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How do I figure out if my weird maybe 3 season, maybe 4 season room is insulated in the walls or ceiling without tearing them open? Also where can I get window screens made? Pella brand for some of them and they want to charge $80 per replacement screen which seems high. Plus I need to redo the supports of these bay windows since they're sagging and making the windows not open/close properly. It's going to be cheaper to just run the air conditioner.
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May 8, 2016 06:11
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Thanks for the screen tips, I'll look into DIY. As to checking the insulation: there's no attic on this part, and all the lighting is track lighting. I know that there's a lot of inefficiency - most of the house is on top of a basement, while this is on top of a slab. It gets really cold at night, and really hot during the day, and it doesn't have any vents from the furnace - just a unit in it that does ac + heat depending on what you want. Every building in the subdivision has this type of room, but no one seems to really know what's up with them. It could be no insulation, or it could be the incredibly old (likely original to 1948) windows - they're double paned but the caulk? on the interior of every one is broken apart. The windows are weird - they're side by side, and to open them one slides back at an angle then alongside the other, on a track, and then the other one can glide over as well but there's not much point to that.
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May 9, 2016 03:30
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The best thing about deadbolts is its impossible to lock the door behind you on accident if you go out without keys.
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May 15, 2016 22:58
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Zanthia posted:Used. Gross but effective. I'm pretty sure the smell of a catbox will keep anything away. We've had at least two mice in the house in the last month despite two cats and three litter boxes. I have no idea how they're getting in or why the cat smell isn't keeping them at bay.
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Jun 2, 2016 12:27
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gently caress. I was just in the basement and found a big wet area in the carpet. We had a big storm about a week ago so I'm guessing it's from that. 1) What's the best way to dry it? 2) How do I track down where the water came in? It's not obvious at all from looking around - this spot borders two areas that are concrete, and both of those are dry. Nowhere else seems to be wet but it's a couple feet square of dampness. It doesn't smell like cat piss or anything that'd explain this.
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Jun 29, 2016 17:41
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VendaGoat posted:Is the area anywhere near your air conditioner? Air conditioner is outside on a concrete platform, this is in the basement with a concrete floor and the main floor is also concrete (odd I know). I suspected the hot water heater that's a few feet away but don't see any moisture near it. It's possible it evaporated faster? I'm not sure how to check for that overflowing maybe just start the shower up and watch?
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Jun 29, 2016 17:58
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VendaGoat posted:I'm sorry, let me rephrase. Is the cooling unit, which should be attached to your duct work, inside the house, near the area? The compressor right? No it's outside. This thing?  im pretty bummed because that was the one thing this house had going for it, no sign at all of water issues in the basement with half of it finished + carpeted. Man :I mastershakeman fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Jun 29, 2016 |
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Jun 29, 2016 18:15
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VendaGoat posted:You need a new canuter valve. Serious replies only  (I don't think that's a real thing)If it is actually the AC that'd be great, I just don't see how it could get water into the basement unless there's a hole in the ducts? The a/c unit is from the 80s and we have a two year warranty so it'd be great if it broke I honestly have no idea how AC units route through the furnace ductwork so I guess it's time to learn. The basement is partially finished, and the water is collected at a low spot where there's carpet at one point and the on the other side of a framed in wall (to a storage room and the furnace room) there's wetness on the bare floors there. It's pretty far from any wall and I can't find any trace of the water except in the low spot. Time to pull the carpet and buy some box fans I guess. Thankfully I do have a dehumidifier so that's running. mastershakeman fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Jun 29, 2016 |
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Jun 29, 2016 18:21
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So to continue the water in the basement saga, I'd gotten everything dried out and now it's back. We had a quick storm yesterday morning, so it could be that, but I'm not sure. This time though more of the water was standing and I traced it back a lot easier. Looks like it's coming from the furnace area, but also possibly from cracks right behind the foundation although I don't think that's the origin.   So my plan now is to call the warranty folks about A/C & furnace repair and have them come take a look. I'm a bit worried about those cracks, but I think the water went from the furnace area into those instead of the other route. Anything else I should really be thinking of? It's only $75 for a service call so it seems worth it just to have them come on out.
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Jul 7, 2016 16:43
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gvibes posted:Is it at all correlated to when the A/C is running? There is condensation, and sometimes the drain gets clogged/leaks. I think so but haven't been able to pin it down. It could be from yesterday's early morning storm as well but I don't see how
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Jul 7, 2016 17:56
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VendaGoat posted:Like I said, he needs a new canuter valve. Ok I'll mention this again - canuter valve = snipe hunt, correct? I.e. you're giving joke advice? I didn't think that was a real thing. And it definitely appears to be A/C related so service call time, come on baby free replacement of my 30 year old a/c unit  Even if I could track down the pan or the pipe or whatever is having the blockage/overflow I'd rather roll the dice on a replacement unit with this warranty.Thank god I bought a shop vac a literal week ago to clean up all the black oil sunflower seed shells that the birds were throwing everywhere, it's handled this water way better than a mop.
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Jul 7, 2016 23:49
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VendaGoat posted:Correct. Unsurprisingly, you're exactly right. Cost me $90 to find out what to unplug and where to blow and whatnot, but it's solved for a short time. What I really need is a less than 35 year old A/C unit and less than 25 year old furnace, apparently there's something called a condenser unit that would be good to have? One of a million purchases to make at some point.
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Jul 8, 2016 19:26
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So I have a ton of old 2 prong outlets throughout the house. We've also just started baby proofing everything and the slide covers won't fit on these old outlets. With that being said, one baby proofing guy said GFCis don't require slide covers. and I kind of recall someone saying that for going from 2 prong non grounded to 3, i should be doing GFCis anyways? Is all this correct?
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Sep 3, 2016 13:34
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I got a weber spirit a week ago and I'm amazed how much I'm using it.
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Sep 7, 2016 18:09
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I got the tiniest of all the weber spirits, and it's more than adequate for myself/family in the area. I have no idea who actually uses their mid or even top line stuff , unless you're hosting 100 people every weekend or something crazy.
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Sep 7, 2016 18:23
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robotindisguise posted:Unless I'm misunderstanding, you have house -> hill -> lake? Plop some bald cypress by the waters edge. In 2 years you'll have a natural sea wall for around $1/linear foot. Slow down the rest of the hill by hand digging or hiring a bobcat to make some swales running perpendicular to the slope of the hill, then plant up with whatever. Swales are used to reduce soil erosion and also passively harvest water for plants, so this'll benefit you both during the dry season and the wet. Heck, he should just make a big pond to go swimming in.
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Sep 22, 2016 18:38
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Enfys posted:I hear this everywhere (that newer houses are not as well built), and it makes me curious. I am guessing some of it is due to the usual "things were better in the good ol' days" thinking, but at least where I live, new housing estates seem to be consistently riddled with problems. Maybe all houses are riddled with problems, but there do seem to be a lot of poor/cheap construction and materials used in a lot of modern building. It seems like we should be a lot better at building good houses, and especially since houses seem to cost people more to buy (compared to wages, COL etc) than previously. There's probably just changes in philosophy. My entire subfloor in my house is a big concrete slab that's poured into the foundation somehow, so when you're in the basement you look up and just see Ibeams and concrete. I don't think that's a construction technique ever used anymore, but it seems really nice to my uneducated viewpoint. Since it was built in '48 I'm guessing bomb shelter type idea at the time. Maybe it sucks versus earthquakes, but I'm in Illinois so I'm not too worried about that because if the new madrid fault goes we're all screwed
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Sep 22, 2016 20:40
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hell, get the mortgage yourself and have your girlfriend pay you rent
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Feb 20, 2017 18:49
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willie_dee posted:The apartment will be £270k, I have £100k. I don't want to be paying a mortgage of £600pm in my name reliant on the rent from my girlfriend as that leaves me massively exposed if we break up. alternatively your breakup is nasty and there's protracted litigation with the bank and all your equity vanishes because your girlfriend doesn't want you to 'win', something that happens insanely often
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Feb 21, 2017 04:07
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willie_dee posted:I am not worried about that, if things ever turned sour my lawyer has insured I will be protected. I'll bet he didn't actually tell you that and you just think so
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Feb 21, 2017 05:08
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QuarkJets posted:It would honestly surprise me if they hadn't already worked that out. Dude has talked to a lawyer, he's probably fine. there's massive glaring holes that either his lawyer sucks too much to have noticed, or the poster has thought the lawyer said something that the lawyer didn't, but who cares, this guy is totally confident there's no downside so why argue w/ him
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Feb 21, 2017 16:10
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that sounds pretty nice. I was real grumpy when I realized lawn work was legal both Saturday+Sunday where I live and it's nonstop leaf blowers to infinity
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Apr 17, 2017 23:21
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I spent every weekend growing up mowing 20 god drat acres and I'll never forgive my dad for that
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Apr 18, 2017 04:10
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:This is absolutely the most sadistic thing I've ever read. 20 acres? That's like 15 hours of work. Every weekend? Good lord. it was on a 5' riding lawnmower and took 10+ hours
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Apr 18, 2017 13:48
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Ashcans posted:Well to be fair, his dad wasn't mowing it. yeah he recently got sheep because it's easier to herd them around than find anyone willing to sit on a mower all day for $100 Speaking of gas powered stuff, everything I have is corded except for a snowblower I got as a present and used once. Should I drain the fuel tank ? I hate having it take up so much space in the garage let alone possible fume issues
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Apr 18, 2017 15:37
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Leperflesh posted:Or siphon out the fuel and put it into one of your vehicle gas tanks. It might be a bit off but if you mix it with most of a tank of regular gasoline it'll be fine. it has oil mixed in so I don't think I'll do that. I guess I can use what's leftover in the can though.
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Apr 18, 2017 18:37
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plantation shutters are massively superior to shades. being able to take a nap in a pitch dark room at noon is amazing
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Apr 20, 2017 00:40
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Paver stones question: my entire backyard is made up of them (less mowing hell yea) and they're full of weeds in every corner. Just picked up a power washer for $80 from Aldi, what kind of sand do I want to sweep into the gaps once I blast all the detritus free? Also my lawn is all thatched and I think I'm going to have to hire someone to aerate it 
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Apr 22, 2017 19:25
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I inadvertently ran over someone's mailbox once when I was a kid and I still feel bad about it. He'd just replaced it and it was on a 4x4 post and I didn't even notice ( I was trying to turn around a 15 foot mower with bat wings )
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Apr 23, 2017 21:37
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I'm a big fan of my corded mower. They're cheap, the cord isn't much of an issue, and does everything I need. I got a 100' cord and it works great. It's like vacuuming (oddly I have a cordless Dyson for that though )
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May 2, 2017 17:38
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Does anyone use a corded snowblower? Everything else I have is corded and I really like that, but I got a gas snowblower for free and would like to go electric on that as well. Is it even a thing?
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Jul 12, 2017 21:48
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Sick of home warranty never fixing anything - dishwasher is running terribly yet again. Replacement brand recommendations? Currently have a 15 year old KitchenAid.
mastershakeman fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Jul 30, 2017 |
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Jul 30, 2017 01:30
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Having driven a ton of heavy equipment on farms over the years I can't think of a single reason why the excavator would be recommended over a skid loader for that job. Bobcat sounds good if you already know how to drive one or want to learn how (they aren't hard and tipping it wouldn't matter with the direction you'd be moving stuff) but the powered wheelbarrow sounds simplest.
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Sep 2, 2017 16:02
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Anyone have a through the wall combined air conditioner/heater? I'm finally realizing the cold room I have with a horrible draft is due to this idiotic thing. I think I can seal the outside while it's on heater mode without an issue but am going to try to research more, and then also cover the whole interior when it's not running. What a pain in the rear end
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Oct 31, 2017 15:34
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So my house has this stupid 4 season room that's unheated. I've mentioned the through the wall heater/air conditioner in there, which I've sealed and put plastic up over the 70 year windows. Which was fine when it was 30 out but now it's subzero at night. The interior door isn't set up to stop drafts, its just a cosmetic french door. A little space heater warms it up nicely if we're actually using it, which is rarely the case (my PC is in there, a coach/chair, not much else). So the question is: Where can I get a piece of styrofoam board to just put up as a barrier overnight when we aren't using it? Is a big box my only hope?
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Dec 26, 2017 21:49
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Alereon posted:Ace Hardware can be pretty awesome depending on who owns your local stores, except that they're basically the dollar store of hardware and only sell crap. The Ace Hardware by me seems to have more employees than customers so you just grab one of their staff and show them your list of what you need and they take you to each and every item (as opposed to wandering around lost in the 20 acre big box stores). It's fantastic.
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Jan 30, 2018 19:42
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I made a huge mistake taking this hand me down gas engine snowblower. I need it a few times a year, it never loving starts for no reason, and it just takes up space while being broken. God damnit
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Feb 7, 2018 04:30
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The Dave posted:Are you leaving gas in it during the off season? I got a new snow blower last year and like an idiot I never prepare it for the off season and I don't try to test it before a big snow storm and then we get one and it doesn't start. Yep, I used it once last year and kept thinking I'd get around to running it empty or draining it somehow and next thing you know it's buried behind garden tools. Totally my fault but for something I barely need to use it seems like I should have just gotten electric instead but didn't want to spend the money.
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Feb 7, 2018 04:48
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Motronic posted:http://trufuel50.com/ Thanks, looks expensive but worth it. I'll still need to clean the carb and whatnot after draining the old gas, right?
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Feb 7, 2018 17:30
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Motronic posted:Yes, this one last time. Yeah this was perfect. I'm probably going to go through the entire 32oz bottle that cost 9 bucks, but Im not going to use this snowblower very often and it's worth the convenience. Thanks!
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Feb 9, 2018 03:16
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