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gently caress those bathtub single faucets (I'm looking at you Moen Positemp). Oh they're nice when they work, but gently caress replacing a cartridge after a few years of use that developed a slow leak. Calcium deposits and broken rubber seals make them nearly impossible to remove easily (yes, even using a proper cartridge puller). Just gently caress them. But that being said, very nice once working like they should.
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Apr 5, 2021 19:12
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Just keep in mind the "drum" effect of the plexiglass if you get a lot of rain directly to the spots.
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Apr 7, 2021 16:20
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Gin_Rummy posted:Is the material price bubble affecting ALL materials, or primarily just lumber-based items? The granite in our kitchen is the poo poo awfulest tinge of brown (that forces everything else in the living areas to match) and I know if I don’t replace it soon, I probably never will. Primarily lumber. But manufactured goods are starting/started to come up too as Covid has caused all sorts of raw goods supply issues, especially in long distance transportation. The butterfly effect is that distributors are not keeping any inventory on hand (because the cost of making a good will go down "shortly" - when transportation is restored), so basically put, you're getting screwed if you need to buy anything right now.
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May 11, 2021 20:04
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Just had my windows replaced (although I'm Canada) with fairly standard double hung vinyl/LowE/argon filled ones. Biggest cost differentiation in the install fee was whether they could just retrofit the new window in or had to replace/redo the entire framing (+$$). Averaged out to around $550/ea installed (cdn) - lead time of around 3 months due to Covid. To gauge how good you are: the crew of 2 guys took on average 30min per window to retrofit new ones and install new metal flashing.
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May 19, 2021 14:21
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Moved into a house over the winter and finally got the AC started up and seasonal maintenance check done on it - good pressure/etc. Works great but the compressor in the outdoor unit (not the fan) is drat noisy and of course it was installed on the back patio, making it hard to enjoy.. It's a carrier brand unit - anyone know if that's fixable without spending gobs of $$$ or do I just have to live with it
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May 24, 2021 03:09
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It is mounted on a 2'x2'x2" concrete/patio slab on the wood deck (ugh), so does vibrate fairly well. I'm looking into a hard rubber pad for that. As to the actual noise, it's just loud db wise, not a rattle of a loose piece of metal. The fan motor is a different noise and lower db level than the compressor.
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May 24, 2021 03:23
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StormDrain posted:Wipe it all down with dry microfiber towels, then again wet. If you do wet first you're just making mud and that makes your life harder. Everything Storm posted. Hepa air filters come after you have done the above. Just had some work done and they had to saw through some 100yo plaster/lath that crumbled on sight into dust. It went everywhere.
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Jun 10, 2021 19:55
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unknown posted:Moved into a house over the winter and finally got the AC started up and seasonal maintenance check done on it - good pressure/etc. Works great but the compressor in the outdoor unit (not the fan) is drat noisy and of course it was installed on the back patio, making it hard to enjoy.. It's a carrier brand unit - anyone know if that's fixable without spending gobs of $$$ or do I just have to live with it Just to quote myself from many pages ago - I finally pulled the installers manual for my AC outdoor unit/compressor (Carrier 24ABB324A310 from 2010), and it's rated at 76db (!), with an optional noise dampener available that reduces it by a whopping 2db  The aftermarket vibration pads helped a lot though. Only solution is a new unit. Ugh.
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Jun 16, 2021 16:25
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Comrade Gritty posted:As someone who just signed a contract last week for re-windowing my entire house at ~40k and got told it would take 2-4 days, this is making me very nervous! If it's just a retrofit/replacement of current window encasements, 2-4 days is about right. A good 2 man crew takes 30min-hour per window. (Also, $40k is a lot of windows - Mine was like 8 retrofit windows for $5k done in 1 day) If you're going down to the studs/brick, then it'll take a lot longer than 30-1h as the windows are one part, then rebuilding the interior walls around the windows takes more fun times (and a different crew usually).
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Jun 28, 2021 17:11
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Inner Light posted:They don't seem to give a crap, the residents talk about it on our forum, all units have some issues with the original windows fogging. It's not so dramatic that it's visible from outside the building, it's just annoying. It's more of the point that you might not own the windows. Many condos you own up to the exterior walls, but not the walls (windows) themselves. So therefore you can't change them without permission. And it sounds like the condo doesn't want to do anything ($$ probably) so you probably have to learn to live with it.
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Jun 29, 2021 00:04
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Kase Im Licht posted:I think the major problem is that it's one unit covering a 4600 square foot house. However, we do get a ton of shade, and the ground floor and the basement get absolutely icy without even having to run the AC that much. There's just gently caress-all airflow up to the top. And since the ground floor gets super cold, the thermostat will shut off while the upstairs is still unpleasant. Keeping the fan running to move the air around only helps a little and also the noise of the air going through the return vents is pretty loud so that has it's own issues. Upstairs is hitting high 70s which my wife doesn't mind but I can't handle. Also makes it tough for the baby since she goes to sleep in just PJs when it's warm and then wakes up in the early morning when the temps finally drop and she needs a sleepsack. Size of the condenser is probably okay if you're getting cool air out your vents. It's the fan and venting that's the problem. You probably don't have a good (any) air return on the top floor (preferably near the ceiling). HVAC has two parts: Blow in the good hot/cold air, and take out the unwanted cold/hot air (which gets heated/cooled). Many older houses have central air retrofitted in and don't do the return part well/at all - like it's at the main floor only, when it would be best at the top floor so it gets rid of the super warm air. If you do have good return vents upstairs, for a test block off the main floor return with some cardboard or whatever so it's forced to take from upstairs. Don't do it long term, as it can stress the fan and shorten it's life. Also the roof/wall insulation is probably insufficient, but that's a different headache, especially if you don't have an attic and have nice cathedral ceilings (attics are good insulators). But yeah, if you call in an hvac guy, makes sure he talks about the venting and not just the outdoor condenser getting up sized.
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Jun 29, 2021 17:01
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StormDrain posted:Having documentation of what was in your home won't hurt you, and you're clearly concerned about it, so do it. Photos, videos, receipts, invoices, whatever. Upload it all online somewhere of course, since a file folder with it isn't likely to survive whatever levels your home. I can't find the article (phone posting), but there was a great article from an insurance claims guy that specialized in house fires on how the calculations on how much to give you were done. Basically it came down to documentation - if you have a ultra high end toaster that costed $500 but no docs, you got $5 - for a low end generic toaster. Conversations would be like: Homeowner: I lost my tv in the fire! Insurance: here's $100 H: it was a flatscreen tv I: oh, here's $200 H: wtf it was 65"! I : fine, $600 H: $600 for a 65" panasonic plasma? You can see it in this picture! I : oh, that's $2000 H: ummm, it was gold plated? I: now I need to see the invoice. The more specific you can get (and eventually prove you bought if it was too high end) meant that they had to calculate to that item, otherwise generic labels would be used that's not in your favor.
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Jul 10, 2021 23:35
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Assuming that the sub floor was done all at once... Normally house/foundation settling and if it's a truly sudden "drop", some kind of disconnect at that point like an addition was added there at some point which settled differently.
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Aug 7, 2021 01:03
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NomNomNom posted:I too would like to know how to murder ground ivy (creeping Charlie) and crabgrass. Crab grass in particular is invading all of my garden beds. Same problems here. Everything I've read is basically expect to have a very lovely lawn for a few months as you cover it with landscape/mulch vinegar to kill off all vegetation and then start your lawn from scratch. Of note, drought resistant grass is actually pretty good as it generally has much deeper roots than normal grass and crowds out weeds once established - but it's also slow growing so that's a pain too.
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Aug 16, 2021 01:24
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Just keep in mind that you (your mom) doesn't own the place until the deed is transferred (through the lawyer), so while you can help clean up the space, doing things like changing the locks/throwing stuff out could be considered a big no-no, and should be done by the family who can hand you the keys, or just wait the couple of days out for the deed to transfer.
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Aug 17, 2021 22:27
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Door chat! just remember there's like 2 types of install - the "simple" retrofit where the framing is in good shape, and a full rebuild. If the door was in poo poo shape (mine was), then there's a chance you'll need a full rebuild since stuff will be rotten and the like where moisture got in over the years. One is a bigger complication ($) than the other. Roughly my install was around $2000  (door included). Of note, door guys do the door only, and not the wall (read: drywall) if there's an issue that can't be covered by the framing.
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Aug 23, 2021 14:39
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There's no secret ladder that does large heights - the more joins on it (be it hinges or extensions), the less stable it is (due to flex). I do like my extending + collapsible ladder, but it only does like 18ft at max extension and like 6ft in a frame mode (a very useful feature). Edit: there is probably one out there, but it'll be worth its weight in gold most likely.
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Aug 28, 2021 00:36
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What works well for making large models is a sheet of hard Styrofoam insulation. Easy to cut and weighs almost nothing and generally like $10 for the cheaper item.
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Oct 21, 2021 01:36
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Heloc is just easier (use only what you need) and generally the rates are the same. Also, it's still there in the future in case something else breaks and you need to draw against it. Ie: with a Heloc, you only pay when you use it.
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Dec 18, 2021 16:13
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Talking with in laws recently about their cottage and their complaining of high electrical costs (due to heating with baseboards), and they have been talking about replacing them with new baseboards because new ones are "way more efficient". My understanding is that baseboards are basically 100% efficient, regardless of age (provided its working/clean). Am I correct or on crack?
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Dec 30, 2021 19:19
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actionjackson posted:the rate is 3.65 initial, capped at like 18. But most of it is going to be paid of by the end of the year. People in either this thread or another finance one all said do a HELOC instead of a home equity loan. A home equity loan would be a fixed rate, but it's not clear to me whether you can pay it off early, which I want to do. Heloc is a line of credit always available - think of it like a credit card. There's a minimum payment when you use it, but you can pay it all back tomorrow if you win the lottery (ie: no max). Then it's there waiting for you to use it again. Let's say your limit is $10k, you can pull out 3k for something and $1k for something else, pay back $1.5k (net owing $2.5k) spend $7k (now net $9.5k), win the lottery scratch and pay it all off. All in a couple of days. Your interest is calculated at a daily rate, so at the end of the month you'd owe like $20 or less for that usage. This is why people like helocs.
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Jan 9, 2022 08:48
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Inner Light posted:What’s the advantage over a credit card? With a CC I can get a fat limit but the interest is high if I only make the minimum payment. Is heloc like lower interest which makes it more attractive? What hadloc said, but fundamentally, you're right, it's like a low interest credit card. Also once you've owned your house for a while and the value increases (and the mortgage decreases), people will redo the heloc and get even higher limits. It's not unheard of for people to have $200k+ limits. (this leads to people buying another house with that credit limit and doing the rinse and repeat and then eventually a housing crisis).
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Jan 9, 2022 15:23
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Speaking of under cabinet lighting... The PO installed some horrid janky "led strips" in our place that are fed via hardwired 120v to multiple transformers which have some weird custom connections (think really old Ikea). Been searching for newer stuff, but I haven't found any decent hardwired transformers (120ac to 12dc) that weren't hugely expensive in order to feed newer brighter strips. Any suggestions?
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Jan 14, 2022 03:56
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Worth trying to fix (lube/tighen) the cartridge first. There's so many different sizes that finding a replacement one can be hard. (I just did a pile of them in my house).
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Feb 17, 2022 20:47
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Most flooring planks are "tongue and groove", so they're locked together. Sometimes you can break them apart, sometimes you can't. Often you need to basically disassemble the floor to the point where the bad boards are, and then put it back together, so if it's in the middle of a room, it's a big job.
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May 27, 2022 15:37
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Get an arborist to do it. Cutting down trees in confined spaces (ie: anything within range of the tree like houses and pools) with poo poo that can be damaged is asking for someone with lots of insurance. There's multiple parts to the job. Tree cutting, then removal (what do you do with 5 tonnes of tree?), after that is stump removal, and in your case fence fixing. Also tree law.
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Jun 22, 2022 15:53
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gently caress replacing the cartridge on a bathroom tap when the PO never bothered to fix the drip, and only just tightened the tap further. If it's screwed up, they can be a real pain to fix (eg, when the rubber seal internally is shot). They can send you to murder levels of swearing at that point to pull out the cartridge. Anyeays, as was mentioned earlier - there's a million slight variations on the cartridge, so make sure you get the correct model - the pulling tool is more generic at least. Also, most cartridges include a small amount of the special grease. I might be still bitter about replacing mine. But it works great now after 6 hours of work.
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Jul 1, 2022 18:49
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Just ranting.. Why is it the small repair jobs always become big ones? Back deck stairs needed new treads (literally just replacing a couple 2x6s - it's 3 steps). When taking the old ones off the stringer breaks. Grumble, fine, start pulling that off, realize it's a piece of junk (maybe homemade?) and toenailed/screwed into the wall with no bracing and 2 screws only. Wtf. The space under the stairs has decking, notice it's starting to go rotten, so rip that out. Find out that the old stringers were actually just resting on a deck board that's spanning a 32" space because for some reason the joist stopped there and didn't go all the way across. Explains the extra sponginess of the stairs - I'm surprised that my family didn't get hurt with the stairs collapsing. Rip out more deck boards, install a new joist so the stairs can sit on something solid, only to realize the stringers that were installed was actually the wrong size (3 steps instead of 4), and the PO probably just got the wrong one and jury rigged it into place - which explains why the stairs always were a bit weird in layout. At least now the stairs are nice and solid - 2 hours job turns into a 2 day job with running back and forth to HD.
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Jul 25, 2022 19:15
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Most (all?) hvac setups I've seen have the air filter installed just in front of the blower intake (at the furnace) rather than by the wall vent intake. E;f, b
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Sep 6, 2022 14:05
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Where's your air duct intake to the unit - Is it on the back of the furnace? (The air filter isn't in the unit itself - the V shape thing inside is usually the A/C radiator from what I remember) Edit: What Motronic said above..
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Sep 6, 2022 14:43
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Spikes32 posted:Yep that sounds about right. The previous owners who bought in 2010 probably never had it cleaned or serviced. Sigh. I've reached out to 10 heating cooling companies but am not expecting anything before next week given out current heat wave insanity Sounds about right - my house PO had a very nice Lennox system installed in 2013 and never did the yearly maintenance on it. Tech could barely pull out the filter it was so clogged (2020). Even got an air duct cleaning crew in and they pulled out a few kids toys as well from the vents.
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Sep 6, 2022 14:48
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On installs that I've seen the filter access would be at the back of the metallic duct at the bottom. I'll say that the drywall in the back of the unit is covering it up and was installed a couple of years after the furnace was installed. Usually furnaces aren't installed flush to the wall and have access space all around them...
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Sep 6, 2022 15:29
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Whoa, (based on the circuit board guessing the furnace model/style) this style of furnace can actually be installed with a downflow method. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1004521/York-P2mp-Series.html?page=9#manual If this is the case, the filters are actually the A coil we're all talking about in your initial picture and they would be accessible behind that insulation wrapping the vent above.  I'd let a tech figure it out.
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Sep 6, 2022 16:44
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300 series owner (PO installed), and I'm very happy with it. From what I got told is the 800 series had a macerator for dealing with food scraps in addition to the normal washable filter that the 300 has.
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Dec 27, 2022 02:15
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Comrade Gritty posted:Does anyone have any opinions on the best way to monitor and track down energy use in a house? It looks like electric prices have gone up significantly so in the past few years which is spurring me to try and take a look and figure out what I can do to bring the overall cost of our utilities down since we're currently paying about $800/mo for electric and propane (~500 for Electric, ~300 for Propane, both on "budget billing" so it spread the cost out). I installed a sense a few years ago, works fine. Most annoying thing is that they only allow their software to determine what constitutes a device. (There's a few plug in killawatt style meters they also use, but that isn't a long term solution). But once the initial toy phase of watching it identify stuff is over, it does what it should do. I've been happy having it.
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Jan 6, 2023 03:08
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Just be aware there are different versions of drano for different problems. (like hair, food stuffs, grease)
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Jan 8, 2023 23:10
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Welp, the control for the baseboard heater in my son's room is hanging partway out of the wall. Call into electrician to come price a replacement. The thing doesn't have a hard "off", only "low" or "high", and is decades old in any case. Yay, single pole baseboard thermostats! They're generally fairly easy to replace with a double pole, unless your house wiring is ancient (like, it truly loops and you don't have a neutral line behind the thermostat - in which case you've got bigger problems like knob and tube...) If you want a decent wifi control, I'd recommend Mysa (what I replaced a whole bunch of old SP thermostats with).
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Feb 15, 2023 20:34
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What Cyrano474 said above. But here's a fun anecdote in Canada: You actually can't cancel a check (even if you pay your bank to do so). MoneyMart (check cashing place) has won multiple times in our Supreme Court (Based off the first banking laws from like 1850 or something) that they can't be held liable for innocently cashing a check for someone and forces your bank to pay them who then takes the money from you as there's no updated law/way to check if it's a good or bad check before cashing. So rule of thumb up here for companies is now generally "one check only" - and it's a manual process to return the old one and get it reissued. (Or if the check gets stale dated at like 6mo and made invalid at that point)
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Mar 3, 2023 17:08
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HVAC filter advice from my repair guy - the real secret is to replace more often. Don't bother with the super high end unless you have allergy issues. Merv 10s go on big sale fairly often (16x25x1 here also very common in the area), so I stock up when they do.
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Mar 26, 2023 15:05
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Since you're in Canada (me too), just get your agent to do it and pay for it. They'll gladly also pay for painters and stagers (rental furniture) and all that crap. Even storage of your excess stuff. Seriously, you don't need to do anything more at this point since the market is thermo nuclear hot up here and is desperate for listings. Just find a good real estate lawyer and agent and sit back and relax.
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Apr 11, 2023 01:08
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