|
BaseballPCHiker posted:Has anyone here used one of those custom made to order blinds sites like SelectBlinds or can recommend a company? We used Blindster and had no issues with quality and they're relatively easy to install, and it wasn't wildly expensive because we went with fairly basic stuff.
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2021 15:25
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 17:06 |
|
|
PageMaster posted:Definitely not ideal, but looking at the county map I guess I'm lucky half of San Diego hasn't burned down... I lived in San Diego back in 2007 when it did. No bueno.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2021 12:47
|
|
|
Queen Victorian posted:Our house came with a spiderweb of old coax on it (like TV in every room level and then some), so we installed MoCA adapters wherever we want wired internet, which is several places where the WiFi is bad due to too many thick plaster walls and/or it’s my husband’s office where he frequently moves around huge media files.  Going to do a similar thing in our new place that has coax everywhere; beats needing the expense of pulling Ethernet initially.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 14, 2021 23:22
|
|
|
Purposely moved to (and closing next week on a house in) the frozen north.  
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2021 21:42
|
|
|
Residency Evil posted:Me at Home Depot: "Is the switch light almond or white...I'm pretty sure it's not white." I have lived this. I will soon live this again. It's good that face plates and whatnot are cheap.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2021 18:22
|
|
|
Nybble posted:What’s generally the process for getting toilets replaced? We have 3 older ones that we’d like to upgrade (lower amount needed to flush, better seat, and specifically a Toto bidet for the owners bathroom) but not sure if it’s a matter of “hire plumber, they bring them and replace” or “go buy from Lowe’s/Home Depot/etc and have a plumber show up and do the job”. About to replace two in our new place with elongated models; my initial research shows the models from Kohler or American Standard that are one step up from the lowest tier is the sweet spot. Absolutely hiring a plumber to install because of PTSD from doing it with my dad 20 years ago.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2021 00:19
|
|
|
That green is poo poo hot. On the local front, I've got all the locks and door knobs changed out (including some jankyass stuff done by the previous owner. Waiting on the quote to build a garage and several other misceallous internal items like putting a dual vanity in the upstairs bathroom as I remain convinced that dual vanities is a cornerstone of marital harmony, replacing toilets, and whatnot. Next up is spackling walls in advance of a painter's quote (outside is a must, inside needs to be done but I may be willing to undertake the effort myself if the price is stupid high) and starting to replace the ceiling fans which have the most obtuse and nearly useless light fixtures, plus a pointless remote control. I won't be bored for a while.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2021 21:04
|
|
|
Yeah, that $8K quote is giving me the heaves as I start solicting quotes to do the full outside (brick + trim) of our new house and most of the walls of the inside but probably without ceilings which are in reasonable shape or something I can take care of myself. I got them to agree to give me a line item breakdown between inside and outside so I can pick based on cost but oh god I was hoping to do the whole thing for that much. 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 5, 2021 18:32
|
|
|
I have three basement window wells that are encased in concrete that need covers. Most stock window well covers at the Home Despot or other stores of that nature either don't fit the dimensions I need or are made for circular window wells that are made of plastic so you can clip the cover on it which is not the case for me. The only real options I'm seeing are to try to get one that is too large and cut it to size (at around $100 a pop) or get them custom made which is north of $250 per window. All of this seems horrifically stupid for something that isn't going to be seen (our house is in an urban environment and there isn't going to be some giant lawn, garden, or miscellaneous shrubberies to make this stuff match with). The ultimate goal here is to keep trash/debris and most of the rain water out of the window wells. To that end, can anyone identify a significant problem with taking a sheet of polycarbonate acrylic, cutting it to size, attaching it to an an angle bracket which in turn attaches to the house, and some outdoor caulk to seal the joints? It's a $20 per window solution that seems to accomplish the same goal as the $250 model; even if I need to replace it after a year or two, I'm still well ahead of the game. 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2021 14:38
|
|
|
Zarin posted:Heh, I read the first half of the post and was going to suggest "Hell, why not get a 4x8 sheet of plexi or other plastic at Menard's and just cut to fit?" So I think you're on the right track there Glad to know I'm not completely out to lunch with the concept.  My thought is a 45 degree angle bracket so there is a slope from the top where the bracket attached to the window housing down to the ground just beyond the edge of the concrete window well for the purposes of water drainage for the reasons you called out. They are not intended to be egress windows anymore; the basement used to be finished as a separate unit (duplex) but several years ago it was converted back into a basement and there is a street-level door out the front if poo poo were to ever get real and immediate egress was needed. Even if I don't paint or treat it for UV, the cost is low enough that needing to replace them once in a while isn't a huge issue. Two of the three don't get that much direct sunlight anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2021 15:05
|
|
|
KS posted:I think the angle bracket attachment may be a problem. Rust lines running down the wall from the angle bracket or fasteners would kinda suck. Indeed, this is a good point and why I'm looking at galvanized, stainless, or whatever to resist rust. Slightly higher upfront cost for better materials is still miles below what the custom fit would be. Zarin posted:Ah okay; so the 45 bracket will have one flat screwed to the house, and the other one will support the upper edge of the plexi? Yup, you've got the idea. The throw from the edge of the window to the front edge of the concrete well is 20.5 inches, so if I mounted it three inches from the base, a (*quickly calculates the hypotenuse*) 21 inch throw should do nicely and be right over the edge. I don't think there'd be a need for additional support. And yeah, 1000 year plan may be pushing both the objective and my ability to build and install correctly. 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2021 15:40
|
|
|
StormDrain posted:I'm going to go against the grain and say you should save up and have custom ones made. It's a part of your home and part of the curb appeal. It will be an exposed structure that tells anyone what the quality of your home maintenence is. Custom formed clear plastic that is properly hinged will be nicer than sheets of acrylic cut to size and off the shelf hinges and fasteners. I think this is solid advice as well, but in my specific case, no one will see any of this with any sort of frequency so I think I'm covered from a "that looks janky as hell" perspective. Curb appeal is important, hence the plan to get the whole of the outside of the house (brick) painted, but no one will see any of the rest of this and it's already nicer than a lot of the houses on the street. The joys of urban living.  And double hell yeah to the water resistant bit; there will be a small gap and that's fine, but the wells won't be full of poo poo and most of the water will be outside and that's the goal.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 7, 2021 17:47
|
|
|
Infinotize posted:So is running romex like this normal or PTSD about the attic of my parent's house growing up right there.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 9, 2021 02:51
|
|
|
In this episode of How The Home Turns, we explore stupid poo poo other people have done. Our new (to us) house is in the style of a Polish flat/duplex that was converted back into single family so the bottom is an open and, other than the concrete floor, unfinished basement. It has some tasteful graffiti on the brick and is generally a pretty cool space. Except for the windows. It's clear that the previous owner (or their tenants) did not feel safe for some reason. Each of the six windows had at least one and sometimes two sets of metal bars attached to the window framing. There are two different brands at play, each with attachment methods that, while unique, all use wood screws. The wood screws used are of varying lengths and sizes. At least 60% of them are stripped beyond all hope of usefulness. Each set of bars has between 12 and 27 screws used. Some of the bars have hinges so that a readily available lock bracket could be used to open and close the bars if and when access was needed. These helpful additions were comprehensively abandoned in favor of putting screws through the hinged area to ensure the bars were not openable from the inside and then stripped to ensure you could never get them off again save for a crowbar the size of Michigan or a small explosion. There are also 2x4 studs mounted horizontally with six screws (two different head types and lengths) at the bottom of each window sill for reasons passing understanding. After much drilling, cursing, leverage, sawing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth I finally got the goddamn things off, only to discover why someone had gone to all the trouble to poorly install them in the first place: three of the six windows don't have locking hardware and could be opened from the outside. That's right, folks: instead of spending $4 to get the standard shim that the window lock mechanism seats into and screwing that into the available holes in the window casing, they spent somewhere between $30 and $70 per window to install bars and then proceeded to gently caress all of it up. 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2021 15:27
|
|
|
RE: Paint chat from a few pages back. I'm getting all of the walls in the house (baseboards and ceilings are fine, roughly 1600sqft) plus three external doors painted for $2400 including paint, and then the entirety of the brick exterior plus trim painted for $4000 plus paint (which is estimated to be about $500). Seems somewhat reasonable for the level of prep work they have to do to the outside.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 14, 2021 15:58
|
|
|
sexy tiger boobs posted:They're where you go to poop. And to think I've been doing it wrong this whole time. In other news, I replaced three fans with two new ones and a light fixture and discovered three different types of electrical, each with a different screw profile, all of which were stripped. They were all installed at the same time (and the fans were all the same) so I really have no idea how these kinds of things happen.  I've fixed it all (other than the electrical boxes) but it's a new adventure every day and I could use a little less of that.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 20, 2021 14:56
|
|
|
Residency Evil posted:My wife, looking at houses: "This one looks nice but we'd need to change the kitchen." It's no joke, man. So glad we didn't go with one of the options we had that would've required a total gut of the kitchen and a bathroom to be added. Hell, I got a quote for $31k to build a 24x24 garage, mostly thanks to lumber costs.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 26, 2021 20:25
|
|
|
PCjr sidecar posted:This is critical; we need someone to shine some light on the situation. I hate you for this. 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2021 01:28
|
|
|
Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Seconding love sac couches as being awesome as hell, and totally worth the money. I haven't done it yet but will be eventually. My cursory research shows that they work fine as long as you aren't plugging them into runs that have a bunch of splitters and whatnot. Thankfully mine will be single cable runs between the adapters so I should (in theory) have less shenanigans.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2021 20:14
|
|
|
Motronic posted:You just moved in. This is the time to make it how you want. Enjoy it. Once I get the garage built, I'm looking to do the same thing. I've seen various mechanisms for attaching the light wire to the pole and/or other structures but I'm very interested in what your specific setup is going to be.
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2021 19:13
|
|
|
GoGoGadgetChris posted:This is what a $26,500 patio looks like in 2021 Do a U shape so you can have a short run from the side that goes across the stairs to the outlet.
|
|
#
¿
May 14, 2021 01:17
|
|
|
Having the ducts cleaned in the new place today. Dude was unscrewing vent covers and pulled out an XBox controller and a Dora the Explorer statue. I poo poo you not. Owning a house that someone else has lived in is nuts.
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2021 20:41
|
|
|
Motronic posted:Yes. Along with "getting someone to actually take the job and show up". Contractors are slammed. The smaller the job the less likely it will get done any time soon. I am living this right now. We're building a garage on the parking pad in the back and running electricity (and Ethernet) to it so I'm having the same electrician do all the stuff in the house that also needs to be done. Same for the plumber my contractor normally uses; while the garage doesn't need plumbing work, there are several things inside the house that do so we're tackling them all at once (fixing a leak in a shower pan, new toilets, plumbing for the new vanity, grounding the gas CSST line, etc.).
|
|
#
¿
May 19, 2021 17:23
|
|
|
GoGoGadgetChris posted:They're a real pane to work with 
|
|
#
¿
May 19, 2021 18:47
|
|
|
Maggie Fletcher posted:We're not planning a bathroom reno for awhile, because it's a small job and we want to pay cash for it, but question for anyone who has used them: have you ever installed a wall mount towel warmer? We have a bucket warmer and we love it (and works better than open-air ones), but the space is tiny and we'd like the real estate back. 1. Do they work OK? 2. Do they actually save space, or are you just banging your head on jutting aluminum bars all the time? We've only had them at Airbnb and nicer hotels in Europe which often run off the boiler so take this with the appropriate boulder of salt, but my wife loves a towel warmer. I wind up banging various appendages on them and suffering in the heat because I'm taller than she is. We don't have one at home but if the option presented itself, she'd be all over it. I don't see how it saves space over a regular towel rack personally.
|
|
#
¿
May 19, 2021 22:01
|
|
|
SpartanIvy posted:My neighborhood is a crazy collage of poo poo and I love it.  Same and it's great. Also Ring and the like are all nearly freely available to law enforcement and the government so I'm wary of it on that basis alone beyond the hackability and whatnot.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2021 19:55
|
|
|
Whoreson Welles posted:In the continuing saga of awful contractor work by the previous owner, none of our front porch posts or columns were lined up or equally distanced, so we have to move a few of them to try and salvage it without completely redoing the entire goddamn thing. loving Gary, man. Yesterday I discovered that the basement lights are on the same circuit as the outlets in the bedroom turned office on the main floor because using an air conditioner in the office while also using a heat gun to peel old paint off the basement window casing tripped the 15A breaker. I know wiring stuff like that is common but it makes no goddamn sense to me whatsoever.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2021 15:43
|
|
|
java posted:I have owned a home for about a week now and already have a full and complete appreciation of the thread title. The struggle is all too real.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2021 12:23
|
|
|
SpartanIvy posted:We really need an asbestos emoticon We have 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 24, 2021 23:07
|
|
|
Just got a quote for $3700 to install a new central A/C unit into our place that already has a full furnace and duct system available. I don't always need air conditioning, but when I do, it's super nice to have so this seems like a worthwhile investment.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2021 21:28
|
|
|
Inner Light posted:That would be a no brainer for me. It would be the first thing my discretionary savings go towards if I couldn't afford it.... 3.7k is still a lot to me. Window units are OK, but man is central AC nice. I started doing the math and when I got a good window unit for the master bedroom ($550) plus a good window unit for my office downstairs ($300), plus the time and effort of installing both of them, that $3700 starts to look even more attractive. I am super fortunate to be in a position to afford this, though.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2021 21:54
|
|
|
Sundae posted:Yeah, I expect that someone will take it and it'll be a web portal. I'm just skittish because I've had a very very bad student loan servicer in the past before I paid everything off, and they made it as hard as they possibly could to actually make a payment. It's one thing to deal with Citibank on a $2K student loan, it's another thing to deal with that on a $650K mortgage where my house can actually be repossessed. (For perspective's sake, it was 2003 and they required payment in person by check at a branch; I couldn't even mail the loving thing to them. I borrowed money from my family to pay it off in one lump just so I could stop dealing with that.) In general there is a lot more regulation around mortgages and how they work from a repayment standpoint so even the shittiest experience generally works well enough for you to submit payments electronically. Over the years I've had Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Flagstar, another one I can't remember, and now Envoy's in-house servicer and they've all gotten the basic job done. Which isn't to say that you won't have a stone cold bitch of an experience, but I'd say the chances are lower than having your servicer gently caress up escrow or whatever. At lot of FS companies are heavily investing in customer experience and digital capabilities because it's a lot cheaper to operate and it makes customers happier in general; some are better at it than others, of course. And even if they do gently caress it up, it takes a whole lot to be able to repossess your house and you should be able to generate ample documentation of their fuckups to arm an attorney to help you solve the problem.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 20, 2021 14:19
|
|
|
devicenull posted:* Bonus anxiety option: Repeatedly check all your doors to make sure they're locked, then continue to worry about it later on The OCD within me recognizes the OCD within you.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2021 01:08
|
|
|
Had the hose bib on the back of the house blow completely out of the goddamn pipe today, spigot and all, spewing water all over the backyard next to the house which immediately found heretofore unknown openings and flowed straight into the basement. Luckily I was able to use the shutoff valve and the basement is (and will remain) unfinished so it wasn't horrific but now I gotta work on getting the basement sealed which was most assuredly not in the budget. Goddamn it. 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 2, 2021 21:59
|
|
|
StormDrain posted:This I want to see. The masochist that is a stalwart resident of the sixth concentric circle of hell (also known as a homeowner) in me does as well, but I sufficed with the recollection of the concrete contractors who were cleaning their equipment after pouring the new sidewalk adjacent to the garage slab that they poured on Saturday. Apparently, the spigot that was on the pipe was itself threaded; repeated use loosened it to the point where the pressure shot the whole unit out like a goddamn harpoon and it landed about eight feet away. After turning off the water, we put it all back in and turned the water on but nothing would come out of it still. I turned the water back off and, upon doing so, noticed a small drop of water coming down the handle of the shutoff valve. Outstanding.  So now I have a plumber coming on Thursday at 8AM to unfuck the whole thing. Then I get to start finding out what it's going to cost to seal all the areas where there was clear water ingress. Rough estimate from my magic eight ball has come back, unsurprisingly, with: Go gently caress Yourself. Isn't being a homeowner the best? 
Beef Of Ages fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Aug 3, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Aug 2, 2021 23:35
|
|
|
freeasinbeer posted:Just bought a 2 story 98 year old two story double(duplex) with tons of deferred maintenance and fun things like knob and tube. Goonspeed. Our place is 140 years old but was totally gutted and everything redone about ten years ago (apparently a tenant at the time set the place on fire, fun!) so we didn't have to deal with any of that silliness.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 7, 2021 20:14
|
|
|
I didn't know that I needed fire extinguisher chat in my life this morning but, after having read through the conversation, I'm loving here for it.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2021 16:52
|
|
|
DaveSauce posted:Getting close! 10/10 would drink beers on that porch. Really nice job.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2021 17:04
|
|
|
tater_salad posted:#1 is huge. You can build some Nice quality 8' 2x4 & OSB shelves somewhat easily for somewhere around $120 I overbuilt mine they can probably hold several adults.. I have some OSB left over from the ongoing garage construction and plan to use it to build a bar and a couple sets of shelves, super easy to do even for a novice like myself.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2021 14:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 17:06 |
|
|
Source4Leko posted:One piece of advice OSB usually gets destroyed if wet while even cheap exterior grade plywood can get wet and dry and be fine as long as you get it dry pretty soon after it gets wet. I know plywood is $$$$ now but just something to consider. This is true, and for the bar surface it will be rough painted and covered in epoxy to prevent that problem.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2021 17:58
|
|