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Ball Tazeman posted:I’m honestly feeling overwhelmed and way in over my head with the water damage. I really just don’t know where to start or what to do, or if we hire somebody, what kind of contractor would we hire? Also, do we even have the money for it? I guess I’ll ask the council of dads to look at the vent pipe and maybe if there is anything we can see from the basement. I’m just scared to see what the full extent is. Plus we have really weird walls that for some reason have full wood boards behind the drywall. Fixing that wall and flooring has been something I’ve been dreading but now know there is an active water leak makes it a higher priority. You will probably want to fix the water damage...eventually, but once the leak is stopped, that problem is basically stabilized. It's not going to get worse, and giving it some time to dry out will probably make fixing it easier. If the wall has to be opened to get to the vent stack or whatever is leaking, you might want to close the wall back up sooner, but patching drywall isn't hard. You could also nail some cheap paneling up to hide it until you can fix it for real.
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Aug 20, 2021 17:52
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i wonder what percentage of old vent stacks are just abandoned space occupying waterfalls
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Aug 20, 2021 18:56
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any bidet that is electric will have warm water you definitely want a night light, unless you can aim in the dark really well, or want to blind yourself
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Aug 20, 2021 19:13
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actionjackson posted:you definitely want a night light, unless you can aim in the dark really well, or want to blind yourself That assumes their setup doesn't already account for night lighting. The LED light in our bidet is extremely bright and extremely blue, pretty drat annoying to see if you leave the door open or even through the air gaps. We already have an integrated night light in the socket that does the job.
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Aug 20, 2021 19:35
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actionjackson posted:any bidet that is electric will have warm water Edit: apparently the toilet inlet line but is lose and leaking slowly so bonus for catching that (going I can just tighten it). PageMaster fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Aug 20, 2021 |
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Aug 20, 2021 19:47
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The Dave posted:That assumes their setup doesn't already account for night lighting. The LED light in our bidet is extremely bright and extremely blue, pretty drat annoying to see if you leave the door open or even through the air gaps. We already have an integrated night light in the socket that does the job. I only turn it on when I pee, leaving it on all the time would be annoying at night I'd agree
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Aug 20, 2021 20:11
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I would hate keeping all that grout clean. Good news is that you can basically power wash the entire interior.
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Aug 20, 2021 20:25
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PageMaster posted:or you can sit and never have to even open your eyes. This is the way to do it. Just settle down and relax. What do you need all that standing around for, it’s late. Take a breather, you earned it.
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Aug 20, 2021 20:36
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BigFactory posted:This is the way to do it. Just settle down and relax. What do you need all that standing around for, it’s late. Take a breather, you earned it. 
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Aug 20, 2021 20:56
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BonoMan posted:Good news is that you can basically power wash the entire interior. But enough about the bidet.
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Aug 20, 2021 21:03
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actionjackson posted:you definitely want a night light, unless you can aim in the dark really well, or want to blind yourself ...what? Just... turn on the light?
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Aug 20, 2021 21:29
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Johnny Truant posted:...what? Just... turn on the light? I wear my sunglasses at night So I can, so I can See the toilet that's right before my eyes
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Aug 20, 2021 21:32
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piss in the dark and let god sort it out
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Aug 20, 2021 22:23
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Johnny Truant posted:...what? Just... turn on the light? if you have been in the dark for a while sleeping, turning on a bright room light isn't the greatest for getting back to sleep after
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Aug 20, 2021 22:54
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It's not a fancy robot that plays you a jingle or illuminates your balls, but I got this bidet which hooks up to the hot water line under your sink rather than heating the water and needing electricity. It's pretty much ideal for us.
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Aug 20, 2021 22:56
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El Mero Mero posted:It's not a fancy robot that plays you a jingle or illuminates your balls, but I got this bidet which hooks up to the hot water line under your sink rather than heating the water and needing electricity. It's pretty much ideal for us. I have the even cheaper version that just has off/on/nozzle clean, and it’s wonderful. (My advice is predicated on living in a subtropical hell world where “cold water” departs the tap at 70°+ and is probably not valid for the great white north.)
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Aug 20, 2021 23:04
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Seems like that would really only work if your hot water heater is like, directly connected to that pipe. Mine takes about a minute to really got hot, so probably by the time hot water started coming through, i'd be done. But now you're all giving me horrible ideas for cutting in another bathroom outlet near the toilet JUST IN CASE.
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Aug 20, 2021 23:17
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I use a small supplemental 2.5 gal heater mounted below the sink for the bidet hot water supply. https://www.ecomfort.com/Eemax-EMT2.5/p70337.htm As a bonus, it means the sink is instantly hot as well.
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Aug 20, 2021 23:29
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Have a question for y'all that I don't know how to google. I have a 1991 house in Austin. When I replaced a window/pulled off some rotted siding I learned that my house does not have any exterior sheathing like plywood or OSB. There is just a tar paper wrap between the studs and the cardboard-like siding. So I'm planning to replace my single pane windows and siding soon. I am wondering if I should be asking contractors to do something like installing Zip sheathing or a similar product for air tightness and a vapor barrier. So far the few people I've talked to haven't brought this up. I also have a neighbor who had his siding replaced, and in the process they also put a 1-2" layer of rigid foam sheeting around the house before putting the hardie board siding on top of that. Any advice on what I should be looking for when getting these jobs quoted? The house is a single story with ~8ft tall exterior walls, so it should be a pretty straightforward job, and I'm sure if I'm having the windows replaced simultaneously some form of double pane window can be ordered that will work with the wall thickness plus any additional thickness from insulation or sheathing. Lastly, when upgrading windows, is there any reason to go with a fancier window construction than vinyl windows? I know Andersen gets insanely expensive and is mostly marketing. Some youtube home builders I've seen use Jeldwen, but I have no idea if those are also overpriced or overkill. Should I be considering some kind of hybrid construction like fiberglass or aluminum? As research, I watched this video a long time ago that sort of discussed the considerations that need to be made when adding exterior insulation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYjF1afRqvE
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Aug 20, 2021 23:43
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actionjackson posted:if you have been in the dark for a while sleeping, turning on a bright room light isn't the greatest for getting back to sleep after We also have 6k color temp lights so it's the worst thing in the middle of the night. Bidet is a success and butthole massager is fully functional. We're in the desert so our water is always warm and I don't need a heated seat either but we're ready for climate change if warming is needed.
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Aug 20, 2021 23:56
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FISHMANPET posted:Seems like that would really only work if your hot water heater is like, directly connected to that pipe. Mine takes about a minute to really got hot, so probably by the time hot water started coming through, i'd be done. I hate running the water waiting for it to heat up (generally, not just for my butthole) so I installed this recirculating pump on our water heater. It works great.
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Aug 21, 2021 00:18
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El Mero Mero posted:I hate running the water waiting for it to heat up (generally, not just for my butthole) so I installed this recirculating pump on our water heater. It works great. I always thought adding a recirculating pump meant running some form of extra loop back to the heater but apparently not! Adding this to the future-to-do list.
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Aug 21, 2021 01:32
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IOwnCalculus posted:I always thought adding a recirculating pump meant running some form of extra loop back to the heater but apparently not! Adding this to the future-to-do list. Yeah, I need to look into this more but that's uh........no, I don't think I like what they are doing with that valve. It sppear it relies on you using cold water somewhere in the house to be able to recirc, which kinda ruins the whole "I just woke up and need a shower" thing being a use case for it. I also don't feel great about leaking (formerly) hot water, especially if it came from a tanked heater, into cold water supply.
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Aug 21, 2021 01:44
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actionjackson posted:thanks. the listing does say it includes a garage parking spot. I would think you could easily live there without a car though anyway? that's the main reason chicago appeal to me - lots of condos, and lots of density. If you look closely at the listing info provided to MLS, it says 'fee/leased', I believe meaning no parking is included with the cost of the unit. (i.e. you do not receive a deeded parking spot or a 'limited common element' spot that is only available to be used be the unit owner). I see it says 'garage parking' in the real estate agent decription, which I think is quite sneaky. There is garage parking (notice it does not say 'parking spot'), but it is not free / included. Most people looking to buy in this part of the city can afford an extra $200 / mo for parking, but I looked particularly at places that were not like that. In Chicago dense neighborhoods, having a deeded or common element spot will be worth ~$15-30k extra, so when you see below market places it usually means they do not have a spot. It can also sometimes be deeded separately. e: and yeah you don't need a car in that part of the city. In the winter you just need to be prepared to walk a bit or plan your bus/train transfers...it will take longer to get pretty much anywhere outside of your neighborhood without a car, which is why I like having one, but it is mostly a selfish waste. I live a 5min walk from a train station (CTA) so I have an easy choice between the two. I'd encourage you to come here, we have a wonderful town. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 02:06 on Aug 21, 2021 |
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Aug 21, 2021 01:52
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Motronic posted:Yeah, I need to look into this more but that's uh........no, I don't think I like what they are doing with that valve. It sppear it relies on you using cold water somewhere in the house to be able to recirc, which kinda ruins the whole "I just woke up and need a shower" thing being a use case for it. Awww man, I sure hope they're not a bad idea - I've had mine for a year now or so and it's been really nice to have instant hot water from every valve.  It does meet that shower use case you mentioned though. Once I installed mine I got instant hot water for my morning showers. You can set a timer on the pump so it kicks on just before you get up in the morning too and then turns off later. My understanding is that the pumps use a thermostatic mixing valve at the furthest tap in the house and the pump runs until the temperature differential closes the valve.
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Aug 21, 2021 02:05
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Congratulations to all bidet users and owners itt ᕦ༼✩ل͜✩༽ᕤ
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Aug 21, 2021 03:06
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MetaJew posted:Have a question for y'all that I don't know how to google. We just had our 1950s ranch resided and a couple of single pane windows and a single pane door replaced. There was tar paper (or similar material) under the existing unmaintained and rotted shingles. We talked to two contractors and neither of them even gave us the option of not wrapping the house with Tyvek after pulling everything down and repairing any wood rot in the existing sheathing. We went with foam-backed vinyl so we didn’t have additional foam installed. I think if we’d done hardie board that was an option but I don’t recall.
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Aug 21, 2021 03:34
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Ball Tazeman posted:I’m honestly feeling overwhelmed and way in over my head with the water damage. I really just don’t know where to start or what to do, or if we hire somebody, what kind of contractor would we hire? Also, do we even have the money for it? I guess I’ll ask the council of dads to look at the vent pipe and maybe if there is anything we can see from the basement. I’m just scared to see what the full extent is. Plus we have really weird walls that for some reason have full wood boards behind the drywall. Fixing that wall and flooring has been something I’ve been dreading but now know there is an active water leak makes it a higher priority. You have homeowners insurance? Because that is a covered loss. But seek & find your inner calm, because: Kaiser Schnitzel posted:You need to find and fix the source of the water. That's important and eh, semi-urgent, but not like, you need to do this by next week or your house will fall down. If there's been mildew in your closet since before you bought the house, this has been going on for a while and it can go on for a few more weeks (or honestly probably months and possibly years). If you got it fixed in a month or two, that would be great!
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Aug 21, 2021 03:37
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PageMaster posted:We also have 6k color temp lights so it's the worst thing in the middle of the night. I assume you mean 6000K (Kelvins) and uh... why? I didn't even know you could go above 5000K/daylight
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Aug 21, 2021 04:26
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Inner Light posted:If you look closely at the listing info provided to MLS, it says 'fee/leased', I believe meaning no parking is included with the cost of the unit. (i.e. you do not receive a deeded parking spot or a 'limited common element' spot that is only available to be used be the unit owner). I see it says 'garage parking' in the real estate agent decription, which I think is quite sneaky. There is garage parking (notice it does not say 'parking spot'), but it is not free / included. thanks for the info. I probably wouldn't leave the twin cities anytime soon due to family obligations, but if I did have to move Chicago would be it. I also wouldn't know anyone there though. I mainly have to see if Minneapolis can actually get a decent car sharing program going. I think a lot of that got killed by covid.
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Aug 21, 2021 04:28
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If you don't want to pee in pitch black or under a searchlight, just get a dimmer lightswitch. Turn the dimmer down before you turn the switch on. 
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Aug 21, 2021 04:34
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i like nice words
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anyone here have a cultured marble vanity top? I think it might have yellowed a bit, but I can't really find any consistent advice online as to what too use. I've seen glass cleaner ammonia vinegar any non-abrasive cleaner, like 409 a specialty polish like gel-gloss
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Aug 21, 2021 04:49
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Anne Whateley posted:If you don't want to pee in pitch black or under a searchlight, just get a dimmer lightswitch. Turn the dimmer down before you turn the switch on. this is what mine looks like. The light is definitely bright and 5000K, but since it is under the bidet, pretty small, and shines directly into the bowl, it doesn't bother my eyes at all in the dark. I've memorized where the switch is relative to the little led on the control pad
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Aug 21, 2021 04:55
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I mean for the room, not for the bidet. Also allows for very chill baths
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Aug 21, 2021 04:57
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Anne Whateley posted:I mean for the room, not for the bidet. Also allows for very chill baths yep I see what you mean. I do have my vanity light on a dimmer, though it would still bother me if I had gotten up from in the middle of the night and it was on the lowest setting.
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Aug 21, 2021 04:59
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PainterofCrap posted:You have homeowners insurance? Because that is a covered loss. The other thing I'd add is that houses of the age to have lathe and plaster is pretty resilient (but not resistant) to water. Plaster holds up to water and mold better than gypsum. You likely have no insulation in your walls, which can act to hold water on the wood. And your wood is likely older growth pine, which is more rot resistant than the newer stuff. This absolutely doesn't mean you shouldn't fit the problem and make sure you have no major structural issues, but realistically, you'll likely be fine as long as you get this fix. Basically every house over 50 years old or so has had some major leak at some point and as long is it just isn't ignored, you'll be fine.
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Aug 21, 2021 09:31
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cruft posted:I've been getting a lot of bird strikes against the new windows; like, almost daily. At the suggestion of a friend, I put ultraviolet stickers on the windows, maybe a foot apart. I haven't had a single bird strike since. +1 on those stickers being a god-send. Birds hitting windows were enough of a distraction that we did this when I was WFH all last year. Sometimes they will still graze the window, but even then you can tell they realize something is wrong and don't hit it at full speed. Ball Tazeman posted:I’m honestly feeling overwhelmed and way in over my head with the water damage. I really just don’t know where to start or what to do, or if we hire somebody, what kind of contractor would we hire? Also, do we even have the money for it? I guess I’ll ask the council of dads to look at the vent pipe and maybe if there is anything we can see from the basement. I’m just scared to see what the full extent is. Plus we have really weird walls that for some reason have full wood boards behind the drywall. Fixing that wall and flooring has been something I’ve been dreading but now know there is an active water leak makes it a higher priority. If you are comfortable getting on the roof, I'd definitely recommend taking a look at the condition of the existing boot on the vent. We had water getting in there a couple of years ago, and it did not take a trained eye to see the existing one was cracked and lovely. Like Yooper said, if that's the issue it's a $5 fix that takes about 30 seconds once you're on the roof.
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Aug 21, 2021 17:24
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My partners dad is a roofer who is coming over tomorrow, so I’ll have him take a look at the boot. My dad said it’s also likely that the sweating pipes over the years follow the sinking floor in to that corner and when we have high humidity stretches like we have, the water may have just traveled and spread over the years. Either way I’ll have a team of dads with construction experience to look at it tomorrow. I just had a massive panic attack about it. We have so many quirks to our house (like the drywall over lath and plaster, the leaky basement, the “attached” garage that is just a frame thrown over the existing carport slab) I’m always worried about what laziness from the past may cause problems in the future. Even worse, that we overpaid for something that will be a money hole (probably). Owning a home is very fun:
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Aug 21, 2021 18:42
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Hey kids I'm going to remodel a bathroom this winter. I'm going to leave all plumbing where it currently is, but replace the 'builder grade' one piece shower/tub combo with a dedicated shower. This is upstairs, there's a tub on main level so that should be fine for old people or whatever. Anyhow, my reason for this is my last place had a dedicated shower and it was great, mainly because it's wider. So I'm thinking something at least 32" wide (current tub is 29") and probably slightly longer, like 42" or something which seems common. I think I'd only put curtain or glass in it facing the main area of the bathroom, so i'm pondering what to do with the area in the lower right of this, which is "below" the stall in the 2nd photo. First thing that comes to mind is to sorta build a wall there, but with a closet and deep shelves as a linen closet. Other thoughts? Also I haven't given any thoughts on sink / toilet yet other than they will stay in the same spots, cVanity will obviously gtfo though. Current Layout:  And a photo (from the listing two years ago, sorry it's poo poo)  Sorta maybe new layout: 
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Aug 21, 2021 18:49
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falz posted:Sorta maybe new layout: Why would you not make the shower go all the way across so you don't leave yourself with an awkward nook that's not easily accessed because the toilet is in the way?  If you're going for a dedicated shower in this bathroom, don't settle for standard issue components that don't fit your space. Make a cool tile surround across the whole width of the room and mount a glass door and panel. With it spanning the whole room, you have some room to install a bench and stuff. Just make sure to invest in a good squeegee. Or if you actually really need a linen closet, build in a little closet/shelves but still do a custom shower surround with a glass door.
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Aug 21, 2021 19:07
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