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Do you prefer the extended summer thread format? This poll is closed. |
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| I'm Scottish |
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warning: house-buying bullshit I am in the middle of buying a house (solo, first-time buyer, min wage using a large inheritance and small mortgage), currently looking at £200k for a tiny 2 bed 1 sitting room terrace in a nice quiet area with good transport links. former rental property, built 1995, very small - stairs are in the sitting room kinda small. anyway I just got the homebuyer's report back and I'm more nervy than Starmer at a petting zoo scary things the report says:
I dunno. just looking for thoughts/other people's experiences
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Aug 13, 2021 15:03
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Maybe it was entirely coincidence, or maybe your phone was 'listening'? It's getting a bit scary though - without speaking to anyone or emailing or looking something up, I'll sometimes be just thinking about something and the next thing- lots of adverts for it. Friends often say that they will be talking about something in a room, not searching or writing anything in connection with it on their phone or computer, and lo and behold, next thing is they get lots of ads for it.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:05
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If you were going to hoard any antique gun IMO you'd be better with a C96 than a luger, if only so you can sell it later to a star wars nerd at an inflated price. Much cooler and more impractical than a luger too.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:06
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goddamnedtwisto posted:but a more likely source for those weapons is all the armouries across the Warsaw Pact that got looted at the time - there were gangs in Albania doing bank robberies with actual tanks in the mid 90s. yeah this always made much more sense to me - why spend days upon days of digging through mud with no guarantee of success when you can just bribe whoever's in command of your local armoury and get some shiny new toys that way (or at least whatever mothballed stuff they have at hand the vanishing of which no one will notice)
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Aug 13, 2021 15:09
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Jaeluni Asjil posted:Maybe it was entirely coincidence, or maybe your phone was 'listening'?  as gently caress but a lot of people say this kind of thing, & yesterday I had an entirely offline conversation with my partner about Gorilla glue in our own kitchen, & guess what my phone browser was advertising to me a few hours later. Like honestly I don't really believe I'm being spied on but come the gently caress on.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:10
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Borrovan posted:It sounds On the other hand, how many of these are things where someone has seen an advert for eg. Gorilla glue on a website, skipped over it because advert, had a conversation about Gorilla glue because power of suggestion, and then seen the same advert again because cookies and thought "whoa...."
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Aug 13, 2021 15:13
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Also on the topic of guns and technology: https://twitter.com/PPathole/status/1116670170980859905
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Aug 13, 2021 15:16
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Isomermaid posted:On the other hand, how many of these are things where someone has seen an advert for eg. Gorilla glue on a website, skipped over it because advert, had a conversation about Gorilla glue because power of suggestion, and then seen the same advert again because cookies and thought "whoa...." I have thought about that (as in out of the blue thinking about someone you haven't seen or thought about for years and boom - within a few days - there they are either in a shop you're in or walking down the street or manifesting on facebook or linkedin.) and maybe they have been around for a while and you've noticed them peripherally but your subconscious has been digging around to try and remember how you know that face. But I am sure this isn't always the case. I am going to think of something completely random now, nothing I've googled, emailed or otherwise communicated and see if it happens. I'll write it down on a bit of paper.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:17
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Well obviously that won't work because the vaccine 5g microchips will just read your thoughts.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:18
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Noel Edmonds just got an advert for tinned peas and has no idea why.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:19
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I did find it funny when I got an advert on FB for incontinence pads the day after I aged out of the 25-34 bracket
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Aug 13, 2021 15:22
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Youtube for some reason thinks I am some sort of arabic speaking expat who wants to send money home to my family and also is interested in joining falun gong.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:24
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OwlFancier posted:Youtube for some reason thinks I am some sort of arabic speaking expat who wants to send money home to my family and also is interested in joining falun gong. Are they wrong, though?
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Aug 13, 2021 15:26
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Lt. Danger posted:warning: house-buying bullshit -> if you'll buy it someone else probably will but it's hard to quantify, some people wouldn't want that for sure. -> knotweed is a big drama, ask for a clarification from the surveyor on how close is 'general area' and what type of land it was found on. if it's nearer and waste/public ground where the landowner is hard to track down or has less incentive to eradicate that's more of a concern than private property far away etc. ->they always put this in, it's up to you if you get the additional surveys done. 95% of the time they come back fine but you really want to know about it in the 5% they don't. if you're nervy it can be worth it for peace of mind and you can retain the paperwork for if you sell the house. an electrical survey is valid for 7 years iirc(?). a house built in 1995 is unlikely to be that knackered but you never know what sort of DIY disasters have been attempted by previous owners. -> all sounds like fairly standard wear and tear stuff, maybe request clarification from the sellers on the water damage, particularly the cause. a one time spill from a bath isn't a drama, a continuous leak from somewhere is a bigger deal. they'll probably fudge their response but you might glean more info. ->you could put that to the sellers, highlighting the powerlines also. depends on how much risk of losing it to another buyer you want to accept to negotiate for a decent price.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:26
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In the case of Google Home, Alexa and other ‘smart home’ devices, iirc they most likely are doing exactly what we’re talking about. Phones don’t, officially, but who knows? The other explanation I’ve heard is that there is such a massive quantity of data gathered about you, and the algorithms that then create a model of you and essentially how you’ll behave are so advanced and have so much comparative data from everyone else, that sometimes when this happens it’s not because it heard you talking about something but because it could already predict you were likely to talk about that thing. It reached the conclusion that the thing you were talking about would be of interest to you without even needing to know you’d actually talked about it.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:32
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Lt. Danger posted:japanese knotweed [...] has been sighted in "the general area" Haha something about the phrasing here, makes it sound like they've got an photo-fit of a piece of Japanese knotweed wearing a hoodie on the bulletin board down at the local cop shop. Anyway, all that house poo poo sounds like the regular stuff you get when you buy a house that needs some refurbishment. Trust me the survey on our 1930's built ex-council house was ominous, and basically read like "house is a gently caress", but we bought it anyway and it's generally fine...? Definitely try to get a rough idea of the prices of the obvious jobs you might have to do - rewiring, plastering, plumbing, boiler replacement, new windows, etc. If you have the money leftover to do these then great, if not then what can you live with for a few years? Bear in mind you might not necessarily get a choice on that if your boiler packs in overnight or all your downstairs lights stop working. Power lines wouldn't bother me in the slightest, and resale value is a concern but only a big one if you're planning on selling it. Bigger issues - any evidence of subsidence? Any issues with the type of house built around that time? Anything in the ground (pyrite, radon, idk). Probably too recent to worry about asbestos ceilings but worth googling around. Ah the joys of home ownership. As mentioned above you can make an offer contingent on some fixes being done, or take that off the price, but it's a seller's market Failed Imagineer fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Aug 13, 2021 |
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Aug 13, 2021 15:34
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Jakabite posted:In the case of Google Home, Alexa and other ‘smart home’ devices, iirc they most likely are doing exactly what we’re talking about. Phones don’t, officially, but who knows? The other explanation I’ve heard is that there is such a massive quantity of data gathered about you, and the algorithms that then create a model of you and essentially how you’ll behave are so advanced and have so much comparative data from everyone else, that sometimes when this happens it’s not because it heard you talking about something but because it could already predict you were likely to talk about that thing. It reached the conclusion that the thing you were talking about would be of interest to you without even needing to know you’d actually talked about it. But it is possible that they're maybe 10% that good, and thanks to our own wet algorithmic biases we notice and fixate on that 10% while mentally downvoting all the adverts for grammarly or life insurance or whatever. Failed Imagineer posted:Haha something about the phrasing here, makes it sound like they've got an photo-fit of a piece of Japanese knotweed wearing a hoodie on the bulletin board down at the local cop shop.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:41
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Surveys are important when you're buying a property but do bear in mind that the surveyors are strongly motivated to avoid being sued later on, so they hold every pissy little thing up as a gigantic red flag, which makes it hard for you to work out what's an actual issue and what's just them covering their arses. Your survey sounds pretty normal to me, the survey done on my Victorian era house was far more blood curdling and yet I live there perfectly happily now.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:42
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Homebuying - the surveys are a bag of shite and most of a 'good' survey is standard 'this may go wrong, you cant sue us, hah gently caress you we have your money now!'. If there's something glaring that they missed (and leaky as gently caress roof with an actual bucket hidden behind boxes in the attic to hide it doesn't count apparently) then you could sue them, so hopefully it wont be falling down in the next year or two. It's a house, poo poo will break with time, and you may get 1-2k or so repairs to do every few years. Think of it like an old car. Some parts look ok today, but are near the end of their life so will need fixing in the next couple of years. Some parts will have been fixed a few years ago so have years left in em, some have just been fixed but with poo poo bits so you might want to redo it properly, but there's no rush. Flat roof price - for domestic flat roof work the ballpark figure 2 years or so ago was £300-500/sq.m, but building supplies are really expensive these days (thanks Brexit!) so maybe 25% on top of that again.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:43
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I don't think I have ever seen a house where the gutters and flashings didn't "want doing". Including new builds because they're proably built wrong.
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Aug 13, 2021 15:43
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OwlFancier posted:I don't think I have ever seen a house where the gutters and flashings didn't "want doing". I see a lot of new builds where the sills don't seem to have a drip groove so the windows get manky damp stains running down the nice smooth white render, within a season. Puzzling
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Aug 13, 2021 15:48
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OzyMandrill posted:
Thanks! Useful!
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Aug 13, 2021 15:50
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Grey Hunter posted:Jeez. The Luger was a notorious hair trigger. they would go off at random times- theres a scene in Band of Brothers where a guy has been looking for one since they landed in Normandy, finds on in the bulge, then promptly shoots himself in the leg. I think that was a Walther P38 he shot himself with and handling a pistol you were never trained to use that is quite different form any Browning 1911 training he got. I probably wouldn't be able to get a firearms or crossbow license here in N.I. as i have no perceptible need for either and i was a bit naughty in my later teenage years (not political).
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Aug 13, 2021 15:51
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OwlFancier posted:
fof is a HETAS engineer (fireplace builder/sweep) and said his most frequent WTF call outs are to people who've discovered their faux rustic fireplace and chimney new build is actually a hollow plywood box façade. i assume people just don't get surveys done on new build properties ???
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Aug 13, 2021 15:59
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It'd be the least surprising reveal if the Palace of Westminster is one too.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:01
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Rustybear posted:fof is a HETAS engineer (fireplace builder/sweep) and said his most frequent WTF call outs are to people who've discovered their faux rustic fireplace and chimney new build is actually a hollow plywood box façade. So like, there's no chimney there at all? Wouldn't this be obvious from looking at the outside of the house? I know I know ..
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Aug 13, 2021 16:05
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Who expects a new house to have a real chimney?? Yes let's put this giant stone/brick shaft through the middle of the house for all the fires you're definitely going to have rather than central heating off a boiler on the outside wall because then you don't have to do flue inspections.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:08
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Failed Imagineer posted:So like, there's no chimney there at all? Wouldn't this be obvious from looking at the outside of the house? I know I know .. I think they put fake chimneystacks on the roof, because people expect houses to have chimneystacks. I knew someone who used to live a a massive old converted coachhouse, and every room more or less had a fireplace with a chimney and grate. House was bloody freezing all the time.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:08
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OwlFancier posted:I think they put fake chimneystacks on the roof, because people expect houses to have chimneystacks. State o that
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Aug 13, 2021 16:10
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Failed Imagineer posted:State o that I'm more wondering do they actually just dig a giant chunk out of the room for the chimney breast?? Like yeah if you have one you might as well have it look nice, but who the gently caress is gonna sacrifice room space in your poxy £200k cardboard shack new build so you can look at a weird bit of wall?
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Aug 13, 2021 16:12
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There's some new terraced houses just been built on my way back from work. I shall check if they have chimneys and report back to the thread shortly.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:19
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Borrovan posted:It sounds I think it's just a matter of noticing coincidences. Like how whenever you look at a digital clock and always take extra notice of 2:22 or 14:14
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Aug 13, 2021 16:20
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Failed Imagineer posted:State o that 
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Aug 13, 2021 16:21
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Honestly I don't even mind that too much but I just wish they would go even more batshit, like let you stick a sixty foot bas relief pediment on the front of your house made entirely out of vac formed PET. Let me play the sims in real life! I want the architectural equivalent of taping some cardboard round the bottom of your car and then spraypainting it chrome. OwlFancier fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Aug 13, 2021 |
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Aug 13, 2021 16:26
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Guavanaut posted:I've heard that come up a few times, nearly always in close connection with the shop that figured out a teen was pregnant before she did anecdote, and I don't think algorithms are that good, and also that it's dangerous to start thinking they are because they're frequently biased/racist/etc trash when it comes to predicting humans. Yeah that’s kind of what I meant - theyre not actually managing to do that all that frequently, but it happens enough for us to notice. I’d highly recommend reading The Age of Surveillance Capitalism if this sort of thing interests you.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:34
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Failed Imagineer posted:So like, there's no chimney there at all? Wouldn't this be obvious from looking at the outside of the house? I know I know .. i am not a professional but.... i believe they fit a chimney on the roof that's essentially a plywood box that would blow away if it wasn't nailed down, they also fit ornamental 'fireplaces' set in a chimney breast which is essentially a slightly larger wall cavity, the clue is when you go into the bedroom upstairs and chimney breast below has mysteriously vanished. we couldn't believe how fast they were building the houses in the estate near us until one day we eagle eye'd them stapling big sheets of brick veneer over the plywood construct. now there's absolutely nothing wrong with timber houses but it just seems so wrong to me to fake it as a brick house with a chimney etc. another friend told me he'd had his floorboards up as part of redoing the carpet and discovered they'd packed all the builders rubble into the floor cavity, assume it was cheaper than paying to have it disposed. i'd be getting every survey under the sun on a new build...
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Aug 13, 2021 16:42
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could use one of those to entrap this bloke 
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Aug 13, 2021 16:43
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I hate that fake brick. They can make the house anything at all and they go with brick but fake. Why not log cabin but fake? Why not vinyl siding but fake? Why not a paisley or Madiba shirt pattern? Going to start an architectural consultancy with OwlFancier.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:44
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Being fair if you want to give a house old style character then burying a giant pile of rubble under it is certainly accurate  I had fun taking up a drive once and seeing all the weird poo poo that the hardcore was made of. Bits of old tile, pottery, half an old chimney pot, rocks out the garden, brick bits, all sorts of shite.
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Aug 13, 2021 16:45
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Guavanaut posted:I hate that fake brick. They can make the house anything at all and they go with brick but fake. Why not log cabin but fake? Why not vinyl siding but fake? Why not a paisley or Madiba shirt pattern? it's exactly this please please just learn how to make attractive sustainable timber housing instead of stapling on fake plastic sheeting becasue people want a house that looks like a picture a kid drew
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Aug 13, 2021 16:47
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