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Anne Whateley posted:How bad of a sign is it to see those red temporary jack posts all up in an old house’s basement? To be clear I’m not buying a house, I just want to know how much to tsk-tsk while fantasizing on zillow A properly iunstalled lally column is not a problem, and sometimes is actually part of a home's design from the very beginning or based on a renovation. Of course, anything like that oculd be used to cover problems and be used incorrectly as well. So I'd say it's neutral without knowing more. They are often put into older homes simplt because out expectations of floor stability/load capacity are a lot different than they were in the 50s and 60s and it's an easy way to stiffen up a floor. This is particularly prevalent under kitchens that have been remodeled with tile floors to replace the old linoleum ones. Motronic fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Mar 10, 2024 |
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Mar 10, 2024 21:29
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H110Hawk posted:a normal hammer with an axe head instead of a claw. That sounds like a drywall hammer, and I don't know a single person who has the skill to operate one anymore. But it's an excuse to post one of my favorite videos showing how its done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whF4q5S1flw
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Mar 11, 2024 14:03
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And in a basement its likely that it just needs a dehumidifier. Lots of unfinished or badly HVAC'd finished basements do to keep from smelling musty/prevent mold from growing freely because they just don't get enough air stirring/exchanging.
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Mar 11, 2024 21:14
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It happens and it certainl wasn't anything to do with their work. You paid $125 to learn how to troubleshoot this problem. That's pretty cheap.
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Mar 11, 2024 23:02
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Unless you have a subzero budget they all suck. I like my LG with the compressor problems (already replaced once! they pinky swear this one doesnt' have the same problems) But really the discussion is what are your priorities and requirements. There is a possibility for "harm reduction" by going simpler. Most issues with fridges are the drat ice maker. It's even worse if the ice maker is in the fridge section rather than the freezer for through the door stuff. I absolutely want that feature so I'm willing to live with the negatives that come with that.
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Apr 5, 2024 02:54
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slidebite posted:I noticed this AM that my hot water tank isn't putting out what it used to. It's about 8ish years old. 48 US gallon, natural gas. To work it a bit, I took a bath this evening and I actually ran out of hot water. I've never had that happen before, even when doing laundry or dishes. So yeah, something is not right. I'd check the burner too - it's possible it's not burning clean/high enough. They do get crudded up and you can clean the holes. It also may be failing to start sometimes but not others, which could be a pilot/ignitor issue.
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Apr 5, 2024 14:10
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Arsenic Lupin posted:In this particular case, the state property involved is the margin of the road. The state owns N feet of the land on either side of the center of the highway. The N feet bordering our land is a downhill slope planted with rock roses. The state probably doesn't care until it finds out, which will happen when pulling permits. Sigh. Oh that's strange. In PA we own to the centerline of the road the property borders and X feet away from that is a by-statute state easement. They wouldn't care about this, unless they were going to need that land for something (widening a road, a delegated utility easement) in which case they would just give you the too bad so sad we're using this now.
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Apr 23, 2024 12:02
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nwin posted:God drat I underestimated the amount of foam I’d need…and also how much to use. Yeah......I almost mentioned this bit it's something you juse have to learn by feel. It just keeps on expanding for a long time. Now you know. Cut the extra off with a razor knife. The snap off blade knoves work great for this. It's really going to make a huge difference this fall and winter if you were getting breezes through those windows. High effort/low cost great quality of life improvemant.
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Apr 25, 2024 01:47
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:There was a discussion of the fireplace TV thing somewhere around here recently. The long and short of the discussion was that there's a significant risk of the heat loving up your TV, depending. Only if your fireplace isn't made properly. This person's ask seems to be "how do I install a proper mantle so that doesn't happen?" And they got the correct answer: it's in the cut sheets for the insert and their local code.
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Apr 25, 2024 21:08
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The Wonder Weapon posted:I'm not quite sure what this means. What's a cut sheet? Is that the specs of the installed fireplace? Because I don't have that. Is the assumption that that they built it properly according to the local code, and the local code would have information about depth of the brick, etc.? A cut sheet is the document from the insert or gas log which is incopoprated-by-reference into code as "install per manufacturer's instructions". Don't assume it was built to code, and even if it was you still need to know what code says because you are asking about modifying it.
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Apr 25, 2024 22:09
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The Wonder Weapon posted:I guess I don't know what to do with this information. Do I call my local housing board and ask if they have documentation on file for what was installed? You should be able to find a tag on the gas log or insert that lists a manufacturer and model number which you can look up online and download the documentation for.
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Apr 25, 2024 22:30
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Yes. This is that area of code/UL listing/whatever where it was recognized that if you don't allow sensible things everyone is going to run extension cords through drywall.
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Apr 29, 2024 04:17
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GlyphGryph posted:What is it about hanging doors that makes it so difficult? I'll probably be hanging one here eventually, hopefully only ever the one, but people make it sound like its going to be a nightmare. (Thankfully in my case it will not be a door that needs to fit particularly well and gaps will be fine) It requires a mutitude of skills, finesse, jigs and routers. Please don't confuse hanging a door with installing a pre-hung door which is great invention that takes 98% of the required skill out of the process.
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May 1, 2024 04:50
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nwin posted:My boys bathtub seems to be draining slower than it used to when we moved in 2 years ago, mainly in the past few weeks I’ve noticed. Fill it to the tippy top with hot water and then let it all down at once. Good first step for getting grease or soap clogs loosened up and moved down the way.
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May 4, 2024 20:53
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That appears to be a pump run light, not a button. One can only assume that you had a pit put in because there is a lift to the street. If that's the case there are two possibilities: the pit is full and the float switch is correctly sounding that alarm, meaning you need to figure out why the pit isn't draining or the pit is not full and the float switch is faulty. Step 1 is likely to be opening the pit to confirm which diagnostic tree you will be following. And depending on where it is (like if it's inside) you better really know what you're doing before you open it, as it may be actually full and ready to overflow. How to check that is beyond the scope of this post as I'm operaintg on generalities and assumptions with no real specific information. At best, I can sugget you switch the H-O-A switch to "hand" and see if the pump light lights. If it does, let it run for a bit (like a minute or so at most) and see if the alarm goes away. I'm making an assumption this switch will bypass the float on the pump and force it to run. Motronic fucked around with this message at 22:45 on May 5, 2024 |
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May 5, 2024 22:43
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slidebite posted:My area is usually dry as hell but we're in the middle of a rain event. Our sump is going off every 2-3 minutes. I realized that if the power went out for more than 10-15 minutes we'd probably be turbo-hosed. Batteries don't last long enough to make much of a difference in a situation like that. Are you on public water? There are water powered options available, which are going to be the least expensive choice. Otherwise you're looking at a generator and automatic transfer switch.
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May 8, 2024 14:51
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slidebite posted:We rarely lose power and when we do, I think the longest was 2 hours in the 15 years I've lived in the area. Would a battery back up last a few hours you think? I think our existing pump is a .5hp and when it runs probably goes for 5-10 seconds. Typical 1/2 HP sump pump lifting 10 feet is about 35 GPM. So let's say your pumping 5 gallons of water in the 5-10 seconds. How frequently does it turn on worst case that you've seen? From there you can back into battery capacity and see what you may need to run a battery backup pump for a couple of hours.
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May 8, 2024 15:28
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TrueChaos posted:Big time disagree on this front. I've got a half hp pump with an additional slightly smaller pump running off a large battery backup. The battery is probably 8 years old, and under conditions where the main pump is cycling every 2-3 minutes and we lose power, I get about 24 hours worth of run time. It's really easy to do actual numbers rather than good vibes and confirmation bias. I laid a path to exactly that in my posts.
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May 9, 2024 02:07
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Yes, you're totally correct if you ignore the rest of what I posted. I guess there truely is no way to tell other than to be sure a battery will fix this.
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May 9, 2024 13:18
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TrueChaos posted:I have explained why what you've recommended doing will not give an accurate estimation of the run time associated with a battery system, as well as demonstrating that a battery backup is suitable in this application. I have not ignored what you've said in any way. I'm not going to pick your post apart for where you've gone wrong, because I stopped reading when you went off on zero lift indicating you didn't make it even 6 words into my relevant post. Thanks for your opinion. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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May 9, 2024 15:18
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small butter posted:First of all, what is this, anyway? A pipe that goes from the wall, into the HVAC unit, and then into the ground. What's going on here? (I know that if I dump a lot of water into the nearby sink, it drains down and can overflow, like it did once when I saw all these soap suds outside.) That is a condensate line. You should have your furnace serviced and tell them you're smelling something that smells like gas coming out of there. There are multiple things that could cause this, none of which should be a big deal to repair. E: I suppose it could also be the trap drying out. But whatever, make sure the furnace is in good shape. Motronic fucked around with this message at 02:31 on May 11, 2024 |
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May 11, 2024 02:28
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small butter posted:Thanks for the help. I poured a jug of water down there hole in the floor and after coming back down a few hours later, the basement had the most beautiful scent of nothingness. There was a slight smell this morning. Cool, best possible outcome. I've had luck with pouring a bit of mineral oil into traps like that to cut down on the evaporation rate. Going into the cooling season I wouldn't biother, but perhaps you'll want to do this in the fall when you're done with the AC for the year. I wouldn't worry about the furnace past routine maintenance. I was assuming you were getting the smell out of the heater portion of the condensate line because of how you described it but you've completely emliminated that as a source and it appear to be an AC condensate line. You furnace might not be the type (efficiency rating) to even have a combuston condensate line. Motronic fucked around with this message at 22:10 on May 11, 2024 |
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May 11, 2024 22:08
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small butter posted:Thanks. Routine maintenance on a gas furnace with an AC coil would include things like checking the burners for cleanliness as well as cleaning of the inside and outside coils for heat pump/ac efficiency. It should also include checking run/start capacitors to make sure they are in spec/will make it through the year and contactors to make sure they are in good shape. Cheap parts that wear out and cause no heat/no cool situations. Plus someone who knows what it should look like to look at it and make sure it's all good. There's value in that. How necessary is all of this? Basically essential with oil every year. Less important with gas like y ou have, but still something that should get done. As the units age it's even more important to not have emergency calls which are going to cost you a lot more than an annual service and replacing whatever small parts need doing then.
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May 11, 2024 23:00
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ROJO posted:there is definitely a condensate line and trap coming out of the side of the furnace - but (honest question) - isn't the plastic flue a giveaway that it is a condensing furnace? I know condensing furnaces need PVC flues due to the acidic condensate, but I thought the flip was that non-condensing units needed a metal flue due to the exhaust temps? Or can a lower-efficiency non-condensing unit still use a PVC flue? The best I can tell you is: probably. I'm not gonna pretend I've seen everything out there to know. But I do know there are PLENTY of tankless heaters that are PVC exhaust that are not condensing. So it's possible, I just don't know if it was actually ever done on full on furnace size things.
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May 12, 2024 14:41
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