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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Look up the model of the furnace, you must surely be able to find something online that tells you where to stick your lit match. No.. you don't understand it's not working... If it's working it can't be replaced until my states regulations are lifted. If it's not working it's essential. I mean I guess I can look up how to light pilot on a 1962 ac Delco oil furnace converted to natural gas.. but right now it's not working...
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Apr 7, 2020 01:36
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Even without the quarantine, if my furnace pilot light went out I'd try to fix it myself before looking to hire a contractor. With the quarantine I'd just try that much harder. Pilot lights go out all the time, I can't imagine that it's that hard to access. If you're trying to use this as an excuse to replace the furnace despite the quarantine...you can wait a month or two, geeze.
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Apr 7, 2020 01:43
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I'll probably try and light it tomorrow. A few of the companies said they'd come out and give quotes so I'll have to be at the house for a bit. Even then the temps aren't going to be too low and I'm not living there so not a huge deal.eithrt way.
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Apr 7, 2020 01:53
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At the bare minimum, watch whoever does it so if it goes out in the future you know how to relight it yourself.
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Apr 7, 2020 15:53
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Cormack posted:At the bare minimum, watch whoever does it so if it goes out in the future you know how to relight it yourself. yeah I've re-lit several boilers / furnaces but nothing this ancient, and nothing that's been oil converted to natural gas.
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Apr 7, 2020 16:05
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I wouldn’t think the oil to gas conversion would affect how you interact with the pilot light? But I’ve never dealt with oil-fueled/converted things. Also, do not underestimate the breadth of how-to repair videos on YouTube. I once found one on how to fix/reassemble my exact model of toaster, which was made in the 1930s. Also found one on relighting the oven pilot light in our lovely old Tappan range. I’d definitely attempt to relight myself before calling someone, especially during the quarantine. Mostly because my dad would make fun of me forever if I called a contractor to relight a pilot light (even one that’s weird/difficult to light).
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Apr 7, 2020 16:55
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I'm not calling ones to relight the pilot. I'm calling ones to quote a replacement and adding AC in an empty house that I will be moving into in a bit. So far 1 has come over, 1 had me take pictures and measurements, 1 is coming tomorrow. For the guy today I unlocked the house and opened the door then said go do your thing while I unload my van into the garage. When he was done I locked up, hand sanitized and then he called me with his questions on what I wanted.
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Apr 7, 2020 20:06
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tater_salad posted:I'm not calling ones to relight the pilot. I'm calling ones to quote a replacement and adding AC in an empty house that I will be moving into in a bit. So far 1 has come over, 1 had me take pictures and measurements, 1 is coming tomorrow. Your posts earlier stuck with me, I don't know where you live, and what the state orders are. I get that it's a opportunity to get things done but it's best for everyone to just wait. The installers have to interact with you, other clients, suppliers etc, and it's a few interactions that are avoidable if it's not an emergency.
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Apr 8, 2020 05:54
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Not sure what my states regulations on home improvements are. One company said they'd only do it as an emergency, the others didn't ask. If 3 of the 4 companies in getting quotes from aren't really having qualms about doing it then I'll let them do it at their discretion. When I was there yesterday I relight the light. Sorry for causing everyone so much stress. edit: 1. I looked into lighting the furnace today, there's no thermocouple / safety features to prevent gas from flowing if pilot is out. 2. Guy doing a quote today confirmed and said if we're not in the house to verify it's heating occasionally, he'd highly recommend not lighting the pilot as it's potentially unsafe if the pilot goes out again. When he reviewed everything he said that a lack of power should not have caused the pilot to become unlit so without knowing why it's out it's best to keep gas shut off to the furnace. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Apr 8, 2020 |
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Apr 8, 2020 11:34
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So we just had babby's first termite swarmer experience in our basement yesterday. Had two exterminators come out today and scope out the property, didn't see any mud tubes or anything really blatant but clearly something there. One suggested a Termidor treatment, including lots of drilling, while the other pitched the Sentricon system. Anyone have any preference here? I understand the Sentricon includes ongoing yearly costs with monitoring and bait replacement, but leaning towards Termidor just because it seems to be the more immediately effective solution given that we clearly have a colony in/near the house. Upfront costs were largely in line with each other so no real dealbreakers there - bids were $1200-1300 for either option.
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Apr 15, 2020 21:59
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Termidor is more effective from what I've read and the only reason to use sentricon baits instead is it earns the pest companies more money. I have both fwiw. I use a termidor spray around the perimeter of my house (and on my soffits for wasps) and I have bait stations. The termidor also fucks up carpenter ants.
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Apr 15, 2020 22:34
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SpartanIvy posted:Termidor is more effective from what I've read and the only reason to use sentricon baits instead is it earns the pest companies more money. Seems to be my view too. Sounds like sentricon would be a good preventative but we’re already hosed, so pump in those chems!
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Apr 15, 2020 22:53
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On domyown you can order your own bait stations and stuff too. That would be what I would do if I could redo it with what I know now. Taurus SC is the Termidor equivalent I use.
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Apr 15, 2020 22:56
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I'm actually looking at options for termite treatment too. We bought our house last year (April 2019) and had the termite inspection done with no problems. The prior home owners claimed they'd down a full treatment the prior October in 2019. A few months back I saw some tunnels pop up in the center of the garage between the concrete floor slab EJs but they stopped and didn't proceed any further and I haven't seen any more tunnels so far anywhere else. We had a termite company give us a quote for spot treatment but they recommended full perimeter treatment, using Dominion 2L. My wife and I have been trying for a second child, so we've been a bit nervous to do the full treatment given any chemica/pesticide exposure, especially during a first trimester, and I'm probably going to get some more quotes anyway. (The quote they gave for full perimeter treatment for a single story, 2100 sq.ft. house seemed ridiculousy cheap, like $480 for treatment + 1 year warranty or $670 for treatment + 5 year warranty. When she owned a condo several years back and we had Orkin do a termite treatment, it was like $800-900 for the perimeter treatment plus some wall foaming, using Termidor). I did see the Sentricon system, but does it actually work? Sounds like it's more a money grab, but since we don't have active tunnels currently that I know of, I was hoping it could be a decent option.
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Apr 16, 2020 18:56
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Any good places to order self install blinds and curtains? All places around me are closed for corona and I am taking ownership of my new condo next week
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Apr 17, 2020 03:36
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Does anyone have any thoughts on replacing skylights? I'm getting my roof redone and the guy offered to install new skylights if I buy them since he has to take out the old ones during the old roof teardown anyway. Is it just "buy something that fits the hole?" The current ones aren't anything special (two of them are actually diy out of poorly cut safety glass or some poo poo), and I don't get a lot of sunlight so I don't think tinting or domes or whatever are needed.
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Apr 17, 2020 07:56
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joepinetree posted:Any good places to order self install blinds and curtains? All places around me are closed for corona and I am taking ownership of my new condo next week There are a million websites online that are all basically reselling the same couple of brands. Pick one to get a bunch of free samples from, and then price out what you want from a handful of them to find the best price. They might not tell you they are just reselling Bali blinds, but the color code/name will be the same across the board. Quoting a post from the home spergin thread: Sirotan posted:
I just bought two more blinds for another room, one of which was the same size as above, and this time around Lowe's was the cheapest at $84.70. Lead time seems to be 3-4 weeks everywhere right now.
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Apr 17, 2020 14:04
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Also for simple blinds Passenger Pigeon on amazon is a cheap brand that does fit to size custom blinds pretty cheap. I put in 2 shades for like 50 dollars each and they were exact fits and perfectly fine.
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Apr 17, 2020 16:23
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Thanks. I also need to figure out what to do about the door in the master bedroom that has a large transom window above the glass door that leads to the balcony. I might just end up buying a cheap dyi option for a couple of months, even if 10 feet long shades look ridiculous, and wait till we can get someone to come over.
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Apr 17, 2020 16:52
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marjorie posted:Does anyone have any thoughts on replacing skylights? I'm getting my roof redone and the guy offered to install new skylights if I buy them since he has to take out the old ones during the old roof teardown anyway. Is it just "buy something that fits the hole?" The current ones aren't anything special (two of them are actually diy out of poorly cut safety glass or some poo poo), and I don't get a lot of sunlight so I don't think tinting or domes or whatever are needed. Standard is Velux, available at home depot.
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Apr 17, 2020 17:05
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Anyone here ever buy a wall bed (murphy bed)? I want to upgrade my guest room from an air mattress but not give up the floor space all the time. It seems like a good compromise. Any thoughts?
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Apr 18, 2020 18:05
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Slow Motion posted:Anyone here ever buy a wall bed (murphy bed)? I want to upgrade my guest room from an air mattress but not give up the floor space all the time. It seems like a good compromise. Any thoughts? I just had had this same thought yesterday, hopefully we have a few people with experience
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Apr 18, 2020 20:17
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I don't know if this is the right place to ask because I didn't see anything about it in the OP but is there any discussion or thread about buying properties to turn into rentals?
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Apr 18, 2020 22:50
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Marcus Elden posted:I don't know if this is the right place to ask because I didn't see anything about it in the OP but is there any discussion or thread about buying properties to turn into rentals?
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Apr 19, 2020 00:22
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Our new place has a small laundry so we're looking at compact washer and dryers, and the one we are looking at has both a vented and condensation versions of the dryer. Same price. The place has a vent there, so we could use either. Looking online it's like half of the reviews are that condensation dryers are absolute trash, and half are that they are the future and energy efficient, no lint, etc. Anyone with strong opinions either way?
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Apr 19, 2020 05:36
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Slow Motion posted:Anyone here ever buy a wall bed (murphy bed)? I want to upgrade my guest room from an air mattress but not give up the floor space all the time. It seems like a good compromise. Any thoughts? I bought this bed: https://bredabeds.com/murphy-beds/shop-metropolitan-collection/metropolitan-murphy-bed-w-hutches.html It's very nice, but it was kind of maddening to put together. Picture a giant Ikea piece of furniture, except at the end of assembling it you get to an unexpected step where you screw the steel frame to the hardwood front with 100 tiny screws, and if you drill too far on any one of them you'll have a hole in your bed. It is very nice though!
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Apr 19, 2020 06:09
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joepinetree posted:Our new place has a small laundry so we're looking at compact washer and dryers, and the one we are looking at has both a vented and condensation versions of the dryer. Same price. The place has a vent there, so we could use either. Looking online it's like half of the reviews are that condensation dryers are absolute trash, and half are that they are the future and energy efficient, no lint, etc. Anyone with strong opinions either way? They are super energy efficient but any positive reviews I've heard of them seem to couch/gloss over any negatives with the eco aspects, which makes me suspicious. If they had a combo model that is what I would trust (90% done via condenser, last 10% blasted out of the vent) but I don't think that exists on the market. I would buy a vented one. They're cheap and reliable. No frills needed. High / Low and a hook/tray for "lay flat" stuff.
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Apr 19, 2020 15:40
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H110Hawk posted:They are super energy efficient but any positive reviews I've heard of them seem to couch/gloss over any negatives with the eco aspects, which makes me suspicious. If they had a combo model that is what I would trust (90% done via condenser, last 10% blasted out of the vent) but I don't think that exists on the market. The added complication is that the sears outlet near me now has the pair I want (GE) but they only have the ventless version. It's about a 600 dollar difference for the pair (also the sears are refurbished versions, but with full warranty). We could just buy the washer there and the dryer at full price somewhere else, but the added delivery fee would eat into the savings. If it's a "ventless with dry in 75 minutes what a vented dries in 60," then savings are worth it. If it's "2 hours later and things are still damp" it might not be. It's weird because for other appliances I seem to be able to find all sorts of testing but for dryers its much harder to find.
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Apr 19, 2020 17:09
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ntan1 posted:Standard is Velux, available at home depot. Thanks for this. Picked up some - here's to hoping there not something weird about the skylight holes (especially those diy ones - is was hard to measure since the glass bit was larger than the opening, but it seemed like it might be a slightly non-standard size, which would explain the use of non-traditional glass). I assume the roofing folks can just re-cut holes or whatever if necessary.
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Apr 19, 2020 17:36
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joepinetree posted:The added complication is that the sears outlet near me now has the pair I want (GE) but they only have the ventless version. It's about a 600 dollar difference for the pair (also the sears are refurbished versions, but with full warranty). We could just buy the washer there and the dryer at full price somewhere else, but the added delivery fee would eat into the savings. If it's a "ventless with dry in 75 minutes what a vented dries in 60," then savings are worth it. If it's "2 hours later and things are still damp" it might not be. It's weird because for other appliances I seem to be able to find all sorts of testing but for dryers its much harder to find. Our samsung condensation drier takes 3 hours and fifteen minutes to dry out a load. Maybe it's the a+++ energy efficiency.
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Apr 19, 2020 19:00
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At 3 hours you might as well hang it on a line. I get that’s not an option most of the time but drat that is a brutally long wait.
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Apr 19, 2020 21:41
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Bird in a Blender posted:At 3 hours you might as well hang it on a line. Blame the DoE. Appliances have upper limits on energy and water consumption nowadays, so there's not much they can do. Getting rid of algae plumes and using less energy are generally good ideas, but they come with a cost. quote:Dishwashing cycle times have become dramatically worse under DOE standards, resulting in a drop in consumer satisfaction. A survey of 11,000 dishwasher owners by GE Appliances shows that cycle time is one of the four biggest reasons consumers are dissatisfied with the performance of their dishwashers. DOE itself has acknowledged this is caused by its regulations, saying: “To help compensate for the negative impact on cleaning performance associated with decreasing water use and water temperature, manufacturers will typically increase the cycle time.”
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Apr 19, 2020 21:52
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Yeah I'd only buy a steam / condensation dryer if it was the only choice. 3hrs a load is insane I do like 3-4 loads a day on my work from home day.. couldn't imagine 12hrs for drying. My brother has one and he mentioned 2-3 hrs to dry a load of towels.
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Apr 19, 2020 21:54
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I have a vent free condensation dryer and it takes an hour and 40 minutes to do a standard load? It's an Electrolux that I purchased because my basement barely can fit a washer/dryer and it was a 24" wide model that fit the stairs.
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Apr 19, 2020 22:06
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On a related note, is consumer reports testing worth anything? I've been looking for any sort of concrete data on this and they claim to have it, but behind a paywall.
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Apr 19, 2020 22:23
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joepinetree posted:On a related note, is consumer reports testing worth anything? I've been looking for any sort of concrete data on this and they claim to have it, but behind a paywall. I have a favorable opinion of them. I have a sub, what are you looking for? They’re testing seems pretty solid, but their reliability ratings are based on folks that fill out their surveys. I get one quarterly that I fill out.
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Apr 19, 2020 22:35
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skipdogg posted:I have a favorable opinion of them. I have a sub, what are you looking for? Their compact dryer ratings, though it seems that they've only tested the vented versions of the ones I am looking at. Since I will also be buying a dishwasher and a wall oven I might just subscribe for a month.
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Apr 20, 2020 00:03
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Ahh looks like my sub expired anyway.
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Apr 20, 2020 01:55
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I wanna buy a house that’s around 450k ish, but I want to know if there’s any assistance in Minnesota for first time minority homebuyers. how do I find this out?
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Apr 20, 2020 06:47
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PawParole posted:I wanna buy a house that’s around 450k ish, but I want to know if there’s any assistance in Minnesota for first time minority homebuyers. Minnesota has some first-time assistance programs overall, but there's a purchase cap involved at $330,100 or lower. Land trusts and other affordable-housing programs have income limits that, at first glance, put $450,000 out of responsible reach (ex: ~$80K for a family of four). The Minnesota Home Ownership Center that can give you better guidance than I can find with five minutes of Googling, but at $450,000 you're probably on your own, no matter what your creed or color. e: you might also want to ask this in the (House Buying Thread) Cassius Belli fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Apr 20, 2020 |
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Apr 20, 2020 08:02
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