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rt4 posted:Anyone have recommended brands or vendors of outdoor rugs? My balcony has a black rubber roof for a floor and it's terribly hot now that the sun is out. We get our outdoor rugs from Costco. They have some large, thin, plain colored outdoor rugs made from recycled plastic for only $15.
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May 25, 2020 16:23
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Sirotan posted:
For my next trick: it's (I presume) the same cancer causing magic they put in spackle tubes these days so you can tell when your patch is dry.
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May 25, 2020 18:05
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I had no idea that was a thing.
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What’s the best way to do spot fixes of water damaged wood flooring? I have engineered wood floors in my kitchen, and the refrigerator leaked enough that there’s a small area where the planks are coming up at the edge. I’m probably getting a new fridge, and I’d like to fix it to minimize chances for stubbed or cut toes. I’m not super excited about tearing up the floor, but there’s enough spare planks left over from when the prior owner did the floors to probably fix that section. Is there a way to add some surface to the damage, or should I bite the bullet and just replace that part of the floor?
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May 27, 2020 18:17
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How do y'all shop for homeowners insurance (esp if bundling with auto)? Filling in all the forms at each site one at a time is a huge loving pain in the rear end and they aren't giving me quotes in the end.
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May 27, 2020 22:52
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The Big Jesus posted:How do y'all shop for homeowners insurance (esp if bundling with auto)? Filling in all the forms at each site one at a time is a huge loving pain in the rear end and they aren't giving me quotes in the end. I call my local independent insurance agent, give them my info and let them get the quotes from the 30+ insurance companies they have access to. These guys have access to companies that don't quote direct to consumer. If you're so inclined, you can contact the popular big name companies local agents as well. Don't waste your time with insurance websites. Insurance is one thing I've found doing online isn't worth it. Super pro tip: See if you state has a Department of Insurance or something like that. Texas has a website where you can get sample quotes based on county and zip code and you can save some time and only contact the least expensive.
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May 27, 2020 23:03
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Posted this in HVAC but seems like this thread is more active. Unsure if I need multiple Window AC units to cool my top floor or if I can get away with one. No one here in Vancouver really uses AC that much I have no idea how it works and there's not really any specialty AC retailers I can call to get this question answered: quote:I need some window AC advice.
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May 28, 2020 17:58
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It depends on how much air flow there is between the rooms. You will, objectively, get a better more consistent experience if you put air conditioners in each room. But that's obviously more expensive up front and will cause more cold air to leak out from the gaps between the windows you have in each room. You can also look into mini splits. They will be significantly more efficient than air con units mounted in the windows. It can also work as heaters in the winter time. They do, of course, have significantly higher upfront costs however. They are the most affordable permanent solution for air conditioning for a house that isn't already set up for it I would say.
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May 28, 2020 18:12
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Nitrousoxide posted:You can also look into mini splits. They will be significantly more efficient than air con units mounted in the windows. It can also work as heaters in the winter time. They do, of course, have significantly higher upfront costs however. They are the most affordable permanent solution for air conditioning for a house that isn't already set up for it I would say. This house has ducting and a furnace that is apparently compatible with being hooked up to AC so I suppose if I wanted to pay for it that would be the most ideal setup, though like, I'm really not sure whether I need to spend the several thousands of dollars on that when Vancouver is only really obnoxiously hot for like two weeks. My interest in AC is kind of more of a band-aid to get me through a summer of working from home in this hot second floor office.
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May 28, 2020 19:43
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Femtosecond posted:This house has ducting and a furnace that is apparently compatible with being hooked up to AC so I suppose if I wanted to pay for it that would be the most ideal setup, though like, I'm really not sure whether I need to spend the several thousands of dollars on that when Vancouver is only really obnoxiously hot for like two weeks. If you're really just needing it for only this summer, it probably makes more sense to drop a few hundred on a window unit or two, which you might even be able to sell later. It'll be totally sufficient for your needs. But I'm an example of someone in a similar climate (Portland, OR) and a similar situation (ducted heat) who shelled out a few thousand for AC right after I bought my house and I don't regret it at all. I'm a big baby about heat, though, so I usually use it for a total of about 60 days throughout the summer, while most people here agree that opening the windows at night is sufficient to keep a house cool for most of the year.
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May 28, 2020 19:57
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Femtosecond posted:This house has ducting and a furnace that is apparently compatible with being hooked up to AC so I suppose if I wanted to pay for it that would be the most ideal setup, though like, I'm really not sure whether I need to spend the several thousands of dollars on that when Vancouver is only really obnoxiously hot for like two weeks. Sounds like you can start with one window unit for your foyer there and test to see if it gets you what you want. If it doesn't you can always go out and get more.
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May 28, 2020 20:03
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My HVAC system is original to the house (1981) and every year the inspector says "this thing still works and looks fine but like... it's not supposed to last this long... definitely replace it this year" I should really do that BEFORE it dies But also I have double pane aluminum windows so there's barely any point to having an HVAC system until I replace those
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May 28, 2020 20:14
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Democratic Pirate posted:Behr Premium Plus ($25/gal) for me because it’s the interior paint on all my walls and the second I put anything nicer on one wall I will have signed a binding agreement with my wife to repaint the whole house. My landlord many years ago, I rented a older duplex and the previous tennants lived there for 10 years, and we both knew I was going to be there for at least 5 years so he said to me, pick out the colors you want for each room, and then tell me and I'll go buy the paint, but you have to paint it. So I ended up with a harvest yellow kitchen, light blue living room, deep red dining room, and sage bedrooms Anyways, yeah he got me the $25/gal behr premium plus and that's exactly what is going on the walls of my house now, it's a joy to paint with and doesn't scuff. I'm sure if you drew on it with crayons it would wipe right off. And it looks amazing. Current paint in my house, already has scuff marks just from moving in an general wear and tear after 6 weeks. It's absolute garbage.
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May 28, 2020 20:53
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:My HVAC system is original to the house (1981) and every year the inspector says "this thing still works and looks fine but like... it's not supposed to last this long... definitely replace it this year" Just maybe get some replacement quotes for replcaement and stick money in the budget for a replacement so when it dies you're ready.
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May 28, 2020 21:02
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joepinetree posted:So my wife and I need a lot more storage in our condo than what is in there (we come from an apartment with 2 walk in closets, and now own a condo with 2 reach in ones). Update on this: Had 5 different companies do consultations or virtual consultations on this. Quoted prices have ranged from 4k to 15k for a wardrobe that looks pretty much the same as the pax system we priced out at 2k (24 inches deep, 4 sections of which 2 are for hanging clothes and 2 are half drawers half shelving). Now if only Ikea would open up again...
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May 29, 2020 03:26
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I’m ready to build a small shrine to my laser level after installing a >100 inch curtain rod yesterday. I used a ruler and normal level to mark the drill holes, but having the laser as a second layer of measurement verification helped calm the mid-project “this is all going to poo poo” jitters.
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May 31, 2020 21:44
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:My HVAC system is original to the house (1981) and every year the inspector says "this thing still works and looks fine but like... it's not supposed to last this long... definitely replace it this year" I disagree, the cost savings of operating a new unit is much cheaper than an old one. It cut my electric bill in half when I replaced my AC.
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May 31, 2020 22:34
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joepinetree posted:Update on this: IKEA started doing curbside pickup if you know what you want and it's off the shelf stuff.
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May 31, 2020 22:36
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dalstrs posted:I disagree, the cost savings of operating a new unit is much cheaper than an old one. It cut my electric bill in half when I replaced my AC. I’m not sure how much the hvac gets used in Portland, where I think he lives. I can say if you live somewhere hot like Phoenix a new 14+ seer unit can pay for itself pretty quickly. I’m in south central Texas and my electric bill went down when I moved from a 1000 sq ft apartment to a new construction 1750 sq for home with an efficient hvac unit.
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May 31, 2020 22:49
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My ancient 1980s A/C unit costs approximately a dollar an hour when it's running (I figured this out because PG&E gives me access to my e-meter data, so I can see on hot days what happens to the electricity usage when the A/C is running and when it isn't, and the exact amount depends on where I am in the tiered electricity pricing on a given day, so that's a very very rounded-off number). If I assume back-of-the-envelope that a replacement would use half the electricity, and go with the handwaved ~$8k estimate my hvac repair guy tossed at me (he doesn't do that work himself, so it's not a quote, just a guesstimate), then breakeven ignoring maintenance costs is in 16,000 hours of runtime. In the past 10 years, keeping my old A/C running has cost me a grand total of about $300. That's so low that I might as well ignore it. So, 16,000 hours, figure it runs about 70 days a year, about 3 hours each of those days on average, so 210 hours of runtime a year, my breakeven on a new A/C is over 75 years. Even if I change my assumption to more like $2 an hour, and more like 400 hours a year, it's still a 20-year time span just to get to breakeven. Would a brand new unit even last 20 years? Now, like I said, any of those numbers could be way off, but it takes a lot of way off for it to make sense purely economically to replace the functioning A/C unit. If I'm suddenly hit with a breakdown that will cost a couple grand to fix, then I'll likely pull the trigger on a replacement, but until then, it's a no-brainer. I'm much better off focusing on improving my insulation. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 23:19 on May 31, 2020 |
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May 31, 2020 23:16
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Leperflesh posted:My ancient 1980s A/C unit costs approximately a dollar an hour when it's running (I figured this out because PG&E gives me access to my e-meter data, so I can see on hot days what happens to the electricity usage when the A/C is running and when it isn't, and the exact amount depends on where I am in the tiered electricity pricing on a given day, so that's a very very rounded-off number). If I assume back-of-the-envelope that a replacement would use half the electricity, and go with the handwaved ~$8k estimate my hvac repair guy tossed at me (he doesn't do that work himself, so it's not a quote, just a guesstimate), then breakeven ignoring maintenance costs is in 16,000 hours of runtime. I've been outside in the back yard playing a lot these days where I can see our  meter scroll through its digitial output, and our baseline houeshold power consumption is something like 400w. When our cheap 10 year old AC unit kicks on this jumps to somewhere around 3700-4000w, so ~3.3kw/h of run time. Our power bill is a cluster gently caress of numbers, but it's $0.31/kwh for generation in the summer. Picking a random weekend where it wasn't super hot out and I wasn't using my office minisplit, we used 28,620 watt-hours of power, subtracting the baseline 9600watt-hours comes to ~19,000whr's, or 19kwh, or ~$6/day for cooling. At (pretend) $12000 to replace this stuff that's 2000 days or 5 years just to match cost, no savings. If it only saves 25% in usage that suddenly becomes 20 years.One random HOT weekday we used 43.31kwh of juice, but that includes me working in my office with the minisplit going. No clue how much that thing pulls. Compared to insulating my house which cut my electric bill in half or more. Start with insulation, windows (GGGC already did?), then move on to the unit itself.
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May 31, 2020 23:40
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skipdogg posted:I’m not sure how much the hvac gets used in Portland, where I think he lives. I can say if you live somewhere hot like Phoenix a new 14+ seer unit can pay for itself pretty quickly. I’m in south central Texas and my electric bill went down when I moved from a 1000 sq ft apartment to a new construction 1750 sq for home with an efficient hvac unit. Yeah, for Portland the math is probably different. For my case (Dallas), my electric bill went from $300-400 May-Sept to sub $200 every month. I paid about $7k for my new 16 seer system. I haven't replaced the windows yet but the quotes I have gotten on those have been $10k++.
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Jun 1, 2020 00:55
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31 cents per kWh? Must be some primo power.
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Jun 1, 2020 00:57
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:31 cents per kWh? Must be some primo power. Socal, investor owned. Those stock holders gotta pay for their yachts somehow. I lied, blended price is $0.246/kwh for this past month ($196.71/804kwh). Marginal cost before all the bullshit is $0.22992/kwh right now in "teir 2", it jumps $0.20/kwh more if I go above 1500kwh, which I used to do. In non-summer months where we run the AC very infrequently we're in T1 power, which is $0.06 cheaper. I have a very dim view of SCE.
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Jun 1, 2020 01:09
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So, in non-summer it’s 17 cents base, in summer it’s 23 cents base, and (in summer) its 43 cents above 1500kwh?
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Jun 1, 2020 01:13
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H110Hawk posted:I've been outside in the back yard playing a lot these days where I can see our Do your numbers above assume the A/C runs the same number of days per week/month, year round? Because if I repeat your math, $6/day for cooling for just, say, the five hot months of the year, 150 days, is $900 a year, or 13 and a third years to breakeven on a $12k replacement... not 5 years. And, an added bonus of doing the insulation: it also cuts your heating costs during the cold months.
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Jun 1, 2020 01:42
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These posts making me pretty scared to find out what my utilities bills are going to be my first summer in this house. 
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Jun 1, 2020 01:47
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Leperflesh posted:Do your numbers above assume the A/C runs the same number of days per week/month, year round? Because if I repeat your math, $6/day for cooling for just, say, the five hot months of the year, 150 days, is $900 a year, or 13 and a third years to breakeven on a $12k replacement... not 5 years. Yeah this was all based on my most recent bill I am holding in my hand and assuming that year round, that was very very hand wavey to get to 20 years - greater than or equal to the expected life of the unit. I have no idea what % more efficient a new system would be compared to mine in reality. This month has been generally mild, so $6/day is the low end of cooling costs. Once we hit July/Aug it will be 90F minimum and touch into 100-110F for probably a week or two. That will both make my AC run more hours/day, and push my avg $/kwh higher. It's hard to overstate how nice a well insulated house is, walls and windows. The whole house just stays near your setpoint longer, which makes it feel more comfortable. WithoutTheFezOn posted:So, in non-summer it's 17 cents base, in summer it's 23 cents base, and (in summer) its 43 cents above 1500kwh? Something like that, there are 3 different places I have to add up usage to get the "actual" number. Transmission, fees on transmission, various "our risk didn't pan out and investors can't lose money" fees, and generation charges, which also have surcharges on it but I think are fixed. A stark contrast to Pasadena Water & Power which was clear, much cheaper, and non-profit motivated. I think it was around $0.18 transmission+generation combined. Sirotan posted:These posts making me pretty scared to find out what my utilities bills are going to be my first summer in this house. If your walls aren't insulated I wouldn't delay. Blowing cellulose is a day or two of work for a contractor. H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Jun 1, 2020 |
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Jun 1, 2020 02:31
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Finally got my bathtub drains snaked clean. Sucked to watch $500 go poof but man, I should have done it sooner. So nice to take a shower without standing in water!
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Jun 1, 2020 19:52
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:So, in non-summer it’s 17 cents base, in summer it’s 23 cents base, and (in summer) its 43 cents above 1500kwh? I’m also SCE, here were my bills before summer. The tiers are condensed but also more expensive now.  My house was built in 2005 so insulation and windows were fine.
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Jun 2, 2020 15:43
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FCKGW posted:I’m also SCE, here were my bills before summer. The tiers are condensed but also more expensive now. Is that usage + distribution? Or just distribution? Here they recently condensed us into 3 tiers and still have rolling blackouts.
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Jun 2, 2020 15:52
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Ouch. Thanks for the info, though.
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Jun 2, 2020 15:56
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Finally got my bathtub drains snaked clean. A drain auger costs around $30 and isn't hard to use
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Jun 2, 2020 16:06
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Jose Valasquez posted:A drain auger costs around $30 and isn't hard to use I'll spare you the smelly hairy details but this situation required the Big Guns
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Jun 2, 2020 17:06
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After we bought two years ago, I swapped two of the toilets. When we lifted the one off the mount in the master bathroom, a three foot hair snake came up with the toilet base. No idea how you get that much hair in the toilet! I'm glad I didn't take photos, but kind of wish I did.
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Jun 2, 2020 18:14
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couldcareless posted:We get our outdoor rugs from Costco. They have some large, thin, plain colored outdoor rugs made from recycled plastic for only $15. Got a cheap one from Sam's, the thinking man's Costco, along with an umbrella. Cold beers on the balcony all summer 
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Jun 2, 2020 18:21
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This is how I look at energy costs The purple line is average daily temps, not peak temps. I can hover over one bar and see this:  Shows the whole electricity cost for that month. I have annual and monthly data going back about seven years. This is all costs associated with electricity and not gas, so I can isolate my A/C and other "hot weather" usage pretty easily. So, take the "baseline" electricity usage as the average height of the months October through April. It's around $65. Then take the five months May through September, and find the amounts over $65 for each of them, and add them together. That's a rough approximation of the annual A/C cost. It's not exactly right: during the summer it's light out later, so I might turn on the lights less, for example... but, my indoor lighting is all CFL and LED now so that electricity usage is fairly minimal. What we're really seeing for the "baseline" is computers, TVs, appliances, stuff that I'm pretty much using the same all year round. Last year (which uses current rates) I spent about $600 on electricity total for May through September. Subtract the ($65x5=) $325 baseline, and my A/C costs for a year were $275. It doesn't really matter if an $8k investment in a new unit etc. would save me half or a third or two thirds, the ROI is absurd regardless. It's 30 years even if the new a/c unit somehow cost nothing to cool my house. Now, in the name of saving the environment I might do it anyway, and if my current unit ever breaks in a way that is going to cost maybe a couple thousand or more to fix I'll do it anyway. But if I can improve efficiency by ten or twenty percent annually I'll save a hundred bucks or so a year on cooling and probably about that much again on heating, so it's the first thing to do for sure. And I'm under no illusions that somehow a new efficient A/C unit is going to save me tons of money. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 18:34 on Jun 2, 2020 |
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Jun 2, 2020 18:31
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H110Hawk posted:Is that usage + distribution? Or just distribution? Both. This was several years ago, I'm not sure what the tiers looks like now. This was back when I was doing the numbers on solar. Our section of SCE generation swapped out to one of those Community Choice Aggregation utilities last month that saved a couple bucks.
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Jun 3, 2020 01:26
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FCKGW posted:Both. This was several years ago, I'm not sure what the tiers looks like now. This was back when I was doing the numbers on solar. Clean Power Alliance - We're going to improve your experience by making generation fees more transparent and cheaper than SCE!***** ***** They are fixed at 2% cheaper than SCE. Any time SCE hikes their rates, we do as well.
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Jun 3, 2020 01:56
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 cross-bitching from the hvac thread: my hvac heard me bitching about it and decided to stop cooling.
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Jun 3, 2020 02:26
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Does anyone have experience with underpinning? We had cracks return after having them repaired ~3 years ago, and we are trying to figure out a few things. I had someone come out to do an inspection and provide an estimate for repairs. From what I can tell based on information from that and when we bought the house: 1) The sloping in the home appears to have not changed much from when we purchased it 7 years ago. We had a foundation/drainage/retaining wall inspection when we purchased and noticed some sloping toward the front of the house in front-half of the house and sloping to the right in the rear of the house (it sits at the top of the hill). From that inspection report and the recent inspection, there is pretty much the same sloping. 2) Recent inspection said that our mudsill anchors are not attached to anything for the middle part of the house (I couldn't find any mention of this in the previous inspection). Obviously recommended repairing this. 3) The estimate calls for 15 piers for underpinning the house, mostly on the right side. This is pretty expensive. I am looking to get another inspection/estimate done, but what I was wondering if anyone can say what happens inside the house if we go through with underpinning. Googling hasn't really turned up anything concrete, but I am just wondering if the tile in our bathroom will need to be replaced or windows or other parts of the house will get messed up in leveling the foundation. Other thing, is the underpinning even necessary?
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