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brugroffil posted:Home Depot cuts cellular shades to the exact size you specify Plus or minus a pretty large margin of error IME, and also they don't really cut it straight so the slats may be somewhat uneven.
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Jun 18, 2017 20:19
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The only cutting of any material you should allow at a Home Depot is to (very) rough dimensions so it will fit in your car.
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Jun 18, 2017 20:22
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MrYenko posted:The only cutting of any material you should allow at a Home Depot is to (very) rough dimensions so it will fit in your car. One time I had to buy a piece of plywood so I had to buy a top of the line F-150. Rant: State Farm is denying a 20% discount on our earthquake insurance for a safety retrofit done to standardized plans based on the fact that an inconsequential portion of the house wasn't done. Everyone (city, foundation contractor, CEA) said it was fine because the work was an addition, and the entire dashed-line in the picture below was done, which is the in tact original foundation. The picture is a sketch from the permit application which everyone, including the California Earthquake Authority (CEA), approved. I'm working with the CEA to get this unfucked either through the CEA approved contractor throwing on a few more braces or them telling State Farm it's fine and me getting my discount.  
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Jun 18, 2017 21:45
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They denied us over the materials that one bolt was made of. Fortunately I asked the contractor if they guaranteed their work to pass inspection and they came back out to fix it.
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Jun 18, 2017 23:55
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So my home owner's warranty is expiring now that I've owned my house for nearly a year and I'm fielding opinions on whether or not it's worth the new cost for continued coverage. It'd be about $750 a year. Anyone have experiences with a home owner's warranty, positive or negative? I'm just skeptical of adding another monthly payment if it's considered a waste.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:46
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What makes you think the warranty would give better results than just banking the money and spending it directly on maintenance as things come up?
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Jun 19, 2017 01:54
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QuarkJets posted:I'm pretty sure that last sentence is actually how a fire alarm works. Can you show me some resources demonstrating that a $20 combo alarm has intelligent decision-making abilities beyond "is a sensor detecting smoke?" quote:The alarm’s microchip helps determine the difference between non-threatening conditions and real emergencies.
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Jun 19, 2017 01:54
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:What makes you think the warranty would give better results than just banking the money and spending it directly on maintenance as things come up? You know, this is my usual answer, but $750 is much cheaper than potential home repair stuff. However I'd look at the exclusions pretty carefully at the very least. It probably still isn't a good deal.
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Jun 19, 2017 02:03
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:You know, this is my usual answer, but $750 is much cheaper than potential home repair stuff. However I'd look at the exclusions pretty carefully at the very least. It probably still isn't a good deal. A warranty company will fix things in the shittiest way possible using the cheapest (and arguably therefore not the greatest) contractor.
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Jun 19, 2017 02:08
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The reviews for that product on amazon are full of people complaining about nuisance alarms. I suspect that line about "smart sensing" is just a marketing blurb. Top review: quote:I've had this for about a year now. Darn this thing is SO sensitive. I open the oven door and it goes off. I don't see smoke but there is a rush of heat. It seems every time something produced a blast of heat in the kitchen it would startle me right out of my wheelchair. I family had my husband move it out of the kitchen proper and just around the corner on the wall. It went off again last night when I opened the oven to check a pizza. Again no smoke...just a rush of very hot air. I'm about to give up on having this near the kitchen. Maybe I'll put it in the bedroom hall. As sensitive as it is, it should blast off at the first sign of anything fire related.
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Jun 19, 2017 02:20
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porkface posted:They denied us over the materials that one bolt was made of. Excellent. I have a feeling this is all going to work out but right now I'm frustrated. LawfulWaffle posted:So my home owner's warranty is expiring now that I've owned my house for nearly a year and I'm fielding opinions on whether or not it's worth the new cost for continued coverage. It'd be about $750 a year. Anyone have experiences with a home owner's warranty, positive or negative? I'm just skeptical of adding another monthly payment if it's considered a waste. I feel like most people get these for $500/year for the same lovely service. There is one goon here who managed to get a basement drainage system installed ($$$) but they are far from the norm. A coworker got a whole new furnace out of his after around a month of living with space heaters fighting with them over it. We did not renew ours.
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Jun 19, 2017 03:46
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A little over a month in, and having central air conditioning + panel upgrade to 200a was onr of tgr best homeownership decisions i've made Still waiting on that first month's electrical bill though 😥
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Jun 19, 2017 04:39
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Our city's utility bills show you a graph that compares your current usage to the same time last year. Since we replaced our furnace & water heater and put new insulation in the attic, every month is like a little pat on the back for the money we spent. At least for electricity... I have a feeling our water bill is off the rails since two kids means laundry all the time.
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Jun 19, 2017 04:58
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HEY NONG MAN posted:I have a feeling our water bill is off the rails since two kids means laundry all the time. If you don't have a modern HE/Energy Star washer it's well worth it. They use half (or less) of what the old "fill the whole drum with water" style ones used in water, which also means they use less electricity. Modern appliances (last say 10-15 years, depending on the core function) have seen huge leaps forwards in energy efficiency.
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Jun 19, 2017 06:31
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How creepy is it to track down a previous owner of my house on Facebook and ask them about all the work that was done on the house while he owned it? Certainly sounds creepy as gently caress but boy am I tempted.
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Jun 19, 2017 21:04
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Sounds creepy to me but it's not like you should care what the previous owner thinks of you so do it anyway
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Jun 19, 2017 21:53
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The Dave posted:How creepy is it to track down a previous owner of my house on Facebook and ask them about all the work that was done on the house while he owned it? If all you do is punch their name into facebook and it's the top hit, you send them one message asking if they mind if you ask them a few questions about work done to the house, and then follow their guidance on if they mind it's a fine/normal level of creepy. It's when you go past that level of stalking that it becomes way too goony.
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Jun 19, 2017 22:21
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LawfulWaffle posted:So my home owner's warranty is expiring now that I've owned my house for nearly a year and I'm fielding opinions on whether or not it's worth the new cost for continued coverage. It'd be about $750 a year. Anyone have experiences with a home owner's warranty, positive or negative? I'm just skeptical of adding another monthly payment if it's considered a waste. Generally, the kinds of things a home warranty will cover can be saved for at this rate in a few years. So they tend to be useful for new homeowners possibly crunched by a recent down payment, however you're generally better off taking your chances and stashing the money unless you have reason to expect a major appliance to blow out soon.
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Jun 19, 2017 22:59
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In my experience (mostly 2nd hand stories) they will find any pretense, legal or otherwise, to deny those home warranty claims under any circumstances and then dare you to sue them. So they are generally less than worthless, save the money and invest it instead.
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Jun 20, 2017 17:29
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Pryor on Fire posted:In my experience (mostly 2nd hand stories) they will find any pretense, legal or otherwise, to deny those home warranty claims under any circumstances and then dare you to sue them. So they are generally less than worthless, save the money and invest it instead. A good tactic is to ask for a premium home warranty and then ask for 90% of that as cash value instead when they agree to the warranty.
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Jun 20, 2017 17:43
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The Dave posted:How creepy is it to track down a previous owner of my house on Facebook and ask them about all the work that was done on the house while he owned it? Not creepy at all IMO, provided you make clear you are asking for your own information -- it could be awkward if it comes across as something they'd be worried about having liability for (not that that should be a real concern usually). I got a good breakdown of what work was done and what plumbers/contractors my PO used, which gave us a good starting point for stuff that needed doing. Hubis fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Jun 20, 2017 |
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Jun 20, 2017 18:02
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We lucked out. We had a home warranty and the house had a 25 year old sub zero fridge in the kitchen. Thing completely dies a month into owning the house. They agree to cover a partial amount and my wife goes off on them on the phone and ends up with a check for $5k.
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Jun 20, 2017 18:03
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I've read the entire thread in the last few weeks. My timing has been excellent. I am closing on my first home tomorrow and I'm ~absolutely horrified~ but very excited. Wish me luck, gents. On my to-do list: -Replacing flat roof above back door -painting the rooms -finding a washer/dryer on the cheap (I cannot afford an expensive one right now) -removing rock/mulch walkway by the previous owner and replacing it with grass -straightening up the garage -replacing broken window in garage -pissing in every corner to remind the house that it is now my house and I do what I want.
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Jun 20, 2017 18:49
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The Dave posted:We lucked out. We had a home warranty and the house had a 25 year old sub zero fridge in the kitchen. Thing completely dies a month into owning the house. They agree to cover a partial amount and my wife goes off on them on the phone and ends up with a check for $5k. There's an ancient refrigerator in our basement and we're still in the first year of our home warranty. I wonder if I could get a new fridge out of this.
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Jun 20, 2017 18:59
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Ah only the 1st time new homeowner could possibly want more instead of less grass.
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Jun 20, 2017 19:00
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GameCube posted:There's an ancient refrigerator in our basement and we're still in the first year of our home warranty. I wonder if I could get a new fridge out of this. It (should) work only if they can't service it. I forgot we also got a free mini fridge out of it.
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Jun 20, 2017 19:12
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Pryor on Fire posted:Ah only the 1st time new homeowner could possibly want more instead of less grass. Counterpoint: "mulch/stone walkway" sounds like a weedy pain in the rear end to maintain.
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Jun 20, 2017 19:18
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Only if you don't lay down some weed control sheeting before laying the mulch/stone
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Jun 20, 2017 19:28
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I think we all know the chances that the previous owner did that.
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Jun 20, 2017 19:30
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Exactly. We just got done un-landscaping a big planter in the front of our house that was nothing but a massive weed pit. Rolled out some sod, a hundred times easier to maintain.
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Jun 20, 2017 20:01
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Cannon_Fodder posted:I've read the entire thread in the last few weeks. My timing has been excellent. I am closing on my first home tomorrow and I'm ~absolutely horrified~ but very excited. Hey I'm closing on my first house tomorrow too! Not much on the need to do list but I already have a quickly growing want to do list. I'm looking forward to setting up a rad automation system.
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Jun 20, 2017 20:11
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LeafHouse posted:Hey I'm closing on my first house tomorrow too!    Prepare your butte. We're in for a rough ride. This 1924 home is going to either free me from rent or bury me in projects. Thankfully for the last 3 years I've been acquiring power tools on the cheap, so bring it on, motherfucker.
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Jun 20, 2017 21:21
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Cannon_Fodder posted:Thankfully for the last 3 years I've been acquiring power tools on the cheap, so bring it on, motherfucker. This pretty much guarantees that the first thing you will need to do will be under several inches of concrete.
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Jun 20, 2017 22:28
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H110Hawk posted:Excellent. I have a feeling this is all going to work out but right now I'm frustrated. I got a sump pump with my original builder's warranty but I'd guess a third-party warranty is a different ball of wax.
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Jun 21, 2017 04:00
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Re: Home warranty The previous owners installed a drainage system/sump pump with backup in the basement a few years ago. I looked over the warranty contract for the company and it seems like there's a bunch of provision and ways for them to skirt actually repairing or replacing things that would probably be covered (like, they say they will replace a fridge with something of a similar effectiveness but without considering whether it will fit the dimensions and without covering the costs of bringing it to the house and installing it. Things like that). Then a solicitor came and said the company (ABC) was recently purchased by another company (IGS) and had a different payscale but this is mentioned no where on the website. The whole thing is giving off a bad vibe and I think I'll put the money towards savings/investments instead. Thanks for the advice. In other news, I decided to finally make a sump well cover that fit the pipes and hoses it deals with and while doing the fitting I touched a wire going to the emergency sump pump system. The touch set off an ear-piercing alarm that did not respond to the "Audible Alarm On/Off" switch and reported that the battery, which had been untouched since I moved it, was suddenly dead and needed replacing. I tried a bunch of things but at the end of the day I wound up buying a new battery and the alarm shut off, so I don't know how long the system was getting a bad read from the battery or why it decided to check itself right as my head was inches from the alarm. This event also included me grousing about the dying over-head florescent lights, having my wife hold a flashlight while I poured acid into the new battery, then seeing the package of replacement lights that the previous owner had left not two feet from the light fixture. LawfulWaffle fucked around with this message at 15:21 on Jun 21, 2017 |
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Jun 21, 2017 15:15
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I have a question about hiring contractors for total room remodeling. Specifically, for a bathroom. When approach contractors to start getting estimates, should you already have an idea about what colors or fixtures you want, or is that part of the discussion? This may seem like a stupid question but I'm so used to doing stuff DIY. My bathroom is looking like there's enough work to be done that it's worth just gutting it and starting over. I could do it myself with enough time...but we just had a baby three weeks ago and this is a one bath house.
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Jun 21, 2017 15:24
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You don't have to have all of that nailed down yet. You should have an idea of where you want things to be and any wild ideas you might have that aren't currently implemented so the contractor can tell you if it's possible or not.
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Jun 21, 2017 15:32
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LawfulWaffle posted:while I poured acid into the new battery You aren't using sealed batteries? 
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Jun 21, 2017 15:34
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H110Hawk posted:You aren't using sealed batteries? It's pretty common for those size batteries to be unsealed, like many lawn/garden batteries. They are essentially in suspended animation until you wet the cells, so you can keep them in stock/storage basically forever.
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Jun 21, 2017 16:08
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For some reason, (probably shipping) none of the big box kits have the acid in the battery. It comes as an acid kit and an empty battery. Thanks Obama. Damnit beaten like a red headed child.
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Jun 21, 2017 16:09
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