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howdoesishotweb posted:Had my Samsung gas dryer refuse to spin today, learned how to take it apart and found a half melted idler pulley. Incredible that it would go 3-4 years into the life of the dryer after only having ancient Kenmores going on 20+ years before. At least it’s something fixable, my first thought was ‘poo poo new dryer time’. Of course no one locally stocks em so to Amazon I go. samsung appliances are poo poo in terms of reliability.
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Jul 29, 2019 07:06
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standard joists that aren't like engineered are designed to still provide stability for a maximum protrusion of 1/3 into the beam itself. Beyond that, sistering joists is how you would strengthen them if somebody did gently caress up. It's also close to a structural wall. But yeah probably some single idiot contractor did that or some previous owner.
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Sep 14, 2019 06:22
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This is an amazing post. I know that you are venting, but I have a couple of criticisms/recommendations for future contract work that might help you out a bit. and some things that might ruin your boat. 1) The likely order that you did your termite inspection/spraying is incorrect if the issues are as big as you seem to make them out. There is a good chance that the termite company came out, saw the issue was big, and wanted to make a quick profit by spraying your house and then left. Since it's likely you're doing other work to possibly the framing, wood portions of your house, there is a chance that any flooring + wood that you bring in from the lumber yard has termites. If the termite problem was as large a you had thought, then it's probably best to tent the house. However, since you are doing a bunch of other work, it's best for the tenting/termite proofing to happen once you are mostly done with the work. 2) You're correct on your assessment of your attic and your crawlspace (I'm from Northern California, and understand the weather patterns in Southern California as well). Ultimately, since you have a rat problem, the real gut of the issue is that you need to find how the rats are coming into your house. This first requires an external assessment of the house structure: Are there any crawlspace entrances that are not completely sealed off? To seal them off, you need to be using 1/4 inch steel mesh correctly stapled to those sections to close off the space. Then clean out the space and spray enzyme cleaner to help clear out the scent. If you are not finding any entrances into the crawlspace, then they are entering through your attic. The roof is a very common place for rat entrances and is most commonly due to the type of roofing material making it easy to have penetrating holes. Before doing any additional work, this MUST be sealed off (or you will continue to have a further problem). After this, you then take out all of the insulation, sanitize the area, then wait 2-4 weeks while trapping rats. Then, after things are verified sealed, you put insulation back in. 3) We had problems with our attic insulation + pest control contractors as well. However, I think this is best summarized as: nobody in the world really wants to be an attic contractor. It's filthy work, there's risk of hidden asbestos, and anybody who would want to work on somebody's house would rather be an electrician, plumber, painter, etc. It's also a major city in CA, and there are an infinite number of other construction related jobs since there is a high demand for building things. Insulation is something that a handyman can install, but attic/pest control contractors like to charge an infinite cost to put it in because it's free money for them. So naturally, the right thing to do is to really distrust these crawl space/pest control companies. 4) 'Licensed and bonded contractors' in at least California tend to either be a super-minimum threshold or not really tied to whether a construction worker is actually good or not. The entire construction business is shady. What actually happens is every company has a license + bond under a single person in that company; that license takes like 1-2 years to get, is mostly a paperwork test + forms, and just proves that somebody can understand the bare minimum. Then, every other person in that company is unlicensed and 'works' for that single licensed worker. This is further exacerbated by the fact that a good large chunk of construction in major metropolitan areas of California are non-permitted. This means that there have to be a huge ton of unlicensed people who are doing the unpermitted work or licensed people who are doing things in an unpermitted way. Not all of the unpermitted work is bad --- there are people who are doing unpermitted work because of the bureaucratic nightmare involved in actually filing for all of the permits in whatever city. Also, there are some people trying to avoid paying property taxes. An example of this is my general contractor (who does electrical, plumbing, structural, and mechanical altogether and rarely hires outside people). My GC is a father-son combination, with the father having no license and the son having a contracting license. The son takes all of the permitted work, while the father takes all of the unpermitted work, but they all work on both of the projects. Their unpermitted work isn't necessarily bad, it's just that a bunch of clients dont want to deal with the paperwork and the city. Even though the father is unpermitted, he has way more construction experience than the son and basically leads all of the projects. 5) Contractors for remodeling in CA cities are hard to find because they can pick and choose. These contractors want expensive + complex + beautiful projects. So there is a higher chance that a contractor you hire for something small is going to suck, since you are small fish for them. 6) Hire the right person for the right job. There are an infinite number of people who can say they build anything. But the trend for the bay area, and likely riverside as well, is (and sorry for the stereotyping here, but): Chinese people control all of the supply stores. This includes tile, flooring, cabinet making, trims, etc. This is because a lot of the materials these days come from China, and a lot of Chinese people have an inclination towards logistics. About 15-30 years ago it was mostly Hispanic people who controlled the supply, but that has changed. Even if you aren't interfacing with them when you shop at your local tile store, chances are the store itself is. Caucasian people will often over-charge you for everything. This is because they put a certain amount of resources into marketing, which has a cost that is associated with it. They also want higher margins. Chinese people are usually fast at many things, but weak specifically at (1) electrical, and (2) finishes. This is cultural, as a lot of Chinese people tend to be chabuduo about finish work. On the contrary, Hispanic people are often really good at painting, tiling, and all of the finer parts, since there are a lot of Hispanic apprentices who eventually became really good at it and then started their own business. Americans are best at electrical since there are often some engineering/safety considerations involved. 7) You have to inspect things very carefully, or contractors will find a way to do way less work. This basically means watching their work almost daily. I've made random inspections and looked carefully through every part of the project as they did our second floor, including showing up unannounced at lunch every once in a while. You shouldn't breathe behind somebody's back obviously, but it's important to see things very carefully. IE: Somebody leaving stuff in the crawlspace? I would have yelled at them as they were doing it and asked to see the internals of the subfloor *before* they covered it up, since who knows what other damage there could have been. Yes, I know this sucks as a person who has a day work job  .
ntan1 fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Oct 15, 2019 |
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Oct 15, 2019 22:05
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You can feel free to ignore culture all you want, but that doesn't mean that. (1) other people aren't racist and (2) people pick and choose contractors from their own race a lot There are a lot of multicultural cities in CA, and stereotypes are defined by cultural interactions. Yes, I know that a lot of people who talk about culture sound racist, but that's honestly better than pretending that you are perfect and unbiased at all. Don't conflate the two.
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Oct 16, 2019 06:45
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The opposite, more recently. ADUs are now available for a lot of the bay area due to the housing crisis, with steps to speed things up.
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Nov 18, 2019 17:35
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Yeesh, I got another bathroom remodel bid, this time literally only looking to do two things I got a high class remodel of a bathroom and bedroom in the bay area which has the US' highest construction cost and that didn't exceed 25000.
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Nov 23, 2019 03:21
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lol yeah that's not the best way to find a contractor.
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Nov 23, 2019 03:26
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It's only in Benchmark - they took the zoolite stuff they got from Thermador and have stated placing them into Bosch.
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Dec 12, 2019 02:52
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Here's another reason to run away: Historical homes are difficult to acquire permits for because you have to go to your city's planning department to accept before you make modifications. I would never want to buy a historical home, because the city will be able to but in and make you do things that you do not want to do. Note: historical vs built a long time ago are different classifications. The permits are a pain in the rear end, if you really want to buy it and then repair the windows. As these can possibly be structural things, depending on your jurisdiction, this might make even acquiring the permit difficult. You need to do the research on this before you accept the purchase fully. Now even beyond that, suppose you want to replace the windows. Are they standard sliders or casements? Because sliders will cost you around 400-500 per window, with casements costing you around 1000ish to replace, for each window. This is for the material cost, and excludes labor. If you are in an expensive jurisdiction, the labor is going to be equivalent to the work done, so double the number. Heaven forbid you have to make a structural modification to a header. Additionally, if you have to replace a structural header for some reason, this cost goes up faster. The permit is also going to cost money. The lead could cost you more. Now, I know folks in the construction industry who will take shortcuts and pretend the lead doesn't exist, but if you not directly connected, you're going to get hosed at every stage. ntan1 fucked around with this message at 01:28 on Dec 14, 2019 |
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Dec 14, 2019 01:26
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You have two really major issues: 1) Counter space for preparing food 2) storage space for pots/pans/supplies/cabinet space. (2) you can solve by having like temporary storage racks, but (1) will probably remain a problem.
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Jan 9, 2020 22:32
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What's the load on the panel? If you start adding a lot of appliances, then the rationale reason for upgrading the panel will be to support those new appliances (as most panels of that age will likely be 100A). But do that when you add those appliances. Otherwise, there is no reason to upgrade the panel. The brand is GE, which is generally trustworthy. It's not my personal choice of panel brand, but it isn't a danger.
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Jan 10, 2020 04:26
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Hadlock posted:Yeah I've never done reno work before but it seems like a three day job max for two people, like it would take more time to get materials in and out of the building than actually build a new straight partition wall and put up the drywall. Looking at zillow at least one other unit in the building has done something similar in the last ten years. lol
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Jan 24, 2020 05:09
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Actually answering your question for real, you are in the SFBA, where the market for renovation work is the most competitive out of any region in the entire United States. The price of a renovation will also be at least 30% above average, and at worst 50% to 100% above average. The quality of workers who are willing to deal with a project of your size is going to be complete and utter poo poo. So unless you already have a GC that you know, you're going to get obliterated by all of the people who will make offers for your project. Additionally looking into the bay area, it is no longer a sellers market and probably an even market. In bay area terms, this means that condo prices and townhouse prices are probably going down, because the even market is pretty much boosted by SFHs. There is a very large amount of condo/townhouses coming up the market this year, all of which are going to be competing against other sellers. So the risk of your house value dropping if it is a condo is not looking good. Finally, you are dealing with the CA permitting process in a region that is pretty strict. You are dealing with wall changes, which can drag on the remodel; you need somebody who can do electric work along with framing work and a structural engineer or architect to confirm the load bearing nature of walls before you submit. So the question: do you have somebody or connection that will help you establish the ins and outs of the construction and material industry, esp in a competitive market like the bay area? Are you good at determining pricing for construction and pricing the value of houses (meaning are you personally a real estate agent)? If no, then holy poo poo you should walk away right now.
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Jan 24, 2020 05:16
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El Mero Mero posted:I think it has a marginally positive influence on home value too. Who the gently caress told you this!?
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Jan 28, 2020 22:04
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El Mero Mero posted:I mean it's an easy question to answer empirically (more here and here) And every single article you linked either statistically does not say what you want it to say, or is based on an examination of houses in Nebraska. Neighborhoods with historical houses, if you examine the statistics, in aggregate are going to be more expensive than neighborhoods without them, because historical neighborhoods were mostly designated by rich white people who were in the early 1900s trying to (1) prevent other races from buying houses near them and (2) focused on the 'character' of their neighborhood. However, correlation does not imply causation. Houses that are historical are a net negative to the people buying houses in the bay area because everybody knows that historical houses are terrible for costs, remodeling, and doing anything. And a poo poo ton of people in the bay area buy old houses to remodel them. They wouldn't touch a historical house ever (except ask me about the folks who bought a historical house, remodeled it unpermitted anyway, and then sold it lol). However, a lot of people want to be in neighborhoods with historical houses, they just don't want to be in one.
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Jan 29, 2020 08:28
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El Mero Mero posted:Did you just look at the first link? What's unclear about : I said it in my post. But more specific to that particular example:
In a super efficient market, price should reflect how much people want to buy the house. If enough people don't want to touch the poop because it will lead to clear permit drawbacks, heating drawbacks, and other things in maintaining the house, then that should be reflected as part of the price.
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Jan 29, 2020 19:59
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El Mero Mero posted:I mean this is why I looked at multiple articles. There are like dozens of articles going all the way back to the 80s using hedonic price models and every one of them find some positive influence. Here's a literature review that pulls together a bunch of them. Why yes, I am indeed aware that there is a lot of FUD literature about real estate out there. The part I seriously don't understand is why you think that the impact of price specifically on houses that are already historically designated in the bay area is easy to understand.
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Jan 30, 2020 05:40
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marjorie posted:Does anyone have any thoughts on replacing skylights? I'm getting my roof redone and the guy offered to install new skylights if I buy them since he has to take out the old ones during the old roof teardown anyway. Is it just "buy something that fits the hole?" The current ones aren't anything special (two of them are actually diy out of poorly cut safety glass or some poo poo), and I don't get a lot of sunlight so I don't think tinting or domes or whatever are needed. Standard is Velux, available at home depot.
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Apr 17, 2020 17:05
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joepinetree posted:We ended up getting killer deals regardless, and since the stovetop was working just fine we just let it go. That's not a deal, that's just the standard discount 
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May 6, 2020 07:14
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Get a permit to do some other work that is sort of tangential, and then hide the structural beam from the inspector when he shows up. Then, when it's final, it's as if you got the permit!
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May 11, 2020 05:42
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I actually bought my anderson windows all via Home Depot, at a 25% off discount.
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Jun 16, 2020 00:48
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Democratic Pirate posted:Is replacing wired smoke/CO detectors an easy DIY task, or should I hire it out? The process seems straightforward, but the combination of electrical work and risk of an incorrectly installed system not catching a fire or carbon monoxide leak has me willing to pay an electrician. I would recommend hiring a handyman to do this for you. I would charge you $400/hr + a flight to your house myself
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Oct 30, 2020 21:13
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Residency Evil posted:gently caress. Our shower is leaking in to our living room again. Last time, it was an issue with the caulking around the shower door, which I fixed myself after we had a plumber come out and water mitigation people come out and make sure there wasn't a more serious leak. I also ended up recaulking the bottom part of our shower completely after that. We were planning on repainting our living room to fix the water damage, but should my first step in this case be to hire someone to do a very good/thorough job of resealing the shower completely?
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Nov 1, 2020 08:53
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Whoa, I was JUST whining in the Discord that the roof company I signed a contract with in August had been ghosting me since September. Weather on Nov 16: rain rain rain!
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Nov 3, 2020 03:30
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My main issue with Bifenthrin is that it only lasts 1.5 months once sprayed
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Nov 11, 2020 18:19
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That's no more significant than any other Black Friday discount that's often seen, but it's worth checking out if you do need more tools
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Nov 11, 2020 22:58
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Motronic posted:Now let's see if he follows me to the Bosch Benchmark club to have that sweet sweet totally nerdy and not useful at all countdown timer projected on the floor. (and honestly that whatever tech they got from the Thermador acquisition really does make things dry well.......I think it's still only in the benchmarks) yeah, I have a Thermador and that dry thing does work really well. along with the nerdy countdown timer.
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Nov 19, 2020 08:24
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Even with a heat pump in ca the heat alone is about 15-17 kw/d
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Dec 22, 2020 22:08
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Tezer posted:A non-code compliant install may not trip a breaker, but that doesn't mean it would pass an inspection. Given the track record of building inspectors here, I'm sure it would pass inspection!
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Jan 1, 2021 01:29
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I'll bite.Residency Evil posted:Just curious: if we want to rebuild a separate garage and put a nanny suite/office above it, how much are we thinking, ballpark wise? A nanny suite above a separate garage is going to require a structural, MPE (Mechanical/Plumbing/Electrical) plan, and potentially an energy related plan. Formerly, a lot of in-law units used to be above garages when the structural requirements were way less strict. However, this is less common now because it's been noted that living spaces above garages have a structural weakness to earthquakes in many cases. Additionally, there are more fire-proofing requirements and difficult issues to consider from a mechanical perspective. Finally, in a case like this you are talking about a new roof above a 2nd story, which already adds more complexity to the project. So now you have a full structural plan (3000-4000), architectural fees (7000-10,000), Plumbing/Electrical/Mechanical (Let's say 16,000), permit fees (varies), foundation fee (10-15k), finishing, drywall, roofing (13k-18k), framing (10-20k), and that's on the cheap side. That's assuming a rebuild on the same location. This is before the material overhead, garbage disposal, and any other issues that may arise and you can see why the numbers go up. Mind you, this is the the price that a DIY GC would pay. devicenull posted:14x20 shed is ~$7k delivered. I have no idea what the foundation costs would be, but I'm capable of doing all the interior work. I'd only hire out hvac (previous mini-split quote was $10k) and the electrical for the sub panel (maybe another $10k?). We're still only talking ~$30k + foundation work. Lol, no. You are undervaluing the work that architects and GCs do, along with the work to construct a valid livable building. Sorry, if you were a person who was in the construction industry, then this could be doable for relatively cheap. However, because you are not, you must pay the consultant fee and the price for living for other folks who are knowledgeable in this area.
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Jan 3, 2021 04:35
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Yeah, my Thermador is also easy to clean, but it costs a lot.
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Jan 22, 2021 02:51
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The main elements for a decent vent hood are: (1) a 8" pipe through your exhaust space with minimal bends in the pipe. Even 1 can sometimes strongly restrict the flow (2) a minimum potentially 600 CFM hood, but more if you like to stir fry or splatter oil a lot. Makeup air isn't (but sometimes, check your jurisdiction) required for residential, assuming you are ok with opening a window in the worst case. As for hoods, I recommend https://elica.com/US-en/range-hoods. They are not insanely expensive but quite practical, although there are a bunch of other companies that will work too. ntan1 fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Jan 23, 2021 |
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Jan 22, 2021 19:40
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B-Nasty posted:Just like how bathrooms aren't required to have exhaust fans so long as there's an operable window. Then people wonder why their paint is peeling, corner beads are rusting through the paint, and they have mold spots. Not exactly the same analogy. Tezer posted:IRC 2015 requires makeup air for all "Exhaust hood systems capable of exhausting in excess of 400 cubic feet per minute" (M1503.4). The makeup air cannot be a window, because the makeup air supply requires one gravity or electrically operated damper (ie - not a window) to ensure automatic operation. I quote 2015 because I think that's where most USA states are. Huh, CA building code doesn't follow IRC at all but does have a makeup provision that is pretty vague which technically requires it for small kitchens that is based on a specific pressure calculation. As a result, given my kitchen size makeup air is not necessary. Good news! None of the building inspectors in my region care anyway!
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Jan 23, 2021 00:58
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It's difficult even with large form tile when you want your tiles to not warp but also be consistent (with a 1/16 spacing). Self leveling tile spacers are very useful.
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Feb 14, 2021 10:07
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How significant were those structural changes? 170k is legitimately *a lot* even for the SFBA. And I do know most of the prices for tile/vanities/hardware.
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Feb 17, 2021 01:50
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Tezer posted:Very few actual structural changes, but moving all the walls requires repainting three adjacent rooms and replacing some cabinetry that no longer 'fits' anymore with the changes. Somebody really wanted 2 Neorest toilets I guess. But even those you can get them at 40% off of MSRP. I mean, when doing my remodel I noticed like three price ranges for cabinet hardware: 1) $3 = Home Depot 2) $6-9 = Top Knob 3) $10-20 = Luxury Brands 4) ??? = Super Custom ???
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Feb 17, 2021 04:01
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The Diamond contractors in SFBA charge way more, and the contractor I hired to do mine was great even though they weren't a "Diamond Contractor"
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Mar 25, 2021 20:38
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I would wager that most remodels are likely to be done without a permit (above 50%) in major cities like the bay area. Remember that there are degrees of permitting - in the case of replacing or adding one electrical outlet, most folks wouldn't request a permit from the city because it's bureaucracy. Frequently, work is done to a bathroom or kitchen without permit, and then people do not notice when the property sells (or give the excuse of AFAIK a permit is not needed). However, in the case of a full addition, because it's so noticeable most people would actually get the permit. There are some really insane exceptions though to what things people will do. BTW, my supplemental tax for "substantially equivalent construction" for a remodel of 3 bedrooms, full changing of layout of kitchen, structural changes, and two completely new bathrooms with wall teardown involved came back, and the county has determined that my cost for improvements (including labor + materials) is $31,000! 
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Mar 29, 2021 23:08
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Queen Victorian posted:Some Bay Area jurisdictions are a combination of two and three and then some - onerous permit fees, not being able to get approval in the first place, and also not wanting to risk triggering a reassessment come together to form a perfect storm of everyone avoiding permits like the plague. Why would you want to pay four to five figures in fees and get your taxes hiked? It's not actually that bad in many circumstances when the building department is the one approving. The big issue is usually the planning dept, and places like Palo Alto, SF, and a couple of other places make this a PITA. Reassessment is also only done for the improvements that are considered equivalent to new construction, and most people who are filing permits under-report (and counties in the bay area tend to be lenient on the reassessment). The problem is that there is a bureaucratic process, and many people are not good at dealing with government.
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Mar 30, 2021 08:10
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El Mero Mero posted:I was told by my jurisdiction that for some structural work to expect the cost of the permit to come out to 10% of the cost of the project and take a few months to process. You should check with an architect or structural engineer in that jurisdiction. In the City of Mountain View, my project with structural changes (7 Glulam beams, underpinning, etc.), remodel creating two new bathrooms, removing walls, kitchen, and consisting of 3 bedrooms consisted of the following: Valuation: $98500 (totally an under-report) City: $3550 Permit Fees ($1033 Plan Check, rest was Permit) Permit contains: Building/Electrical/Mechanical/Plumbing. $4500 Structural Engineering Fee $11,000 Architect Fees $500 Special Inspection by Structural Engineer. Additionally, my total supplemental assessment is $31,000. Don't worry about the taxes that much.
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Apr 1, 2021 08:44
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