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So, I started weeding a small garden bed behind the house and discovered chives growing there. Unfortunately, both chives and weeds were growing in between the cinder blocks that the bed it made of. I'm going to have to take this whole thing apart to get these weeds out. The whole things is a mess to try to dig in because the holes in the bricks aren't big enough. I may just repurpose these bricks for a makeshift fire pit.
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Aug 29, 2016 03:08
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The point about ornamental shutters that don't actually cover the window were they to be closed has annoyed me for so long. It's everywhere.
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Aug 29, 2016 03:15
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Nothing like taking something functional and ruining it. Then again trying to build a mansion on the budget for an ordinary house is always going to be a disaster.
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Aug 29, 2016 03:53
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Sometimes I encounter houses with those tacky white plastic office blinds. Why? Why are these here, in a house? They're completely ineffective at blocking light and they look like poo poo. Why were they even installed in the first place? Where I live it's also popular to install wire shelves in closets, which I think is awesome. They're extremely functional, they're cheap, they're easy to install, all of the hardware stores carry them... it's basically ideal for a tiny room that stores stuff. It's the epitome of "substance over style" but I still think they look good. Wooden shelves are fine too, but when I see closets that are using some exotic wood for closet shelves it just makes me want to gag
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Aug 29, 2016 18:25
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QuarkJets posted:Sometimes I encounter houses with those tacky white plastic office blinds. Why? Why are these here, in a house? They're completely ineffective at blocking light and they look like poo poo. Why were they even installed in the first place? Probably privacy for $2.97 per window? I'm with you that they look like poo poo, but real blinds get expensive fast.
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Aug 29, 2016 18:40
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I think for the same price (or not much more) you could do cheap drapes that would provide privacy but would also look 1000 times better. Cheap drape bars cost almost nothing, likewise for cheap cloth drapes
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Sep 1, 2016 07:32
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Our fridge water dispenser line had a catastrophic leak while we were away on vacation and our wooden floor and wall were damaged a bit. Luckily, the insurance company cut us a cheque for the repairs. What's a good way to find a contractor for the repairs?
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Sep 2, 2016 06:11
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Angies List works for me. Just get a couple bids and check their ratings. (and also insurance)
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Sep 2, 2016 14:37
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Came back from vacation to find our neighbors had thrown a bunch of old fence panels and lattice into our woods.... which they definitely knew was ours, since we've asked them to not throw grass clippings there. There always has to be that one rear end in a top hat...
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Sep 3, 2016 02:04
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So I have a ton of old 2 prong outlets throughout the house. We've also just started baby proofing everything and the slide covers won't fit on these old outlets. With that being said, one baby proofing guy said GFCis don't require slide covers. and I kind of recall someone saying that for going from 2 prong non grounded to 3, i should be doing GFCis anyways? Is all this correct?
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Sep 3, 2016 13:34
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mastershakeman posted:So I have a ton of old 2 prong outlets throughout the house. We've also just started baby proofing everything and the slide covers won't fit on these old outlets. You should ask in the home wiring thread, but I think you should be more concerned with the plugs being tamperproof than GFCI.
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Sep 3, 2016 18:46
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devicenull posted:Came back from vacation to find our neighbors had thrown a bunch of old fence panels and lattice into our woods.... which they definitely knew was ours, since we've asked them to not throw grass clippings there. There always has to be that one rear end in a top hat... Well then you know whose yard to throw it all in then.
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Sep 3, 2016 21:33
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Wait for his house to be downwind, then burn the pile. Where it sits.
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Sep 3, 2016 21:52
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Ghostnuke posted:Well then you know whose yard to throw it all in then. They threw a fit when we went over to talk to them. There was no way I was moving all that poo poo. After a visit from the police, they were out there pulling it all out of the woods. Seriously, "I thought it was a vacant lot" is not a valid excuse to just throw garbage there.
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Sep 4, 2016 01:05
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devicenull posted:They threw a fit when we went over to talk to them. There was no way I was moving all that poo poo. Do you live in florida by any chance?
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Sep 4, 2016 03:56
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Bozart posted:Do you live in florida by any chance? Nope, NJ
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Sep 4, 2016 17:52
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mastershakeman posted:So I have a ton of old 2 prong outlets throughout the house. We've also just started baby proofing everything and the slide covers won't fit on these old outlets. You have a project, and you have some options. GFCI is a good idea to improve safety when you do not have a grounded outlet. If, when you open up your outlet boxes, you find that the metal box inside is actually grounded (which may be the case), you can just install three-prong outlets instead of GFCI - although in some locations such as bathrooms, kitchen counters, and anywhere near a sink, you have to do GFCI to bring it up to code anyway. A GFCI outlet can also be grounded, and that gets you the best of both worlds. Regardless, each outlet you put in should be a tamper-resistant outlet. These have little doors on the inside over the two prongs, and are designed so that the doors only open together - that is, there's a physical barrier that prevents anyone from sticking something into just one of the two prongs. Tamper-resistant is required by code now, at least in new construction, but if you go to home depot or whatever, the majority of outlets available aren't the tamper-resistant type, which I find bizarre. Tamper-resistant outlets do cost slightly more than non-, but the cost per outlet is so low anyway that there's not much excuse not to do it. I'm seeing them online for as little as two dollars! And GFCI costs substantially more, but still I see some online for under ten dollars each, so that's still quite cheap as far as home improvement costs go. A GFCI outlet on a circuit protects all other outlets "downstream" on that same circuit. So, many people will correctly tell you that all you need to do is put a GFCI on the first outlet on a given circuit. But, that won't get you a three-pronged outlet downstream, nor will it get you the upgrade to tamper-resistant. So, what I would recommend is to replace the first outlet on every circuit with a tamper-resistant GFCI, and then replace the other outlets with: -A tamper-resistant regular three-prong outlet, if the box behind the outlet is grounded (so you can have a grounded outlet) -A tamper-resistant two-prong outlet if the box is not grounded and you don't care about plugging in three-prong cords into that outlet -A tamper-resistant three-prong GFCI outlet if the box behind the outlet is not grounded and you want to plug three-prong items into that outlet You can hire an electrician to do all this, but it's not that hard. If you DIY, you need to make sure you understand how to turn off the power, you need a non-contact tester that you understand how to use to verify that power is off at any outlet before you open it up (they're like fifteen bucks), and you should get yourself a wire stripper. For materials you need the outlets, some wire nuts of the correct size, and if you need to add wire anywhere, you'll need the appropriate-gauge wire - typically 14 or 12 gauge (match whatever gauge is in use). The wiring and electricity thread can help if you get stuck.
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Sep 4, 2016 18:21
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I've been meaning to upgrade one of our bathroom outlets to GFCI and your post has inspired me to actually get this done, and now I'm considering replacing all of our floor-level outlets with tamper-resistant outlets (because we have a baby on the way and it turns out that tamper-resistant outlets actually aren't that expensive) One question though, why would you need wire nuts to replace an outlet? Isn't it just a matter of moving the same wires from the old outlet to the new outlet?
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Sep 5, 2016 05:04
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QuarkJets posted:I've been meaning to upgrade one of our bathroom outlets to GFCI and your post has inspired me to actually get this done, and now I'm considering replacing all of our floor-level outlets with tamper-resistant outlets (because we have a baby on the way and it turns out that tamper-resistant outlets actually aren't that expensive) Excellent choice! You can get a ten pack of preferred tamper resistant outlets really cheap at home depot. I switched out all my outlets because the old ones wouldn't hold a plug and after discovering scorch marks behind one, I wanted to check the rest. You shouldn't need wire nuts as you're not changing any configurations, but sometimes you might need one to extend the wiring a tiny bit if say your old outlets were backstabbed with no extra wiring to work with. You might need to pigtail an extra length on to get the wiring long enough you connect to the new outlets, or if the old exposed wire is chewed up and you just need to clip it and expose a fresh length. Or if you pull off your outlet and discover scorch marks caused by arcing behind the outlet, you may need wire nuts to clean everything up and redo the connections with the correct size wire nuts. It's just easier to have all the tools handy than having to run to the hardware store in the middle of a project, and you never know what you'll find once you dig into the walls. I would definitely get some electrical tape and a good pair of wire strippers beside you start as well, plus a voltage sniffer and outlet tester. Also not a bad idea to have a few feet of scrap 12g & 14g to extend wires if need be. Also, if you have really old metal boxes, you may need to switch them out with deeper nylon old work boxes to accommodate a gfci outlet--the old box may not be big enough. Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 13:10 on Sep 5, 2016 |
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Sep 5, 2016 13:06
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OSU_Matthew posted:...if say your old outlets were backstabbed with no extra wiring to work with. There's a special place in hell for contractors that don't leave generous service loops.
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Sep 5, 2016 14:34
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MrYenko posted:There's a special place in hell for contractors that don't leave generous service loops. My limited experience is that DIYers are usually to blame. I would say that the no contact tester is essential to all electrical work - don't skimp on safety equipment, particularly if you haven't done it before. For outlet replacement, an outlet tester is also essential to verify that you didn't gently caress it up somehow. Use a manual screwdriver, not an impact driver. A needle nosed pliers is great for getting wires to fit back into the box. You can get cheap versions of all of those, should be ~30 bucks total.
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Sep 5, 2016 18:01
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I would splurge on the needle nose. The cheap ones suck. Also wagos are amazing for fixing wtf this is too short in the box problems.
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Sep 5, 2016 22:18
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Needle nose are fine and sometimes best, but I get the most use out, and freaken love my lineman's pliers. Most essential basic electrical tool in my opinion.
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Sep 5, 2016 22:53
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Elephanthead posted:I would splurge on the needle nose. The cheap ones suck. Also wagos are amazing for fixing wtf this is too short in the box problems. I've been curious to try these things for awhile now... Do they loosen up over time like tension on old backstab outlets, or is that issue basically solved now? Seems like a far more secure method of making connections than wire nuts
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Sep 5, 2016 22:58
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Anyone know anything about new tangled HVAC systems where there is a separate baffler behind the normal surface mounted grate for coarse adjustments? My new house has something like this where it was mostly closed in the bedroom when we got it which stymied air conditioning till we asked the installer. Now that it's getting cold I assume I'd want to adjust them all but would like some manuals on what position they should be in and what's the easiest way to adjust.
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Sep 6, 2016 00:34
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Any good short guides for sump pumps? I have a normal one, a battery backup one, and one that runs off water pressure. I want to make sure the one off water pressure isn't receiving water needlessly.
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Sep 6, 2016 01:54
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I have no links, by my guess is the water powered one uses an educter setup. A fluid is moved through a chamber with a third opening. The water passing through draws a vaccum on the third opening and it sucks more fluid. No water should be able to go anywhere it shouldn't unless it was broken horribly since there are no moving parts. I have a sump pump and just bypass the float switch now and the and dump some water in the sump to exercise it and keep the critters out.
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Sep 6, 2016 02:08
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The sumps here do their thing pretty often here anyway (thanks cool dude from the 1840s who founded a city in a swamp), but the township just sent out a notice they billed someone $12,000 for water cause the water powered sump got stuck on. I'm in my second month so I'm still figuring out when to be freaked out by stuff or just chill out.
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Sep 6, 2016 03:12
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If you can find your water meter, it should have a little indicator that spins when water is flowing. Turn off everything in the house and take a look. Movement indicates a leak and warrants investigation. (Might as well find your cutoff valve too just in case) Even a toilet will make the thing spin, so a small leak should be apparent. poo poo happens though, and houses can rape your wallet unexpectedly in all sorts of ways.
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Sep 6, 2016 13:43
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Water heater question- how many of you rent your water heaters? I'm just trying to figure out if it's more worthwhile to buy ours outright instead of continuing with our rental. And have the costs of tankless water heaters come down enough that it's finally worthwhile to consider going tankless?
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Sep 6, 2016 19:19
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Just switched to a NG tankless and noticed no noticeable difference from my electric tank heater. I had no idea people rented their water heaters...
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Sep 6, 2016 19:42
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melon cat posted:Water heater question- how many of you rent your water heaters? I'm just trying to figure out if it's more worthwhile to buy ours outright instead of continuing with our rental. And have the costs of tankless water heaters come down enough that it's finally worthwhile to consider going tankless? It's a page or two back, but I found out my house's hot water heater was rented after purchase. I did the math and figured out that it would cost me about $1000 to have a high quality gas heater purchased and installed, which worked out to about six years of the lease rate. Seemed like a no brainer to purchase since we're planning on being here a long time, but when I called to have them pull the current heater they gave me a "payoff" amount equivalent to about two years of lease payments, so I just took that. Whenever I've looked into tankless it's sounded like more pain than it's worth. You have to have large gas lines running to the right location or a giant electrical circuit. They also, from what I read, need more maintenance.
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Sep 6, 2016 20:24
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Whenever I've looked into tankless it's sounded like more pain than it's worth. You have to have large gas lines running to the right location or a giant electrical circuit. Yeah agreedo. We were converting our oil-based furnace to NG and converted the water heater at the same time because we were already running a gas line to the house for that. That's right. I bought a house in the year 2014 that still uses oil. A guy pulls up and fills a huge tank under my front porch every four months or so. What loving year is it.
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Sep 6, 2016 20:31
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Yeah agreedo. We were converting our oil-based furnace to NG and converted the water heater at the same time because we were already running a gas line to the house for that. There are a surprising number of places that don't have access to natural gas lines, so it's either electric heat or heating oil. Unless you're a wacko that goes for wood, want to deal with coal, or super rich and can put in an amazing geothermal system. So oil is actually fairly common around me. I remember watching Extreme Home Makeover and they were redoing a house with your standard 275 gallon oil tank in the basement. I recall the host described it as "totally outdated" and "literally a bomb". You know, gas actually causes homes to explode spectacularly all the time. Oil is a lot more subtle, it can just turn you home into an environmental cleanup site by leaking all over everything and contaminating your soil and groundwater. Seriously though, gas is generally the superior option but it's not everywhere.
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Sep 6, 2016 20:45
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My hot water heater already runs on gas, so it'll be easy to replace it with tankless when it finally dies.QuarkJets posted:One question though, why would you need wire nuts to replace an outlet? Isn't it just a matter of moving the same wires from the old outlet to the new outlet? Others gave you some good answers. But in my case, it's because none of the existing wiring joins in my house were done using wire nuts: they were all just twisted together and covered in electrical tape. My wiring is from 1958, although some of it looks like maybe 1970s era stuff. I also think wire nuts are so cheap that it's worthwhile replacing them whenever you do work. Probably the old ones are fine, but a big box of assorted wire nuts is like five bucks, so  if there's any advantage at all to using a brand new one, it's worthwhile.I also had to extend the pigtails on almost every outlet I touched, because there was generally no extra slack whatsoever. I guess in 1958 they didn't believe in leaving extra? Who knows.
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Sep 6, 2016 21:20
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I just bought a house with oil heat. Older areas of the Northeast seem to have oil everywhere. Thankfully, we also have natural gas coming in to our house so we'll be converting once we have the money.
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Sep 6, 2016 21:34
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Leperflesh posted:My hot water heater already runs on gas, so it'll be easy to replace it with tankless when it finally dies. Just make sure you have large enough natural gas pipes. That is the biggest issue I saw when I researched putting one in. You need a lot more gas to heat water on the fly than over time in a tank. HEY NONG MAN posted:That's right. I bought a house in the year 2014 that still uses oil. A guy pulls up and fills a huge tank under my front porch every four months or so. What loving year is it. I bought a house with in wall heaters and analog thermostats in each room and a gas fireplace at one end. Interested to see how I feel about that once winter hits.
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Sep 6, 2016 21:53
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LogisticEarth posted:There are a surprising number of places that don't have access to natural gas lines, so it's either electric heat or heating oil. Unless you're a wacko that goes for wood, want to deal with coal, or super rich and can put in an amazing geothermal system. So oil is actually fairly common around me. You can also get propane tanks installed and they come and fill that up regularly then. We have a 1000 gallon propane tank buried in the side yard that we use for the HVAC, hot water heater, and clothes dryer.
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Sep 6, 2016 22:08
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Just make sure you have large enough natural gas pipes. That is the biggest issue I saw when I researched putting one in. You need a lot more gas to heat water on the fly than over time in a tank. Hmm. Well, I don't know how large my gas pipes are, but fortunately, my stepdad is a retired pipefitter and my brother is an apprentice pipefitter so between the two of them, I expect I can get it sorted out. ...also I'm gonna set up a gas forge one of these days, so that's another reason to get my natural gas delivery tubes assessed and upgraded appropriately.
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Sep 6, 2016 23:02
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Just switched to a NG tankless and noticed no noticeable difference from my electric tank heater. I had no idea people rented their water heaters... BeastOfExmoor posted:It's a page or two back, but I found out my house's hot water heater was rented after purchase. I did the math and figured out that it would cost me about $1000 to have a high quality gas heater purchased and installed, which worked out to about six years of the lease rate. Seemed like a no brainer to purchase since we're planning on being here a long time, but when I called to have them pull the current heater they gave me a "payoff" amount equivalent to about two years of lease payments, so I just took that.
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Sep 7, 2016 00:41
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