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Hadlock posted:I have a... 7 cubic foot top loader chest freezer that gets opened maybe once a week. 7 cu ft is I think "standard" size. The lid is ~37x22 and 33" above the ground. Perfect size for, maybe not primary work bench, but extra garage horizontal space that can't get too gross or greasy The hinges on the freezer might not hold open as well with the extra weight and the gaskets around the seal being more compressed might need to be watched for air getting by (being squeezed down more doesn't always mean it's sealing more, sometimes it will buckle here or there). If it's something you'll keep an eye on I don't see why it wouldn't work, although I usually prefer to do removable mods if I can. The chest freezer here has a leaky gasket and you can tell where it is because ice builds up right to the spot where it must be letting air pass through. My father has "solved" it by putting a milk crate full of files on top, which adds weight and squishes the gasket but doesn't actually stop air leaking. Fixed!
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Feb 12, 2024 01:21
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PainterofCrap posted:And How much house needs to be supported before you would consider it "a load"? But the wall isn't doing all the work, those repurposed fence posts jammed up under the crossbeams are helping! Also I believe I mentioned before that my house is built on a big rock. That is part of the rock. (by big I mean nearly my entire property and one of the neighbors is on top of it, and that's just the visible part. Anyway, plumbing update: I tore out all the old plumbing on that half of the house and am going to redo it, because I looked it over and realized that there is... literally no reason to have done it this way, going under and around pipes and cutting through crossbeams and stuff, when I could just have it come out in the back of one of the deep cabinets and then kick over two feet to get to the sink. No more trying to make poo poo flow uphill and hopefully solve my clogging problems, and it will actually be simpler to do it that way than recreate the setup they had before. Already put a hole in the bottom of the cupboard, now I just need to drill a new hole through the floor and glue the pipes together. So it should be done by this coming weekend and then I will be able to wash dishes again! Hurrah! I also lowered the floor where the fridge goes like I said I was going to, and it fits into the nook perfectly now.  GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Feb 12, 2024 |
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Feb 12, 2024 02:59
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at the lack of mortar in the cinderblock joints. Please tell us that that isn't a load-bearing wall.
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Have you thought about burning this place down and starting over?
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Feb 12, 2024 03:08
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Yo whats up with that wall plug
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Feb 12, 2024 03:09
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MarcusSA posted:Yo whats up with that wall plug Yeah it turns out they didnt take the plug itself into account when designing the nook so you need to push the whole outlet deep into the wall before sliding it into place to get it to fit. Whoopsie, design flaw! Inner Light posted:A big concern is, it may remain standing while you live there, but will another rational party purchase it when you are ready to leave? I absolutely, no joke, love this house to pieces. It is literally everything I ever wanted out of a house and a bunch of awesome things I didnt even realize were even possible. For all of its flaws, and it certainly does have many significant flaws, I cant imagine ever wanting to leave. This is my forever home, and not just because of the odds that it will fail catastrophically and kill me before I can get out. It is by far the absolute best place I have ever lived. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Feb 12, 2024 |
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Feb 12, 2024 03:11
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If there isn't some sort of booby trap involving the giant rock I think you're not the right owner for the property.
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Feb 12, 2024 03:18
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Hadlock posted:I have a... 7 cubic foot top loader chest freezer that gets opened maybe once a week. 7 cu ft is I think "standard" size. The lid is ~37x22 and 33" above the ground. Perfect size for, maybe not primary work bench, but extra garage horizontal space that can't get too gross or greasy I'd replace the top with "butcher block", then glue some XPS insulation to the bottom of it.
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Feb 12, 2024 03:29
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The Dave posted:If there isn't some sort of booby trap involving the giant rock I think you're not the right owner for the property. The booby trap is the house
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Feb 12, 2024 04:19
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So uh, what's everyone's thoughts on a neighbor having someone living in a tin metal garden shed in their backyard? Because that's a thing I've got going on next to me now. Additional details about the situation: -Neighbor/homeowner(Boomer) let their roommates(Boomer) son(GenX maybe) stay inside their house overnight a month ago when it was really cold out and he refuses to leave/stay away now. I presume he was homeless before -After she told him to leave she thinks he was coming in the dog door in the back of the house when she wasn't there and stealing things like her smart watch, and other small valuables. She says he stole her microwave and pawned it, with his dads help -She seemingly hasn't called the cops but has voiced to me over the years that she hates her roommate and wants him to leave, and conveyed similar sentiments about his adult son -The son got the dads truck that's been broken down in their driveway for years working again and is also driving it around, presumably without a license, registration, or insurance -Over the last week or two he has moved into one of the old sheds in the back. It's not insulated or anything, and he's got power to it now, presumably from an extension cord -The son hasn't caused me or my partner any trouble so far and seems to have gotten some of the junk littered in their backyard and in front of their house disposed of, which are positives We haven't called the cops or code because he hasn't caused us any issues yet and I don't want to start a fight with someone with nothing to lose. Especially since my neighbor seemingly hasn't done anything about it except complain to me. I'm trying to be hopeful that this is temporary and he's working towards better living conditions for himself in the future, but pawning your landlords microwave, among other things, doesn't seem like a step in that direction. My bigger concern is that other homeless people are going to move in with him, and they might cause trouble. Also that he might start a fire in there with whatever janky electrical setup he has, and burn down the shed, trees, and our houses. E: I should mention it's an older neighborhood with 3' chain link fences in the back. I'm not snooping, it's impossible not to see everything your neighbors are doing. SpartanIvy fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Feb 12, 2024 |
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Feb 12, 2024 05:41
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SpartanIvy posted:So uh, what's everyone's thoughts on a neighbor having someone living in a tin metal garden shed in their backyard? Because that's a thing I've got going on next to me now. Tough situation with the way property rights work. This happens from time to time from what I see on cop YouTubes. The only recourse I would see is if there are bona fide code violations or a tenant situation in an illegal unit. But if someone is willing to just lie about it, I don’t see any real recourse for you, until code violations turn into misdemeanors.
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Feb 12, 2024 07:03
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My main concern is If the son is already sneaking into that house to steal poo poo to pawn, this has a very high possibility of becoming your problem too the first time you leave something he perceives as valuable where it can be seen by him. My father lived next to a person who would do that poo poo and it was awful. What's the sanitary situation like? I can't imagine that shed has a bathroom. The trouble with calling code enforcement is that they will come down on the owner, not the tenant, and she has already shown herself to be unable/unwilling to take steps. Is there any legal aid you could hook her up with so she can start the official "find another place to live" process on the dad and son? Nobody should have to live with someone who steals from them.
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Feb 12, 2024 11:03
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Hadlock posted:People get really nervous about bricks (ceramic or concrete) but the fact is they almost never fail unless it's got a defect or something Real question since you seem to know a bit more about materials science -- that brick high rise apartment building out in Iowa that collapsed last year? Initially there was speculation that the facade may have weakened after the bricks had been painted, because that created a moisture barrier preventing interior moisture from escaping, softening the bricks till it collapsed. But it looks like the findings after the disaster are pinning it on structural undermining of load bearing walls during questionable remodel work: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/deadly-iowa-building-collapse-blamed-removal-bricks-lack-shoring-new-r-rcna104030 I realize there's all sorts of different brick formulations, so this might be a really stupid question from the get-go, but does the acceptability painting a brick wall more or less come down to the porosity of the bricks used in the project? Or is there even an issue, and this was just an example of bad information gaining traction? I'm pretty sure I've seen bricks used in foundations for underwater applications like old locks, and I've even dug up buried bricks in my backyard and reused them for a flower bed, so I wouldn't have previously thought water absorption would significantly degrade or soften a clay fired brick, but it occurs to me I have no idea what the hell I'm actually doing and would like to know more.
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Feb 12, 2024 14:02
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The issue with bricks is the environment they are in and whether they are susceptible to spalling - which primarily happens in areas of hot/cold. The moisture gets into the brick and then freezes causing damage to the brick. With paint, that stops the breathable nature of the bricks (or reduces it considerably) and they can't dry out before those cold temps. That's the 5sec phone posting answer.
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Feb 12, 2024 14:16
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Like most things home related, with painting brick there is a right way to do it and there is a cheap way to do it. If you use the correct paint and correctly prep the surfaces you don't wreck the breathability of the brick. If you just spray it with the generic exterior paint there will be problems.
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Feb 12, 2024 14:51
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Huh... Down the street there's some folks doing it the cheap way. I live in the northeast where our weather is a temperate sub tropical rainforest (lows in the -f in winter and highs into the 90s in the summer)
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Feb 12, 2024 14:56
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A big thing people have forgotten is that the internal/house side of the brick can have moisture barriers installed when a contractor put up the internal drywalls and insulation - reducing the breathablity even further! Plaster/lathe with newspaper insulation didn't have that issue.
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Feb 12, 2024 15:10
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Shifty Pony posted:What's the sanitary situation like? I can't imagine that shed has a bathroom. Shifty Pony posted:The trouble with calling code enforcement is that they will come down on the owner, not the tenant, and she has already shown herself to be unable/unwilling to take steps. Is there any legal aid you could hook her up with so she can start the official "find another place to live" process on the dad and son? Nobody should have to live with someone who steals from them. We've decided this is the straw that broke the camels back and were talking to a realtor and going to prioritize getting out of here. Hopefully he can keep his poo poo together long enough to not scare away a buyer. E: I should mention I have cameras everywhere that are continuously recording. He avoids them. If he steals any of my stuff or starts poking around my property I'm calling the cops. SpartanIvy fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Feb 12, 2024 |
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Feb 12, 2024 16:27
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SpartanIvy posted:You can't help someone who's not willing to help themselves Both parts of this are key. You should also conspicuously post "no trespassing" signs. You can always pull them down when there is a showing or whatever, but it can help your case. I would be hesitant of calling code enforcement as well, it might just wind up with the whole household of your neighbors having a unified front against you. If you have any jewelry or other high-value irreplaceable things consider if you have a friend, family, or safe deposit box you could store them in until you move. Gam Gams wedding ring might be priceless to you, but it's $28/gram to him.
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Feb 12, 2024 16:40
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Catatron Prime posted:Real question since you seem to know a bit more about materials science No I'm just a rando goon on the Internet which is why I sneak a "consult a structural engineer" into every post when I start wandering deep into speculation territory Painting brick is a sin just on its own so I love the idea of telling people "your house might collapse if you do that" Like 85-99% of all suburban homes in Dallas have a brick exterior going back to the 1950s and although I've very periodically seen spalling, it's pretty rare
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Feb 12, 2024 21:43
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Hadlock posted:No I'm just a rando goon on the Internet which is why I sneak a "consult a structural engineer" into every post when I start wandering deep into speculation territory Bricks in an area with a good freeze/thaw cycle can really get the poo poo kicked out of them by spalling.
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Feb 12, 2024 22:10
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I have non-constructive comments about living in those parts of the world for any extended period of time Dallas generally, if it gets below freezing, it's usually dry, or, if we do get precipitation, it melts/dries off before freezing again that night. Multiple, wet, freeze thaw cycles are pretty rare
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Feb 12, 2024 22:19
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Cyrano4747 posted:Bricks in an area with a good freeze/thaw cycle can really get the poo poo kicked out of them by spalling. Yep, I've got some bricks near the bottom of my garage door that are breaking up. At first I thought it was ants developing a taste for brick (weird how the brick almost just powdered), but I'm pretty sure it's because of their location and the constant freeze/thaw this time of year. I'm guessing just replacing a few bricks is gonna be nearly equivalent to replacing the whole drat facade. Hadlock posted:I have non-constructive comments about living in those parts of the world for any extended period of time Ehh, It's better than living where it goes below freezing and *stays* there for 3 months.
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Feb 12, 2024 22:24
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Baddog posted:Ehh, It's better than living where it goes below freezing and *stays* there for 3 months. Stares in Milwaukee
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Feb 13, 2024 02:43
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I went to Chicago for a wedding and was making light of how cold it was there during the winter to a couple of local people. The first person said nothing, frowned and did the thousand yard stare. I thought that was odd but after two more unrelated people had the exact same reaction I stopped doing that. I haven't been back.
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Feb 13, 2024 03:08
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Hadlock posted:I went to Chicago for a wedding and was making light of how cold it was there. Laughs in Northern Minnesotan. Seriously though we seem to do a much better job insulating in the north which has been great for global warming summers too.
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Feb 13, 2024 03:22
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I'm sorry for your loss
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Feb 13, 2024 03:23
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unknown posted:The issue with bricks is the environment they are in and whether they are susceptible to spalling - which primarily happens in areas of hot/cold. The moisture gets into the brick and then freezes causing damage to the brick. Ohhhhh, ok, that makes a ton of sense! Thank you!
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Feb 13, 2024 04:45
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This is probably not the right thread for this - any direction is helpful. I've been living at the same address since 1992. Two doors down from me is a house just like mine, but in really bad shape. The family there has been in the home at least fifty years. They are extremely insular, and have very little means; they keep to themselves, and that has been respected. One of my other, older neighbors & I became friends, and he talked about occasionally, in years past, anonymously sending them a delivery of heating oil when during one very cold winter's day, he noticed no smoke coming from their chimney. No way would they have accepted charity but they had zero heat. The deliveries were accepted, probably because they remained anonymous (that neighbor friend has since died) I refer to it as the "index house" for my neighborhood, as every house on my block was built by the WPA in the early 1930s, and theirs is the least changed since then: it still wears the original wooden dutch-lap siding, wood windows, open-raked roof with no gutters, and sports a five-tab asbestos shingle roof, probably installed directly over the original cedar shake around 1950. There are now two growing holes in the right slope of the roof. This has been an issue for at least a decade; it started when a roofer accidentally started removing shingles from their house (when they were re-roofing the house across the street; the Index House roof is so screwed-up, it was an honest mistake). The roofer patched it but the damage started there, and now there is a 4-6-foot hole into the attic space that has to be absolutely hammering the interior. Iin the last five years, another section is starting to go, along the lower edge of the same (right) slope. How they are heating the place, I have no idea; not even sure if they have heat. Based on the size of the single strand running to the house, the electric service is 40-amp, probably 110, and probably dates from the 40s or early 50s. The current occupants are maybe a woman in her 70s and a man in his 40s. The home had, at one point around the turn of the century: the older woman, a younger woman, and two males; in the 1990s the youngest male was maybe 9, with a teenaged brother. The younger woman (in her 20s-30s then) was working at a local hotel, probably housekeeping. The older sibling worked for a tree service, at least sporadically. No idea what the others were doing. As stated, they are not sociable (though not mean or nasty by any stretch) so although they've been my neighbors for 32-years, I'm not even sure how many people are living there. But the house is not really habitable at the moment, and will became even less so every passing month. The house desperately needs a new roof. That alone would buy time. But I am not sure what to do. I am inclined first to walk up and speak with them, which is probably the best first move as it should inform on what can be done. I have a feeling, though that they would reject anything out-of-hand. Notifying the township would end badly, with stipulations, requirements, codes & permits I doubt that they can afford and would render them homeless, the house possibly condemned. There are ways to raise money but that's a step ahead right now. What I'm looking for is input to see what might be done to get some discreet inquiries into helping them remedy this: federal, state or local organizations public & private (like Habitat for Humanity) that I can have conversations with to find out logistically what, if anything I can do to get the ball rolling - how can I approach? Should I? Are there organizations that have insights into these situations? I'm sure I will talk to them first - its the decent thing to do - to be sure that they are in any capacity amenable to having their neighbors give them a hand when they are so clearly in need.
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Feb 13, 2024 06:40
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Bless you for caring.
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Feb 13, 2024 06:58
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That is such a tough spot. The initial thought is "Adult Protective Services" exists basically for this purpose, whether that will help them or hinder them is anyone's guess. Sometimes it's kinder to have them "in the system" than to let them suffer the elements. How do they like, get food? Do they come and go? Do people deliver it? In an ideal world a social worker would come over and make sure their basic needs are met, that they're on whatever social safety net is available - Medicare, social security, snap, reduced cost energy, meals on wheels, etc. Help them find help to at least tarp the roof, NJ gets Real Winter, even ignoring the heat the water intrusion must be insane. Do they go to church? Going to the pastor/rabbi/imam/whomever and talking to them may be the most direct way to get the ball rolling. You are in a unique spot to likely know local roofing companies. Think any of them, or their big corporate insurance benefactors / helpful honda dealers, might be willing to donate labor if materials are covered (or vice versa?) The asbestos probably throws a wrench in the whole thing, and likely only solved with cash. You can start by googling like "kenilworth adult protective services" or "moorestown social services" etc and see what comes up. A few anonymous phone calls about "a neighbor I'm worried about" might help. And it's awkward to knock on the door, but it's the good thing to do. Good luck.
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Feb 13, 2024 07:06
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Bless you for caring. Definitely. I'm guessing it has been a loooong time since that roofer did the original damage. But you would think that company would have insurance, to actually come back and do a real job of fixing the issue they were at the root of. Shouldn't be a statute of limitations on that? Maybe it was an uninsured guy, maybe the company is out of business ... but worth asking about. Maybe they are just too passive about chasing after someone. If that fails, maybe you can ask about getting them connected to a service to help make them whole on that *particular* thing. That was something that happened to their house out of their control, maybe it won't feel personal, framed in that way?
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Feb 13, 2024 08:12
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Hadlock posted:No I'm just a rando goon on the Internet which is why I sneak a "consult a structural engineer" into every post when I start wandering deep into speculation territory If brick is painted in Dallas, there is a 90% chance it was done by a flipper or landlord to hide foundation problems.
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Feb 13, 2024 08:44
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H110Hawk posted:Do they go to church? Going to the pastor/rabbi/imam/whomever and talking to them may be the most direct way to get the ball rolling. As I read their hesitancy to accept help I was thinking the same thing. Maybe from a big organization wouild work? Perhaps they just don't want to feel like they owe some neighbor(s)? I was thinking Habitat for Humanity might be able to offer and even coordinate fundraising to "launder" the direct help?
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Feb 13, 2024 15:20
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The junk collector posted:If brick is painted in Dallas, there is a 90% chance it was done by a flipper or landlord to hide foundation problems. All homes in Dallas have foundation damage though Dallas area really should mandate a thicker slab with more rebar
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Feb 13, 2024 21:58
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Homeowner goons, I have a window question. What the heck is this metal part of a window exterior called and what kind of professional do I call to have one removed/reinstalled? Ours is bent the gently caress out of shape thanks to abortive attempts to install a U-shaped window AC unit. Siding guy? Window guy? General contractor? 
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Feb 14, 2024 15:04
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The window trim? When I had my windows replaced, the installers did all that metal bending work/installation on site and literally took them like 15min to do each window. So if it's just one, it might be a bit of a challenge to find someone to come out for a quickie. (maybe phrase it that way for better odds of them showing up?) Or find a neighbor who's getting theirs done and offer the guy some cash since they're in the area. Edit: It might be more than just replacing the single lower trim - mine at least are overlapping at the edges (think like shingles). But my comment about time still stands - they did all 4 edges in the 15min. Edit2: vvv-- yeah, flashing is the proper name unknown fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Feb 14, 2024 |
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Feb 14, 2024 16:01
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Possibly, "flashing"
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Feb 14, 2024 16:59
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Sherwin Williams duration paint is so fuckin good, thank you thread (painter of crap I think?) for hammering into my brain that more expensive paint = more better!
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Feb 14, 2024 18:08
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Johnny Truant posted:Sherwin Williams duration paint is so fuckin good, thank you thread (painter of crap I think?) for hammering into my brain that more expensive paint = more better! It's the prime example of you get what you pay for. If you told me I would be paying that much per gallon I would have poo poo myself. Fwiw my step mom owned her own painting company for 30 years and she only used Sherwin Williams. But when I finally used it, I understood. When I painted my exterior, there were almost no imperfections that I found and needed to touch up. It rolled well, it brushed well, it went through the sprayer well. Two years later and it still looks great. Before that I've always just used Behr paint for interior stuff which is fine. But going forward I'll likely get SW. It holds up so well. I have a handful of houses in my neighborhood who just recently got painted and there are all kinds of issues visible from the road like bubbles.
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Feb 14, 2024 18:26
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Differences in paint matter? When I finish my plumbing project (was supposed to be done yesterday, but I'm down with the flu and also got hit by a major snowstorm and bricked my computer, so I'm resolving those things first) my next was gonna be repainting some interior walls. What should I actually? Speaking of the plumbing project, I'm still boggled at the whole "cut through several crossbeams and have the drain go up" logic, because it turns out there's literally no reason for them to have done that and it's actually going to be easier to run the drain straight and downhill the whole way? Oh, also, that tube in the back was electrical tubing it turned out. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Feb 14, 2024 |
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Feb 14, 2024 18:59
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