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Weee about to join the home buyers club - we are just waiting for closing to be announced. Only stuff we really want to do outright is paint two rooms, but it's a 1940s plaster walled house. Do you sand everything then prime, or do you prime first? I keep reading conflicting things, and there is a potential for lead deep down in the walls because it's so old.
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Aug 24, 2017 14:50
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A friend just bought a house after inspections and what have you. She'd only been living in it for a few days when a serious chunk of ceiling fell down to reveal considerable water damage. Would it be a good idea for her to consult a lawyer on what her options are?
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Aug 24, 2017 14:52
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Anya posted:Weee about to join the home buyers club - we are just waiting for closing to be announced. Only stuff we really want to do outright is paint two rooms, but it's a 1940s plaster walled house. Do you sand everything then prime, or do you prime first? I keep reading conflicting things, and there is a potential for lead deep down in the walls because it's so old. What is the quality of the paint on the wall? We have just been tacking on another layer when it is in good condition. Dust it off and go for it. I would answer the lead question regardless, a multipack of test sticks is cheap and it takes an hour to do. The sticks work until you find lead, we only found it in one room of our 1947 house.
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Aug 24, 2017 15:17
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Dazerbeams posted:A friend just bought a house after inspections and what have you. She'd only been living in it for a few days when a serious chunk of ceiling fell down to reveal considerable water damage. Would it be a good idea for her to consult a lawyer on what her options are? Well considering the inspector didn't find it it would be hard to prove the previous owners were aware of it and didn't disclose, assuming they didn't disclose or mark don't know. You won't get anything out of suing the inspector from both the protection in their agreement and the fact most are broke chumps. That said lawyer up they need to eat too.
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Aug 24, 2017 15:28
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Insurance policy should cover that, no? Sucks to make a claim and have to 1) pay the deductible and 2) deal with this right at move-in, but hopefully she's not on the hook for the full cost of the repairs.
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Aug 24, 2017 15:34
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We had a situation where not long after we bought our house a ceiling was leaking and I'm certain the previous owners knew this pipe was leaking and just put up new drywall to sell the house. We decided the cheapest route considering money and time was just paying out of pocket to get the repair done.
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Aug 24, 2017 15:47
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On our previous house, we got lucky with the furnace going out in the middle of winter (house wasn't occupied for a couple of months) a few days before our inspection, which caused the pipes to freeze. Did about $15k worth of damage, which meant we got half of the basement re-drywalled and carpeted for free along with brand new hardwood flooring throughout the upstairs.
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Aug 24, 2017 15:51
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Irritated Goat posted:I moved into my house about 2 weeks ago. Tropical storm incoming I remember your plight from before. Let me settle you mind by letting you know that flooding frequency and terms like "1,000 year storm" mean very little since our accurate rainfall records are only about 70 years old so terms like "100 year storm" are a bit of a statistical joke. You could have another 1,000 year flood tomorrow! Sleep easy, and do never buy in a flood plain!
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Aug 24, 2017 16:00
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Irritated Goat posted:I moved into my house about 2 weeks ago. Tropical storm incoming I think you mean hurricane... (sorry about that) 
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Aug 24, 2017 16:41
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LogisticEarth posted:I remember your plight from before. Let me settle you mind by letting you know that flooding frequency and terms like "1,000 year storm" mean very little since our accurate rainfall records are only about 70 years old so terms like "100 year storm" are a bit of a statistical joke. You could have another 1,000 year flood tomorrow! Sleep easy, and do never buy in a flood plain! My entire state is a flood plain basically  Andy Dufresne posted:I think you mean hurricane... (sorry about that) Yeah... That too. "Good news" is NOAA says it'll go rampage Texas instead but I'm still worried.
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Aug 24, 2017 17:28
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H110Hawk posted:What is the quality of the paint on the wall? We have just been tacking on another layer when it is in good condition. Dust it off and go for it. I would answer the lead question regardless, a multipack of test sticks is cheap and it takes an hour to do. The sticks work until you find lead, we only found it in one room of our 1947 house. Quality seems pretty good, it's been a couple weeks since I've been in the house, they are still moving out. They did a test either this year or during their last pregnancy and found some lead, and gave us the heads up. They had a contractor in doing work and felt it was good to check. I'm actually buying from friends who took excellent care of this place, but they repainted these two rooms and I hate the color - liked the original from a couple years ago.
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Aug 24, 2017 18:12
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LogisticEarth posted:I remember your plight from before. Let me settle you mind by letting you know that flooding frequency and terms like "1,000 year storm" mean very little since our accurate rainfall records are only about 70 years old so terms like "100 year storm" are a bit of a statistical joke. You could have another 1,000 year flood tomorrow! Sleep easy, and do never buy in a flood plain! And don't forget the industrial revolution happened since then! Anya posted:Quality seems pretty good, it's been a couple weeks since I've been in the house, they are still moving out. They did a test either this year or during their last pregnancy and found some lead, and gave us the heads up. They had a contractor in doing work and felt it was good to check. I'm actually buying from friends who took excellent care of this place, but they repainted these two rooms and I hate the color - liked the original from a couple years ago. Then for gods sake don't sand. We let paint have lead in it until the 80's. 
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Aug 24, 2017 18:13
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Irritated Goat posted:My entire state is a flood plain basically Good luck, bud. I need to re-roof a small flat roof. Is this something I could tackle myself? Does anyone have any experience with this? I can walk out to that roof from my second story through a standard door. It sits above a small bathroom. Additionally, some nosy dicks from our insurance company walked into our (fenced) backyard and are now demanding that we add a railing to a door that we don't use and to raise some cement steps that they say are "sinking". How long before ignoring them has consequences? We're loving broke right now.
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Aug 24, 2017 18:44
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Cannon_Fodder posted:I need to re-roof a small flat roof. Is this something I could tackle myself? Does anyone have any experience with this? I can walk out to that roof from my second story through a standard door. It sits above a small bathroom. How flat is it? Shingles are pretty easy, but they only work on roofs that have at least a minimum slope of (IIRC) 3:12, maybe more like 4:12. For shallower roofs you get roll-out roofing material that has to be sealed at the edges. I've never done that myself; it might be doable, it might not. Really depends on if you have to use hot tar to seal the edges, which requires special tools that might not be readily rentable. My advice would be to search YouTube and see what the procedure looks like; there's got to be someone demonstrating how to do the job. Check multiple videos since approaches tend to vary, and decide if that looks like something you could do yourself. Ignoring your insurance company will make your premiums go up, presumably. I have no idea how responsive they expect you to be, but you're likely to get better results by working with them and making it clear you want to do the right thing, you're just constrained by cash flow. Most companies I've worked with love to hear from customers that aren't treating them like some kind of adversarial menace; a little politeness goes a long way.
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Aug 24, 2017 18:54
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:How flat is it? Shingles are pretty easy, but they only work on roofs that have at least a minimum slope of (IIRC) 3:12, maybe more like 4:12. For shallower roofs you get roll-out roofing material that has to be sealed at the edges. I've never done that myself; it might be doable, it might not. Really depends on if you have to use hot tar to seal the edges, which requires special tools that might not be readily rentable. Excellent advice. I'll give'm a ring and at least see what their expectations are. Thanks!
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Aug 24, 2017 18:59
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That's what I figured. Just coat with primer and color. Thanks!
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Aug 24, 2017 22:12
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It sounds like home warranty is refusing to cover damages as it was due to poor workmanship during a bathroom remodel. I have a feeling home insurance is going to be singing a similar tune. Do never buy!
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Aug 24, 2017 23:40
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Dazerbeams posted:It sounds like home warranty is refusing to cover damages as it was due to poor workmanship during a bathroom remodel. I have a feeling home insurance is going to be singing a similar tune. Do never buy! Insurance of any type should only be used if you will go scorched earth lawsuit on them if they gently caress up.
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Aug 24, 2017 23:47
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Anya posted:That's what I figured. Just coat with primer and color. Thanks! Wash with TSP or TSP substitute first, it both removes grease and dirt and opens up pores in the old paint so the new stuff sticks properly. Wear gloves. If you have time get some filler putty and a scraper and go around scraping open and filing in any cracks. http://www.waterputty.com/ has worked well for me
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Aug 25, 2017 03:47
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Dazerbeams posted:It sounds like home warranty is refusing to cover damages as it was due to poor workmanship during a bathroom remodel. I have a feeling home insurance is going to be singing a similar tune. Do never buy! On this topic, are home warranties basically useless? I know chances are you won't use it, the work they do usually is the cheapest, and it seems like major problems are covered by homeowner's insurance.
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Aug 25, 2017 22:26
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howdoesishotweb posted:On this topic, are home warranties basically useless? I know chances are you won't use it, the work they do usually is the cheapest, and it seems like major problems are covered by homeowner's insurance. Many home warranties will choose who does the work, meaning it will be the lowest bidder doing the minimum possible. I'll leave it to you to interpret.
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Aug 26, 2017 00:35
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My new home, which I'll move into a week from today, was previously owned by folks with several pets that shed heavily. They cleaned some surfaces before they left (and I've cleaned much, much more) and the visible clumps of hair are now gone, but I think there's still a fair amount around and probably in the air ducts. I'm not terribly allergic to dog and cat fur, but it's enough of an irritant that I really want to get rid of that poo poo before or shortly after I move in, so I'm thinking of hiring some folks to address it. My plan is to change my filters, hire an air duct cleaning service (I got an ad from Sears charging $185 for 10 vents and $20 for each additional vent; it's a small home and I think it has 14 vents), and then finish by hiring a cleaning service. It looks like that Sears deal is on the low-end of what duct cleaning typically costs. Do the locally-owned subsidiaries of Sears have a positive/negative reputation, or is a total crapshoot depending on your area? Also, for a 1,000 sq. ft. home with no furniture, what kind of ballpark should I expect to pay for a decent cleaning service?
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Aug 26, 2017 18:53
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surf rock posted:Also, for a 1,000 sq. ft. home with no furniture, what kind of ballpark should I expect to pay for a decent cleaning service? We paid like 200 for our future housekeeper to do a top to bottom clean. We now pay her 65/every other week. 1250 sqft 3 bdrm 2bath single floor. We paid 100 for a 3 floor condo in Pasadena.
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Aug 26, 2017 19:26
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If it's an oil furnace call the people you buy oil from. They will probably try to set you up on a service contract but that isn't required. They have an interest in doing a good job so you don't switch to another provider. I think it is a good thing to do when you first move in because who knows when it was done last.
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Aug 26, 2017 20:49
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OK so it's 105 degrees out today. Recently I noticed this weird dark patch, was that always there? We refinished the floors when we moved in 7 and a half years ago, and there were places where we sanded down through water damage/staining, like a spot in the LR where someone had let a fish tank sit and stain the wood. But... I really don't remember there having been a stain here...  20170827_155308Would you like to go on a voyage of terrible discovery with me? https://flic.kr/s/aHsm35uupR Forecast is for 107 tomorrow. I'm pretty sure what's wrong is a clogged drain line, but the damage is enough that we are thinking our long-overdue total A/C and furnace replacement is gonna have to happen now. This unit was likely installed in the early 1980s so it's well beyond its expected lifetime. But I have pets including frogs and lizards that do not tolerate temps above mid-80s. A couple days of 90+ in the house would likely kill them. gently caress. Also this is gonna cost like $8k. gently caress.
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Aug 28, 2017 00:16
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Leperflesh posted:OK so it's 105 degrees out today. There's nothing else in your HVAC that would be dripping water other then the drain line. Step 1 would be to go to the end of the drain line with a shop-vac, and see if you can clean it out. Whatever the green pipe is in the middle left of this picture also looks terrifying:  Another leak there?
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Aug 28, 2017 00:51
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The most likely thing here is actually that the pan under the coils inside the plenum is rusted through and dumping water straight through the furnace and all over everything. I'm gonna slice open my drain line and blast it out with compressed air, but I do not get the impression from wiggling it that it's full of water that can't get out. If the pan is busted it has to be replaced, and if the damage to the furnace is bad enough it has to be replace too, and at that point we might as well replace the whole shebang at once. The pipe in the background is the drain from the master bedroom shower, which is indeed a shitshow of previous owner hackery. I'm aware it's slightly leaking around the edge of that drain pipe - there's just a rubber sleeve hoseclamped on to achieve a seal with the shower pan - but the shower is rarely used and secondary and the entire bathroom is not long for this world, we are gonna tear it out and remodel in the next couple years.
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Aug 28, 2017 01:00
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I'm all for replacing it if it needs replacing, but this is totally a fixable problem without replacing it. If the pan is in fact rotted out (I doubt it) you can throw a piece of sheet metal over it and caulk it down - this will last for several years on it's own (but if the system is that far gone count on other poo poo happening). Just putting out an idea if you really don't have the chunk of cash to replace it right now. But you really should as soon as you can, not only because it needs it but even if it were in "prefect" condition since it's an early 80s piece of inefficient poo poo in a place that has 105 degree temps......that makes it pay for itself before long (seriously.....we're talking $100+ a month or more depending on just how hosed up this thing is).
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Aug 28, 2017 01:24
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Motronic posted:I'm all for replacing it if it needs replacing, but this is totally a fixable problem without replacing it. Heh, we just replaced our 80's era AC. The old one still worked fine, but the install was really janky (let's not cut the lineset to length, just kinda spread the excess out in the attic). But, we got a $4k rebate (paid for attic insulation), and a 0% loan from the state!
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Aug 28, 2017 01:28
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Yeah this is what the house budget account is for. We can pay for a new one, and yes the old one is inefficient and poo poo. Probably need all the ducts in the attic space replaced too, I think they're shittily installed, not very airtight, and very badly insulated. They were blowing cold/hot enough 8 years ago to pass FHA inspection, but PGE bitches me out regularly for being well above average on energy consumption. It's only 1188 square feet ranch in california, so there's nothing remotely complicated about the install. Last time I had my regular furnace+A/C guy out, we chatted about replacement cost, and he said he could recommend an HVAC outfit that would likely bid around $8k for the job. My stepdad is a pipefitter and he said I should also get a quote from the union hall, I guess they like to pick up small jobs like this to fill in between the big contracts, and it'd be good to get more experienced union labor to do it if the quote is reasonable. If I can keep this thing going for $200 annually in repair bills, and I'm overspending on energy bills by another $500 annually, it's still 10+ years before the replacement pays for itself. And that's overestimating how badly we're wasting energy and repair bills, too, it's really been more like $150 every 2 years for something. Anyway that math is why I haven't replaced it yet, but if we're in a situation now where water's been pouring through the heater and loving everything up, and also pulling it out lets us repair water damage to the floor, and a good excuse for having the ducting redone... then yeah I'll go for it. For today though it's off to home depot for a PVC coupling and some of the blue stuff, I'm gonna chop open the drain line and blow it out with compressed air.
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Aug 28, 2017 01:39
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Leperflesh posted:OK so it's 105 degrees out today. If you do wind up replacing it soon, for pets (and yourselves since I have trouble sleeping in >90 degree rooms and you probably do, too) single-room AC units are pretty inexpensive and can do a good job of keeping just 1 room cool until your new A/C unit is installed.
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Aug 28, 2017 02:28
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yeah we used to have one at our old place. I've got geckos and frogs in the "frog room" and in an emergency I could buy a unit for that room. The cats would survive otherwise, probably. Anyway I hacked open the drain pipe (every owner needs to own a sawzall, yo) and blew air down it to little effect. But! Blew air up into the plenum and was rewarded with gobs of orange guck followed by a nice piss of water. Did that a couple more times and I believe I drained the plenum... which makes me think it's not a hole in the pan, just clogged drain causing the pan to overflow. One poorly-installed straight coupling later, and when the blue pvc glue dries I can crank it back on and see how things go. If everything dries over the next couple days than I'm good... until I need the heater to work, so I'll get my guy to come out and inspect anyway. A replacement is still likely in the cards, but if this holds, the replacement can be scheduled more reasonably. e. Oh yeah also, found a "filter log" sheet someone stuck to the side of the furnace. First entry: filter replaced April 1978. This fucker's even older than I thought! Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Aug 28, 2017 |
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Aug 28, 2017 03:57
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Leperflesh posted:Blew air up into the plenum and was rewarded with gobs of orange guck followed by a nice piss of water. Did that a couple more times and I believe I drained the plenum... which makes me think it's not a hole in the pan, just clogged drain causing the pan to overflow. That's going to clog again - very quickly. Order these now: https://www.amazon.com/Rectorseal-68115-Hydrex-Tabs-200-Tablet/dp/B008A3UCYS It will eliminate the problem entirely.
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Aug 28, 2017 16:28
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I have a couple questions about furnace filters. I have two large AC units, and each unit has two filters, so I have two 20x20x1 and two 20x25x1 filters in my ceiling upstairs. I have no pets and no smokers and a pretty clean house. I change all four filters every 3 months, and maybe every 2 months in the summer since the units run much more often. 1. I currently use Naturalaire Merv 8 filters, https://www.rememberthefilter.com/products/naturalaire-merv-8-filters-12-pack?variant=36429209548. I picked them because they seem like a good quality but not too high MERV filter that has a wire mesh on the back - the wire mesh makes a big difference in preventing my filter from getting sucked halfway up the input vent because of the air moving through it. Is this a good filter? Should I be using something else? 2. I change the filters but they never look that dirty. They get a very fine gray dust on them, so when you hold them up to the light you can tell a difference, but they never look dark and dirty. Am I changing them more often than I need to? 3. How much efficiency does a dirty filter actually cause the A/C to lose? I looked at about 20 websites to find this info but I can't - is it like a very small (5%) increase in energy that I will see if a filter is a little dirty, or will it be like a 50% loss in cooling if the filter is pretty dirty?
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Aug 29, 2017 19:12
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Droo posted:1. I currently use Naturalaire Merv 8 filters, https://www.rememberthefilter.com/products/naturalaire-merv-8-filters-12-pack?variant=36429209548. I picked them because they seem like a good quality but not too high MERV filter that has a wire mesh on the back - the wire mesh makes a big difference in preventing my filter from getting sucked halfway up the input vent because of the air moving through it. Is this a good filter? Should I be using something else? quote:2. I change the filters but they never look that dirty. They get a very fine gray dust on them, so when you hold them up to the light you can tell a difference, but they never look dark and dirty. Am I changing them more often than I need to? quote:3. How much efficiency does a dirty filter actually cause the A/C to lose? I looked at about 20 websites to find this info but I can't - is it like a very small (5%) increase in energy that I will see if a filter is a little dirty, or will it be like a 50% loss in cooling if the filter is pretty dirty? You might find these tests of airflow resistances of different filters interesting. Most older systems taking 1" filters start seeing air flow drop off noticeably above 0.20" of pressure drop, but that is a very broad statement and every system is different.
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Aug 30, 2017 02:38
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Alereon posted:Those are about the worst filters you can get, they're not electrostatic which I honestly wasn't aware was sold in MERV levels that high. Look into Nordic Pure, they offer good quality electrostatic filters at good prices that also have the metal mesh reinforcement and strong cardboard frames. The Tru-Mini filters have twice as much surface area so will last longer with lower impact to airflow. Thanks for all the info. Do you think the MERV 8 filters (https://nordicpure.com/filter-size/1-ac-furnace-air-filter/20x20x1/20x20x1m8-6.html) are the best ones to get, or would you recommend a higher MERV rating? For a 5 ton A/C unit, I have two 25x20 for a total of just about 1000 square inches of filter. I think I looked that up once and it was a good size for the unit. I probably will get the regular pleat and not the mini - they are over twice as much and it looks like they don't have the wire backing.
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Aug 30, 2017 05:06
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Droo posted:Thanks for all the info. Do you think the MERV 8 filters (https://nordicpure.com/filter-size/1-ac-furnace-air-filter/20x20x1/20x20x1m8-6.html) are the best ones to get, or would you recommend a higher MERV rating? For a 5 ton A/C unit, I have two 25x20 for a total of just about 1000 square inches of filter. I think I looked that up once and it was a good size for the unit.
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Aug 30, 2017 13:33
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Droo posted:I probably will get the regular pleat and not the mini - they are over twice as much and it looks like they don't have the wire backing. I use the Nordicpure tru mini and they are great. They flex when full (and are much louder) but they have never felt the slightest like they are coming apart. They are actually still resistant to being bent up to fit in my bin.
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Aug 30, 2017 14:42
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H110Hawk posted:They are actually still resistant to being bent up to fit in my bin. Yeah, what is the trick there? Drives me nuts.
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Aug 30, 2017 16:07
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Subjunctive posted:Yeah, what is the trick there? Drives me nuts. My foot.
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Aug 30, 2017 16:15
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