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I guess this story can go here. The local gas company woke me up today to tell me that they have to install two beams to protect the gas manifold that is on the side of my house. I can understand one, on the side of the manifold that is facing the street, but the other end is facing my home, to back into it one would have already driven through my house. Whatever, they say that that have to do this work so I go back to my coffee. They jackhammer up my garage slab (putting a new crack in it and getting concrete dust on everything) and put two 6' I-beams on either side of the manifold. They are also a good two feet higher than the thing they are protecting. To top it off, they are neither vertical, or square to the house or even each other. They poured some concrete mix in the holes and then added water, doing a piss poor job of mixing. Finally they paint the beams haze grey (over the oil and rust) and leave. I already complained to the gas company, but have don't expect to hear back till Monday. I will get some pics up when there is daylight. Still pretty pissed about this.
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Nov 6, 2011 03:05
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I was basically assigned the job of a civil engineer in Afghanistan, working with a police mentoring team. I got to go to several different job sites all over the Northern part of the Country and see/document/the work. Here are some of my favorite pics:  Look close at the bricks!   I have more, I need to find them though.
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May 7, 2013 22:20
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Nah, wall. I have some great electrical ones. One time we were driving through a small village with power and the MRAP antenna pulled a power line over to another and the short made a nice big flash and spark.
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May 9, 2013 02:12
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No mortar. Normal brick construction. We had people sign off on buildings with no mortar at all.
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May 9, 2013 11:58
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Pile of Kittens posted:A stonemason friend of mine says that they're going to key into the rebar with the second story, and that this looks like legit work to him. Good to know your taxes were reasonably well spent then. Most brick structures there were without mortar unless we made the contractor use it. They would also use mud bricks unless we specified real ones. They tended to melt pretty quick. I should add I am in no way qualified to do the job I was assigned.
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May 10, 2013 23:33
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My house is 1950s vintage as well, and it too has the box on the outside in the back yard. If not for a fence, it would be street accessible.
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Jun 11, 2013 01:22
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kid sinister posted:My wife and I are currently on honeymoon in Vietnam. I've never seen more half- and quarter-assed construction in my entire life. Don't get me wrong, all of the facades on the nicer buildings are absolutely beautiful, with their granite and tile work... The problem is that's the only thing that's nice, the surfaces. I saw some currently under construction. Underneath, it's just concrete pillars, beams and floors with brick walls. The rebar (if they have any) isn't fastened into place. You'll see some sticking out on the surface once they take off the forms. Plus I haven't seen one brick wall yet with every row level. When I was in Afghanistan my MRAP antenna shorted out some powerlines propped up on saplings. A big spark was the only result. That town was lucky to have power. I need to find my pics from some projects.
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Oct 28, 2013 15:29
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Crappy construction eh? From my time in Afghanistan. Pics may be  if you don't like poop. http://i.imgur.com/oE4Lu4y.jpg http://i.imgur.com/CXWza7q.jpg?1[url] http://i.imgur.com/KInQxrX.jpg[/url]
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Nov 30, 2013 14:57
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Ferremit posted:We liquid nailed them to the walls! They took the sign, the paint and the first layer of render off getting them! Put them in the spatdown zone. No one should want to peel poo poo coated signs up.
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Dec 8, 2013 17:28
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So out of boredom I looked up the permits issued by my county for my home. While I discovered that the owners up until the early 80s are dead and buried, and another previous owner lives around the corner, I also found out that my relatively new addition had no associated permits issued:  That explains all the crappy shortcuts I have found. And now I cant look up the contractor to at least make sure I never hire them. On the good side, my sewer line was replaced with cast iron in 1990 so at least the 1952 pipe is out.
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Feb 6, 2014 01:35
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I was digging around and found some more! Here are the last of my Afghan Electrical Nightmares! I actually was able to have these fixed. Too bad the power was only on a few hours a day I guess.      
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Feb 9, 2014 22:41
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Wife and I are looking at houses right now. We live in the neighborhood we plan on buying in, and the houses are overall really good quality, just a little older, mostly built in the 1950s. Anyway we saw a nice one today, but in the kitchen near the sink I saw this interesting device:
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Apr 27, 2014 23:45
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So it looks like we are buying the house with the weird power strip. The inspector claimed it was the best home he saw in the last month, and I already live in the same neighborhood in a home built by the same builder about 60 years ago. The guy did take care of it from what I can tell though, so I hope to keep any updates here to a minimum.
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May 10, 2014 14:53
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Bad Munki posted:In my experience, people who aren't career landlords and are just renting a place or two that they have can make the best landlords ever. Undoubtedly, they can also make the worst landlords, but when you find the right one, it's awesome. I had four landlords between the college dorms and buying my own house. Three of them were "incidental" landlords, they were all loving awesome and those places were great. One was a semi-career landlord, and he was a huge dickwad and I would never rent a place from him again under any circumstances. As a soon to be incidental landlord, may I ask what makes a cool landlord? A lovely one? My wife and I just sold her co-op we had previously rented out and buying a larger home to move into. Our current home will be rented and is located about 1/4 mile from the new one. I am doing my best to repair and document everything I can before renters move in, and I know poo poo will break, but I would like to have a cordial relationship with my future tenants.
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May 20, 2014 00:03
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Bad Munki posted:Hmm. I guess I would say: This is really useful. Thanks for taking the time to write it all out. Like I said, I am pretty handy, but I do know when to call for help. I will keep this stuff in mind.
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May 20, 2014 00:41
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Serious question from the guy who likes to DIY, but has little training, and just a moderate amount of experience. I see posters on here claiming that code is the minimum you should aim for, and I understand that, but I also fear that for the average guy, trying to exceed it may end up being worse. You may or may not know the reasoning behind that code. The more is better is not always the case, and many of us do not have a thorough understanding of stress, tension, shear, hot, neutral, etc. I feel that for those of us code is probably safer unless we have a trustworthy guide to hold our hand and explain why code says what is does. Anyone care to comment on that? Content:  I posted this a while back, now I own it and the house it was attached to. Made in japan of all places.
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Jul 23, 2014 22:07
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I did not mean to mislead folks. I know the difference between hot and neutral, but I meant that a lot of people don't. People who may still feel up to messing with that stuff. I feel fairly confident on basic home stuff, I have installed GFCIs, swapped out a bad breaker and other fairly simple stuff. I do know electricians and know when to call for professional help or advice. As for the sketchy power strip, I took it out the day I moved in. It was above the kitchen sink no less, although it was plugged into a GFCI which I suppose partially excuses its existence. The rest of the house has been fairly well taken care of, but at about 60 years old, it has its issues.
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Jul 24, 2014 01:14
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Any idea how it will fare after 50 years? 75? As the owner of a brick/cinder block home built in 1958, anything I should be particularly attentive to? Other than the usual lead/asbestos awareness?
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Jul 26, 2014 21:21
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Yeah, I see your point on how it has the benefits of both plywood and tyvec, with less labor. As far as I can tell, the previous owner took pretty good care. There is a recently installed sump system inside the basement, with battery backup. As far as I can tell, it never comes on except to send the AC condensate out. The basement has a bit of slope, but the yard is well drained and the driveway slopes away and the house is on a hill that already takes the water away. I would like to have an exterior french drain, but as of now that is unlikely. It has gutter helmet, but at the last good rainstorm I saw the downspout was clogged and it overflowed, soaking the side of the house. I cleared the clog, and it should be ok for now. I hope to get some pics soon, my area has seedy developers knocking down the older brick homes in the development and putting up the usual faux colonial mansion things with lots of fake stone and brick facades and side walls with no windows and 10 miles of vinyl siding.
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Jul 26, 2014 21:38
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kid sinister posted:Mine is another 1950s brick and cinder. The biggest thing you need to watch for with any masonry building is cracks forming and mortar falling out. That can all be repaired fairly easily, except for maybe basement wall cracks. Those take a bit more effort to repair and seal properly. Thanks for the info. I am not too worried about much except the actual walls to be honest. I know the electrical has been upgraded, 200 amp service, new panel in 2012, new furnace, newish water heater, and we are doing the kitchen. The oldest appliance is the oven or dryer, both of which we will replace when needed. Drywall all around and mostly 3 prong outlets. We even paid a small fortune to have a camera look into the sewer line to the street as some homes in the area used that sketchy concrete/cardboard stuff. We have cast iron all the way. Like I said, water ingress and structural is what keeps me up at night.
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Jul 26, 2014 23:07
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USAA told me no worries, that they would notify me if needed and that I do not yet need to get a new card. They said the same thing after target and then sent me a new card, I expect a similar thing this time. Whatever, I will just monitor my account activity. It has happened before, I am sure it will happen again.
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Sep 13, 2014 15:57
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 This is a neighbor's house. He is apparently a hoarder and has to live elsewhere. Nice guy but his house is falling apart. Makes me sad that eventually he will likely lose the house and a developer will put some monstrosity in its spot. EDIT: Sorry bout the table destruction. Was posting on my phone where it looked fine. Mercury Ballistic fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Oct 18, 2014 |
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Oct 17, 2014 23:45
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Someone here made the point that angieslist reviewers are largely reviewing work they dont understand, so take that into consideration. Still value there though.
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Nov 9, 2014 15:09
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Here in DC we just had out first snow of the season. Today driving home I passed a McMansion infestation/complex and noticed they all had clean roofs. Most of the areas homes still have snow covered roofs as the temp has not broken 28F since it fell. I wonder how much insulation the builders got away with vs how much the owners think they have.
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Jan 7, 2015 21:38
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Pompous Rhombus posted:It may not fit your definition of "proper", but you might try looking into a Japanese-style tub (shorter but higher/deeper, you just sit a bit more scrunched up, which I actually preferred). I had a tiny studio apartment when I lived there and it had one integrated into the shower, I'd take an occasional soak when my back was acting up. Can the average floor support that if it is not on a slab? Seems like it might almost double the sq ft load over a normal tub? Pure speculation on my part though.
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Jan 18, 2015 13:50
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If there isn't already, there should be a service where you can hire an inspector to monitor a home being built on behalf of the owners. They should have the awareness and ability to deal with issues before they are hidden or costly to deal with. Don't know how you could keep him neutral in the process though as city inspectors seem hit or miss as well.
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Jan 18, 2015 19:10
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The thread will be pleased to hear that today while driving through the wastelands of outer Fairfax County VA, where rampant development is the norm, I spotted a house for sale sign near a development. Featured at the top of the sign was the phrase "NO HOA"
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Jan 31, 2015 18:35
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I think this might be a reason so many old houses are around still. Water was never willingly invited inside. You had a spring or well, and a privy both located away from the house. Water really is the houses worst enemy.
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Feb 16, 2015 20:02
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Fair enough. I also understand that old houses remaining are the lucky ones or just well built and or well oved unicorns of the house world.
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Feb 16, 2015 21:19
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DNova posted:I can't understand why any landlord would not want to know about any potential problems with their investment and furthermore not want to take immediate action to mitigate further damage. It's a huge investment, why are you letting it rot and become worthless? So you don't want to pay a roofer $300 to stop the leak and you rig up some elaborate funnel and tubing system to alleviate the symptoms while the water causes hundreds or thousands more in damage? That funnel photo looks like it's from a decent house, too, not even some already run-down piece of poo poo the owner wants to squeeze the last few months of semi-habitable rent out of. As a landlord I agree with you but I think it comes down to the fact that not all landlords are as invested directly in a property as an owner. They may not be the one who bought the property and as a result may not care about much more than a rent check arriving on time. Myself, I try to fix anything I hear about the same day, but I live down the street from my rental, and I bought the house myself.
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Mar 21, 2015 20:25
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http://imgur.com/3v6O0oH Phone posting but just saw this wall of a building in downtown Frederick Md.
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Mar 28, 2015 19:40
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Just saw this today. Apparently having torches accent your business by igniting adjacient palm fronds is an acceptible way ro promote your business. http://imgur.com/bgy6IWW
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Apr 28, 2015 00:44
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http://wamu.org/programs/metro_connection/15/05/08/flipped_off_how_dc_homebuyers_are_getting_scammed_by_developers_who_cut_corners http://wamu.org/projects/house-flipping/#/part1?scrollTo=part1%23part1 http://wamu.org/projects/house-flipping/#/part2?scrollTo=part2%23part2 http://wamu.org/projects/house-flipping/#/part3?scrollTo=part3%23part3 The local NPR station is doing a week long series on poorly flipped houses in the booming DC real estate scene. Thought it might stir the pot a bit more. One of the highlights was how inspectors seldom have incentive to look out for the buyer.
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May 9, 2015 12:34
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Project Tango is now $512. Still in dev mode but it will make a 3d map of a interior space using a IR sensor, some gyros and 2 cameras. Not sure how precise it is at this point though.
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May 29, 2015 21:26
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http://imgur.com/cG7uxeP How bout that crack? This used to be a gun store. Rumor is the city was going to eminent domain the building and tear it down. City bought the building and then it was found to be some sort of historic building and now several years later it still stands with the city unable to do anything.
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May 30, 2015 02:05
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Our wing pallets we received in Singapore had bits of mahogany and teak in them. Some guys in the crew stripped those down for projects.
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Jun 28, 2015 18:34
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LonsomeSon posted:At least a quarter of deployed soldiers during ~The Surge~ lived in literal plywood shantytowns built inside larger structures, powered by daisy-chained power strips, which I am convinced were impossible to diagram due to their non-Euclidean nature. The strips, of course, were powered by containerized portable diesel-electric generators, and someone rearranging power strips three floors up might completely reverse your platoon's available power supplies in terms of which ones were 110v and which were 240v. I was at a smallish Fob in Afghanistan with a largish Navy presence and somehow we ended up with a Firetruck, it was non functioning though. We did have a B hut fire, it was of course electrical in origin from a failed ballast, and we ended up finding it through the smoke with a Pas-13. Our hose was trash pump powered. No loss of the structure though.
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Jul 16, 2015 22:00
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http://imgur.com/gallery/zbFJ3d3 Failure saved by paint?
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Oct 31, 2015 13:06
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NancyPants posted:This gently caress ugly bookcase: Hey, his heart is in the right place and he is trying, I can't hate that. He just needs tools and practice.
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Nov 21, 2015 20:49
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More active neglect here, but my hoarder neighbor who has moved elsewhere but still has the house is also letting it go to poo poo: The front is not much better. He cannot even enter the home anymore due to the vines around the entrance. For background, this is in an area where if he wanted to sell (and has refused numerous offers) he could get half a mil if the house was in good shape. Mental Illness is no joke.
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Nov 22, 2015 19:44
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