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ntan1 posted:And a poo poo ton of people in the bay area buy old houses to remodel them. They wouldn't touch a historical house ever (except ask me about the folks who bought a historical house, remodeled it unpermitted anyway, and then sold it lol). However, a lot of people want to be in neighborhoods with historical houses, they just don't want to be in one. My house is in a self-proclaimed one-house historical district and it’s great. I can do whatever I want (which is to make my Victorian look like it did when it was built) and not have to deal with some dumb planning commission. My main beef is with the cheap ugly vinyl windows out front. Gonna replace those with wood ones (and also get new stained glass for the transoms) and do a fancy period paint job to accentuate all the cool trim details (and then I can also paint the wooden window sashes and not leave them stark plasticky white). I admit that I am a masochistic weirdo and would probably enjoy being in a historic district because I’m already a huge nerd about historical accuracy and like doing things the hard expensive way and get the added benefit of no one being allowed to install ugly plastic windows.  As for the Bay Area, last time I checked, the only place where I could find a cool old house that hadn’t been hosed up by flippers was in Vallejo, and uh, I don’t want to live in Vallejo. I sometimes follow Bay Area real estate news, and I probably shouldn’t - it’s way too often that some philistine tech gently caress buys a fabulous old house in Pacific Heights or wherever and utterly trashes it with their hideous take on modernism. Just go buy an actual modern house if you want modern - there are plenty of super cool ones over there. As for unpermitted work on historic houses, how about unpermitted demolition? A few years ago some rear end in a top hat bought some architecturally significant protected house in I think SF (a super early modern from the 30s or something) and got a remodel permit and then went and bulldozed it instead. He was ordered to reconstruct it from the original plans and make it exactly how it was. I’ll try to find the link.
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Jan 29, 2020 19:54
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El Mero Mero posted:Did you just look at the first link? What's unclear about : I said it in my post. But more specific to that particular example:
In a super efficient market, price should reflect how much people want to buy the house. If enough people don't want to touch the poop because it will lead to clear permit drawbacks, heating drawbacks, and other things in maintaining the house, then that should be reflected as part of the price.
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Jan 29, 2020 19:59
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Anyone have experience with Starmark or Wellborn Forest cabinetry in their kitchens? We're looking at those, and I kinda like Starmark because they at least do the sustainability thing and the nearest dealer is in a half sales tax area. They both boast 3/4" plywood construction, soft close, full extension pullouts, all the options, etc. I'm told Starmark is cheaper but I don't yet have the full list of cabinets to price out.
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Jan 29, 2020 20:00
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Please let me know if there's a better thread to ask this in, but in the meantime, does anyone know of a lab anywhere that will let me mail them a dust sample and they'll analyze it and tell me what the major components of the dust are? My online searches haven't found anything. I seem to have a burgeoning dust problem in my house, and it is affecting air quality. I've done the usual (shampooed rugs, had ducts cleaned and inspected, replaced furnace filters, am running HEPAs 24/7, am monitoring humidity, am using a hepa-equipped vacuum, etc.). Before I go to the expensive next steps of starting to rip things apart with no evidence whether they are the cause, I'd like to be more certain of what I am dealing with.
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Jan 29, 2020 20:28
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TofuDiva posted:Please let me know if there's a better thread to ask this in, but in the meantime, does anyone know of a lab anywhere that will let me mail them a dust sample and they'll analyze it and tell me what the major components of the dust are? My online searches haven't found anything. "Environmental Testing" is the keyword here. Like this: https://nicksenviro.com/ (That site says mold, mildew, asbestos, lead, but I believe it's the same type of folks.) (That dude came out to my house yesterday and bashed a bunch of holes in my walls and tile to see what horrors are hidden within.)
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Jan 29, 2020 21:11
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H110Hawk posted:"Environmental Testing" is the keyword here. Like this: https://nicksenviro.com/ (That site says mold, mildew, asbestos, lead, but I believe it's the same type of folks.) Thanks! I'll try that. The irony is that years ago I did have a really good industrial hygienist come in to assess whether there was mold, and then to verify that the remediation company had done its job correctly. He was great, but he has since either retired or moved on (unfortunately for me). Searching on the term "industrial hygienist" hasn't gotten me anything this time around. I'll try "environmental testing."
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Jan 30, 2020 05:12
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ntan1 posted:I said it in my post. But more specific to that particular example: I mean this is why I looked at multiple articles. There are like dozens of articles going all the way back to the 80s using hedonic price models and every one of them find some positive influence. Here's a literature review that pulls together a bunch of them. It's so funny because this is literally the least important point to me since I have no intention of selling and valuations do nothing for my life, but people get so loving amped about their property values that it loving obliterates the actual question I had, which is whether the easy to measure positives (like valuation and credits) are in any way worth the hard-to-measure downsides. I want to understand the hard-to-measure stuff, but you're stuck on what seems to be the easy-to-measure stuff.
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Jan 30, 2020 05:25
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El Mero Mero posted:I mean this is why I looked at multiple articles. There are like dozens of articles going all the way back to the 80s using hedonic price models and every one of them find some positive influence. Here's a literature review that pulls together a bunch of them. Why yes, I am indeed aware that there is a lot of FUD literature about real estate out there. The part I seriously don't understand is why you think that the impact of price specifically on houses that are already historically designated in the bay area is easy to understand.
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Jan 30, 2020 05:40
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ntan1 posted:Why yes, I am indeed aware that there is a lot of FUD literature about real estate out there. Okay, what do I not understand?
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Jan 30, 2020 06:10
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I want to get smart lights for my basement media room. There are 8 recessed ceiling lights. 2 rows of 4. What I want at a minimum is the ability to turn off and/or dim each row of 4 (I would rarely ever need to individually address them). So like if I want to watch a movie, I want to say "Alexa, Movie Time" or whatever, and have it turn off the front row, and dim the back row to 20%. I have an alexa dot 3 already. I have no need for colored lights. What do I buy that isn't a million dollars?
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Jan 31, 2020 18:23
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Are the 8 lights all on 1 switch, or do you have 2 switches controlling 4 lights each?
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Jan 31, 2020 18:33
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All 8 are controlled by one switch, but there are two sets of switches (on either side of the room) so either one turns all 8 on or off.
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Jan 31, 2020 18:38
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Assuming you have cans that will take A19 bulbs, a Hue white A19 starter kit with 4 bulbs and then another 4 bulb pack is probably your best option. The 4-pack kit is $99, and 4 packs of the white bulbs usually run about $40, so $140 all in. You can group them/scene them however you want in the app. Rewiring your cans with smart switches to create groups is going to be a pain, and I doubt it will be any cheaper.
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Jan 31, 2020 19:15
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But if you go with switches, the switch doesn't lose it's functionality. When I used some smart bulbs, the switch always had to be in the On position to do anything with the app/voice command/etc. Drove my wife so nuts she couldn't turn things on with a switch, we swapped them out for regular bulbs. Our new house came with two Leviton smart switches, and we want more. I can use an app, set a routine, use Google Home, or flip the switch.
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Jan 31, 2020 19:26
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Ok, I've haphazardly acquired various smart lights/switches and I've decided it is time to do this smarter. Please help.  I had a Lutron Caseta Wireless Smart Lighting Dimmer Switch in my game room. It worked great, but I decided I need smart control over colored lighting in that room. So I grabbed some of these: Novostella 13W 1300LM Smart LED Light Bulbs. So in addition to having two different apps controlling what happens in that room, I've also discovered that a dimmer switch does not play nicely with these smart bulbs(all smart bulbs?). While I can switch back to a normal switch in that room to solve my current problem, which will work fine if we leave it on all the time, I'd still like to be able to allow people to turn lights on/off in that room with a light switch. So bottom line. Is there a way for me to have smart bulbs in this room that I do all my color changing with while also allowing my wife to walk into this room and flip a switch to turn the light on or off? Bonus if I could also control both things with one app?
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Jan 31, 2020 19:48
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B-Nasty posted:Assuming you have cans that will take A19 bulbs, a Hue white A19 starter kit with 4 bulbs and then another 4 bulb pack is probably your best option. I think they are BR30 type, but I assume the recommendation is the same, I just have to suck it up and use the more expensive bulbs. I don't think smart switches would really help anyway, because the bulbs that are in there now might not even be dimmable.
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Jan 31, 2020 20:02
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Omne posted:But if you go with switches, the switch doesn't lose it's functionality. I agree, but you're not going to be able to support what Elysium wanted with smart switches without a massive rewire job and multiple dimming switches, which gets pretty expensive quickly. Worth pointing out that Hue makes switches that can control the bulbs; they are basically a wall-mounted remote that you can use to send signals to the hub. Slap that anywhere on the wall you want, and bam, light switch. Plus, you can install multiple switch locations without running a 3-way switch setup. I have smart switches (Z-Wave) for 2 of my kitchen light circuits, and I would say I use the Alexa commands 95% of the time to control those lights.
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Jan 31, 2020 20:05
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King Burgundy posted:Ok, I've haphazardly acquired various smart lights/switches and I've decided it is time to do this smarter. Please help. OK so electrically speaking, the dimmer switch is controlling the voltage going out to your bulb. The smart dimmer switches are meant to be connected to NON-smart bulbs that are dimmable (incandescent, certain LED, etc.). The point of these is so that you can add smart features to your non-smart bulbs. The point of a smart bulb, on the other hand, is to add dimming/color/whatever control without having to change your switches. The issue is that smart bulbs require full voltage. In reality they'll probably work with less depending on the circuitry, but that's not the point. By changing the voltage that is put out to them, you're screwing with their circuitry. Dim it too far and it'll freak out. So what you need is a remote switch. I can't help much further, only to say that for my Philips Hue lights, I have the following options: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lutron-aurora-smart-bulb-dimmer-switch-for-philips-hue-smart-lighting-white/ https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Dimm...469140926&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/Philips-Hue-...591SVYSN6ZQJ8FM These are all battery powered devices that integrate in to your smart system to control whatever bulbs you want. The Lutron actually goes OVER the switch (to prevent someone from flipping the switch and cutting power to the bulb). The other two just stick to your wall and you use it instead of the switch. I think, however, that they will only work with Hue bulbs. I dunno if someone makes a "universal" option, but hopefully this will at least guide you in the right direction. edit: So this is a crash course I guess in the downside of smart bulbs. They're fun and great until you get in to the logistics of controlling them. Kids/guests/etc. will have a hard time if they don't know how to use the smart speaker, or if they don't have an app. That's why all these remote switches exist. edit again: There's a home automation thread in IYG: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3635963 Not 100% sure if that's the right place to ask, but surely someone there can point you in the right direction. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Jan 31, 2020 |
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Jan 31, 2020 20:12
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DaveSauce posted:OK so electrically speaking, the dimmer switch is controlling the voltage going out to your bulb. The smart dimmer switches are meant to be connected to NON-smart bulbs that are dimmable (incandescent, certain LED, etc.). The point of these is so that you can add smart features to your non-smart bulbs. Thanks, that is helpful. Yeah, I think this is the only room I'll have to deal with the smart bulbs in, but I definitely don't want to give up the color control in there now that I've seen how great it can be for my needs. It's a shame, because those smart bulbs I got are the brightest I could find which is something I'm going to be sad to lose, but if I have to give those away and buy something like the above to get this working, then so be it.
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Jan 31, 2020 20:39
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If you want a smart switch, we use this one to run our flourecent bulb in the kitchen, it was like $25 and besides a bloody knuckle was easy to wire in. Just make sure you turn off the circuit breaker first. Or hire an electrician. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071SJ977G If you have a reeeeeeallly old house you might not have a neutral wire but that's unlikely. I don't like buying no name stuff because if the company goes under your poo poo will stop working the next day. Phillips is probably going to be around at least another decade. The price premium is worth having my crap not stop working. Eufy is owned by Anker which is why I went with them since they're a healthy company (right now). And Phillips doesn't sell a dedicated wired switch (yet) Hadlock fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Jan 31, 2020 |
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Jan 31, 2020 20:40
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King Burgundy posted:Thanks, that is helpful. Yeah, I think this is the only room I'll have to deal with the smart bulbs in, but I definitely don't want to give up the color control in there now that I've seen how great it can be for my needs. Yeah, the color control is really what gets you, which is why I have the Hue. Can't do that without a smart bulb. If you didn't need that, then I'd say ditch the bulbs and keep the dimmer. Also not sure if you saw it but I edited in a link to a home automation thread in IYG: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3635963 They might be able to help you track down a solution that doesn't involve a complete tear-up.
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Jan 31, 2020 20:41
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Hadlock posted:I don't like buying no name stuff because if the company goes under your poo poo will stop working the next day. Phillips is probably going to be around at least another decade. The price premium is worth having my crap not stop working. That's why I prefer Z-Wave switches over WiFi that probably uses some proprietary protocol, even if it means that it will be a few bucks more. Z-Wave has a half-dozen popular hubs right now (SmartThings being the most common), and will probably be supported by something for the life of the switch. most constant power devices act as repeaters/extenders, and there's no chance it's sniffing my WiFi traffic.
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Jan 31, 2020 20:59
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Hadlock posted:If you want a smart switch, we use this one to run our flourecent bulb in the kitchen, it was like $25 and besides a bloody knuckle was easy to wire in. Just make sure you turn off the circuit breaker first. Or hire an electrician. The issue with that sort of smart switch is it functions the same as a physical switch in that it cuts power to the bulb, which means you have to physically switch it back on before you can properly control a smart bulb. All it does is add a wireless way to control it, which wouldn't be much different from the current dimmer setup he has (but at least you couldn't accidentally fry a bulb). Theoretically you could add a multi-step routine to your smart system, so when you tell your smart speaker to turn the light on, it actuates the smart switch FIRST, and THEN does the "smart bulb" side of it. But there will be a delay there because the bulb will take time to "boot up" and reconnect. The real solution is a "virtual" switch like the ones I linked. They don't physically control anything. All they do is send a signal to the smart system, and the smart system reacts in whatever way you've programmed it to. I'd be surprised if someone out there didn't have a "universal" one that could control any random smart bulb. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Jan 31, 2020 |
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Jan 31, 2020 20:59
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I guess I misunderstood, he has smart bulbs but he wants people who don't know how to use voice control to be able to turn them off. I'll re-read it later. And yeah a formal open standard would be good. I think Ikea bulbs are compatible with Phillips hue over zigbee wireless, so maybe they already are? I haven't used wifi bulbs yet but from what I understand, zigbee has significantly more range which can help depending on your floorplan and outdoor landscaping.
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Jan 31, 2020 21:06
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What I got out of it is that he currently has a smart dimmer controlling his smart bulbs (which is not good). But also that he wants smart control AND the ability for someone without the smart control to be able to turn the lights on/off. Without special hardware, these are competing interests. The core problem is that once you kill power to the smart bulb, it's not there anymore... so you have to flip the switch again to regain smart control. If you can live with that, great, but I feel like half the point of smart bulbs is being able to turn them on/off without flipping the switch.
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Jan 31, 2020 21:16
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DaveSauce posted:What I got out of it is that he currently has a smart dimmer controlling his smart bulbs (which is not good). But also that he wants smart control AND the ability for someone without the smart control to be able to turn the lights on/off. Yup, this. When I get a moment I'll put something more refined in the other thread to see if anyone has ideas on anything universal that might apply to the things I already have, but otherwise I'll probably just get some Hue stuff.
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Jan 31, 2020 22:32
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Do I need to hire a "construction manager" to manage a GC for an addition? The people next door hired one to manage their house construction, but I'm not really sure if there's an advantage over just hiring a GC. Any suggestions on dealing with GCs for an addition? Do I get drawings from elsewhere first, or is that something the GC would handle?
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Feb 2, 2020 02:22
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Isn't managing your construction a general contractor's job? A separate construction manager sounds redundant, so long as you've hired a good GC. EDIT: I maybe see the point of hiring a construction manager if you're not building locally to you and want someone not tied to the profitability of the project to stop by the site regularly and make sure things are getting done, and done properly. If you can visit the site on your own and do these things, I don't see the point. n0tqu1tesane fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Feb 3, 2020 |
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Feb 3, 2020 18:57
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Curious about what people are paying for cabinetry. I just got a quote for a total of 23.5 linear feet of cabinetry - I specced out individual cabinets and gave them to the sales rep, who provided a total. It came out to around $11000 before tax, and that's not as awful as I thought it would be. It's for Omega, and we have a cabinet and vanity from them for our bathroom remodel and they were aces. Thus far, no formaldehyde smell after around 3 years of ownership. Kabinart came by with $7300 but they have no kind of sustainability cert, and they apparently outsource the work, which isn't inspiring. Plus it's no real comparison - the guy at the cabinet dealership said we'd get 3/4" plywood construction, but Kabinart says they do 3/8". Not even 1/2". The Omegas are 3/4". I'm not sure if metro area pricing changes cabinets, but we're in NJ. Came out to roughly $480/foot.
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Feb 3, 2020 20:26
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are radon self-testing kits worth a drat?
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Feb 3, 2020 22:42
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brugroffil posted:are radon self-testing kits worth a drat? The research I've done leads me to believe they are, if we're talking the charcoal-based tests that you leave out for 2+ days then send to a lab. I was recently debating whether I should spend $200 on one of those meters to leave in my basement and instead decided I'd just get the $20 tests every couple of years instead. Bought this one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VCLZM3Z/ which thanks you reminded me that I need to do one of these now that my foundation work has all been completed.
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Feb 3, 2020 22:53
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So my wife and I want to screen in our already existing back porch, and to install a sliding glass door with a pet door included. Essentially I want a place that our cats can go to take a dump that won't smell up the whole house, and also it would be nice for them to be able to look at our backyard when we're not home. Here is what the porch looks like: https://imgur.com/a/TwhhxbR So my question is, what type of contractor do I need for this? It seems like everyone who has the words patio or porch in their description wants to do big jobs like installing patio covers or build whole patios, while carpenters mostly seem to be focused on build cabinets, tables and doors. Am I searching up the wrong trees?
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Feb 3, 2020 23:08
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Is there such a thing as an in-stock cabinet manufacturer that does 3/4" plywood construction, Shaker doors, and normal wood stains with a turnaround time that's shorter than 7-9 weeks?
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Feb 4, 2020 14:53
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I worked in the commercial furniture industry for a few years and 3-4 weeks lead time is pretty fast. Since most of that stuff (the good stuff) is built domestically the plant managers prefer minimum 4 week lead time to schedule factory shifts efficiently etc etc and then the shipment needs to get scheduled, plus another five days to ship and you're already at 5 weeks. Throw in a badly timed weekend or holiday, a late materials shipment to the factory, or your lead Carpenter is in jail for drunk driving (again) and six weeks is pretty safe guesstimate. Tack on an extra week slop time in case poo poo goes sideways so the shipment arrives on time or early. Furniture factories are extremely blue collar and the only two people who know what day of the month it is are the plant manager and the payroll secretary. You can bump the order up but you need a line to the factory floor and be willing to pay 15-20% expedite fee. If you ask they might have some extremely common items "fast ship" but you're stuck with those color options. If you want off the shelf prebuilt stuff they can get it to your house tomorrow, Ikea has a bunch of options but nothing truly custom Talk to your furniture guy, build rapport see if they can get more info from the factory and see if they have options that could ship faster Not sure but I'm guessing they have to stop production for 3/4"-1" cabinets because all their machines are probably tooled to do 3/8 and then que up other sizes and switch the whole factory over to 3/4" for a week, then back to 3/8". If you place your order a week before they tool for 3/4" it might be fast, or you might miss out on that cycle and get scheduled for the next one in six weeks Hadlock fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Feb 4, 2020 |
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Feb 4, 2020 22:13
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My 30 second google found me a ton of RTA cabinets with shaker doors available to ship in 5-15 business days if you're willing to go down to 1/2" plywood construction.
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Feb 4, 2020 22:19
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Sirotan posted:My 30 second google found me a ton of RTA cabinets with shaker doors available to ship in 5-15 business days if you're willing to go down to 1/2" plywood construction. My concern there is that the plywood is made from the Chinesium formaldehydus species. I'll learn to deal with the long lead time on the 3/4" plywood cabinets - my logic is that this is one of several setbacks, unforeseen issues, busted stuff, or just plain weird poo poo that'll happen in the course of a kitchen remodel, and if it means we start in April/May instead of March/April, it's a small price to pay. At least everything we have still works.
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Feb 5, 2020 21:15
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Well I guess I don't need to worry about my contractors getting dust everywhere from regular demo work anymore.  (Because it's going to be done through an abatement company.)
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Feb 5, 2020 22:49
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Stupid question: how do you take care of dormant sod...? We just had a bunch of landscaping done, and there's a small section of sod that was installed to pull in the edge of a mulch bed several feet. Thing is, it's bermuda, because that's what our lawn is (well, whatever isn't weeds), so it's dormant right now (still looks better than the rest of our lawn). So... are we supposed to water the hell out of it like you would with active sod? Do we ignore it until it becomes active, and THEN water the hell out of it? Or do we just ignore it completely and assume everything will be fine by the time it becomes active?
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Feb 6, 2020 15:08
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n0tqu1tesane posted:Isn't managing your construction a general contractor's job? A separate construction manager sounds redundant, so long as you've hired a good GC. I'm not really sure why we would want to hire him either. I honestly didn't even know this was a thing that existed.... we're going to talk to him (no commitment) in the next week or two and see what he's suggesting.
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Feb 7, 2020 01:36
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Is there a landscaping thread anywhere? I didn't see one here or in DIY but I didn't look too hard. Anyhow, we just had a bunch of landscaping done and it looks great, except we now have some drainage issues:  How bad is this? Obviously they intended for this to be the drainage path, but it doesn't look like it's working out so well. Granted, we had a TON of rain yesterday in a short amount of time, but I want to make sure this isn't going to wreck everything. This sort of rainfall happens at least 1-2 times per year. As an aside, most of that was previously grass, but was landscaped over because surface tree roots made it nearly impossible to maintain. It's always had SOME drainage problems, but never this bad.
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Feb 7, 2020 14:33
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