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Next window guy came in at $8600 for mod-grade double pane Harvey windows (classic). $12k for triple pane Harvey (tribute). This was the guy that originally said over the phone for $6500. I liked his presentation way better than the other guy for $17k. He seemed like way less bullshit and less salesman if that makes sense. He’s been in business 40 years and it’s literally him and another guy to install all the windows. The windows come with a 20 year warranty and he answered every question I had. I also liked that for the slider he said $1500 whereas the other guy was like “$6k…if you do it this month then $5k”. Still not sure if we’ll go through with it or not. We’ve only been here a month but we know that the Anderson windows are double pane and original to the house (1988) so they’ve served their purpose. Some of them had failed with the gas leak and the wood is gone in some in earlier pictures but I don’t know how that will feel in the winter. I’m guessing if the windows are shot then the insulation likely needs redone as well. Still waiting on the energy audit because the first company never called back. Any advice? $10k for windows is roughly 25% of our savings and when we look at “oh poo poo” stuff that could happen, the only other thing I can think of is the furnace which is oil. The roof is only 6 years old and two of the toilets are recently added and the AC is new. Always trying to get the most bang for the buck and I have no idea what insulation would cost. Also not sure if triple pane is worth it. With rebates it would cost me $1700 more than double pane. We’re not in a loud area so it wouldn’t help with that. nwin fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Jul 2, 2022 |
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Jul 2, 2022 21:58
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Have you look at repair costs for the parts that need it and glass replacement on the ones where the seals failed? I have 50 year old Andersons and that's saving me a poo poo load of money versus full replacement.
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Jul 2, 2022 22:25
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TraderStav posted:Have you look at repair costs for the parts that need it and glass replacement on the ones where the seals failed? I have 50 year old Andersons and that's saving me a poo poo load of money versus full replacement. No not at all. I didn’t even know that’s really an option to get glass replaced. Part of me is thinking that all these windows are so old that they just lack the efficiency of newer windows so best to just replace them. I really don’t want to deal with staining the wood windows and maintaining them.
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Jul 2, 2022 22:34
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nwin posted:No not at all. I didn’t even know that’s really an option to get glass replaced. Part of me is thinking that all these windows are so old that they just lack the efficiency of newer windows so best to just replace them. I really don’t want to deal with staining the wood windows and maintaining them. Replacing existing double-pane stuff is probably not going to make a measurable dent in your energy bills. Usually, the biggest bang for your buck is air sealing the attic and adding more insulation to it. You can do this yourself, but it's a pretty miserable process of crawling around the attic with spray foam cans and insulation. Triple pane windows aren't really necessary, you're never going to see payoff on that.
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Jul 2, 2022 22:58
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devicenull posted:Replacing existing double-pane stuff is probably not going to make a measurable dent in your energy bills. Usually, the biggest bang for your buck is air sealing the attic and adding more insulation to it. You can do this yourself, but it's a pretty miserable process of crawling around the attic with spray foam cans and insulation. All of this. nwin, you are stuck in a "I just bought a house I want to do everything". You haven't even been through a single season, never mind all 4 yet. It's time to catalog what you think might need doing, and good to get an idea of what it might cost, but you're going too far on windows and heaters (maybe other things, this is what I've seen). Your house is not going to fall apart between now and a year from now. Live with it. Notice things, write them down, look into them. But it's not time to gut major systems and features in the name of efficiency when you haven't even been through a winter there yet. There are plenty of options here for leaky windows. Some may just need some weatherstripping replaced. Some may need glass replacement or mechanicls bits. Some may be so far gone they really do need to be replaced. But most are probably fine, and better money on "windows" could be spent pulling the trim off around them, foam insulating them, reinstalling the trim and caulking the trim to the wall. Most people who think their windows are the problem and are so happy about their replacement windows simply don't realize that the old windows weren't proper insulated and air sealed around the outside of them and the real difference isn't the windows but the insulation and air sealing done around the new ones. I normally don't have the heart to tell them that. But you haven't bought any windows yet. Nor lived in that house in the winter to see what is actually a problem. So I'm telling you now, go buy a FLIR attachment for your phone. Not windows. And spend a year figuring this poo poo out.
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Jul 2, 2022 23:06
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Motronic posted:All of this. Thanks man! You’re correct on everything. I’ve got a month before work starts and I’m definitely trying to solve all the problems right now, some of which may not even exist. I think one other benefit of waiting a bit is so I can learn the house and prices will likely come down at some point as well. So far we’ve replaced a few appliances and ordered some carpet and vinyl for the bedrooms/kitchen because it was completely hosed. Other than that it’s general fixes around the house and lots of yard work. A flir add on sounds like a solid idea as well. nwin fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Jul 2, 2022 |
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Jul 2, 2022 23:18
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One thing I do need to deal with: my backyard. The previous owners collected the gently caress out of grass clippings and leaves, but I don’t think they ever did anything with them.  So I’ve got a small truck and a dump pass, or I could burn them…my concern with burning is it’s a small area close to the house and there’s poison ivy around. I don’t want to burn the ivy obviously. Any suggestions or am in it it to haul 10 loads of brush to the dump?
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Jul 2, 2022 23:39
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Borrow a leafblower and send it into those conveniently placed Woods right back there!
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Jul 2, 2022 23:44
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Borrow a leafblower and send it into those conveniently placed Woods right back there! Kinda good idea and my cordless one definitely won’t cut it. The long term plan is to knock a bunch of those trees out because that’s our land and there’s a stone wall another 10 feet behind it.
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Jul 2, 2022 23:52
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Stake out a compost pile or 2 and use the leaves as a base.
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Jul 2, 2022 23:59
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nwin posted:Kinda good idea and my cordless one definitely won’t cut it. The long term plan is to knock a bunch of those trees out because that’s our land and there’s a stone wall another 10 feet behind it. I'd definitely wait before you take out any of those trees, unless you're certain there will never be anything back there that you don't want to see. Give it some time to see if you actually still want to remove them, since you can't really replace them!
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Jul 3, 2022 00:06
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Wtf am I going to do with all that compost? I don’t even have a garden not the time to maintain one.
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Jul 3, 2022 00:11
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devicenull posted:I'd definitely wait before you take out any of those trees, unless you're certain there will never be anything back there that you don't want to see. Give it some time to see if you actually still want to remove them, since you can't really replace them! Yep, noted. There’s a few dead ones and another few that are leaning towards towards the house which I’m a bit worried about.
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Jul 3, 2022 00:12
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nwin posted:No not at all. I didn’t even know that’s really an option to get glass replaced. Part of me is thinking that all these windows are so old that they just lack the efficiency of newer windows so best to just replace them. I really don’t want to deal with staining the wood windows and maintaining them. Absolutely you can. Call around to some local glass companies. You will never get payback on your windows through thermal efficiency or resale later unless they are ridiculously inefficient or broken. Spray foam rim joists in the basement to help with critters and other energy efficiency too. Goes a long way.
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Jul 3, 2022 00:16
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We got a new furnace/ac a few years back, and the ac struggles to cool the house, a 1950’s brick ranch. We called the company back (probably a mistake to call the same company to check their own work) and the verified the coil unit was cooling to spec, the ducting was distributing air evenly and that our registers were free from obstruction. The only thing I can think of is the attic, which was noted by our inspector to have poor insulation. Would this really make that big a difference? On really hot days, with the air on, I can reach the air about a foot off the ceiling and it’s really toasty. Also, DIY spray in insulation is probably a pain in the rear end, especially with an infant I’d imagine. Our access is 4ftx4ft hatch in the master closet.
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Jul 3, 2022 03:35
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nwin posted:Wtf am I going to do with all that compost? I don’t even have a garden not the time to maintain one.
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Jul 3, 2022 03:44
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meanolmrcloud posted:We got a new furnace/ac a few years back, and the ac struggles to cool the house, a 1950’s brick ranch. We called the company back (probably a mistake to call the same company to check their own work) and the verified the coil unit was cooling to spec, the ducting was distributing air evenly and that our registers were free from obstruction. The only thing I can think of is the attic, which was noted by our inspector to have poor insulation. Would this really make that big a difference? On really hot days, with the air on, I can reach the air about a foot off the ceiling and it’s really toasty. Has it always struggled? Since the first hot day post install? Because if so you got ripped off in the initial sale. What did they say on that day when you called? They should have sized the unit to cool the house as built or instructed you on what would need to be done to get it cool. Probably blowing in insulation as you said and doing some air sealing around the house. Honestly blowing in insulation is one of the best bang:buck things you can do in a house. It literally takes one 8-10 hr day including all the air sealing unless you have a massive house or way more air sealing to do. Find a place to hang out with your infant for a day and get it done. If they're not yet mobile that's easy, anywhere a pack and play fits plus whatever privacy you may want if you're doing breastmilk. It's not messy or hazardous work, just loud while they do things like build dams and such.
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Jul 3, 2022 03:58
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H110Hawk posted:Has it always struggled? Since the first hot day post install? Because if so you got ripped off in the initial sale. What did they say on that day when you called? They should have sized the unit to cool the house as built or instructed you on what would need to be done to get it cool. Probably blowing in insulation as you said and doing some air sealing around the house. Yea, it’s pretty much always struggled. It’s only 1200sqft and nothing fancy in terms of design. We’re only planning on being here another 2 years tops, and the ac drops the humidity just fine, it’ll just never reach its target (say 75 degrees), even in continuous operation over 10 daylight hours with the blinds shut. I figured it couldn’t be that hard to size a unit to what amounts to a simple rear end, small house and it must be something more fundamental we’re missing.
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Jul 3, 2022 05:06
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What you may be missing is: good airflow. I installed central A/C in my house about ten years ago. Did the tonnage calculations & had them verified by a refrigeration mechanic. House is 90-years old, all plaster walls, and originally was heated with a coal gravity furnace, updated to gas forced-air in the 1950s. Never had A/C until I installed it. There is only one massive return in a small hallway and the registers are all at the floor. This works fine for heat, but for A/C you at least should have a return in every room with a door (really, every room) and, in a perfect world, registers as high up as they can be for A/C. So I have the same issue: on the hotter days here in south Jersey (near Phila) if I can get it down to 78-degrees F, that's as good as it gets. I've had the A/C running for two weeks straight, 24/7, to keep it under 80F. If it didn't do such a great job drying the air (which was the primary reason for the invention of "air conditioning") it would be pointless on the hottest days. My neighbors beside me & across the street have exactly the same homes (my block was allegedly built by the WPA to provide low-income housing for homeless squatters on the Woodbury Creek during the Depression); they have both shelled their interiors and thus installed multiple-level registers and returns, and their HVAC does a far better job of cooling their homes into the 60s.
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Jul 3, 2022 15:43
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The above post by Painter is solid. New aircon in my house this year and the rooms with returns do better than the others. My other issues are low vents that are obstructed by furniture. In my closet area and bathroom in the master bedroom it's noticeably cooler than at my bed. Our guest bedroom does well despite not having a return since the vent is wide open and it's on a cooler elevation, shaded by trees and only exposed to afternoon sun.
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Jul 3, 2022 15:59
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While my electrician is coming over this week to install the interlock for my generator, I was considering having him also add whole home surge protection. I know very little on this and having a hard time finding out the 'so-what' of it. He sent me a link of an option, but no idea if this is the best/only solution https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lighting-and-electrical/circuit-breakers-fuses-and-panels/circuit-breakers/3764230. Couple questions for anyone who has experience with this: - Are these single use? One surge and they are useless? - If used up, how will I know? - If used up, will electricity continue to flow normally, just without surge protection or will I have to do something (either replace the protection or disable it) to restore electricity? I'm trying to decide if this is the right path or if I should just put sensitive electronics behind really good surge protectors at the wall (this one was recommended: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035PQGKU/?tag=thewire06-20&linkCode=xm2&ascsubtag=AwEAAAAAAAAAAgeL) Appreciate any insights on this!
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Jul 3, 2022 16:21
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It's a MOV based suppressor like a power strip has but sized for the load of a house. They will wear out slowly even if they don't take a big surge- so not single use, but total amount of suppression over any number of events. In theory that light will go out once it's used up but in general it's a good idea to replace them every 5 years or so regardless. Once it's worn out, your house power wont be affected but it won't protect anything anymore
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Jul 3, 2022 16:47
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They're singe use for any large event, you will still have power, just no protection, and the "replace" light will be illuminated. They're not a cure all or perfect protection but they're cheap enough to be worth it.
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Jul 3, 2022 16:54
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Awesome, appreciate that. I think for the cost I’ll go ahead and do it. I work for my local utility and we’re seeing increasing amounts of issues with our tie lines coming in contact with our distribution causing these surges. Also fair amount of issues on my circuit of equipment failing and the spikes coming in. You guys are awesome. Most of my natural gas adapters and hoses came in today. Looks like everything will work perfectly as intended.
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Jul 3, 2022 17:39
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Massive record-setting flooding (7 inches of rain in a few hours) hit my area last night. Water started to pour into the basement from a window well, so I got out the shop vac and started sucking up the water as it poured in. I learned two new things: 1) If you have loose tiles in your basement, you can just apply suction between the tiles and the induced low pressure in that one spot will suck in water from a much larger area, like a straw. 2) If you run a shop vac for an hour in an enclosed space... you should really use hearing protection. Filled up my 16 gallon shop vac about 4 times in an hour. Thankfully, my water sensors caught it right away.
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Jul 3, 2022 19:04
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Having a fun escrow adventure where I just learned my mortgage was going up by $800/mo (no I am not in a million+ dollar home). I expected my latest property tax reassessment to bump it up some, but not even close to that. Turns out I've got a $6k shortage and my payment had been too low for some time. When we closed two years ago I guess we were given a cash consideration by assuming responsibility for the previous owners last 6mo property tax bill, so here's what happened: Bank did not consider this and was just calculating our escrow payments on the anticipated future tax bills Last year, bank gets the (somewhat lower) previous tax bill and pays it out of escrow. At exactly this time they're doing our annual escrow projections and I guess thought this is our new rate and lowers our mortgage payments last year by $300/mo. Now we're paying too little into escrow for a full year for the actual tax bills, they get caught up with the next three, and the most recent one took it deep into the red since there was effectively an extra payment they never accounted for. All in all I guess we ended up with effectively a $6k zero-interest loan that we now get to pay back over the next year? This caught me off guard until I put the above together with docs from bank, the tax assessor, and our closing. We're lucky to be grounded enough financially that this isn't a big deal, but an $800/mo unanticipated expense for a year would wreck a lot of people. How the gently caress does this system function? I'd assume the bank wouldn't have wanted it that way if they knew.
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Jul 3, 2022 19:06
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DrPossum posted:How the gently caress does this system function? I'd assume the bank wouldn't have wanted it that way if they knew. To quote the title of the house buying thread: "Why is everyone involved in this process so deeply stupid?" This seems to apply doubly to everyone involved with the mortgage industry from origination to servicing.
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Jul 3, 2022 19:10
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Yeah, sounds like your loan officer didn't do their job and run your numbers with an actual (or estimated) property tax bill for your area. Ours looked up a handful on the county records website based on a few properties similar to what ours was going to be, and we based our PITI on that, and not what it ended up actually being for the first year (on a new construction). So our payment the first year (or two, iirc) ended up being artificially low, but we were aware and making payments based on what our eventual payment would be. Ended up paying a bunch of extra principal down while we waited for our escrow to get caught up. And we refi'd after 4 years, so we're sitting pretty good with about 70% LTV and a 3.25% rate.
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Jul 3, 2022 20:18
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StormDrain posted:The above post by Painter is solid. New aircon in my house this year and the rooms with returns do better than the others. My other issues are low vents that are obstructed by furniture. In my closet area and bathroom in the master bedroom it's noticeably cooler than at my bed. Our guest bedroom does well despite not having a return since the vent is wide open and it's on a cooler elevation, shaded by trees and only exposed to afternoon sun. This is definitely a nice advantage to small duct/high velocity systems since they aspirate the air rather than diffusing. We have just one duct in the attic and have had no issues with our house staying super cool in the summer. Our system does do heat and it seems to do an alright job (haven't really put it to it's paces though since we got this system installed in May). If you don't have a forced air system already, it may be worth looking at.
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Jul 3, 2022 20:36
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Is $100 to replace a needle valve with a quarter turn valve reasonable? A few quarter turn valves are leaking in my house-I was able to tighten the packing gland to stop the leak, but I’d like yo get them replaced. I don’t know which ones are soldered or compression fits…or really how to even tell-so best to leave it to the pros. One guy said $125 each but if I do ten of them he’ll do it for $1k and he’ll supply the valves. Seems pricy but plumbers seem pricy in general.
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Jul 4, 2022 02:07
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nwin posted:Next window guy came in at $8600 for mod-grade double pane ... This was the guy that originally said over the phone for $6500. Have you tried parking your car down the street, and parking your neighbors son's shitbox 2002 Honda Civic in the driveway when they show up
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Jul 4, 2022 03:32
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Thanks for the advice. I’ll have to brainstorm a way to see what the actual issue is and not spend a buncha money on insulation if it’s not needed.
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Jul 4, 2022 03:58
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nwin posted:Is $100 to replace a needle valve with a quarter turn valve reasonable? A few quarter turn valves are leaking in my house-I was able to tighten the packing gland to stop the leak, but I’d like yo get them replaced. Honestly that doesn't sound terrible. Guys gotta show up at your house cut the valves out and then reconnect them. If he's not doing them all with sharkbite connection and is actual soldering them id say that's not a terrible price. Maybe a little high for bulk pricing though.
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Jul 4, 2022 11:52
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PainterofCrap posted:My neighbors beside me & across the street have exactly the same homes (my block was allegedly built by the WPA to provide low-income housing for homeless squatters on the Woodbury Creek during the Depression); they have both shelled their interiors and thus installed multiple-level registers and returns, and their HVAC does a far better job of cooling their homes into the 60s. I have basically this same problem. What is "shell[ing] their interior?" I'm assuming just some sort of wall insulation, but I couldn't find anything googling (just a lot of results for how to use seashells as decor).
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Jul 4, 2022 15:25
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Grumpwagon posted:I have basically this same problem. What is "shell[ing] their interior?" I'm assuming just some sort of wall insulation, but I couldn't find anything googling (just a lot of results for how to use seashells as decor). I assume he means gut reno down to the studs, like a shell / bomb went off inside
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Jul 4, 2022 15:56
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Grumpwagon posted:I have basically this same problem. What is "shell[ing] their interior?" I'm assuming just some sort of wall insulation, but I couldn't find anything googling (just a lot of results for how to use seashells as decor). They removed all of the interior surfaces down to the framing, replaced it all with drywall.
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Jul 4, 2022 15:56
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tater_salad posted:Honestly that doesn't sound terrible. Guys gotta show up at your house cut the valves out and then reconnect them. If he's not doing them all with sharkbite connection and is actual soldering them id say that's not a terrible price. Maybe a little high for bulk pricing though. He came down to $800 which works for me. Plus he’s going to fix the weird plumbing issue on my vanity.
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Jul 4, 2022 18:18
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The price of stuff is shocking when I compare it to 2017/2018 when I had a bunch of stuff done to my first house that if my realtor wasn’t worthless would have told me to not buy. Things like the whole house replumbed with PEX $1200 and a 200amp panel to replace the old 100amp one with the house rewired to have grounded outlets in every room was like $900.
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Jul 4, 2022 18:23
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In commercial architecture, “core and shell” construction is delivered to a client as structure, major systems and the building envelope but no interior FF&E. It usually includes unfinished interiors walls that are required for code (ir those that divide lease spaces or are required by fire code). As a design professional, when someone says “shell” most people in the industry would think of the exterior envelope. https://www.jrmcm.com/core-shell/co...0or%20ceilings. Anza Borrego fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jul 4, 2022 |
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Jul 4, 2022 18:58
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PainterofCrap posted:They removed all of the interior surfaces down to the framing, replaced it all with drywall. That is "gutted" (to the studs) around here.
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Jul 4, 2022 19:00
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