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MetaJew posted:Why is it so hard to run a rag or towel around the seal after washing a load and leaving the door slightly ajar? Can't remember ever wiping down the washing machine like that and we still have no problems. And line drying is best.
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Sep 10, 2019 04:35
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I have never wiped down my front load washer in the near 4 years I've had it, just leave the door cracked after use and it dries out on its own.
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Sep 10, 2019 04:56
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You're supposed to wipe the seals? I just leave the door ajar. And get this, it's actually easier to just leave the door open than to close it; who could have guessed?
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Sep 10, 2019 12:04
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You don’t need to wipe them if you leave the door a little cracked. Just top loader shills looking for straw men.
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Sep 10, 2019 12:31
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The Dave posted:You don’t need to wipe them if you leave the door a little cracked. Just top loader shills looking for straw men. Big Top Loader 
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Sep 10, 2019 12:35
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If you are planning on building a custom/expensive home on your own land, should you enlist the help of an architect from the beginning? Go right into selecting a builder? Background: My sister and brother in law are closing on 8 acres tomorrow. Their plan is to build within 2 years or so. (They currently have a home nearby) It's just the two of them (and will be, no kids), but they are looking to build a big house (probably 4500+sq ft) because they both work from home so they want room to easily separate work space from living space. Since they spend a lot of time there it might as well be awesome. They can afford it, so I understand their logic. My sister has found some home plans she really likes online, but who knows if builders would have their own models they'd like to try and talk them into. I've anecdotally read somewhere that architects can give you value and touches in a custom home that generic builder-plans may not offer. There is also a distinct possibility that these home plans they like are going to sticker-shock them to death if you were to actually have them built. Maybe an architect could design something with parts they like from the crazy rear end house plans, that is smaller and more cost-efficient. And on the cost of building one of these homes, I imagine spending $10k or whatever on an architect is kind of a drop in the bucket. Here are two plans they liked for the people like me that love looking at floorplans: https://www.houseplans.com/plan/10691-square-feet-4-bedroom-4-4-bathroom-3-garage-country-40452 - I love this one. The plan would be to make the screened porch my sister's office. The above-garage "apartment" would be my brother in law's office. The only thing I like better about the other plan is it's vaulted living area. https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/exclusive-5-bed-modern-farmhouse-plan-with-unique-angled-garage-275006cmm - This is nice, I don't like the style as much but I like the vaulted living area and the use of the second floor. For the record, if I wasn't so poor, this is my semi-realistic dream home (w/ 3 car garage, bonus room, and basement) https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/fresh-4-bedroom-farmhouse-plan-with-bonus-room-above-3-car-garage-51784hz
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Sep 10, 2019 14:05
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dreesemonkey posted:If you are planning on building a custom/expensive home on your own land, should you enlist the help of an architect from the beginning? Oh holy poo poo absolutely, an experienced skilled architect will save you their fee many times over.
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Sep 10, 2019 14:14
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4500+ sqft for two people is ridiculous, even with offices, unless you mean like a corporate office with 20 desks and a customer lounge. Our 4 bedroom house is 1300 sqft.
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Sep 10, 2019 14:46
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dreesemonkey posted:
It's not just that, architects will be able to non-dumbly solve issues that arise with siting the structure and conforming it to local codes in addition to making optional changes. Additionally, if they don't have a builder in mind, a local architect will have connections to what are likely the better ones since they won't work with contractors who execute poorly.
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Sep 10, 2019 14:58
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peanut posted:4500+ sqft for two people is ridiculous, even with offices, unless you mean like a corporate office with 20 desks and a customer lounge. Our 4 bedroom house is 1300 sqft. And you live in a place where land is at a premium, construction is considered disposable and people are used to living in small spaces. As it turns out, different places have different expectations and different people have different needs. Yes, 4500 sq. ft. is a lot, but my 4 bedroom is right around there if you count the finished portions of the basement. And it's only got 2.5 bathrooms. dreesemonkey, they absolutely want to be working with a local architect. They just took care of half of the first meeting by having a really good idea of what they want already. They want an architect who will be there for site visits during construction, one that knows the local GCs, etc and works well with them.
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Sep 10, 2019 15:01
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Umpteenthing ‘Hire an architect’. Different ones work differently (billing by the hour vs percentage of construction costs- 7%ish is fairly normal here) but all will probably save their clients money and make much more pleasant, liveable spaces. Any residential architect should be more than happy to show them around houses they have designed, and will know good contractors, and should be able to work to whatever their budget is. They may find an architect who can design something much smaller that still suits their needs, allowing them to have a nicer house.
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Sep 10, 2019 15:13
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Lol 4500 sqft is unbelievably stupid but absolutely hire an architect
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Sep 10, 2019 15:20
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Also the only """needs""" addressed by 4500 sqft that 2500 doesn't address is the need to have a house that is Bigger Than your neighbor's
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Sep 10, 2019 15:21
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Bloody posted:Also the only """needs""" addressed by 4500 sqft that 2500 doesn't address is the need to have a house that is Bigger Than your neighbor's This may come as a shock, but some people value functional entertaining space and can afford to buy/build it as well as use it regularly.
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Sep 10, 2019 15:27
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Lol yeah, everybody loves getting drunk in a finished basement bar
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Sep 10, 2019 15:29
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It's like the fire pit used once
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Sep 10, 2019 15:29
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I've got too many aquariums squeezed into an 1800sqft place as it is, I shudder to think what I'd do if given 4500sqft to utilize.
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Sep 10, 2019 15:31
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Bloody posted:Lol yeah, everybody loves getting drunk in a finished basement bar Ummmm......okay? I mean, I agree with you. That's pretty lame. What does that have to do with what I said? Are you under the impression that's the only place once could possibly use an an entertaining space? Like a basement or a place converted into a bar? Or both?
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Sep 10, 2019 15:42
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Yeah, how else are you going to be able to stage a multi-course rotating-room dinner play? You don't expect them to share space with the hired help, do you?
mutata fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Sep 10, 2019 |
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Sep 10, 2019 15:49
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The Dave posted:You don’t need to wipe them if you leave the door a little cracked. Just top loader shills looking for straw men. Dancing in the Moonlight was pretty good though.
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Sep 10, 2019 15:50
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Bloody posted:Lol yeah, everybody loves getting drunk in a finished basement bar I get drunk in my basement bar all the time though
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Sep 10, 2019 16:10
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Thanks for the responses RE: architects, I passed the information along. I'm not trying to butt in on their home building plans, I'd just rather they be set up for maximum success for such a big/important project.
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Sep 10, 2019 16:17
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Whats the preferred parts website these days for a maytag dishwasher? I need to replace some rollers and the Maytag website seems decent enough...
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Sep 10, 2019 16:59
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Hire an architect, and a really good one. The two most important people you deal with are going to be the architect and GC. If either is bad you are hosed, but go with an architect first because it will take a couple of months to submit to the city.Motronic posted:And you live in a place where land is at a premium, construction is considered disposable and people are used to living in small spaces. As it turns out, different places have different expectations and different people have different needs. Nah, 4500 sqft is ridiculous regardless of where you are. Heating, insulation, + cost of having to walk so far from one place to another defeat the point of that much space. For a 4BR that feels luxurious, 2500-2900 sqft is already perfect.
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Sep 10, 2019 18:49
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ntan1 posted:Heating, insulation, + cost of having to walk so far from one place to another defeat the point of that much space. This is a difference in means and/or opinion. 4k sq. ft. homes aren't exactly uncommon, and not anything like the size that some posters seem to think (where you have hidden corridors for the "help"....jfc it's not even close to "mansion" sized where you're concerned about walking distances).
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Sep 10, 2019 18:59
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ntan1 posted:Nah, 4500 sqft is ridiculous regardless of where you are. You are right. Motronic posted:This is a difference in means and/or opinion. 4k sq. ft. homes aren't exactly uncommon, and not anything like the size that some posters seem to think (where you have hidden corridors for the "help"....jfc it's not even close to "mansion" sized where you're concerned about walking distances). You are also right. Now kiss.
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Sep 10, 2019 19:08
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4000 square feet homes and bigger seems extremely pointless unless you have 10 kids or something. Just wasteful and especially in today's world when we should be considering the long term sustainability of our lifestyles it seems really tone deaf to build stuff like that. Space is certainly not an issue where I am but most homes are around 1400 sq ft, around what we have for a family of four.
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Sep 10, 2019 19:09
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My wife and I have no kids and our house is around 1700 square feet. We have a dedicated guest room for the parents when they visit and a dining room we also only use when parents are visiting. I get wanting bigger for home office that feels separate from your living area, but I agree with the others in saying 4500 seems too big. We were renting a 2500 square foot house and it was borderline too large, BUT we didn't have our offices in the house, so maybe my sense of scale is off?
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Sep 10, 2019 19:14
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His Divine Shadow posted:4000 square feet homes and bigger seems extremely pointless unless you have 10 kids or something. Just wasteful and especially in today's world when we should be considering the long term sustainability of our lifestyles it seems really tone deaf to build stuff like that. From the environmental angle, it all comes down to specifics. A modern, well-built 4000sq/ft house with 2x6 insulated wall cavities, high-quality windows, and tight air sealing uses less energy to condition than some early 20th century, leaky 1300sq/ft row-house. I like having a dedicated office room in my 2600sq/ft house, because it saves me from commuting into work every day in my gasoline-based automobile and taking up space in a massive office building that wastes ungodly amounts of energy to keep at a perfect 70F and cover every square inch in florescent light.
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Sep 10, 2019 19:38
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450m2 seems hilariously big for two people but obviously there's just way more land space etc blah. Do US houses include the garage spaces in the area? I am just imagining having to phone my gf to try and find where she is in the house. B-Nasty posted:From the environmental angle, it all comes down to specifics. A modern, well-built 4000sq/ft house with 2x6 insulated wall cavities, high-quality windows, and tight air sealing uses less energy to condition than some early 20th century, leaky 1300sq/ft row-house. Are US building standards into this kind of thing? Before I Brexited I was planning to build somewhere to passivhaus kind of standard. From what I remember the ultra insulated / vapor barrier thing is more popular in Europe.
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Sep 10, 2019 20:37
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I'm looking for some opinions on if I should attempt a DIY job or of this is something that's far more difficult / complicated than it seems it might be. Our house was built in 2004, we bought it in Nov 2018. Over the last winter we noticed that the fireplace insert bricks started to crack and separate and we immediately stopped using the fireplace. We wanted to put in a different insert, one that would allow us to at least have a partial cooktop so we could use it to at least boil water etc if the power goes out (we live a few miles from the Rhode Island coast, so get some big winter storms now and then). Because we are a bit rural, there are no gas lines to the house so its an electric stove and oil heat. I didn't want to run a generator simply to boil water. Long story short we are getting a wooden stove. However, none of the inserts we found had a decent cook surface and none of the wooden stoves had a low enough height to match up well with where the pipe to the chimney goes. This left us with 2 options: 1. Reduct the entire chimney and rip out the mantle etc and put in the exhaust tube above the current fireplace location. 2. Place a hearth pad on the corner (to the right) of the existing fireplace and put in a separate exhaust tube through the wall there and on its own chimney outside.   We decided on option 2. The new chimney tube would sit in front of the chimney on the R side of the house in the 2nd photo. This area is mostly obscured by trees and has few lines of sight from the front yard so doesn't really do a lot to diminish the look of the house. The labor costs for this installation estimate were also considerably lower than option 1. We're getting a stove similar to this one but not on a raised hearth pad, just one on the floor:  The potential DIY part comes in with what to do with the old fireplace space. We're likely not going to re-do hardwood floors over the tile panel on the floor, so that's going to almost certainly stay. The fireplace insert, wall tiles and mantle will all go. So that all needs to be removed. Next we'd want to drywall in some kind of cutout into the wall and then paint it up to match. Possibly could use trim etc or something around the cutout into the wall and then tile the floor of the cutout to match the tile going into the hardwood. The cutout would likely be used to store food and water bowls for the dog since it'll be taking up less floorspace and also now be on a more water-friendly surface than the mat we have it on over the hardwood. I know we need to seal the existing chimney tube off, and also get it sealed up on the roof. I'd pay someone to seal at least the roof one off. Would removing the insert etc and demoing the rest of the surrounding wall, tiles etc be a much more difficult job than I think it is?
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Sep 10, 2019 20:43
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knox_harrington posted:Are US building standards into this kind of thing? There really isn't a concept of a "US Building Standard". There are popular model codes that many places adopt, but they adopt different parts of them or make amendments, especially in the building performance area. Some areas are quire strict about building efficiency/performance, while many unincorporated areas have no building codes at all.
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Sep 10, 2019 20:48
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knox_harrington posted:Are US building standards into this kind of thing? Before I Brexited I was planning to build somewhere to passivhaus kind of standard. From what I remember the ultra insulated / vapor barrier thing is more popular in Europe. As Motronic said, most of the requirements are aimed at commercial structures, with some local regs for residential. However, many mid-range and premium builders incorporate energy-efficient construction as a selling feature. For example, Toll Brothers, a 'luxury' (more like high-mid-range) builder has a number of basic efficiency features that come standard: https://www.tollgreen.com/tollgreenhome_north_mid_atlantic.html You can, of course, get even more efficiency features if you're willing to pony up the $$$. American houses are typically built at a low price point ($/sqft) that would be impossible in many European countries. If you wanted to spend something comparable, you'd be able to upgrade to a similar level of efficiency.
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Sep 10, 2019 21:24
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Hi I have a 3200sq ft house and it’s just my wife and I, AMA. (That number does include a full unfinished basement and an attic with finished space but no dedicated hvac through it all. )
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Sep 10, 2019 22:18
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Basically what Motronic said. It's regulated by state, then by county, then by city, and each city can choose what to do depending on state laws. HELLO CALIFORNIA Have you ever heard of Title 24
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Sep 10, 2019 23:10
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knox_harrington posted:Do US houses include the garage spaces in the area?
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Sep 11, 2019 02:18
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That Works posted:I'm looking for some opinions on if I should attempt a DIY job or of this is something that's far more difficult / complicated than it seems it might be. Were Hearthstone stoves too tall? I know they have both top and rear exhaust exit options, and some of the smaller stoves might fit into the current fireplace. http://hearthstonestoves.com/wood-products/4594643898
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Sep 11, 2019 02:26
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B-Nasty posted:From the environmental angle, it all comes down to specifics. A modern, well-built 4000sq/ft house with 2x6 insulated wall cavities, high-quality windows, and tight air sealing uses less energy to condition than some early 20th century, leaky 1300sq/ft row-house. Holy false choices Batman, no one's talking about building an early 20th century leaky row-house. The fact of the matter is that the best-built 4000 sqft house wastes more energy and space than the best-built 2600 sqft house I also think it's important to recognize that some people seem to be counting attic + basement space (finished or not) while others aren't. That could be up to half of the square footage right there. I don't count attics because I don't know anyone who likes spending time in an attic, even if it's "finished" (which can be anything from a well-insulated extra-big bedroom to "has floors, can store some poo poo"). 4000 sqft of living space is cool I guess if you're starting a cult or something
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Sep 11, 2019 07:39
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Pigsfeet on Rye posted:Were Hearthstone stoves too tall? I know they have both top and rear exhaust exit options, and some of the smaller stoves might fit into the current fireplace. No vendors / installers near us. The stove we went with had top or rear exhaust also bit we're about 2" too high for every model if on a hearth pad. We already bought the stove and scheduled the install though so I'd like to focus on the diy demo / removal part if I can.
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Sep 11, 2019 10:51
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QuarkJets posted:Holy false choices Batman, no one's talking about building an early 20th century leaky row-house. The fact of the matter is that the best-built 4000 sqft house wastes more energy and space than the best-built 2600 sqft house I feel like nobody with a 4000 sqft house has come by their fortune without the suffering of others, so we should give these folks bad advice.
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Sep 11, 2019 12:41
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