|
Leperflesh posted:Orrr, as a homeowner, you should probably own a pipe wrench anyway, and it'll work albeit not as perfectly but also be a tool you'll be using for other tasks. But yeah that $10 thing is what the water company uses when you stop paying your bills long enough to get your water shut off. If his box is like mine there's not enough room for a pipe wrench and it's so low that you'd have to almost lay on your stomach to use it if you could. You should definitely have a pipe wrench anyway though.
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 19:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 23:50 |
|
|
enraged_camel posted:This looks like it Yeah you need to stick a metal hook into the hole in that plate and pull it up. A normal screwdriver probably isn't going to cut it for a beefy cast iron lid like that. The tool SpartanIvy linked is dual-purpose in that it also fits in that hole to act as that hook. There might be two valves in there, one for you and one for your neighbor. If not, you may have to coordinate with them to have the water turned off for an hour while you change out your spigots.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 20:33
|
|
|
SpartanIvy posted:My hatch has no holes. I have to use a flat head to pry it up from the side. I also needed to dig out the shutoff as it was buried by dirt, leaves, and spiders. However, mine turned freely. They make a special long tool you can get for like $10 at any hardware store to easily turn it. I had a valve like that and the guy from the city I talked to said they were phasing them out and he replaced it with a hand turn knob shutoff. He said I would have been able to turn the old one a couple more times before it just broke off.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2018 21:58
|
|
|
We just got quoted 18k-26k to install central air with a new furnace. Goddamn.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 01:03
|
|
|
Eh, I think I paid $10k for just a furnace replacement a year ago. Probably incurred another $1-2k in labor to have the old oil furnace removed by a GC.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 01:19
|
|
|
potatoducks posted:We just got quoted 18k-26k to install central air with a new furnace. Goddamn. How much work is it? It’s summer and peak pricing is out right now. Also shop around, I needed a new evap coil last year and had quotes between 1400 to 3200 for the same work. I’m guessing/hoping that’s mostly labor.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 01:25
|
|
|
Oh yeah? Maybe it's not a horrible price then. This is for a variable speed furnace as well as a skinny rectangular condenser unit. Will see what the other people say tomorrow. Edit: They have to put a few holes in the wall into the garage and to the outdoors to install the copper piping and put in the requisite drains. No duct work though. The top end also includes filtration/UV light which may or may not be necessary I haven't looked into it yet. potatoducks fucked around with this message at 01:28 on Jul 19, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 01:25
|
|
|
I got a quote for $12k to replace my entire HVAC system from 2001 with a SEER 14 one. This was about a month ago in TX. My house is 1720 sqft, to give your an idea.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 01:34
|
|
|
Ugh not looking forward to replacing the A/C on my 4200 sq. ft. house some day
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 01:49
|
|
|
enraged_camel posted:I got a quote for $12k to replace my entire HVAC system from 2001 with a SEER 14 one. This was about a month ago in TX. My house is 1720 sqft, to give your an idea. Why so high? I priced a replacement for my last house to see if I wanted to replace the 9 year old system with a new one or just replace the coil and get a few more years out of it. 1740 sq ft single story, vertical air handler, 14 seer Trane was 5300 installed. I'm in San Antonio. Seriously guys, the equipment markup in the HVAC market is INSANE. Shop around. The company that advertises constantly on TV wanted over 9K for similar Carrier equipment installed. The local mom and pop been in business 30 years don't need to advertise company came back with the 5300 dollar price.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 02:17
|
|
|
Praying that our ac in this house keeps limping on for a couple more years, 1800 sq ft here.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 02:29
|
|
|
My A/C is going strong and my house is 900 sqft. It needs some ducting replaced though. The original rigid stuff has sprung some leaks from the last time they replaced the main unit I suspect. I'm thinking I can probably solo it myself once fall gets here.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 02:52
|
|
|
skipdogg posted:Why so high? I priced a replacement for my last house to see if I wanted to replace the 9 year old system with a new one or just replace the coil and get a few more years out of it. 1740 sq ft single story, vertical air handler, 14 seer Trane was 5300 installed. I'm in San Antonio. The guy who quoted me $14k is 85 years old and has been doing HVAC for 45 years with his wife. The very definition of “mom and pop”.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 02:53
|
|
|
Well I would get a few more quotes if I were you.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 03:00
|
|
|
Always get three bids. When we replaced ours for 3100 Sq ft of conditioned space, we had quotes from 5500 to 21000. Granted, this is KC, but I would imagine you're getting taken for a ride, especially considering the time of year. If you can limp to September those prices will come down.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 03:26
|
|
|
No Butt Stuff posted:Always get three bids. And, as my Dad told me, add them together to find the final cost.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 03:49
|
|
|
We have a 18k BTU mini split in our living room/dining room combo and use ceiling fans everywhere else. Dont need much even for a scorcher here in New York. Keeps the electricity bill nice and low.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 12:05
|
|
|
I'm patching some broken/chipped/missing parging on my block foundation this weekend. After some research I picked out a mix, got some bonding agent and all the other necessary supplies. Aside from cleaning the surface well prior to application, anything else I should be on the lookout for? I've been studying youtube videos of guys doing this for the past week so I feel at least somewhat confident I can manage this task.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 15:20
|
|
|
FCKGW posted:Ugh not looking forward to replacing the A/C on my 4200 sq. ft. house some day You mean your compound?
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 16:05
|
|
|
QuarkJets posted:You mean your compound? I hate this giant mcmansion and it's $600 electric bills every day but I'm here for the foreseeable future. Don't buy a giant house kids, even if it's the same prices as other, smaller homes.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 16:24
|
|
|
What do you even use 4000 sq ft for? Do you have six kids?
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 16:34
|
|
|
I don't know why anyone needs more than a single pod from the Matrix
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 16:45
|
|
|
HEY NONG MAN posted:What do you even use 4000 sq ft for? Do you have six kids?
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 17:06
|
|
|
4 and yeah, 3200 gets used up quick, especially with a colossally stupid configuration.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 17:38
|
|
|
I'm curious what the layouts are of these houses now. I grew up in a house that was, if I recall correctly, around 2000 sqft, and I had two siblings. I know that noise grows exponentially with the number of kids, but does the fourth really need an extra 1200 sqft?
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 17:44
|
|
|
In my case, it's more a function of poor layout. 2300 sq ft on the ground floor and upstairs, then another 900 sq ft of finished basement, which is half guest area for our families when they visit and half playroom for the kids. The entire upstairs is dedicated to bedrooms, but the idiots who built the place designed a master suite that takes up more room than the other 3 bedrooms combined, easily. Hell, both the bathroom and the closet are larger than any of the other bedrooms. It's stupid, and I hate it and one day I shall move into a sensible ranch house made of brick.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 17:46
|
|
|
My tiny 900 sqft house has an awesome layout which is one of the big reasons I bought it. The living room flows into the dining room and the bedrooms are right off that. Being from the 1950s the closets and kitchen are small but that's just more motivation not to hang onto crap I don't use. Except the entryway coat closet which is loving gigantic some reason.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 17:59
|
|
|
Here's a crappily done layout from the appraisal 5 years ago. My gripe in my house is the ~*~*~open floorplan~*~* is completely incompatible with having 3 kids. We hear everything, everywhere, all the time.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 18:00
|
|
|
HEY NONG MAN posted:What do you even use 4000 sq ft for? Do you have six kids? 2 kids but my wife's mother and brother live with us too. It's 5 bedrooms but also has these open spaces like a "formal dining room", "family room" and "bonus room". The bonus room is just a 6th bedroom where if you paid the builder more money they would put up a wall and and closet doors. We came from an 1100sq. ft. , 3/1 house where my wife was one of 6 kids so we probably overacted but it had the location we liked and it was bank owned so it was about the same price as the other places we were looking at anyways. TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'm curious what the layouts are of these houses now. I grew up in a house that was, if I recall correctly, around 2000 sqft, and I had two siblings. I know that noise grows exponentially with the number of kids, but does the fourth really need an extra 1200 sqft? It's basically just a big, 50' square box with an "open concept". That another thing we've grown to dislike about the house, it's just square all over. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 18:26
|
|
|
No Butt Stuff posted:4 and yeah, 3200 gets used up quick, especially with a colossally stupid configuration.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 18:44
|
|
|
FCKGW posted:2 kids but my wife's mother and brother live with us too. It's 5 bedrooms but also has these open spaces like a "formal dining room", "family room" and "bonus room". The bonus room is just a 6th bedroom where if you paid the builder more money they would put up a wall and and closet doors. drat. That hallway downstairs that goes to the one downstairs bedroom is a complete waste of space, given the BR could just have a door into the family room. And upstairs, most of the central "loft" space is equally wasted, and why two bathrooms for three bedrooms, and the master bath is ridiculously huge. The central location of the stairs makes a lot of that poor layout necessary and probably also ruins a lot of the open concept-ness of the downstairs, since it blocks the sightlines between the family room and the dining room. Having the bathrooms all separated by bedrooms means every bedroom gets to listen to people shower, and all the plumbing is much more expensive than it had to be becuase there's no single "wet wall" shared between bathrooms to centralize water and drainage. I'm sorry about your terrible mcmansion.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 18:52
|
|
|
Thanks for posting those layouts though! It's good practice for me to try to understand why different layouts work or don't work. One of my on-again off-again hobbies is trying to figure out what I'd like my eventual Dream Home to look like.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 19:04
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:drat. That hallway downstairs that goes to the one downstairs bedroom is a complete waste of space, given the BR could just have a door into the family room. And upstairs, most of the central "loft" space is equally wasted, and why two bathrooms for three bedrooms, and the master bath is ridiculously huge. The central location of the stairs makes a lot of that poor layout necessary and probably also ruins a lot of the open concept-ness of the downstairs, since it blocks the sightlines between the family room and the dining room. Having the bathrooms all separated by bedrooms means every bedroom gets to listen to people shower, and all the plumbing is much more expensive than it had to be becuase there's no single "wet wall" shared between bathrooms to centralize water and drainage. Yeah it's typical 2005 housing boom crap. I think in the future I want to turn the loft into a 6th bedroom and move the laundry room upstairs next to the right hand bathroom. This will let us turn the exiting laundry into a walk-in closet and expand the downstairs bedroom out a bit.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 19:10
|
|
|
I'm experiencing severe garage envy here.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 20:06
|
|
|
I don’t have a garage. It’s probably the worst part about my house.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 20:12
|
|
|
Theorize with me goons. Me second bedroom has an outlet between two windows. About 4-5 feet above it is another box for an outlet. There's a romex cable that runs between the two but wasn't hooked up to anything on either end when I moved in. Why would someone do this? My first thought was for mounting a TV but it seems like a lot of work to hide a couple feet of cord. Can anyone think of another reason someone would want power that high up a wall?
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 20:44
|
|
|
FCKGW posted:Yeah it's typical 2005 housing boom crap. I agree that having laundry upstairs is nice, but keep in mind that a washer is a big thing full of water and like all big things full of water it will eventually leak. This is usually more of a problem on the second floor than the ground floor.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 20:45
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:drat. That hallway downstairs that goes to the one downstairs bedroom is a complete waste of space, given the BR could just have a door into the family room. And upstairs, most of the central "loft" space is equally wasted, and why two bathrooms for three bedrooms, and the master bath is ridiculously huge. The central location of the stairs makes a lot of that poor layout necessary and probably also ruins a lot of the open concept-ness of the downstairs, since it blocks the sightlines between the family room and the dining room. Having the bathrooms all separated by bedrooms means every bedroom gets to listen to people shower, and all the plumbing is much more expensive than it had to be becuase there's no single "wet wall" shared between bathrooms to centralize water and drainage. My neighbors (who had the same builder) have pretty much this exact bullshit. It's an open floorplan, but the plumbing stack and stairs are in the middle of everything, so all the bathrooms wind up being clustered around the stairs, with bedrooms off from the center on the upper floor. It's very weird. Our house is nothing like that. Though we had some weird bullshit -- we had a corner wall that only ran about 1/4th the length/width of the dining room for no reason. Knocked that poo poo down.
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 20:48
|
|
|
SpartanIvy posted:Theorize with me goons. Me second bedroom has an outlet between two windows. About 4-5 feet above it is another box for an outlet. There's a romex cable that runs between the two but wasn't hooked up to anything on either end when I moved in. Why would someone do this? My first thought was for mounting a TV but it seems like a lot of work to hide a couple feet of cord. Can anyone think of another reason someone would want power that high up a wall? So you just have an empty box that you could fill with an outlet or whatever, but it's most of the way up the wall? Yeah, I'd guess something wall-mounted that needed power, either a TV or a lamp or whatever. Some people are allergic to visible wires. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 20:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 23:50 |
|
|
SpartanIvy posted:Theorize with me goons. Me second bedroom has an outlet between two windows. About 4-5 feet above it is another box for an outlet. There's a romex cable that runs between the two but wasn't hooked up to anything on either end when I moved in. Why would someone do this? My first thought was for mounting a TV but it seems like a lot of work to hide a couple feet of cord. Can anyone think of another reason someone would want power that high up a wall? I did this in one of my bedrooms. I have a cabinet that sits flush against the wall, and while I could try to run the power cords down to that bottom outlet, A)It'd have to be a strip because I need three outlets (TV, cable box, and one for the amazon fire stick) and B) I'd have to pull the cabinet away from the wall far enough for the power cords to plug in to that outlet, and that includes a wall wart for one of the boxes. Instead I have an outlet now that is above the top level of the cabinet, so I can plug in a little three-way splitter and plug in three things into it. Sorry for the lovely phone pic but here it is:  In my case it was easy to add this outlet by running off the "always on" side of the power coming into that light switch. e. Also I wanted that cabinet to stay flush because it's already making entry into the room be through kind of a narrow spot, the more the cabinet extends into the room the worse that gets. Having it stand like 2+ inches off the wall in order to fit plugs plugged into an outlet down near the bottom would be really ugly, too. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Jul 19, 2018 |
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2018 20:56
|
|