|
Speaking of... kind of a random, maybe obvious question. I'm replacing the floor in a closet that had a leak (the leak was the copper pipe in a shared bathroom wall - I posted all about it). I pulled up the carpet and would prefer to replace with a tile or something not carpet (just in case things leak in the future, etc I want to be able to tell easier and cleanup easier). But I also don't really give a poo poo what goes there. It's a tucked away closet and not really viewable to anyone. Do Lowes, etc just have like... returned/mismatched/lost and found sections where I can get cheap crap to put down there? It's like 20-ish sq ft and a little bit of an odd shape. 
BonoMan fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Feb 7, 2023 |
#
?
Feb 7, 2023 16:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 22:43 |
|
|
BonoMan posted:
If you’ve got a Habitat for Humanity ReStore nearby, they’ll probably have cheap leftover materials.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2023 16:16
|
|
|
Thufir posted:If you’ve got a Habitat for Humanity ReStore nearby, they’ll probably have cheap leftover materials. ohh we do, good thought
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2023 16:17
|
|
|
Mustache Ride posted:Tile adhesive down, tile starts today: LOL at the sad corner fridge. I assume you have to move it around?
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2023 16:27
|
|
|
I have two rooms with lovely carpet over hardwood, what's the best way to get carpet tack strips out without making a mess? The wood was pristine when it was entombed decades ago
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2023 16:48
|
|
|
BonoMan posted:ohh we do, good thought
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2023 17:10
|
|
i like nice words
|
StormDrain posted:LOL at the sad corner fridge. I assume you have to move it around? Yeah, that and a huge loving 1920s bar my father in law gave us have had to stay in the house and my tile guys will move it around. I'm out of space in my garage 
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2023 18:00
|
|
|
slurm posted:I have two rooms with lovely carpet over hardwood, what's the best way to get carpet tack strips out without making a mess? The wood was pristine when it was entombed decades ago Slide a piece of thin sturdy material, like laminate or formica, against the tack strip at the pry point, and use a flat bar. Once you get it started, it should come right up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 00:03
|
|
|
Question on a big oak tree in my front yard. I took some pictures but I’m concerned how it’s leaning. I’d guess it’s got a 10-15 degree lean on it. I’m not worried about it hitting the house, but if it falls in the direction of the way it’s leaning, my leech field and septic system is probably going to be underneath it. I’m not sure if that could cause damage or not, hence the question. We had a tree company out to cut some trees down and he said this one wasn’t a concern, but did say if it were to fall, the septic could be an issue. He looked at it in the summer but now that the leaves are gone, it looks way worse to my untrained eye. At the minimum it needs trimmed, but if it’s a hazard I’d rather just pay the whole thing now and be done with  it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 00:17
|
|
|
nwin posted:Question on a big oak tree in my front yard. Sometimes oak trees list. Can you get an arborist out to take a look? Not just a tree trimmer? Do you see any roots pushing their way up to the surface that might indicate the entire tree and its root system are shifting?
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 02:42
|
|
|
Phil Moscowitz posted:Sometimes oak trees list. Can you get an arborist out to take a look? Not just a tree trimmer? Yeah seconding this, this turned out to be an easy decision for me because there was like One True Arborist people in a 100 mile radius all recommended, maybe the situation is similar there.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 03:26
|
|
|
slurm posted:Yeah seconding this, this turned out to be an easy decision for me because there was like One True Arborist people in a 100 mile radius all recommended, maybe the situation is similar there. +1 to arborist. You may find they can trim the leaning side to make it less likely to fall over. It doesn't look that bad to me from the photo - the ground doesn't seem to show any roots coming up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:08
|
|
|
Oak trees are pretty resilient. They survive decades if not centuries of soil changes and hurricane winds. If they don’t get sick, they’re usually fine.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:12
|
|
|
Phil Moscowitz posted:Oak trees are pretty resilient. They survive decades if not centuries of soil changes and hurricane winds. If they don’t get sick, they’re usually fine. One hurricane took down almost all the oaks in my home city.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:15
|
|
|
Disrupting to say holy poo poo, do eucalyptus have pathetic root systems. We have them falling over everywhere in NoCal, and a 50-foot tree on its side maybe has 2 yards diameter of roots, maximum. Obviously, they aren't built for atmospheric rivers, but wowza.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:18
|
|
|
Tunicate posted:One hurricane took down almost all the oaks in my home city. They can have severely shortened lifespan and health (or live basically forever) in an urban area which makes the arborist super important for oaks imo.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:24
|
|
|
Phil Moscowitz posted:Sometimes oak trees list. Can you get an arborist out to take a look? Not just a tree trimmer? I can see some roots under the grass pushing up, but it’s been that way since I moved here in June…so no clue if it’s recent or not. I’ll call an arborist up-thanks!
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:31
|
|
|
I have a plumbing problem. My house was built in 1920; it was picked up and moved about twelve miles and set down on a then-new basement in 1983. Lots of little annoyances, but the one at the top of my list is that the bathroom sink drains VERY slowly. Like, I run the tap for about ten to fifteen seconds and the water has already backed up into the basin. And then it takes twenty to thirty minutes to go away. I've tried everything I've seen recommended - drain opening chemicals (septic-safe only, so far); boiling water; salt and then boiling water; boiling water and then drain opening chemicals; a cheap, three-foot snake (the water backs up so quickly it stood to reason that the blockage wasn't too far from the basin); disconnecting the drain pipe under the sink and snaking it from there to get a little more length out of the snake; removing this weird, 18-inch section of rubber "pipe" that connects the drain pipe in the basement from where it begins its horizontal journey to where it continues and eventually joins up with the rest of the drain pipes and snaking that out both upstream and downstream; and finally buying a more serious eight- or ten-foot snake and using that. Nothing has worked. The sink drained fine (as far as I know!) when I moved in a decade ago. It just seems like it gradually got more and more blocked, and the blockage is a ghost. I can't find it and none of the usual pour-through remedies have been able to touch it. Help me, Obi-Wan.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:37
|
|
|
Have you called a plumber
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 04:51
|
|
|
Phil Moscowitz posted:Have you called a plumber I mean, no I don’t hold a lot of hope for actually getting a hold of one. After my basement flooded, I tried for a year to hire an electrician, a drywaller, and a floorer. I made dozens of calls and sent just as many Facebook messages. One floorer eventually called me back and did the job. I never did get an electrician or drywaller to call or write me back. I also can’t afford a plumber right now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 05:34
|
|
|
Since it sounds like you've removed any possibility there's a blockage between that drain and where it meets the rest of the drains in the house, and none of them are having a problem, I think that only leaves one possibility, it's not vented properly. Since you said it didn't always do this I assume its not as simple as there is no vent so its probably been clogged, either by physical damage or wildlife nesting in it from the outside. Try to identify where that vent exits your home and start investigating from there.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 06:19
|
|
|
Are the Simpson SDWS screws acceptable in place of 10d nails for sistering a 2x6 to a couple of joists for the purposes of supporting a 4x4 foot section of plywood subfloor with joists spaced 16" apart? I think I used nails the last time I did something like this about 10 years ago, which I think was before the Simpsons got approval, but I'd rather just deal with the screws if they're acceptable now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 08:26
|
|
|
Phil Moscowitz posted:Oak trees are pretty resilient. They survive decades if not centuries of soil changes and hurricane winds. If they don’t get sick, they’re usually fine. My parents have a massive oak a hundred feet across, with branches that dwarf entire trees. It has been struck by lightning at least four times. It is way past 140 years old. We learned from one of our neighbors, the son of the man who'd owned the land before he subdivided his farm, that it had been big enough to shade the chicken coops that once sat there back in the 1910s. One of the big limbs is easily three feet across and started to hollow out, so they had an arborist come out. He declared it one of the healthiest oaks in the area, but did suggest wiring the hollowed limb if only for peace of mind.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 17:08
|
|
|
Installed the replacement washer motor with a little help from a friend https://i.imgur.com/VJ2aHKj.mp4 So far it seems honestly not super different, maybe a little quieter, maybe I'm losing my mind at this point. I'm keeping the previous motor in my storage in case this one completely shits itself.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2023 01:01
|
|
|
JediTalentAgent posted:Are the Simpson SDWS screws acceptable in place of 10d nails for sistering a 2x6 to a couple of joists for the purposes of supporting a 4x4 foot section of plywood subfloor with joists spaced 16" apart? Depends on the code jurisdiction, but here's how I figure it out when I have a similar question. The code has a nailing schedule as you've probably found - it covers a lot of basic connections used in home building but is silent on the hundreds of alternative fasteners out there. What they do is approve ('evaluate') specific branded fasteners as alternatives to the nailing schedule in documents outside of the code itself. So there will be a determination floating out there saying 'X fasteners of model Y installed in Z pattern is equivalent to <code nail pattern>' So you've determined that you should use 10d nails per code, and you want to substitute some kind of Simpson SDWS, and you're governed by the International Residential Code 2015. Go to the SDWS website and look to see if they publish an 'evaluation report'. If you can't find it, email/call them. This is one of the toughest parts, because 'evaluation report' is so generic and most manufacturers don't call it that. Simpson puts it in a section called 'Code Reports & Compliance' for example. Here is the evaluation report for SDWS that applies to IRC 2015: https://ssttoolbox.widen.net/view/pdf/96lrxjfxjn/IAPMO_UES_ER192.pdf Ok, that document is 32 pages long. You can read it all if you want. The important bit for you is contained on the second page, sections 4.1.5 (tells you what it can replace in the IRC 2015) and 4.2 (reminds you to install them properly). You want to use SDWS16212 or SDWS16300 to replace 10d nails.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2023 02:22
|
|
|
Tezer posted:Ok, that document is 32 pages long. You can read it all if you want. The important bit for you is contained on the second page, sections 4.1.5 (tells you what it can replace in the IRC 2015) and 4.2 (reminds you to install them properly). You want to use SDWS16212 or SDWS16300 to replace 10d nails. This is all fantastic advice. I'll just add "and you need to keep track of those docs to deal with your code enforcement people." And depending on those people it might not be worth it to do this any way other than what is in the book and what they understand. So I would ask first. It's easier. And if they are decent at their jobs you will establish a good relationship and things will go well. If this all goes to poo poo on the first interaction that sucks, but you at least know where you stand and how you should proceed.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2023 02:30
|
|
|
Motronic posted:This is all fantastic advice. I'll just add "and you need to keep track of those docs to deal with your code enforcement people." And depending on those people it might not be worth it to do this any way other than what is in the book and what they understand. Agreed, I had a bit about how the evaluations technically expire so you need to make sure you have an up to date one but the post was getting wordy.
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2023 02:33
|
|
|
Sirotan posted:I dropped one of these in the mail just last night with a piece of my wall: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008J3ZK8M Price includes a shipping label and it is supposed to have a 5-day turnaround time. You could probably get quicker results if you have a lab near you but it will likely be more expensive (I had some old mastic done locally and it was $100, and positive for asbestos!). Took exactly 5 business days to get my results but, phew 
|
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2023 16:49
|
|
|
Bought a house last year and naturally things need to be done. I'll have to repaint the decks/railings this year for one. The really noticeable thing for me is the stone veneer on a fire pit and retaining wall that's falling off.  It's the same thing on the retaining wall. Do I just go around and knock off all the loose stuff and then come spring chip out the old mortar and then redo it or is there more to it than that? I'm gonna guess there's more to it so it doesn't fail like that again?
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 00:17
|
|
|
fknlo posted:Bought a house last year and naturally things need to be done. I'll have to repaint the decks/railings this year for one. The really noticeable thing for me is the stone veneer on a fire pit and retaining wall that's falling off. I have the same kinda thing on the front of my house, my solution has been to ignore the problem for going on ten years because the mortar kinda matches the stonework anyway.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 00:28
|
|
|
fknlo posted:Bought a house last year and naturally things need to be done. I'll have to repaint the decks/railings this year for one. The really noticeable thing for me is the stone veneer on a fire pit and retaining wall that's falling off. Yes, and when you go back, use the kind of grout that chimney builders use. It handles heat & thermal expansion better than standard mortar. No matter how you reset the stone, I would suggest putting capstone of some type around the perimeter lip that overhangs the outer base by a couple inches to protect the exposed top edge from water infiltration & erosion. You can install it right over what's there.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 03:21
|
|
|
fknlo posted:Bought a house last year and naturally things need to be done. I'll have to repaint the decks/railings this year for one. The really noticeable thing for me is the stone veneer on a fire pit and retaining wall that's falling off. This is mostly unrelated but I found it to be a fun watch with a master mason, there is stuff on mortaring in the last quarter of it mostly I think. Maybe there are helpful morsels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69sGhNMzDbw
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 04:21
|
|
|
Fun stuff in the world of home ownership. I was leaving for an 8 day work trip last week. The furnace decided to stop running two days before I left. Last year I replaced a faulty ignitor so I figured it wasn't the ignitor. The filter was clean. I cleaned out the inducer port and hose that goes to the pressure switch. I tested the switch and it wouldn't close so I assumed it was the switch. I ordered a new one, $140 later, but it wouldn't come in until after I left. I showed my wife how to change it. It's easy, two screws, plug a hose into it, two electrical leads. Then turn the furnace on. She replaces it and nothing. She can't get the furnace to fire. And of course Seattle weather takes a cold turn, gets into the 30s overnight. She's got space heaters running but shuts them off at night. During the day, not so bad, but at night she said it was really cold. I tell her to call a pro. They end up not being able to come until the day I get home. The guy showed up, looked at the furnace, ran a few diagnostics, furnace fired right up. He switched the electrical leads on the switch but had to disconnect it because he didn't supply the part and couldn't install it. So I reinstalled it and he just gave me a thumbs up. He left 20 minutes after showing up, $400 more in his pocket. Also had a tree guy come to look at my two large cottonwood/poplars. Because of the proximity to the house and lack of room for extraction, and being surrounded by power lines on the two sides of my house that things can come out, it was not cheap. The one is 18" from my gutters and about 5' thick at the base. It drops branches on my roof constantly. Every arborist that's come by laughs and asks if they're on my property, then tell me how terrible they are. $20,000. 7500 per tree and 4500 for wood removal, then tax. Still waiting on two more quotes and we have to hire a special arborist to ensure they can even come down due to proximity to the creek which will run an extra 1k.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 07:26
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 07:53
|
|
|
Electric ceramic space heaters as emergency heat I think are fine to run overnight ? Especially if you find one reputable brand name with rigorous UL certification, some call out in the manual if they explicitly allow 24 hour duty cycle. Usually gotta pay more though. Also totally unhelpful in this short term! I’d think they’d be not much different than electric baseboard which is probably long duty cycle too controlled by the board.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 07:56
|
|
|
Verman posted:Fun stuff in the world of home ownership. I'm surprised you couldn't SELL the wood to someone who would come and take it away for their fireplace or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 08:06
|
|
|
Lol second quote came in. 26k for two trees removed. Jesus Christ.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 09:26
|
|
|
Hey thread. Are there any steps or cya moves I should take before considering firing my general contractor before my insurance rebuild is complete? They continue to fail to meet expectations and aren't putting the right pressure on their roofing subcontractor (roof was put on the garage in October and it still leaks after countless return visits). We've already asked for a statement of which parts of our quote are still unfinished so we have a starting point to shop the work around.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 14:11
|
|
|
Verman posted:Lol second quote came in. 26k for two trees removed. Brb going to go coppice the cider gum trees we planted in the garden.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 14:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 22:43 |
|
|
Tremors posted:Hey thread. Are there any steps or cya moves I should take before considering firing my general contractor before my insurance rebuild is complete? They continue to fail to meet expectations and aren't putting the right pressure on their roofing subcontractor (roof was put on the garage in October and it still leaks after countless return visits). We've already asked for a statement of which parts of our quote are still unfinished so we have a starting point to shop the work around. Just hire the attorney you were always going to need now. Having demand letters on a lawyers letter head is basically magic and doesn't cost much for them to produce. You know how shitheads say things like "I'm gonna SUE!!!!" and everyone knows they're full of poo poo? Well, having your lawyer write letter for you is like that, but you actually can and do intend to sue and don't even need to say it: everyone who gets those letters already knows it's a very likely possibility.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 14:59
|
|