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KS posted:I have 30+ of the Gen 2 Decora Smart switches and I can’t recommend them. The physical switches actually crash. It’s mind blowing. I should post a video. So you'd recommend the Lutron Caseta's over the Leviton's? I'm hesitant on the Leviton's because the gen 1's broke in most of the homes here and I'm not sure I trust them. Then again, the look of the Caseta's is different than what I'm used to and would require switching everything out, and I'd prefer true three-way switches vs. the wall remote option
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Mar 20, 2022 23:38
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Omne posted:So you'd recommend the Lutron Caseta's over the Leviton's? I'm hesitant on the Leviton's because the gen 1's broke in most of the homes here and I'm not sure I trust them. Question about "broke": are they dimmers? What is no longer functioning? Particularly can the still be recognized by the home automation whatever but no longer work as switches?
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Mar 21, 2022 00:10
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Motronic posted:Question about "broke": are they dimmers? What is no longer functioning? Particularly can the still be recognized by the home automation whatever but no longer work as switches? Not dimmers, they're the gen 1 version of this: https://www.leviton.com/en/products/d215s-1bw They're still recognized by both the Leviton app and Google Home but the coach lights won't turn on anymore when using either the switch itself or via the app. Asking around the neighborhood, most people had to change the switches when this happened. I switched the bulbs twice, just to be sure. Of course, in the deep recess of my mind there's a possibility that it's a bigger issue, but for now I'm going with consensus that it's a lovely switch.
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Mar 21, 2022 01:36
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Omne posted:Not dimmers, they're the gen 1 version of this: https://www.leviton.com/en/products/d215s-1bw They're still recognized by both the Leviton app and Google Home but the coach lights won't turn on anymore when using either the switch itself or via the app. Asking around the neighborhood, most people had to change the switches when this happened. I switched the bulbs twice, just to be sure. Of course, in the deep recess of my mind there's a possibility that it's a bigger issue, but for now I'm going with consensus that it's a lovely switch. The reason I specifically asked about dimmers is because it's really, really easy to trash a dimmer by changing a bulb with it on or having any sort of electrical arcing on the circuit. This has been a thing since dimmers were a thing. I don't know if that applies to your switches, but since they aren't dimmers probably not. Just a possibility I was thinking about based on what you said.
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Mar 21, 2022 01:42
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I think this is the right place to ask a random appliance question? We bought a stackable washer/dryer to go in our little washer dryer closet thing. We bought the install kit that was recommended, which included These stainless steel connectors . Only problem is that because they are pretty rigid, our washer can't go super flush against the wall, and now our laundry closet door has to be taken off its hinges. Is it as simple as getting a less rigid set of connectors Like These ? Or are there various reasons why It's Not That Simple?
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Mar 21, 2022 02:25
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It's a high-ish pressure water supply that's got a valve inside the machine, trying to bend the hose further than it will go could cause it to kink then rupture, especially after hundreds of cycles I'd look into an L-shaped connector, or adapter. You want to minimize the number of adapters as each one is a new, additional failure point https://www.lowes.com/pd/EASTMAN-72-in-L-3-4-in-FHT-Inlet-x-3-4-in-Outlet-Braided-Stainless-Steel-Steam-Dryer-Installation-Kit/3573716 Something like that. I'm not sure how a "steam dryer installation" hose differs, just was the first result I saw Probably install one of those battery-powered water detectors back there too, while you're at it
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Mar 21, 2022 02:34
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Hadlock posted:It's a high-ish pressure water supply that's got a valve inside the machine, trying to bend the hose further than it will go could cause it to kink then rupture, especially after hundreds of cycles Thanks! When they installed it they just sorta said something about “we can’t make it fit in there unless you get a less rigid hose” but didn’t get any more info; that helps!
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Mar 21, 2022 02:48
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Here is a (probably) appropriate hose https://www.lowes.com/pd/EASTMAN-4-ft-L-3-4-in-FHT-Inlet-x-3-4-in-Outlet-Braided-Stainless-Steel-Washing-Machine-Fill-Hose/1000096748 There's probably some extremely minor downside to using the 90 degree fitting, like water flow is decreased by 3% but when washing a full load of laundry won't matter
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Mar 21, 2022 02:52
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HolyDukeNukem posted:I don't know if this has been asked, but I'm looking for information regarding high velocity, small duct AC systems. I live in an old home that never had AC installed and just has a boiler system, and we had a contractor come over to give an estimate. He mentioned that having doors closed would ruin the efficiency of the system since it has 1 central return. How much does that affect efficiency? I want to minimize how much the house gets torn apart and if there are other options I'd love to hear them! My old house and my current house were both single-return heat pump systems. The only noticeable way that closing a door impacted performance is that a room with the door closed would not be cooled or heated as effectively. Still ended up adding a return when I replaced the system at the new house.
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Mar 21, 2022 03:31
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Omne posted:So you'd recommend the Lutron Caseta's over the Leviton's? I'm hesitant on the Leviton's because the gen 1's broke in most of the homes here and I'm not sure I trust them. I know several folks who standardized their entire houses on Leviton and don’t have any issue. These people did the electric on their own houses though (no grover). My only issue is if the house is wired by numbskulls (like my upper floors) just get the Innovellis or GE/Honeywell.
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Mar 21, 2022 03:55
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IOwnCalculus posted:My old house and my current house were both single-return heat pump systems. The only noticeable way that closing a door impacted performance is that a room with the door closed would not be cooled or heated as effectively. Yeah, the more and more I've been reading the more I think I'm going to look at a different contractor. I think the plan will be to have multiple smaller returns to make sure the rooms are cooled effectively. I ended up contacting space pak directly and they are going to have certified companies contact me and give me a quote. I think that will result in a better proposal.
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Mar 21, 2022 11:42
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I would think there'd be an advantage to having a single return. My single return is located in a room that is always conditioned so the furnace/AC is always getting partially conditioned inlet air. I wouldn't want returns coming from rooms that I often don't heat/cool due to limited use. Why pull in air from the guest bedroom that's freezing since I keep the door and HVAC vent mostly closed in the winter?
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Mar 21, 2022 13:20
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spf3million posted:I would think there'd be an advantage to having a single return The advantage of a single return is that it's cheaper to install and makes a lot more noise. There are no long term advantages that you actually want to deal with, and any properly zoned system will accommodate for your concerns.
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Mar 21, 2022 13:57
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Omne posted:So you'd recommend the Lutron Caseta's over the Leviton's? I'm hesitant on the Leviton's because the gen 1's broke in most of the homes here and I'm not sure I trust them. Could also go up to lutron's radio RA and then be able to use some more normal looking lutron switches, they have a smart gateway for that system now too.
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Mar 21, 2022 14:40
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spf3million posted:I would think there'd be an advantage to having a single return. My single return is located in a room that is always conditioned so the furnace/AC is always getting partially conditioned inlet air. I wouldn't want returns coming from rooms that I often don't heat/cool due to limited use. Why pull in air from the guest bedroom that's freezing since I keep the door and HVAC vent mostly closed in the winter? My master bedroom has a return and there are two returns on the first floor, in the dining room and in my living room. These are the only places in my house that are easily regulated. The bedrooms (with the doors shut) and living room without returns are always a few degrees colder.
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Mar 21, 2022 16:48
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Before owning a home, I didn't realize flexible hoses (like those under sinks and connecting to toilets) can spontaneously burst, like little home flooding time bombs. Thank god I was home and was able to flip the whole house water valve in about a minute. It's amazing how much water was able to come out in that time. My PO did me an absolute solid and installed a panel to access the whole house valve—when my PO's PO (my GrandPO) finished the basement, he decided to drywall in the valve without any access. The PO came by to pick up some stuff and told us she had to cut a hole in the wall just to access it. Any recommendations for whole-house cloud connected water flow sensors with the ability to cut off remotely? I think that's probably a good investment now.
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Mar 21, 2022 17:47
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Insurrectum posted:Before owning a home, I didn't realize flexible hoses (like those under sinks and connecting to toilets) can spontaneously burst, like little home flooding time bombs. Thank god I was home and was able to flip the whole house water valve in about a minute. It's amazing how much water was able to come out in that time. My PO did me an absolute solid and installed a panel to access the whole house valve—when my PO's PO (my GrandPO) finished the basement, he decided to drywall in the valve without any access. The PO came by to pick up some stuff and told us she had to cut a hole in the wall just to access it. I have heard excellent things about moen flo it's just real expensive.
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Mar 21, 2022 22:39
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Insurrectum posted:Before owning a home, I didn't realize flexible hoses (like those under sinks and connecting to toilets) can spontaneously burst, like little home flooding time bombs. I was in a rental once, the regulator inside the tank, not the tube connecting to the tank, blew up, literally shot the top of the builder grade tank off, and proceeded to flood the house for 12+ hours shortly after we'd all left the house Saturday morning and didn't arrive back until Sunday night Literal waterfalls out the front and back doors for two days. Wall to wall carpet and (before the flood) brand new carpet pad
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Mar 21, 2022 22:57
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Hadlock posted:I was in a rental once, the regulator inside the tank, not the tube connecting to the tank, blew up, literally shot the top of the builder grade tank off, and proceeded to flood the house for 12+ hours shortly after we'd all left the house Saturday morning and didn't arrive back until Sunday night So glad I had both toilets replaced (by a plumber) with new hoses and everything when we moved in. No guarantees I suppose, but in theory newer should be better than old stuff.
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Mar 21, 2022 23:00
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Omne posted:So you'd recommend the Lutron Caseta's over the Leviton's? I'm hesitant on the Leviton's because the gen 1's broke in most of the homes here and I'm not sure I trust them. I would absolutely recommend the Casetas and wish I'd gone with the standard instead of going for the new product. I will probably rip and replace at some point. The Leviton wired remote feature is indeed nice (controls are instant) and I have 80000 3- and 4-way switches, but it's not worth it. If you lose internet connection but keep wifi up they will never reconnect without a power cycle. That's after most of a year of software updates. Here's the crashing issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUZDHsGUSuQ
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Mar 22, 2022 03:56
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Anybody have any idea what these are? They're definitely steel and heavy, probably 80lbs each.  My guess was maybe a sliding glass door security gate or something. They're about 2'x6'. They were in the rafters of my garage and look like they're meant to bolt together. I've got 3 of them, and I have a 3 panel sliding glass door (these three metal pieces probably only cover the 2 windows and not the door itself) so that's my hypothesis. I didn't see anything attaching them to the house though. I'll probably end up scrapping these along with my newly found cast iron tub.
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Mar 22, 2022 07:35
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I need some help. I’ve got a deep jacuzzi tub. The seal around the tub (from the PO, it was like a stick and peel rubber gasket with a little silicone behind it? I don’t have a photo) started to fail and leak into my window below. It is pretty bad because it pools in the front right corner because the tub is pretty offset. I’m trying to do everything I can not to rip out the tub. Here is the pooling.  Another thing to know, the gap is pretty wide and deep. No photo, but it seems to go almost all the way to the edge of the tub, and at the widest part in that corner above is like 1/4”-1/2” high gap. The gap is inconsistent in height across the whole tub, it’s just worst in that corner. Hired a plumber, first dude siliconed it with DAP and it started cracking and gapping immediately after curing before getting wet. When they came back to redo it, dude just dropped more silicone over the gaps. So now I’m getting a refund and fixing this myself. How do I handle this?  
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Mar 23, 2022 17:18
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Remove all the silicone. Use a razor or similar if you can. Clean and dry the surfaces. Insert an appropriately sized foam backer rod, and then apply an appropriate silicone to bridge the gap. Link goes to a PDF. The silicone can stretch, but only with a correct thickness, and the foam backer rod helps you to get the right thickness and two-sided adhesion to permit it to stretch. The thick triangular application your plumber created is the wrong shape/profile to stretch, so it just peels apart as the tub minutely moves/flexes in use. As for the pooling water, I can't think of anything that would work short of re-shimming the tub to the correct orientation so that it has a gentle slope. There should not be a half inch gap anywhere, BTW. Either the tub or the tile or both weren't installed correctly, or the tub is literally sinking (inadequate framing below it to support it? Water damage of the joists? I don't know). My money's on just a sloppy tile install job. Lastly: the grout I can see in the back corner of your first pic and center of your second pic is also in bad shape. Those two tiles in the second pic aren't flat to each other, either. Have you considered ripping out the tile and having it re-done? If that's not in the plans, I suggest after you strip out the hosed up silicone, but before you add the rod and the fresh silicone, you clean and repair that grout (which means using a tool to remove crumbling and bad grout, and then adding more). It'll give you a better surface for the silicone to grab at the base of those tiles, and it'll look nicer too.
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Mar 23, 2022 17:30
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Is there a thread opinion on ranges like there is for dishwashers? Gas is not an option, so I assume I am stuck with induction models.
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Mar 23, 2022 18:17
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vs Dinosaurs posted:Is there a thread opinion on ranges like there is for dishwashers? Gas is not an option, so I assume I am stuck with induction models. if you have the means, i recently installed and recommend a bosch 800
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Mar 23, 2022 18:32
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Thanks for the gutter advice everyone. I took a couple of videos of the gutters dripping, and called the gutter people and left a message, asking them to fix their poo poo (nicely). They called back and said no problem, so they'll come over later this week and look at it again. Also, my furnace downstairs (we have another one for the bedrooms upstairs, so no huge big deal) has failed to turn on, on two separate occasions. The first time, the HVAC people said 'it's old, it's like 20 years old and you need to replace it, but, we couldn't replicate the issue after restarting it' but lol we have 2 ac and 2 furnaces, all installed at the same time. So I just loving turned it off at the furnace switch for 10 seconds and on again, and now it works. We're spending so much money after moving in, I want to be able to space out the costs a bit more.
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Mar 23, 2022 18:38
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Deviant posted:if you have the means, i recently installed and recommend a bosch 800 Does anyone have Bosch in stock? Probably worth the wait if you can. I was told a few months ago that delivery was like 4-6 months. I ended up going with an LG. It works fine and is pretty good for the price, but I wouldn't buy it again and am glad it's being sold with my house. All sounds (timer, pre-heat, door open, etc) are sing-songy and drive me insane. Similar to the LG washer/dryer I have, which are great (audio can be disabled). Audio is something you often can't test in the showroom, but definitely worth investigating pre-purchase. edit: it looks like that Bosch is literally in stock now. I guess supply for some items has improved. Magicaljesus fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Mar 23, 2022 |
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Mar 23, 2022 18:39
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Leperflesh posted:Remove all the silicone. Use a razor or similar if you can. Clean and dry the surfaces. Insert an appropriately sized foam backer rod, and then apply an appropriate silicone to bridge the gap. Link goes to a PDF. The silicone can stretch, but only with a correct thickness, and the foam backer rod helps you to get the right thickness and two-sided adhesion to permit it to stretch. The thick triangular application your plumber created is the wrong shape/profile to stretch, so it just peels apart as the tub minutely moves/flexes in use. Thanks I appreciate it. I absolutely do not wanna go through the expense of retiling if I don’t have to. Watching some quick videos, I think I can probably regrout that area. Are you also suggesting I add grout to the base of the tiles as well? Also, is there a particular type of silicone I should be using for such a large gap? The lovely dap squeeze tubes they used seemed to be part of the problem.
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Mar 23, 2022 18:40
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Thanks I appreciate it. I absolutely do not wanna go through the expense of retiling if I don’t have to. I don't know. I can't really see what's in that gap. If the tiles have been applied directly onto concrete board or something, and that extends down below the edge of the bathtub, then you have a surface you could grout. But I don't think grout is really the ideal thing to be trying to adhere your silicone to, so maybe not. In my own bathroom, the bottom edge of the tile hangs over the top surface of the (cast iron) tub, and there's no grout, but that's fine because there's not a huge gap to bridge with the sealant. quote:Also, is there a particular type of silicone I should be using for such a large gap? The lovely dap squeeze tubes they used seemed to be part of the problem. To some extent, all silicone is silicone, and DAP is a normal brand tons of pros use. You can get big tubes for a caulking gun, or little squeeze tubes, but the stuff inside is the same product. Silicone shrinks a little as it dries. This is part of why that PDF I linked wants you to create a sort of )( shaped bridge - the thin part in the middle is the most stretchy, and this prevents the silicone from pulling so hard on the ends as it dries and cures that it just breaks free. The larger the gap you're bridging, though, the thinner it needs to be in the middle, and there's some upper limit (which I don't actually know) where it's just not going to work any more. The backing rod helps you get the right shape and not wind up having to have super thick piles of silicone. If you get a non-porous backing rod, technically you can just seal the rod at the top and bottom and leave the middle exposed. I think that's probably ugly as hell, but it will prevent water intrusion and you'll only be using normal-sized beads of sealant which will perform well.
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Mar 23, 2022 19:04
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Thanks I appreciate it. I absolutely do not wanna go through the expense of retiling if I don’t have to. One other thing, fill the tub (part way maybe) while adding the silicone and leave it filled while curing. That way it's cured at the mid point of the flex, not one of the ends
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Mar 23, 2022 19:10
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I recently purchased my first home and wanted to install central cooling. This house already has central heating with a 12 year old gas furnace in the garage. The house has a 200 amp breaker box, but no real room in the box for expansion. If I go about contacting an HVAC company to get central AC, what realistically will I need to do? Do I need to first contact an electrician to add a subpanel or re-panel the home to add in more breakers? Will I need to pour a concrete pad? I also don't know if my furnace is expandable to add in an AC or if the whole thing would need to be replaced, but I know the HVAC company would tell me this. I have no experience with owning a home and I don't know if I need to hire a person to manage all the electrical and related items and the HVAC company would only handle the actual installation of the AC or if the HVAC company would do everything.
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Mar 23, 2022 20:08
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Any competent HVAC company will either do all of this themselves or have contractors that they schedule to come in and do any parts they don't.
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Mar 23, 2022 20:14
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Leperflesh posted:I don't know. I can't really see what's in that gap. If the tiles have been applied directly onto concrete board or something, and that extends down below the edge of the bathtub, then you have a surface you could grout. But I don't think grout is really the ideal thing to be trying to adhere your silicone to, so maybe not. In my own bathroom, the bottom edge of the tile hangs over the top surface of the (cast iron) tub, and there's no grout, but that's fine because there's not a huge gap to bridge with the sealant. It’s hard to get a photo of in there, but did my best. This is in the back corner, where the gap is less pronounced. I think it goes deeper where the larger gap is near the down slope. The silicone is also adhered to this clear adhesive I have no idea what it is.   Here’s some more images of the varied gap with a razor for scale. I think it’s part a lack of support, part lovely tile install. The tile in a lot of places is totally offset (some set back deeper than others, etc.  This is the largest gap where the slope is:  In between those 2 photos:  The tub is crazy deep, so Should I fill it part way, or all the way like if someone is taking a bath for max flex?
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Mar 23, 2022 20:44
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Leperflesh posted:
Part 4 Screwed in. Grabbed an old bullnose rabbet plane to take down the existing trim to match the new trim, why not.    Found an old tube of exterior caulk to use as filler. It was too old and exploded in my caulk gun, but I just smeared some on there anyway. Didn't want to open a new tube just for this tiny project.  Oh hey, it's textured. Great. That will be fine, I'm sure.
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Mar 23, 2022 20:48
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:I need some help. How confident are you that it's the caulk that's the problem? Because the tub should have a vertical flange behind the tile that prevents water from dripping even through a failed caulk seal. It'll still trap water and get moldy but it shouldn't leak and drip. Not saying it's impossible, there could be capillary action, or the flange could be cracked and not functioning properly or the installer could have cut it off to make the tile fit, who knows? But before you go nuts with caulk see if you can do any more troubleshooting that rules out other more common leak locations.
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Mar 23, 2022 20:52
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redreader posted:Also, my furnace downstairs (we have another one for the bedrooms upstairs, so no huge big deal) has failed to turn on, on two separate occasions. The first time, the HVAC people said 'it's old, it's like 20 years old and you need to replace it, but, we couldn't replicate the issue after restarting it' but lol we have 2 ac and 2 furnaces, all installed at the same time. So I just loving turned it off at the furnace switch for 10 seconds and on again, and now it works. We're spending so much money after moving in, I want to be able to space out the costs a bit more. BigHead posted:We have dealt with this several times. First, turn the breaker off and on. Wait a bit, and then once the problem returns, look at the front of your furnace for a little glass window. In that window there should be a blinking light. Consult your furnace's manual for what each blink pattern indicates. For instance we just had seven red blinks, which we could easily google to find that it meant there was an electrical error in the starter. Most common problem with seven red blinks was the "furnace flame sensor" that looks like a little metal pole the size of a q-tip needed cleaning. A common problem - especially if maintenance has been lacking on this specific point - is that residue forms on the outside of the "furnace flame sensor" and prevents proper detection of something or other, so the furnace can't tell if the flame is on or off. This error simply prevents the fire from starting. As you can tell from my extremely helpful description, I don't know anything about this other than what I googled! BigHead fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Mar 23, 2022 |
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Mar 23, 2022 21:04
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Magicaljesus posted:Does anyone have Bosch in stock? Probably worth the wait if you can. I was told a few months ago that delivery was like 4-6 months. I ended up going with an LG. It works fine and is pretty good for the price, but I wouldn't buy it again and am glad it's being sold with my house. All sounds (timer, pre-heat, door open, etc) are sing-songy and drive me insane. Similar to the LG washer/dryer I have, which are great (audio can be disabled). Audio is something you often can't test in the showroom, but definitely worth investigating pre-purchase. I got my bosch from best buy within 3 days fwiw. Also its tones are volume configurable and 3 basic non-annoying beeps. Meanwhile my samsung dryer in the garage plays a whole rear end loving song. I'll get an LG set eventually, these ones came with the house and are not great. LG frontloader is Would Recommend, then?
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Mar 23, 2022 22:22
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LloydDobler posted:How confident are you that it's the caulk that's the problem? Because the tub should have a vertical flange behind the tile that prevents water from dripping even through a failed caulk seal. It'll still trap water and get moldy but it shouldn't leak and drip. It’s very likely that spot. It only leaks if the water pools there, which only happens in longer showers or if that spot gets sprayed with the handheld. It’s also unlikely to leak down into the window if you use your hand to pull the pooled water off the edge of the tub.
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Mar 23, 2022 22:35
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Deviant posted:I got my bosch from best buy within 3 days fwiw. The LGs also play a whole rear end song btw. At least mine do.
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Mar 23, 2022 22:35
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I have an LG frontloader I inherited from the PO and it works great, but, it loving stinks. After doing the first load which came out stinky, I ran washer cleaner in it like twice in a row, bicarb in another wash, cleaned the front gasket, emptied the filter, etc etc. Now it's fine, mostly, but if you don't wash anything in it for about 4 days it gets stinky again. There's mold growing in the liner I can't get out (it's just black, but feels like the rest of the rubber, so it must be deep inside the liner). I run washer cleaner stuff in it once a month and poo poo, and it's still like that. The reason I'm telling you is that I googled it and one of the results had someone saying "so... all LG front loaders get stinky then, I take it?" There may be a 'back trap' or something but the water hose is firmly attached with no room to move the washer forward, so I haven't tried looking at the back. Works great though! Just maintain it at the start so it doesn't end up like mine edit: 10 second song on mine!
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Mar 23, 2022 22:56
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