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We found roots in our pipes (we have the trifecta: cast iron under house, orangeburg in yard between house and city pipes, and city PVC pipes) during inspection. Since it looked like whatever was planted nearby was no longer there, they did recommend the rooter and chemical spray. We requested that in our repairs, and I received the receipts for the work done. In total, it was a little over $400 for both the chewing up of roots, the camera snake, and the spraying of the chemical. YMMV. The same company also offers an annual membership for $169 that includes an HVAC service in the winter and spring as well as 2 hot water heater drainings (though the plumber told me I could do that myself). Probably worth it considering there's a 10% off services with the membership and any calls that are made on nights/weekends don't incur the extra service charge. Abyss fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Aug 16, 2022 |
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Aug 16, 2022 23:06
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 02:53 |
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BonerGhost posted:You absolutely can do this yourself as long as you're able bodied enough to hook up a hose and turn a dial. It's as simple as turning off the gas, opening faucets, opening the overpressure valve, and hooking up a standard garden hose. No idea, I'll ask them about it before I sign up. The water heater is four years old, so no worries there. There's a sand filter that was attached at some point and corrosion on the copper pipes that will need to be addressed soon. Apparently, the filter was a thing back in the day but no longer is a thing as long as you flush it bi-annually. We have very hard water here so a mineral build up is always looming.
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Aug 17, 2022 06:06
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I vastly underestimated how much work it was going to take to remove a couple of large shrubs. They were blocking line of sight coming out of the drive way, so removing them was for safety, but dang if it didn't wipe me out for the rest of the day. On to the next project.
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Sep 5, 2022 00:31
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H110Hawk posted:And time. If you are killing a shrub use a saw to cut away a hole until you have access to the trunk, cut that, then wait 1-2 weeks if you can. Assuming it's at all warm out it will respirate out a lot of water in that time making it weigh less and cut up easier. I should have asked for advice here before I spent 4 hours using a hedge trimmer, pruning shears, bow saw, and D-saw. I felt accomplished but then realized I have a ton of vegetation to now haul back to the dumpster. I guess I could dig it up or just let it slowly die as a series of stumps.
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Sep 5, 2022 02:30
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PainterofCrap posted:Oh, but it is! This sounds like what we have in our 1956 house, floor vents by every window and it’s just a concrete duct from what I can tell. There’s no crawl space to access them so I hope they last for a while longer. Cast iron pipes are still in good condition. I don’t know what we’d do if we went to attic ducts, there’s hardly enough head room in the attic for me to crawl on my knees so I’m sure installation would be pricey.
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Sep 7, 2022 00:58
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I have a corded mower and I hate mowing the lawn every time I have to use it. I'd rather have the smallest gas mower possible than what I have, but it's worked for the past 5 years and mower costs seem to have increased by $100 or more across the board so I'm less likely to invest in a new one.
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Sep 8, 2022 20:16
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spf3million posted:I really want a metal roof when we redo ours in a couple years. I think they look good and personally enjoy the sound of the rain on them. Assuming it ever rains again in CA. I too would really like a metal roof, not having to think about redoing my roof for hail sounds great. The cost, however, will likely prevent me from getting one for a while.
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Sep 16, 2022 03:13
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Turn on the shower this morning and water starts spraying from the flexible arm in multiple places. Guess I get to problem solve my shower head/arm tonight.
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Sep 22, 2022 17:33
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My wife started a cabinet DIY project in the garage with stripping & sanding then got spooked by the possibility that it could contain lead paint. Anxiety went up to the roof on it, so we ordered a lead paint inspection. Disclosure for this house was obviously that no one knew anything, as ignorance is bliss with this sort of stuff. Only one place does it, $477 for the inspection, but it's done with that x-ray device. A guy who's been doing it for the past 15 years came to do it, very thorough (almost 100 surface readings), gave me suggestions all throughout and a risk assessment. Nothing interior popped as the 1.0 governmental standards, although there were two 0.9 readings and a lot of trace/reduced readings on the window sills, door trim, door jambs, and doors. The beam in the garage popped a 1.0 and most of the exterior paint besides the porch ceiling, fireplace wall, and fence gave readings from 1.0-3.0 (windows, fascia, soffits, and trim). Now I just wait for the full report, but most of his recommendations were "don't let the kids eat the paint, don't dry sand, clean up after yourself, paint over it, etc." I'm glad we did it, now we know what we are dealing with and what precautions to take. I guess I'm not shocked that no one in the past 66 years disclosed lead paint knowledge, but I'm surprised no one tried. Though our realtor did tells us that we are the first clients to ever order a lead inspection that she knew about.
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Sep 27, 2022 20:11
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I just love having those unique bits of the house that cost so much more to replace than regular parts. I wanted to see what the options were for replacing some outdoor faucets that are getting old and corroding. They were all installed in the 70s and are anti-freeze units, which means that they have about 8 inches of copper pipe that went back into the wall to stop the water where the house was heated to prevent a freeze. The bad thing is that no one has any matching parts for those anymore, so a simple install is out of the question. They have to remove the pipe, put better pipe in, and put on a new faucet. The one that I'm concerned about is the cheapest at $200. The one that could be replaced but I don't need to right now is $500 because they have to remove a section of the wall to find the pipe. The third one is out of the question because it means tearing up a portion of the wall that has already been redone - I'll just never use it and monitor it for leaks. Now I'm just waiting for a contractor to tell me how much encapsulation of our exterior lead paint will be. He's the only guy in town with the required EPA certifications to do it, and I'm dreading the estimate.
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Oct 5, 2022 22:25
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Got back our estimate for lead-based paint encapsulation & painting with an EPA certified company for our exterior trim, fascia, soffit, windows, and paneling. $13,500 for paint, labor, and safety. Now I see why people just do normal paint and never get their stuff inspected.
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Oct 6, 2022 18:25
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I had a big patch of brick that our inspector said was mostly cosmetic, but the brick guy I had out for an estimate said it was structural. He also had never seen that type of damage before (looked like the brick was water saturated, froze, expanded, and start to crumble). He couldn't guarantee that if we started knocking out bricks that the wall would be able to maintain structural integrity. He offered knocking out one at a time and letting them settle, but it would be an all day option. The third option was just putting a ton of mortar on top of the area to seal it from further damage. I opted for the third choice, no reason to cause more damage if I didn't need to. He really hemmed and hawed over it, though, since it was going to look bad and I could tell it was more from having pride in his work and less about upselling me on the service. It ended up turning out a lot better than what he assumed it would look like. He also fixed several stress fractures, repointed a planter, and sealed the brick work. All-in-all, one of the better contractors that I've worked with so far.
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Oct 16, 2022 05:15
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Got another estimate for painting over my lead paint exterior. Came in at $4700, but I didn't mention encapsulating paint this time, they'll just do acrylic caulk for gaps & acrylic paint for the exterior after prepping the surface. Still EPA certified for dealing with lead problems, so at least they know what they are doing and how to mitigate dust/chips. I'm just wondering if the first contractor gave me a "we don't want to do this" number or if the encapsulating paint made up that difference somehow.
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Oct 19, 2022 16:11
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Crosswalk makes sense to me in that context, but you'd have to have some background for mapping metadata fields to other fields (i.e. crosswalking them) to get it. But Sundae answered the question.
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Nov 6, 2022 05:20
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Any ideas on how to remove 1/16th inch of the top layer of soil for a 6x25 patch of dirt? Our painters, despite being EPA lead certified, didn't put in maximum effort to clean up all the paint chips. I suppose I could use the shop vac on it (hepa filter with hepa bag), but I didn't know if there was an easier way.
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Jan 5, 2023 19:00
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H110Hawk posted:Did you pay them for lead abatement? Did you test the paint before hand? You don't really "clean up" lead paint - you capture it before it contaminates the ground. If they leaded your soil you need to have an abatement company come out on their dime. They have a bond and insurance for this. You should also report them to the EPA. It was not abatement, it was encapsulation with acrylic caulk & latex paint. We did have an official lead tester come out and use the xrf gun which showed that the house had lead paint on the exterior trim, fascia, and windows. We confirmed their EPA certification (expiration 08/04/2027), they stated they would put down drop cloths and do minimal scraping. We didn't do any testing for the soil, the house was built in 1956. I don't think anything on the work order specified the lead, but we had many conversations with the contractor. I suppose that's naivety on my part, thinking that if you were one of the few in the area to be lead renovation certified, you'd do a decent job at it. They offered to shop vac the paint chips up but stated that they couldn't possibly get them all. I'll see what I have to do to put in a report with the EPA.
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Jan 5, 2023 21:02
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H110Hawk posted:Yeah if the paper didn't explicitly say leaded paint then you're back to whatever your local regulations are for painting. Were you required to get a permit? Did you? If you weren't required to you can try calling the city. Check their bond and insurance status. Does their epa license require them to take any actions they failed to take? Did you, in writing (text, email) tell them about the lead? Did they acknowledge it? We weren't required to get a permit, neither of the companies we talked to for estimates discussed permits with us. The company that did the lead paint test was the most lax about the result, just a casual, "don't eat the paint." I'll probably just start shop vac'ing the lawn and go from there. We intend to cover up the affected soil with artificial turf or rubber tiles eventually. We have texts between us talking about the chips and thought their lead safe procedures would mitigate that and their response was "we tried but can't get them all." I've sent that and some other pictures to the EPA for an official complaint, but who knows what will come of it. We did a ton of research and reached out to a lot of people. Of the EPA two contractors for this work in my area, I felt like one was giving me a "don't waste my time' quote and the other was high but reasonable. Disappointing that this is the result, but we'll learn from our mistakes.
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Jan 5, 2023 22:40
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skybolt_1 posted:Is there a specific reason that you are worried about these lead particles? Young children, a vegetable garden, etc? If not, I hate to be "that guy" but this is really not something I would lose a ton of sleep over. Lead is bad, yes, but generally it is worse on the interior of a dwelling, is actively being "shed" through either degraded paint or demolition, and there are high-risk individuals (i.e., small children) who are present. There are a lot of home ownership things that I worry about but some leaded paint chips in the soil outside is very, very far down the list. I have a 2 year old and a 6 month old, otherwise you're right that it wouldn't be a huge deal. It was the big reason why we even considered painting over the current paint - to mitigate the chipping and alligator'ing that the previous owners had not addressed, because they had never tested and didn't know. I'm trying to mitigate all the risks at the moment. My kids don't play outside much in the winter, thankfully, so we have time to get some stuff resolved.
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Jan 5, 2023 23:17
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H110Hawk posted:Which is great if you live in the house in perpetuity. Don't poison the soil and then just hope no child ever goes and plays in the now-finely-ground-lead-paint-dirt. Or the kid helps you dig a vegetable garden (breathing the dust) and then eats the veggies. Yes, called them to see if I needed a permit for me or a contractor to paint over lead-based paint exterior along with scraping for residential. They said no. Guess it's just time for shovelling.
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Jan 5, 2023 23:23
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Sounds like a plan. Thanks.
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Jan 5, 2023 23:27
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Anyone have an idea what this is and why it’s just hanging out? It’s been tucked away in the corner of a cabinet we are opening up. Going to get an electrician to look at it, but also wanted to see if I could get it identified beforehand.
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Jan 13, 2023 20:17
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Thanks! That makes sense as there is a telephone jack on the other side.
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Jan 13, 2023 20:27
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I'm getting bids for artificial turf installation for a portion of the yard that's just dirt. I have high bids and low bids. I'm checking out all insurance and bonding information beforehand to verify. The lowest bid is giving half off on the turf because it's out of season. The other contractors that all have the same estimates are surprised at the lower bid, and also saying things like, "they might not grade it properly" or "the turf is probably from overseas." And while I'm aware that they would want to sway me towards them and not their competition, is there any honor among contractors to steer a person away from other contractors who might have a poor reputation in the trade?
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Feb 22, 2023 23:15
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I've gotten 5 estimates for tree trimming, all have the required insurance. I'm not getting Chuck and a truck to come and trim branches that are over my roof. The prices vary wildly, though, and reviews are scarce for tree trimming in this area. The job is to trim 3 pecan trees with branches overhanging the roof, 1 pecan tree that needs to be cleaned up, 1 stump removed & grinded, 1 stump grinded. $3800: This company is the largest in the area, uses the local university branding, does a walk around estimate. Charges $75 for an arborist to come and talk to you for an hour if you don't like the walkaround. 4.6 with 51 reviews $2500: Guy walked around my property with me, described what limbs to cut and what not to. Sounded like he knew what he was talking about. $2000 for the trees, $500 for the stumps. 4.9 average for 17 reviews. $1965: The estimate was done by a certified arborist, determined what needed to be done by my descriptions. Three 5 star reviews, one 1 star review. $800: I walked around describing what I wanted trimmed and the guy was very receptive. He also pointed out that my catalpa tree was likely 80% dead and that it needed to be removed (the previous residents crowned it, other estimators mentioned this). He also told me to cut the chicken wire that was wound around another pecan tree. He quoted $800 for the entire job including removing the dead tree. He told me he's been doing this as a side job for years and just started doing it full-time this year. Talked about his equipment, 150 lbs tension robes, renting a lift if he needs to, he has a crew, etc. Said some companies don't get insured or let theirs lapse, his premium was $1800/year. Lamented figuring out the online advertising game. Four 5 star reviews (most recent was Jan 2024), one 1 star review in 2012. $725: She listened to my description of what needed to be done and assessed that it was less than a half day's work. Told me that some companies want you to pay for their kids' college. Told me her insurance was $2 mill comprehensive. When I mentioned taking out the tree, she said $1925 for the trimming and taking out the tree. One hundred and fifty reviews to average 4.9 stars. Thoughts? The dead tree is far enough away that if it lands on anything it's going to be grass or concrete. Obviously, you don't want to skimp on tree trimming services or removal services. I guess I'm questioning the really good deal of $800 to trim everything and take the tree out, unless he needs word of mouth to help expand his business.
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Mar 7, 2024 20:34
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 02:53 |
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Abyss posted:I've gotten 5 estimates for tree trimming, all have the required insurance. I'm not getting Chuck and a truck to come and trim branches that are over my roof. The prices vary wildly, though, and reviews are scarce for tree trimming in this area. The job is to trim 3 pecan trees with branches overhanging the roof, 1 pecan tree that needs to be cleaned up, 1 stump removed & grinded, 1 stump grinded. I'll follow this post by saying I went with the guy that quoted $800. I found some more reviews on a couple other sites that hadn't given him stars, but were all positive. He's had "Hazardous Tree Removal" on his business card and these reviews all stated that he had either removed an oak tree that was right up against their house or a fence or other structure without damage. They arrived on Thursday, he gave me his current insurance policy, and they cut down the huge (and definitely 90% dead) catalpa tree and trimmed some of the pecan branches. They then finished the job today with a lift to get to the other pecan trees. He explained everything he was doing and suggested he cut branches this way and that to encourage growth of the trees upwards and away from the house. There was no increase in fee for all the extra work he did. Very reasonable guy to talk with, he said his schedule was booked from a realtor friend. I'm leaving a review wherever I can find it and will be giving good recommendations to people who need it. I guess that works well enough for him.
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Apr 1, 2024 17:57
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