. We used to say it was a retractable machine gun turret. I had one of those in a relative's place once! It was a ceiling fan. Inside the ceiling. At least they didn't put the blades on.
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# ? May 18, 2013 00:46 |
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I now have the overwhelming urge to rig up a dummy breaker in my apartment that, when flipped, plays the Portal turret soundbite that goes, "...are you still there?"
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# ? May 18, 2013 01:37 |
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Jeherrin posted:I now have the overwhelming urge to rig up a dummy breaker in my apartment that, when flipped, plays the Portal turret soundbite that goes, "...are you still there?" Nah, rig it up to whisper "Hey, come up to the attic" at random times of the night.
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# ? May 18, 2013 21:24 |
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kid sinister posted:Nah, rig it up to
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# ? May 18, 2013 22:00 |
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So this is probably the BEST feature of my girlfriends rental. She's moving out early June
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# ? May 19, 2013 12:06 |
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So using drywall for the bathroom ceiling isnt the best idea, especially when bees build a nest in the roof space.
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# ? May 19, 2013 12:17 |
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What's wrong with drywall for a bathroom ceiling? Use greenboard.
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# ? May 19, 2013 12:21 |
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SynthOrange posted:So using drywall for the bathroom ceiling isnt the best idea, especially when bees build a nest in the roof space. This is nightmare fuel for me. Thanks. I thought standard procedure for ceilings was to screw sheet rock to the ceiling joists. I'd definitively use the water/mold resistant sort, but otherwise, what's so wrong with it?
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# ? May 19, 2013 17:19 |
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Dragyn posted:This is nightmare fuel for me. Thanks. That was on Reddit a few days ago. Here's the imgur post that picture is from. What's wrong is that the cheap rear end landlord only used 1/4" drywall for the bathroom ceiling, which apparently isn't strong enough to support a beehive full of honey that fell from the roof joists overhead. What sucks is that it fell 3 hours before the beekeeper showed up to take it away. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:10 on May 19, 2013 |
# ? May 19, 2013 19:07 |
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At least it was bees, not wasps or hornets.
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# ? May 19, 2013 19:18 |
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Farmdizzle posted:As far as safety precautions though, he's kind of an idiot. I've been on job sites where you had to be harnessed to be on any ladder 12' or taller. Of course, Now that I'm in AZ I see guys up in buckets without them all the time. This reminded me of when I worked at Expo 88 here in Brisbane, which was one of those World's Fair events. At the time I worked for a company that did laser shows, and we were called in to assist in installing a full-colour laser system mounted inside the apex of a suspended pyramid. People could walk under it and look up to see the laser display pointing down at them. So late at night we'd get into a cherry-picker basket and the driver would take us up inside this thing to get to the top to work on the laser. It must have been a nightmare for him, as he couldn't really see the basket inside there. It would eventually slide sideways into place beneath the access hatchway and we'd climb up. The slightly unnerving bit was the ride back down. Once you were in the basket you'd have to duck down and radio the driver to say you were ready. The basket would slide violently sideways such that any part of your body above the top of the basket would get sheared off.
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# ? May 20, 2013 01:14 |
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kid sinister posted:That was on Reddit a few days ago. Here's the imgur post that picture is from. What's wrong is that the cheap rear end landlord only used 1/4" drywall for the bathroom ceiling, which apparently isn't strong enough to support a beehive full of honey that fell from the roof joists overhead. When it was full of honey midsummer, my beehive weighed at least 200 pounds. I don't think the grade of drywall is going to make much difference there, if the bees hang their comb on something other than joists.
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# ? May 20, 2013 07:45 |
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Well I started to drywall the spare bedroom and ran into one of the joys of owning an older house, (84 years young now) rooms that are not square. I started against one wall with a sloped ceiling and once I got it screwed in I noticed that it wasn't square where it meets to ceiling. Went back, took out the square and found that the short wall is off by 1.5" at one side. I'm going to have to rip out the old drywall and put some more strapping in there and put a new sheet on it (3/4 of a sheet to be precise). I'm thining I can just put the strips through the planer until they get down to the appropriate size as I work myself along the wall. Lesson learned, measure everything first, then start cutting and drywalling.
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# ? May 22, 2013 01:52 |
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My lesson was 1. buy laser level (though I actually got mine for christmas. Probably one of the most useful gifts I've ever received.) It draws nice vertical and horizontal lines for me, on anything, at the same time, so I can see just how un-level and un-plumb all my walls and floors are at the push of a button.
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# ? May 22, 2013 02:28 |
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kastein posted:My lesson was 1. buy laser level (though I actually got mine for christmas. Probably one of the most useful gifts I've ever received.) I'm going to have to invest* in one of those. *borrow my parent's
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# ? May 22, 2013 04:35 |
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Went to look at another house, best so far but still not what we want. It was built in the 50's and had been updated, but the pattern I keep noticing is that just because a house has been updated doesn't necessarily mean it was done well, or very well thought out. And for the price they were asking it wouldn't have been worth all the work we'd end up wanting to do. Though the main reason I bring this house up is because they people who were selling it hadn't moved out yet, so the entire open house just felt weird. You'd think their realtor would have talked them into getting hiding of some of the creepy old people poo poo they had, but no. Walked into a kids bedroom, and there's a toddler sized doll leaning against the wall that you couldn't see from the door way, I saw a few people jump when they caught sight of it.
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# ? Jun 6, 2013 00:35 |
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I've been renovating my spare room and the biggest gripe about it was the tile ceiling. It had to go. I ripped it out, and started to replace it with drywall. What a freaking nightmare. Sloped ceilings, a 10' wall that is out of square, and a myriad of other things that make putting nice square sheets of drywall a pain. I've used about 4 gallons of drywall compound and have cut more 1.5->1" tapered pieces of drywall that I care to imagine (almost half a sheet). I've come up with an idea of how it is going to pan out eventually, but drat is it a pain trying to do things when nothing ends up being 90 degrees.
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 01:06 |
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I've noticed, at least in Britain, a pattern that might indicate one insane former owner for all houses. I think it's due to a combination of thinking DIY is a good thing to do, while being totally inept at it. As an example, the former owners of mine put in reasonably tasteful chandeliers in every room, without realising that you can change the height of them. A room with a 10 foot high ceiling might have a 6 foot long chandelier. Yep, four feet of clearance, and the apparently saw nothing wrong with that.
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 18:42 |
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/\ Must have also visited Canada, because my kitchen had a very nice hanging light fixture that came down 3' in an 8' room. It was supposed to hang over a table, but do you really need it to be low enough to keep your food warm? Naturally I decreased the length of the chain so it now hangs ABOVE head height and not below.
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 20:12 |
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Blistex posted:/\ Must have also visited Canada, because my kitchen had a very nice hanging light fixture that came down 3' in an 8' room. It was supposed to hang over a table, but do you really need it to be low enough to keep your food warm? Naturally I decreased the length of the chain so it now hangs ABOVE head height and not below. That said, Vindolanda was talking about some guy who put one of those in every room. That's just a house built by a crazy person.
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 20:46 |
Vindolanda posted:I've noticed, at least in Britain, a pattern that might indicate one insane former owner for all houses. I think it's due to a combination of thinking DIY is a good thing to do, while being totally inept at it. As an example, the former owners of mine put in reasonably tasteful chandeliers in every room, without realising that you can change the height of them. A room with a 10 foot high ceiling might have a 6 foot long chandelier. Yep, four feet of clearance, and the apparently saw nothing wrong with that. Holy crap, that cracks me up. Do you have pictures?
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 21:47 |
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The chandelier in my kitchen hangs about 6 feet off the ground. Even though we put a table under it, my fiance still manages to hit his head on it sometimes. He also manages to walk into the pull chains for the ceiling fans in two different rooms. Residential construction just isn't kind to the tall.
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 22:17 |
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Mizufusion posted:The chandelier in my kitchen hangs about 6 feet off the ground. Even though we put a table under it, my fiance still manages to hit his head on it sometimes. He also manages to walk into the pull chains for the ceiling fans in two different rooms. Residential construction just isn't kind to the tall. This is definitely true. Our house had some faux medieval chandelier lights going, which just so happened to be about 3" lower than my height. It was a joyous day when we got new light fixtures
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 22:40 |
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Mizufusion posted:The chandelier in my kitchen hangs about 6 feet off the ground. Even though we put a table under it, my fiance still manages to hit his head on it sometimes. He also manages to walk into the pull chains for the ceiling fans in two different rooms. Residential construction just isn't kind to the tall. Old constriction either. My dad lives in a cabin that predates the country buy a few years, and several doorways, including the one to the living room, are 6.5 feet or less. Myself, my brother, and my dad having lived in or grown up in the house instinctively duck when going through these, but one of my Dad's very tall friends, W.R., cannot seem to learn this. Visits by W.R. usually follow the same script every time. *Comes in front door* Hey <My Dad>, what... *WHACK* DAMMIT! Watch your head W.R.
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# ? Jun 7, 2013 23:39 |
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Mizufusion posted:The chandelier in my kitchen hangs about 6 feet off the ground. Even though we put a table under it, my fiance still manages to hit his head on it sometimes. He also manages to walk into the pull chains for the ceiling fans in two different rooms. Residential construction just isn't kind to the tall. However, they can reach, and use, the top shelf in cabinets! We got cabinets where the bottom shelf is eye level, so the top shelf is up there.
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 00:31 |
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Oooh, chandelier chat. I've been waiting for this. This is in the bathroom of the house I just rented: I dunno much about whether things are up to code, but this can't be anywhere near it.
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 02:02 |
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pac man frogs posted:Oooh, chandelier chat. I've been waiting for this. I think we may have this exact same fixture in our dining room. Somewhere, there is a catalog of cheap fixtures that you get sent by some all-knowing supplier that finds out as soon as you buy a rental property.
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 02:25 |
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Unironically true, google "builder grade." In other words, "this fixture will hold bulbs!! And also turn on!!! For $10."
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 03:20 |
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Bad Munki posted:Holy crap, that cracks me up. Do you have pictures? Sadly not, as soon as I got the house me and my dad took a ladder and raised the chandeliers. In the vain hope you're reading this, former owners, it's the easiest thing in the world you bastards!
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 09:53 |
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pac man frogs posted:Oooh, chandelier chat. I've been waiting for this. Never mind code, that thing seems to be defying the law of gravity.
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 10:51 |
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Anne Whateley posted:Unironically true, google "builder grade." In other words, "this fixture will hold bulbs!! And also turn on!!! For $10." I just built a house and the markup they charge to go above the builder grade stuff on some of the houses is crazy. On some of the lower end houses there is seriously only a couple of hundred dollars of builder grad overhead fixtures at most but to upgrade to fixtures that probably cost $500 for the whole house they will charge 2 grand. Lowes and Home Depot sell "project packs" of light fixtures that look identical to some of the things builders install, 3 boob lights for 20 bucks!
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 13:39 |
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longview posted:Never mind code, that thing seems to be defying the law of gravity. It's a swag chandelier. "Swag" means that it comes with a longer cord covered in chain so that you can move and hang a light from the chain where you want using ceiling hooks. Swag chandeliers are usually used in retrofits since you don't have to move the existing box. If the fixture has just one bulb and has a plug instead of being hardwired, it's usually just called a swag lamp. I should have snapped a picture at my ex's house. She has a partially-swag ceiling fan. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Jun 8, 2013 |
# ? Jun 8, 2013 15:32 |
Renting a place built in the 60s. I had to use a knife to cut through all the layers of paint sealing the breaker panel: drat. No the photo isn't upside down, that is how it is installed. I kinda want to pull the cover to witness the wire routing that surely is within. The whole place is filled with the usual 60s construction/design quirkiness but that's fine I find it a bit endearing. Except for the FEP panel stuffed to the gills.
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 16:33 |
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Shifty Pony posted:drat. 'Sup Stab-Lok buddy?
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 17:34 |
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You guys with the Stab-lok panels might want to see if yours are the ones that are prone to overheat and catch fire. http://www.bpgwi.com/documents/EAFPEPanels.pdf
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 18:59 |
Farside posted:You guys with the Stab-lok panels might want to see if yours are the ones that are prone to overheat and catch fire. You mean "all of them"? Seriously FEP just gave the middle finger to the whole concept of UL standards. I have read of failure-to-trip rates reaching 80%. I popped the cover off. I am going to put a fire extinguisher in that room I think. Who wants to take bets on if all the 3 prong outlets in the house are actually grounded? Edit: also of note is that I found the smoke detectors all stuffed into a kitchen cabinet, and they are all 3 years past their useful lifetime. There are also a pair of mystery valves in the house. Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jun 8, 2013 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2013 21:16 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 19:05 |
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Shifty Pony posted:There are also a pair of mystery valves in the house. What kind of valves? Also looking at that panel, I'm pretty sure now that one of our stores has a Stab-lok panel. It's the same store that our employees have been complaining that their hair clippers have been frying lately...
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# ? Jun 9, 2013 00:05 |