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meatpimp posted:I'll certainly never get to Jamie Hyneman's storage level. Looking at it, I don't know if that's heaven or hell. He already is messing it up, he's got rubber bands in the middle of the t section
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Mar 15, 2023 17:53
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theflyingexecutive posted:It's possible I already have one (just moved in a year and a half ago and don't really know anything about sewage) but DEP (who handles water/sewer) told me there wasn't an issue near me and the flow outside to the catch basins seemed fine. It also seemed like there wasn't enough rain to overload the sewer. Yeah, this just sounds like a backup issue. The fun part is where the groundwater is getting in from. I'm going to guess your lateral has trees nearby, and the roots have made their way into the pipe. This provides a spot for groundwater to get into the pipe, and all those little roots grab things that would otherwise be able to flow through the lateral to the sewer. If this is the case, I can confirm you don't have a backwater valve installed, or if you do, it's non-functional. If it was working, nothing would drain (or would drain very slowly, because the pipe is, if not fully blocked, at least partially restricted), but nothing would flow back into your house either. If the above is accurate, you've got two options (depending on how badly the pipe is cracked). If it's not too badly cracked, I'd just get it augered out and install a backwater valve, and then get it cleaned out yearly. The second option is replacing the lateral (I'd still want a backwater valve) but that comes with significant costs, though how significant depends on your location. You should start planning on the 2nd option eventually regardless.
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Mar 15, 2023 18:11
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BlackMK4 posted:So to bring my thing kinda full circle, the AC company showed up, took a look, and said they'd reseal under warranty / no service charge since I'd complained before. The tech was nice enough to share a bunch of pictures with me, even though they're not the best. Raining today, its leaking 
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Mar 15, 2023 19:00
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TrueChaos posted:Yeah, this just sounds like a backup issue. The fun part is where the groundwater is getting in from. I'm going to guess your lateral has trees nearby, and the roots have made their way into the pipe. This provides a spot for groundwater to get into the pipe, and all those little roots grab things that would otherwise be able to flow through the lateral to the sewer. If this is the case, I can confirm you don't have a backwater valve installed, or if you do, it's non-functional. If it was working, nothing would drain (or would drain very slowly, because the pipe is, if not fully blocked, at least partially restricted), but nothing would flow back into your house either. It's hard to tell if it's groundwater or just roof water with leaf bits in it. That said, there is a tree just a couple feet from my lateral that could be ruining my day. I am insured against that, so hopefully not an apocalyptic cost if that's the case. Also the floor drain down from my trap/Schroedinger's valve didn't have any problems.
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Mar 15, 2023 19:13
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theflyingexecutive posted:It's hard to tell if it's groundwater or just roof water with leaf bits in it. That said, there is a tree just a couple feet from my lateral that could be ruining my day. I am insured against that, so hopefully not an apocalyptic cost if that's the case. By groundwater, rainwater filtering through the ground (and leaking into the lateral) counts. Your insurance likely covers damage from the back up, but not the replacement of the lateral. Check your policy closely on that front. Pretty common problem really.. Or so I.. quote:Also the floor drain down from my trap/Schroedinger's valve didn't have any problems. Wait what the gently caress is going on with your plumbing. The floor drain, which is connected to the main sewer pipe, which is what I'm suspecting is both clogged and allowing water in, isn't having water backflow up it? Despite that its at a lower elevation than the shower drain, which is where the water is coming up? What happens if you pour a bucket of water down the floor drain? That uses the same lateral as the shower to get to the sewer. And I doubt the floor drain ties in to the lateral past the tree. If there was a clog in the lateral you should have backflow up the floor drain. Something strange going on here.
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Mar 16, 2023 01:52
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Sorry for puzzling you! There was a clog in the lateral. The snake wasn't able to clear it, but a good blast of CO2 on top of that saved me a thousand dollar jetting. The trap was also clogged and as it turns out I have no backflow valve. The floor drain was ahead of the trap clog so maybe that's why it didn't overflow?  There was a very tense moment when the snaking didn't work and the plumber started looking warily at the tree just a couple feet from my lateral. He ended up popping the manhole cover up and sussed out that it was a clog and not a break and grabbed the CO2.
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Mar 16, 2023 06:38
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Elem7 posted:Good time to point out, you don't just have to use a "home inspector." There are legal things That are restricted to licensed home inspectors, at least in my state. Like, the inspection report that gets handled by the real estate lawyers has to come from the inspector and not the tradesman with a financial interest in performing the work. Not to say you can’t have a plumber or whoever come out to look at it but the issue needs to get pointed out and confirmed by the home inspector to be considered within the contract negotiations. At least in my state. Your experience with the home inspector missing big stuff isn’t uncommon sadly (and missing a 40 year old furnace is “big stuff” to me, that’s just basic checking the label kinda stuff)
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Mar 16, 2023 12:00
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That's definitely not the case here and seems like an utterly ridiculous law with an absurd justification, nevermind actual lawyers rarely get involved with most negotiations surrounding inspection contingencies around here, AFAIK. For one like any other time major issues are found second opinions can be sought out and multiple bids from different companies solicited for. Second, I don't know how that meshes with disclosure requirements which do not have a stipulation you only need to disclose issues discovered by an "official" home inspector. In the case of the furnace in my situation the company who did the inspection did not do the work, they didn't even bid on it because the old furnace was an unusual old oil burner converted to natural gas that required more sheet metal work than they typically do. The seller didn't even try to wiggle out of paying for a new furnace despite the "as-is" contract since they risked the gas meter being red tagged and would need to disclose the issue to any other prospective buyers if we backed out, regardless of who did the inspection. (Yes we'd of likely lost our earnest money if we did back out but it was a similar amount to the cost of repairs and in our area, pre-pandemic, the sellers would've come out worse if things went that way) Also my home inspector didn't miss the furnace issue, scheduling lead to him coming out after it'd already been discovered, but its very unlikely he would've found the issue which wasn't that the furnace was 40 years old, which I don't consider actionable.
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Mar 16, 2023 17:07
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So the good news is I found a great electrician after almost being hustled by another one. This one said “yeah the dude who told you to rewire the whole house was crazy” so that’s good. He also quoted me a much lower price upgrade the amperage than 10k! Well except that we’d have to upgrade the whole duplex service and would cost roughly 10k for both units, which is actually a lot better because of the split cost. In his eyes it’s not urgent until we upgrade to a heat pump. Not bad, but kind of a wash. Good electricians exist apparently. E: I mean, I guess we’ll find out but good INITIAL vibes Bread Set Jettison fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Mar 16, 2023 |
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Mar 16, 2023 17:18
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Bread Set Jettison posted:Well except that we’d have to upgrade the whole duplex service and would cost roughly 10k for both units, which is actually a lot better because of the split cost. Hopefully you've already talked to the other unit's occupants about this?
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Mar 16, 2023 17:45
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Johnny Truant posted:Hopefully you've already talked to the other unit's occupants about this? We haven’t but also we aren’t gonna do it immediately! It’s something we need to pitch to them, and since we just met them (and the upgrade isn’t urgent) we’re gonna try and develop a positive relationship first before coming in guns blazing asking for 5k.
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Mar 16, 2023 17:54
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Bread Set Jettison posted:We haven’t but also we aren’t gonna do it immediately! It’s something we need to pitch to them, and since we just met them (and the upgrade isn’t urgent) we’re gonna try and develop a positive relationship first before coming in guns blazing asking for 5k. 
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Mar 16, 2023 19:06
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The bathroom vents in my house are routed out to 4" flappy covers on the exterior walls, this style. When it's windy they flap around like crazy and keep my wife awake at night. What's a good alternative style vent cover for an external wall that can handle the wind well? Wasps getting into the vents are a problem, so something that seals up well when not in use would be preferred. Edit: I'll have a number of these to replace for different uses (bathroom vents, range vent, and dryer vent) so some may see a little heat. Probably not enough to be a problem, but they'll see some grease or lint too. The bathroom vents are just the top priority now. smax fucked around with this message at 12:14 on Mar 17, 2023 |
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Mar 17, 2023 12:11
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smax posted:The bathroom vents in my house are routed out to 4" flappy covers on the exterior walls, this style. When it's windy they flap around like crazy and keep my wife awake at night.  I've been installing those. They are steel, still have the flappy, and the mesh is also steel. I get mine from Menards as an "Imperial 4" White Steel Wall Vent Hood" for $25.
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Mar 17, 2023 12:51
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meatpimp posted:I use an old FLIR One attached to like an iphone 5. Cheapest entry into thermal and I haven't needed anything more. Revisting this. I got out my first-gen FLIR One to check on a blower outlet I'm installing over the cooktop. While I was there, I looked at some previous pictures. In addition to the above, here are some uses: I had a clogged drain. Instead of running a snake right away, I got the water as hot as I could and ran it. The FLIR saw the heat in the PVC pipe and I knew that the clog was passed the trap and into the wall.  Then last year, I was driving my Escalade and notices a brake burning smell. Ignored it the first day, the second day I took the following pics after a drive:   78* on the face of one wheel, 88* on the face of the other wheel was a pretty good verification of my "stuck caliper" suspicion. Replaced the caliper and no problems. It's not always a lifesaver, but the FLIR can be a very useful tool, even with this ancient one with limited resolution. Now that I think about it, in my industrial times, I contracted out a company to FLIR the electrical cabinets. 4160V running huge processing equipment makes nice heat signatures. I don't have any of those pictures, it was back in the '90s, but I'm sure the resolution on those cameras was far less than even what I have.
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Mar 17, 2023 14:21
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EVERYWHERE 
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How much of a pain in the rear end is repainting a deck? It looks doable but it also doesn't look like something I necessarily want to do. It'll end up being a couple of decks as well with the pool so I'm sure that won't be cheap to have someone do. Paint is peeling on the walking surfaces so those will have to be sanded down for sure.
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Mar 17, 2023 16:18
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The answer to a question like that could range from super easy, couple hour job to something that will take weeks and everything in between. As with most things and painting, prep is the biggest thing.
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Mar 17, 2023 16:28
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What's the thought on Glacier Bay, the Home Depot house branded products? I have successfully plugged the highly recommended American Standard Turd Destroyer Champion 4 more than once. The good news is that it "unplugs" with a simple double/triple flush so that's miles above what we used to have. BUT, when I was at lowes depot the other day, I saw this: https://www.homedepot.ca/product/glacier-bay-power-flush-all-in-one-2-piece-4-8-lpf-single-flush-elongated-bowl-toilet-in-white/1001513334 Supposedly has a vacuum-assisted flush (I guess that's a good thing?) and about $60 cheaper than the American Standard. 2-3/8" trap which is the same size as the Champion IIRC. I'm always leery of house brands with stuff like this though. No idea who the OEM is.
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Mar 17, 2023 16:35
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Op, have you considered adding more fiber to your diet?
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Mar 17, 2023 17:03
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theflyingexecutive posted:Sorry for puzzling you! There was a clog in the lateral. The snake wasn't able to clear it, but a good blast of CO2 on top of that saved me a thousand dollar jetting. The trap was also clogged and as it turns out I have no backflow valve. The floor drain was ahead of the trap clog so maybe that's why it didn't overflow? Don't worry about puzzling me! I'm a water/wastewater infrastructure engineer, these kinds of puzzles are fun. This is still kinda strange though. The bathroom trap being clogged should theoretically prevent backflow up the shower drain, so I'm not sure how you were getting water with what looked like leaf bits in it coming up out of the shower drain. I see a few different ways this could actually be set up: - The working floor drain connects to your lateral after where the blockage was located. Entirely possible, though a bit strange. Additionally, the lateral is cracked somewhere between the house and the blockage, which allowed water to get in. The blockage in the bathroom trap was minor and not affecting anything. Solution to this is to install a backwater valve and eventually fix the lateral. - Same as above re the floor drain connection. Your lateral is not cracked, and the water that came up out of your shower was in fact wastewater (shower water, toilet water, dishwasher, etc.). The blockage in the bathroom trap wasn't doing anything. I'd still install a backwater valve, but the problem will re-occur if a clog forms again. The plumber indicating that the lateral isn't broken (did they actually camera the lateral to confirm no breaks?) doesn't jive with the water backflowing being groundwater - groundwater needs some way to enter the piping. My old house had a tree near the lateral, and I got it cleaned out every year to deal with the roots. Additionally, it seemed like the pipe had a decent crack right where it left the house - upon clearing a clog, there was a few minutes of water flow into the lateral while the groundwater drained. I never fixed it because hey, it was lowering the water around my foundation free of charge!
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Mar 17, 2023 17:07
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Sirotan posted:Op, have you considered adding more fiber to your diet? Just remove the option for clogs entirely. 
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Mar 17, 2023 17:24
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Sirotan posted:Op, have you considered adding more fiber to your diet?
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Mar 17, 2023 21:09
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Tremors posted:Just remove the option for clogs entirely. 
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Mar 17, 2023 21:39
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slidebite posted:Trust me, tons of fiber.... that's probably the problem lol How about billiard balls
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Mar 17, 2023 22:14
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Tremors posted:Just remove the option for clogs entirely. My auntie had an incinerator toilet because she lived on the shore of a lake in a conservation area. It was very exciting but worked a little slowly.
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Mar 18, 2023 00:45
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I'm pretty sure that's the Glacier Bay toilet that came with our house - working end looks the same anyway - and I've been using that successfully for 10 years. I'm an overgrown overweight Midwesterner who subsists largely on cheese. Make of that what you will.
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Mar 18, 2023 01:55
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It took almost a month but I finally got my financing all set on Thursday for my kitchen remodel. I was all worried about lead times on cabinets so I rushed over to IKEA today to put in my order. Welp there's no longer supply chain issues I guess because I'll have them in less than two weeks. I don't even gut the kitchen until the first week of May, lol. Not a terrible problem to have except now I have to figure out where to stick all the boxes...
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Mar 18, 2023 19:43
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Sirotan posted:It took almost a month but I finally got my financing all set on Thursday for my kitchen remodel. I was all worried about lead times on cabinets so I rushed over to IKEA today to put in my order. Welp there's no longer supply chain issues I guess because I'll have them in less than two weeks. I don't even gut the kitchen until the first week of May, lol. Not a terrible problem to have except now I have to figure out where to stick all the boxes... I know of a great place to store 'em: in your kitchen! Just remove the old ones first...
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Mar 18, 2023 20:35
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What colors should I paint my house? I hate the wheat color it has today. I want to switch to black but I'm not sure how much to paint black or what color to pair with it. How it looks today (had to replace my porch roof which is why its black)  Playing around with a visualization tool  
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Mar 18, 2023 23:31
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:What colors should I paint my house? I hate the wheat color it has today. I want to switch to black but I'm not sure how much to paint black or what color to pair with it. Regardless of what you end up going for I'd be mentally prepared to paint both the top and bottom ???whatever you call those. Awnings? If you try to paint the top one to match the bottom one it'll still look a bit different.
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Mar 18, 2023 23:38
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:What colors should I paint my house? I hate the wheat color it has today. I want to switch to black but I'm not sure how much to paint black or what color to pair with it. I don’t like the two tone, would go all black. Be bold. Are you in a warm climate/do you get a lot of direct sun?
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Mar 18, 2023 23:58
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Greens look nice with red brick
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Mar 19, 2023 00:36
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Yeah, dark green
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Mar 19, 2023 01:43
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All the new construction around here has made me pretty drat sick of dark blue and black paint. I vote green as well.
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Mar 19, 2023 01:52
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Mar 19, 2023 03:09
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Shifty Pony posted:I vote green as well. When it’s time to paint the house, we’re gonna go with something like this: 
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Mar 19, 2023 13:12
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It turns out the Home Depot Lifeproof LVP flooring is pretty easy to install  ...as long as I get a big piece of quarter-round to cover the shitshow I made of the trailing edges because god drat cutting the planks lengthwise is hard  Also I'm going to have to figure out how to join the various pieces together at door thresholds and whatnot, which seems tricky. Still, glad to have gotten rid of carpet.
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Mar 19, 2023 13:55
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You cover the edges with baseboard, and between rooms with thresholds: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lifeproof-Hickory-Natural-1-4-in-Thick-x-1-3-8-in-Wide-x-94-1-2-in-Length-Vinyl-T-Molding-HLVT3026TM/206400133
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Mar 19, 2023 13:58
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Elem7 posted:That's definitely not the case here and seems like an utterly ridiculous law with an absurd justification, nevermind actual lawyers rarely get involved with most negotiations surrounding inspection contingencies around here, AFAIK. For one like any other time major issues are found second opinions can be sought out and multiple bids from different companies solicited for. Second, I don't know how that meshes with disclosure requirements which do not have a stipulation you only need to disclose issues discovered by an "official" home inspector. It’s a pretty clear conflict of interest to have a tradesman perform the inspection when compared to a third party inspector. And a 40 year old furnace is most certainly ‘actionable’ to me, appliances have expected lifespans and a well-maintained furnace is about ~20 years. Looks like we have different expectations when it comes to buying a home, and that’s ok. Congrats on the home purchase 
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Mar 19, 2023 14:11
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I've had my Bosch 500 for a few weeks now and goddamn this thing is still fuckin sweet. Like, it'll auto pop open to air fry when it's done?? thanks for the rec thread (or maybe it was one of the other 3/4 house threads) 
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Mar 19, 2023 14:42
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