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I've never had it presented as an option. I recall my sister had to lobby hard to have them drop it in Ohio. I've had to pay a shortfall and I've gotten refunds before, it's fine to me just paying one payment.
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Jan 26, 2021 20:02
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 These new windows will pay for themselves 
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Jan 26, 2021 21:28
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I opted not to use escrow cause I like doing all my own poo poo. My lender charged me a couple hundred in fees to do so because of higher risk of me loving up on my taxes or insurance. This is in TX where rah rah we don't have taxes we just pay for everything with insane prop taxes. I think it comes down to whether you are an OCD control freak or you want the easy button, there's no right answer.
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Jan 26, 2021 21:36
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Almost a year into me and my fiancée WFH and 2 kids schooling from home has finally made me realize I may want to replace my bedroom (“”office””) hollow core door with a solid core. There is just too much noise everywhere right now. Has anyone done this? Does it make a significant difference in noise? Would it be worth it to replace all 3 bedroom doors with solid core doors? I’m probably going to hire someone to do it because I don’t trust myself not to muck it up.
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Jan 26, 2021 23:53
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Replacing an interior door isn't a big deal at all. Plenty of YT videos out there. Solid core doors can help for sure, but you might be better off spending a few hundred on a really good set of noise cancelling headphones. If I ever custom build a house I'm doing interior wall noise insulation and solid core doors.
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Jan 27, 2021 00:29
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If there is a gap under your door plug it. Then add white noise machines: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GFSF402/ in your room and the rooms generating the noise. You might be surprised how much better your life is with them. I actually should pickup a new one for my kid's room, because after several years of it being on literally 24/7, plus traveling in a suitcase, plus him playing with the thing, the bearings in it are starting to have a pronounced rattle. We have solid core doors, but there is literally a 2" gap at the bottom that lets in a ton of noise, these help with all but the screamiest of babies.
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Jan 27, 2021 00:40
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H110Hawk posted:If there is a gap under your door plug it. Then add white noise machines: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GFSF402/ in your room and the rooms generating the noise. You might be surprised how much better your life is with them. I actually should pickup a new one for my kid's room, because after several years of it being on literally 24/7, plus traveling in a suitcase, plus him playing with the thing, the bearings in it are starting to have a pronounced rattle. As I recently found out, a white noise machine may inhibit your WFH productivity when you try it out for the first time and sleep so well you don’t wake up until 9:15am. Still in the office by 9:20 though.
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Jan 27, 2021 00:43
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Thanks for the solid tips. Found someone to come out and get exact measurements tomorrow. Although headphones etc. are valid ideas, I’m still leaning towards door replacement because tbh the noise issues extend beyond work hours and if a solid core door is an improvement, a few hundred for that luxury seems well worth it.
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Jan 27, 2021 01:19
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I propose my condo as the next new level for Phasmophobia. It'll be too easy, though: the entry foyer is always 15*F cooler than every area around it, including outside in the winter.  Haunted is the only explanation.
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Jan 27, 2021 02:04
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Highbrow Slick posted:Thanks for the solid tips. Found someone to come out and get exact measurements tomorrow. Although headphones etc. are valid ideas, I’m still leaning towards door replacement because tbh the noise issues extend beyond work hours and if a solid core door is an improvement, a few hundred for that luxury seems well worth it. It'll help. Don't expect perfection. A quick search gives a hollow core door an stc rating of 25 and a solid door around 35. It roughly translates to the decibel reduction. Post your experience if you do it though! I'd like to replace my master bedroom door.
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Jan 27, 2021 03:13
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Seriously considering buying an outdoor camera if only to catch the shithead that keeps leaving their dog poo poo in the hell strip out front of my house. Hell yeah, uncontested best use for cameras. I vote you figure it out and return their lost property. Preferably in a paper bag, and preferably on fire. I’m so sick of trashy neighbors leaving their trash in my front garden bed, or leaving the lids off their cans and letting it blow around—that was half the reason I put up a privacy fence last year. I was so sick of finding fast food wrappers and wonder bread bags in my back yard and driveway.
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Jan 27, 2021 03:44
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Looks like I'm doing the ol' refinance again. Dropping another point at least, saves me $3k in interest this year, with the same principal paid down.
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Jan 27, 2021 05:10
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Highbrow Slick posted:Almost a year into me and my fiancée WFH and 2 kids schooling from home has finally made me realize I may want to replace my bedroom (“”office””) hollow core door with a solid core. There is just too much noise everywhere right now. Has anyone done this? Does it make a significant difference in noise? Would it be worth it to replace all 3 bedroom doors with solid core doors? I’m probably going to hire someone to do it because I don’t trust myself not to muck it up. yeah I replaced a bathroom door and our bedroom door with solid core. I actually did the biggest fuckup and bought doors that were 1/4" too thick so each one weighs like 50 lbs haha. Hanging them went ok, a handyman dude I know helped me do the bathroom door as a learning project (his idea). I will eventually need to patch and redo the hinge screw holes because the house is 90 years old and all the screw threads in the jamb are shot and the heavy doors are pulling the hinges slightly out of position. Also my buddy cut off the tip of his thumb trimming the door because he was using a worm drive saw he had in his basement for 35 years and put the blade on wrong. The bedroom door needed to be trimmed as well since the jamb is like 3/4" lower on one side than the other due to house settling so I paid my contractor neighbor $120 to come over for 2 hours and help me put up the other one. overall not a fantastic experience I would say, but this video pretty much has the gist of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEd42dD9ihg the results are actually pretty good though majestic12 fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Jan 27, 2021 |
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Jan 27, 2021 05:14
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Sirotan posted:Escrow chat: how many of you use escrow? How many of you have gotten rid of it? I had an escrow on my first house. After the first year, Wells Fargo sent me a check for around $800, saying it was my refund for overpaying. 2 months later I get a letter saying they messed up my taxes and insurance, and I either had to make up a $2k shortage right away, or just increase my house payments by $100. In the townhouse I own now, I do not escrow. Property taxes are only $600 a year, and my glorified renter's insurance is bundled with my auto insurance into 1 monthly payment I make on my own.
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Jan 28, 2021 14:40
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I dropped escrow once I l discovered that I could pay my tax and insurance via credit card. Instant 2% back on some large purchases! I also replaced all interior doors with solid pine and it was an excellent move. Getting the slabs to fit just right in an older house was a bit of a pain but not super complicated Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Jan 28, 2021 |
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Jan 28, 2021 16:55
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Thesaurus posted:I dropped escrow once I l discovered that I could pay my tax and insurance via credit card. Instant 2% back on some large purchases! You can pay your taxes with a credit card for less than 2%? Where?
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Jan 28, 2021 17:14
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H110Hawk posted:You can pay your taxes with a credit card for less than 2%? Where? Denver. No fees on any CC payment.
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Jan 28, 2021 17:22
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Thesaurus posted:Denver. No fees on any CC payment. This is crazy to me. Why would the government willingly give you a >2% rebate on your taxes? (The 2% is passed along as a CC fee straight to the merchant, ontop of any other fees the processor charges. Round-about "you" are losing out in 2% + fee/population-paying-cash in government services. Just pretend with me that's how it works.) I know the answer is someone thought they were clever with a law. There was a great period in CA DMV land where they nixed the CC fee. They stopped so I mail them a check.
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Jan 28, 2021 18:29
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OSU_Matthew posted:Hell yeah, uncontested best use for cameras. I vote you figure it out and return their lost property. Preferably in a paper bag, and preferably on fire. I just installed a doorbell camera yesterday and it is very cool for knowing when packages get delivered to prevent porch pirates. Also potentially helpful because there's been a spate of car break-ins in the area. But my REAL use-case for cameras is going to be in my backyard for MY trashy neighbors. I've seen some deer that were way too cozy chilling in my backyard and I am hoping to use cameras/lights to keep them out of the raised beds I am going to build back there. Hoping to snag a cheap Wyze camera, but they've been having shortages.
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Jan 28, 2021 20:01
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Chad Sexington posted:But my REAL use-case for cameras is going to be in my backyard for MY trashy neighbors. I've seen some deer that were way too cozy chilling in my backyard and I am hoping to use cameras/lights to keep them out of the raised beds I am going to build back there. Hoping to snag a cheap Wyze camera, but they've been having shortages. So you've never lived near deer before. Whatever you think is going to work involving lights or cameras will not. I think we discussed this in the gardening thread. But you're looking at minimum 6 foot fencing, 8 is more realistic for larger enclosures where they know they can jump in and be able to run.
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Jan 28, 2021 20:35
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My neighbor would like to sell you some similarly effective squirrel proofing.
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Jan 28, 2021 21:32
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Motronic posted:So you've never lived near deer before.
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Jan 28, 2021 21:47
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H110Hawk posted:This is crazy to me. Why would the government willingly give you a >2% rebate on your taxes? (The 2% is passed along as a CC fee straight to the merchant, ontop of any other fees the processor charges. Round-about "you" are losing out in 2% + fee/population-paying-cash in government services. Just pretend with me that's how it works.) I know the answer is someone thought they were clever with a law. There was a great period in CA DMV land where they nixed the CC fee. They stopped so I mail them a check. I was curious too after I posted it here. Apparently the city concluded that they spend more money handling and processing checks, cash, etc. https://www.denverpost.com/2014/03/26/denver-drops-credit-card-fees-sees-surge-in-plastic-payments/ quote:Although cash and check payments carried no convenience fees, they actually cost more for the city to handle than credit card payments, Edinger said. Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jan 28, 2021 |
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Jan 28, 2021 23:11
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Thesaurus posted:I was curious too after I posted it here. Apparently the city concluded that they spend more money handling and processing checks, cash, etc. I'll be damned. I wonder if it's more expensive than the escrow payments? (As I understand it come as basically a monthly lump sum check and a csv of apn's and amount paid.)
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Jan 28, 2021 23:13
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Chad Sexington posted:I've seen some deer that were way too cozy chilling in my backyard and I am hoping to use cameras/lights to keep them out of the raised beds I am going to build back there. Thanks, I needed a deep belly laugh today. Those rats will eat anything that isn't nailed down or straight up poison. Daffodils are about the only thing that lasts through Spring around here.
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Jan 29, 2021 00:41
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Deer can be destructive even if they're not eating your garden: my dad planted a sapling only to have it destroyed overnight, all the branches snapped off. There were little bits of velvet at the crime scene, so a deer must have rubbed its antlers on it. The kicker is that he lives across the street from a forest.
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Jan 29, 2021 01:09
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Yeah my mom would use a thick wire mesh to put her whole garden in jail. Rather than the 8ft tall it was just a full cube of mesh. Makes everything just a little bit harder.
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Jan 29, 2021 03:17
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My dog happily gobbles up all the deer poop she can find 
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Jan 29, 2021 03:38
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Will those automatic targeting sprinkler things deter deer?
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Jan 29, 2021 12:31
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NomNomNom posted:Will those automatic targeting sprinkler things deter deer? Yes. Mine worked for about a week before they figured it out/got hungry enough.
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Jan 29, 2021 16:38
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NomNomNom posted:Will those automatic targeting sprinkler things deter deer? I have this one that's just a motion sensor. It appeared to work ok to keep the deer away from the garden, but I only used it one year (got it 2019, and then corona prevented us from planting a garden).
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Jan 31, 2021 04:33
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:
They last 10,000 years right?
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Feb 1, 2021 01:47
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After 13 years of living at one place (not only a record, but also the first place I lived at on my own), my landlord just told me that she is selling the property. While there is a chance that the buyer will want to keep the tenants, I started looking around just in case, and I think I found a former CIA black site.
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Feb 1, 2021 03:27
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theHUNGERian posted:After 13 years of living at one place (not only a record, but also the first place I lived at on my own), my landlord just told me that she is selling the property. While there is a chance that the buyer will want to keep the tenants, I started looking around just in case, and I think I found a former CIA black site. Those are called Conex boxes where I work (comes from an old military shipping container type); they're great little offices you can truck into a construction site and be moved over and over in ways mobile homes can't be. poo poo, I'd put one in the woods on a little concrete pad as a hunter's cabin. But they're not usually plumbed for water.
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Feb 1, 2021 07:05
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theHUNGERian posted:After 13 years of living at one place (not only a record, but also the first place I lived at on my own), my landlord just told me that she is selling the property. While there is a chance that the buyer will want to keep the tenants, I started looking around just in case, and I think I found a former CIA black site. too many windows to be a black site!
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Feb 1, 2021 20:59
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tangy yet delightful posted:too many windows to be a black site! The army uses them as guard shacks for the black sites.
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Feb 1, 2021 21:46
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Are there any goon favorites for software that lets you design or plan changes to a home or space? Not really to the architectural level but more powerful than a sketchpad.
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Feb 2, 2021 01:30
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Sketch up is free and functional
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Feb 2, 2021 07:05
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Yeah there is SketchUp, but I personally had a hard time with it, despite having used poo poo like Solidworks in the past (I turned my kitchen into solid block  ), but I think my problem was impatience. I should give it another go.My go-to medium for design sketching is freehand on graph paper. I’ll bust out the ruler when I want to make more precise drawings. Oh, for working by hand, pick up an engineering/architectural ruler if you don’t have one already - they make drawing to scale so much easier. Honestly, graph paper and some basic architectural drawing tools (ruler, right angle, protractor (if not everything is a right angle), tracing paper, etc) will be sufficient tools in many cases. In general, it depends on your individual process and preferences.
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Feb 2, 2021 07:49
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Infinotize posted:Are there any goon favorites for software that lets you design or plan changes to a home or space? Not really to the architectural level but more powerful than a sketchpad. I'm interested in this as well, but more to play with things like wall color, decor, furniture layouts, etc. Is sketch up still the best bet?
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Feb 2, 2021 08:17
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