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I like the NOD to some classic games
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Mar 8, 2019 15:17
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Thanks for the porch suggestions, in all likelihood we're still gonna do a standard covered porch, but I think we'll limit it to 5 feet deep and I don't think that will massively change how much light gets in the windows. Meanwhile, now that we're considering this, I'm staring daggers at every front porch I drive past. And that leads me to another question. We are also getting our gutters replaced. (The main driving force behind these renovations is a roof replacement.) However, I'm noticing something I'd never considered before: a lot of houses with front porches -- as long as they span the entirety of an otherwise flat front-of-house -- do not have any front gutter. I'm figuring it's because the foundation is now several feet inward of where water would drip off the roof. Is that correct? Do we likely not need a front gutter in this situation? It would certainly make this renovation a bit cheaper. I suppose pictures would be helpful at this point. Here's our house as it stands currently. The portico is utter garbage that will be entirely replaced by the porch, as several parts of the railing are rotting away and it was clearly not built very well. But it's sort of a guideline for where the porch will go, as long as we stick to 5 feet deep.  Here's a neighbor's house that I creepily stare at sometimes because it's basically our house with exactly the additions we want to make to it. So yeah, our porch will presumably look almost exactly the same as this one. (Opposite side of the street, so there isn't as much of a sunlight issue, hence my earlier concerns.) Note the lack of front gutters. 
Sir Lemming fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Mar 8, 2019 |
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Mar 8, 2019 17:10
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devmd01 posted:Next step is to revamp the garage lighting with LEDs and add another light above the workbench area. I got a set of these guys for my garage for Christmas: https://www.amazon.com/Barrina-Integrated-Fixture-Utility-Electric/dp/B01HBT3BVM , converted a standard bulb fixture in the ceiling to an outlet, and tacked these up in about 2 hours. 2200 lm/strip might be a slight exaggeration, but these are freaking bright. The 6 are plenty for my 20'x22' garage with high ceiling. Especially since I really needed the light mostly near the house side where the workbench is and where you typically walk around the cars. It's dark around my house, so walking back to my garage after taking the trash cans out is like entering into an alien spaceship.
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Mar 8, 2019 17:17
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Sir Lemming posted:We are also getting our gutters replaced. (The main driving force behind these renovations is a roof replacement.) However, I'm noticing something I'd never considered before: a lot of houses with front porches -- as long as they span the entirety of an otherwise flat front-of-house -- do not have any front gutter. I'm figuring it's because the foundation is now several feet inward of where water would drip off the roof. Is that correct? Do we likely not need a front gutter in this situation? It would certainly make this renovation a bit cheaper. You don't need gutters, but having them is better than not having them. This is especially true if you plan on entering/leaving through the porch when it is raining, as the gutters will catch the streams of water from the porch roof waiting to soak you. It also helps with any landscaping you plan on doing under the front lip of the porch roof, because the water frequently isn't evenly dripping off, so you get 'hot spots' where the biggest drip areas create craters in you mulch and wash out flowers. You also get splashback from those heavy drips that can get into/onto things where you don't want it leading to wood rot. I'm a strong proponent of making sure water goes exactly where I want it to, and trying to direct it as far away from foundations, concrete pads, and wood as I can. The further the better.
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Mar 8, 2019 17:36
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devmd01 posted:Bought a $30 LED light kit and installed it above the workbench, it’s actually usable now. Nice touches on the cabinet doors there
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Mar 8, 2019 23:27
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Cute stuff op, wishing you success!!!!
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Mar 9, 2019 00:03
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Hey all, needed to stop by for a sanity check. Moved in to our new house last April, and discovered two things: one, that the backyard gently slopes downward into a little valley and two, that the ground is a thin layer of topsoil above hard clay. Together, this means that once it started to rain for a while, a good portion of my backyard turned into a swamp. At the beginning of winter, and now, while the ground is still frozen but we're getting rain, the problem is compounded. Here's a rough sketch of the backyard based off of some measurements I took.  1" increments, white is 0" and the darkest grey is -3". The house sits at the bottom border of the image (so I, thankfully, haven't had to panic about basement flooding. We're sumped out anyway). The darkest grey area floods consistently, but never seems to get much beyond that. My plan is as follows:  The red rectangles are french drains, and the blue is PVC pipe that daylights at the front of our property (with a path to the storm drain) This seems, to me, like it would work - but I've never done this before. I can afford to do it myself, but don't have the budget for a professional fix (at least any time in the near future). Just wanted to check that I'm not forgetting something obvious. Thanks in advance!
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Mar 9, 2019 23:33
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Discharging into a storm drain without a permit could be a local, state or federal violation depending where that storm drain goes. If you care you might want to do some research first.
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Mar 10, 2019 02:28
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I have this exactly same problem. Don’t connect those drains to the storm drain system without a professional involved. You could get Seriously hosed depending on local laws and where it discharges to.
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Mar 10, 2019 02:44
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Yeah, I've checked with the city and as long as it's rainwater (it is) and not wastewater (it is not) I'm in the clear. I can't make a physical connection of some sort into a storm drain, but I don't need to -- I have a place to daylight the discharge pipe near the curb, which will then flow into the storm drain But just to be totally clear: this is not wastewater, it's rainwater that should be going to the storm drains but is pooling in my backyard. I got 100% confirmation with my area that this is all above board.
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Mar 10, 2019 08:37
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This is the view when you walk into our living-dining-kitchen. Our lifestyle theme is "natural and practical" so I'm not worried about guests seeing our normal kitchen usage, but it's time to upgrade our trashcans (10 years of babby diaper smell) and the wobbly counter I made to go over them. Maybe something taller than I have now, to block view of the dishrack. Keep the trashcans there, but inside a furniture unit? What kind of door/device? Move the trashcans to that curtained area under the microwave? (Currently full of hand towels, potatoes, bags for reuse and paper for recycling.) peanut fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Mar 11, 2019 |
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Mar 10, 2019 23:59
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The "simplehuman" brand bin is the only pedal bin I've ever used that gets the leverage right so the pedal doesn't either doing nothing or slam the lid into the counter at a billion miles an hour. Plus soft-close and washable internal plastic sleeve. They're expensive (and they try to ink cartridge some proprietary bags) but I think I've had mine for nearly 10 years now and it's still going strong.
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Mar 11, 2019 00:17
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Jaded Burnout posted:The "simplehuman" brand bin is the only pedal bin I've ever used that gets the leverage right so the pedal doesn't either doing nothing or slam the lid into the counter at a billion miles an hour. Plus soft-close and washable internal plastic sleeve. I never imagined I'd pay $60 for a black plastic trash bin but it was worth every penny They take regular kitchen bags just fine, too Tiny Timbs fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Mar 11, 2019 |
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Mar 11, 2019 04:22
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Got a tankless water heater with an added storage tank and a hot water recirculator. Friday night we lost hot water, and my wife got me up to check the breaker, which was tripped of course. I set it back and went inside the garage closet on a whim (this is where the storage tank and recirc are, sitting on an elevated platform) and noticed the latex paint had clear signs of water damage from a leak. The tank and/or pump won't stay running long enough for me to diagnose a leak in real time, and only a couple times have I reset the breaker and gotten it to stay on long enough to get lukewarm water for a shower. Past that point, I reset it three times in five minutes and heard it trip each time after only a few seconds so won't be trying again without a plumber. Is there anything I can do to diagnose myself in the meantime? Is the thermostat out, or the heating element? Or is whatever is causing the leak, causing the trip? I have checked the drip pan for the storage tank and it's been dry each time, no significant amount of water on the floor under the platform either, just telltale latex paint rippling. I have not yet been outside to check the water heater itself.
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Mar 11, 2019 13:07
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D: water and electricity
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Mar 11, 2019 23:28
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Fallom posted:I never imagined I'd pay $60 for a black plastic trash bin but it was worth every penny I got the stainless steel one and it's $100 but.. well, it's a big step up from my old $5 target plastic POS. I immediately thought that looked super Japanese and then realized it was your kitchen. Where do you do your prep? I wasn't sure where to keep my trash but ended up putting it immediately to the side of my prep area. It helps a lot in cleaning, because I can just wipe everything straight into the trash. Plus with the fancy trash bin, it doesn't really look that bad and does a good job of keeping odors in. I'm not the biggest fan of hidden trash bins because it just gets annoying to get at. Simplyhuman (and I'm sure others) make double-bins too, so you can have your combustibles/noncombustibles together.
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Mar 12, 2019 16:33
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totalnewbie posted:I got the stainless steel one and it's $100 but.. well, it's a big step up from my old $5 target plastic POS. 
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Mar 12, 2019 19:23
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Prep is done between the stove and sink on the same island. I had a sudden revelation that my family would not comply with a curtain hiding the cans. It would always be half-open and inflame my autism. These have little flaps on top for small stuff. The table thingy is wobbly af and needs a complete rebuild :/ Luckily the new cans are slimmer and easy to fit. peanut fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Mar 12, 2019 |
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Mar 12, 2019 23:18
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A small bedroom in my new house has glue under the carpet. Carpet is coming up fine, just not sure if it’s worth the effort to refinish the heart pine floor vs laying down engineered hardwood or something.
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Mar 13, 2019 14:46
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I’d just like to express how much I love scissor traps. Every spring I get a new mole, and they’re always dead within 3 days. 
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Mar 23, 2019 22:40
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omg wtf *I have never experienced mole problems. peanut fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Mar 23, 2019 |
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Mar 23, 2019 22:54
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They do damage fast and turn your whole yard into a tripping and turned ankle hazard. My wife hates it, but it has to be done. Poisons and spike-plunger traps aren’t safe around pets, so I had to hunt for a scissor style. They’re special order from Home Depot for some reason. The strategy is don’t smash the mole trails down or else they’ll make new ones. Pick the freshest looking straight trail, set the trap in the middle. If it’s not sprung by the next morning, move it.
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Mar 23, 2019 23:12
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My mother had to get a mole man in recently to remove a mole from her garden. He was by all accounts very empathetic to the creatures, but there's no point taking them alive since there's nowhere for them to be released to (at least over here). So humane killing was his best bet. I can't speak for that style of trap and its efficacy but sometimes that's the only choice.
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Mar 24, 2019 00:48
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I didn’t know “mole man” was a thing. 
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Mar 24, 2019 00:56
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If the wife wants a shelf, a shelf she shall get. Needs some sanding, trim work, and stain but everything is square. 
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Mar 24, 2019 01:17
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eddiewalker posted:I didn’t know “mole man” was a thing. Enter.. The Moleman
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Mar 24, 2019 01:22
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eddiewalker posted:I didn’t know “mole man” was a thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86gbwBSYuR0
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Mar 24, 2019 01:29
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I'm not sure if this is the right thread to ask, and if not my apologies, please point me in the right direction. Did some searching around trying to pinpoint it. My wife and I own a 1963 Ranch style home all in brick. It is beautiful, not rotting (with a fresh roof) and we love it. However, it still has the original single pane windows and without the heat shrink Window kits and heavy curtains my wife installed our balls would be frozen solid every winter. How does one go about getting windows replaced? Note: I will not be replacing them myself, I will most definitely be paying a professional as I can replace a water heater, washer, do drywall and run cat 5, but I feel like I know enough to know I don't know enough about replacing windows and I would rather let someone else do this one. What criteria would I use to judge a replacement window company? What kind of research should I do before getting estimates (I intend to get multiple estimates)? What kind of products should I be looking for (brand, features etc.)?
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Mar 31, 2019 22:05
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ptier posted:I'm not sure if this is the right thread to ask, and if not my apologies, please point me in the right direction. Did some searching around trying to pinpoint it. Stay away from the “$180 per window, done in one day” things. They use cheap windows in standard sizes, so they tend to stretch the frames and the sash edges get drafty. My previous owner did billboard-ad windows before selling, and I wish they hadn’t bothered. A good vinyl siding installer is usually also a good window installer. They deal with the same supply houses, and the guys who do a good job bending coil to frame doors and windows are artists. Good windows feel really good, but they get expensive fast. There’s plenty of good middle ground between $180 and $2000. I saved a little money by replacing my interior trim myself, but it meant ripping a LOT of 1x4s
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Mar 31, 2019 22:43
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ptier posted:My wife and I own a 1963 Ranch style home all in brick. It is beautiful, not rotting (with a fresh roof) and we love it. However, it still has the original single pane windows and without the heat shrink Window kits and heavy curtains my wife installed our balls would be frozen solid every winter. I had no idea about this before I had mine replaced. I can tell you what's involved in replacing my old windows (in a brick house) with upvc-framed ones. It seems like kind of a mystic art, these windows, when in fact it's pretty simple. There's a frame, made of a material, like the frame on a painting. It's screwed into the wall from the inside of the frame. That frame then holds your windows themselves, which are made up of one or more lights, i.e. independent sections of window separated by significant pieces of material (hence the term "skylight"). A "light" might be made up of one or more panes, split by thin pieces of material. I mention all this because when you're looking at specific styles of window (perhaps the ones you already have) and deciding what layout of panes and lights you want in your new windows, it's important to know that you can do whatever the hell you want these days. The technology is such that a upvc-framed double glazed window can be any shape and to a degree any size, with as many openings and splits as you like in whatever colour you like, and that you don't have to have any at all if you don't want to. In fact in my windows the individual panes are fake, it's all one pane with plastic strips embedded in them to give the appearance of multiple panes, something which I regret agreeing to even if it does retain some aspect of the neighbourhood style. So, whether you want to replicate the look of your old windows or go for something completely different, it's all the same to them. In my case it was even the same cost regardless of how many bits of glass or hinges or whatever they had in them. ptier posted:What criteria would I use to judge a replacement window company? Same as any other contractor, unfortunately. Find previous customers and physically look at their stuff to see if it looks right to you, ask whether they've had any leaks etc, look for reviews of the company online, all that jazz. Note that the people fitting your windows probably didn't make them, and if you're spending significant cash then they should be happy to point you to their supplier so you can go look at some samples and brochures. Note also that the people making them probably aren't the actual brand for the window, in my case at least there were a variety of companies making framing pieces, hardware, glass etc, another company which then custom-constructed them based on orders by the window fitter, who brought the windows and fitted them. ptier posted:What kind of research should I do before getting estimates (I intend to get multiple estimates)? I'm assuming you'd go for upvc frames since they're effective, look good if you buy good quality ones, and cost less than having the frames custom made out of wood. Look into different common coatings that are available since if your suppliers are like mine they may try to sell you on extra security coatings etc, so it's good to know which ones you might actually want and which are snake oil before you wind up in a potentially high pressure sales situation. One thing I didn't do properly was thing very hard in advance about how I want the window lights to be split up; which parts open and which don't, do they open vertically or horizontally, do they swing open, if so do I want left handed or right handed. This stuff can be changed later but it's a pane (lol) so worth getting it right ahead of time, because your fitter will be wanting to write it down during the site visit. Might also be worth checking whether fire-escape windows are a good idea at this point. In my house I was reconfiguring the downstairs in such a way that I legally had to make the upstairs windows fully openable so you could climb out in an emergency, so those are all "tilt and turn" style. If you've renovated your house or are thinking of doing so in the future might be worth checking that now. Expect good windows to be expensive, I think in my house replacing all the windows cost around £7000 not including the bifold doors (which were another £5000 on their own). ptier posted:What kind of products should I be looking for (brand, features etc.)? REHAU are pretty good. Your fitter can suggest some as well, though look up some reviews if possible. The number one technical feature to look out for is the R-value (or it's opposite, the U-factor). This is a measure of how well the material insulates heat. Very important is that the glass and the frame will have different values and you need to look at the combination (which is based on the surface area and I think there's some googleable maths to estimate it). Usually the glass has a better (higher) R-value than the frame because it has a higher surface area so it's more important than for the frame. From what I was told by the supplier, you get diminishing returns on a U-factor below 0.3 which is I think where most brands (like velux) start labelling window glass as extra eco-friendly. So I got 0.3s but certainly you can go lower for more money. A 0.2 U-factor is I think an R-value of 5 and they go in opposite directions, as they're reciprocals of one another. Separate to heat transfer also think about sound transfer. Your windows (or at least the glass) should hopefully mention the dB drop that they achieve, and how important that is to you depends on your tolerance for noise and how loud your area is. Generally you'll get better sound deadening from more heat-efficient windows (since there's usually more layers) but it's not a direct correlation. Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Mar 31, 2019 |
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Mar 31, 2019 22:47
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its 2019, triple-glazing's been the norm for years
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Mar 31, 2019 23:02
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eddiewalker posted:I didn’t know “mole man” was a thing. I grew up in a small village on the edge of Stoke on Trent, UK and there was an old guy who lived in the village and made his living as the "mole man" as per proper historical tradition he would hang his trophies daily on the fence by the main signpost as you entered the village (I think it used to be so that the farmers would see how many he had killed and pay him accordingly). On the way home from school every day we would compete to guess correctly how many he had caught that day as we approached the fence:  (it being a small village I think he rarely got more than one fence section's worth at a time) He used to lay all the local hedges too. I "helped" him once when i was 9 or 10 and remember being pretty much unable to understand a single word he said because he was proper local and talked in 100% potteries dialect. ow rite me ducks. You guys all missed out...
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Mar 31, 2019 23:02
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Tomarse posted:I "helped" him once when i was 9 or 10 and remember being pretty much unable to understand a single word he said because he was proper local and talked in 100% potteries dialect. ow rite me ducks. I took a quick look at Wikipedia for examples of potteries and really liked this one: "Cost kick a bo agen a wo an yed it til it bosts?" means ... Can you kick a ball against a wall and head it until it bursts?
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Mar 31, 2019 23:20
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Windows! Double paned windows are a modern indulgence here  Our old house was built in 1996 and had single paned windows in weird dimensions that didn't fit standard curtains. The condensation was awful in winter. Now, we have nicer frames downstairs and standard frames upstairs. The internal construction is different to provide better insulation. Room temperature feels the same but condensation is eliminated downstairs  Definitely look at a catalog if you can, you may find that the windows you have in mind are unavailable or stupid expensive. You may find something great that you didn't expect. Bay/box windows are expensive but I'm very happy to have one in our dining area. The ledge is great for flowers and table overflow (and parties!)
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Apr 1, 2019 00:20
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Thank you all for the replies! I think I got a list of stuff to start with. I’ll check back in when I’ve got something moving along.
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Apr 1, 2019 02:00
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ptier posted:Thank you all for the replies! I think I got a list of stuff to start with. I’ll check back in when I’ve got something moving along. Check rebates, and check very closely at color differences in various "low-e" coatings. The biggest bang for your buck is in the first tier as usual with those things.
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Apr 1, 2019 05:48
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Personally I am not sure what to recommend re: the windows. Are they wooden framed windows? If so I would keep them and fit an interior window in the old fashioned scandinavian style and turn them into double glaze windows. But it's hard to say without knowing what the current windows look like. Double pane windows like that are very efficient. They became the standard window in the late 1800s here and are not worth replacing with triple glaze, you would not recover the costs in savings, so triple glazing only comes on new windows. I like wood because it can be maintained with age, raw materials grow in the forest Apparently in Canada they have a system a lot like what I am talking about except they have it reversed, with the windows on the outside. Storm Windows they call it. https://wheretheroadbends.wordpress.com/byggnadsvard/windows/ His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 08:44 on Apr 1, 2019 |
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Apr 1, 2019 08:41
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Marvin Integrity Also, get multiple bids even for the same window brand. Our two best bids we're from local "Doors, Windows, and Siding" guys, and one undercut the other by like 30-40% on labor costs. I asked the first vendor it they could beat it or if they saw anything missing in the bid that I should be aware of, and they said "No, take it -- you are probably getting a good deal because they want the extra cash flow due to a seasonal slump or something". Don't stress about any "we have a discount that will expire unless you order before the end of the month/week/day". It's pressure sale bullshit, they will extend the discount if you call them back later.
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Apr 1, 2019 12:26
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I am having sink problems!  The counter top cutout for sink currently in my home is 20 and 5/8s by 31". I am looking for a stainless steel sink and cannot for the life of me seem to find something that will fit in this drat thing. It seems like I need an entirely new countertop with a whole new cutout? I really want to avoid that if possible. 
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Apr 2, 2019 02:34
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I said come in! posted:I am having sink problems!
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Apr 2, 2019 04:06
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