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The Wonder Weapon posted:I want to put a shelf or two into my garage. It's going to be rough duty shelf. Dirty tools, various containers of woodworking liquids, etc. Normally I'd grab a sheet or two of 3/4 OSB and roll, but I just watched a video where he talks about putting up two levels of shelving for $30, and I see the OSB is currently $62 a sheet at Lowe's, so I'm considering what my best options really are. We got a couple of these and we're happy with them, but they're mostly used for storage totes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BGXL9SD You can do corner or straight installation if you want, they interconnect with each other regardless. Just measure the support spacing carefully before throwing them up there. Ends up kind of awkward with 16" studs. Easy enough to put up. You can buy hook attachments to hang stuff off of.
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Jun 22, 2021 13:17
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PainterofCrap posted:And for the love of god, don't powerwash your roof, or clean it with chemicals. You are trading years of roof life for a temporary aesthetic improvement. Power washing a roof is very bad, but you can clean off algae/moss with bleach. GAF recommends 4:1 water:bleach, and a cup of TSP mixed in. Let it soak for at least 20 minutes, and don't do it on a hot day where it evaporates off too quickly. Don't use dish/laundry soap or any of the other DIY concoctions. Strong detergents can eat away at the asphalt.
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Jun 22, 2021 13:17
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I was literally looking at my roof a minute ago and looking at green spots on it and wondering if I should be proactive about it.
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Jun 22, 2021 13:48
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The Dave posted:I was literally looking at my roof a minute ago and looking at green spots on it and wondering if I should be proactive about it. Algae is mostly just cosmetic, but moss can damage the roof. It likes to grow on the bottom edge of the shingle, and it can expand and push up the shingle creating a gap where water can get in. Moss also holds moisture and prematurely degrades the shingles. The permanent cure for moss is sunlight. This is reason 1000 why having trees near your house is a bad idea.
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Jun 22, 2021 14:25
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skipdogg posted:Anyone have a good source for some quality 3K bulbs? I bought the 40 pack of FEIT bulbs from Costco about 3 years ago when we moved into my current home, and I have about 25 dead bulbs already out of those 40. I'm guessing I got a bad batch and will end up trying to warranty them, but honestly I'll pay a bit more not to deal with the hassle of changing the bulbs. https://www.1000bulbs.com/fil/categories/led-a19-light-bulbs Also, you probably didn't get a bad batch. I've lost most of a pack of GE bulbs from LowesDepot inside of two years. Either strobing, coming on dim, or not coming on at all. I'm done with cheap LEDs. Not worth the trouble.
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Jun 22, 2021 14:56
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skipdogg posted:Anyone have a good source for some quality 3K bulbs? I bought the 40 pack of FEIT bulbs from Costco about 3 years ago when we moved into my current home, and I have about 25 dead bulbs already out of those 40. I'm guessing I got a bad batch and will end up trying to warranty them, but honestly I'll pay a bit more not to deal with the hassle of changing the bulbs. My house is all either Cree or Phillips. I swapped them all to LED when I bought ~7 years ago, because the previous owner had CFL everywhere and they were garbage. (Flicker, slow to reach full brightness, inconsistent light temps, etc.) Out of the maybe 40 or so bulbs I put in then, I have had 1 Cree fail in the past 7 years, and it was in a fully enclosed housing despite the packaging explicitly saying not to use it in a fully enclosed housing. So while I don't know where to get a good deal on them, I've been very happy with both of those brands in terms of reliability.
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Jun 22, 2021 15:21
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Philips also has the dimmable Edison bulbs whose color temperature goes up as you give them more juice. They’re really nice, I use them in living spaces where Hue bulbs wouldn’t fit.
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Jun 22, 2021 15:28
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Talk of LEDs has reminded me of an issue I have that I haven't been able to find direct information on. I have 2 bathroom vanity lights that are 3 bulb fixtures, for standard A-19 bulbs. They are not particularly old, installed sometime in the last 15 years. We have LED bulbs in them and, it doesn't work great. sometimes a bulb wont come on, sometimes 2 won't. Sometimes one of them will be dimmer than the other. A few bulbs have died in these over the past few years. I don't believe there are heat issues as it is not a particularly enclosed area. I don't know what bulbs they are off hand, but we use them in other lamps in the house without issue. What's going on in these, and how can I replace them with something I can be confident wont have the same issues?
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Jun 22, 2021 15:48
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One thing that kills led's fast is lovely supply power. We went from replacing several a year to less than 1 a year getting our house rewired. If you have a 80 year old electrical system (one installed in the post war boom) you might be killing them simply due to age of the system. Same batch, aging in my cabinet. It's not like capacitors get better with age.
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Jun 22, 2021 15:49
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Home ownership is great y'all Edit: called a local place and they gave me a napkin math quote of "mid-teens to probably $2000" if I want to get rid of all of it. I assume it's under my kitchen floor too so probably 125sqft worth. Much more reasonable than I was imagining. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Jun 22, 2021 |
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Jun 22, 2021 16:10
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Sirotan posted:Home ownership is great y'all
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Jun 22, 2021 17:31
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SpartanIvy posted:I will need to do this for my ~100 sqft kitchen floor eventually too so that's reassuring. Yeah, it is. My similar sized kitchen, one step, and the doorway landing I took the sample from all had the same kind of vinyl flooring on it. I pulled it up in the kitchen but left the subfloor, on this landing I pulled up the vinyl and subfloor and found a second layer of vinyl, so I can only assume it's under my kitchen floor too. I was really expecting a $5k+ figure to get rid of it all, $2k seems very reasonable.
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Jun 22, 2021 17:43
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Our dishwasher has started to make disconcerting noises occasionally, so I went to a local appliance store. Got quoted $1324 for a Bosch 800 installed, delivered, and old one hauled away. They apparently have 60 in stock even, I was expecting a wait list. Now to convince the wife.
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Jun 22, 2021 18:35
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Wallet posted:
I'll check it out, thanks!
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Jun 22, 2021 20:55
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devmd01 posted:Our dishwasher has started to make disconcerting noises occasionally, so I went to a local appliance store. Got quoted $1324 for a Bosch 800 installed, delivered, and old one hauled away. They apparently have 60 in stock even, I was expecting a wait list. Now to convince the wife. Bosch 800 in stock? Wild. Our local places are backordered for months for everything except a few 300 series models, hence why we got a KitchenAid instead. The KitchenAid is a few dB louder than the Bosch models we would have considered, but our last KitchenAid at the old house worked wonderfully and this one was in stock for immediate pickup so  pretty easy decision.E: and the KitchenAid has heat dry, which is marvelous. The Science Goy fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jun 22, 2021 |
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Jun 22, 2021 21:18
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Bosch 800s are indefinitely backordered for us, I'm envious you got one just like that. The zephyr range hood we were looking at is also backordered. The good news is a cheaper zephyr hood (baffle/mesh filter combo instead of just baffle) is available, but it also does 1200 CFM...I suppose we can just never pump it up to full speed to keep from pepressurizing our whole house? Nevermind, our duct doesn't meet the minimum; we can live on instant pot and toaster oven for 2 months. PageMaster fucked around with this message at 23:28 on Jun 22, 2021 |
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Jun 22, 2021 22:22
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Is mold remediation for the home a scam? My upstairs neighbor's toilet overflowed and raw sewage water (poo poo water - I saw the poo poo when I was helping him unclog since his plunger wasn't doing anything) dripped through my ceiling and bathroom light fixture. It stained my hallway's ceiling with a few large yellow blotches as well (it was all over his floor and into his hallway). All in all, it was less than a gallon of water that dripped through. Looking up online, it seems like any time we're dealing with leaks with raw sewage, it's supposed to be a BIG PROBLEM/HEALTH HAZARD. I saw suggestions to get flood specialists in and assess. They came in, sent some samples to the lab, and it came back positive for a few types of mold. The guy said it's not too bad but recommended going through with the cleaning and decontamination. He was surprised that there was no smell, etc. Is this the route to go? The mold remediation estimate is about $2k plus a few hundred to put up new sheetrock. Seems reasonable enough but I know nothing about this. My neighbor will be paying, but I'm still wondering if this is necessary. What do people do in situations like this? I can't help but also think that this is not necessarily new mold feasting on new poo poo but probably old mold as well - it is a bathroom after all. small butter fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Jun 23, 2021 |
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Jun 23, 2021 00:03
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small butter posted:Is mold remediation for the home a scam? You should replace water permeable/absorbent materials which cannot be laundered clean if they got hit with poo poo water. $2k seems cheap. And yes, you want some kind of all purpose biological-killer sprayed around.
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Jun 23, 2021 00:43
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So it sounds like replace the dry wall and spray with bleach solution.
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Jun 23, 2021 00:46
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H110Hawk posted:You should replace water permeable/absorbent materials which cannot be laundered clean if they got hit with poo poo water. $2k seems cheap. And yes, you want some kind of all purpose biological-killer sprayed around. Luckily enough, I was basically redoing the bathroom when it happened and it was empty! poo poo water only hit the floor and my head. What kinds of things happen if contaminated water is allowed to fester? Just mold? Other things?
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Jun 23, 2021 01:09
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From what I remember, mold remediation is mostly just stop the source of water and clean the surface with something. Getting it off the surfaces will keep it from releasing spores and you interacting with it, but the mold that's penetrated into, say, wood studs isn't going anywhere nor growing without more water. Alternatively you can replace the wood/drywall entirely to be sure. Bleach technically works but I believe isn't recommended because the active ingredient in bleach that kills mold evaporates quickly leaving just water to fill into porous materials which makes the problem worse. There are specific mold treatment sprays fungicides at hardware stores that you can apply and soak for 5 minutes then air dry if you'd like.
PageMaster fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Jun 23, 2021 |
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Jun 23, 2021 02:04
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We were supposed to close on the house today. The seller was supposed to be doing a series of repairs during the past week. It was stuff we asked for from our inspection report. Find out today that he hadn't been doing that. He signed a contract on the list of repairs. Terrible news. I had heard a few comments over the past week from my real estate agent that the seller and his wife think they are selling the house for less than it's worth. Is this sort of last minute balking against good faith and fair dealing laws relating to real estate in many states?
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Jun 23, 2021 05:24
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papa horny michael posted:We were supposed to close on the house today. The seller was supposed to be doing a series of repairs during the past week. It was stuff we asked for from our inspection report. Find out today that he hadn't been doing that. He signed a contract on the list of repairs. Terrible news. I had heard a few comments over the past week from my real estate agent that the seller and his wife think they are selling the house for less than it's worth. State law depending I’m pretty sure either party can walk away at any point up to closing, but you do lose your deposit. I’m sure there’s a way to go after the other party related to the contract but have fun dealing with that. What sort of repairs are we talking about here? Are they major? It may be worth it to just say gently caress it to keep moving along with the process.
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Jun 23, 2021 12:01
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:State law depending I’m pretty sure either party can walk away at any point up to closing, but you do lose your deposit. I’m sure there’s a way to go after the other party related to the contract but have fun dealing with that. If you walk away because they breached the contract then you can get your deposit back. it's dependent and you should talk to your LAWYER not your real estate agent. Orrr if you can... be a dick and keep the contract and wait until they're fixed to close (see last part below tough) Are the repairs big enough to give a gently caress? Is the house being bought for less than what it would sell today? Would you be willing to get cash on the table and fix it yourself. This is always a better option that asking the PO to do it because they'll hire the cheapest fucker they can it's not like they'll be living there. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Jun 23, 2021 |
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Jun 23, 2021 12:20
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Is there also any chance he is trying to get the repairs done but it’s really god drat hard to get work done right now?
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Jun 23, 2021 12:25
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papa horny michael posted:We were supposed to close on the house today. The seller was supposed to be doing a series of repairs during the past week. It was stuff we asked for from our inspection report. Find out today that he hadn't been doing that. He signed a contract on the list of repairs. Terrible news. I had heard a few comments over the past week from my real estate agent that the seller and his wife think they are selling the house for less than it's worth. You're going to need a real estate attorney to review this. Laws vary by state, and will depend entirely on the contracts signed. It's one thing to stonewall a buyer and try to make them walk. That's a common strategy in a seller's market; refuse to make any concessions or repairs and hope the buyer walks away. But it's another thing entirely to sign a contract agreeing to make repairs and then refuse to do it. With regards to the sale alone, usually you can sue for specific performance; you can get a judge to order them to finish the sale. This is separate from the contracted repairs, though. If they simply want to relist for more money, and you don't care about the repairs, this is an option. Again, you need a real estate attorney to review the contracts and see what your options are. Often they'll do a free consult, but if they're going to read over the "repair contract" (and if that contract is anything but a standard form) then they'll likely charge you a few hundred. Well worth your money if we're talking about several thousand in repair costs. Another option would be to "buy them out" of the repairs. Figure out how much they'll cost and tell them you'll drop the repair demand if they concede that amount. If your repair contract is solid, this is better than a lawsuit for them. Ultimately your best bet is to just take money for the repairs. If they're getting lovely about it, they're not going to do a good job... they're going to pick the cheapest contractor and get a half-assed job done. And that's assuming they don't straight up sabotage things. Spring Heeled Jack posted:State law depending I’m pretty sure either party can walk away at any point up to closing, but you do lose your deposit. I’m sure there’s a way to go after the other party related to the contract but have fun dealing with that. Typically the buyer can walk away and lose earnest money, and if the seller breaches the contract you can get that money back. Usually, however, the seller has to finish the sale per the contract unless the buyer has engaged in fraud or has otherwise breached the contract. This is very much state dependent, and depends on if the buyer really wants to force the issue, but that's the normal arrangement.
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Jun 23, 2021 12:31
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Well, my $25K contingent offer for a building lot in Lindenwold, NJ was accepted. I’ve hired a lawyer for the contract and am calling a title company in the morning for the search & (hopefully) clearance of the deed/title. Will arrange a deposit with the seller.
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Jun 24, 2021 02:32
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mutata posted:I'll reiterate that I'm a dumb DIYer, so I'm interested to hear others' opinions. I usually have the opposite problem when I do doors, heh. I'm excited if I can even force them closed after my first try with the shims. As it turns out, yeah, I just needed to shim the poo poo out of the handle side. I did also raise the threshold a little bit which helped raise the latch side slightly, but in the end needed to chisel out about 1/8" of the handle strike plate mortise to get everything to line up just right. Opens and closes really nice and smooth now.  Now to work on literally everything surrounding the door. 
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Jun 24, 2021 14:24
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Had our deck put in yesterday and the windows in the back had some mist/moisture on the outside, haha. Is that from the new wood? It was about 10-13C overnight dropping from 30C. We have triple-pane windows and none of the others did this.
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Jun 24, 2021 14:40
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We have a bunch of burrows around our property that I think last year were mostly used and expanded by the explosion of chipmunks. Most of them are just annoyances when they dig at our plants but there’s one that’s right up against the foundation that I think at the very least is letting water get up close that then seeps into the basement when there’s heavy rain. You can sort of see the holes around the gutter drain.  Would just covering this area with pea gravel do anything or is there a better way to fix this? I think the current resident is a mole, which makes me even more concerned that it’ll just keep enlarging the network of tunnels. Edit: Actually it's probably not a mole, but maybe a vole or shrew - I saw something dark-furred and small scurrying toward it. A mole might be more recognizable and probably more unusual around here (Northern NJ). z0331 fucked around with this message at 15:10 on Jun 24, 2021 |
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Jun 24, 2021 15:05
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Two electrical questions from a total amateur: 1. There's a few rooms in the house where there's a noticable ~1 second delay between flicking the lightswitch and the light turning on. Is this something that can be repaired at each individual switch or a sign of a bigger electrical problem? 2. I'm trying to replace some of the incandescent bulbs in the house with LEDs and while I can find equivalent bulbs with the same thread and width, they all seem to have longer metal caps. As a result they flicker. Anything I can do about that without changing out the entire light fixture?
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Jun 24, 2021 17:02
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bowser posted:Two electrical questions from a total amateur: For 2: Are the fixtures on a dimmer switch? LED bulbs will definitely flicker if on an old dimmer switch meant for incandescent bulbs. If that is the case, you can probably just change the switch to a normal on/off or LED dimmer switch.
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Jun 24, 2021 17:07
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The lovely old toilet in our guest bathroom won't stop periodically refilling. We've replaced the entire float assembly (it had other issues too) and the flapper assembly and it still runs. I can try fiddling with the fill tube some more in case it's still siphoning off water but there's not much more that I can trim it at this point. Anything else I should try or are we likely hosed on this toilet?
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Jun 24, 2021 17:08
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bowser posted:1. There's a few rooms in the house where there's a noticable ~1 second delay between flicking the lightswitch and the light turning on. Is this something that can be repaired at each individual switch or a sign of a bigger electrical problem? Sounds like cheap/old LEDs or CFLs.
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Jun 24, 2021 17:09
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z0331 posted:We have a bunch of burrows around our property that I think last year were mostly used and expanded by the explosion of chipmunks. Most of them are just annoyances when they dig at our plants but there’s one that’s right up against the foundation that I think at the very least is letting water get up close that then seeps into the basement when there’s heavy rain. You can sort of see the holes around the gutter drain.
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Jun 24, 2021 18:13
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i like nice words
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the holy poopacy posted:The lovely old toilet in our guest bathroom won't stop periodically refilling. We've replaced the entire float assembly (it had other issues too) and the flapper assembly and it still runs. I can try fiddling with the fill tube some more in case it's still siphoning off water but there's not much more that I can trim it at this point. Anything else I should try or are we likely hosed on this toilet? That water is going somewhere. If you are confident that you replaced the guts correctly next up are tank bolts or the donut between the tank and the bowl.
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Jun 24, 2021 18:42
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Anne Whateley posted:It's probably voles rather than chipmunks. Voles are a plague. Voles are the loving worst. Chipmunks don't really bother plants but if it's voles you'll start finding little caches of stems they've clipped off your plants and drug into the shade.
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Jun 25, 2021 14:33
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Wallet posted:Voles are the loving worst. Chipmunks don't really bother plants but if it's voles you'll start finding little caches of stems they've clipped off your plants and drug into the shade. Our local chipmunk population exploded last year, I think due to a bumper crop of acorns. They don’t damage plants directly, but they dig in our planters and beds and gently caress up younger plants. I’ve learned to be diligent about covering bare soil around vegetable plants with bird net. Seems to mostly work except last year this dumb fucker got caught. Had to pick it up and cut the netting that was completely coiled around its hind leg.  Far fewer chipmunks this year but I’m sure they left lots of cozy dens for things like voles to move right into.
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Jun 25, 2021 15:35
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We had voles in the winter so didn't see them underneath all the show but it only took one season to kill an entire 3k sf backyard. Now we have gophers but I'm hoping the snakes here take care of those. We spend more time fighting critters than maintaining the yard so I think it might be fine to go xeriscape or turf.
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Jun 25, 2021 15:57
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Got a quote to xeriscape my front yard because the builder putting grass and irrigation in because??? 2100 sqft of grass removed and gravel put in with some aloe plants, cacti and other drought tolerant shrubs. Most of the other landscaping done by the builders is also failing as they just put in stuff that looked nice not caring if it would survive a Phoenix summer. Heat wave last week was burning the leaves off an Indian Laurel tree.
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Jun 25, 2021 18:41
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