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Putting up a nice big pergola this weekend. Just got the posts cemented in (4"x6" cedar, 12' long), and my god is that exhausting work to do solo. Digging holes at least 3' deep and 12" wide by hand is brutal. Briefly considered going with douglas fir instead of cedar to save approximately $500, but the thought of staining and sealing it all, only to have it last a lot fewer years changed my mind real quick.
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Jun 10, 2017 00:08
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Thesaurus posted:Putting up a nice big pergola this weekend. Just got the posts cemented in (4"x6" cedar, 12' long), and my god is that exhausting work to do solo. Digging holes at least 3' deep and 12" wide by hand is brutal. It's certainly not easy. For future reference Lowes and such often rent power augers for exactly this kind of thing. Ye olde post-hole digger is better than a shovel too.
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Jun 10, 2017 00:39
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Running a power auger with 2 people is still exhausting work.
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Jun 10, 2017 00:44
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But enough about my Friday night.
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Jun 10, 2017 00:53
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Thesaurus posted:Briefly considered going with douglas fir instead of cedar to save approximately $500, but the thought of staining and sealing it all, only to have it last a lot fewer years changed my mind real quick. Wouldn't pressure-treated douglas fir last more or less indefinitely? Maybe don't use it for the pickets, but it's great for anything structural that'll be in contact with the ground (or with concrete).
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Jun 10, 2017 01:06
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I used a power augur for my fence posts and yeah, definitely faster but still kinda brutal. I'm basically a cheapskate though, so post hole digger won out.TooMuchAbstraction posted:Wouldn't pressure-treated douglas fir last more or less indefinitely? Maybe don't use it for the pickets, but it's great for anything structural that'll be in contact with the ground (or with concrete). I was tempted, but some smaller stuff I built with it has warped a lot. A relative built a small deck with it recently and it warped a lot and needs to be redone. Maybe it was just a bad batch.... I dunno, I was afraid to put the work and money into the project and have it get screwed up.
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Jun 10, 2017 03:40
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Seems like a deck is a maintenance black hole. Less so obviously if the whole thing is composite/pvc railings etc but for that money it almost seems like I can have a nice patio put in. Other than pressure washing and making sure it's installed on a good base, what else is there to taking care of a patio? What are the things that suck about it after 10 or 20 years?
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Jun 10, 2017 15:14
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uwaeve posted:Seems like a deck is a maintenance black hole. Less so obviously if the whole thing is composite/pvc railings etc but for that money it almost seems like I can have a nice patio put in. Other than pressure washing and making sure it's installed on a good base, what else is there to taking care of a patio? What are the things that suck about it after 10 or 20 years? Well normally a deck is higher then ground level. Concrete is not as smooth to bare feet also, if it is you are going to slip on it wet and die.
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Jun 10, 2017 16:37
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LeafHouse posted:Hey how'd these end up working out? I'm thinking about ordering as well. They're due to arrive this week, I'll report back!
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Jun 10, 2017 17:15
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Owning a house is like planning a wedding for the rest of time. Everything seemingly costs 5x more than you think and it's always in the thousands. Today's ridiculous expense, blinds/shades for the house. We've been trying to shop local wherever possible and it has paid off (turns out small shops will give you a discount and charge no sales tax if you bring bundles of cash). This is not working out for blinds/roman shades. Went to a local shop and they quoted us $600/window. Who the gently caress are these people spending that kind of cash on blinds that an entire store can sustain itself off of it?
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Jun 12, 2017 03:57
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Sab0921 posted:Who the gently caress are these people spending that kind of cash on blinds that an entire store can sustain itself off of it? You in a couple weeks when you realize 600/window was a great deal for what you want. 
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Jun 12, 2017 12:43
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Homeownership: You thought the windows would cost more then the shades?
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Jun 12, 2017 14:22
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Is speed queen the official goon appliance company? Because just bought a Speed Queen dryer.
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Jun 12, 2017 14:24
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Lysandus posted:Is speed queen the official goon appliance company? Because just bought a Speed Queen dryer. Sure 
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Jun 12, 2017 16:01
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Sab0921 posted:Owning a house is like planning a wedding for the rest of time. Everything seemingly costs 5x more than you think and it's always in the thousands. blinds.com (I think I have a
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Jun 12, 2017 17:06
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H110Hawk posted:blinds.com (I think I have a TMI for dying internet forum, but even imminently arriving baby costs an arm and a leg because we have to do IVF. RIP my savings. PM the code if you can!
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Jun 12, 2017 17:28
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What am I missing out on with my cheap 50 dollar cellular blinds from Amazon (coincidently also for a baby)?
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Jun 12, 2017 18:59
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I bought a handful of these from jcpenny's site (both darkening and light-filtering variety) for a pretty good price as they're literally always on sale: http://www.jcpenney.com/p/jcpenney-...D1noxajZ1z140zj The size I needed came out to about $40 per window. They install super easy and they seem to be of pretty good quality, coming from someone who has purchased blinds exactly one time.
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Jun 12, 2017 19:05
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Sab0921 posted:TMI for dying internet forum, but even imminently arriving baby costs an arm and a leg because we have to do IVF. RIP my savings. alo posted:What am I missing out on with my cheap 50 dollar cellular blinds from Amazon (coincidently also for a baby)? As far as I know, nothing. Our windows were all random sizes as it is an older house (1947) so we paid $50 for the installer to come measure them, another like $25/window for him to install them, and it comes with a fit guarantee. My only regret is no getting them for literally every window in the house.
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Jun 12, 2017 19:13
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H110Hawk posted:As far as I know, nothing. Our windows were all random sizes as it is an older house (1947) so we paid $50 for the installer to come measure them, another like $25/window for him to install them, and it comes with a fit guarantee. My only regret is no getting them for literally every window in the house. Same - our house is over 100 years old so the windows are a weird size (most are 29 1/4 x 69) that standard off the shelf blinds or shades won't fit. E: I'm also bougie as gently caress.
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Jun 12, 2017 19:22
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Home Depot cuts cellular shades to the exact size you specify
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Jun 12, 2017 19:31
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Home Depot also runs specials for like $100 or $90 install when you buy a certain number of blinds. But with the cost of blinds, I guess you won't really notice.
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Jun 12, 2017 19:37
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brugroffil posted:Home Depot cuts cellular shades to the exact size you specify Sperg Victorious posted:Home Depot also runs specials for like $100 or $90 install when you buy a certain number of blinds. But with the cost of blinds, I guess you won't really notice. That is what blinds.com maps through to, along with a bunch of other sites which you will see once you get further into the process. Talking to them on the phone helps with the process. To me it was 100% worth it to have the guarantees in place by paying someone else rather than dealing with offsets, mounting hardware, etc.
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Jun 12, 2017 19:40
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I think part of the deal with the cellular shades and even plantation shutters/venetian blinds is that it doesn't really go with the look of the old house -- I'm all ears for budget ideas that can work well in this type of room.  Sab0921 fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jun 12, 2017 |
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Jun 12, 2017 20:05
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H110Hawk posted:That is what blinds.com maps through to, along with a bunch of other sites which you will see once you get further into the process. Talking to them on the phone helps with the process. That's true. My MIL paid for that (through JC Penny I think?) and oops the consultant measured every single window and door wrong, sorry that'll be another 2-3 weeks until we have your window treatments ready. Enjoy having no coverings on your windows for that time since you've already taken everything down.
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Jun 12, 2017 21:01
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40 gallon water heater is leaking! Should I replace with another $350 tank heater, or get a tankless? Current tank is in the garage, so it's not like I'm hurting for space. Should I replace it myself? I've done some basic plumbing like replacing faucets.
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Jun 13, 2017 01:41
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I've never really understood the upsides/downsides of tankless. It seems like a cool thing but if it's so great then why does everyone seem to have a tank?
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Jun 13, 2017 01:51
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QuarkJets posted:I've never really understood the upsides/downsides of tankless. It seems like a cool thing but if it's so great then why does everyone seem to have a tank? You need to have a special exhaust vent as well as a bigger than normal natural gas pipe for a tankless water heater. In my house for example, I would have to run about 80 feet of new gas piping right across the entire front of my house somehow so it's not worth it at all and I stick with a traditional heater.
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Jun 13, 2017 02:05
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QuarkJets posted:I've never really understood the upsides/downsides of tankless. It seems like a cool thing but if it's so great then why does everyone seem to have a tank? 
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Jun 13, 2017 02:08
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OK, so I guess I'll go with the tank. Have any of you replaced the water heater yourselves? Do you think that it's within the realm of a normal person's ability to do?
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Jun 13, 2017 02:25
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Steve Yun posted:40 gallon water heater is leaking! Should I replace with another $350 tank heater, or get a tankless? Current tank is in the garage, so it's not like I'm hurting for space. Tankless heaters are great. But there are certain downsides, mostly involving installation and current fixtures. So most tankless heaters will need to be the first appliance fed on your gas line. I think Noritz is an exception. Since its in the garage, the vent shouldn't be a problem. As long as the water heater is already p close to an exterior wall. You'll have to run a new PVC/CPVC vent to the outside. Another problem some people run into is the natural gas feed into the home doesn't provide enough gas. So the NG company might have to upsize your meter or tweak it. Usually this is no charge as long as the line going to your line isn't too small and you have tons of other NG big appliances to feed (like pool heater, giant furnace, etc). You can also install outside, sometimes that works better for some situations. Unless you live in places that freeze often. Most have sensors that will keep themselves from freezing, and you insulate the pipes. But still. Now for the downsides, if your dishwasher doesn't heat the water (most energy star dishwashers do), it might not draw enough water to trigger the sensor to heat the water. This is hit & miss. Another thing is if you use a lot of water at once. Multiple showers and especially filling bathtubs, you'll want to size it accordingly. For instance, filling a bathtub probably uses 6 GPM (so think of that as as 75% hot water or 4.5 GPM), if your incoming water is fairly cold mostly in the winter. You'd need a 199k BTU heater to keep up with that. Otherwise, the tankless will reduce the flow in order to meet the thermostat temp. So your tub will fill up slower. Also, if you have multiple people taking showers at once and you all have 2.5+ GPM showerheads, you can possibly run into problems. Edit: Steve Yun posted:OK, so I guess I'll go with the tank. Have any of you replaced the water heater yourselves? Do you think that it's within the realm of a normal person's ability to do? Yes. Although if you want to make it as easy as possible, you can use flexible gas and water lines. It does make it quite a bit DIY friendly. Otherwise you can sharkbite or solder everything. If you do it yourself, pick a better tank heater. Like make sure the threads on the tank are actually metal. I think Whirlpool has plastic on the drain valve and I really want to say that have plastic on the actual threads for the water connection. Just more stuff to make your life difficult. If you go with rheem, you can extend the warranty by purchasing their anode kit. It's just a bigger and/or additional anode. You'll need an impact wrench to get the old one out. Sperg Victorious fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Jun 13, 2017 |
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Jun 13, 2017 02:31
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Steve Yun posted:OK, so I guess I'll go with the tank. Have any of you replaced the water heater yourselves? Do you think that it's within the realm of a normal person's ability to do? It's doable, though you'll probably want help for maneuvering tanks around because they're pretty heavy and big. Otherwise, the rest is mostly just following directions and thinking things through. Shut the water off, close the gas valve, and drain the old tank before you try to remove it (go figure, tanks are easier to move when they aren't full of hundreds of pounds of water). Different states have different rules for how the tank has to be secured, how you have to install the emergency drain line, etc. For mine (California) the tank had to be on a stand and strapped to the wall a particular way, plus I had to solder copper pipe to run the drain to the outdoors; PVC wasn't permitted and the PO had just left the emergency drain to go to the floor. Which is honestly probably fine since the drain shouldn't be activated except in emergencies, but whatever.
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Jun 13, 2017 02:35
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On a scale of changing a lightbulb to call a professional, how hard is it to replace a skylight? The interior side/framing is has seen better days from a leak from before we bought the house, we had the roof replaced as part of the closing credits when we bought it. I assume we'd have to pull up some shingles to get the thing out and then redo it?
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Jun 13, 2017 02:40
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On the subject of water heaters, ours is getting well past life expectancy. Is there ever a reason to replace proactively, or should we just wait for it to die?
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Jun 13, 2017 04:08
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porkface posted:On the subject of water heaters, ours is getting well past life expectancy. I replaced mine because it ran out of hot water too often and it was 19ish years old and it was heated by oil. And two weeks later my furnace failed.
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Jun 13, 2017 04:22
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porkface posted:On the subject of water heaters, ours is getting well past life expectancy. My water heater celebrated it's 30 birthday this year, most likely with zero maintenance, and it decided to start drip leaking one week ago. Time to start shopping for a replacement Life expectancy depends on a number of factors, including build quality and the quality of your water, as well as your risk tolerance. Unless you live in an area with excessively hard water, I'd say it's relatively safe to keep your heater well past the manufacturer's suggested replacement period. This also depends on where your heater is located. A ruptured water heater in the garage will generally do far less damage to the home than one in, say, the attic or a closet. Yes, I've seen a water heater in an attic. I've never experienced a catastrophic water heater failure, though, so maybe others should chime in.
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Jun 13, 2017 08:42
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Can bugs crawl in and set off smoke detectors? Losing my mind trying to figure out why my smoke/CO detectors go off every few weeks despite there being no smoke and no CO. Just a bunch of those wired together Kidde detectors I think.
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Jun 13, 2017 22:27
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If they're wired to the panel, they may still beep at you if there is no/low battery.
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Jun 13, 2017 22:29
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Yes all wired, but no, changed all batteries, verified they are all new enough, can measure CO independently and there is nothing. So I'm down to the not so great bug theory. Guess I'll just start swapping them out one at a time? They're all due to be replaced in 2019 anyway.
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Jun 13, 2017 23:04
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Pryor on Fire posted:Yes all wired, but no, changed all batteries, verified they are all new enough, can measure CO independently and there is nothing. So I'm down to the not so great bug theory. Guess I'll just start swapping them out one at a time? They're all due to be replaced in 2019 anyway. You could try removing the hardwire one at a time to see if any of them are the individual culprit, or replace one (get a 10-year lifetime one + hardwire) and just move it around until you find the issue.
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Jun 13, 2017 23:12
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