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What are the residential tree removal options generally speaking? All the tree care places I've been able to find are kind of a "have a guy walk around your property for 15 minutes and recommend what gets trimmed/cut down" situation. But part of me wonders if there is a more thoughtful way to go about assessing long-term tree health, since guys who get $$$ from cutting down trees are obviously going to want to cut down some trees. Although even as I write that, it occurs to me that an arborist doing a more thorough assessment/report of tree health would probably cut into our budget big-time when that money is probably better spent grinding stumps. We don't have trees imminently threatening the house, but some do have some storm damage. And we've got a couple stumps on property already, which likely suggests pest problems.
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Jan 7, 2021 18:08
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Chad Sexington posted:What are the residential tree removal options generally speaking? All the tree care places I've been able to find are kind of a "have a guy walk around your property for 15 minutes and recommend what gets trimmed/cut down" situation. But part of me wonders if there is a more thoughtful way to go about assessing long-term tree health, since guys who get $$$ from cutting down trees are obviously going to want to cut down some trees. A good tree place will want more trees standing for annual trimming. A bad one will just point at the biggest one and say it needs to go. Get a couple of estimates. Tell them you're looking for tree trimming and maintenance, not removal. If you tell them the latter you will anchor that in their head.
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Jan 7, 2021 18:13
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When I first bought my house I got quotes from 3 different tree places. All of them agreed on trimming the 4 giant Oak trees I have, and cutting down 2 small crappy pines on the property. Like H110Hawk said they're more financially incentivized to want those trees alive for more trimmings down the line. I can say that after years of neglect, having 3/4 trees now trimmed has made a big difference in their health to my untrained eye. The crown was raised and branches arent over my house as much. And the trees that I've had trimmed all kept their leaves a lot longer this year than the untrimmed trees.
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Jan 7, 2021 18:25
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Arborist posts itt have reminded me about a potentially dumb question I have about them. I am most concerned about the smaller trees in my yard, from a health perspective. I'm in the PNW and in the shadows of a butte\forest, so most of my yard gets very little sunlight. I'd like opinions on boosting a few of my smaller trees (or seeing if they were just never a good idea in their location and I should just remove them), like small cherry trees, japanese maples, dogwood (ok that one is kinda big, but it's also probably the healthiest). Would I query an arborist or a landscaper? Like is there a dividing line, maybe having to do with height\average branch diameter of the tree in question?
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Jan 7, 2021 18:35
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BaseballPCHiker posted:When I first bought my house I got quotes from 3 different tree places.
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Jan 7, 2021 18:39
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Dik Hz posted:This was similar to my experiences. When I was getting quotes on trimming some massive oaks, I was really struck by how much the tree guys love trees. Unless they're scum, the really love to see healthy big trees. This is what I was going to say. From a capitalist point of view alone it's better to have a repeat customer and maintain their trees. They grow slowly and that can be a day or two of work every two years. You'll need a lot of clients but eventually can be a big chunk of the schedule on maintenence. From a human point of view, arborists love trees! They want to live in a world with big healthy trees everywhere. Trees like to be cut and thinned and can be so nice. I'm looking forward to working further on my apple tree that has gotten so much healthier than when I moved in. In the end if you call a tree company and their eyes don't light up when they see your trees and they are not engaged in how they can improve your situation, move on. Somehow everyone on my block seems to have a preferred tree company, and it has to be because so many of them are so good and make you feel good for hiring them.
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Jan 7, 2021 23:15
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Woop woop. This morning my wife noticed that the faucet in the kids' bathroom tub was dripping. Got a new cartridge on the way home from work, going to replace this weekend... should keep the toddler entertained for a short while. Then after dinner, the oven started beeping randomly. Error code seems to indicate the temp sensor is open circuit. Now I have to troubleshoot that (apparently a quick ohm check should tell me). I mean it's like $120 in parts and a few hours of my time, but come on.... I still haven't taken all the Christmas lights down yet, and the tree is still up. Guess that'll be up for another week (at least). Do never buy.
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Jan 8, 2021 01:22
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Having seen a few American roof refurbs in here I figured I'd show what is going on with mine in the UK: The house is about 90 years old, and the roof is original, with clay tiles. We're getting a membrane installed as the tiles originally were sealed with grout that has now turned to dust. Keeping as many of the original tiles as we can and replacing any that are cracked.  The sloped sections of the roof can't be easily insulated from the inside, so while the covering is off, 50mm of insulation is being installed. I'd have preferred more but 50mm is as much as it'll take. The attic is going to get 300mm of insulation once we've fixed the ceiling joists which have sagged. Not an uncommon problem in a house of this age.  We also had lintels installed above all the window frames as the original windows were wood-framed and capable of supporting the bricks above.
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Jan 8, 2021 13:32
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If I am filing a homestead exemption form for a house I purchased last year, what year do I put for the tax year? I'm assuming it's not retroactive, so I just put 2021, right?
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Jan 8, 2021 17:21
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Bioshuffle posted:If I am filing a homestead exemption form for a house I purchased last year, what year do I put for the tax year? I'm assuming it's not retroactive, so I just put 2021, right? I'm in Texas, and this is what I would do. Here you can only get homestead exemption on a house you occupy on Jan 1st of that tax year. We bought in July so we didn't get the homestead exemption until the next year.
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Jan 8, 2021 18:42
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Thank you for the tree suggestions! Had my first estimate today for $3,850 for trimming 6 large trees, grinding two stumps and to clean up a shitload of branches and old logs. Have two more guys coming out for estimates next week.
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Jan 9, 2021 01:29
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I put out a refinance loan info request through Better (god, that was a mistake), and my current lender (Rocket Mortgage) reached out to me about running numbers on a refinance. They literally just tried to grab free money for nothing. I'm at 3.5% right now, and they came back offering 2.75%, for the low low price of $51K. They proposed a massive point buy-down from a starting interest rate of 4.25% (six loving points) as if that was going to convince me that it was worth it to save... $350 per month.
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Jan 9, 2021 02:46
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Wife found a drip coming from the basement ceiling while doing laundry today, right under our tub. We moved in... just over two months ago, so that's about right. It's an old house and the original tub so I'm not super surprised something has failed on it. I'm guessing the drain seal has gone on it but it could be anything. Plumber time I guess!
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Jan 9, 2021 02:47
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Sundae posted:I put out a refinance loan info request through Better (god, that was a mistake), and my current lender (Rocket Mortgage) reached out to me about running numbers on a refinance. They literally just tried to grab free money for nothing. I'm at 3.5% right now, and they came back offering 2.75%, for the low low price of $51K. They proposed a massive point buy-down from a starting interest rate of 4.25% (six loving points) as if that was going to convince me that it was worth it to save... $350 per month. Well, that’s the whole point of points right? Make poo poo as confusing as possible within the letter of the law, and most people will happily impale themselves on that sword if you can sell how great it is. It’s been so many years since I’ve had to mess with mortgage stuff so I just had to read up on how points work because I couldn’t remember. And if you start talking about how much lower your rate would be etc etc etc save money, it’s easy to obscure what can be a bad deal for people and get them to sign on the dotted line It’s the same sort of entrapment as variable rates. People struggle to think long term about stuff.
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Jan 9, 2021 04:55
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Sundae posted:I put out a refinance loan info request through Better (god, that was a mistake), and my current lender (Rocket Mortgage) reached out to me about running numbers on a refinance. They literally just tried to grab free money for nothing. I'm at 3.5% right now, and they came back offering 2.75%, for the low low price of $51K. They proposed a massive point buy-down from a starting interest rate of 4.25% (six loving points) as if that was going to convince me that it was worth it to save... $350 per month. Holy moley! I've refinanced twice over the years. The first time I let someone new buy the loan and got an OK deal I guess. The second time I called the provider and inquired and got a better deal. Turns out sometimes they'd rather keep you as a good asset and make a small amount than sell it. What the gently caress is RM smoking? And worse off, how often does it work? I thought long and hard before I added a few thousand to my balance outstanding to pay it off faster. I can't imagine adding 50k to save 350. That would take over 12 years of payments, not accounting for the time value of money. I'd buy a drat boat if I wanted that kind of ripoff. At least then you have a boat.
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Jan 9, 2021 04:59
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Sundae posted:I put out a refinance loan info request through Better (god, that was a mistake), and my current lender (Rocket Mortgage) reached out to me about running numbers on a refinance. They literally just tried to grab free money for nothing. I'm at 3.5% right now, and they came back offering 2.75%, for the low low price of $51K. They proposed a massive point buy-down from a starting interest rate of 4.25% (six loving points) as if that was going to convince me that it was worth it to save... $350 per month. Yeah when I went through my refi rocket mortgage were the most pants-on-head dumb when I was quote shopping. I actually did end up going with better. They did a great job in my case and I was able to continually bargain them down like 4 times using other folks' quotes. Their website was the only one that wasn't complete dogshit too.
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Jan 9, 2021 06:39
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El Mero Mero posted:Yeah when I went through my refi rocket mortgage were the most pants-on-head dumb when I was quote shopping. I actually did end up going with better. They did a great job in my case and I was able to continually bargain them down like 4 times using other folks' quotes. Their website was the only one that wasn't complete dogshit too. Better offered me a higher interest rate, and then promptly sold all my poo poo to god only knows how many people, leading to 40+ random-rear end mortgage-refi calls per day.
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Jan 9, 2021 08:22
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We had a 4.875% 30year that we were 10 years into and better did have some good options, but everyone had good choices for us. We ended up calling Chase, who we used for the original loan, and had a conversation that was like yeah we can pay less on a15 year with 3.125%, which we did, but we kept our payments the same as before and we’re putting more on the principle to get done earlier and be mortgage free after like 22-24 years of payments. If anyone had a +4% mortgage they’re paying your probably a phone call and some emails away from saving a lot of money.
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Jan 9, 2021 13:59
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El Mero Mero posted:Yeah when I went through my refi rocket mortgage were the most pants-on-head dumb when I was quote shopping. I actually did end up going with better. They did a great job in my case and I was able to continually bargain them down like 4 times using other folks' quotes. Their website was the only one that wasn't complete dogshit too. that was more or less my refi experience with better.com. initial offer wasn't great, they quickly bargained down multiple times after uploading competing LEs, and their website and phone support was good. they transferred my refi to their default servicer ("the money source" aka TMS), who promptly resold it a month later to a place that seems to have a good online interface and support. key part with better.com was just staying on top of them since the person in charge of most of the process was clearly dealing with like a bazillion other refis at the time, too.
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Jan 9, 2021 15:21
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I replaced a bunch of wall plates, can these be recycled anywhere?
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Jan 9, 2021 20:09
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See if you have a Habitat Restore in your area assuming you’re US, they take used building materials that are still useful.
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Jan 9, 2021 21:04
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devmd01 posted:See if you have a Habitat Restore in your area assuming you’re US, they take used building materials that are still useful. Perfect, thanks.
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Jan 9, 2021 22:09
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Sundae posted:I put out a refinance loan info request through Better (god, that was a mistake), and my current lender (Rocket Mortgage) reached out to me about running numbers on a refinance. They literally just tried to grab free money for nothing. I'm at 3.5% right now, and they came back offering 2.75%, for the low low price of $51K. They proposed a massive point buy-down from a starting interest rate of 4.25% (six loving points) as if that was going to convince me that it was worth it to save... $350 per month. What went wrong with Better? I spent the 10 minutes needed to get a competitive quote on my refi on friday and they beat my local lender by ~$4k. 2.75% on both but Better was offering $2200 in credits and $1800 lower apples to apples closing costs. I'm at 3.75% now so either way I'll be knocking ~$300 off my P&I.
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Jan 10, 2021 07:40
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Aquila posted:What went wrong with Better? I spent the 10 minutes needed to get a competitive quote on my refi on friday and they beat my local lender by ~$4k. 2.75% on both but Better was offering $2200 in credits and $1800 lower apples to apples closing costs. I'm at 3.75% now so either way I'll be knocking ~$300 off my P&I. They came back at higher than my current mortgage (3.5%), wanted $13,500 in points to get it lower, and within 24 hrs of hitting submit on their site, my phone started ringing off the hook with other lenders robocalling me (meaning they immediately sold / shared my info with everyone else).
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Jan 10, 2021 08:36
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My parents had a minor home repair project pop up last night. What do y’all think, will $400 and a trip to Home Depot do the trick? Driver got a DWI once they pulled the garage doors away to get him out of the car
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Jan 11, 2021 22:40
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Democratic Pirate posted:My parents had a minor home repair project pop up last night. What do y’all think, will $400 and a trip to Home Depot do the trick? Oh yeah me and my buddy can handle it this weekend for a six pack and some pizza.
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Jan 11, 2021 22:59
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Also if I'm not mistaken that looks to be a nearly new ('20 or '21 ish) Cadillac Escalade which could be totaled. That car starts at ~$75k. Fun night!
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Jan 11, 2021 23:26
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I’ve been hearing some scampering in the ceiling and the other day I saw a field mouse on my first floor. I assume they are trying to set up shop in my walls. Is there a no kill trap I can use to capture them or should I just call a animal control company to take care of it?
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Jan 11, 2021 23:48
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Inner Light posted:Also if I'm not mistaken that looks to be a nearly new ('20 or '21 ish) Cadillac Escalade which could be totaled. That car starts at ~$75k. Fun night! The fact that I was certain it was a Suburban, which is still very expensive, tells me that Escalades are still dumb.
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Jan 12, 2021 00:01
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Nitrousoxide posted:I’ve been hearing some scampering in the ceiling and the other day I saw a field mouse on my first floor. I assume they are trying to set up shop in my walls. Is there a no kill trap I can use to capture them or should I just call a animal control company to take care of it? They are mice. Kill them. Use traps. Snap their rodent necks. Seal up all penetrations.
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Jan 12, 2021 00:02
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Inner Light posted:Also if I'm not mistaken that looks to be a nearly new ('20 or '21 ish) Cadillac Escalade which could be totaled. That car starts at ~$75k. Fun night! It was an Escalade, and in surprisingly good shape for a car that plowed through a building with no attempt to brake. Both cars in the garage are looking rough, so I’m sure his insurance will love that he potentially totaled three cars and took out a garage in one go.
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Jan 12, 2021 00:08
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To the limits of his property damage coverage, at any rate. Better hope he didn't spring for state minimums.
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Jan 12, 2021 00:18
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StormDrain posted:They are mice. Kill them. Use traps. Snap their rodent necks. Seal up all penetrations. This is the only way. Glue traps are inhumane IMO, and poison will get in to any predators/scavengers that find the corpse (or they'll wander off and die inside your walls and stink up the place). Snap trap baited with peanut butter. Instant kill, reset and catch the next dozen (there are so many more waiting). kw0134 posted:To the limits of his property damage coverage, at any rate. Better hope he didn't spring for state minimums. Big flashy (and useless) car like that has got to be an arm and a leg to insure, so yes probably state minimums. Doubtful that there's an umbrella policy waiting in the wings, and I'm going to say a pile of negative equity rolled in to the lease, which was purchased based on monthly payment so there's probably no savings to speak of. (edit: I have no respect for owners of suburban assault vehicles; I assume the worst) DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Jan 12, 2021 |
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Jan 12, 2021 01:28
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if it’s a lease (or financed) it has to have full insurance coverage.
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Jan 12, 2021 01:47
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Their UIM may help as well
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Jan 12, 2021 01:49
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DaveSauce posted:This is the way. Say this when you clean up every trap.
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Jan 12, 2021 02:18
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Nitrousoxide posted:I’ve been hearing some scampering in the ceiling and the other day I saw a field mouse on my first floor. I assume they are trying to set up shop in my walls. Is there a no kill trap I can use to capture them or should I just call a animal control company to take care of it? I've used https://www.amazon.com/Authenzo-2018-Upgrade-Version-HumaneMouseTrap/dp/B07BMTWQCY/ or the many others like it and they work pretty well. Note it's pretty inhumane if you forget to check it every day  The bucket flip traps work really well for mass infestation and there's no mess like snap traps.
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Jan 12, 2021 02:30
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TheWevel posted:if it’s a lease (or financed) it has to have full insurance coverage. That only means full coverage for the vehicle so the bank gets made whole if you write the car off. Doesn't mean poo poo with regards to whatever liability limits there are. At least here in AZ, writing off a moderately nice used car would be enough to exceed state minimum liability.
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Jan 12, 2021 02:43
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TheWevel posted:if it’s a lease (or financed) it has to have full insurance coverage. Yeah but the lender only cares about collision/comprehensive. Liability is what would pay for the garage/cars here. Functionally I dunno if you can get a sufficient plan but still have state minimum liability, though.
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Jan 12, 2021 02:45
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KS posted:I've used https://www.amazon.com/Authenzo-2018-Upgrade-Version-HumaneMouseTrap/dp/B07BMTWQCY/ or the many others like it and they work pretty well. Note it's pretty inhumane if you forget to check it every day I'll give these a shot. I want to avoid killing it if I can. The mouse, I think it's only one but who knows, is pretty bold. It popped out from behind the cushions on the couch right next to me while I was sitting there, so hopefully it won't be afraid to take a nibble from the trap.
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Jan 12, 2021 02:52
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