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If anyone was curious from Homeowners Insurance chat a few pages back, the broker I used got me some quotes saving ~$300. Then I called my current agent to inquire about how much my bundled auto policy would change if I dropped my home and she offered to run a new home policy quote instead. Dropped it $529/yr, and downgraded auto to drop it $98/yr. So... I chose that. Why the hell didn't I call and bitch earlier?
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Jul 19, 2018 21:11
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Jose Valasquez posted: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. Most of the houses we looked at with second story laundry rooms have these big basins the machines sit in that drain any leaking water if the worst happens. Probably won't do any good for catastrophic failures though.
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Jul 19, 2018 21:19
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FCKGW posted:Most of the houses we looked at with second story laundry rooms have these big basins the machines sit in that drain any leaking water if the worst happens. Are washer drains allowed to be undersized to the extent that they couldn't drain the water fast enough? That seems crazy. If you had a completely full top load washer that suddenly released all of its water I could see the issue, but beyond that aren't you just leaking water into a drain?
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Jul 19, 2018 22:23
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Sudden Loud Noise posted:Are washer drains allowed to be undersized to the extent that they couldn't drain the water fast enough? That seems crazy. If you had a completely full top load washer that suddenly released all of its water I could see the issue, but beyond that aren't you just leaking water into a drain? Yeah, that was kind of my point. I've never lived in a house with a drain pan but my understanding is they're fine for leaks but if it dumped a full load you're screwed whether you have it or not. 
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Jul 19, 2018 22:38
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Yup that's to catch if a little water is getting past the front door seal or whatever, you might not notice an occasional trickle that accumulated beneath the washer and gradually destroyed the wood. If the washer spontaneously dumps its entire capacity on the floor, you're probably going to notice and immediately clean it up.
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Jul 19, 2018 22:44
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Haven't seen those, the one house I rented that had a second floor laundry just had it in a closet and would have been bad if it had ever leaked while I was there
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Jul 19, 2018 23:02
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I have one of those on my second floor under the tenants washer. One of my old coworkers had his second floor washer leak and it cost 25k in out of pocket repairs.
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Jul 19, 2018 23:11
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Every one I've ever seen in any apartment or house I've had it's been like a 3 inch high basin with a drain in the bottom that goes to a full shower/bath size pipe. Totally see how a smaller one could be worthless.
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Jul 19, 2018 23:26
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I think planning for the door to fall off your washer or whatever is a little extreme. Pretty much all the leaking issues beyond dripping are going to come from a hose popping off and so you really only need to make sure you can drain more than the biggest hose in your washer can. In my experience most of those hoses are 3/4" or smaller, so the 1"+ drain pipes should be more than adequate.
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Jul 19, 2018 23:38
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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. I know we haven't seen any pictures of the exterior or interior but based on the completely bizarre layout I'm 99% certain this house belongs on mcmansionhell (or belonged there after it was first built, at least; a lot of that fake-facade bad-design stuff can be fixed with remodeling) What's the deal with the bedroom/bathroom in the upper left corner of the second floor? Is that really just one huge L-shaped room with a shitter in it? Also loving how the bathrooms don't even stack vertically, they are as far away from each other as possible because I guess the contractor doing the plumbing was good friends with the architect?
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Jul 19, 2018 23:47
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FCKGW posted:Yeah, that was kind of my point. I've never lived in a house with a drain pan but my understanding is they're fine for leaks but if it dumped a full load you're screwed whether you have it or not. I really hate when people put carpet in A) laundry rooms or B) bathrooms I've never seen carpet in a kitchen but I bet some idiot has made that exist, somewhere.
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Jul 19, 2018 23:53
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SpartanIvy posted:I think planning for the door to fall off your washer or whatever is a little extreme. Pretty much all the leaking issues beyond dripping are going to come from a hose popping off and so you really only need to make sure you can drain more than the biggest hose in your washer can. In my experience most of those hoses are 3/4" or smaller, so the 1"+ drain pipes should be more than adequate. Flow through a pressurized hose seems like it might be different than flow through a gravity drain, but I'm no plumber.
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Jul 20, 2018 00:01
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QuarkJets posted:I know we haven't seen any pictures of the exterior or interior but based on the completely bizarre layout I'm 99% certain this house belongs on mcmansionhell (or belonged there after it was first built, at least; a lot of that fake-facade bad-design stuff can be fixed with remodeling) It’s SoCal so it’s just boring beige stucco on the outside. The interior walls I just drew myself on that pic so they don’t really line up correctly. We have pex so most all of the water lines run through the attic anyways. The master bed/bath has walls I forgot to draw. It’s got a shower, separate tub, 2 vanities, a shitter in it’s own room and a walk in closet. Our city is only 8 years old and our city hall is in a strip mall next to a gamestop and a nestle toll house cookie store. 
FCKGW fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Jul 20, 2018 |
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Jul 20, 2018 01:20
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This is a super ugly house
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Jul 20, 2018 01:32
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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 had a box put in each of two rooms for IP cameras that toddlers couldn’t unplug.
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Jul 20, 2018 01:34
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Water heater went out. Which brands are good? Should I just let the plumber pick and install? Purchase myself?
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Jul 20, 2018 01:44
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IT BURNS posted:Water heater went out. Which brands are good? Should I just let the plumber pick and install? Purchase myself? Consumer Reports is my go-to for answering this kind of question. Needs a subscription but that's cheaper than buying a water heater that shits the bed. Your plumber might pick a good one based on their experience of what makes for good water heaters, or they might pick a cheap one and hope you'll call them to repair it when it breaks.
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Jul 20, 2018 01:54
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FCKGW posted:It’s SoCal so it’s just boring beige stucco on the outside. I’m so sorry. Please remember to never stop for hitchhikers between where you live and civilization. I am not far from you but my house was built in ‘97 so it’s not super mcmansion lame as things got in the naughties.
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Jul 20, 2018 04:59
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IT BURNS posted:Water heater went out. Which brands are good? Should I just let the plumber pick and install? Purchase myself? Yo I just finished installing/getting installed a water heater. I have what I feel like is too much experience with it, and what is code for the install. First things first is what does the location you're putting it in look like? -Is it on a slab foundation or pier and beam? -How big of a room/closet for it? -Gas or electric? -Inside or outside? -What kind of TPR drain line do you have setup? -If gas, where does the combustion air come from? -If gas, where does the exhaust vent to, and what kind of vent pipe is installed? (single wall or double wall) -Do you have an electrical outlet accessible nearby? All of these will change what kind of water heater you can get by spending X amount of dollars. I dealt with a handful of plumbers/contractors to get quotes on the final hurdle of the install after I had already picked out which one I wanted and already done most of the work to install it. Most of them were upset that I picked the model I did because it wasn't a basic been-around-forever type. One guy was actively insulting to me about it. If you chose anything but the most simple type of water heater, I would read the manual that comes with it and google code. Every plumber and installer I talked to was garbage, and also wanted to/did charge me way too much for their lovely job. e: Here's the one I went with. High efficiency (although it's debatable if the price premium and increased installation cost is worth it), and 12 year warranty. I went with Rheem because I had a Rheem in one of my old apartments and it's the only water heater I've ever had that I was happy with. So far my new one does not disappoint either. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rheem-P...R60U0/205210739 SpartanIvy fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Jul 20, 2018 |
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Jul 20, 2018 05:11
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I have a CR sub and unfortunately they don’t actually rate water heaters. They only offer a buying guide Get one that has a 12 year warranty and is efficient as possible.
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Jul 20, 2018 05:14
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Get a tankless if you a) need to reclaim some space back and b) have NG
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Jul 20, 2018 05:32
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Get a tankless if you a) need to reclaim some space back and b) have NG And: Can afford the increased upfront unit cost and installation cost. Even if you have natural gas lines already, they may not be big enough to provide enough gas. Additionally, venting and combustion air intake may problematic because of their unique requirements.
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Jul 20, 2018 05:45
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I didn’t know that. I had my NG lines installed at the same time as my tankless after converting from oil.
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Jul 20, 2018 05:54
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God drat it how many places did the previous owner of my house solder copper directly to galvanized steel? I'm hoping it's just the two that have developed leaks this year but I'm sure there are more and they're behind drywall...
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Jul 20, 2018 08:46
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I got the same deal I don't think this guy knew what a dielectric union is.
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Jul 20, 2018 12:30
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Either my house inspector was a total chucklefuck or this summer is just being brutal on my house. I’m getting 45 degree cracks in some door frames and it looks like there is a pretty serious crack coming out of a window frame that was previously super shoddily repaired. The home inspector should’ve caught that, and it now appears that the cracks are opening back up with this heat drying up all the dirt outside.
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Jul 20, 2018 13:36
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Do you live somewhere with expansive soil?
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Jul 20, 2018 16:10
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I just installed a leak detector and electric valves for my second floor washing machine. Peace of mind of a hose pops or the washer leaks while it’s filling.
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Jul 20, 2018 16:16
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skipdogg posted:Do you live somewhere with expansive soil? For sure. I’ve got sprinklers and soaker hoses running every day, it’s just been 110 degrees outside every day and that probably offsets most of what my watering does.
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Jul 20, 2018 16:21
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$12k to extend and enclose carport into garage:
I'm still waiting on my 2nd and third estimates, but what do you all think? It'll be a single-car garage door, with the extension completely open used to store motorcycles, ATV, mower, etc. CloFan fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Jul 20, 2018 |
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Jul 20, 2018 17:15
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I paid $12k just for a 16x24' concrete slab with nothing built on top of it, so that doesn't strike me as inherently unreasonable. What are the specs on the slab (thickness, perimeter, gravel/sand underneath, etc.)?
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Jul 20, 2018 17:24
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Not an expert obviously but that's a lot less than I thought it would cost. You're going to have a really high garage to house ratio.
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Jul 20, 2018 17:34
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potatoducks posted:Not an expert obviously but that's a lot less than I thought it would cost. You're going to have a really high garage to house ratio. One of my neighbors has what must be a 1,000 square foot auto shop style garage attached to his tiny 1960s ranch. A man with priorities.
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Jul 20, 2018 17:38
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Yeah costs depend a lot on where you live, because labor is always a big component and labor rates vary wildly in different locations of the country. Also the concrete is always an expense and the farther you are from where the truck picks up the concrete, the more expensive. That said, $12k would be an impossibly low price where I live (san francisco bay area). I'd be paying that just for the slab. Do the plans involve redoing the roof over the existing carport so you have a single angle from the peak to the new wall?
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Jul 20, 2018 17:48
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I live in Bumfuck, Arkansas so that's why it's so low-- I wasn't even considering the kind of pricing a metro area would be looking at! The roof will be extended out at the same angle to make it blend, so no re-doing it over the carport. Just will result in a slightly lower ceiling in that half of the garage.TooMuchAbstraction posted:I paid $12k just for a 16x24' concrete slab with nothing built on top of it, so that doesn't strike me as inherently unreasonable. What are the specs on the slab (thickness, perimeter, gravel/sand underneath, etc.)? It'll be framed square on the edges and smoothed on top. 6 inches at the thinnest, ~18 inches at the back. Dirt underneath. potatoducks posted:Not an expert obviously but that's a lot less than I thought it would cost. You're going to have a really high garage to house ratio. 
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Jul 20, 2018 18:09
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:I got the same deal I don't think this guy knew what a dielectric union is. They don't have those in my state.
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Jul 20, 2018 18:15
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CloFan posted:I'm still waiting on my 2nd and third estimates, but what do you all think? It'll be a single-car garage door, with the extension completely open used to store motorcycles, ATV, mower, etc.
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Jul 20, 2018 19:18
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 I suppose that makes this is a great deal
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Jul 20, 2018 20:19
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I was bored at work today and spent some time scribbling ideas on the asbuilts for our addition before we start discussion details with the designer. Existing kitchen footprint stays, anything left of that is basically getting gutted. Master bedroom footprint stays the same. Since our HVAC is original to the house we might as well consider a full replacement of that too while we're at it! We've got a long list of things we want to accomplish with this addition, but the key one is the 2nd floor bonus room. Darker lines are 2nd level/stairs. I'm sure the designer/contractor we're going with will have their own ideas, but I wanted to have some thoughts before we gave him carte blanche. There are definitely some detail items we will be doing as part of this, but what things have you found useful like outlet locations, how to set up closets, bathrooms, etc. The sky's the limit, we are in the ideas phase right now. We can easily prioritize what's a "now" vs. a "later," but if the later requires something now like running electrical we might as well consider that as we create the requirements. Already on the list:
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Jul 20, 2018 21:05
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QuarkJets posted:I really hate when people put carpet in A) laundry rooms or B) bathrooms When we were looking for a new house a couple of years ago, one of the houses we looked at had hardwood floors everywhere—except for carpet tiles in the kitchen, and carpet in the bathrooms. We were 100% baffled. We've put an upstairs laundry room in our current house, instead of the machines being all the way down in the basement. It had been a large uncarpeted closet, and changing it to a laundry room has been an amazing decision. While yes, I still worry about what might happen if we suddenly get a catastrophic leak failure, having the laundry machines 10 feet (and 0 stairs) away from where 90% of the laundry is generated is a godsend. I highly recommend it, assuming you can get your pipes and drainage set up well.
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Jul 21, 2018 05:00
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