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Tristesse posted:Well two years into owning a home I got to make my first claim with homeowners insurance. I don't think it's going to be worth your while to make a homeowner's insurance claim for $200 when you probably have a $500 or $1000 deductible.
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Jul 27, 2023 00:51
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Yeah I wouldn’t make a claim on that, but I couldn’t anyway my deductible is 5K. Homeowners is for major stuff. I’d probably self pay up to 10K.
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Jul 27, 2023 01:04
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Finally got around to cleaning out the dryer vent, which I've wanted to do since we've moved in. Thing was filthy. Not clogged per se, but full enough that one of the little flaps on the outdoor vent was stuck so I imagine it'll probably work a bit better now (and will be much less of a fire hazard!)
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Jul 27, 2023 05:08
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Tricky Ed posted:This is a reasonable quote for this work, but as others have pointed out there appears to be something else going on. My suspicion is a busted duct somewhere, or a low charge of coolant making your AC work harder to less effect, but you will want a pro to identify what is happening in your house to cause that much power draw. Hey I just wanted to say thank you for the super informative post. Really everyone has been extremely helpful but I wanted to call this one out because you nailed it. So after 5 days of setting the thermostat up from 78 to 85, the projected energy bill dipped from $763 to $544, which is about where it was last year. That’s cool, although the house is not. Thankfully we have a pool available to us and my wife was very much down to suffer through the heat until this cycle ends August 8th. We’re going through with the insulation, but decided to skip the attic fan. The fan just doesn’t seem worth it. It seems like it doesn’t help with radiant heat, the cost to run it offsets a lot of the benefits, and the roof is covered by the HOA so there’s not as much incentive to pay an extra $850 to protect it. I did an online audit which confirmed cooling is the main culprit of increased energy costs. That very well could be because the a/c needs servicing, and if needed we’ll go down that road. But I know the insulation we have is entirely insufficient anyway, so we’re going to do that first. If we end up having to do other stuff, well so be it. Thanks again all for the great insight and advice. Y’all are a fantastic resource and I appreciate you.
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Jul 27, 2023 07:08
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Highbrow Slick posted:
I'd move the AC getting serviced way up. Unless the unit is completely hosed and on its very last legs it's not going to run you more than a few hundred dollars. So if you're already blowing through an extra few hundred a month keeping your house cool, it's very likely you could pay for the service cost in the first couple months.
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Jul 27, 2023 13:00
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Or even at minimum buy a can of foaming coil cleaner and clean the evaporative coils yourself. I did mine for the first time in my life this year and it took me about an hour total. Most of it was trying to figure out how to remove the exterior panels only to find out that my Trane model doesn't seem to be designed for them to be removable.
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Jul 27, 2023 13:07
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spf3million posted:Or even at minimum buy a can of foaming coil cleaner and clean the evaporative coils yourself. I did mine for the first time in my life this year and it took me about an hour total. Most of it was trying to figure out how to remove the exterior panels only to find out that my Trane model doesn't seem to be designed for them to be removable. This is a pretty decent video on it. https://youtu.be/k7PSzi7NSyc It’s all in all really easy.
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Jul 27, 2023 15:22
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Muir posted:I don't think it's going to be worth your while to make a homeowner's insurance claim for $200 when you probably have a $500 or $1000 deductible. I'd agree except the water damage hosed up the whole kitchen wall and the cabinets need to be torn out and replaced. It's real dumb how one leak can cause thousands of bucks worth of damage but it did so be paranoid about mystery sounds I guess. To be clear the 200 bucks just stopped the leak. There's a whole lot of damage that needs to be fixed and there's also currently a big hole in the ceiling and wall to access the pipe that cracked. Tristesse fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Jul 27, 2023 |
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Jul 27, 2023 16:13
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You really need to check your policy details on water damage. Most policies cover sudden accidental water damage like a burst pipe, but they may argue a cracked drain pipe is not sudden and accidental and with the way insurance companies are losing money these days you may be in a fight to get the claim approved. edit: Not trying to be a debbie downer, just want to set expectations.
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Jul 27, 2023 16:34
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Yup, I'm very aware of that. The contractor is sure we're going to be approved because there was no way we could've known it was dripping before it came through the cabinets and he took a ton of photos to document everything he did to help. He did warn us that they might still fight and it's likely going to be a while before anything happens. I'll be sure to post anything stupid that happens here. Oh yeah we did find out that loving Gary hot glue gunned the plumbing access panels shut for some reason. With sparkle glue no less.
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Jul 27, 2023 16:42
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Tristesse posted:Oh yeah we did find out that loving Gary hot glue gunned the plumbing access panels shut for some reason. With sparkle glue no less. If you're gonna do something you might as well do a nice job of it.
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Jul 27, 2023 16:45
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I wish my place had plumbing access panels. Maybe I should get one installed since apparently according to the drainage people I had come in today my pipes are kind of hosed. I have something they described as a "bad belly" (according to their cameras) and suggested I get it fixed sooner rather than later.
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Jul 27, 2023 16:47
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GlyphGryph posted:I wish my place had plumbing access panels. Maybe I should get one installed since apparently according to the drainage people I had come in today my pipes are kind of hosed. I have something they described as a "bad belly" (according to their cameras) and suggested I get it fixed sooner rather than later. A belly is basically a sag in a drain pipe where instead of a continuous downward slope part of the pipe goes uphill a little. Wastewater isn't pressurized so it relies on gravity to flow. A puddle of water stays in the pipe as a result and stuff that would otherwise flow along with the water to the sewer will instead precipitate out in the stagnant water. That drastically increases the chances of a clog. That isn't a problem in pressurized systems.
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Jul 27, 2023 17:00
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skipdogg posted:You really need to check your policy details on water damage. Most policies cover sudden accidental water damage like a burst pipe, but they may argue a cracked drain pipe is not sudden and accidental and with the way insurance companies are losing money these days you may be in a fight to get the claim approved. I found this out the hard and expensive way!
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Jul 27, 2023 17:13
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My system isn't pressured, and the sag appears to be under the house/foundation rather than somewhere in the yard. The pipes were also completely clogged with oils/fats/grease or whatever, so they at least cleaned that out, but ugh.
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Jul 27, 2023 18:24
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GlyphGryph posted:My system isn't pressured, and the sag appears to be under the house/foundation rather than somewhere in the yard. The pipes were also completely clogged with oils/fats/grease or whatever, so they at least cleaned that out, but ugh. Shiftys post is spot on, I suggest you read it again very carefully. You'll continue to have grease and sediment build up in that section of pipe until it's clogged or repaired. If they used a camera on it thy can probably surgically dig up or access where it is and repair it since they'll know how far down the line it is.
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Jul 27, 2023 18:35
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I am not sure what about the post you think I am missing? I appreciated the explanation and all but I'm not sure what you think I took wrongly from it. I know I need to fix it, I said that. That my pipes are hosed and I need to get them fixed sooner rather than later. I also already mentioned that a camera was used and the problem spot pinpointed, that's how I know where it is and why they couldn't fix it (they could have fixed it if it wasn't in/under the foundation). My post was reaffirming that I would need to do that work because the house does not have a pressurized sewer and that its nice they work a bit better for the moment but that its not actually fixed.
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Jul 27, 2023 19:22
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GlyphGryph posted:the house does not have a pressurized sewer and that its nice they work a bit better for the moment but that its not actually fixed. I read this comment which clued me in that you didn't quite understand what they meant, probably more of not knowing the plumbing systems so I extrapolated from there. What Shifty meant was that you can have a supply line that has a belly in it and never have an issue, but any lines that are waste will have an issue because they aren't pressurized by design. Never are, never will be. I figured if you didn't get this concept that you might not understand it's an ongoing concern, and I didn't see in either of your posts where you were committed to fixing it. What I read just said they strongly suggested it. Also you said "appears to be under the house" which I took to meant generalized, not pinpointed. Clearly I was wrong. Glad you're getting it repaired.
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Jul 27, 2023 20:18
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Throughout the last year we have occasionally had mouse, which the cats greeted with joy and finality. We seem to have more mouse now; there were two last night, and a ground-level cabinet is sprinkled with mouse dung. (It's a cabinet that never contains food.) I have searched that cabinet with a very bright light and can't spot the entrance hole. We border on a state park full of raptors, so poisoning mice is absolutely not happening. We have an old house, supposedly 1931. Mice will continue to intrude from the state park as long as there's any access. The problem is that this is an old house, and I'm not confident we can find all the holes. For instance, there's a good 3/8 inch crack between the front door and its side sills that's going to be difficult to fix. Furthermore, the house is balloon-framed, and if I stand in the crawlspace with a flashlight I can see all the way up the inside of one wall for at least a floor. The crawlspace is dirt-bottomed. Is it possible to rodent-proof an old-construction house? Or should I continue to be grateful I have cats? Or what else? e: No, it's not insulated. It's not even heated, except for a fireplace. This works okay in a temperate seaside climate.
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Jul 27, 2023 20:34
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Is it possible to rodent-proof an old-construction house? Or should I continue to be grateful I have cats? Or what else? You can absolutely rodent proof an old house. Yes. You should have more cats because cats are great. No, but on a more serious note remember that rodent proofing doesn't have to be structural, waterproof, air tight, or really anything other than chew proof. If you hire a professional exterminator they will come out with a big spool of 1/4" hardware cloth and a caulking gun loaded with construction adhesive. Copper wool also works very well at filling small cracks since rats and mice absolutely hate biting into it. You probably should hire a professional in this case, especially one that comes with a guarantee that they will actually exclude the mice. They've almost certainly seen houses like yours before and know the ways that the mice normally get in and out. They also know the telltale signs that indicate spots that mice are using to enter and exit.
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Jul 27, 2023 20:57
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StormDrain posted:any lines that are waste will have an issue because they aren't pressurized by design. Never are, never will be Residential pressure sewer systems are a thing though, aren't they? I have no idea how common they are, just know that they exist, and figured their existence was why they brought up pressurized system in a sewer drain discussion, although I did think it was niche enough that it was weird to bring it up? Now I'm even more confused. It is true that this is the first time I heard of a belly, though, this is definitely all new to me, which is why I appreciated the explanation - But yeah, definitely aware it's going to be an ongoing problem until its repaired. I have trouble believing the previous owners had no idea it was one, and it definitely wasn't disclosed, and it's going to be quite expensive to fix from the conversations I've had about it with professionals so far. Something I genuinely am ignorant about is whether that's actionable or worth pursuing. Probably not. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Jul 27, 2023 |
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Jul 27, 2023 21:06
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Throughout the last year we have occasionally had mouse, which the cats greeted with joy and finality. We seem to have more mouse now; there were two last night, and a ground-level cabinet is sprinkled with mouse dung. (It's a cabinet that never contains food.) I have searched that cabinet with a very bright light and can't spot the entrance hole. We border on a state park full of raptors, so poisoning mice is absolutely not happening. Have you tried a professional pest control contract? It's not like old houses are some impenetrable forcefield of innumerable holes, pest control's job is to have equipment to properly seal all points of ingress. If they are unable to seal it they will probably have recommendations for work that needs to be done to the home for a proper fix. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Jul 27, 2023 |
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Jul 27, 2023 21:12
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They also make spray foam that has little bits of metal in it that will dissuade mice from chewing through.
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Jul 27, 2023 21:25
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GlyphGryph posted:It is true that this is the first time I heard of a belly, though, this is definitely all new to me, which is why I appreciated the explanation - But yeah, definitely aware it's going to be an ongoing problem until its repaired. I have trouble believing the previous owners had no idea it was one, and it definitely wasn't disclosed, and it's going to be quite expensive to fix from the conversations I've had about it with professionals so far. Something I genuinely am ignorant about is whether that's actionable or worth pursuing. Probably not. Are they suggesting trenchless repair (sometimes called CIPP)? It's somewhat of a specialty, so if they weren't equipped for it they may have suggested digging up the slab instead. If they gave you a video of the inspection, you can usually send that to other places to get a quote without having someone come back out and camera it again. How long have you been in the house? Why did you call them, slow drains? If the previous owner was dumping all sorts of fat and grease down the drain that could definitely have been your entire problem right there. My homeowners insurance will cover up to $10k of repairs for the various pipes underneath my slab. It might be worth seeing if yours does as well. (I think this costs me like $15/yr) If you do end up getting work done consider having a backwater valve installed as part of it. This will save you from sewage backing up in the event your town fucks up their sewers (or there's a big flood)
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Jul 27, 2023 23:01
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Shifty Pony posted:You can absolutely rodent proof an old house. Yes. You should have more cats because cats are great. Diana is at least 2 1/2 cats, and Byakko is 1 cat.
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Jul 28, 2023 00:24
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devicenull posted:How long have you been in the house? Why did you call them, slow drains? If the previous owner was dumping all sorts of fat and grease down the drain that could definitely have been your entire problem right there. I've had the house for a month, and yeah I called them for slow drains. They confirmed the previous owners were absolutely dumping all sorts of fat and grease down the drain, took them forever to get them decently cleared, but I kind of expected that from the making sure sure to get their septic pumped before our inspector arrived. But the people there today said even without that it would get bad again sooner or later because of the belly. Also, from what I'd read today, CIPP can't be used to repair bellies, so breaking through the slab is the only way. They didn't give me a video, just a write up, so it will probably needed to be camera'd again before anything is broken open
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Jul 28, 2023 00:27
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GlyphGryph posted:I've had the house for a month, and yeah I called them for slow drains. They confirmed the previous owners were absolutely dumping all sorts of fat and grease down the drain, took them forever to get them decently cleared, but I kind of expected that from the making sure sure to get their septic pumped before our inspector arrived. But the people there today said even without that it would get bad again sooner or later because of the belly. Also, from what I'd read today, CIPP can't be used to repair bellies, so breaking through the slab is the only way. I honestly wouldn't do anything at this point. Give it some time and see if the slow drains appear again. My thinking here: Yes, it's technically a problem. Yes, it could cause clogs in the future. However, for all you know it'll go 15 years before you have slow drains again. You haven't had the house long enough to be considering giant repairs on something that *might* be a problem. Even if you wait a year, this problem is not actively causing any additional damage to your house. If you ever have someone out in the future, insist on getting a copy of the inspection video. 3/4 of the places I called gave me it without even asking. Believe me, homeownership will present plenty of opportunities for giant repair bills in the future.
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Jul 28, 2023 01:31
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They seemed to be pretty confident that future problems would in the order of months, not years. It is definitely not the highest priority item (it will probably come after dealing with the tree the previous owners "cut down" and left wedged up against its neighbours when it didn't actually fall, for example) but I think it's something I'm going to want to tackle this year rather than leave to get worse.
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Jul 28, 2023 02:26
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I rented a house that turned out to have a partially uphill drain line to the sewer, which I assume is like a belly. Had to get it cleared out on the landlords dime but he didn't seem to care to fix it right away. Probably lived there 2 more years without issue.
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Jul 28, 2023 02:45
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MarcusSA posted:This is a pretty decent video on it. As an FYI this guy has a lot of air conditioner YouTubes and it seems like he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about at times. He’ll say the steps but doesn’t seem to understand why those are the steps.
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Jul 28, 2023 02:52
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The most important piece of work I did on the house this month is that I named it, though. Well, really it sort of named itself by confluence of coincidences, but the important thing is that it has a name. All the best houses have names.
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Jul 28, 2023 02:56
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GlyphGryph posted:They seemed to be pretty confident that future problems would in the order of months, not years. It is definitely not the highest priority item (it will probably come after dealing with the tree the previous owners "cut down" and left wedged up against its neighbours when it didn't actually fall, for example) but I think it's something I'm going to want to tackle this year rather than leave to get worse. Did they give you a ballpark quote? It could be months, but they could just be setting the hook for a sale.
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Jul 28, 2023 03:47
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Democratic Pirate posted:Did they give you a ballpark quote? It could be months, but they could just be setting the hook for a sale. They said its not a service they offer and I would have to find someone else, so that seems unlikely.
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Jul 28, 2023 04:14
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I vote give it six months then have another company scope the line to see the level of buildup. A belly isn't good but it also isn't imminent catastrophic failure. It is a spot where poo poo can collect, but as long as it is just literal poo poo it should be mostly ok since the next slug of water will come along and wash it past. Where you'll get problems quickly is if there are oils and fats to congeal in the line with stuff like wipes. If you are reasonably diligent about not sending grease and other semi-solid fats down the drain this could very well be a "have the line hydro-jetted every couple years" thing.
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Jul 28, 2023 04:15
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Yeah, doing some research it does seem like something that might be cheaper to remedy rather than fix, at least for a while, even if it is fairly bad. Maybe get a properly kitted plumber out to actually assess it at some point this winter, perhaps, but not urgent so long as the plumbing works for a while. That's a relief, at least, one less thing to have to tackle, at least these year. Will give me time to find other problems and maybe I can bundle some of the fixes together somehow. They seem to be most problematic when you're doing things that I shouldn't be doing with a septic system anyway.
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Jul 28, 2023 04:42
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Shifty Pony posted:I vote give it six months then have another company scope the line to see the level of buildup. You can also scope it yourself - home depot will rent you the camera, if you're up for dealing with a poop covered camera at the end.
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Jul 28, 2023 04:42
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Tristesse posted:Well two years into owning a home I got to make my first claim with homeowners insurance. Nice work on the pipe repair. That first quote was bullshit. Homeowner's insurance will not cover the cost of repairing the pipe. It will cover the access that had to be made through the kitchen ceiling (most of which was probably wet anyway) as well as the related water damage to the wall cabinets & base cabinets (if any) that are affected. They may cover replacing all of the wall cabinets if they are old and cannot be matched (technically, most policies do not cover aesthetic matching, but we try to be reasonable). skipdogg posted:You really need to check your policy details on water damage. Most policies cover sudden accidental water damage like a burst pipe, but they may argue a cracked drain pipe is not sudden and accidental and with the way insurance companies are losing money these days you may be in a fight to get the claim approved. Not sure on what state or what policy, but the only time I have ever denied claims for plumbing leaks & escapes are because 1) The policy excluded water damage (they are out there. Cheap, too). 2) the leak was an ongoing seepage, meaning that it had been leaking for so long that there were water damages/deterioration/mold so egregious that it was obvious the owner knew that there was a problem, and failed to act, making the issue far worse than it would have been had they acted reasonably. 3) the leak originated at a tub or shower enclosure where the water was seeping through deteriorated caulk/grout (a maintenance issue). They may want a recorded statement (I take them on most water losses). If so, give it. You were there when this started, it's obvious an accidental direct physical loss.
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Jul 28, 2023 05:27
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Is it possible to rodent-proof an old-construction house? Or should I continue to be grateful I have cats? Or what else? I don't have first hand experience, but anecdotally I've heard that placing fake rubber snakes near ingress points will scare rodents away. They are super cheap on Amazon, so I'd scatter a bunch down in the crawl space and see if that helps.
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Jul 28, 2023 14:05
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Enos Cabell posted:I don't have first hand experience, but anecdotally I've heard that placing fake rubber snakes near ingress points will scare rodents away. They are super cheap on Amazon, so I'd scatter a bunch down in the crawl space and see if that helps. This approach works around my buddy's garage north of Denver.
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Jul 28, 2023 14:42
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Enos Cabell posted:I don't have first hand experience, but anecdotally I've heard that placing fake rubber snakes near ingress points will scare rodents away. They are super cheap on Amazon, so I'd scatter a bunch down in the crawl space and see if that helps. Idk buddy depends on your tolerance for friends in your bedroom walls that like to breed a lot, my tolerance is pretty small. One part of living in a condo is I am glad if there was a serious building bug issue we would solve it with either a pest control contract or a GC. I love animals but not certain insects / rodents and am glad humans have invented structures to mostly keep the infestations out. I have no idea about the problem itself just saying, and would totally do the snakes if they work. Also it sounds cute. e: If it gets really bad, we can get forums user Motronic to whip you up something for your cart on DoMyOwn that will take care of a horse. 
Inner Light fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Jul 29, 2023 |
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Jul 29, 2023 00:02
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