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Our sink got fixed!! We should have just ordered the part on Amazon 3 weeks ago lol
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Jan 14, 2022 10:31
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cruft posted:Before the invention of broad leaf herbicide, clover was considered part of a healthy grass lawn. Still is to me.
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Jan 14, 2022 11:45
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Clover is pretty and feels great on the feet. If I ever have to have a lawn again I'm seeding it with clover the day I move in.
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Jan 14, 2022 12:21
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The only lawn maintenance I've ever done at my house besides raking and mowing was spreading a bunch of clover seed the spring after the moved in and I maintain I have the best looking lawn on the block
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Jan 14, 2022 14:45
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Hey, sorry if this isn't really the place got this, but, we own our own flat in England, (hurray!) But my wife's grandparents are suffering from dementia and her mum needs some help looking after them. We don't really want to sell our place necessarily, so we're looking at renting a place near them for a year, and letting out our flat to cover the mortgage. We're not really looking to make a profit, just not make a loss. Does anyone have any advice or know what to look? Concerned that the tax on the rent we'd be getting would be so much that we'd lose a ton. Fully appreciate this is to stop landlords from being horrid and all that, as I say, ours isn't really a 'for profit' situation.
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Jan 14, 2022 14:55
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This thread is mostly about fixing houses, you want the Business, Finance, and Careers subforum
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Jan 14, 2022 15:56
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i like nice words
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!Klams posted:Hey, sorry if this isn't really the place got this, but, we own our own flat in England, (hurray!) But my wife's grandparents are suffering from dementia and her mum needs some help looking after them. This is a "talk to a lawyer (solicitor?)" and or a rental agency. Get a solid understanding on your tax implications by talking to a tax guy, or the attorney may know / have advice. Also 100% do this "for profit", do NOT rent for your mortgage amount etc. you will get hosed. Keep in mind that you will be required to keep the house at a certain standard of repair, so pad your rent by I don't know like 15% for repairs so you can cover that hot water heater, or a boiler, or when your tenant breaks your washer, especially if you are far away and you're paying a bloke to do it for you. Then you need to pad another (unknown) percentage based on having to spend money to terminate the rental / get your tenant out if they don't want to leave (they wont because free housing!). Watching UK shows such as Nighmare Tenants, Slum landlords makes me believe that getting a non-payment person out of your flat is going to be a gigantic shitshow compared to the US that will cost you money and a ton of time without your home / income etc. You could have a renter that's great pays on time keeps your poo poo working, keeps to themselves, doesn't sublet to 15 people for 1/10th of the rent and construct walls and have bunkbeds everywhere or you could have a nightmare that does all that, yells at your neighbors. Source: I had a similar situation, I rented and it fuckin sucked I'm still owed 1,500+ interest I'll never ever get back, your results may vary but you should prepare / plan for it being the worst situation.
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Jan 14, 2022 15:57
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Anne Whateley posted:This thread is mostly about fixing houses, you want the Business, Finance, and Careers subforum Ah, apologies, will take a look there, thanks. tater_salad posted:This is a "talk to a lawyer (solicitor?)" and or a rental agency. Get a solid understanding on your tax implications by talking to a tax guy, or the attorney may know / have advice. Hmm. Holy poo poo. Sorry to hear that happened to you, that's loving mad?
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Jan 14, 2022 17:28
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Has anyone done a micro clover/grass lawn? Our yard is a mix of fescue and bluegrass, and I attempt to avoid heavy fertilizing and weed control. I know clovers are nitrogen fixers, and help control other weeds by basically crowding them out, and the micro varieties are lower growing to still allow the grass to grow through. I haven't found a good source for seed, but I'd like to try it on our boulevard first because that's the area that seems to be hardest to get good grass cover to grow consistently.
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Jan 14, 2022 17:59
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PitViper posted:Has anyone done a micro clover/grass lawn? Our yard is a mix of fescue and bluegrass, and I attempt to avoid heavy fertilizing and weed control. I know clovers are nitrogen fixers, and help control other weeds by basically crowding them out, and the micro varieties are lower growing to still allow the grass to grow through. I almost bought some microclover seed blends from this shop last year when I was needing to reseed things, I can't remember where I found them from but it was a site recommending them. Good grass/lawn seed mixes are expensive and I never got around to buying any, but really love the thought of getting rid of all my grass and going with their Fleur de Lawn mix: https://ptlawnseed.com/
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Jan 14, 2022 18:32
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!Klams posted:Hey, sorry if this isn't really the place got this, but, we own our own flat in England, (hurray!) But my wife's grandparents are suffering from dementia and her mum needs some help looking after them. You're in the UK So your tax laws are probably wildly different. I'm in the US so this anecdote probably won't benefit you but maybe it will show just how loving stupid our country is. I have a family member who purchased an Modest apartment/townhome in a city a few hours away and he is then renting it to his sister in law at cost-- since she is not very well off financially. That is, just whatever it costs to cover the mortgage which is wildly below "market value" if he were to rent it to a stranger. It turns out US tax law doesn't like you doing this with additional properties and it can actually penalize you pretty heartily. I guess it makes sense for those cases where some rich parent buys their kid a lavish house in a nice city and then charges them a $1 for rent or something. Anyway, it turns out part of how you file that is just sort of taken at your own word or not. Either way, he had to talk to a CPA to figure out how to declare that income and avoid getting heavily penalized for what seemed like doing a good deed for family.
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Jan 14, 2022 19:07
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MetaJew posted:You're in the UK So your tax laws are probably wildly different. I'm in the US so this anecdote probably won't benefit you but maybe it will show just how loving stupid our country is. Is it because this family member filed their taxes with this property getting the homestead tax deduction?
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Jan 14, 2022 20:28
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extravadanza posted:Is it because this family member filed their taxes with this property getting the homestead tax deduction? Landlords get to deduct certain maintenance expenses that a homeowner-resident does not. If you're renting to a family member at substantially below market rates the IRS considers it use as a personal residence rather than as a landlord and won't allow those deductions.
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Jan 14, 2022 20:44
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!Klams posted:Ah, apologies, will take a look there, thanks. I mean not all of that happened, many of those are what I saw from the UK show. Renter was often late on payment which meant my mortgage was late or I had to pull from my budget since I was poor at the time and couldn't pay my rent plus the mortgage (why I rented the house out to begin with, but wanted to keep it so when I was back in the area I had a house), it killed my credit. I tried to raise rent to cover my rear end to make more than barely over mortgage they didn't pay it, and tried to quote NYC rent control, their lease was over and I had every right to raise rent. I had to start an eviction proceeding twice, once it was 1 day from court when I got the payment, then surprise next month was late because they took 2+ weeks to pay the prior months rent and was now behind. (they were bad self-lawyers) Then they signed a 6 month lease because they asked for it, and then they and I got a call a few weeks later from an apartment manager asking how they were as a renter I was like bad.. also they just signed a lease with me so interesting they're applying to rent your place. They eventually found a place and gave me 30 days notice, for 3 months left on the lease. (??Bad self lawyer thought that 30 days notice to leave also applied during the lease??) . Took them to court when they left, they offered 1/2 security deposit in the mediation and I was like nah son I'll take 3 months rent please. Judge laughed when she said "it says in the lease 30 days notice" To quote the judge "then why sign a lease, that's not how leases work, it's 30 days notice after its' over" That's my story would never rent out again.
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Jan 14, 2022 20:53
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the holy poopacy posted:Landlords get to deduct certain maintenance expenses that a homeowner-resident does not. If you're renting to a family member at substantially below market rates the IRS considers it use as a personal residence rather than as a landlord and won't allow those deductions. This is it. I had forgotten the details but yeah. It has to do with the deduction or depreciation of a rental property over something like 27.5 years.
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Jan 14, 2022 21:24
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I'd imagine there could be some suspicion by the IRS that you're just under reporting your rental income to avoid taxes as well in that scenario.
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Jan 15, 2022 02:03
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Okay, so covid everywhere plus long weekend = project time! Our bedroom has old uninsulated floorboards above an elevated crawlspace that's not encapsulated (this is bay area). It gets a bit drafty so I've looked at a bunch of ways to fix it. After doing research i got pretty paranoid about stapling in rigid insulation board or even wiring in batts because i didnt want to trap moisture and the joists in this place have been solid and fine for 100 years, so i don't want to screw with something that works. My plan this weekend (and maybe next) is to go underneath and first caulk the underside of the boards to try to reduce drafts and see how that feels. Sanity checking here, but i can't imagine that'd cause any unforseeable issues, right? El Mero Mero fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Jan 15, 2022 |
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Jan 15, 2022 21:16
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I don't think you'll do any harm with caulk, but I also don't expect you'll make that big of a difference. In other insulation related news, I've been continuing the removal of rodent-soiled old blown in attic insulation with rockwool. Here was the most horrible part of the attic I tackled today. Before  After cleaning and disinfecting  After new insulation 
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Jan 16, 2022 00:45
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SpartanIvy posted:I don't think you'll do any harm with caulk, but I also don't expect you'll make that big of a difference. How do you like those plastic grid things for decking your attic?
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Jan 16, 2022 00:58
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El Mero Mero posted:Okay, so covid everywhere plus long weekend = project time! Our bedroom has old uninsulated floorboards above an elevated crawlspace that's not encapsulated (this is bay area). SpartanIvy posted:I don't think you'll do any harm with caulk, but I also don't expect you'll make that big of a difference.
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Jan 16, 2022 01:02
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MetaJew posted:How do you like those plastic grid things for decking your attic? They're really nice but pricey as hell. Being able to see underneath is helpful if you're worried about pests. It's a pita if you drop a screw on them though! I also recommend kneepads because the plastic is fairly unforgiving on kneecaps. Also if your rafters arent on pretty exacting 16" or 24" centers it can be difficult to make them work. In some parts of my attic I have had to cut some locating tabs on the bottom to get them to sit right on my not-quite-square rafters. In the area I posted I actually use plywood because the double joists don't let them sit correctly on top.
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Jan 16, 2022 01:15
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SpartanIvy posted:They're really nice but pricey as hell. Being able to see underneath is helpful if you're worried about pests. It's a pita if you drop a screw on them though! I also recommend kneepads because the plastic is fairly unforgiving on kneecaps. Yeah I was just going to use plywood or OSB but the see through bit seems like it could be good for running wiring and stuff
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Jan 16, 2022 01:24
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MetaJew posted:Yeah I was just going to use plywood or OSB but the see through bit seems like it could be good for running wiring and stuff I think the newer ones even have little cutouts for wire. I've taken a sawzall to a few of mine to cut slits to slide HVAC and other low voltage wires through them. It's pretty convenient but not really that big of a game changer over plywood other than being modular. My attic is very very cramped with a low roof so I keep a handful of them stacked up and if I need to access an area of the attic I don't usually get to, I can lay them out and create a crawl way quick and easy. I would definitely NOT use OSB because it does break down over time. There was some OSB still in my attic and just the latent humidity and hot/cold cycles caused it to disintegrate to the point that I put a knee most of the way through it. Granted I have no idea how long it was up there, but none of the plywood, even the stuff covered in rat piss, had any issues with holding me up.
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Jan 16, 2022 01:35
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spf3million posted:I've got a 1937 bay area house with a crawlspace and I've also been researching under-house insulation lately. Not especially drafty but the floors are relatively cool. Everyone online seems to unanimously encourage sealing off the crawlspace and making it a conditioned space. Didn't seem to agree with what I remember reading on the various house threads here. So far all I've done is start spreading some 6mil plastic over the dirt to keep the moisture in the ground. At minimum it makes crawling around down there much less dusty/muddy. Sup old bay area home buddy.  Yeah. Everything I read suggested either encapsulation or lifting all the floor boards up and laying moisture barriers hung over the joists with insulation inside the barrier before re-laying them. The payoff for what that would cost I think is pretty much not worth it. Also encapsulation seems to come with its own risks (mold) and that you don't get much/any benefit from doing it part-way...so...mild half-measures it is!
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Jan 16, 2022 06:17
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El Mero Mero posted:Sup old bay area home buddy. Rugs. Lots and lots of rugs.
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Jan 16, 2022 15:30
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Cool, there is a live animal stuck in the boarded up fireplace in our bedroom. Serves us right for dragging our feet on installing chimney caps. Woke up to weird flapping/thumping inside the walls and the cats staring intently at the fireplace. When we first moved in I pulled the board off the fireplace in the dining room and found some bird skeletons, so this creature would not be the first to find its way down one of the chimneys. We're going to open up the fireplace and try to catch it and release it outside because ignoring and letting it starve to death is just plain cruel. I just hope it's a bird and not a bat because I really don't want to deal with potential rabies exposure and going out and getting shots. At least our cats are vaccinated. edit: Ended up being not one but two birds stuck in there. Got them out successfully. Opened the window and pulled off the board in front of the fireplace to find the rusty remains of an insert and an insulated board closing off the rest of the firebox. And a complete bird skeleton (that my husband wouldn't let me keep). Pried the second board out a bit and one bird slipped through and flew straight out the window. Second bird was dumber and/or more disoriented and took some coaxing with a broom to get it out of the fireplace and outside. Flapped around our bedroom a few times before finally finding the open window. Guess chimney caps and chimney work n general just rose a few places in our todo list. Queen Victorian fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Jan 16, 2022 |
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Jan 16, 2022 17:27
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We got the chimney capped before closing but it had been left open for probably the whole 100 years the house has been. We asked the PO to clean the chimney as well to get rid of the decay and debris that is likely trapped in there and their response was "well there shouldn't be anything to clean because the fireplace has been blocked the whole time we've owned it, we never used the chimney." I didn't feel like arguing it so we still gotta get somebody up there to clean it out... and sooner than later gotta get a repoint done on it :\
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Jan 16, 2022 19:39
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falz posted:Has anyone ordered from these guys before? They have lots of interesting vinyl sheet flooring that I cant find with the big name brands (Armstrong, Mannington tile honestly is just going to look nicer and really is the best material for bathroom floors. I live in MN where it gets plenty cold and have never had an issue with the floor temperature because I have socks on, and I have a small mat next to the shower. are you constantly barefoot? also with tile you can do really interesting stuff, like hexagons of more than one color in the same room in a specific pattern.
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Jan 16, 2022 21:26
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actionjackson posted:tile honestly is just going to look nicer and really is the best material for bathroom floors. I live in MN where it gets plenty cold and have never had an issue with the floor temperature because I have socks on, and I have a small mat next to the shower. are you constantly barefoot? You wear socks in the shower? hmmmm Yes I'm always barefoot, i would be barefoot outside all of the time too if i could be. I've been searching for non-tile floor i like for a few weeks now and still no love. is there any uhhh non-lvp tile that's not freezing? this batrhoom has two exterior walls, but a slight bonus that its upstairs above a finished area. Perhaps I'm just leaping to a conslusion that the floor will be freezing?
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Jan 16, 2022 22:23
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falz posted:Perhaps I'm just leaping to a conslusion that the floor will be freezing? I don't think you are. Throw some heat under it. It's really, really nice. I have mine scheduled to be on in the morning and evenings.
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Jan 16, 2022 22:32
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The solution is to just spend more money and have tile with underfloor heating.
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Jan 16, 2022 22:47
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falz posted:You wear socks in the shower? hmmmm the shower water is hot though, why would my feet be cold in there 
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Jan 16, 2022 23:06
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I added ditra subfloor and heating to my kitchen when i did it last year, yes it is great. I'd mentioned before, but perhaps the largest challenge to doing this in the bathroom is you're supposed to use a dedicated circuit for this - getting a new electrical home run from the panel in the basement through a finished 1st floor to a finished 2nd floor seems.. really challenging.
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Jan 16, 2022 23:33
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Our bathrooms are the same lvp flooring as our other rooms, but in a stone pattern instead of wood. Wood could be nice in a bathroom too.
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Jan 16, 2022 23:42
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peanut posted:Our bathrooms are the same lvp flooring as our other rooms, but in a stone pattern instead of wood. wood.. in a bathroom? huh
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Jan 17, 2022 00:18
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actionjackson posted:wood.. in a bathroom? huh Making my bathroom out of teak and regretting it instantly.
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Jan 17, 2022 00:27
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*citizen kane voice* rosewood.... rosewood.....
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Jan 17, 2022 02:26
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actionjackson posted:*citizen kane voice* rosewood.... rosewood..... 
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Jan 17, 2022 02:48
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Garage ceiling was leaking due to heavy rain, bunch of dry wall needs to get replaced along with some insulation. Went out on the roof and found a single that was cracked/worn out and not directing water in the right direction. I reset the shingle and the leak stopped so that's a positive so now I need to find a roofer/dry waller to get this all fixed up. I have read that is not worth filing a insurance claim if the repair cost is $5k or less due to the potential of insurance cost raising. Is there any truth in this?
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Jan 17, 2022 03:39
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Take photos now, just in case. No such thing as too many, from different angles, far away to establish where the damage is in the room, as well as close up. Get an estimate to replace the drywall & insulation. Were I writing it, I'd also write water mitigation (removing what's damaged & wet, leaving fans & dehus to deal with what isn't, then spraying with a mildewcide). It may add up to +$5Gs faster than you think. You have a $1000 deductible? It also depends on where you live, and what state, that dictates rating increases. Remember: it's the filing of the claim that may affect your rate, not anything after (except maybe collecting from a responsible party in subrogation), including how much is paid.
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Jan 17, 2022 04:07
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