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Looking for advice on crawlspace insulation. The original hardwood floors and bathroom tile in our recently purchased 1950's rancher are pretty cold and I was wondering if insulating the subfloor in the crawlspace would be a good idea, and if the cost of rockwool over fiberglass would be worth it. Does anyone have first-hand experience with insulating a crawl space and if they felt a temperature difference afterwards? I dig the moisture and fire resistance of rockwool but it's around 50% more expensive and I've got around 1000 sq/ft to cover. I was down there recently on a cold day and the crawl space is seemed reasonably well insulated otherwise, like it wasn't super cold. Concrete slab, no detectable moisture and the walls are insulated with old batt insulation and vapor barrier. Floor vent HVAC runs and some electrical is run through the crawlspace. We live in North Vancouver, where temperatures range from 10 to -5 Celsius in the winter.
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Dec 27, 2020 17:56
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Is there an AirBnB thread somewhere? A neighbor sold their house and the new people arrived, did a bit of work on the house, waved and said we are turning this into a short term rental. Since then we have had groups of 10 to 15 people every four days. poo poo has gotten crazy and I wonder if other goons are on either side of the AirBnB issue--either super hosting or living next door to a airbnb.
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Dec 27, 2020 19:59
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HycoCam posted:Is there an AirBnB thread somewhere? A neighbor sold their house and the new people arrived, did a bit of work on the house, waved and said we are turning this into a short term rental. Since then we have had groups of 10 to 15 people every four days. poo poo has gotten crazy and I wonder if other goons are on either side of the AirBnB issue--either super hosting or living next door to a airbnb. That sucks. I'd start with my local/municipal code enforcement and make sure they are aware of how this building is being used. I'd put even money on it being an unpermitted use. Totally depends on where you live and what paperwork they have or haven't filed. The headshot on this is if it was bought as if it was a primary residence with a mortgage and insurance indicating that (even better if it's an FHA loan) and then they immediately turned it into a rental. It would take some digging but if it comes down to it that could be sufficiently evil for an airbnb shithead.
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Dec 27, 2020 20:06
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HycoCam posted:Is there an AirBnB thread somewhere? A neighbor sold their house and the new people arrived, did a bit of work on the house, waved and said we are turning this into a short term rental. Since then we have had groups of 10 to 15 people every four days. poo poo has gotten crazy and I wonder if other goons are on either side of the AirBnB issue--either super hosting or living next door to a airbnb. You just gotta go into your backyard and shoot a gun in the air a few times a month at night. (Don't actually do this)
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Dec 27, 2020 20:27
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HycoCam posted:Is there an AirBnB thread somewhere? A neighbor sold their house and the new people arrived, did a bit of work on the house, waved and said we are turning this into a short term rental. Since then we have had groups of 10 to 15 people every four days. poo poo has gotten crazy and I wonder if other goons are on either side of the AirBnB issue--either super hosting or living next door to a airbnb. It's creepy/rear end in a top hat neighbor poo poo, but start keeping a written journal of when people are staying there so when you go to the city you can say for sure that nobody lives there full time and it is being used exclusively (or even majority) as a rental. Using a residential zoned property as a full-time, short-term rental may or may not be allowed in your city. Occasional short-term use probably is allowed, and you need to be able to show that they are in fact using it much more often than however 'occasional' is defined in the city ordinances. If they're using it full time as a rental, the city is probably going to want the lodging tax they likely aren't paying and their homeowners insurance also isn't going to like the fact that's it being used as a short-term rental with dozens of different people staying there per year. If you have an HOA they are sure as gently caress gonna care too. There also every chance that the property owner has all their ducks in a row and this is completely legal and all you can do is go Be Angry at city council meetings. There are also lawyers who specialize in real estate law-if you can prove they are damaging your property value or being a nuisance or something idk, maybe you have some grounds to sue, but IANAL and have no idea. There's a Legal Advice thread in A/T? that you might ask in as well.
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Dec 27, 2020 23:41
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Looks like running a microwave and a toaster oven on the same outlet was no bueno because the outlet no longer works. The breaker, however, did not trip. I flipped it just to be sure but nothing. There is a GFCI outlet in the kitchen but it should be wired separately; I reset it just in case and nothing. I figure my next step is probably to just replace the outlets with GFCI outlets but anything to do before/beyond that?
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Dec 27, 2020 23:51
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totalnewbie posted:Looks like running a microwave and a toaster oven on the same outlet was no bueno because the outlet no longer works. The breaker, however, did not trip. I flipped it just to be sure but nothing. I would head over to the home wiring thread. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3090739 You have to figure out why you're not longer getting power out of the outlets. Replacing them blindly with GFCI's isn't going to solve your overcurrent (well now lack of current) issue. How old is your house? How old is your panel? What brand name is your panel? Do you have appropriate tools for working on electricity such as a non-contact voltage tester and/or multi-meter?
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Dec 28, 2020 00:01
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totalnewbie posted:Looks like running a microwave and a toaster oven on the same outlet was no bueno because the outlet no longer works. The breaker, however, did not trip. I flipped it just to be sure but nothing. I might be missing something, but the logic from "an outlet is broken" to "replace multiple outlets with GFCIs" is escaping me. What is your end goal here?
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Dec 28, 2020 00:01
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totalnewbie posted:Looks like running a microwave and a toaster oven on the same outlet was no bueno because the outlet no longer works. The breaker, however, did not trip. I flipped it just to be sure but nothing. Dumb question, but if the outlet isn't working, are you positive you are playing with the right breaker? Do you have a way of determining that there is truly power to the outlet like a non-contact tester? What brand is your panel/breakers? How is the wiring connected to the outlet? Back-stabbed? Agree with others, unclear what you think a GFCI is going to add to this situation. And GFCIs aren't necessarily wired separately, regular outlets can be daisy-chained off of a single GFCI and get protection from the upstream device. ROJO fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Dec 28, 2020 |
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Dec 28, 2020 00:47
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SpartanIvy posted:You just gotta go into your backyard and shoot a gun in the air a few times a month at night. Just keep pissing on the shed.
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Dec 28, 2020 01:17
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I was honestly just going to find a electrician but figured I'd ask a free internet resource first  I figured I should replace it with a GFCI outlet at some point regardless of the current situation so this seemed like a decent impetus to actually do that.Beyond that, I figured if that didn't fix it then I'd just find an electrician but again, doesn't hurt to ask first. I might just go with electrician but I'll have a gander over there to see if there's any easy steps I can take before that. You know, if there's any hanging fruit so low I have to bend down to grab it.
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Dec 28, 2020 02:34
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SpartanIvy posted:You just gotta go into your backyard and shoot a gun in the air a few times a month at night. This is your chance to hang out in the backyard in a threadbare bathrobe and stained tighty whities...
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Dec 28, 2020 02:38
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falz posted:So I've started this project for realz. Habitat for Humanity took my old kitchen on Dec 23 (except sink, keeping until last moment), I patched and painted yesterday, and today hung rails and am 'test driving' upper cabinets. I vetted option 2) and realize that I hate all full sized microwaves. These ikea upper cabinets are 15" deep, all microwaves are made for 12" deep. One can adapt it by poking out a bit but that's annoying. The problems are generally that the recirc vent is in the way, the door is dumb and opens outside of the frame and would bump the cabinet, and so on. It's super annoying too because the photoshopped images of the micro in a sleek kitchen on the manufacturers website show it mounted INCORRECTLY and it would never be anywhere near flush with the cabinets. I am a fan of my micro having no big dumb handle and the keypad is hidden behind the door, so i'll just keep it:  I stumbled across someone doing like my item 3) above, so i'm going to attempt to pull that off. I already started item 1) of drywall patch, fingers crossed, but it should be mostly hidden behind. I'm going to do a backsplash later anyway, if its utter garbage i guess I can expedite that: 
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Dec 28, 2020 14:25
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Motronic posted:That sucks.  The house was also a flip. Young folks bought the house as a foreclosure. Gutted the entire house from the roof to cutting in new drain lines in the slab and replacing the electrical--all without a single permit or inspection. That young couple then flipped the house to the AirBnB folks (Foreclosure price: $275K, flip price: $635--so the young couple made out like bandits!!) Anyhow, I wonder how to get hold of the new owner's insurance company so they know the history of the house SpartanIvy posted:You just gotta go into your backyard and shoot a gun in the air a few times a month at night. Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Call your local government's planning/zoning department and tell them what you think is going on. They should be able to give you some idea of what uses are/are not allowed at that address. Your municipal code is probably online somewhere and the zoning part/permitted uses part is where you can do your own research. The restrictive covenants specify the properties can only be used for residential use. The owners mentioned their insurance only allows them to rent for six months out of the year. Which makes me think they have a specialized insurance policy for commercialized short term rentals and wonder if that has any legal ramifications. Our local attorneys handle real estate transactional law, but not litigation. After the holiday break, we'll get some better legal advice. My legal question is how far will/what kind of success would pursuing the "loss of quiet enjoyment" angle get.
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Dec 28, 2020 20:22
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HycoCam posted:Strange as this sounds--this is actually something others in the area have recommended. In our rural area, dogs barking, gun shots, and industrial sounds are specifically excluded from the noise ordinances. Other locals have decided the only way to stop the renters is to make sure everyone has a one star experience. Chainsaws, wood planners, and skeet shooting under spotlight have proven to be effective. I love this. HycoCam posted:My legal question is how far will/what kind of success would pursuing the "loss of quiet enjoyment" angle get. As you will be told in the legal thread (note, "legal thread" not "legal advice thread" because a lawyer can not provide legal advice to someone who is not their client): that's a great question for a local attorney who practices this type of law.
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Dec 28, 2020 20:30
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Hoping all you savvy home owners might be able to help me with this question. I am in the process of buying a new home and there are prior insurance claims on the house made by the home owner who was renting the house out. When I get a new insurance policy on this house does anyone know if those claims filed will come to haunt me and will increase my premiums?
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Dec 28, 2020 23:07
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After a couple of rental properties with issues and one of them being scooped up by a rental management firm, we put an addendum into our HOA covenants that required that all properties be owner-occupied, with an opportunity to appeal to the HOA board. The rental company sold it three months later.
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Dec 28, 2020 23:41
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Wang posted:Hoping all you savvy home owners might be able to help me with this question. I am in the process of buying a new home and there are prior insurance claims on the house made by the home owner who was renting the house out. When I get a new insurance policy on this house does anyone know if those claims filed will come to haunt me and will increase my premiums? The relationship will be between you and the insurance company. To the best of my knowledge, insurance companies do not share claim history between themselves. So unless you choose the same insurance company--not sure how they would know the previous owners claim history.
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Dec 29, 2020 02:56
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devmd01 posted:After a couple of rental properties with issues and one of them being scooped up by a rental management firm, we put an addendum into our HOA covenants that required that all properties be owner-occupied, with an opportunity to appeal to the HOA board. The gift basket contains a half eaten muffin, used bar of soap, a few twigs, and an empty airplane shower bottle along with a note--"Please leave a one star review for your stay and never come back. Go home. Take your money and find another place to rent. Do not subject more people to the awful time we hope you have."
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Dec 29, 2020 03:05
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HycoCam posted:To the best of my knowledge, insurance companies do not share claim history between themselves. What????? https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/homeowners-insurance/clue-report/ 7 years.
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Dec 29, 2020 15:21
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Motronic posted:What????? Neat, I had no idea.
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Dec 29, 2020 16:03
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Motronic posted:What????? Thank you for new the knowledge!
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Dec 29, 2020 16:27
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It’s me I’m the thread title again. I happened to notice that my sump pit was basically full of mud/rocks in the bottom 6+” so I grabbed a bucket and started scooping it out. Before I could get some rock supports underneath the sump pump it slipped off of the check valve, managed to trigger the float, and started spraying water everywhere before I could grab the power and pull it. The clamp was of course rusted shut so I had to run to the hardware store and pick up a few more to get it reattached.  
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Dec 29, 2020 21:47
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haha man that looks like a mess. good luck. speaking of sumps, what do people think of "builder-grade" sumps (found in most homes) vs. fancier pits and sumps such as sumps here https://sumppumpguides.net/ and here https://www.basementsystems.com/sump-pump/sump-pump-features/sump-pump-basin.html (just googling for fancy sump pits)?
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Dec 29, 2020 21:57
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devmd01 posted:It’s me I’m the thread title again. I happened to notice that my sump pit was basically full of mud/rocks in the bottom 6+” so I grabbed a bucket and started scooping it out. Before I could get some rock supports underneath the sump pump it slipped off of the check valve, managed to trigger the float, and started spraying water everywhere before I could grab the power and pull it. What exactly were you trying to accomplish there? And what do you think is supposed to be at the bottom of a residential sump pit?
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Dec 29, 2020 23:59
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Wasn't sure exactly where to put this or if anyone would care, but I'm off this week and having some fun with thermometers and the effects of insulation and air penetration: I built a chicken coop over the summer that basically uses standard wood frame home construction. The walls/floor are 2x4 studs with OSB on the chicken side and wood siding sheathing on the outside. This is insulated in the walls and floor with standard r13 fiberglass, and the ceiling is actually a sheet of r7.5 foam insulation, because the roof is designed for ventilation in the summer. It also has a standard cheap double pane vinyl home window with r? on one side. I've got an inside and outside thermometer that I keep in it and keep an eye on because my chickens are young and I want to be sure their coop stays above freezing overnight. So, with the entire coop closed up and a little heat panel that kicks off about 120 degrees on its surface, the coop stays about 20 degrees above ambient temp outside. When I open the window just an inch for some ventilation (recommended with chickens), giving about 20 square inches of free air movement, that drops to about 10-12 degrees above ambient. When I open their 1.5 square foot door, which is about 1% of the surface area of their cube, the interior is more like 5-6 degrees above outdoor ambient. I know that every guide to energy efficiency talks about weatherstripping and filling in even tiny gaps, etc, etc, but I always felt like "meh, what's a couple square inches vs this giant wall." Turns out, quite a lot!
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Dec 30, 2020 02:17
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stealie72 posted:When I open the window just an inch for some ventilation (recommended with chickens), giving about 20 square inches of free air movement, that drops to about 10-12 degrees above ambient. When I open their 1.5 square foot door, which is about 1% of the surface area of their cube, the interior is more like 5-6 degrees above outdoor ambient. It's amazing the difference between basically r5 and airflow. Once you have legitimate separation of your heat exchangers through insulation suddenly everything else is an order of magnitude worse. Fun experiment! You should slap a kill-a-watt on your heater, I bet it's also drawing substantially more to hold the temperature at +10 instead of +20. Last night standing next to my front door which I knew was drafty I could feel all the way around the edges the 40f air blasting in. That's the first time I've really felt it be that bad. Hilariously it swells shut in the summer and can be hard to open. (Though you can see daylight under it.)
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Dec 30, 2020 02:30
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Motronic posted:What exactly were you trying to accomplish there? And what do you think is supposed to be at the bottom of a residential sump pit? Cleaning out the accumulated years of sediment that has washed into the sump pit through the pipes. See the bucket contents, it’s half full. The sump pit is lined so ideally there is nothing in there except the pump. I don’t want all the sludge/rocks getting sucked into the pump impeller. I added some extra rocks/bricks to support the pump at the proper level so it won’t move.
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Dec 30, 2020 02:46
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devmd01 posted:Cleaning out the accumulated years of sediment that has washed into the sump pit through the pipes. See the bucket contents, it’s half full. The sump pit is lined so ideally there is nothing in there except the pump. I don’t want all the sludge/rocks getting sucked into the pump impeller. I added some extra rocks/bricks to support the pump at the proper level so it won’t move. Okay, if it was impinging on the pump intake, sure. Otherwise......whatever. It's obviously below your tile drain inputs, and that's what it's there to deal with.
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Dec 30, 2020 02:54
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How does sump pump placement work? Will placing it anywhere in the basement keep the water level under the whole slab lower? With recent snow melt and rain at the same time the ground water level for high enough that water came up from the low spots in the basement (1924 building, probably built with dirt floor, has a pretty bad cement floor with a lot of cracks). There were a few spots with water coming up, on opposite sides of the basement. It looks like the water table might be high where we are. Most of the other houses on the street appear to have sump pumps but we do not.
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Dec 30, 2020 04:39
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The Slack Lagoon posted:How does sump pump placement work? A proper sump pump is the last piece of a chain of much more expensive things that have already happened. It's all about drainage....inside the house, outside the house.....it's situation specific. But that pit or pits are the culmination of all the water mitigation you've done that can't drain away form the house directly. The pit is merely how you dispose of the water you drew off after all of that other expensive work.
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Dec 30, 2020 04:58
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pmchem posted:haha man that looks like a mess. good luck. I can't recall ever hearing of the concept of a sump pump before I read about it on the internet. I am not sure it's a done thing here, only seen it in american homes. Might also be because basements are not as common here and I've never lived in a house with a basement. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Dec 30, 2020 |
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Dec 30, 2020 05:43
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His Divine Shadow posted:I can't recall ever hearing of the concept of a sump pump before I read about it on the internet. I am not sure it's a done thing here, only seen it in american homes. Our house in Sweden (built late 70s) definitely has a finished basement and definitely no sump pump.
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Dec 30, 2020 06:04
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The Slack Lagoon posted:How does sump pump placement work? Will placing it anywhere in the basement keep the water level under the whole slab lower? With recent snow melt and rain at the same time the ground water level for high enough that water came up from the low spots in the basement (1924 building, probably built with dirt floor, has a pretty bad cement floor with a lot of cracks). There were a few spots with water coming up, on opposite sides of the basement. It looks like the water table might be high where we are. Most of the other houses on the street appear to have sump pumps but we do not. Did you have water coming up in the middle of the floor, or around the edges of the basement? You might want to take a look at how those spots correspond to drainage outside, especially gutters and downspouts. We had a really lovely time the first year until I realized that one of the roof gutters basically dumped a bunch of water behind the house so it was just sitting against the back wall and then seeping down to the basement. Improving this to redirect water away made a pretty big difference. We still get water coming in like during the past big rain that also melted a bunch of snow, but it's way less than it used to be. At some point we're going to need to get someone to come out and try and figure it out, probably for a lot of money. Our basement is fieldstone and cinderblock walls with a very rough cement floor, the house is 1870 and I am guessing has been like this most of that time. I'm telling myself that this is just how it works for now and hoping for the best.
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Dec 30, 2020 06:17
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Motronic posted:The pit is merely how you dispose of the water you drew off after all of that other expensive work. His Divine Shadow posted:I can't recall ever hearing of the concept of a sump pump before I read about it on the internet. I am not sure it's a done thing here, only seen it in american homes. Just noting that many sump pumps in my area are there because people built houses on what I'll just call swampland, and that water line is just barely below the basement line. Yes you still have to deal with the normal things to shed water from your house, but the water line is like right there. It's dumb.
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Dec 30, 2020 06:41
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Motronic posted:Okay, if it was impinging on the pump intake, sure. Otherwise......whatever. It's obviously below your tile drain inputs, and that's what it's there to deal with. If this is the case I'd be careful about exactly where the sediment is coming from, make sure that the base material under your slab isn't washing into the sump pit and undermining the concrete around your pit. In other news, I've realized through this discussion that my sump doesn't have a check valve. Going to add that to my list of things to address at some point, though it works fine without. I'll have to make sure the discharge pipe is sloped appropriately, otherwise it'll freeze in the winter with a check valve as the pipe is definitely above the frost line.
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Dec 30, 2020 16:49
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Ok, dumb insulation question: I got a quote from a company to do more blown in insulation in my attic. I forget the exact r value they said it could get to, but basically if they bump it over a certain amount I can get a pretty large rebate from the city that almost pays for the whole cost of installation. The question I have is they said they would just blow insulation over the current stuff up there, not remove what’s there and restart. Is that a good idea? Does insulation ever go bad really? Would there be any concerns with doing it their way?
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Dec 30, 2020 17:07
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falz posted:Just noting that many sump pumps in my area are there because people built houses on what I'll just call swampland, and that water line is just barely below the basement line. Yes you still have to deal with the normal things to shed water from your house, but the water line is like right there. At this point you should just admit that what you're building should float. Just put it on pontoons with a discrete anchor chain for the inevitable flood.
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Dec 30, 2020 17:14
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L0cke17 posted:Ok, dumb insulation question: In all my experience things like can lights and air vents and fan boxes and attic access were all installed poorly or now leak. Typically they will suck all the insulation up (assuming it’s blown) and crawl around and build sealed boxes around these touch points, then blow it back on. If yours are all well insulated and there are no signs of wet or compacted insulation then sure you could just pile it on. If you don’t know then I would say you will probably want things sealed up first.
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Dec 30, 2020 17:49
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L0cke17 posted:Ok, dumb insulation question: Your insulation doesn’t “go bad” from sitting in the attic. Efficiency standards have gone up so you need more. It used to be common to only have insulation up to the top of the ceiling joists, then plywood laid over for Christmas tree storage. That’s a lot of lost heat. I did a similar basically-free blown-in rebate program. No regrets.
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Dec 30, 2020 20:39
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