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Most other countries don't require permits for most internal works and there doesn't seem to be an epidemic of baby killing fires in idk France. They might have other setups, like licensing for specific types of work or mandatory guarantees but it's dumb that the city has to authorize a kitchen remodel.
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Mar 30, 2021 07:05
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Why is bathroom stuff all so expensive. All the random bits like shower trays, tabs etc are like 2x the price I would have guessed. Also, does anyone have a solid wood countertop? It fits best with our design for the kitchen and we love the look, but I'm a little worried about upkeep being a pain. Lots of people online say it's "fine" but I don't know if that's motivated reasoning since they've already spent the money. Key thing I've learnt so far is to get the tap integrated into the sink.
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May 29, 2021 17:32
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Queen Victorian posted:We have a section of butcher block countertop (supported by sawhorses because our kitchen is a joke) and I actually like it a lot. Ours is the type that's basically an overgrown wooden cutting board, so it has a food-grade mineral oil finish that we clean with soap and water like a cutting board and re-oil periodically. Actually it's due for a light sanding + re-oil, I think. The one thing I dislike about it is that it's not end grain. Thanks (and hobbez too). Having just a section of the work surface in wood sounds like a great compromise, I'll see if I can work that into the plans. We were worried about the kitchen being a bit sterile looking without the wood so it getting worn would be ideal!
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May 29, 2021 20:05
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My bank accounts now substantially lighter but on the plus side I can post here! All the tradesmen have like 3 month backlogs so it's going to take a long time to get stuff sorted out. The air con guy was suggesting we get a central air con unit instead of minisplits, so that it could all go in the attic instead of outside. We're not in a particularly extreme temperature location (rarely below zero or above ~34°C) and there's only two of us - given that we don't have any existing ducts it doesn't seem like a great idea?
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Jul 1, 2021 20:05
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Queen Victorian posted:Is the guy aware of the lack of ducts in the house? Or was he thinking just adding ducting in the attic space? Also mini splits are just the wall-mounted thingy, tubing that can be hidden in the walls, and the little condenser outside. With central AC you would still need to put a (bigger) condenser outside.. Thanks! He had some design where almost all of the machinery could go in the attic with a little bit outside, coming through the roof. It's not a huge house and the way it's laid out I don't think much ducting would be required once the pipework for the old toilet is removed. I prefer heating from mini splits to base boards/radiators so if central air is even worse than that I think we'll just go with the minisplits. That's what everyone else around here has as well, we were mildly interested in not having the external unit at the front but didn't really realize he meant central air at first.
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Jul 2, 2021 07:31
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I've never owned a fridge with an ice maker or water dispenser, and don't really get why integrated ones are worth it. They seem to cause no end of trouble and perfectly good, cheap alternatives are available as independent products.
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Aug 11, 2021 12:26
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Picking tiles for bathrooms is impossible. They're all almost identical in the shop and the lighting is completely different to at home. Just gonna get 3 white samples and call it a day
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Aug 24, 2021 07:04
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redreader posted:We have 2 rooms (one above the other) that get REALLY REALLY hot when the sun is out. They bear the brunt of the sun and the rest of the house isn't so bad. They have blinds, and closing them makes very little difference. The only solution I can currently think of is blowing air in or out to or from the rest of the house, or turning on the AC. What is a normal solution for this kind of thing? They both have ceiling fans which are generally turned on a fair amount. I presume by blinds you mean interior ones? The normal solution here (in Europe) is exterior shutters - they work extremely well. You can either get nice looking manual French style ones or electric ones. I presume that if you are willing to spend $$$ nice looking electric ones exist as well.
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Dec 2, 2021 08:47
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Upgrade posted:so I still kind of hate having radiators, but I have to say that when its 0 degrees outside (which happens once or twice a year) its nice to be sitting at 73 degrees inside while a family member with only a heat pump can't break 60 What's their insulation like? A heat pumps performance doesn't go to zero at that sort of temp, modern ones should still be more efficient than radiators (IE have a CoP > 1)
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Jan 5, 2022 11:02
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Upgrade posted:Their house has zero insulation WTF how can you build or even live in a house like that when it can go to -17C. Just burning money for half the year.
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Jan 5, 2022 18:37
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Thwomp posted:Is there any trick or strategy to getting new windows? Do you already have external shutters of some kind? If not consider getting electric roller ones installed at the same time. It'll be (a lot) more expensive but they provide great weather protection.
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Jan 6, 2022 17:37
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Idk if they count as "high quality" but modern black aluminium windows look great.
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Jan 7, 2022 10:36
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Cyrano4747 posted:No loving way I’d sign variable rate on anything right now. There’s only one direction rates can go from where they are and I’d be afraid of getting into bad waters if rates get hiked. I think it's OK as long as there's a cap on the variability. We got a variable rate one 6 months ago, it was 25 years 1.55 variable, capped at 2.05, vs 1.85 fixed. Only other difference was that the fixed had early repayment fees whereas the variable was free, and we'd quite like to refinance in the next year or so as we had to go to a rather expensive specialist lender since we didn't have an in country work history. We also thought that rates were only going up but if anything they're down a touch! But yeah without a low cap it could get dicey.
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Jan 8, 2022 20:35
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Quaint Quail Quilt posted:. I did some research and locally (France): * All the aluminium windows I checked at the home depo equivalent claim thermal breaks of some sort * The energy rating system gave E's to even some windows with thermal breaks * Every window is meant to have a "Uw" coefficient of thermal conductivity. This seems to range from 0.9 on the good end to 2.2 for the cheapest windows, which is actually a pretty big range! So I've learnt some stuff, thanks! Together it makes me think that non-thermallly broken windows might not be legal locally, or at least challenging to build and meet energy efficiency requirements. e: Uw always includes the frames. In the US there is a "U value" which seems to sometimes include frames, sometimes be glass only: quote:For windows, skylights, and glass doors, a U-factor may refer to just the glass or glazing alone. NFRC U-factor ratings, however, represent the entire window performance, including frame and spacer material. distortion park fucked around with this message at 09:18 on Jan 12, 2022 |
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Jan 12, 2022 09:10
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Went to see some ironmongery for cabinets, and sadly the ones we liked most (unlaquered brass) were insanely expensive everywhere. Like £100 for a kitchen cabinet pull handle. One helpful guy said that they used to be way cheaper but prices have been going up for ages, they've stopped selling some models because they were so much. The cast brass doesn't age the same way as the solid/forged stuff so you have to leave the protective layer on (idk if it's the allow used or the process) We found a mid range cast and lacquered brass style that was ok and in budget eventually, but it's definitely something where you get what you pay for. If I had 5 times the money I'd totally get the nice ones. distortion park fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Jan 25, 2022 |
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Jan 25, 2022 21:33
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We've been having some renovations done and there is an incredible gulf between the good tradesmen and the bad ones. We didn't think we had the insight necessary to effectively coordinate all the work ourselves so had it done via a cooperative (I think the equivalent is a General Contractor in the USA?) and that was such a good decision. The tiling guy in particular has been a problem, he hasn't left any holes for outlets etc in one room (or maybe wasn't told to do so?). He also damaged some of the brand new flooring - fortunately since it's all via the coop it's their problem and it is getting fixed. If we had been organising it and messed up instructions like that it would have been really pricey
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Apr 15, 2022 13:03
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Maybe a long shot, since the parts are different, but I'm in Europe where we have these cylindrical back boxes for plugs. I've been replacing a bunch of plugs as they were old and yellowing, and it's mostly fine. However, some of them used to be hardwired radiators (IE no plugs, radiators wired directly to mains) and some of these have these over wires joined in the backbox, like in the photo. I can't fit the plug into the box easily in these cases, what are my options? I can see that you can get marginally bigger boxes (50mm instead of 40mm) but that seems like a pain and might not even work. Is it just a case of really carefully bending the wires so that they use the space efficiently?
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Apr 24, 2022 09:37
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Thanks for the advice on the wiring boxes - I'll spend 30min with some tongs trying to bend the wires but otherwise looks like I'll order some larger boxes! I didn't see any that big in my local hardware store.
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Apr 27, 2022 21:22
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 Took a bit of finesse but got there eventually
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Apr 30, 2022 10:40
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I'm joking, a combination of cutting the wires back and bending them very carefully with pliers worked.
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May 1, 2022 11:18
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Verman posted:I'm so confused. Tiny Timbs posted:I use chopsticks taped to a staple puller
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May 1, 2022 19:13
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BigPaddy posted:Mini splits are great for places that get hot and cold but not that cold in the winter. This is the common take in this thread but Norway is one of the world leaders in heat pump installations. Do they mostly use central heat pumps instead of mini splits or something?
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May 15, 2022 16:10
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Thought this thread might enjoy this video. I found it really interesting! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZGuSC7KNvM
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Aug 15, 2022 14:35
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Can you just sell them that bit of your yard?
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Jun 5, 2023 16:14
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Motronic posted:
Agree the fees might make it a non starter but it's totally something you can do in lots of places, mortgage or not, you just ask your lender for that bit. distortion park fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Jun 5, 2023 |
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Jun 5, 2023 18:34
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They make good mulch - you can buy bags of it even!
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Jun 27, 2023 15:26
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Shifty Pony posted:Getting some heat rejecting window film would make a huge huge difference as well. Every window is roughly equivalent to a 1kW space heater running full blast. Or external shutters!
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Jul 14, 2023 18:48
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The Slack Lagoon posted:I want to replace my old 30" over-oven external vented microwave with one that has a convection oven feature. Are there any brands folks could recommend? There are only two or so actual companies that make microwaves, the rest are rebadges. I can't remember the other name but Panasonic is one of them, make sure you get an Inverter one.
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Oct 1, 2023 09:25
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Jenkl posted:Bought a new range hood. Instructions state to only use rigid metal wherever possible. 
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Nov 24, 2023 23:10
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devicenull posted:Isn't California having major issues with lack of water for farming and stuff? Just get one of those big water trucks for the discharge water, then you can drive around and sell it. I think the lack of water is because they already give it all for free to the almond farmers or w/e, hard to compete with that.
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Dec 16, 2023 16:23
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Pretty certain the US of A could find a way of producing all those crops some other place with more available water.
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Dec 17, 2023 09:40
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Lawnie posted:Your home inspector should have turned the A/C on full blast and measured the temp of the air coming out of your vents after a few minutes to check for efficacy. Not saying your inspector did a bad job, but if anything else comes up that seems like it could have been caught, it might be worth getting someone out for a second look. I don't think there's any evidence that the inspector didn't check the A/C worked on full blast - the problem was it being turned off, not some fault somewhere
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Apr 2, 2024 16:29
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 03:52 |
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This seems like a dumb thing to continue to talk about but I feel like i'm going crazy - the switch being off at some point in the future doesn't mean that the inspector couldn't have had it on when they did their tests? Are they one use switches or something?
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Apr 2, 2024 16:34
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