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Rabidbunnylover posted:My parents did a big remodel in the early 2000's and the contractors installed CAT5 in a bunch of rooms, but rather than running it all to a network closet, they just ran it between each adjacent room, so the whole house is daisy chained. They actually made junction box mounted network switches for exactly this situation! They sit in the box with two ports on the back, four ports on the front, and are POE powered. One of the two ports in the back is plugged into a POE source and the network switch passes the power through to the other back port to power the next device in the chain. Unfortunately they were for use in commercial environments and were about $120 each. It looks like they no longer make them because by this point every place has pretty much been expected to have renovated and rerun their network cabling and there's no real home market anymore since mesh networking has taken off.
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Nov 15, 2023 17:28
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Motronic posted:This is the guy who started out by getting absolutely rolled over by the council and code enforcement, didn't know to push back/hire an engineer adna a solicitor and ended up spending the value of the house on an elaborate foundation that was unnecessary right? This linked thread is incredible, I've been reading it all day. At least he got to live out the dream of using a ton of heavy equipment even if there was no reason to do so.
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Nov 15, 2023 18:03
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Harriet Carker posted:I posted this in the Home Zone but I think that was the wrong thread and it didn't get any traction, so trying here: Probably doesn't help much as I'm on the other side of the country, but when I installed my fence it had to be 6" from the property line, and any closer required the neighbor to sign off. I'm on a small lot inside town so I just got my neighbors to sign the consent form just in case, but if it's your fence, it should be within your property line and you should be able to remove it without your neighbor's blessing. If they want a fence, they could install one on their side of the property line. Real answer is to get a survey, and it would probably be a good idea to just reach out to your town (or county) building and zoning department as they'll be able to better answer your questions. Also worth asking yourself whether pissing off your neighbor on this issue is a hill worth dying on, or if there's any sort of compromise. For what it's worth, I totally agree, chain link fences suck. Edit: As far as actually removing the fence, a tractor jack and a length of chain wrapped around the post and attached to the jack will pop the posts right out (even if they're set in concrete). The wire is easy to snip with wire cutters. Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Nov 15, 2023 |
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Nov 15, 2023 22:52
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I am reasonably sure it’s a boundary fence exactly on the property line. I guess I’ll reach out to a surveyor and or attorney. I don’t even really care that much but I just want to know the law and I can’t find anything.
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Nov 15, 2023 23:06
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Fences right on the line suck. Our HOA is gonna start pestering everyone to redo their fences, so all the way down the line of houses we're prolly gonna have to sort it out with each other. "Ok I split half of that side with frank, and half of the other with Todd, and the backside is all mine....except Todd doesnt want to replace it yet, so I'm gonna have to have either a mismatched fence line, or pay for it all myself....".
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Nov 15, 2023 23:13
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There's a dank smell coming from the master bath and the toilet is caulked 360°   whoever recently added the grovertoot emote
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Nov 15, 2023 23:22
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Is there any way to estimate the life left in dock joists? The top of my dock is rotting with some boards rotted through. The 2x12 joists feel very sturdy, jumping on them at the widest span makes several oscillations and taking a board off and knocking on a few they feel solid. I really like the idea of redoing in composite, but the 2x6 trex is gently caress off expensive at $7/bf. The joists are 24" on center so I am stuck with the thicker composite. I am thinking I could save a boatload of money by having someone just resurface the dock with water sealed PT 2x6s but if the frames going to be toast within 10 years I'd rather just do it once and do it right. How can I tell?
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Nov 17, 2023 16:29
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We're looking at doing a seismic retrofit on our 78 split level house. The contractors we've looked at have been split on whether they need a permit pulled or not, but all are willing to for more money. They have various reasons it's not required . Based on what I'm seeing from the Alameda county website, they likely want us to. Am I thinking about this too much and should I just get them to pull a permit? We'd be using the standard plan a the county has on their website.
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Nov 18, 2023 03:42
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Spikes32 posted:We're looking at doing a seismic retrofit on our 78 split level house. The contractors we've looked at have been split on whether they need a permit pulled or not, but all are willing to for more money. They have various reasons it's not required . Based on what I'm seeing from the Alameda county website, they likely want us to. Am I thinking about this too much and should I just get them to pull a permit? We'd be using the standard plan a the county has on their website. Ooof bay area seems like one of those places that needs bay area specific advice. In my neck of the woods the county doesnt gently caress with people and mostly exists to protect consumers it seems like. I would 100% pull a permit on any non-emergency work, especially something safety related for when I eventually sell it, but then again, I dont live in CA or the bay area.
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Nov 18, 2023 03:58
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We have an old well that we want to abandon. It's not used for water any more, because it's roughly 8 feet away from the septic system. However, it's still plumbed into the water filters in the pumphouse. Because of where we live, two permits are required, one from the county and one from the California Coastal Commission. Total price for permits? $2300. This is slightly less than half of the cost of the actual work. Well guy, wistfully, "I wish we could do it without the permits, but your property is visible from the road."
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Nov 18, 2023 05:34
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Spikes32 posted:We're looking at doing a seismic retrofit on our 78 split level house. The contractors we've looked at have been split on whether they need a permit pulled or not, but all are willing to for more money. They have various reasons it's not required . Based on what I'm seeing from the Alameda county website, they likely want us to. Am I thinking about this too much and should I just get them to pull a permit? We'd be using the standard plan a the county has on their website. Pull a permit if seismic is involved. You’ll want that buttoned up in Bay Area.
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Nov 18, 2023 06:28
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Spikes32 posted:We're looking at doing a seismic retrofit on our 78 split level house. The contractors we've looked at have been split on whether they need a permit pulled or not, but all are willing to for more money. They have various reasons it's not required . Based on what I'm seeing from the Alameda county website, they likely want us to. Am I thinking about this too much and should I just get them to pull a permit? We'd be using the standard plan a the county has on their website. Are you in unincorporated Alameda County? Otherwise you should be looking at your specific city.
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Nov 18, 2023 06:32
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Muir posted:Are you in unincorporated Alameda County? Otherwise you should be looking at your specific city. Ah, good point. We're out in Hayward. I'll find that tomorrow.
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Nov 18, 2023 07:05
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CarForumPoster posted:Is there any way to estimate the life left in dock joists? You’ll have to pull the boards and inspect the joists to be sure. If you’re lucky and don’t have any rot spreading you can likely get away with just GTaping the joists and getting new deck boards. Aside from that if there’s any soft spots created you could also sister a board to the rotted joist to extend it for a bit more time before having to do a total replacement.
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Nov 19, 2023 07:28
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Does anyone have opinions on outdoor propane fire pits? The family has decided that we want to get this for our parents, but a lot of the options look cheap as hell and this is in a place where winter is very real. Is there some parameters I should be looking for, or is there some builder that is particularly good?
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Nov 20, 2023 20:00
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If your goal for the fire pit is to provide heat and not just ambience, get one that has ceramic logs or the like in it. The heat you feel from wood fire pits is the radiant heat from the coals. Gas fire pits don't have coals so the heat is very fleeting by itself. I built my own NG fire pit with a 300K btu burner from Amazon, lava rocks, and a second hand set of ceramic fireplace logs. At full bore it emits a lot of heat but before I put the logs on top it wasn't very effective.
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Nov 20, 2023 21:06
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Shifty Pony posted:They actually made junction box mounted network switches for exactly this situation! They sit in the box with two ports on the back, four ports on the front, and are POE powered. One of the two ports in the back is plugged into a POE source and the network switch passes the power through to the other back port to power the next device in the chain. They almost still exist... you could probably rig this up to work. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z59SG17/
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Nov 21, 2023 02:11
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fixed an awful high pitched whine on my furnace that was driving me insane enough to keep the heat below 50° lol feeling very accomplished rn 
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Nov 21, 2023 19:32
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Was it the exhaust fan? Mine made an unholy racket when it crapped out.
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Nov 21, 2023 21:32
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nah had to adjust the screws on the pilot thankfully. swapped the 18yo capacitor on the blower though with an amrad too since that’s what I did with the one on my equally old AC unit to get it to stop buzzing when it’d turn on DIY rules
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Nov 21, 2023 21:55
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devicenull posted:They almost still exist... you could probably rig this up to work. I wish Ubiquiti made this... would be awesome. Quick question -- I have a fireplace in my living room that got retrofitted with a gas insert. According to my FLIR (and I can feel it with my hands...), it is also quite leaky / drafty and I'm pretty sure a significant reason my living room is cold as gently caress. Specifically, there's a noticeable gap above the front bezel and the wall that I should plug with... something. It does get warm / hot while the fireplace operates... is there a rubber strip / high-temp type of material I can get and install here? It's been three winters so far and I need to loving fix this and not continue to waste energy fighting this draft. I will post a pic later when I'm home to illustrate better, but this has to be somewhat common?
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Nov 21, 2023 22:10
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movax posted:I wish Ubiquiti made this... would be awesome. You need to check the install instructions to verify required clearances, but you're probably looking at packing some of the gaps/sides with rockwool.
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Nov 21, 2023 22:14
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Motronic posted:You need to check the install instructions to verify required clearances, but you're probably looking at packing some of the gaps/sides with rockwool. I think I have the model number somewhere from the last time I tore into this to run some wiring nearby -- thanks for the idea. I'm not sure this addresses my specific situation but it definitely won't hurt considering how open the area is back there / likely how much thermal loss I'm seeing.
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Nov 21, 2023 22:23
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OK, as promised: This entire bezel is extremely cold (as is the granite below it... ice cold. Dog loves it though.)  This gap here is what I was specifically wondering about "sealing" up better. The entire bezel does come off, so I don't want an actual sealant I think, but want to put... something here to at least help with the immediate draft problem. 
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Nov 23, 2023 02:30
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As stated rockwool is your friend. Insulating the entire chimney top to bottom like they do now in a retrofit though is probably impossible. My guy suggested running a gas log with a constant pilot flame to keep the cold out. Not efficient at all though. I had him cap off the top and put a warning label on my grates. So far so good. Gonna stuff a tv in there with a Yule log setting.
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Nov 23, 2023 21:39
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Bought a new range hood. Instructions state to only use rigid metal wherever possible. Includes flex plastic. Sigh. Just include nothing, honestly, and knock a buck off the price. Win-win. Edit: they include drywall anchors but tell you to ensure it's installed into wood. Jenkl fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Nov 24, 2023 |
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Nov 24, 2023 22:56
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Jenkl posted:Bought a new range hood. Instructions state to only use rigid metal wherever possible. 
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Nov 24, 2023 23:10
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Jenkl posted:Bought a new range hood. Instructions state to only use rigid metal wherever possible. Accessories that come in the package, such as screws, rawplugs go directly in the trash. I've never seen any that were any good.
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Nov 25, 2023 07:14
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Elephanthead posted:As stated rockwool is your friend. Insulating the entire chimney top to bottom like they do now in a retrofit though is probably impossible. My guy suggested running a gas log with a constant pilot flame to keep the cold out. Not efficient at all though. I had him cap off the top and put a warning label on my grates. So far so good. Gonna stuff a tv in there with a Yule log setting. I’m not sure I follow — so is the recommendation that I take that off, try to insulate where I can with Rockwool (look up clearances for the insert), and that’s the best I can do?
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Nov 25, 2023 07:15
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 This is what a properly installed outlet is supposed to look like, right goons? Right?! 
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Nov 25, 2023 17:44
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Johnny Truant posted:
Absolutely 
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Nov 25, 2023 18:57
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Johnny Truant posted:
Wires are supposed to be insulated. 
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Nov 25, 2023 19:31
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That's the kind of thing you think "okay, I'm going to replace this outlet cover. 20¢ and a minute of my time." Then you uncover this cluster gently caress. "Well poo poo. Okay. I'll spend $3 and 5 minutes of my time to replace this". Secretly the foam has snuck in between the drywall and the outlet and is planning to tear the drywall with it when you pull it out, adding drywall repair, outlet replacement and paint to your 5 minute project. Because this is just how house projects go.
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Nov 25, 2023 20:00
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I definitely blocked that outlet out of my memory, lol. Even my electricians were like wtf Not looking forward to yanking that entire thing out though... who knows maybe it'll be fun! 
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Nov 25, 2023 20:37
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Oh, forgot to post this. My furnace has been intermittently not firing. This was happening towards the beginning of 2023 and then it warmed up and I said I would deal with it later. In the fall once temps started dropping, I turned it on and it fired right up. My wife and I went on vacation in October and it has just stopped working before we left. We returned and it worked for about a week and stopped again. It will run through the startup process and shut off after never firing. I replaced the pressure switch, ignitor, and flame sensors over the last year or so. It helped for a while but eventually stopped working again. I finally called a repair company to come look at it. They rescheduled 3 times and finally came, nearly three weeks without heat at this point. I'm in Seattle so it's not too cold. We just ran electric heaters in the mean time. The guy looks at it, gets it working again and says it's the control board. While it's working now, he has no idea how long until it stops again. It was apparently shorting out and there was a black mark on the metal behind the board where it was sparking. I asked him how much to replace the board ... $800 and about another week to wait for it to be delivered. I tell him I'll think about it. I asked him if I pay him now or if they'll send me a bill. "I don't know, they handle it. Bye!" I go online and look up the board. It's $120. I figure I'll buy it and try to swap it out. A week later it arrives and it takes me all of 10 minutes to swap out. Plug everything in and the furnace runs like new. They never even sent me a bill for the diagnostic/cleaning visit. 
Verman fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Nov 25, 2023 |
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Nov 25, 2023 20:55
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Johnny Truant posted:
Nah, you gotta fill in the rest of the gaps with spray foam.
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Nov 25, 2023 20:57
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Verman posted:Oh, forgot to post this. I had something similar happen but it was the dead of winter in the NE and we needed heat, so I had to suck it up and pay almost a grand for the control board. Found plenty online under $100 so I bought one out of spite to keep in stock just in case.
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Nov 26, 2023 00:08
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Verman posted:Oh, forgot to post this. Are you me? I’m facing this exact same issue right now.
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Nov 27, 2023 01:21
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Anybody have recommendations on an RO water filter setup?
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Nov 27, 2023 01:21
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hattersmad posted:Anybody have recommendations on an RO water filter setup? If you are looking at an under-counter unit, I have had great luck with the iSpring systems, this specific model in particular: https://www.123filter.com/ac/ro-good-taste-alkaline-mineral-bottle-water If you are looking at whole house, this is generally going to be a pro install scenario.
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Nov 27, 2023 01:25
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