|
We've got a dry-rear end house in Denver with a basement, ground and 2nd floor. We have furnace/ac/blower in basement that goes to ground floor too, and also a furnace/ac/blower in the attic for the 2nd floor. I got an hvac guy over yesterday to install a humidifier in the basement. When he started work he brought out a hand humidity meter and it showed 20something %. I think it was 25% or so. He installed the humidifier and said that the furnace blower will blow the humid air all over the basement and ground floor levels, and that since we had our upper story stuff in the attic he couldn't put one in there (another hvac person said the same thing) but that we could expect to get up to 45% or so, and to use portable ones upstairs and also run the blower all the time upstairs to spread the air everywhere, so we're doing that. We have a big portable unit in our bedroom upstairs running 24/7, and since yesterday afternoon the downstairs humidifier has been running non-stop with the blower running non-stop too. My question/issue is, when he installed it there was a humidistat installed too as part of it, where I could dial it up or down and it it also shows current humidity. He set it to 50%. When he showed it to me, the humidistat read that the current humidity is 37%. I checked it before bed and it was 37%. I checked it this morning and it's 37%. He said 'all of the stuff in your house will absorb moisture at first' and 'it'll take a while to start having an effect' but surely 16 hours or so would have showed a 1% difference? edit: lol the house is over 4000 square feet, so I could see 'yeah it will take a day for humidity to go up 1%' being a thing. redreader fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Nov 17, 2021 |
#
?
Nov 17, 2021 19:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 11:50 |
|
|
MJP posted:Our refi is now in day 30 of initial underwriting. Is it safe to assume that the labor shortage + low-rear end rates = slowdown as underwriters try to balance up? Or is Cardinal Financial just really bad? Update: our underwriter quit, nobody noticed that our case hadn't actually gotten anywhere. The originator's daughter got bitten by a dog and needed facial reconstructive surgery, and she is symptomatic for COVID, pending testing. Yeah, I'm not gonna complain or whine that I gotta pay a month of pre-refi interest
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2021 21:24
|
|
|
redreader posted:We've got a dry-rear end house in Denver with a basement, ground and 2nd floor. We have furnace/ac/blower in basement that goes to ground floor too, and also a furnace/ac/blower in the attic for the 2nd floor. I got an hvac guy over yesterday to install a humidifier in the basement. When he started work he brought out a hand humidity meter and it showed 20something %. I think it was 25% or so. He installed the humidifier and said that the furnace blower will blow the humid air all over the basement and ground floor levels, and that since we had our upper story stuff in the attic he couldn't put one in there (another hvac person said the same thing) but that we could expect to get up to 45% or so, and to use portable ones upstairs and also run the blower all the time upstairs to spread the air everywhere, so we're doing that. We have a big portable unit in our bedroom upstairs running 24/7, and since yesterday afternoon the downstairs humidifier has been running non-stop with the blower running non-stop too. It will probably take several days, or longer. I just repaired the humidifier on my furnace and my 1200sqft home took 11 days to go from 37% to 47% RH.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2021 22:02
|
|
|
We have the opposite problem. I have a boat and a compressor dehumidifier. If it's been off for a long time, power outage etc, it can take a week or more before it pulls the moisture out of the cushions, fabric etc. There's a substantial difference in how the boat feels between 2 hours with the dehumidifier on, vs 2 weeks With a humidifier you're probably adding tens if not hundreds of gallons of water to the structure, it'll take a couple days minimum to hydrate everything. Plus all the water vapor you lose every time you open and close the front door etc
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 00:10
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:With a humidifier you're probably adding tens if not hundreds of gallons of water to the structure oh god oh god oh god
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 00:57
|
|
|
Got my first passive aggressive neighbor note. We live in a flood prone area in Seattle and it's been raining like crazy without much letup in the last two weeks. Thankfully it just stopped today. We were away for a wedding for a few days when the leaves really started coming down last week. Since we've been back it's just been pouring rain and I haven't had an opportunity to rake them up unless I want to rake soaked leaves in the rain at night. One day last weekend, we got a break and I was able to get on our relatively flat roof to clear them off before it started raining again. Flash forward to today (maybe a week or two since the leaves fell), I get a note attached to my mailbox in a ziplock asking me to pick up my leaves because they'll clog the stream and flood the area. No name, no number etc. The previous owner did nothing to keep up around the house and neither did the owner before that. Since we've only been living here 6 months, we've cleaned up the yard a lot, thrown away a lot of junk around the house and addressed a lot of overgrown foliage. I've kept an eye on the creek every time it rains just to observe the water levels. Cleared the yards of sticks and branches when they fall. It's been running clear of debris even after extended downpours. I even went into the creek during nice days last month to clear up debris and down branches. The leaves, they've been down for a week or two at most with no respite in the rain, I'm honestly not sure what these people expected. I work 9-5 m-f and it gets dark by 330 plus the relentless rain. I'm sure they'll also complain when I get these cottonwoods cut down next year. Literally the worst trees.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 02:02
|
|
|
We bought a house. 3br/1ba. It was built in the 50's and it's got great structure but the woman who lived (and died) there previously was a semi-hoarder who at one point had 5-6 cats and they obviously pissed to mark territory. You need to wear a painter's respirator to go inside now and when you leave, you can very easily recall the musty smell, very strongly like ammonia. It's not roughed up at all because she wasn't ruining anything or putting holes in the walls, she just was a very dirty spinster. It's also got ductless heaters/air conditioners, which rules. I'll get those serviced. Here's what I have so far: 1. Get all the old poo poo out of her house and into a giant roll-off dumpster (couch, chairs, elliptical machine, desk, books, clothes, bed, etc). Recycle all the old appliances. 2. Remove and junk all the bedroom doors, front and back doors (later), storm doors, and closet doors, order get new 6-panel ones with new hardware. 3. Tear the entire old carpet, carpet pad and laminate in the entire house, kitchen and bathroom included. 4. Pop off all the old baseboards and junk them, order some new 1/2 x 4 inch primed baseboards. 5. Remove all the old blinds and curtains 6. Sand, prime and paint the entire interior. Oh boy!! 7. Re-finish the bathtub with Ekopel 2k. 8. Get contractor in to do the carpet, replacing any subflooring that might have cat piss stains in it. 9. Do the new vinyl planks in the kitchen and bathroom myself. 10. Cut and install new baseboards. 11. Install new doors. 12. Install new appliances. 13. Put up new blinds. 14. De-moss the roof. 15. Put in new light switches and try not to electrocute myself. ... 15. Move. I've got $20,000 to do it all and a couple of months. It should be really nice once it's all done, I can see it in my mind's eye. Right now the priority is just getting all of the poo poo out and the carpet pulled up so that it's not a biohazard to walk around inside. I'm planning to take video of the whole process to edit into a compilation of the whole renovation. If anyone has any helpful tips on dealing with cat piss houses, I'm happy to listen. AHH F/UGH fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Jan 7, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 03:12
|
|
|
My understanding is that you can’t get the smell out without gutting the dry wall.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 03:55
|
|
|
Cyrano4747 posted:My understanding is that you can’t get the smell out without gutting the dry wall. 100% this if they were pissing on it/it was sitting long enough to do soak in. You can cover full on fire damage with oil kilz and get away with it, but somehow cat piss is actually worse than that. How did you find yourself in this situation AHH F/UGH? There are scenarios where this is worth it and there are others.....
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 04:04
|
|
|
It was an insane deal for the area it's in, piss smell included. I could probably resell this house for 2.5x what I paid once the renovation is done, including if it meant ripping out all the drywall, too. I bought directly from the owner (a family friend with multiple properties) so it was never "on the market" to get a super inflated price. The woman who lived there literally died in the kitchen so I guess it might have had a "death house" stigma that would make it a hard sell, too. I think (I hope?) that the cat smell is just purely in the carpet, pad and subfloor and they weren't pissing on the walls. From my walkarounds I never saw any staining on the walls or anything, and I'm not even sure how much these cats were inside. To the best of my knowledge they were mostly pissing on the front and back door the most, so it probably got into the floor of the front and back of the house, where the smell is by far the strongest. The subfloor probably will need to come out in those areas. It'll be more clear once we get everything moved out and the carpets pulled up to see where most of the cat marking was done. AHH F/UGH fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Nov 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 04:16
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:I think (I hope?) that the cat smell is just purely in the carpet It's not. If it was in the carpet it's in the subfloor also at a minimum. I'll leave the rest to your rose colored glasses since you don't even know how much these cats that pissed on the rug were inside and how they were managed/monitored while they were there. (it's overwhelmingly likely you have a "to the studs" level reno to make this place right just based on cat piss alone, sorry but be realistic here)
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 04:23
|
|
|
Is it possible for cat piss or a liquid like it to even saturate studs once is soaks through sheetrock? Given years of that crap
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 04:58
|
|
|
Buy a portable black light. Walk around. Everything pissed on will fluoresce. This tells you what absolutely has to be torn out now.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 05:15
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:The woman who lived there literally died in the kitchen so I guess it might have had a "death house" stigma that would make it a hard sell, too Are you required to disclose this to future buyers?
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 05:29
|
|
|
Armauk posted:Are you required to disclose this to future buyers? In California, yes I believe so, within three years. Also I think regardless of the state you're required to disclose it if they ask, or you might face legal repercussions. Arsenic Lupin posted:Buy a portable black light. Walk around. Everything pissed on will fluoresce. This tells you what absolutely has to be torn out now. Definitely going to pick up one of these.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 05:34
|
|
|
By the way, cats will absolutely piss horizontally on walls.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 05:42
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:In California, yes I believe so, within three years. Also I think regardless of the state you're required to disclose it if they ask, or you might face legal repercussions. Really? I'm curious why this would be relevant, outside of a death-by-home-defect incident or a dead person/animal in a home for long enough to materially affect the home. People and animals must die in homes all the time. It's what we do best.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 06:33
|
|
|
Just spitballing - but I can imagine that if it's discovered that there was mold in a house, or asbestos, or something along those lines, but then wasn't reported to the next buyer and later the dots were connected that previous owner died from it, it would probably be a legal issue. A doom house, as it were.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 07:10
|
|
|
Arsenic Lupin posted:Buy a portable black light. Walk around. Everything pissed on will fluoresce. This tells you what absolutely has to be torn out now. Cat pee floureces at a weird wavelength not covered by a lot of "UV black lights" so if you're buying it online check the comments section to make sure it will work for your use case
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 09:01
|
|
|
Home Ownership Thread: "googling cat piss blacklights"
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 13:26
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:Just spitballing - but I can imagine that if it's discovered that there was mold in a house, or asbestos, or something along those lines, but then wasn't reported to the next buyer and later the dots were connected that previous owner died from it, it would probably be a legal issue. you'd need to prove they KNEW about the mold not that they died from it. so like if they died of mold and sold the house and the doctor sayd "100% they died from the mold that was in the house at 355 Notyourstreet" and then they sold it without saying "well meemaw died of mold in this here house" then yes it's a legal issue. But who are you going to sue later on.. the estate that's disolved.. good luck spending 1000's on legal fees to sue an estate to get nothing. If grandma died, and the doctor said.. welp slipped on catpiss and died while the cats ate her face off sad way to go really. and you have no way to prove anyone knew she slipped beause her brain was broken due to mold or mesothelioma grainworms or someting then no you can't do it becuae later on you did your own sleuthing and determined that yes the houe was a mitigating factor in teh owners death.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 13:31
|
|
|
Don't discount people being superstitious and weird and not liking something for strange reasons. It doesn't matter if it's rational, it still reduces the buyer pool and can depress the price. I mean, at the end of the day it's the same reason Flipper Grey exists as a thing - because a sweet wood paneled library and a living room with a hot pink accent wall might appeal to you or me, but it's going to turn off enough prospective buyers that the safe bet is to slap on some HGTV-approved shade. edit: that said, I'm sure there is also a core of truth to it when it comes to HOW people died and what happened to the body afterwards. A messy suicide that didn't get discovered and cleaned up for a few months could be a significant problem for much the same reason as a cat piss livingroom.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 14:48
|
|
|
When we were house shopping we looked at a really great house that was well below market value. It needed a bit of remodeling (carpeted ceilings in several rooms?!) but otherwise ticked every box we were looking for. At the end of the tour, the real estate agent quietly told us that the previous owner had been murdered in the house by her son. We looked up the details of the case, and the son wasn't in prison but a mental health facility, and could potentially be released within 5 years of us buying the place. I still wanted to put an offer in, but my wife was having none of it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 15:48
|
|
|
jesus. im too out of the loop to have connected HGTV flipper shows to the grey paint trend. depressing. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 17:33
|
|
|
The Saucer Hovers posted:jesus. im too out of the loop to have connected HGTV flipper shows to the grey paint trend. depressing. I remember traveling for work a couple years ago (shortly after buying a house in a hot real estate market) and watching some HGTV in the hotel room and just getting irrationally mad at how they were pushing the bland grey and white interior on every dang house. One cute little 100+ year old country house had a gorgeous, quirky exterior and they steamrolled in the shiplap and modern fixtures inside while erasing anything that made it *actually* farmhouse-esque. Livid.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 17:55
|
|
|
In Japan, if someone dies in an apartment or a house it's basically perma-hosed. The people there are extremely wary of those homes and wouldn't live in them if you gave them to them for free. There are a few select people who realize it doesn't really matter usually, but like 98%+ of the population would never live in a house where someone had died.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 19:10
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:In Japan, if someone dies in an apartment or a house it's basically perma-hosed. The people there are extremely wary of those homes and wouldn't live in them if you gave them to them for free. There are a few select people who realize it doesn't really matter usually, but like 98%+ of the population would never live in a house where someone had died. Strong post/av synergy.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 19:14
|
|
|
AHH F/UGH posted:In Japan, if someone dies in an apartment or a house it's basically perma-hosed. The people there are extremely wary of those homes and wouldn't live in them if you gave them to them for free. There are a few select people who realize it doesn't really matter usually, but like 98%+ of the population would never live in a house where someone had died. So you're saying if I'm interested in moving to Japan this is a good discount method? Do they have like... RinguZillow.com or something catered to people who wouldn't care like myself?
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 19:23
|
|
|
Comfortador posted:So you're saying if I'm interested in moving to Japan this is a good discount method? Do they have like... RinguZillow.com or something catered to people who wouldn't care like myself? You don't even need to wait for someone to die, Japan has a huge problem with abandoned houses right now and you can buy one for cheap/free*: https://www.insider.com/japan-ghost-towns-population-vacancy-rates-akiya-banks-2021-6 *It is probably in the middle of nowhere and needs $X0,000 in rennovations.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 19:44
|
|
|
Comfortador posted:So you're saying if I'm interested in moving to Japan this is a good discount method? Do they have like... RinguZillow.com or something catered to people who wouldn't care like myself? Well, yeah, that and a visa, which is probably more difficult to get than a doom house. Here's the site that shows all the places where people died unnatural deaths. Take your pick of a ghost infested box!: https://jmty.jp/tokyo/est-kw-%E4%BA%8B%E6%95%85%E7%89%A9%E4%BB%B6 There's a really good documentary about it and the people who clean those homes afterwards called "Dying Alone: Kodokushi" on YouTube. AHH F/UGH fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Nov 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 22:37
|
|
|
Dying at home is like, the dream, right? Hospitals suck, who wants to spend their last breath there. Is this some medical cartel - real estate cartel collaboration viral marketing, to convince people to blow their last cash on a death bed with a beep beep?
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 23:21
|
|
|
Epitope posted:Dying at home is like, the dream,right? Not for the person that finds you.
|
|
#
?
Nov 18, 2021 23:49
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Cat pee floureces at a weird wavelength not covered by a lot of "UV black lights" so if you're buying it online check the comments section to make sure it will work for your use case To summarize and save you the query: Many UV lights emit a wavelength of 390 nm to 400 nm, allowing you to detect dog urine and common household stains. For cat urine, however, it is best to use a light in the 365 nm to 385 nm range. These UV lights tend to be more expensive.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 00:12
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:To summarize and save you the query: 35,000 reviews of a cat pee black light: https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-V...customerReviews   It's only $20, I thought it would be like $150 or something. Neat. This one is $14 and it's the 365nm one AHH F/UGH fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Nov 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 00:33
|
|
|
Cat pee lights used to be like $90 only 4 years ago, passed around from cat owner to cat owner like a heirloom weapon What a time to be alive
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 01:47
|
|
|
NomNomNom posted:Home Ownership Thread: "googling cat piss blacklights" Can you recommend a certified cat piss inspector? I asked my realtor. This should be your first question of any prospective agent.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 01:50
|
|
|
I bought one for kicks after we closed and looked at the carpets (in bedrooms only) before we steam cleaned them and drat were there a lot of stains. Steam cleaning didn't seem to help. It definitely is pushing me more towards my husband opinion of replacing the bedroom carpets with LVP.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 02:26
|
|
|
Epitope posted:Dying at home is like, the dream, right? Hospitals suck, who wants to spend their last breath there. Is this some medical cartel - real estate cartel collaboration viral marketing, to convince people to blow their last cash on a death bed with a beep beep? I've changed my mind about dying at home after my stubborn rear end Pops went through it back in 2019. It was really awful for my Mom.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 03:00
|
|
|
Keyser_Soze posted:I've changed my mind about dying at home after my stubborn rear end Pops went through it back in 2019. It was really awful for my Mom. Depends a lot on your situation. It was a very positive thing for my wife’s grandma. This is a profoundly YMMV issue dependent on your specific circumstance.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 03:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2024 11:50 |
|
|
Cyrano4747 posted:Depends a lot on your situation. It was a very positive thing for my wife’s grandma. Sure - of course but for us It was mostly lack of equipment like an IV to deliver drugs instead of crushing them up and putting them in water that he'd usually spit up, a full hospital bed and hoists to get him up out of the way to change sheets or bathe, etc etc and the support that a full hospital would have for the last 90 days where he was basically an immobile zombie staring at the ceiling with his mouth open. The hospice people would show up a few days a week at most go through some checklist and just drop off more low dose pills, low dose morphine and bibles.....it's like they made it drag out on purpose for the $10k/month or whatever the gently caress they were getting. Keyser_Soze fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Nov 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2021 03:40
|
|