|
What can you do to prevent the clog in the first place? Filters or grates that you have to clean monthly are preferred to me than calling a guy or getting out a tool to find some disgusting debris.
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 05:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 05:56 |
|
|
Democratic Pirate posted:Are mechanical drain snakes relatively easy to use? We just paid a plumber to un-gunk a bathroom sink line. I’d cleaned any visible pipes and a foot or so into the wall, but felt anything beyond that needed a plumber. He used one of the big drum drain snakes and fed about 20 feet before finding the clog. I don’t know if it’s worth getting a $50 hand cranked tool to DIY the next clog I can’t fix with a plunger and a clean p-trap. It is like 200% worth it. We have crusty old pipes that probably look like clogged arteries inside and trap every single hair and bit of soap scum that passes through them (even with mitigation like drain covers), so the drain starts slowing down every month like clockwork (and I suspect there is still some loving sawdust down there), so we use ours quite a lot. They are not hard to use, just awkward and sometimes annoying. They are good to have around if a drain starts getting slow and you don't want to call the plumber quite yet because it's not that bad and you don't want to spend all that money and then you don't notice it slowly getting worse all insidious-like, and then all of a sudden you find yourself standing in four inches of water at the end of every shower. I'm sure your drains are not as bad as mine, but better to just have the (relatively inexpensive) tool you need on hand in case you have an issue so you don't have to call someone and spend way more every time it happens.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 05:38
|
|
|
StormDrain posted:What can you do to prevent the clog in the first place? Filters or grates that you have to clean monthly are preferred to me than calling a guy or getting out a tool to find some disgusting debris. Grates on your sink and bathroom drains are huge if you're willing to deal with cleaning them. We had huge clog problems in all sorts of rental bathrooms until we sucked it up and got a silicone drain cover to catch all the hair going down it. A sink strainer does the same thing, only for your kitchen, and keeps food debris out. You want to clean those out way more than once a month, though. The sink strainer gets it every time we use the sink (just knock it out into the trash and give it a rinse) and the bathroom maybe once a week, depending on how much my wife's been shedding (she's worse than a golden lab, I have no idea how she's not bald). Past that, watch what you put down your drains. Don't dump grease down there etc.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 13:01
|
|
|
For exterior door chat, we just had 2 doors installed. One was a Dutch door in place of a standard backdoor, the other was the door going in what was a door sized window frame. Despite both of these jobs being somewhat non standard door installs, guy was great (if a little hard to nail down at times) and was about $500 per door for the install. We bought the doors separately and just paid him to come out for the work. Obviously ymmv depending on pricing in your area, but $1300 for install seems a bit steep.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 13:47
|
|
|
Cyrano4747 posted:Past that, watch what you put down your drains. Don't dump grease down there etc. We keep a cleaned empty plastic jar for peanut butter or whatever under the sink for this purpose. Once it’s full, to the trash it goes and gets replaced. I figure it’s slightly better than using an empty food can every single time.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 14:32
|
|
|
I got a Rigid one and it’s extremely simple to operate. It’s still a power tool that has a thrashing metal bulb on the end, but it’s not complicated. The most annoying thing about it is cleaning/drying after using it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 14:36
|
|
|
Door chat! just remember there's like 2 types of install - the "simple" retrofit where the framing is in good shape, and a full rebuild. If the door was in poo poo shape (mine was), then there's a chance you'll need a full rebuild since stuff will be rotten and the like where moisture got in over the years. One is a bigger complication ($) than the other. Roughly my install was around $2000  (door included). Of note, door guys do the door only, and not the wall (read: drywall) if there's an issue that can't be covered by the framing.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 14:39
|
|
|
Queen Victorian posted:It is like 200% worth it. We have crusty old pipes that probably look like clogged arteries inside and trap every single hair and bit of soap scum that passes through them (even with mitigation like drain covers), so the drain starts slowing down every month like clockwork (and I suspect there is still some loving sawdust down there), so we use ours quite a lot. That’s super helpful, thanks. So far our drains haven’t been too bad, but this one has an AC condensate line on it so there’s some unavoidable gunk buildup beyond hand soap and hair.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 15:40
|
|
|
Cyrano4747 posted:Grates on your sink and bathroom drains are huge if you're willing to deal with cleaning them. We had huge clog problems in all sorts of rental bathrooms until we sucked it up and got a silicone drain cover to catch all the hair going down it. A sink strainer does the same thing, only for your kitchen, and keeps food debris out. You want to clean those out way more than once a month, though. The sink strainer gets it every time we use the sink (just knock it out into the trash and give it a rinse) and the bathroom maybe once a week, depending on how much my wife's been shedding (she's worse than a golden lab, I have no idea how she's not bald). Women be sheddin. My wife used to take a month long trip and during that time my shower was so clean, and I probably only had to refill the toilet paper roll once. I should probably check my drain this evening to see what kind of hairball is hanging out in there. Nothing else in the house clogs up thankfully. I replaced an accordion looking adjustable p trap with proper solid piping and the bathroom sink has drained like a champ ever since. I think I have one more of those to replace in the half bath, but it'll come with a new vanity too.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 16:46
|
|
|
Shyfted One posted:Thinking it's time for a new dishwasher. Just can't tell if it's worth the extra $150 for a Bosch 500 vs 300. Only differences seem to be a flexible top rack and it automatically opens the door when it's done to help dry. It actually might be worth it just for the simple solution they came up with to improve drying. I bought a higher end Bosch at our previous house and found it to be pretty annoying. The racks are harder to use than most American designed dishwashers, and the condenser drying just sucks. Bought a KitchenAid for this one. All the good features of the Bosch, better rack design and better drying.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 17:44
|
|
|
I tried to do crown molding today.. it did not work out well. I may grab a jig to hold it. The 2 choices I have is bevel+miter or miter but hold trim the way it would sit on the wall I assume I'm sucking at that. I got 1 good corner then it just all went to poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 23:33
|
|
|
tater_salad posted:I tried to do crown molding today.. it did not work out well. I may grab a jig to hold it. The 2 choices I have is bevel+miter or miter but hold trim the way it would sit on the wall I assume I'm sucking at that. I got 1 good corner then it just all went to poo poo. That's very difficult work in my experience. The walls and ceiling are not square, and lining up the cuts is a tough job.
|
|
#
?
Aug 23, 2021 23:43
|
|
|
It's a basement so I'm doing best effort and then mostly saying fuckit.
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2021 00:00
|
|
|
Picking tiles for bathrooms is impossible. They're all almost identical in the shop and the lighting is completely different to at home. Just gonna get 3 white samples and call it a day
|
|
#
?
Aug 24, 2021 07:04
|
|
|
I poked my head up in my attic above my garage for the first time because I noticed some weird piles of pine needles on top of our electric meter below a vent and was concerned we had some sort of pest incursion. It looked all clear, but in addition to like a dozen cans of paint that I need to get rid of now I noticed a huge mound of what appears to be potting soil running the length of the bonus room parallel to the garage, and now my question is that supposed to be some sort of half assed insulation? It’s definitely intentional. s there’s way too much up there for it to have accumulated up there on its own. House was built in 97.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 05:02
|
|
|
.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 05:18
|
|
|
Is there any chance it’s mouse nesting?
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 12:21
|
|
|
The Dave posted:Is there any chance it’s mouse nesting? It’s probably covering 120ish square feet about a foot deep, so I hope not. If not for the roof making it impossible, it looks like someone dropped 4 or 5 wheelbarrow loads of whatever it is the length of the garage.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 14:46
|
|
|
During a fun severe storm yesterday, I discovered a dripping leak! The rain appears to be getting in and exiting above a large non-opening juliet balcony window, just below the trim where it is caulked. I let my HOA management company know... hopefully they can cover resealing whatever needs to be done on the exterior wall, since the association owns/maintains the exterior walls, however notably they do not cover the unit's windows. Not sure about assessing my window trim to see it's not screwed up or rotted on the interior due to however long this has been going on. The trim doesn't appear damaged, but there is dirty water residue on the caulk and on the window trim where it's dripping. missed by my inspector and I, now 3 months post closing 
Inner Light fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Aug 25, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 16:37
|
|
|
Lead Pipe Cinch posted:It’s probably covering 120ish square feet about a foot deep, so I hope not. If not for the roof making it impossible, it looks like someone dropped 4 or 5 wheelbarrow loads of whatever it is the length of the garage. Is there a gap where it might be blown in during windstorm? Do you have windstorms or dusty conditions where you live? Also 120 square foot a foot deep of dirt is pretty heavy thats not a good thing to have in your attic.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 17:34
|
|
|
Speaking of attic spaces: is there a common/best practices guide anywhere for installing a retractable set of attic stairs/ladder? Literally the only attic access in my house is in the master bedroom closet with a cutaway that is narrower than the width of my shoulders & I'd like to get something set up where I can go up there myself. I have no loving clue how the inspector got up there and no proof that he was able to do it other than some of the recordings I took sticking my phone up there with the light on showing an area that looks like the photos the inspector attached to his report. Ideally, I'd like to have an access where the main hallway is in the house (basically right in the centerline of the home, so that I'd have more height clearance going into the attic because where the master closet access is the inner slope of the roof gives me maybe 1.5 feet before I'd start hitting my head if I was to attempt to climb up there).
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 20:08
|
|
|
Source4Leko posted:Is there a gap where it might be blown in during windstorm? Do you have windstorms or dusty conditions where you live? Also 120 square foot a foot deep of dirt is pretty heavy thats not a good thing to have in your attic. Nope, I’m in Portland, OR. It’s really strange and appears to be intentional, so I guess I’ll have to have someone come out and figure out what the deal is.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 20:43
|
|
|
What is it resting on? Your ceilings? That's some weird poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 20:49
|
|
|
Looks like loose fill insulation that's been raked to the side. Was there any recent ceiling drywall repair/replacement? If so, somebody didn't finish the job. And that super obvious, so the inspector should have called it out.
|
|
#
?
Aug 25, 2021 20:53
|
|
|
We just bought a place with a basement, and wanted to get recommendations on 1) keeping the basement dry, and 2) basement storage of soft goods (tents, sleeping bags, camp chairs, backpacks, suitcases). The basement doesn’t seem to have any issues with moisture, and our inspector, realtor, and someone we hired for some small repairs prior to our move in all commented that the basement was very dry.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 02:01
|
|
|
EPICAC posted:We just bought a place with a basement, and wanted to get recommendations on 1) keeping the basement dry, and 2) basement storage of soft goods (tents, sleeping bags, camp chairs, backpacks, suitcases). Depends on where you live, the exact soil type, what kind of perimeter or other drains you have, your landscaping/slope to house, how well your gutters discharge from the house......... You need a baseline first. Assume the basement is going to be wet.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 02:09
|
|
|
Some stuff you can do for cheap is: 1: Get the stuff off the floor. Get shelving so that if you do get water in the basement, it has to get up at least 6 inches or so before it starts damaging stuff. 2: Get a dehumidifier to keep the baseline humidity down
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 02:11
|
|
|
Motronic posted:Looks like loose fill insulation that's been raked to the side. Was there any recent ceiling drywall repair/replacement? If so, somebody didn't finish the job. And that super obvious, so the inspector should have called it out. I do think at some point the previous previous owner redid some of the garage ceiling, which is probably when that happened, because the top of the ceiling drywall about the garage proper has no evidence of any insulation on it, just the bonus room running along side it. That said, it’s pretty clear that our inspector only went up into the house attic because I pulled all sorts of trash out of the garage attic: a dozen paint cans of various levels of full, an old faucet and a couple tv boxes.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 05:37
|
|
|
Nitrousoxide posted:Some stuff you can do for cheap is: #1 is huge. You can build some Nice quality 8' 2x4 & OSB shelves somewhat easily for somewhere around $120 I overbuilt mine they can probably hold several adults.. I think I used like 1.5 sheets of OSB and somewhere around 15-20 2x4's and a box of coated Drywall screws. Keeps everything off the floor so like when I was away and a basement window leaked the floor got wet but the cardobard boxes on the shelves didn't have any moisture. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Aug 26, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 14:07
|
|
|
tater_salad posted:#1 is huge. You can build some Nice quality 8' 2x4 & OSB shelves somewhat easily for somewhere around $120 I overbuilt mine they can probably hold several adults.. I have some OSB left over from the ongoing garage construction and plan to use it to build a bar and a couple sets of shelves, super easy to do even for a novice like myself.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 14:27
|
|
|
One piece of advice OSB usually gets destroyed if wet while even cheap exterior grade plywood can get wet and dry and be fine as long as you get it dry pretty soon after it gets wet. I know plywood is $$$$ now but just something to consider.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 14:49
|
|
|
tater_salad posted:#1 is huge. You can build some Nice quality 8' 2x4 & OSB shelves somewhat easily for somewhere around $120 I overbuilt mine they can probably hold several adults.. And for about 170 you can get a big heavy duty shelving unit from Costco, and for $80 a smaller one that is a better cost per square footage of shelf. It's not as nice, but you can put them together quickly and adjust as needed. I have a lot of them, 6-8, I've lost count. I should downsize.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 15:41
|
|
|
biracial bear for uncut posted:Ideally, I'd like to have an access where the main hallway is in the house (basically right in the centerline of the home, so that I'd have more height clearance going into the attic because where the master closet access is the inner slope of the roof gives me maybe 1.5 feet before I'd start hitting my head if I was to attempt to climb up there). That is the typical spot, for maximum height and room for the ladder to swing down. If you go the traditional pull/swing down ladder hatch, you need a hole that is typically 22"x54". That doesn't fit with standard 16" framing, so you'll need some carpentry skills to box out the correct sized hole. This is structural framing, so you want to know what you're doing here. Get the manuals for one of the traditional wood/aluminum ladders from Werner, and make sure you have the required clearances in the hallway and no major obstructions or electrical/plumbing lines that run in the attic near where the hole will be cut.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 16:07
|
|
|
Lead Pipe Cinch posted:I poked my head up in my attic above my garage for the first time because I noticed some weird piles of pine needles on top of our electric meter below a vent and was concerned we had some sort of pest incursion. It looked all clear, but in addition to like a dozen cans of paint that I need to get rid of now I noticed a huge mound of what appears to be potting soil running the length of the bonus room parallel to the garage, and now my question is that supposed to be some sort of half assed insulation? It’s definitely intentional. s there’s way too much up there for it to have accumulated up there on its own. House was built in 97. i just came back from a housing inspection and i know exactly what that is - it's loose fill insulation... in my state (MA) you can get the state to come and do that for free in your attics. according to our home inspector it's usually shredded newspaper that has been chemically treated to be fireproof and in MA they pour it on 14 inches deep... people move it or put boards over it for storage space the house we are buying has it in all the attic space and it looks a little darker then your picture but basically identical e: even though it's usually newspaper in its shredded form professionals refer to it as "cellulose" you can google cellulose loose fill insulation and i bet it looks a lot like your pic
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 17:03
|
|
|
Source4Leko posted:One piece of advice OSB usually gets destroyed if wet while even cheap exterior grade plywood can get wet and dry and be fine as long as you get it dry pretty soon after it gets wet. I know plywood is $$$$ now but just something to consider. This is true, and for the bar surface it will be rough painted and covered in epoxy to prevent that problem.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 17:58
|
|
|
Beef Of Ages posted:This is true, and for the bar surface it will be rough painted and covered in epoxy to prevent that problem. That bar top epoxy is fantastic. I used it on a bath vanity and it cleans up every time. I don't even notice the piece of lint that fell in it any more or less.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 18:27
|
|
|
In the middle of a kitchen remodel that I’ve been too busy to post about. The only hiccup so far was we measured wrong for a small piece of countertop (18 inches long). First they asked me to cut the door molding to make it fit. Told the installer I’d pay to have them take it back and make the cut in the shop. He tried to do it freehand with a hand tool in my driveway. Surprise!, the cut wasn’t even or square so they pulled it and brought it back to the shop anyway. Think it’s too short now and I’ll need a whole new piece. Knew things were going too well on this project.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 18:55
|
|
|
StormDrain posted:That bar top epoxy is fantastic. I used it on a bath vanity and it cleans up every time. I built a portable bar several years ago and used the epoxy; I've found that I must remain constantly vigilant to not wind up hating every imperfection that no one else has ever noticed or ever will.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 19:08
|
|
|
Update on the almost-done-but-not-quite porch. So if the thread remembers, here's what they originally did for the lights (cut with a miter saw, for those who aren't playing along at home).  And here's what they tried to install:  Immediately told them "no loving way." They told me, "oh no big deal, electrician just installed the wrong size trim!" Come on, I'm not loving stupid, you knew exactly what you were doing, you were hoping the cheap lights would cover it. Next day they tried some reducer rings, but those weren't even close, so they then "upgraded the lights and fixed the cut:"  So seems like there's a semi-happy ending here. Haven't looked behind them yet, not sure I want to. I know they had to widen the opening to make these new lights fit... wasn't there, but my wife was home and she heard them cutting things. Not sure if they left the housing behind or not... IIRC you can get retrofit LED pucks that install without a housing, and I don't know that this light would fit in the housing they had. On the plus side, these things are hella bright. On the down side, I have no idea if they're dimmable, and I know they didn't install a dimmer like they were supposed to. But that's a punch list item... along with like 30 other little things that they screwed up. At least, that I've noticed so far...
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 19:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 05:56 |
|
|
House now under contract, maybe joining the house owner club 
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2021 19:33
|
|
