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Leperflesh posted:Toilets don't cost $800 My FIL is a plumber and I asked him to put two top of the line toilets in the house and holy poo poo these are the nicest loving toilets I've ever even seen in my life I could eat out of them and they were both like $250.
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Dec 12, 2017 01:07
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I was thinking about what a plumber would charge, both labor and the cost of the toilet itself. Are toilets easier to install than I think they are? Hmm, maybe I'm just used to assuming everything about home repair is expensive and complicated.
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Dec 12, 2017 01:26
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I think they're easy as long as what you find when you remove the old one isn't a hell cavity filled with mismatched wood screws and chewing gum
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Dec 12, 2017 01:30
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The hardest part about replacing a toilet yourself is figuring out what to do with the old one. You can often get tax rebates or straight up cash back if you're replacing a really old one.
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Dec 12, 2017 01:50
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Vinny the Shark posted:I was thinking about what a plumber would charge, both labor and the cost of the toilet itself. Are toilets easier to install than I think they are? Hmm, maybe I'm just used to assuming everything about home repair is expensive and complicated. Not that I haven't hosed it up. The horizontal planar water spray when I didn't fasten the pressurized tank to the base well enough was pretty sweet.
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Dec 12, 2017 02:01
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Economic Sinkhole posted:The hardest part about replacing a toilet yourself is figuring out what to do with the old one. You can often get tax rebates or straight up cash back if you're replacing a really old one. And cleaning the flange off while *not* thinking about what you're cleaning.
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Dec 12, 2017 02:30
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devicenull posted:And cleaning the flange off while *not* thinking about what you're cleaning. Easymode. I've had to dig up my own septic when I had the lateral from the house to the box clog. The only thing worse than that is digging up someone else's septic. Bonus, my (at the time 12 year old) daughter learned how to operate a mini backhoe (she backfilled the entire thing herself).
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Dec 12, 2017 02:39
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devicenull posted:And cleaning the flange off while *not* thinking about what you're cleaning. Absolutely this  Vinny the Shark posted:It was dirty, not unusable. It worked and still works just fine. Besides, after the down payment I was in no mood to spend any money on a $800 or so toilet replacement. I also have to wonder how long it would take for the money I save on water to make up for the replacement fee. Those elongated toilets are larger and my bathroom is rather small, anyway. After a ton of looking around, this chair height American Standard Champion is what I bought to replace both the toilets in my house. It's absolutely great, and under 200$, less on a Home Depot holiday sale. Plus, an elongated bowl barely uses any more depth than a round bowl. My downstairs half bath is a literal water closet which was barely big enough for a children's size toilet opposite a pedestal sink, but when I remodeled it I removed the pedestal sink which was 17" deep, and installed this 10" deep sink from Ikea, which made an unbelievable difference in total space and usability. I then added the elongated American standard champion toilet, and it literally only added 1-2" in depth over a child sized round bowl toilet. I can't fathom any reason for round bowl toilets in 2017, unless you're on an airplane or submarine. In both houses I've lived in and swapped out toilets, my water bill has gone down around ~10-20$ a month. These toilets pay for themselves within a year, which is incredible. It's the easiest thing to do, just turn the water off, unscrew the supply line, unbolt the toilet from the floor, scrape off the old wax ring, plop down a new one, and bolt the new toilet in. Easy peasy.
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Dec 12, 2017 03:06
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I’ve always wanted a good toilet and now I have a house but didn’t know how much toilets cost or how to do it. This was fortuitous.
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Dec 12, 2017 12:20
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Edit: Didn't realize there was probably a better thread for this in DIY.
Neon Belly fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Dec 12, 2017 |
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Dec 12, 2017 21:03
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The weirdest part of replacing my toilet was stumbling upon some plumbing forum where people were adamant that anything less than a $600 toilet would not be able to handle your elephant-like bowel movements.
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Dec 13, 2017 00:05
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BeastOfExmoor posted:The weirdest part of replacing my toilet was stumbling upon some plumbing forum where people were adamant that anything less than a $600 toilet would not be able to handle your elephant-like bowel movements. I mean if it's not got at least half a horsepower of flushing power why bother? https://www.plumbingsupply.com/maceratingtoilets.html
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Dec 13, 2017 01:06
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My next toilet will be diesel poweredH110Hawk posted:I mean if it's not got at least half a horsepower of flushing power why bother? https://www.plumbingsupply.com/maceratingtoilets.html code:
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Dec 13, 2017 01:17
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Shopping for a toilet? Get yourself a Ferguson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL2YRDzpTL4
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Dec 14, 2017 03:17
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Had someone come in to take a look at the fireplace to make sure some repointing was done OK and it was good to use and was left with an $850 quote for cleaning creosote build-up, installing a new damper cause the current one doesn't seal, and replacing the chimney cone. 
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Dec 15, 2017 15:43
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I know nothing about fireplaces but that sounds like when a mechanic tries to take someone for a ride after bringing in a car for new wiper blades...
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Dec 15, 2017 15:48
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Yeah for some reason chimneys are like scammer magnets. It is super common to have someone come in to clean one and them tell you that you need to spend like 2k on a liner or whatever.
therobit fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Dec 15, 2017 |
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Dec 15, 2017 16:12
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therobit posted:Yeah for some reason chimneys are kike scammer magnets. It is super common to have someone come in to clean one and them tell you that you need to spend like 2k on a liner or whatever. Uh... Anyway, if nothing else he did say a liner wasn't necessary. The creosote was visible (it's like sparkly ash) so I guess that's a thing, and the damper did have a pretty big gap around it since it's from like 1900. So I'm hoping at least that this stuff is legit even if I was not expecting to be looking at an almost-$1,000 bill. (Homeownership!)
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Dec 15, 2017 16:20
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z0331 posted:Uh... Get another quote, but also get your chimney cleaned. The creosote will catch fire if the fire in your fireplace is hot enough, and then you have a chimney fire, which can quickly become a house fire, and even if it doesn't, it may involve having your walls ripped open. Get it professionally cleaned every year at a minimum.
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Dec 15, 2017 16:29
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Sorry i am bad at smartphone and k and l are right next to each other.
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Dec 15, 2017 16:41
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Yeah but most people's phones will automatically fix it to "like" which makes it suspect as to why your phone wouldn't do that.
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Dec 16, 2017 05:09
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Yeah but most people's phones will automatically fix it to "like" which makes it suspect as to why your phone wouldn't do that. I turn off autocorrect because it's loving horrible and I'm amazed everyone else doesn't.
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Dec 16, 2017 05:30
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Leperflesh posted:I turn off autocorrect because it's loving horrible and I'm amazed everyone else doesn't. Well I can think of one really loving good reason at the moment.
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Dec 16, 2017 07:52
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Yeah but most people's phones will automatically fix it to "like" which makes it suspect as to why your phone wouldn't do that. Yeah i am not sure. I literally just started using the swipe keyboard today after another goon said it would help with typos. I just got a decent phone for the first time. I am way behind the times. I don't think I have ever intentionally typed that word but I have fat fingered it a few times.
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Dec 16, 2017 09:15
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Leperflesh posted:I turn off autocorrect because it's loving horrible and I'm amazed everyone else doesn't. lol sure thing grandpa
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Dec 16, 2017 11:35
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therobit posted:Yeah for some reason chimneys are like scammer magnets. It is super common to have someone come in to clean one and them tell you that you need to spend like 2k on a liner or whatever. Yeah, we had someone out to clean ours and it turned into a $1500 quote for refractory parcoating the inside and mechanical cleaning of the flue.
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Dec 17, 2017 19:16
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So I just paid off one of my student loans that I've been throwing tons of money at, and I only have ~$3k in student loans left which I should have paid off by spring, and I've been thinking more and more lately about purchasing a home. I know there are lots of first time home buyer programs out there, but I don't really even know where to begin. Or how to begin. Would I need to go to my bank and have them look at all my finances and have them tell me what I can afford and what programs are right for me? Would I talk to a realtor? I've tried reading about some of the programs, but it seems like a lot of them are based on the county you live in. Would I have to try going to a bank in the next county over if I want to buy a house there? I have a rough idea of what we can afford, so should I start looking for houses first, and then banks/programs, or the other way around?
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Dec 18, 2017 01:49
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BAE OF PIGS posted:So I just paid off one of my student loans that I've been throwing tons of money at, and I only have ~$3k in student loans left which I should have paid off by spring, and I've been thinking more and more lately about purchasing a home. I know there are lots of first time home buyer programs out there, but I don't really even know where to begin. Or how to begin. Would I need to go to my bank and have them look at all my finances and have them tell me what I can afford and what programs are right for me? Would I talk to a realtor? I've tried reading about some of the programs, but it seems like a lot of them are based on the county you live in. Would I have to try going to a bank in the next county over if I want to buy a house there? What is your income, current savings, and price range? Can you afford to drop $10k on a major home repair? Honestly, it sounds like you should just cruise Zillow and go to open houses until you get an idea of what you're looking for. This will also help you zero in on what price range you're comfortable with in your area.
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Dec 18, 2017 02:52
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LogisticEarth posted:What is your income, current savings, and price range? Can you afford to drop $10k on a major home repair? We make about 80k/yr combined. I have about 17k in savings right now and was thinking about 200k range. I'm honestly not really thinking of purchasing for another year, at the very earliest and am in the very early stages of thinking about what to do and what I can afford. We both look at zillow almost daily, but beyond that, I don't know where people usually start. It's mostly the "How will I ever afford a 20% downpayment" that I have trouble with, and why I'm kind of curious about first time home buyer programs.
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Dec 18, 2017 04:37
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I got with a mortgage broker I could trust, and he spent 2 years coaching us and helping me repair my credit at no charge until we were ready to buy.
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Dec 18, 2017 05:03
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porkface posted:I got with a mortgage broker I could trust How did you determine this? I think that can be a tricky part for some people.
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Dec 18, 2017 12:04
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BAE OF PIGS posted:We make about 80k/yr combined. I have about 17k in savings right now and was thinking about 200k range. I'm honestly not really thinking of purchasing for another year, at the very earliest and am in the very early stages of thinking about what to do and what I can afford. We both look at zillow almost daily, but beyond that, I don't know where people usually start. I'll say that your price range and income, without knowing any other financials, seem reasonable. My wife and I make about $85k combined and bought a house a year ago for about $190k with 20% down. Advice for saving (or getting closer to) 20% down: Estimate how much you would be spending on home ownership all told (mortgage, utilities, maintenance, etc.). If this is higher than your rent (hopefully it is!) The start saving the difference. Live like you're a homeowner and see how much you can tolerate it. For example, my wife and I shared a cheapo 1 bedroom apartment for years, at about $900-950/month after utilities. I figured that a $200k home would cost roughly $1750/month in our area: Mortgage/Taxes/Insurance: $1100 Electric (including AC): $100-125 Water/Sewer: $100 Trash: $25-30 Heating oil (annual cosy average monthly): $200 General Maintenance: $200 So we ended up saving at least $800-1000/month by living "like we were homeowners" even though we lived in a dingy apartment. At the same time we were constantly looking at open houses for years to get a very good idea of what exactly we were looking for, and what a realistic price was. We did this for three years, which got us to roughly 20%. I was also dumping a bunch of overtime and tax refunds into a separate "home maintenance" fund as well so we went in with about $6,000 extra for repairs that came up. Note that going with a smaller down payment isn't the end of the world, you just pay moderately more in the long run. And "renting is throwing money down the drain" is a load of bullshit if you're able to live in a smaller place while saving up. You know how much of that $1700/month actually goes to the mortgage principal? As in, the actual money I'm saving by owning a home? Like $300-400. P&I on a $200k loan will be like $700. So I was actually able to save MORE money when we were renting. The longer we waited, the better position we were in. Now, if you're in one of those nutso markets where rent and home prices are exploding, this doesn't work. But in most "normal" places, this should hold true.
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Dec 18, 2017 15:16
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Subjunctive posted:How did you determine this? I think that can be a tricky part for some people. Be honest about your current status, desires, and timeline and if the broker is pushy or doesn't take the time to respond to your questions find someone else.
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Dec 18, 2017 22:31
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My first real nightmare: Ordered a dishwasher from homedepot.com, it get's delivered and they inform me that in my state an electrician has to install the appliance so they've scheduled one 4 days from then. They put the dishwasher next to the wall in the corner of our dining room, ask me if everything looks good, I sign cause everything looks good. Electrician comes 4 days later to install the dishwasher, checks it out, and says "I can't install this, it's damaged and may leak." The frame is bent on the bottom corner of the dishwasher that the delivery guy put directly against the wall. (Almost as if he was intentionally hiding it  .) Home Depot has a 48 hour return policy, it's been 4 days because they couldn't schedule the electrician to come sooner. We spend 4 hours on the phone with support, they say "Well we'll just send somebody out to repair it, since it's still under warranty." Morning of the repair I get a call from the service company "We can't repair an appliance that isn't installed. It has to be installed for us to repair it." I call around town, no electrician is willing to install an appliance that is damaged. I call around town for repair services, no repair service can honor the warranty if the product isn't installed. The local home depot refuses to do anything because it was an online order.So my option at this point is...install a broken appliance myself so the servicing company will come and take it away.
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Dec 22, 2017 04:28
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Uhh, gently caress that, I'd be on the phone with Home Depot raising a huge poo poo fit. They are replacing that unit
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Dec 22, 2017 05:26
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Sudden Loud Noise posted:Home Depot blues I've kinda sworn off ever using any kind of installation service from a big box stores, they're all various degrees of shady and unskilled. I had a quote to put some carpet in, and had set up an estimate on the phone with their sub contractor. Guy shows up, does the estimate, leaves...then I get a call from the sub telling me he'll be there in ten minutes...  Turns out some other Home Depot subcontractor somehow snagged the visit and misrepresented who he was so he'd get the estimate commission. gently caress that poo poo, I told them to go pound sand and called up a small local company. It will cost more and take longer (since the guy is booked months in advance) but at least I know who I'm dealing with.
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Dec 22, 2017 13:15
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If you bought it with a credit card, have them issue a charge back. AMEX, especially, is good for this sort of thing because they pretty much always side with the consumer.
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Dec 22, 2017 16:09
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Subjunctive posted:How did you determine this? I think that can be a tricky part for some people. Great question. I would interview several potential brokers at different firms, and look for one that isn't pushy, and who pushes back on any promotions their firm sends. They all send marketing offers/mail (brokers don't have much say in that), so find a broker who encourages you to ignore those and wait for the right time for your situation. Not just market conditions, but for you to be ready.
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Dec 22, 2017 19:01
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I'm going to swear off big-box installers as soon as I get my new front door finally installed. I'm amazed at how much they have hosed up my order. I'll save the thread the  post, but we've been working on getting me a drat door since September. The most recent gently caress-up was when I took the day off work, booked my dog out of the house at his doggie daycare, and the installer called me begging to start the job 2 hours earlier than my time slot because they double booked him. Then they showed up with a right-swing door instead of a left-swing. Since it's a custom-order and a holiday week I probably won't see the correct door for at least another month. gently caress Lowe's.
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Dec 22, 2017 21:34
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drat Bananas posted:I'm going to swear off big-box installers as soon as I get my new front door finally installed. I'm amazed at how much they have hosed up my order. I'll save the thread the Who needs installers? Put in the front door yourself! It's actually fairly easy... Just pop off the trim till you get to the rough opening, unscrew, pry and sawzall the old door frame out, position and put the new door in place, tack in a nail or two to hold it while you shim it into final position, then nail and screw er in! Just make sure you get non expanding foam to seal the installation, that way you don't warp the door. Same with the dishwasher... Most home electrical stuff is actually pretty straightforward, no reason you can't do it yourself. I knocked out some cabinets and put in a new dishwasher where there was none, over the course of a weekend, wasn't difficult. Though if it's damaged, I'd be talking to a manager to get that replaced, that's unbelievable.
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Dec 23, 2017 05:01
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