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Imho instead of trying to install some fancy IoT solution I would just set up a couple of mechanical light timers. Or you can spend some more money for a digital one, guess they even make them with random functionally these days: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076576DC8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_.24QCbJCMRKSC
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Apr 8, 2019 19:09
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Also the washer here is old as gently caress and has an agitator but it still runs great and does full loads in like 15 minutes. Aside from energy savings, is there any reason to upgrade this thing before it dies? It's probably using 3-4x the amount of water that a modern HE washing machine uses, so that might be a good reason to upgrade even if it's still working.
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Apr 23, 2019 21:19
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Droo posted:How much water does it take to dig up a bunch of gasoline, burn the gasoline mining iron ore, refine it into washing machine components, ship the components to a factory somewhere, build a new washing machine, box it up, ship it to the distributor and then have it delivered to my house, and transport my old one to a dump somewhere? If you cut yourself on the edginess of this post, I'd recommend running your washer with cold water, it will get the blood out better.  OP said their washer was "old as gently caress" so it's not like I'm advocating tossing out something that's new and presumably has a long life ahead of it. I recently replaced my older washing machine that was using ~40gal of water per load to one that uses about 15. Saving water seems like a cool and good thing to do, imho.
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Apr 23, 2019 21:46
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Just want to give a shout out to https://repairclinic.com for being the best place to not only get repair parts for appliances, but for having excellent how-to videos. My mom's dishwasher died yesterday and thanks to their warehouse being a 20min drive away AND being open on Sunday, I was able to get a replacement pump and motor assembly this morning and install it in under an hour. The part cost $155 but I'm sure I saved a couple hundred bucks watching their instructional video a couple times through versus having to call a repair person. I'm sure it's less convenient if you don't live in SE Michigan but I'd highly recommend them if you ever need to get replacement parts.
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May 26, 2019 18:09
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opengl128 posted:I know this is probably somewhat location specific, but can anyone give me an idea if this is reasonable for some driveway work? imho also get a quote to put a french drain under the driveway so you can have your downspout empty out to your grassy hill or somewhere else.
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Jun 4, 2019 17:52
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:
This is one of those "tap into to water line by poking a hole in it" fixtures that the guys on This Old House always say are terrible and you should have replaced. So I'd probably say yes, have it replaced.
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Jun 5, 2019 10:53
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Buy a steamer and one of those scoring tools and remove it yourself? Sure it's not the most fun thing to do but, it's just wallpaper...
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Jun 10, 2019 16:31
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Is your CO detector tied into the house electrical system or just battery operated? Was the power back on when the alarm stopped? Just wondering if it IS tied into the electrical, and the backup battery is dying/dead, maybe it is failing safe by setting off the alarm. I would err strongly on the side of caution here and assume there is a leak. Reset your detectors and wait to see if they go off again. If they don't, call someone in to inspect gas appliances. If they do go off again, get out of the house and call 911.
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Jun 18, 2019 18:31
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Chimp_On_Stilts posted:If all humans and pets are out of the house, why call 911? Is there a fire danger or something similar? Fire department can come immediately and check where the leak is. And yeah I would second having an additional detector that gives you a digital readout of what amount of CO it is actually detecting. Edit: holy poo poo the top review for this  https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-Dual-Power-Monoxide-CO615/dp/B000Q5VMKGquote:First Alert Dual-Power Carbon Monoxide Detector Alarm | Plug-In with Battery Backup and Digital Display, CO615 Sirotan fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Jun 18, 2019 |
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Jun 18, 2019 19:05
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Even if it just turns out to be a single faulty detector, I think you're doing the right thing here. Carbon Monoxide is nothing to be hosed with.
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Jun 18, 2019 21:03
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I would have thought installing a protective metal plate on the wall-facing side of that pipe would be required by code. Started googling around a bit and found that even that might not be enough if you're dumb and motivated enough: https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/87519/metal-object-encountered-when-drilling-into-wall-above-radiator
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Jun 21, 2019 18:29
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Anybody have a good recommendation for some interior door handles that come in both lockable (with a knob/button) and dummy varieties? They need to be satin nickle. My mom wants to replace all the hideous brass door knobs and hinges inside her house with satin nickle and I'm trying to get her to convince her to use handles and not knobs when she does this.
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Jun 28, 2019 00:11
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Thanks, I'll forward both of those on. And yeah, I meant dummy knobs, she's got a bunch of hallway closets that use them. Edit: lol at the Kwikset Balboa 4-pack being more expensive than just buying 4 of them separately. Nice work, Home Depot.
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Jun 28, 2019 15:44
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I'm in love with just about all the wallpaper choices that Anthropologie sells: https://www.anthropologie.com/wallpaper?page=1 They're all expensive as gently caress, and I'd only use it to create an accent wall in a room painted in complementary colors. In a previous apartment I almost bought a couple rolls of this:  https://www.newwall.com/shop/wallpaper/marimekko-collection/biloba-13043/ Kinda bummed to now see it's discontinued. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Jun 29, 2019 |
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Jun 29, 2019 19:55
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:I need blackout curtains for this room due to the glare on the TV. Gray, imho
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Jul 8, 2019 20:57
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For anyone that is thinking of doing this themselves: always pull two cables to each drop, even if you only plan to use one. You'll thank yourself someday.
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Jul 11, 2019 19:19
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Queen Victorian posted:So our Home Depot is about two miles from our house, and after I start my new job, it will be two blocks from my office. It’s the original urban Home Depot and is very conveniently located. In addition to being the other place I live, it will also become the place where I spend all my lunch breaks and where I always swing by after work. Should I be feeling excitement or dread? This post makes me think Home Depot needs to start selling beer you can drink while wandering around the store ala all the upscale grocery stores these days.
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Aug 19, 2019 23:56
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:
Get rid of the grubs in your lawn, then you won't have any moles or skunks that need catchin'.
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Aug 22, 2019 21:05
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Grass sucks imho, clover is cool and good. I also honestly really love the look of moss. Pro tip tho: buy a broadcast spreader. It's going to become extremely helpful for putting down poo poo like the aformentioned grub killer (something like https://www.scotts.com/en-us/products/insect-grub-disease-control/scotts-grubex1, etc, not an endorsement of this product), fertilizer, weed killer, etc. The moles will keep coming back if they have yummy grubs to munch on.
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Aug 22, 2019 21:13
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Looks like you can just go full clover too: https://www.amazon.com/White-Dutch-Clover-Grass-Seed/dp/B01DM2B0HY https://cloverlawn.org/ 
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Aug 22, 2019 21:28
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Keyser_Soze posted:I'm in the Sacramento, CA area and xeriscaped my front yard a few years ago with decomposed granite, rocks, olive trees, agave, yucca, lavender, sage, various grasses etc and it looks excellent. You have to do it right though, and let stuff grow in. There is still maintenance involved, but it mostly involves hunting down weeds, trimming and replacing plants that crap out and replacing irrigation bits as needed. Lawns are dumb but what's even more loving dumb is areas where it's illegal to have anything but grass/turf covering your front lawn, like my city. Your yard looks great btw.
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Aug 23, 2019 02:45
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Holy gently caress. What a nightmare.
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Aug 24, 2019 02:49
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At least it's not mounted above a fireplace. I'll never understand why anyone ever willingly does that.
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Aug 25, 2019 17:52
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Probably where the piano is, or another room entirely. I get it that in some homes the "family room" has been designed by someone to leave only the area above the fireplace as the most aesthetically pleasing choice for TV placement, but it's still just a terrible spot to put it for comfortable viewing. It hurts my neck and eyes to have to look up that high for a prolonged period of time. Plus I'm sure the heat and smoke is just great for electronics.
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Aug 25, 2019 18:11
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You could make them shorter yourself with a chop saw, so I'm sure some place would be more than happy to charge you $$$ to spend ~2min trimming the ends of them off.
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Sep 4, 2019 16:24
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H110Hawk posted:Now is your chance for an outlet for your future robotoilet. This but a Japanese toilet. ngl, I'll probably install one in my new place. You haven't truly lived until you've experienced a heated toilet seat
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Sep 12, 2019 01:29
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therobit posted:I have a 15 year old Kenmore Elite stove and lately it has been getting way too hot. I tried running a cleaning cycle but after 20 minutes or so it started smoking and then an alarm on the stove started beeping and it shut off. Does anyone know what it could be? I'm guessing there is a thermostatic controller that is messed up but I have no idea if that is an easy fix or not. Check out https://www.repairclinic.com/, they have a lot of how-to videos and parts at good prices. You should at least be able to get an idea if it's worth your time or money to repair vs replace.
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Oct 1, 2019 10:57
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I think I've read electric ovens are slightly more efficient in that there is moisture generated when you burn natural gas but I personally would not buy one. More expensive and more things to go wrong and I'm not a prolific baker. Plus I prefer to broil with gas. Warm/cold spots in ovens are an issue no matter what type of fuel you're using, buy something with a convection function/fan if that is a concern (but this is standard in most of them these days). Sirotan fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Oct 5, 2019 |
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Oct 5, 2019 20:17
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Winter is the best time to prune trees because that's when trees are dormant so you'll inflict the leaat amount of damage to them. Late fall is also a good time to do it, just don't wait until spring.
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Oct 10, 2019 23:43
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Bought a house in a historic district, now I get to pay $45 to apply for approval to replace a 75yo rotted out garage door. 
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Oct 29, 2019 02:05
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B-Nasty posted:Never do this or buy a house considered historic. It's like an HOA, but 10x worse. The Historic District Commission, in their great benevolence, have provisionally granted me permission to replace my own garage door. I still have to go to their meeting next week because if I'm not there and they have questions for me, my request will be delayed or denied! However, it appears they are only going to allow me to have *two* windows at the top instead of the full four. For reference, here is the existing door. It is 75 years old, rotting, heavy as hell, and uses a lever/spring system that looks unsafe as gently caress:  Based on my 30 second mock-up in Paint, I feel like configuration B looks slightly less stupid.  Praise be the HDC, whose wisdom transcends good taste and aesthetics.
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Nov 8, 2019 18:04
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The Dave posted:Could both windows span two columns each to fill out the top completely or is that not a style with garage doors? The garage door style that I submitted in my application is a "short panel" (as seen in the mock-up). There IS a "long panel" version which would only have 2 panels per row, but I'd have to redo the entire application and get it re-approved which would take another 2+ weeks soooo yeah that's not gonna happen.
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Nov 8, 2019 18:46
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brugroffil posted:I would try to match the original spacing, both those other options look off Yeah there is no way to do that with the door model I'm getting. It will look like what I posted in the mock-up. 4 rows with 4 panels each. It's both inside or both outside, there are no other options.
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Nov 8, 2019 18:48
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Ashcans posted:Are there any restrictions on the location or symmetry of the windows? Maybe you could turn a loss into a win with some creative thinking.  At the meeting next week I will try to convince them to let me do all 4 panels as windows since that would been waaaaaaaaaay less dumb.
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Nov 8, 2019 18:52
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The Dave posted:Or could you do windows in the middle two and paint out the book ends as almost faux windows to look better visually? Paint changes also have to be approved by the HDC 
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Nov 8, 2019 19:19
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The Historic District Commission has graciously allowed me to replace my garage door, with 4 windows on top. Hooray.
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Nov 13, 2019 02:16
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Elysium posted:So after some water issues in our finished basement, we just had a contractor do a full french drain. This involved them cutting about 2 feet off the bottom of the walls including through the studs. Well now that they're done and we're planning on putting the walls back together, we can see that there is no insulation in the walls whatsoever. This isn't particularly surprising given how much colder it always was down there but it throws a wrench into our simple "just close up the walls again" plan. There is spray foam insulation that can be installed without removing your walls, they just cut a few holes in each bay and spray it in. I have no idea what the cost of that is compared to your other options though. Apparently you can even DIY it https://sprayfoamkit.com/products/slow-rise-spray-foam/ (not an endorsement just an example) Sirotan fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Nov 21, 2019 |
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Nov 21, 2019 17:07
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If you have super awesome libraries in your area, they might have one available to borrow.
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Dec 11, 2019 21:47
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Assuming you did not waive your inspection contingency, you do not need to ask for permission to bring in (several!) window repair companies to get quotes for this work during your inspection period. Which you should absolutely do. And then either ask for the sellers to pay for this work, get a credit to your closing costs, or use it to walk away without losing your earnest money.
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Dec 13, 2019 23:56
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Windows you can't even loving open is not something that you "just accept" with older homes. For a historic home it's not even that old. Your agent doesn't sound like they're really acting in your best interest because any other potential buyers of this home are going to learn about this issue through an inspection and unless your market is absolutely red hot (I assume not since you got the house for less than list) they're all going to ask the sellers to resolve this issue before the sale is finalized too. And windows have to be replaced at some point. There are plenty of options out there for replacements that will keep the character of the originals, if you had to go that route.
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Dec 14, 2019 00:20
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