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The appraisal on my new house (new construction) came back with one error. The picture of the rear of the dwelling is wrong. It’s probably one of the neighboring homes, but it’s clearly wrong. Everything else is accurate. Is that one detail major? I emailed them asking if they should amend it, hopefully they respond Tuesday. I mean I paid for the drat appraisal I’d expect it to be 100% accurate but if I’m overreacting so be it. Edit: poo poo meant to post in the house buying thread.
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Sep 4, 2022 19:15
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Douchebag posted:The appraisal on my new house (new construction) came back with one error. The picture of the rear of the dwelling is wrong. It’s probably one of the neighboring homes, but it’s clearly wrong. Everything else is accurate. Why did you get an appraisal? For your own information or because your mortgage lender required it? If the latter did it do it's job? I.e. did you get the mortgage at the LTV you purchased the home at or did it under appraise? Unless the outcome of this process negatively impacted you the only thing you can expect from making waves is trouble and delay.
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Sep 4, 2022 19:24
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Motronic posted:Why did you get an appraisal? For your own information or because your mortgage lender required it? If the latter did it do it's job? I.e. did you get the mortgage at the LTV you purchased the home at or did it under appraise? Lender required it and it appraised over what we bought for ($8k over). So yeah it did it’s job I was just curious if it would have any negative impact on the future but I guess not.
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Sep 4, 2022 19:27
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Odds are they just forget to delete the pic from their template/the appraisal they did before yours. Unless the report called specific attention to something in that picture, it won't affect anything and nobody but you will ever even know! Like if the photograph has a pool in the backyard, or a sinkhole, and the value was adjusted for having a pool or a sinkhole, but your house doesn't actually have a pool/sinkhole, that would be a problem. This sounds more like a clerical error which happens all the time with people who get paid per job and want to grind grind grind.
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Sep 4, 2022 19:38
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Douchebag posted:Lender required it and it appraised over what we bought for ($8k over). So yeah it did it’s job I was just curious if it would have any negative impact on the future but I guess not. Unlikely anyone will give a poo poo. Then again, if the back of the house has asbestos shingles... No. No one cares at this point.
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Sep 4, 2022 22:03
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All the following is out of curiosity, the paperwork is signed and the (50%!) deposit made, just wondering if anyone has insight into a bid I accepted. I need some 30' trees trimmed back from my house, and after making a few calls the options in my area are various groups of guys with chainsaws and no insurance who want to borrow your ladder, and one giant operation with TV ads that bought up all the others. Estimates from the fly by night crews were consistently ~$500 but no good as they insisted on work that would kill the trees, the trunks of which are on my (untraceable slumlord) neighbor's property. Gave up and called the big guys, the owner came out and quoted me $3500 with a spiel about how booked out they were but there was an opening next week if I sign now. Tremendous red flag, I know I should have bailed right then but I'm tired of dealing with this and it has to be done before an upcoming siding replacement. The part I'm curious about is the quote, basically he penciled it out and said 5 trees at 700 per is 3500. But when you look closely it's really only 2 trees. My suspicion is that he eyeballed it, came up with that price and did the math backward, i.e. it wouldn't have made any difference if he'd traced everything to 2 trunks correctly, the per-tree rate was made up on the spot. Sound about right? IMO I have zero leverage to correct anything, although 5 trees is spelled out on all the paperwork. Even so, I can't imagine the pain in the rear end of clawing back $2k by proving (to who?) that they only touched 2 trees. e: holy gently caress that's a long post. tldr: when a tree service bids a job are the line items typically massaged to fit an guesstimated total, or real standard rates that add up however they add up? go for a stroll fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Sep 4, 2022 |
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Sep 4, 2022 22:15
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go for a stroll posted:e: holy gently caress that's a long post. tldr: when a tree service bids a job are the line items typically massaged to fit an guesstimated total, or real standard rates that add up however they add up? Same question, but for literally any job involving a house/car?
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Sep 4, 2022 22:26
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Do you want the tress down and cleaned up with an insured company or not? That's where you're at if the accounting in your post is correct. I don't know how big these tress are so I can't even guess at whether this is a fair price or not but it's certainly nothing that sounds like it's outright too much.
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Sep 4, 2022 22:30
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Motronic posted:Do you want the tress down and cleaned up with an insured company or not? Yeah, I do. There was a bunch of extraneous info in there but I'm not asking anyone to guess if that's a fair price. Just curious about how a bid like that is really put together. Appreciate the sanity check though.
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Sep 4, 2022 23:02
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go for a stroll posted:Yeah, I do. There was a bunch of extraneous info in there but I'm not asking anyone to guess if that's a fair price. Just curious about how a bid like that is really put together. Appreciate the sanity check though. I get where you're coming from. And I've had a lot of tree work done. It's usually based on how tall they are and then exacerbating factors like how close they are to a house or property line that would necessitate additional equipment up to and including cranes. But none of that matters if you literally have one choice of actual professional tree company.
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Sep 4, 2022 23:05
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go for a stroll posted:
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Sep 4, 2022 23:55
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I vastly underestimated how much work it was going to take to remove a couple of large shrubs. They were blocking line of sight coming out of the drive way, so removing them was for safety, but dang if it didn't wipe me out for the rest of the day. On to the next project.
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Sep 5, 2022 00:31
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A reciprocating saw can be one of the handiest yard tools for certain scenarios.
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Sep 5, 2022 01:21
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And time. If you are killing a shrub use a saw to cut away a hole until you have access to the trunk, cut that, then wait 1-2 weeks if you can. Assuming it's at all warm out it will respirate out a lot of water in that time making it weigh less and cut up easier. Same with bulk piles of branches. The goal is not to get it so crispy the leaves fall off or its a fire hazard but you can just not heave ho several gallons of water depending on the mass of the plant.
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Sep 5, 2022 01:32
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The Dave posted:A reciprocating saw can be one of the handiest yard tools for certain scenarios. Oh good yes. A sawzall is loving amazing for destroying bushes. Just belly crawl under there and start hacking at trunks.
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Sep 5, 2022 01:39
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:They're guestimating based on the time they think it will take to clear whatever away from your house, not on how many trees there are. The local good arborist/tree guy here is $2k for a half day and $3500 for a full day-I have no idea how big of a job yours is. It's a fair bit of time and work for a decent operation to get themselves and their equipment to your house, not to mention the sky high workman's comp and other insurance reputable tree companies pay for. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and is how I'd expect anything else to be estimated. For trimming a mass of branches in a vertical plane I can't imagine why you'd care how many trunks everything is connected to. I guess they break it down that way because clients are used to seeing some kind of itemization.
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Sep 5, 2022 02:11
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H110Hawk posted:And time. If you are killing a shrub use a saw to cut away a hole until you have access to the trunk, cut that, then wait 1-2 weeks if you can. Assuming it's at all warm out it will respirate out a lot of water in that time making it weigh less and cut up easier. I should have asked for advice here before I spent 4 hours using a hedge trimmer, pruning shears, bow saw, and D-saw. I felt accomplished but then realized I have a ton of vegetation to now haul back to the dumpster. I guess I could dig it up or just let it slowly die as a series of stumps.
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Sep 5, 2022 02:30
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I’m debating hiring a yard guy just to clear out the big sago palm branches that didn’t make it through a freeze. It wouldn’t be backbreaking work, but I need a full suit of armor to get to the base of the branches without getting stabbed.
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Sep 5, 2022 03:44
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Let me know how that goes. I’m looking to clear my lot of two rotted tree stumps that have developed their own little ecosystems of catvine, mulberry, etc. I’ve been debating trying to clear it myself come November when most of it dies back & it is cooler…there’s also deadfall bound to the ground by vines, and 100-feet of completely choked (neighbor’s 4’ chain-link) fence along the left property line. The lot’s never had a house on it and was not really maintained at all for the past fifteen years so it’s run riot. I should at least get a couple of bids from landscapers. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Sep 5, 2022 |
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Sep 5, 2022 03:50
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Democratic Pirate posted:I’m debating hiring a yard guy just to clear out the big sago palm branches that didn’t make it through a freeze. It wouldn’t be backbreaking work, but I need a full suit of armor to get to the base of the branches without getting stabbed. I chopped down one giant sago palm a few years ago and it was painful but I’m so glad I did it. I have one left I need to do, but it’s extra extra spiky. If you do it in winter and put on a big coat and jeans and gloves it’s not to awful. I threw a chunk of the trunk behind some shrubs because I didn’t want to haul it all the way to the street for trash pickup and it rooted itself and started putting out new growth so go ahead and completely murder it and remove it from your premises.
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Sep 5, 2022 04:22
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Abyss posted:I should have asked for advice here before I spent 4 hours using a hedge trimmer, pruning shears, bow saw, and D-saw. I felt accomplished but then realized I have a ton of vegetation to now haul back to the dumpster. I guess I could dig it up or just let it slowly die as a series of stumps.  It's one of those things, those tools are great is you need precision and are trying to shape/prune a plant in small portions. If you just need it to die then sawzall, chainsaw, and similar are king. Even then you will almost always be able to sawzall things where a bow/D saw will work, you just have to be careful because you will absolutely go through 3 branches if you aren't ready for the cut to finish.
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Sep 5, 2022 04:29
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H110Hawk posted:And time. If you are killing a shrub use a saw to cut away a hole until you have access to the trunk, cut that, then wait 1-2 weeks if you can. Assuming it's at all warm out it will respirate out a lot of water in that time making it weigh less and cut up easier. If you're like me dealing with trees dying at my old house, by the time you take it down it'll be so loving light that you feel like you're tossing cabers on one of those strongman competitions that aired on ESPN2 at one in the morning.
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Sep 5, 2022 06:34
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So, new homeowner as of this weekend, and with the current heatwave I realized I should check our filters for the ac to see if I could improve the efficiency at all. It is running, but not doing super great. If I'm understanding the system correctly, the return ducks should both have a filter. If that is the case, let this serve as a reminder of how incompetent inspectors can be. A PO tore out the filters and just put the grate back up. I looked at the ac unit in the garage and no filters there that I could find either. Now I gotta get an ac repairman out here and will probably be told all the ways the unit is hosed because of this.
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Sep 6, 2022 13:55
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I've never seen filters on the air returns in any house I've lived in. There has always been a single filter next to the intake on the furnace / air handler.
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Sep 6, 2022 14:03
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Most (all?) hvac setups I've seen have the air filter installed just in front of the blower intake (at the furnace) rather than by the wall vent intake. E;f, b
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Sep 6, 2022 14:05
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This is the setup we have, there are two black filters at the very top of the unit installed in a v like shape, but no space to install a filter that I'm used to. 
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Sep 6, 2022 14:33
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Those aren't filters, it's a loving filthy coil, which is supposed to be silver and is badly in need of cleaning. I can't tell from those two pictures where you filter is/should be but the HVAC tech who comes out to give that thing the service it badly needs will be able to tell you.
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Sep 6, 2022 14:41
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Where's your air duct intake to the unit - Is it on the back of the furnace? (The air filter isn't in the unit itself - the V shape thing inside is usually the A/C radiator from what I remember) Edit: What Motronic said above..
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Sep 6, 2022 14:43
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Yep that sounds about right. The previous owners who bought in 2010 probably never had it cleaned or serviced. Sigh. I've reached out to 10 heating cooling companies but am not expecting anything before next week given out current heat wave insanity
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Sep 6, 2022 14:43
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I think the filter access would be on the other side of the unit. Can you even get to it around the water heater? Because lol if not.
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Sep 6, 2022 14:43
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Spikes32 posted:Yep that sounds about right. The previous owners who bought in 2010 probably never had it cleaned or serviced. Sigh. I've reached out to 10 heating cooling companies but am not expecting anything before next week given out current heat wave insanity Sounds about right - my house PO had a very nice Lennox system installed in 2013 and never did the yearly maintenance on it. Tech could barely pull out the filter it was so clogged (2020). Even got an air duct cleaning crew in and they pulled out a few kids toys as well from the vents.
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Sep 6, 2022 14:48
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Yeah I have no clue where this filter is. I'll wait and let the ac tech find it but I'm stumped. No where above unit in the house I can access, and not in the attic unless it's buried in insulation.     Edit : unless it's the square attached to the ceiling in which case what the hell there aren't even screws to open it up with.
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Sep 6, 2022 15:09
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Filters absolutely, positively need to be somewhere, but the system design might have it somewhere odd. Some forced air systems have a single filter right before the blower at the main unit. I think these systems usually have a supply and return in each room, or are in smaller spaces like an apartment or something (in a closet with a grate on the door). My house's downstairs zone has a single return in the living space, which is where the filter is located. My upstairs zone has 2 small returns for whatever reason, but in any case they're accessible from the living space and both zones have a tool-free access to change them. So where your filter is depends on how the system is designed, but bottom line is there must be a filter somewhere. If you can't find it then PO probably ran without and has gunked up the ducts/blower pretty bad.
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Sep 6, 2022 15:09
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You can clean the A-coil with a fingernail brush & get the worst of it off. Based on how furry yours is, it looks like there is no filter anywhere. Really surprised that it's not a mass of dirty ice. If you're curious, find the return duct & see where it attaches to the furnace stack. Your filter should be there. Also: check & clean out the condensate pan (catches water running off of the A-coils, located under them) and the drain piping since they're probably both full of crap.
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Sep 6, 2022 15:26
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On installs that I've seen the filter access would be at the back of the metallic duct at the bottom. I'll say that the drywall in the back of the unit is covering it up and was installed a couple of years after the furnace was installed. Usually furnaces aren't installed flush to the wall and have access space all around them...
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Sep 6, 2022 15:29
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Please post when you get answers to the filter situation. My theory is it was installed without one right now. Unless there's access in whatever room is adjacent to that return grille photo you posted, since I see ductwork off to the lefthand side. I have lived in an apartment that had the filter on the return, it was in the wall though. Very convenient, very dirty.
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Sep 6, 2022 15:43
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unknown posted:On installs that I've seen the filter access would be at the back of the metallic duct at the bottom. I really hope this isn't the case. It backs up directly to the old laundry room / entry into the house that looks like it was original to the house. Not sure what we'll be able to do it we have to cut the drywall between the house and garage out.
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Sep 6, 2022 16:11
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Where do y'all actually see the A-Coil? It's a little difficult to make out in those photos, maybe I'm not used to seeing what they look like in an installed unit.
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Sep 6, 2022 16:17
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Top of this picture. See the silver seam with the gross black above it? It's all supposed to be that silver color. (I think?)
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Sep 6, 2022 16:26
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Spikes32 posted:This is the setup we have, there are two black filters at the very top of the unit installed in a v like shape, but no space to install a filter that I'm used to. That line of beige painted metal above the middle, does that pull out, and inside of there lives a 16x20x1 filter? I had a similar looking unit and there was a cassette you had to pull out that was painted the same color as the frame
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Sep 6, 2022 16:42
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