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Ain't nothing wrong with IKEA.
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Apr 21, 2014 20:39
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When moving companies wrap plastic around dressers to move them, do the drawers need to be emptied first? Or can the clothes be left inside?
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Apr 22, 2014 02:48
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Clothes can be left inside, but nothing else. No shoes, belts, etc. Only softline items.
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Apr 22, 2014 03:42
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vanessa posted:Clothes can be left inside, but nothing else. No shoes, belts, etc. Only softline items. Cool, thanks. My family has always done our own moving, and we just pull out the full drawers, carry the skeleton dresser to the uhaul, carry drawers out and reinsert, then drive to new location and reverse the process. This time my S.O. and I are moving from a third floor walk up to a second floor walk up and there's no question that paying a few hundred dollars for someone else to do the heavy lifting is the way to go.
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Apr 22, 2014 05:52
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Is this the right thread to ask about painting? I live in an old, urban apartment. It's been partially, piecemeal painted and renovated over the decades. I'm slowly trying to restore the baseboards and trim, and repaint the walls so that it looks consistent. Most of them are textured, with a matte finished. One wall (probably added later) is smooth, with a high- or semi-gloss, cream-colored finish. If I want to cover it with a grayer, matte taupe-ish color, do I just need to lay down a layer of primer first, or do I need to do something more involved to remove some of the old paint?
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Apr 23, 2014 07:15
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Kobayashi posted:Is this the right thread to ask about painting? Probably depends how glossy that paint actually is... but you can probably just paint right on top of it. You likely don't need to do any primer. Get a test can from your local hardware store and do a test patch.
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Apr 23, 2014 14:28
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For gloss, wash it down with a TSP solution. Read the side of the bottle and follow directions. Otherwise the paint won't stick.
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Apr 23, 2014 21:59
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Is there a goon consensus for best moving container company (e.g. Pods)? I'm moving from New Orleans to Detroit for school, but this is complicated by the fact that I will be spending 8 weeks in Europe this summer after I move out. I don't have very much stuff -- mostly clothing and personal items, one small bookcase, books -- so I don't need a massive container.
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Apr 27, 2014 19:27
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gaan kak posted:Is there a goon consensus for best moving container company (e.g. Pods)? I'm moving from New Orleans to Detroit for school, but this is complicated by the fact that I will be spending 8 weeks in Europe this summer after I move out. I don't have very much stuff -- mostly clothing and personal items, one small bookcase, books -- so I don't need a massive container. If it's just yourself moving and you don't have pets, could you sell all large items like the bookcase and cram everything that doesn't fit into your car (if you have one) into a few packages, and then ship those via FedEx or UPS? As expensive as shipping large, heavy packages can be, I figure that would still cost a fraction of most other moving options (e.g. a container, trailer, van, or full-service movers). I have a 2,000 mile move from the Midwest to Southern California coming up, and this is pretty much my plan of attack.
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Apr 27, 2014 20:45
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Cheapest with most control is rent a budget/penske truck with trailer to tow your car. That is of course if you are going the same place your stuff is. If your stuff is going to wait for you while you go to Europe, then one of the Pod options, probably.
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Apr 27, 2014 21:07
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Forgot to mention that I'm selling my car down here (getting a new one before I start school). I also need storage for the 2 months that I won't be in the states, that's why I figured the pod would be best -- but there are a whole bunch of pod-like companies, which is why I was soliciting opinions as to which service was cheapest. I guess I could just get quotes from all of them and see!
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Apr 27, 2014 21:34
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I found upack significantly cheaper than PODS (and some other company I called -- I think it was packrat?) for my move, and they have a smaller size container which sounds like it might be appropriate. They were very professional, and they stored my stuff for a month for no extra cost. A++ would recommend. The cost of all of these really depends on where you're moving to/from though -- if you're moving to a city with high incoming migration, you'll pay more than if you're moving out of said city.
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Apr 28, 2014 00:41
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photomikey posted:Cheapest with most control is rent a budget/penske truck with trailer to tow your car. That is of course if you are going the same place your stuff is. If your stuff is going to wait for you while you go to Europe, then one of the Pod options, probably. I rented a U-haul and pulled my truck behind it. The cost for the U-haul plus the tow trailer was right around $900 including tax. I got the smallest U-haul and the trip was about 700 miles. Just posting this so you can use it as a comparison if you're planning on towing your truck with a U-haul. The empty U-haul was supposed to get 15 MPG but I think with it loaded down pulling a truck it probably got < 10. Also, with my rental I got a month of storage free in some storage place... I didn't end up using it but if you're going to put your stuff into storage when you get there, they might have that deal still going on.
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Apr 28, 2014 04:20
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Just got the first renewal notice for the apartment that I'm currently living in (and love), and my rent didn't go up a single cent. This is the same place that due to my credit score and rental history, I didn't need to put down any deposit at all on move-in. Have I finally found Apartment Paradise, after so many hovels?
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Apr 29, 2014 00:53
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Kobayashi posted:I saw someone ask about sofas a few pages back, but I'm specifically looking for sofas for small apartments. In particular, I'm looking to save as much depth as I can. Most love seats are fine, width-wise, but are just as deep as a normal sofa (~40"). This apartment sofa from CB2 is along the lines of what I'm trying to find, about 65x35". I was wondering if anyone knew any other US retailers that sell similarly-sized sofas. I'm looking for more variety. I have the Blu Dot Paramount Studio sofa and it's 66x32".
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Apr 29, 2014 07:07
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I've been in the same place for about three years but was planning on moving at the end of the lease in August. The building was sold a few weeks ago and last night the new land lord dropped off a new rental agreement. He wants to change the terms of the lease to month to month. This is a house that will probably need quite a bit of work and renovation before it is rented again and within a week of owning the place, the new guy already had electricians coming in to fix up the wiring. Am I paranoid or does this sound like the new landlord is trying to switch over to month to month in order to force us out sooner? (In order to renovate and rent it out at a presumably higher rate)
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Apr 29, 2014 14:52
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Unless I'm missing something, there's nothing in it for you to switch over to month-to-month from a lease. If the guy wants to get you out, and you want to move, you can arrange a handshake deal with him to start looking now, and when you find a place he will let you out of the lease and you will leave early. Win-win. Generally anytime a small property is being sold, it is under-market rent-wise and needs fixed. Then the new owner fixes it up and raises the rent. Without any other details, this is probably what is happening with your apartment. deadwing posted:Just got the first renewal notice for the apartment that I'm currently living in (and love), and my rent didn't go up a single cent. This is the same place that due to my credit score and rental history, I didn't need to put down any deposit at all on move-in.
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Apr 29, 2014 20:07
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photomikey posted:If the guy wants to get you out, and you want to move, you can arrange a handshake deal with him to start looking now, and when you find a place he will let you out of the lease and you will leave early. Win-win.
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Apr 29, 2014 20:09
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ladyweapon posted:Never take anyone's word when conducting business. If it's not in writing, it may as well have never happened. I believe the phrase is "Verbal agreements aren't worth the paper they're marked on"
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May 1, 2014 17:09
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This is more of a feasibility check than anything. I don't know what to search for. Say I want to replace a standard, 5' bathtub/shower, and I'd like to move the drain to the other side without altering the underlying plumbing. What kind of "rise" would I need for the drain to go under the basin to the original drain? Seems like gravity would do the trick pretty easily, but I don't know the first thing about plumbing, so it could require a foot for all I know. Again, this is purely a speculative daydream. v Edit: I should have known there was a plumbing thread somewhere! Kobayashi fucked around with this message at 18:02 on May 2, 2014 |
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May 2, 2014 16:40
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That sounds like an excellent question for the Plumbing Megathread!
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May 2, 2014 17:38
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(State of California rental question) I have been renting a place with a friend for the past 6 months (moved in in Jan), and we signed a 6mo lease with the guy managing the property (owners are our friends). We specifically signed for 6 months because the manager wanted our lease to expire in July/June since that's apparently the hot time to put places on the market. We were fine with that since he can't legally raise our rent in the first year of our contract, or for the entire duration of a new one, which we are considering signing for 1 year. However I was under the impression that we only have to give 30 days of notice before we move out or sign a new rental agreement. The manager just sent us a renewal document today (5/2) that he says needs to be signed before 5/15 in order for our new lease to take effect on 8/1 for a period of 1 year. I'm tempted to just send it back unsigned and tell him to try again in a month and a half or so since I was considering moving anyways and don't want to sign anything that's going to lock us into this place for another year before I make up my mind. Any thoughts on if this guy is smoking crack by trying to get us to sign and renew our lease so early?
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May 3, 2014 04:33
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You have to give 30 day notice before you move, be it 30 days before the lease ends, or if you were to go month-to-month, 30 days before you end tenancy. Your landlord must also give you 30 days notice before he doesn't renew your tenancy. If you moved in 1/1 and had a six month lease, it'd be up 6/30. Your landlord would need to give you written notice by 5/31 to get you out by 6/30 (when the lease ends). He wants that paper signed by 5/15 so that if you end up dragging it out a few days or otherwise being a pain in the rear end, he can still get written notice out by 5/31 and fulfill his legal obligations. To my knowledge, it is not true under California law that one cannot raise the rent for the first year. It's unclear when your lease ends. If he's requiring 75 day lead time, such that he can give you 60 day notice, there are some circumstances in CA where you a landlord has to give 60 day notice to end tenancy. Also, if he wants to raise the rent > 10% he has to give you 60 day notice. So either of those may be coming up.
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May 3, 2014 06:16
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ladyweapon posted:Never take anyone's word when conducting business. If it's not in writing, it may as well have never happened.
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May 3, 2014 06:18
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We just moved into our apartment and discovered what my boyfriend calls "the noisemaker". It's a metal plate on the wall with a white button on it that makes a very loud "brrring" noise when pushed. You can hold it down and it will just keep ringing. We thought it might open the gate to the parking lot but it doesn't. Just curious to see if anyone had any clue what it is. It's not important enough to ask the landlady about.
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May 4, 2014 03:35
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That looks like a speaker underneath, so my guess is it's an old intercom sort of thing. It may have let you buzz guests in, once upon a time.
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May 5, 2014 01:53
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Anyone have any experience dissolving lease renewals? I think I'm having a bit of buyers remorse, especially when I see a nice apartment for 200$ less the next town over...
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May 5, 2014 16:25
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Bread Set Jettison posted:Anyone have any experience dissolving lease renewals? I think I'm having a bit of buyers remorse, especially when I see a nice apartment for 200$ less the next town over... Does your lease prohibit subleasing? If not, find a sub-lessee and put them in your place, then move. In CA (and I think in most states), if you break your lease, you can only be held accountable for actual damages, meaning if you leave the please clean and un-damaged (and immediately re-rentable), you are only accountable for lost rent and re-keying. Re keying will be $50-$100. Lost rent is... however long it takes them to rent the place. I have worked a deal with tenants of mine who wanted to move mid-lease that they can stay, keep the place clean, I'll put it up for rent, show it, and once we are about to sign the lease they get a move-out date that's the day before the new tenant moves in. You have to be pretty flexible to pull it off, but it's possible.
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May 5, 2014 16:42
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RabbitMage posted:That looks like a speaker underneath, so my guess is it's an old intercom sort of thing. It may have let you buzz guests in, once upon a time. Yeah, older apartments are rife with superfluous leftovers. My current apartment has two switches that do nothing, and my dishwasher is wired to a switch that was probably for a garbage disposal at one time.
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May 5, 2014 16:49
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Iron Crowned posted:Yeah, older apartments are rife with superfluous leftovers. My current apartment has two switches that do nothing, and my dishwasher is wired to a switch that was probably for a garbage disposal at one time. Just a side note but most dishwashers are supposed to be (at least in Illinois, anyway) connected to a power switch so they can be turned off in case of malfunction.
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May 5, 2014 21:57
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photomikey posted:In CA (and I think in most states), if you break your lease, you can only be held accountable for actual damages, meaning if you leave the please clean and un-damaged (and immediately re-rentable), you are only accountable for lost rent and re-keying. Re keying will be $50-$100. Lost rent is... however long it takes them to rent the place. This is most likely not the case. Room mate and I rented a place together for a year and a half. Some friends actually moved out of a pretty swank apartment and we decided to move in, leaving about halfway through our lease. We gave proper notice to our landlord and they seemed to be quite alright with this, yet in the middle of us moving out they hired a property management company. We handled the entire part of finding a new renter, and the unit was only unoccupied three days, yet we still got slapped by a lease break fee of 500 dollars by the property management company. We are about to pursue this matter in court to see if we can get our money back, so we'll see what happens.
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May 6, 2014 07:27
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Wicaeed posted:This is most likely not the case. I'd guess it depends on what the lease itself says.
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May 6, 2014 16:36
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No, it depends on state law, which says what I stated earlier.
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May 7, 2014 09:39
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Glad this thread was near the top - I've got questions. I live in a large college-type town. My lease is up in mid-July so I'm looking at apartments right now. I'm NOT a college student, so I'm not necessarily stuck to where I'm at, but it's a good area and it's near a lot of stuff. Everything else surrounding my job is NOT near a lot of stuff, so I'd rather stay relatively local. Anyway, the two reasons I'm planning on moving out of my apartment now are that I can live in something smaller for less (currently ~$850/month in a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom setup) and I've got a bit of a grudge against the management. Nothing personal - everyone I've dealt with has been fairly good. The problem is that in November when it started getting cold, I complained that my heat was jacked up. I got the standard "you're on the third floor of a baseboard heating old building, sorry, that happens" answer. Which is true. But when I say jacked up, I mean I left the windows all open overnight (during this crazy loving winter) while I froze, closed them in the morning, and when I got back from work, it was 90 in my apt and still dutifully spitting out heat. I complained again in January, same stock answer. When it was 70 something a week ago, I complained again (still all heat, all the time, with my thermostat set at 40). They replaced the thermostat and boiler valve, and voila, problem fixed. Six months later. Anyway, now I have a problem. My apartment is pretty sweet, but now I'm under the impression that if someone, somewhere just thinks I'm complaining for the sake of complaining, I've got a super long wait before I convince someone I'm not crying wolf. But in this college town, this management company owns EVERYTHING. Long story short, is there any good way to find some kind of "for rent by owner" situation, or somewhere I can just sort by that? This company owns everything, and a lot of their sites are known to have poor maintenance. They also increase rent yearly just because all of the comparable housing in the area is owned by them. I was thinking maybe use Craigslist and post a "looking for housing" ad that sums up what I'm interested in and seeing what kind of responses I get. Has anyone tried that?
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May 8, 2014 00:33
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Brian Fellows posted:Glad this thread was near the top - I've got questions.
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May 8, 2014 01:01
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I would suggest driving around town and look for "for rent" signs. A lot of people still don't list their properties online or pay for ads in the paper. Private owners will be happier to rent to you than a college student looking for their first apartment. They can be a crap shoot too though. Also I wouldn't worry what the management company thinks of you. Make it clear you're a problem that's not going away and they'll get stuff done. Unfortunately a lot of management companies operate this way. Just realize one of their goals is to spend as little money on you as possible. That heating situation is crazy, I can see why you'd want to leave.
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May 8, 2014 01:51
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Nevermind. Roommate issue avoided...for now. Clean houses make happy roommates. RabbitMage fucked around with this message at 07:15 on May 12, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 23:39
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Can you float a higher rent if you don't own a car? I'll be getting a living allowance from my GI bill that amounts to 1800 dollars a month, I'll also get 200-300 dollars a month from the college kicker I got as an enlistment bonus. I'll be living in Seattle and I'd like to avoid working if at all possible so I can just focus on my studies. I'm wondering how much rent is reasonable on that allowance.
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May 15, 2014 00:56
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Elderbean posted:Can you float a higher rent if you don't own a car? I'll be getting a living allowance from my GI bill that amounts to 1800 dollars a month, I'll also get 200-300 dollars a month from the college kicker I got as an enlistment bonus. If you're bringing home $2k as a college student you're gonna be able to live like a pimp.
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May 15, 2014 01:00
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I was a graduate student (graduating Saturday  ) in the SF bay area which has comparable rents to Seattle from what I understand, and my stipend was $1850. I also owned my car (2k beater 99 civic) and only had gas and insurance to cover. My rent is $900 and I live quite well - food in the fridge, bills paid on time, money to go to restaurants every once in a while, was able to replace a computer etc. I took a weekend job to help my family out, and that helped me live even better, but I could have gotten away with focusing entirely on my studies. I estimate that around $1200-1300 would have been the breaking point of my finances and the realm of stress.I'm renting from a private landlord/owner which made this a lot easier - I just had a conversation with him that went "I'm a student, I get a stipend that's approximately 2x rent, here's some evidence of my renting reliability and my deposit, we cool?" Moving in with a roommate who is already on a lease makes things really simple as well.
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May 15, 2014 03:17
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