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Gounads posted:Where would a less aggressive person go for that? Court? Planning board? Anyhow, it's all really foggy in my head, but in this case, I think the fence guy tried mediation, but then the driveway dicks had the cement poured while he was away or something, so it's like, gently caress it: classic fencing response.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:16
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Sorry, I couldn't manage to dig up the link either. But I'm pretty sure BM got the gist of it.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:19
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I may well be conflating a couple different boundary disputes, though. But I am at least pretty sure that fence guy in that pic was the one following the recorded boundary.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:28
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Bad Munki posted:Sure, but if the driveway guy STILL refuses to listen, sometimes you just have to say "THIS IS MINE" and then piss on everything. Considering this is DIY & Hobbies equivalent of PYF's Schadenfreude thread, this didn't even strike me as a joke.
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Jan 20, 2015 19:34
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Anyway, back to the task of actually doing the surveying -- is my proposed approach of stakes+screws+line going to work out reasonably well? Especially considering I'll be working alone? Start by knowing the property line and fence line on the edges that will be closest to either and measure back from there for your minimum at each corner along those lines. The hard part about this is getting a proper 90 degree angle, which is going to involve multiple points that you triangulate (3 feet, 2 feet, 1 foot). Now you have two points that you can make a line between for one side of your layout. Drop a stake, measure out the lenhth of one side and drop the other stake. Now 3-2-1 yourself into a right angle for the other two sides. Measure and drop stakes. Connect the last side and verify that both points you attached to are square. This should ensure you have made a square box a know distance off of whatever lines you need to. Now step back and see if you can live with that. It may end up looking weird if it doesn't line up with something sensible, like the house. You can now start playing with other lines off of known things like the house (same method) so that you can get a straight line back to where the shed will be and see what you think about other layouts. Stakes are the easiest way to do this, and all you have to do is tie off to the stake. Trying to adjust 1/4" here and there isn't helpful or meaningful at this stage. The time for more precision measurement is when you are making forms (if this is slab on grade) or putting up block (if you are pouring footers and laying block to grade). Your other question: finding grade. Estimate it at this point for looks. You can choose a point in the center or wherever else makes sense. Lookk for the highest spot. Measure from there and then go from that spot with another piece of masons's twine with a level on it. They make clip-on twine levels for exactly this reason. But you're not going to be able to reasonably dis/measure/drop stone/put up block/build concrete forms without a transit. None of that is important for your initial layout, but it needs to be done at some point. Sure, some of those things can be done with a level. Or a level and a long board. But it's the hard way and pretty error prone. The transit is a quick and easy sanity check on your other work as your building/backfilling/whatever. Edit: also, it helps to drop your stakes a few feet outside of your measurements on all sides. That way you can take strings down to get around stuff/dig/whatever and the stakes won't be in the way. Then you can just re stretch the string when you need it. Motronic fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 20:32
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Awesome, thanks! That will be quite helpful. I just started reading Working Alone. It has some information about doing surveying on your own, but it assumes you're building an addition to a house and thus have one of your sides pre-determined, which changes the procedure somewhat. On the other hand, I like its approach for stakes: instead of two stakes per corner, it's two stakes per line-end, with a batter board in between them. You measure the precise distance on the board, put a screw/nail into it, and tie your line there. So for example, to measure 5' off of one fence, you'd put one stake at ~4' and one at ~6', connect them with a batter board, mark the precise distance on the batter board, and put the marker there. Gives you more leeway than the "adjust a screw" approach I was thinking about earlier. Of course also more fiddly than just stakes, and overkill for doing rough layout estimation. To be clear, I won't be doing excavation, framing, or pour for the (slab-on-grade) foundation myself. I'll be hiring a contractor for that. But one of the estimates I got specifically called out that they wouldn't be doing survey work, which made me realize that I almost certainly want to do the survey myself (or hire someone else specifically to do the survey) because otherwise I'm basically just leaving it to whatever the concrete guys decide to do. Which probably won't be exactly what I want. EDIT VVVVVV: yep, though measuring the diagonals is tricky when you're working alone. Not impossible, just tricky. Another thing you can do though is measure a fixed distance out from a corner along each line (e.g. measure 5' out), and then measure the distance (hypotenuse) between those two measured points. If the hypotenuse is too long then the angle is too wide (obtuse); if it's too short then the angle's too narrow (acute). Since the measurements are shorter it's easier to do alone, but the error of measurement is also larger. TooMuchAbstraction fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 20:48
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I may have glanced over somebody else mentioning it, but measuring both diagonals is a nice reality check to make sure you are square.
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Jan 20, 2015 21:43
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CopperHound posted:I may have glanced over somebody else mentioning it, but measuring both diagonals is a nice reality check to make sure you are square. Not necessarily, unless you're comparing them to the calculated lengths, rather than just each other. To wit: consider an isosceles trapezoid. The diagonals are the same length, but the shape can literally be as far from a square as you like. Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 21:51
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Bad Munki posted:To wit: consider an isosceles trapezoid. The diagonals are the same length, but the shape can literally be as far from a square as you like. Yeah, but you’ll know it’s a trapezoid because the side lengths will be wrong. If the side lengths all match, it could still be a rhombus, but measuring the diagonals proves it’s not.
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Jan 20, 2015 21:56
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Yes, with all six measurements, you're guaranteed to have a rectangle. I just wanted to point it out because I've worked with people who didn't get it. They'd measure one side, then a perpendicular side, and then the two diagonals, ignoring the other two opposite sides, like the brain sort of short circuits and says, "Okay, I'm making a rectangle, so opposite pairs of sides are the same, I just need to measure one of each, and then the diagonals to square it up," which can obviously lead to some interesting "rectangles."
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Jan 20, 2015 21:58
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Bad Munki posted:Sure, but if the driveway guy STILL refuses to listen, sometimes you just have to say "THIS IS MINE" and then piss on everything. Hell, it'd be worth it to me to shell out for the day rental of a concrete saw and just tear up that bit of drive and put in a flowerbed. gently caress 'em.
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Jan 20, 2015 22:24
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Bad Munki posted:Sure, but if the driveway guy STILL refuses to listen, sometimes you just have to say "THIS IS MINE" and then piss on everything. I meant it as a serious question... who do you turn to?
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Jan 20, 2015 22:42
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Well, the final solution I guess would be to take them to court, but I don't know what specifically you'd sue them for, maybe removal of the encroaching concrete or damage to the land right there or something And if they continue to refuse, I dunno, I guess you just treat it as if it's yours and tear it up or--surprise--drop a fence on it. And then if they continue to ignore and, say, damage/destroy your fence, then you've got something real to sue them for, and maybe if they keep harassing you, you can get a restraining order or something? Really it'd be a question for your lawyer, which you should have engage long before the crazy got fully engaged.
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Jan 20, 2015 22:50
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Gounads posted:I meant it as a serious question... who do you turn to? Call up the city planning office, would be my guess. They can say definitively where the property line is, and if your neighbor wants to fight the city then he's welcome to do so. EDIT: VVVVVV ah yeah, in that case you turn to the courts. TooMuchAbstraction fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 22:50
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Call up the city planning office, would be my guess. They can say definitively where the property line is, and if your neighbor wants to fight the city then he's welcome to do so. Right but in this case, you have a neighbor who doesn't CARE what those people say or decree, he knows he's right and gol darnit that's mah land and then he goes and drops a driveway across the corner of your lot while you're out of town for a few days. It is, quite literally, someone forcibly annexing a chunk of your property, at which point you probably need to turn to the courts.
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Jan 20, 2015 22:51
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 Best I could find was a reddit thread. http://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/1qcjz5/this_is_how_property_line_disputes_are_resolved/ quote:The red house is (or was) a daycare. Neighbor to the right (who built the fence) owns the three adjoining properties and wanted to buy the daycare which was for sale to combine all four properties. Daycare encroaches on buyer property so buyer wanted a better price. Daycare said no so neighbor upped the ante and installed this fence, quickly and quietly on a Sunday.
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Jan 20, 2015 23:21
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Found it, and it's still there as of last year! https://www.google.ca/maps/@30.268761,-97.724995,3a,75y,169.07h,85.96t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sW3-605ULMpAlHrhNT5TU2Q!2e0
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Jan 20, 2015 23:33
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That photo really tells a whole lot more about the story. You can see that the pad was poured on or about the line for quite a distance then all of a sudden they decided, "nope, we're going this way" From the Google view, it doesn't look like the red house would even have the room to fit a proper approach to their property from the road on account of that telephone pole on the boulevard.
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Jan 21, 2015 20:26
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I wonder why the city installed the curb cuts and driveway there in the first place.
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Jan 21, 2015 20:44
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Awesome, thanks! That will be quite helpful. The slab layout guys at many construction sites do a batter board in each corner like this (only two walls show due to the limitations of ASCII art): pre:/ \ | | \ / I've also seen one dude do layout and get everything perfectly square using 100lb braided fishing line; it's got absolutely no stretch, so measuring diagonals is as simple as tying a loop, dropping it over the corner nail, getting a distance and moving your distance-in-hand to the other corner/diagonal. For height-above-grade, you pick a spot on your property that won't move and define it as your baseline. A concrete slab somewhere close by works. You then build a form above this reference point and put a nail in it "at grade." You then level the tops of your stakes off against that. Form work/slab layout uses a LOT of scrap lumber to do with precision. If your ground is relatively flat and solid, you can get away with 2' stakes, but if you've got a lot of variation or soft soil where people driving machines/walking near the stakes can shift them, use a 4' stake and really hammer it into the ground
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Jan 22, 2015 16:18
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Found this on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/OSHA/comments/2tbga5/lightfinds_a_way/
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Jan 23, 2015 01:38
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wolrah posted:Found this on reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/OSHA/comments/2tbga5/lightfinds_a_way/ Wow, I put WAY too much time and energy into my shop lighting.
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Jan 23, 2015 01:46
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I was thinking it looked alright, just messy cables... wait are those jumpers oh my god.
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Jan 23, 2015 02:35
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Load-bearing jumper cables, I think that's a first in this thread.
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Jan 23, 2015 02:41
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Full size image:
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Jan 23, 2015 02:48
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SynthOrange posted:Full size image: Ok so the alligator clips are just structural, not live. The actual electricity is coming from... an extension chord socket with bare wires sort of jammed in its general direction... jesus
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Jan 23, 2015 02:52
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Spoke with the concrete contractor I'm hiring today, and we worked out scheduling. Everything should be all set for inspection on Thursday and the pour on Friday. Called up the city office to schedule an inspection, "your permit expires this Tuesday because it's been 180 days since you got it and construction hasn't started yet"  Fortunately I can just ask for an extension. Maybe I should have been a little more proactive about finding a concrete contractor in the last six months.
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Jan 23, 2015 03:15
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Spoke with the concrete contractor I'm hiring today, and we worked out scheduling. Everything should be all set for inspection on Thursday and the pour on Friday. Called up the city office to schedule an inspection, "your permit expires this Tuesday because it's been 180 days since you got it and construction hasn't started yet" Reminds me of when I had the slab poured for my garage. Contractor set up the delivery. The concrete place was only fifteen minutes from my house, so they brought 4-yards in a hot load. Truck showed up; township code inspector showed up. Said the grading wasn't 4" deep, no go. Turned the load back. Concrete contractor was pissed. A week later: same thing happened. This close to a fistfight between the code guy & the concrete contractor. Fun times.
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Jan 23, 2015 05:54
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Going back to HVAC chat for a second: We bought a brand new very nice three-story condo (new construction) three years ago. Ground floor is a parking garage, second floor is the living room and kitchen, third floor is two bedrooms, furnace is in the unfinished attic. So far, aside from the issue described below, most of the issues have been cosmetic. A few small drywall cracks from settling, a handful of nail heads showing after a year, and a missing bracket on our dishwasher. All minor stuff that the builder fixed at the one-year mark. Compared with some of the nightmares I've read about from large-scale mass-produced builders like we used, I consider us to be doing just fine. Except for one thing: our HVAC. The thermostat is on the second (living area) floor. As a result, the second floor is mostly comfortable year round. But the sleeping areas (third floor) are always an extreme of whatever the HVAC is doing, to a difference of about 10 degrees. In the summer, the second floor will be a comfortable 75-ish but upstairs will be freezing at 60-65. In the winter, the second floor will be a sensible 69 but upstairs will be an 80-degree sweatbox. And this is with most of the upstairs vents about 90% closed. Because that wasn't bad enough, the air vents are all in the ceiling on both floors. Fine in the summer, but in the winter, not so much. Since the upper floor is always an extreme of whatever the system is doing, it seems like this would be a simple issue to fix at the drawing board. Send less air upstairs, more air downstairs, problem fixed. And it's not like ours is a unique unit, because there are about 100 other townhomes here with identical floorplans and specs. The builder's proposed solution was to close off the upstairs return, leaving only the downstairs return to service the system. The thought closing off 50% of the return air seemed like a bad idea, so we passed on that. I looked up what it would take to convert a single-zone forced air system to a dual-zone, and the answer is basically "hahahahahaha no". It looks like the only sensible solution is to just run the fan continuously whenever we're home. Here's hoping that doesn't cause the thing to burn out early.
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Jan 23, 2015 06:11
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Honestly there's not really a whole lot you can do, without getting into zone control type stuff. Depending on how easy it is to access the ductwork, and the materials it's made of you might be able to install some manual control dampers, which would help choke back airflow in the upper rooms. If you have ductboard and flex duct systems those are somewhat easy and cheap to install. Might get more expensive if you have metal ducts though. It may be worth checking if the installer already threw some in though. Where a branch meets the main trunk, pull back some insulation, and if you see a wingnut and lever there, you have manual dampers. The other option, which can also be used in conjunction with the dampers is to install a booster fan in the passage that goes down to the second floor. That'll help force some more air downstairs at least. And your fan can handle running all the time, for the most part. You may want to check you speed setting though, if it's not controlled by an ECM. If you open up the air handler and look at the fan assembly, your motor may have a cap looking dealy with a bunch of wires plugged into it. If so, you have an ECM controller, and you can't really adjust the speed settings manually. If not though, and you just have like 2-3 wires running into it you should be able to choose from like 3-6 speed settings. That will help reduce airflow into the upper rooms, but may end up making the lower rooms a bit warmer. You may be able to remedy that with an additional booster fan though. Did you look into maybe moving the t-stat upstairs as well? It maybe somewhat sensible to do that, if you spend most of your time up there. Side note, does it anyone else when someone refers to their air handler, condenser unit, or furnace as "The HVAC"? I always end up reading that out as "The heating ventilation Air conditioning"
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Jan 23, 2015 07:39
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Baronjutter posted:I know it's been talked to death but I would rather live on the street than ever buy into a HOA. I don't care if its $10 a year and run by chill dudes, all that can change. My dad and stepmother live in a HOA. A very relaxed HOA that basically just pays for median trees and the gates. At one time there was a security guard, but the builder went bankrupt in the mid 80s (dad/stepmom live in the model home for the neighborhood). My stepmother's dad is on the board (and lives across the street  ), and bitched me out for parking on the street when I was visiting a couple of years ago. There's nothing in the HOA rules about parking on the street, but he still thought it was wrong that I was parking on the curb. Said it made the neighborhood look "bad". My car was far newer than his; with fewer miles, and visibly in better shape... but his is a Lexus (with peeling paint and multiple dents). And I'm not an early person, while both my dad and stepmom are out the door by 6am (5am for dad). I offered to park it in his driveway instead, since they have a 3 car garage with 1 car. He didn't like that for some reason.Dad/stepmom have a 2 car garage, but it's a 2 door, with a 45 degree driveway. The one time I tried backing my dad's car out of the garage, I drove across the neighbor's yard and driveway (in my defense, it was a Prius, and I get all kinds of hosed up if I can't see the hood). Both of their cars have paint transfer from the garage door frames...ExplodingSims posted:Really? I find that hard to believe. If anything, I've heard that most A/Cs tend to be undersized, especially in like tract housing developments, due to cost cutting. FWIW, the original HVAC install in this house struggled to keep it below 80F in the summer. Still on the original air handler, the outside unit is the same tonnage (5.5), new coils, but we added a shitton of blown in insulation. It can actually maintain 73F inside all summer (even when it's 110 outside). And the furnace barely runs in the winter now. It was all insulation in our case, though we do have very high ceilings (even the bedrooms have 10 ft ceilings, living room is 18-20 ft). Zhentar posted:The horrors of oversizing are vastly overestated. You have to get at least into the 200% oversized range before short cycling really starts causing any problems at all. I used to live in an apartment with an oversized a/c. I'd guess it was 3/4 or 1 ton, based on how it ran and the physical size of the a/c unit. It was 600 sq ft. poo poo insulation, but it would run for less than 5 minutes at a time (usually 1-2 minutes even in August). My highest electric bill in the summer was less than $75, and it was closer to $20 in the winter. Middle floor + property-wide boiler for hot water with a circulation pump, which meant the kitchen and bathroom floors were almost orgamisc to walk on in the winter. The downside, of course, is it did absolutely poo poo for removing humidity. I'd just crank it down to 60 and toss on a hoodie if it got humid inside.
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Jan 23, 2015 13:48
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some texas redneck posted:My stepmother's dad is on the board (and lives across the street Then what the hell do families with multiple driving teenagers in your neighborhood do if they can't park their rustbuckets on the street?
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Jan 23, 2015 18:33
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kid sinister posted:Then what the hell do families with multiple driving teenagers in your neighborhood do if they can't park their rustbuckets on the street? HOA doesn't allow children.
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Jan 23, 2015 18:36
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Dragyn posted:HOA doesn't allow children. How is that legal?
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Jan 23, 2015 18:41
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DNova posted:How is that legal? That's a joke, son.
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Jan 23, 2015 18:42
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DNova posted:How is that legal? Although that was a joke, that's sometimes true. It's a violation of the Fair Housing Act, unless the community is designated for "senior living" quote:Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Familial Status
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Jan 23, 2015 18:45
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Dragyn posted:HOA doesn't allow children.  ..and yeah you're not allowed to actually do that, except places that are explicitly for seniors. It's a form of housing discrimination.
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Jan 23, 2015 18:55
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SwivelTits2000 posted:It looks like the only sensible solution is to just run the fan continuously whenever we're home. Here's hoping that doesn't cause the thing to burn out early. This will probably work, but it's going to cost you. The blower fan itself will be like running a small space heater 24/7, (though if it's an ECM blower at low speed, it's a really small space heater). But worse, your equipment is in unconditioned space, outside the thermal envelope, very likely with leaky, poorly insulated ducts. You'll constantly be losing conditioned air into the attic, which will be replaced by unconditioned air, as well as losing/gaining heat through the ducts and the furnace itself. You could see significant increases in your heating/cooling costs if there are any substantial issues.
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Jan 23, 2015 19:44
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ExplodingSims posted:Honestly there's not really a whole lot you can do, without getting into zone control type stuff. Zhentar posted:This will probably work, but it's going to cost you. The blower fan itself will be like running a small space heater 24/7, (though if it's an ECM blower at low speed, it's a really small space heater). But worse, your equipment is in unconditioned space, outside the thermal envelope, very likely with leaky, poorly insulated ducts. You'll constantly be losing conditioned air into the attic, which will be replaced by unconditioned air, as well as losing/gaining heat through the ducts and the furnace itself. You could see significant increases in your heating/cooling costs if there are any substantial issues. I look at the cost issue this way: either I pay to run the fan whenever we're home, or I pay to have the system re-engineered into a dual-zone system. I could also "pay" by being uncomfortable, which is what I'm doing now. I'll definitely venture into the attic and look for dampers and look for the fan assembly as well.
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Jan 23, 2015 20:07
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SwivelTits2000 posted:I look at the cost issue this way: either I pay to run the fan whenever we're home, or I pay to have the system re-engineered into a dual-zone system. I could also "pay" by being uncomfortable, which is what I'm doing now. If you have as above leaky poorly insulated ducts, spend a few hours sealing them up, it'll be horrible messy uncomfortable work but you'll start saving money straight away.
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Jan 23, 2015 21:47
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