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ScooterMcTiny posted:This is a dumb question but I'm really struggling to get a definitive answer on things. Can a ceiling fan w/ light that comes with a remote control be wired into a hard wired wall switch as well? Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I installed a thing like this for the living room fan in our old house and liked it a lot better than the awful awkwardly shaped remote. If I'm remembering right, you still have the normal switch to turn the fixture on and off, and then this thing is just a remote nicely mounted in the wall.
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Feb 10, 2022 21:35
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Eason the Fifth posted:Got squirrels in my walls. Any best ways to get rid of them? Sure they’re squirrels? Could be rats
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Feb 10, 2022 21:49
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falz posted:Is there enough room in that service hole under it to stick a snake camera in to look around? They sell them on amazon or whatever to inspect insides of walls or whatever. Probably yes. I'll give that a try. Still worried I won't be able to get at whatever thing is leaking to fix it from under there, though.
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Feb 10, 2022 21:53
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BigFactory posted:Sure they’re squirrels? Could be rats Almost certain. My wife agressively fed them next to the house over the winter and i can see the hole between the chimney and the siding on the second floor where they likely got in.
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Feb 10, 2022 21:56
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Eason the Fifth posted:Got squirrels in my walls. Any best ways to get rid of them? Figure out how they got in and seal it up.
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Feb 10, 2022 22:11
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SpartanIvy posted:Figure out how they got in and seal it up. Preferably after they've left...
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Feb 10, 2022 22:17
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Correct. It's the removing-them part I'm wondering about.
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Feb 10, 2022 22:22
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Eason the Fifth posted:Almost certain. My wife agressively fed them next to the house over the winter and i can see the hole between the chimney and the siding on the second floor where they likely got in. Could you get a cat up in there?
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Feb 10, 2022 22:23
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BadSamaritan posted:How much of a difference does a light colored roof vs a dark colored roof for energy efficiency in Not Arizona? We’re getting a new roof in the spring but all the light roofs look really meh on our old Mansard roof house.
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Feb 10, 2022 22:41
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i like nice words
on cooling I might compromise my sense of aesthetics. Not seeing much other than ‘it’s better!’ from people who want to sell me roofing materials. Is this something that only really makes a noticeable difference with intense, year round sun?
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ScooterMcTiny posted:Oh fascinating. Yea, I would have a wall switch for light, and a separate wall switch for fan control. Is this standard, or do I need to hunt for compatible models? I've tried reading installation instructions for some of them that come with remotes, and it's a bit unclear. So the thing you need to start with is: what have you got in the walls? Is it enough or do you need/can you pull more cable? Because to control a fan with a light (forget the remote part for now) the standard setup is a 2 gang box with 12 or 14/3 wire from the box to the fan. This gives you ground, neutral and two power wires to the fan. You install a light switch (or dimmer) for the light and a fan rated speed controller (high amperage dimmer basically) for the fan. Now, if you don't have enough cable you can start figuring out other stuff. If you have 14/2 (only one hot wire going to the fan) and a single gang box you can go as simple as that single light switch + remote setup I was previously describing. If you want more than that and only have that single gang box and 1 hot wire to the fan you can totally do something like this: Elder Postsman posted:Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but I installed a thing like this for the living room fan in our old house and liked it a lot better than the awful awkwardly shaped remote. If I'm remembering right, you still have the normal switch to turn the fixture on and off, and then this thing is just a remote nicely mounted in the wall. Here is a model that includes the receiver: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hunter-Universal-3-Speed-Fan-Light-Wall-Switch-with-Receiver-White-99771/319360698 So you can buy any fan you want, without a remote, and install that receiver along with the fan. I'd still make drat sure I knew which breaker controlled that thing so it could be reset. Also, with that system you can "pair" an additional remote (the thing in the wall is actually a remote, not a real switch) including hand held ones if that was something you wanted.
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Feb 10, 2022 22:43
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Eason the Fifth posted:Correct. It's the removing-them part I'm wondering about. I had good luck recently with a squirrel excluder. Post it up over the hole with screws and washers, wait until the scurrying stops, remove and repair. Reusable.
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Feb 10, 2022 23:11
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Motronic posted:So the thing you need to start with is: what have you got in the walls? Is it enough or do you need/can you pull more cable? Because to control a fan with a light (forget the remote part for now) the standard setup is a 2 gang box with 12 or 14/3 wire from the box to the fan. This gives you ground, neutral and two power wires to the fan. You install a light switch (or dimmer) for the light and a fan rated speed controller (high amperage dimmer basically) for the fan. Really helpful - thank you!
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Feb 10, 2022 23:52
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Anne Whateley posted:Don't you spend more on heating your house than cooling it, and isn't the heating season longer? I'm definitely not an expert, but it seems like that would be a plus of a dark roof here. Also helps snow/ice melt faster. Go for the dark roof. We live in a climate similar to South Carolina and our black metal roof has never been an obvious heat trap (there is a heat shield lining). We skipped the sound dampening layer and have never been bothered by rain, either (I love sleeping on rainy days/nights).
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Feb 11, 2022 01:57
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PremiumSupport posted:Preferably after they've left... My Dad had rats/mice at the beach house, and put up a cheap Blink webcam, and once he saw the notification clip of them leaving, went out and screwed sheet metal over it. At like 11pm. Also had squirrels in the soffit, the solution there was a tree service to trim back greater than 6' from the roof, and slip the guy some cash to use the cherry picker to screw metal screening / chicken fencing over the vent they used to get in. Late Unpleasantness posted:I had good luck recently with a squirrel excluder. Post it up over the hole with screws and washers, wait until the scurrying stops, remove and repair. Reusable. holy poo poo this is amazing. My dad would have loved this a month ago! Alarbus fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Feb 11, 2022 |
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Feb 11, 2022 02:24
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willroc7 posted:Exactly how screwed am I if my jetted tub has a leak and there is no access panel? I filled the tub the other day and found a healthy leak underneath it in the basement. This is in a contractor-special grade addition to a 1960 construction. Can I just fit caps on the jets if the leak is from the plumbing in there? I don't care about losing the functionality. Really screwed. It's probably the return hose to the pump that's leaking. On the other hand: if you own this home and have homeowner's insurance, you have a covered loss. The repair to the source of the plumbing leak is not covered; however, damage from the ensuing loss (even just the wet insulation) is covered. What is also covered is access to repair the plumbing leak (yes, even though the repair itself is not covered). In your case, that means removing & resetting the tub. And it is unlikely that that unit can be removed without destroying it. In which case, they will pay for a new one, because the policy is quite specific about covering the cost of removing any part of the structure necessary to make repairs, and putting it back the way it was prior to the loss. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Feb 11, 2022 |
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Feb 11, 2022 04:27
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It's really, really handy to have an adjuster in this thread.
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Feb 11, 2022 04:46
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Ida damaged roof finally replaced and new upstairs windows get installed on Monday. Everything's coming up
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Feb 11, 2022 14:48
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Motronic posted:It's really, really handy to have an adjuster in this thread. Indeed. I wish I knew that 2 1/2 years ago when a dishwasher drain leak did $50k of damage, or 2 years ago when a lovely contractor replacing the cabinetry damaged in the leak a) tried to replace cabinetry without shutting the water off to the house, and b) broke a stub-up PVC pipe and didn't tell me, flooding my basement with about a thousand gallons of water and another $20k of damage. The most surprising thing of the above incidents were that the insurance company subrogated against GE, the dishwasher manufacturer, and was able to recover 100% of the claim... I even got my $500 deductible back. A current question, though, for PainterofCrap -- my brother had a basement flood last July due to unmaintained drainage pipes for his area being unable to handle a huge rain event. He's having trouble finding contractors to do the repairs, and the ones that have quoted to do the repairs (finished walk-out lower level with large cabinetry bar area, a bathroom, and a bedroom, including about a dozen doors), are coming in with quotes that are 50% higher than what his insurance paid out. I've told him he needs to go back to the insurance company to discuss, is there anything he should know / do?
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Feb 11, 2022 14:52
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EVERYWHERE 
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He absolutely needs to go back to his insurer with the estimates he's getting and explain that if the insurance company is certain that the repairs can be made, properly, to restore the home to pre-loss condition, that the insurance company needs to provide the contractor that can do that; otherwise, they need to work out an agreed price with the contractors that he is finding. A good part of my time is taken up dealing with exactly this situation. Some folks are real assholes about it; most are afraid to anger me by questioning my estimate. At inspections, I spend extra time explaining that I write estimates, they are literally estimates, if I do it right & capture everything it should be close, but I am an imperfect being, have your contractor review the estimate & call me. Many adjusters just pray that what they send will resolve it & result in no call-backs. Since COVID hit the price books have gone wacky & there are large changes with every update (which is usually monthly) so yeah an estimate I wrote back in September/October during Ida may not cut it today, when you finally are able to get a contractor out. tl;dr tell him to send his estimate to his adjuster & call the adjuster as well. BE NICE.
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Feb 11, 2022 16:58
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PainterofCrap posted:Really screwed. It's probably the return hose to the pump that's leaking. Thank you this is extremely helpful. I will have a good look at my insurance policy. Is this at all like car insurance where if it is a small claim you want to avoid making it so your premiums don't skyrocket? As an aside, does the insulation getting wet mean it should be replaced? This got me thinking as I am also dealing with a foundation cracking and frost heaving issue in the garage (raised ranch with garage under living space). I believe the root cause of this is a disconnected downspout drain on the nearest corner. It looks like the PVC pipe goes down and should be connected to the footer drain, but it is no longer seated in its joint. Is this something I should consider involving insurance with? To repair the concrete and possibly reinforce the walls I'm looking at something in the $5-10k range.
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Feb 11, 2022 17:34
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Has anyone installed a whole house water filtration system? Our kid knocked the countertop brita over and broke it, so it needs replacing. I'm wondering if one of those whole house ones are worth considering. I see that reverse osmosis is very pricey, but that's overkill for what I need. I'm just interested in something comparable to what our $30 brita was doing.
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Feb 11, 2022 17:56
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PainterofCrap posted:He absolutely needs to go back to his insurer with the estimates he's getting and explain that if the insurance company is certain that the repairs can be made, properly, to restore the home to pre-loss condition, that the insurance company needs to provide the contractor that can do that; otherwise, they need to work out an agreed price with the contractors that he is finding. Perfect. Great insight, thank you.
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Feb 11, 2022 17:56
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The Wonder Weapon posted:Has anyone installed a whole house water filtration system? Our kid knocked the countertop brita over and broke it, so it needs replacing. I'm wondering if one of those whole house ones are worth considering. I see that reverse osmosis is very pricey, but that's overkill for what I need. I'm just interested in something comparable to what our $30 brita was doing. I have an under the sink RO unit that works great. I spent $300 on the whole kit a year ago and it is still giving me great water. We have hard, lovely, nasty water, and this thing has no problems. The Brita unit uses ion exchange and activated charcoal to filter water. You could add an ion exchange unit to your house, but it'd like be a lot more than a $300 RO unit and would need much more frequent replacement. Our well water was 2500 ppm TDS, with the RO it got down to 100 ppm. With the new well at 400 ppm, the RO unit gets it down to 20 ppm or so. The "filtration" units I looked at appeared to be super scammy with a lot of verbage and not a lot of substance. The filtration and purification seems designed to make you buy filters and UV elements to fix a problem that isn't a problem.
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Feb 11, 2022 18:40
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It all depends on what you're trying to filter out. Different solutions for different purposes, from something as simple as a whole-house filter that's just a giant version of the one that was in your Brita pitcher, to your very own mini water treatment facility. If you just want to replicate the Brita, you could get one of the faucet-mounted ones. Or you could get a cartridge filter that you put inline with your incoming water that filters all the water coming into your house. You can buy different filter cartridges based on what you're looking to take out. https://www.discountwatersofteners.com/inline-filters/big-blue-style-filter-housing-20-inch/ e: if you want to get extremely deep in the weeds, you could always check out Terry Love's plumbing forums, and specifically the water softener section (really just a catch-all for all water treatment discussions) https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?forums/water-softener-forum-questions-and-answers.22/
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Feb 11, 2022 19:34
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Anyone have experience hiring out a bathroom remodel on their house with only one bathroom? I'm thinking we'd rent out a portable toilet for the duration of the job. Anyone have tips or experience with doing this? We don't have family nearby and are trying to avoid a having to rent out another place if we go through with it.
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Feb 11, 2022 21:11
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Do you have a sink that you are ok with sponge bathing from? That'll make it easier.
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Feb 11, 2022 21:17
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Short term gym membership just for the showers/locker rooms?
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Feb 11, 2022 21:38
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We have the one bathroom problem, but we're going to get around it by building a second full bathroom before fixing the first one. Do you have a laundry sink or other hot water source that you could put a wash basin/small trough next to and fill with a short length of hose? If you don't have a floor drain, siphon/pump water back into laundry sink to drain it. Tolerable as a temporary bathtub, and a readily available option for bathing if you don't want to/are not able to leave the house to use the shower at the gym.
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Feb 11, 2022 22:04
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We’d normally do the gym showers, but covids a concern. I didn’t think about a wash basin or sponge bathing but those are good ideas. I have a big kitchen sink, also have laundry in the garage with lots of space in there. Now to sell my partner on garage baths and portable toilet living
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Feb 11, 2022 22:40
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They make solar showers and the like too, maybe that's a possibility?
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Feb 11, 2022 22:48
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Thank God for our Pittsburgh toilet. We've only got one "bathroom" but at least we'll always have a second toilet. Maybe not the worst thing in the world to do. Even if it's not a full bathroom, just having a second toilet, even in the middle of an unfinished basement or the like, can be quite the life saver in "emergency" situations.
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Feb 11, 2022 23:30
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The Wonder Weapon posted:Has anyone installed a whole house water filtration system? Our kid knocked the countertop brita over and broke it, so it needs replacing. I'm wondering if one of those whole house ones are worth considering. I see that reverse osmosis is very pricey, but that's overkill for what I need. I'm just interested in something comparable to what our $30 brita was doing. Yes, whole house filter plus uv plus three filter under sink RO for drinking water, but the plumber is my lifelong homeboy, so I have no price info. If you’re on Septic and so are your neighbors, it’s the right choice if you don’t love drinking fecal bacteria.
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Feb 12, 2022 00:09
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bi crimes posted:We’d normally do the gym showers, but covids a concern. I didn’t think about a wash basin or sponge bathing but those are good ideas. I have a big kitchen sink, also have laundry in the garage with lots of space in there. Now to sell my partner on garage baths and portable toilet living Depending on your local market conditions and the length of the bathroom work, rent an airbnb?
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Feb 12, 2022 00:10
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Queen Victorian posted:the one bathroom problem, Liu Cixin's wildly unpopular first novella
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Feb 12, 2022 00:11
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Hospitals provide a stack of steamed hand towels for patients to freshen up with if they can't use a shower.
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Feb 12, 2022 01:05
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peanut posted:Hospitals provide a stack of steamed Along with chlorhexidine wipes for the stinky parts
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Feb 12, 2022 01:23
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willroc7 posted:Thank you this is extremely helpful. I will have a good look at my insurance policy. Is this at all like car insurance where if it is a small claim you want to avoid making it so your premiums don't skyrocket? As an aside, does the insulation getting wet mean it should be replaced? Underwriting issues such as this are not well-known by me. I can say that reporting a claim is noticed by underwriting, since it is their job to assess risk accurately and that risk is partially based on "loss experience," which means: as many events as we know about that are occurring at the insured premises. In other words, it's not the size of the claim that affects your premium; it's that a claim is reported at all, whether or not a single dollar is paid out. I have heard horror stories about premiums increasing based on reporting a homeowner's claim. I have not, personally, been called & chewed out by a customer after the fact because their premiums went up. That will largely depend on the number of factors, such as cost (i.e.your home's insured value), location, state insurance department regulations, etc. Sometimes large increases occur because the home was underinsured (I run valuations on every home I inspect, and compare it to the insured value we wrote for, and am required to notify underwriting if it is a given percentage above or below that figure). I am also required to report if there are risk factors, such as: missing or broken stairs/handrails, no fence around your pool, Federal Pacific/Stab-Lok breaker panel, the presence of large aggressive mammals in your yard, or poo poo like this:  , If you have a decent agent who has any idea what they are doing, you could call and ask them if there is likely to be a premium increase. You may also obtain sufficient motivation by calling out a plumber for an estimate to repair the leak. I would pull the insulation there because it takes forever to dry, and you'd rather not have a large wet sponge holding moisture up against your plywood subfloor. Plywood can take a lot of punishment, but why tempt fate? Keep photos/records of everything (we already know you have the photos, just make them available when you report the claim). Date of loss, approximate time (we always ask) and what you saw & did afterwards. willroc7 posted:This got me thinking as I am also dealing with a foundation cracking and frost heaving issue in the garage (raised ranch with garage under living space). I believe the root cause of this is a disconnected downspout drain on the nearest corner. It looks like the PVC pipe goes down and should be connected to the footer drain, but it is no longer seated in its joint. Is this something I should consider involving insurance with? To repair the concrete and possibly reinforce the walls I'm looking at something in the $5-10k range. Foundation shifts, due to groundwater or not, are excluded as, "earth movement." Sorry. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Feb 12, 2022 |
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Feb 12, 2022 03:07
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Vim Fuego posted:Liu Cixin's wildly unpopular first novella Lmfao holy poo poo
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Feb 12, 2022 05:16
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What are my options for preventing frozen downspout drains, particularly in Minnesota? My gutters for the house drain into underground pipes, with pop emitters in the yard about 20-25' from the foundation. 4x6 aluminum downspouts, a corrugated flex pipe, and then PVC underground. One drains into a catch basin instead of being piped straight to the PVC. One in particular on the south exposure gets a lot of sun-melt, which seems to have basically filled the PVC pipe and frozen. I managed to un-freeze the corrugated from the ground and run it about 3' away from the foundation, but it there an appropriate heat cable that can run down the pipe and keep the water from freezing until it can flow out? Or would swapping from a direct connection and dumping to a catch basin with an air gap be sufficient? At least in that case at least I wouldn't have to un-freeze a downspout 2' up from the ground.
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Feb 12, 2022 20:43
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Eason the Fifth posted:Correct. It's the removing-them part I'm wondering about. If you can easily access the area where they're coming in and out, it's pretty simple to catch and relocate them with a havahart trap. You'll need to check your local laws to see if you can legally do so, but if you can it's straightforward enough. Once you think you've relocated them all, patch the hole with something they can chew threw. If that's still intact in two weeks, seal it up permanently.
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Feb 12, 2022 20:59
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