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FCKGW posted:Also why the gently caress is it so hard to get a contractor to call you back to get an estimate? I've worked with you before and want to give you thousands of dollars, just give me a date and a number! If you figure it out please tell me. I am trying to get estimates for a new roof, likely $10,000+. I've called 5 places and so far only ONE has followed through with a bid.
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May 12, 2016 16:29
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Wink is junk and is going out of business. SmartThings sucks too, everything is hosted on their servers which go down all the time. There isn't a great easy automation solution right now. If you are a nerd you can set up some pretty cool stuff with the likes of OpenHAB or my preference, HomeSeer. The Home Automation subreddit is fairly good if you want more info about something. The main thing I've learned it to try to think about specific things you want to automate and get stuff to solve those issues rather than try to do a more top-down, "automate everything" approach.
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May 13, 2016 18:11
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I just checked the Zestimate® for my house and it is $35k lower than the actual appraisal we had done 3 weeks ago.
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May 31, 2016 16:53
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OSU_Matthew posted:^^ Outlets are incredibly easy to install and only a buck or two apiece to buy in bulk, but I would refrain from doing any electrical work without the explicit permission and understanding from your landlord. Black (hot) goes to brass, white (neutral) goes to silver, green or bare (ground) goes to green. Outlets wear out over time and don't grab plugs like they should when they loosen up. New covers are cheap to Another recommendation for Nest Protect. Yes they are $100 smoke detectors and yes, they are worth that much. Wireless interconnect between wired and battery smokes means I don't have to run wires when I add smokes in the bedrooms. They test themselves monthly when I'm not home using a built in microphone so I don't have to hear it. Low battery alerts are sent to the app instead of chirping at 3 AM. I've never had a false alarm. They detect CO. The app gives me a little peace of mind- I always think I'm going to come home from vacation to a smoking crater. It is moderately comforting knowing that I'll at least get a notification if my house burns down while I'm away without having to pay for alarm monitoring. Oh yeah, it ties in with my Rachio sprinkler controller to turn on the sprinklers if the alarm goes off to try to prevent the fire from spreading (lol).
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Jul 25, 2016 17:18
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OSU_Matthew posted:Vacuum chat: How are robotic vacuums these days? Anything worthwhile for helping keep on top of things? I have an older model Roomba that I have scheduled to run 3 days a week. I like it since we don't otherwise vacuum very often. It makes a noticeable difference in how clean the room looks. It has some major drawbacks that I feel don't make it right for everyone. Maybe the newer models are improved, I don't know. You need to have a fairly open and uncluttered space for it to work well. It is very stupid and does not navigate a room as much as it just bounces off of poo poo until the battery runs out. If you have a lot of furniture it won't be able to get around. You need to not have stuff on the floor. Even lamp cords are a problem. I don't run it upstairs for this reason- we don't keep the bedrooms tidy enough. The layouts of the last few placed definitly would not have worked for a roomba. Our current house does though, due to the reasons above. I don't think it would be worth the full price that they sell for now- it really isn't a very good vacuum. It keeps our house cleaner than we normally would but if you already vacuum 2x a week you're going to have cleaner floors than the Roomba would be able to do. If I followed the Roomba around with a real vacuum I'd pick up a bunch of dirt that it missed.
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Aug 5, 2016 19:47
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Subjunctive posted:I've got a grill being delivered this week, but nowhere to put it other than directly on the lawn. What's a good temporary base/platform until I get the interlocking stone put down? Get an oversized patio stone? You could put down a grill pad like this https://www.amazon.com/Original-Grill-Pad-Black-Rectangle/dp/B003KAPI5O but it is probably fine right on the grass.
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Aug 9, 2016 18:33
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A handy thing to have in your toolbox is a GFCI outlet tester like this https://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-GFI-3501-Outlet-Tester/dp/B00170KUPC
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Aug 12, 2016 16:30
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Is it feasible to build a new 6' wooden fence so you don't have to look at his weeds?
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Sep 13, 2016 17:19
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You probably shouldn't spray them for him through the chain link. What if you were spraying your own weeds along the fence with a selective herbicide and some got on to the weeds on the other side accidentally?
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Sep 14, 2016 00:15
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-S- posted:Got home from work yesterday, it was a balmy 88 degrees in the house. AC fan was blowing but the compressor was not turning on. Turned out it was a blown fuse, so it was a $14.00 fix, but now I get to worry that it's a hidden problem causing the fuse to blow and I'll have to get an HVAC guy out anyway. At the beginning of the season our AC would turn on and then immediately trip the breaker. After some panic googling, I cleaned out the electric air filter and it has been running fine ever since. Now I've got "clean air filter" on my calendar every six months.
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Sep 16, 2016 16:36
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I haven't had to deal with rodents inside yet but I did see some Great Stuff with a bitterant in it to keep pests from chewing on it. I'd start by getting a can and spraying it into every crack and crevice I could find both in the attic and in the crawlspace. Also trim your trees and plants back from your house. Maybe put some outdoor pest traps around. That might be a waste of money though.
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Sep 19, 2016 17:57
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For your hot water issue, you can get a hot water recirculation system like this one: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hot-Water-Recirculating-System-with-Built-In-Timer-500800/100426993
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Oct 7, 2016 16:24
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:I bought my house in Jan and it wasn't very well taken care of. It has a 15 year old water heater that seems to be working ok. Should I drain it or is that risky? We have a 25 year old (gas) water heater. I'm afraid to drain it in case the sludge is the only thing holding it together.
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Nov 18, 2016 17:39
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OSU_Matthew posted:Just wanted to crosspost this from the home security thread: Is this thing any good? I'm strongly considering it but can't find much in the way of reviews.
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Nov 29, 2016 20:38
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I installed about 700 sq ft of solid hardwood myself when we bought our place. We settled on pre-finished solid hardwood because: solid is good for resale, it can be refinished, the price was very good. We got solid hickory made by Bruce, a subsidiary of Armstrong flooring. I think it was about $1.39/sq ft at Home Depot. I had never installed flooring and found the process fairly straight forward. I think the actual installation took me 4 days. I had a little help but did most of the work alone. I found the photos I took during install if you want to see them: Before I started. Blue carpet from the 90's and some beat up engineered flooring.  Ripped up the engineered wood. You can see the layers- it is basically plywood with a veneer on top.  First step was to lay 1/2" plywood over the top of the subfloor. I had to do this because the direction I wanted the planks to run was parallel to the floor joists. Cut sheets to fit and run about 10,000 screws in to each one.  If you're going to paint, now's a good time. Next step was to lay roofing paper. Bought a cool stapler to staple it down. Since this room was large, I had to start laying the floor in the center and work outward. If the room was smaller, I could have started along one wall. I rented a flooring nailer for this. Actually installing the flooring was fairly simple, just repetitive and very tough on my back.  Pano showing the floor mostly installed. I think it was 3 solid days of nailing, something like 15,000 floor nails. Finished at like 9:30 at night, leaving just enough time to haul rear end to Home Depot and return the nailer on time.  Trim installed, before caulking and filling holes. This is a whole other ball of wax.  I'd probably do this myself again. I saved a ton of money doing it myself and I enjoy this kind of project
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Dec 2, 2016 19:44
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:Those are some really awesome project pictures. What was the total cost for the project if you don't mind my asking? Were you given a quote before deciding to DIY? Thanks. I didn't get any quotes from contractors. It was about $1500 in materials. So probably around $3-5k for a professional job. I knew I was going to do this (and several other projects) myself because we just couldn't afford to do it any other way. In this house, before move in, we installed hardwood and new carpets (carpets were professionally installed), painted the whole house inside, replaced the trim throughout, added a pantry, replaced light fixtures and put in new appliances. QuarkJets posted:That looks really great! I don't have the exact figures handy, but the manufacturer required that this product be laid that way for expansion purposes. The individual planks are tongue-and-groove and are nailed through the tongue with a standard flooring nailer. Because the flooring expands in the direction of the tongue, there's a maximum width you can run the floor "one way" (tongues all facing one direction) before you risk expansion causing the floor to get wavy. So if your width is beyond this, you start in the center of the room and go out toward the walls to minimize this. You might also start in the middle if your walls aren't square & straight (i.e., every wall ever built).
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Dec 2, 2016 23:21
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clopping and cumming posted:I am slowly learning some home repair skills. I noticed that there was a link between my toilet tank and the base. It looks to be a simple tank-to-bowl gasket that needs replacing. I have youtubed a few videos and read some online tutorials. This looks to be really easy. Have any of you done this before? The plumber wants to charge $182 for this, but I think I could do it with minimal headaches. Thoughts? This is a dead simple repair. A gasket is $5 at home depot and it will probably take 10 minutes to do. Do yourself a favor and always try to fix your own toilets. There's a bunch of very easy-to-fix stuff in there. If you somehow mess things up to the point that you need a plumber, all you have to do is shut off the angle stop and pick up the phone.
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Jan 24, 2017 20:33
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LogisticEarth posted:Suburban homeowners are generally poo poo. Can confirm, am suburban homeowner. Since buying our house in suburbia 3.5 years ago, my dream house has become "as much land as possible on all sides, with literally any kind of house on it".
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Feb 1, 2017 03:05
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Intuitively I'd guess that your average landscaping stone can be moved with a cheap hand truck. They're probably not going to weigh in excess of 100 pounds, in other words, so with appropriate mechanical advantage you should be able to get them into position solo. You'd still need to get them delivered, of course. If you're talking about rocks that can deter cars, you're looking at something way, way heavier than you can reasonably move yourself. Some website says basalt weighs in at 188 lbs per cubic foot. So a 2' x 2' x 2' rock would be 1500 lbs.
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Mar 2, 2017 18:46
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Subjunctive posted:Is that the ugliest idea you came up with? Pfft. Just pile garbage along the length of your property. Just dig a trench and fill it with burning tires.
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Mar 3, 2017 00:17
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Subjunctive posted:And it stays deactivated until the smoke clears, then resets, so I don't have to keep silencing it. AND the app alerts you when the smoke levels start dropping. Source: made bacon this weekend
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Mar 14, 2017 17:19
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Grillchat, cont'd. The Weber Genesis is the sweet spot if you grill a lot. I grill probably 4 days a week in Spring/Summer/Fall. The only thing I'd change is that I'd get the one with the sear station. This is mine after 3 years, probably 50% of the time covered. 
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Apr 4, 2017 04:21
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metztli posted:Other than a bit more size and a 50% increase in price, what does the genesis offer over the spirit? The weber site doesn't really do a great job of letting me know the diff. It's been a while since I did my comparison shopping but here's what I remember. The Genesis has more BTUs. The Genesis is built from much heavier-gauge materials; Amazon says the shipping weight is 170 lbs vs. the Spirit's 128 lbs. I like the look of the Genesis more. Looking at the 3 burner Spirit vs the Genesis, the price difference is about $100 for all of that. If you ever grill for more than 2 people, you will be glad for the extra space that the Genesis offers. More space also means that the burners are separated from each other more, allowing a better temperature difference when doing any 2-zone grilling. Any Weber grill should last a long time. I figured we'd be using this grill for at least 10 years, so I wanted to try to anticipate future needs. The thing is a tank and will easily last that long. I think we paid $600 for it- about half as much as we paid for the range in the kitchen. In the summer though, we use the grill way more often than the stove or oven.
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Apr 4, 2017 16:40
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Thermostat chat: I have an EcoBee3 with remote sensors in several rooms. It is cool and fun but it is basically a toy. I don't think that it will help me save any money over the programmable thermostat that it replaced. It does help with comfort somewhat in our tri-level house though. Check with your utility company- they might offer a rebate. Ours did, and combined with a deal on clearance units, I paid something like $85 for it.
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Oct 24, 2017 17:00
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Lever it out with another post/board
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Oct 25, 2017 23:52
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Elephanthead posted:Feed the squirrels so they stop vandalizing your flower bed. Does this really work? My mother-in-law is constantly complaining to me about the squirrels digging up her planters and the best solution I can come up with is to get her a pellet gun.
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Oct 30, 2017 17:24
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Spray foam? I don't understand: what's the issue with fiberglass batts in the walls?
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Nov 22, 2017 18:55
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I regrouted a tile shower once. If I ever need to do it again I will just rip out all the tile and start over. It was a huge pain in the rear end, took forever and I was not happy with how it came out.
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Nov 22, 2017 20:42
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The hardest part about replacing a toilet yourself is figuring out what to do with the old one. You can often get tax rebates or straight up cash back if you're replacing a really old one.
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Dec 12, 2017 01:50
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My next toilet will be diesel poweredH110Hawk posted:I mean if it's not got at least half a horsepower of flushing power why bother? https://www.plumbingsupply.com/maceratingtoilets.html code:
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Dec 13, 2017 01:17
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Wrap some hardware cloth around that cap so animals can't get in or buy a chimney cap with mesh already installed.
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Jan 12, 2018 17:27
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I feel like I unlocked a homeowner achievement this weekend. I bought a pressure washer at Costco- the 3100 PSI one with the Honda engine. I've already cleaned the whole driveway and front porch, now I'm looking for other things to pressure wash.
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Feb 12, 2018 19:01
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I think I want to build a shed in my back yard. The existing one is one of those metal Tuff Sheds that is probably 15 years old. It was sited between two trees that have grown so much that they're squeezing the thing between them. The floor is also rotting out and I can see daylight through multiple seams in the sides. Anyone ever build one themselves? I can build a shed under 200 sq ft and under 10' average roof height without a permit and it looks like the minimum setback is 3 feet. I was thinking it would be nice to run electrical out to it for lighting and a couple of outlets as well.
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Apr 24, 2018 19:19
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Hubis posted:3) Herbicides are tough to use on english ivy, but if you want to go the chemical route you can pick up a 1 Gal Pump Sprayer and then use something like a heavy duty herbicide to kill it off. It won't be 100% effective, but you'll probably see better results if you mow/weed-whack the ivy down to ground level and then spray the new growth once it re-emerges (repeating throughout the season). This can be done before or after manual removal, but you'll probably still want to pull out the roots even if you do kill it by spraying. You can also get a small spray bottle and use it to kill off any re-emergent ivy after you clear and re-plant. When picking your herbicide you want something with Glyphosate or Triclopyr in it, but make sure you avoid anything that says something to the effect of "extended control" on it if you are planning to re-plant the cleared area any time soon. Add a spreader/sticker when you mix your herbicide or it'll just roll off the leaves since they're so waxy. I like Bonide Turbo. You might also try a gasoline + matches combo for quick removal.
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May 8, 2018 17:11
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I'm experiencing severe garage envy here.
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Jul 19, 2018 20:06
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Seems like an opportune time to ask: are whole-home surge protectors worth it? Every time I look in to it I seem to end up finding conflicting info.
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Sep 6, 2018 00:21
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Thufir posted:I don't know if I learned anything but I found watching Larry Haun videos kind of relaxing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-mS76qjI0g Larry will also teach you the proper pronunciation of 2x4s ("tubafors").
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Sep 14, 2018 19:24
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I use and like Home Seer.
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Oct 11, 2018 20:43
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enraged_camel posted:I have a weird issue with plumbing, specifically sewage. Whenever I run the bathroom sinks or the showers for a few minutes, after turning them off I can hear some sort of mechanical sound coming from inside the walls. It’s hard to describe, but it sounds like a metal saw? It repeats every 2 seconds for a while and eventually stops. Does it happen if you just use water but don't run it down the drain? Like filling up the bathtub or a pot of water? Google thinks buzzing pipes if due to high water pressure.
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Oct 25, 2018 17:14
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