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Hadlock posted:So our house has two equal sized bedrooms that sit overtop the garage. The one on the left my wife has claimed for her office and the narrow hallway is a straight shot into the doorway of her office. I'm left (right?) with the room on the right, which has a complicated zig zag thing and my long, expensive three seater couch/daytime nap spot can't navigate the turn by like three inches. Classic long couch problem. And no my wife will not switch with me, because reasons I've done this with an end loader on a tractor, worked fine. One guy driving, one guy riding in the bucket holding the couch down, one guy guiding it in. Might be cheaper than a scissor lift depending where you're at. Or impossible.
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May 14, 2023 01:01
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Having solid, steady rain for the first time in ages. After years of dealing with water in the basement, suddenly we're having a drip from a recessed light in my kid's bedroom. I went up into the unfinished attic to glance around and couldn't see anything obvious. However, not far from that light fixture, it looks like there's a small gap between the chimney that goes there and the wooden wall, enough to let in daylight. Should I be calling tuckpointers immediately? Our roof got replaced by a semi-shady guy 3 years ago after a hail storm, so I'm hoping it's not that. This is Chicagoland for whatever that's worth on insulation/roof issues.
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Jul 2, 2023 19:40
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Had some bad grey water backup/spillage from laundry machine at the family cabin in the UP, cabin is 10 feet from lake but up on a hill at the end of a peninsula. Anyone familiar with repairing vs replacing an inoperable septic drain field? 50 year old tank is apparently in good shape but can't drain properly. I'm familiar with mound systems but my understanding is they're more costly trevorreznik fucked around with this message at 18:57 on Jul 15, 2023 |
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Jul 15, 2023 18:55
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Speaking of attics, we had siding done in the winter, then some issues lately and we were examining the top of the chimney area and my dad said wait, where is the vent opening? From inside the attic you can see light (through the siding) and we hadnt realized it was covered up outside. Time to call them yet again. I'm hoping this is actually what caused our moisture drip during the heavy rains.
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Jul 17, 2023 15:53
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Rotten posted:lmao You'd think the hand operated drill guy would be super excited about a loss of power for the neighborhood
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Jul 26, 2023 00:56
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It may be urban legend but you can use that racoon corpse to kickstart a new septic tank install
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Aug 13, 2023 16:08
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Speaking of refrigerants: I have a very, very old fridge in the basement that the prior owner left. It won't fit up the stairs due to some sort of modification years ago (prior owner lived here 50 years). My dad wants to come in and just chop it up with power tools. Any reason to not do this? It's a single standing fridge, no freezer compartment. The power company won't take it, various appliance delivery and junk removal people refuse to take it out as well.
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Sep 15, 2023 15:42
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edit: wrong thread
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Nov 6, 2023 19:02
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Motronic posted:This is the guy who started out by getting absolutely rolled over by the council and code enforcement, didn't know to push back/hire an engineer adna a solicitor and ended up spending the value of the house on an elaborate foundation that was unnecessary right? This linked thread is incredible, I've been reading it all day. At least he got to live out the dream of using a ton of heavy equipment even if there was no reason to do so.
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Nov 15, 2023 18:03
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Arsenic Lupin posted:This is just a scream of pain. Can you do a septic mound instead? My dad's is about 60x15 just measuring from google satellite, but even if that's underestimating that's 1/4 of your .09 acre. You could also go with an incinerator toilet. He had one of those prior to the septic mound since the outhouse (a 2-seater) got too cold.
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Dec 13, 2023 22:43
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Arsenic Lupin posted:The problem is that we need somewhere for the greywater to go, and we also don't have enough space for a legal greywater system. Maybe I'm misunderstanding but I thought the grey water went straight down from the mound. If experts are telling you about your problems they're obviously the ones who know what they're doing.
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Dec 14, 2023 00:59
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Short of researching tax issues for involuntary condemnation, what about paying to tie into your neighbor's sewer/septic setup? That might be more feasible than buying land. I just don't know what else you can do on that size lot for the grey water from laundry and dishes. It also seems like there should be some sort of absolutely comical 30 foot tall septic mound option that would be extremely cost prohibitive. trevorreznik fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Dec 15, 2023 |
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Dec 15, 2023 17:36
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The piping is going to get messed up by whatever's in the greywater, so really she needs to cover her entire .09 acres, including her roof, in black tarps and just pump all the water onto that to evaporate. As they get gunked up, just get new tarps. Your neighbors won't mind at all. Edit my apologies on the wrong pronoun , fixed trevorreznik fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Dec 15, 2023 |
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Dec 15, 2023 20:43
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Sundae posted:I see signs around the bay area touting how (this fountain) or (that public garden) uses gray water. What if you get a fountain made to look like someone posting on the internet, and it's just a constant stream of poo poo/gray water coming out of his mouth onto the monitor? Could maybe get an art grant of some sort too from all of this https://www.timeout.com/chicago/things-to-do/fountain-of-waste Something like this but much much bigger and liquid
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Dec 15, 2023 22:50
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Hadlock posted:So I have been trying to do some initial research on a garage addition, property setbacks and everything to check the viability of all this. I think there's about 20' between the edge of my current garage and the edge of the setback requirements. I could put in a very wide third car garage and/or workshop/home office/goon cave Your legal description is probably correct - you need to cross check the subdivision plat map for the lot drawings. It sounds like you're doing that but I'm not exactly sure if thats what you mean from the assessor map? If you go on the county recorder site and look up your property, you might be able to find the original plat map on there. You should also be able to use the GIS map to get to the maps, I assume that's what you're talking about from the assessor map? If not look that up for your (unofficial) lot lines overlaid onto a satellite map. I will say I have no idea what the monuments would be, as I'm not a Californian. I've seen official surveyor posts driven in the ground in the Midwest north woods, but you'd never be able to see 3 near each other like you're describing.
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Dec 27, 2023 05:32
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My escrow changes all the time with Mr. Cooper. It's obtuse, they try to explain it on the site, but my understanding is it's partly based on their own projections so it doesn't really make much sense. My escrow is significantly more than yours but bounces all over the place year by year. What's weird is the site says that the projected shortage is covered by payments over a 46 month period, except where I am we get property taxes reassessed every 3 years and that usually swings a grand or show in our yearly amount due to the county. The whole thing is kind of a mess considering how much property taxes and insurance can fluctuate in a year. . trevorreznik fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Jan 27, 2024 |
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Jan 27, 2024 16:00
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Water chat:.My basement has an ejector pit to overhead sewer that grey water and toilets go into. The PO capped the floor drains and swore it never flooded in 50 years. We've had 2 floods from rain (no idea where it got in) and 2 from failed equipment (burst water heater, laundry water hookup hose that broke while we were out of town), plus water backups from the condensate drain before that was repaired. We do have a shower drain (goes to ejector) but that's it. I don't even know where to locate a sump or install a new floor drain because of the random slopes in the floor. It's exhausting trying to think of how to deal with this. Our back yard is a sunken patio our neighbors yards drain into and my spring/summer project is going to be trying to tile that out to the front yard, I'm hoping that solves rain issues and that repairing equipment solves the rest. On the plus side I got a huge insurance payout last flood for a bunch of old stuff my wife kept, like fencing gear from high school that was valuable but never going to be used again.
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Jan 27, 2024 16:49
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Mr Cooper story: I used the COVID mortgage pause it offered for a year, then did some payments during the pause. This made their system think I was simultaneously in default (as I didn't make monthly payments) and in the pause, and I would get letters telling me foreclosures were about to start, then another letter saying all is well, etc. At one point I realized the letters were crossing each other in the mail and i'd sometimes get the latest sent one before the prior sent one. Caused a huge amount of anxiety.
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Jan 27, 2024 19:52
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I was just visiting with my neighbor who said he spent a bunch of time in his crawl space digging up all the mud/clay, because his water pipe ran through there and had 3 leaks in it at various spots. The plumbers would come out, patch one leak, say they'd fix it and leave until he went down and did all the excavation himself.
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Feb 4, 2024 03:55
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devicenull posted:We paid $28k for all new windows, doors, *siding*, and gutters. We paid I think $2-3k for the door (apparently they had never sold one these before despite being in the catalog). it was expensive, but it's also rad as gently caress Seeing you get a sale like this makes me worry I did actually screw up a few years ago getting siding/windows. We got two quotes in 2021, then two more quotes from the same two companies in 2022 that were extremely hard sales. I was worried about inflation at that point and when the quotes came in the same (all 4 were within a few grand of each other on ~50k total) I was ready to pull the trigger. I probably should have shopped around more but it's such an awful, predatory system where it was very hard to get anyone to show up, then the minute they do it's buy now for big discounts!! Our next big project is the 4 bay windows we didn't replace when replacing every other window in the house. All 4 bays are sagging slightly and the side bay windows have to be pushed closed after being opened due to being out of flush, so I don't even know where to start since it seems like they need to be jacked up somehow. And we need a complete electric overhaul so reading all the quotes about that are interesting. I'm pretty concerned with making sure things are code, and my uncle (a licensed electrician 3 hours south) told me to just call the local union and ask for referrals directly from them. It might end up being more expensive but hopefully I won't have to deal with high pressure sales.
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Mar 5, 2024 16:09
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Cyrano4747 posted:If the sales are high pressure you’re being ripped off, and if they pressure you to buy now for a discount it’s a BAD rip off. I suppose it's an expensive mistake I made then. Unfortunately the difficulty seems to be how to find a non high pressure sales pitch in the first place. When we did do the contract we got a week to compare with other people, and the comparison ended up the same, so it definitely felt like throwing our hands in the air over it. For bay replacements, electricity, or trying to figure out how to fix our 'cold' side room on a slab via a energy consultant, how do you recommend finding the best places to even give quotes in the first place? Just trial and error?
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Mar 5, 2024 16:31
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Motronic posted:You avoid this by not subjecting yourself to sales pitches at all. You should ask around to others who have had work done recently and see who they used. Try to find the "good" local GCs and trades that don't advertise because they don't need to. These people aren't typically going to try to make a sale/upsell you. They have plenty of work to stay busy and it's for good reason. Sounds good, thank you.
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Mar 5, 2024 16:42
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I've been browsing fridge sales for a while because we keep having water issues in our fridge we inherited from the prior owner. I wish I could get a discount for not having one with water/ice makers. I like just having a few trays and that's it. The other fridge the prior owner left we think may have been put in the basement prior to construction finishing in 1948. What a pain to chop up and remove, thankfully the freon had all leaked out of it long ago!
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Mar 10, 2024 18:39
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GlyphGryph posted:Unfortunately, I forgot they moved two states over, which wouldnt be so bad if I hadnt moved two states in the opposite direction. Ugh. I was willing to make a day trip of it (especially since they are also offering a two story inflatable slide for practically nothing, as well as a trailer to carry it all on) but that's too drat far. If he's in Illinois, I'll buy it. I'm sure lots of other goons would too. My mom had that model, but I found out it was technically owned by her landlord (her extended family owned the house she rented) so I couldn't inherit it.
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Apr 10, 2024 15:52
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dopesilly posted:Been out of work for a bit over a year now, as a homeowner I was wondering if anybody ever got their feet wet with trade work that helps them improve their ability to maintain and enhance their home? My uncle was in his 40s working a dead end job and managed to join the local electrical union and get training + paid + a career doing that, all in this century. Might want to look into any union work and apprenticeships. The skills he picked up doing electrical construction transfered to working on his house as well as his kids places.
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Apr 15, 2024 04:55
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