Homeowners: I own 8 different power saws, primarily to attract a mate.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Homeowners: I own 8 different power saws, primarily to attract a mate.

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Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Economic Sinkhole posted:

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.

The economy and especially housing is back to booming for now. Don't worry, those same contractors will be falling all over themselves to kiss your rear end in 3 years when the economy takes an inevitable turn downwards.

# ¿ May 12, 2016 16:44

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 19:29

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

OSU_Matthew posted:

Zestimates piss me off, especially when they're not even close to the recent sales price. Also annoys me all these sites like zillow, redfin, realtor, estately, etc aggregate posting photos from the mls listings and hang onto those photos for all perpetuity, detailing the interior layout and preserving crappy broken things or interiors I've since fixed.

I think you can take ownership of a property and update the photos on most of the sites. I am almost positive that I deleted a bunch of photos of my house from Zillow.

# ¿ May 31, 2016 18:25

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

When I bought my house for 500k, the Zillow estimate was like $330k. It was the only thing that had me at all worried about the price, but everything else made sense including my own experience looking at houses in the market for like 18 months and putting in two offers on other properties.

At some point I took ownership of the house and updated the information on Zillow (3 car garage, city view etc). Over the next year it went from 330k to 690k on a fairly straight line upwards. Then one day the 690k spike was completely erased (and the 6+ months of price increases that got there) with no mention (the chart history was erased as well) and the new price was like 575k. The value of the house remained fairly consistent over that same time period if I had tried to sell it.

Whoever said the thing about property taxes made a good point though - if you are disputing property tax maybe you can trick Zillow into making the opposite change happen. Who knows what assessors use to justify their numbers.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2016 19:08

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Vaporware posted:

I just spent 2 weeks tracing the 2 different cable networks that the PO had installed by directTV/charter/vonage. So tired of that game.

Anyone ever had a low voltage guy install conduit and string pulls in addition to ethernet? I used to pull my own Cat5, but with all the other stuff I need to get done, I'm this close to just paying someone else to do it. And if I'm paying someone else to pull the cable, it sure would be nice if I could get conduit for future pulls.

Obviously this is way past just fishing a couple wall drops, involving drywall work and repaint

I have dealt with a few different low voltage companies for work and home, and I think you will have a hard time finding a low voltage person to install conduit. Even if you did, it would be a huge mess and cost you many times more than just running cable.

My most recent experience was hiring someone to install some PoE security cameras. Two companies wouldn't even do it unless I bought their cameras for way too much money, and the third company was actually good but they basically would not deal with conduit at all. Three (of the 10) security cameras were on a cinderblock fence pointed at my house, and I ended up installing all the stupid flexible conduit myself because I couldn't find anyone to do it and I got sick of looking.

If you really want conduit, you'd probably be better off having an electrician do the work since they deal with that on a daily basis. You might end up terminating the cable yourself depending on the electrician but that's not too hard. In your situation I would probably just run some extra high quality 5e or 6, a couple pull cords, and maybe a coax or two. That should cover any internet service except fiber.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2016 17:20

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Rip Testes posted:

So, basically I don't know what my options are here and how to proceed. I've reached out to the realtor I bought the house from but she's not responding. I was going to call the water company and check for a permit, but if there isn't one I not sure what I should be prepared for next. Suggestions welcomed.

Is that the only water heater in the house, or is it an extra one for the master bedroom?

If it's an extra water heater for the bedroom I would just get rid of it. If it's the only one for the house, I would be looking at simpler options to install a typical tank water heater in a less stupid location, like the basement or garage. Does it look like there was an old water heater installed somewhere else at some point? You might see some unused pipe stubs, or a heat vent with nothing attached to it. You might be able to just un-retrofit whatever the previous owner did and get a standard setup back without spending too much.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2016 00:57

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

I've never installed wood flooring but as long as you have the carpet ripped out I suggest you put several hundred screws through the floor boards into the joists to stop them from warping/creaking and squeaking in the future.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2016 22:15

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

emocrat posted:

Does anyone have a central station fire alarm? If so what did it cost and how difficult was the install? Does anyone know of any non nest IP enabled system? Trying to find all my options to evaluate.

I think your best overall option would be to find a basic central system that works with all the "GE Crystal" aka interlogix sensors. You would have the added benefit of additional alarms (door/window sensors, motion sensors, etc) in the future, and you would have relatively inexpensive sensor options all over eBay that you can install yourself.

It looks like there is something called Ultrasync, which used to be called ZeroWire, that has built in internet connectivity, interlogix sensor support, and also Z-Wave built in so you can add wireless light switches, thermostats, outlets and door locks too. Hard to figure out a price but it seems like the control panel itself would be about $300 and from there you can presumably add things yourself fairly cheaply:

basic sensors $10-$15
smoke alarms $50
outlets $25
light switches $30

Specifically, here are the GE crystal smoke detectors that are completely battery operated so easily installed: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XTX-6010-01-1.TRS0&_nkw=TX-6010-01-1&_sacat=0

# ¿ Jul 22, 2016 12:43

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Buy a bunch of small washers or nuts, or some other kind of circular spacer. Take off the outlet cover and unscrew the outlet and pull it out of the wall while being careful not to touch the metal on the side of the outlet. Use the washers between the outlet screw and the box hole to create a solid area at whatever depth you want the outlets to be.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2016 19:41

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Yeah, my understanding of the ideal attic situation is that it should be exactly the same temperature in your attic as it is outside at all times.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2016 12:22

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Tricky Ed posted:

Just be aware that this kind of system will mean you're keeping a lot more water heated at all times, and most of it will now be in uninsulated pipes. A friend of mine has one and turned it off due to the extra heating costs. His house is larger than average, though.

As best I could tell from calculations and bill observations, mine would cost about $40 per month in extra natural gas cost for a 3500 square foot house if I left it running all the time.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2016 17:23

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

You can replace it with a photoelectric smoke detector for about $20. They are less prone to false alarms like you are describing, and you can get a hardwired one or a strictly battery operated one depending on what you are replacing.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2016 18:16

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Take it off the ceiling, find the model number and look it up online.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2016 18:20

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

I am pretty happy with my combination of Blue Iris software and Hikvision PoE cameras (DS-2CD2342WD-I and DS-2CD2042WD-I). It's relatively cheap and nice quality stuff. The cameras are mounted directly to the side of the house with ethernet running directly to them through the wall - no need for conduit or junction boxes.

I did mount a couple away from my house on a concrete fence and used some flexible conduit and junction boxes, but it was a big pain in the rear end to find all the right parts to make it work nicely so you should try to avoid that if possible.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2016 21:52

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Rurutia posted:

Eugh we checked around and every other place is around the same and they only carry State. We're going to go with this 1400 one since at least they offer Rheem.

I don't get why home maintenance poo poo is so much more expensive here than the col implies.

Did you check with home depot for a full installation quote? A 50 gallon 6 year Rheem gas water heater by itself costs about $500, so someone is charging you almost $1000 to install that water heater. That is definitely not correct - replacing an existing gas water heater is maybe a 2 hour job on a bad day, and installation should be more in the $200-$400 range.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2016 15:49

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

HEY NONG MAN posted:

Regarding cable drops: I have them all over my house but realistically, don't I just need one drop? I don't have cable television and never plan to get it.

Is it dumb to remove the drops I dont need? They're mostly run on the exterior of my house and are distracting/ugly.

If it would be relatively easy to make the same run in the future I would pull them (e.g. it just pokes out a wall and goes around the exterior of your house and comes back in somewhere). If you have coax that runs through your house, and it seems like it would be impossible to make that pull without cutting some drywall, I would probably just leave it alone. Most cable and satellite TV uses coax, and you can always use it as a last resort to run ethernet over coax if you need a wired connection (EoC will be better than those goofy powerline things that some people buy).

But most runs (especially ones that are on the outside of your house) are easy to redo if you ever needed to for some reason, so I wouldn't hesitate to clean that crap up.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2016 18:40

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Sliding closet doors usually overlap about 2 inches, and the kits usually come with a single guide piece for the floor which assumes the overlap is there. From the way you describe it, I assume you have a double door setup - so a total size of 72 inches, each door is 36 inches. If you wanted to turn those into sliders, you might have to buy an extra floor guide piece, and it might look a little funny when they are closed because there wouldn't be any overlap.

A sliding door kit at home depot costs like $1xx - two doors plus hardware. I would probably just buy a new set instead of trying to convert existing doors that have hinge cutouts and knob holes already in them, and aren't quite as wide as they should be.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/72-in-x-81-in-Colonial-White-Prefinished-Hardboard-Panels-Steel-Framed-Interior-Sliding-Door-Colonial/202089890

# ¿ Dec 27, 2016 18:08

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

big trivia FAIL posted:

I've got natural gas run outside currently hooked up to a 20 year old post grill that doesn't work. I want to pull it out, put down pavers, and get a new grill. How do the Webers do with NG conversion (or do they make them direct NG without the conversion kit??) - I can't find coherent info on it.

People definitely make natural gas grills (not sure about Weber specifically) - you will probably have to order one because I don't think they are stocked at Home Depot. You can probably order one online, or from a local patio/outdoor store.

# ¿ Jan 25, 2017 17:06

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

SnatchRabbit posted:

Couple quick questions that my local hardware store couldn't answer.

1. I am having a sump pump installed in my basement this week. One of the primary concerns is that when we get heavy rain we also sometimes lose power. The pump itself operates on a standard power outlet. The plumber says I just need an uninterruptible power supply. Is this the same kind of UPS I could use for a server? Obviously it needs to be in a dry spot but can anyone recommend one?

2. We also want to buy a generator. How much power/what model would we need to run the furnace/some electronics on a barebones basis? Again what kinda wattage would I need? Is there a standard way to plug the generator into the furnace? Our furnace is 15-20 years old so I have no idea if this is even possible.

edit: ok I lied three questions:

3. Should I take out a home equity line of credit for reasons other than home improvement? I read that in order for the interest to be tax deductible, the line of credit has to be under $100,000. Does this mean, the total amount of debt that we wind up borrowing has to be under $100,000 or that the entire line of credit (even if we don't use the entire amount available) has to be under $100k?

1. I am not 100% positive, but I believe this is bad advice from the plumber - I think you want to buy a special sump pump that comes with a battery, not a computer UPS.

2. You don't talk about what kind of heat your furnace uses, but a generator to power your HVAC is going to be pretty expensive to install. The only ones that are practical for a typical suburban house are natural gas generators - and at that point you are relying on a separate utility to power your house which always seemed kind of weird to me. If you live in a country type house you could get a diesel generator, but they are dirty and expensive and a pain in the rear end to maintain. If you already have natural gas heat anyway, you might consider something like a Tesla Powerwall getting installed to power the furnace fan and some selected circuits - it will probably be cheaper and a lot less of a hassle. Honestly, solar + powerwall is a better solution at this point than a diesel generator for a residential house IMO.

3. Why would you bother to do that?

# ¿ Feb 1, 2017 05:02

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

BusinessWallet posted:

Wondering what kind of recourse we have here, if any, and what the hell we can even do to make the situation better. People have suggested hat channel and another layer of drywall, but this is tough/impossible with the configuration of the house, the way the stairs are set up and how narrow the house is. I really want to avoid paying for this as much as possible because the house was expensive and they should have done a better job. The builder is pretty well known and he doesn't seem to give a poo poo about his reputation. I don't know of a way where we could just sell the house without getting financially destroyed, and what kind of obligation we'd have to disclose all this poo poo to a potential buyer scares me.

Does the drywall go all the way up above the ceiling, or is the space inside the ceiling basically open to the other units? As loud as you describe it, this is my first guess. Sound can get into your ceiling cavity through light fixtures and vent openings and just float over into the other units. The fix for this is messy but easy - tear down enough drywall to properly do the job, and patch it all back up.

Are the vents/ducts on the walls between the units? The sound will get into the cavity between the units and pretty freely permeate. I doubt this is the case because it wouldn't be so loud 2 doors down if this was the problem though.

The way you describe it, I doubt that just layering on a second or third layer of drywall will help. If you can hear high-pitched noise clearly in the other units then it isn't going through the drywall - there are open spaces somewhere.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2017 22:36

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

BusinessWallet posted:

The drywall does go up above the ceiling. There are no shared ceiling joists, there's an air gap between each house and the space inside the ceiling on each floor is specific to each unit. The sound doesn't seem to come from the floor or the ceiling, just straight through the wall.

There are no vents or ducts on my wall, they're all in the floor. The return for the house next door is in their wall, however.

We don't hear as much high pitched as we do mids and lows, but occasionally if something is loud enough, we do hear it all.

Maybe the same theory, but in the space below the floor? Are you able to pop out a floor vent and see what kind of structure exists under the floor between your unit and your neighbor?

The return in the wall could be causing your problems too, because who knows how much damage they did to the layers of drywall and insulation between the units when they put the duct work in for it - but you describe it as being so loud that it seems like even 1 complete layer of drywall would do a better job of blocking sound that what you are experiencing.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2017 22:57

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

BusinessWallet posted:

The floor is built the same way. I can actually see the assembly in the basement in the part that is unfinished.

I'd agree with you on the drywall/insulation damage thing with the ductwork insulation, but the issue is just as bad in the bedrooms where there's nothing but insulation in the walls.

Can you replicate the issue by standing outside an exterior wall and talking? Does the sound permeate through an exterior wall as well as it does between units? If so, then you are probably right and it's somehow crappy wall construction that is allowing for the sound to transfer though.

I would probably just move if I was confident that the walls themselves were the problem.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2017 23:11

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

willie_dee posted:

All of which would be covered under the NHBC warranty?

No need to be sarcastic.

My sisters carpet started coming up in a corner in her apartment 3 years after she purchased it, she got the whole carpet replaced completely free of charge.

If you have a warranty, all you are doing is paying in advance for 10 years worth of low quality fixes to be done to your property, plus the warranty company profit margin. You can buy plenty of home warranties in the US too - but if you are happy with the cheapest/lowest quality repairs and improvements being (maybe) done on your place after harassing the warranty company to do them, then you may as well just keep renting.

Edit: that warranty looks like it is for new homes only?

# ¿ Feb 20, 2017 18:17

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

While we're on the topic of how great EU construction is (??), what is up with the stupidly tiny washer/dryer units that every Euro apartment I rent seems to have? Is doing 3 loads of laundry instead of 1 some kind of soothing family activity where people watch the tiny bin spin around for 3 hours? I know those tiny units can't possibly be that much cheaper or save much space compared to a normal sized one.

The last apartment I rented in Amsterdam some dumb plumber broke a pipe in the unit 2 floors up and flooded everything. I went up there to let him know in a mostly friendly not caring because it's not my stupid apartment way, and he spent 10 minutes arguing with me that it wasn't his fault and it was probably just a coincidence. I eventually just started yelling at him TURN OFF THE WATER RIGHT NOW repeatedly and he didn't know how to do it. He had ripped out part of the wall to do his work and everything appeared to be framed out with 1x3 sized lumber.

# ¿ Feb 20, 2017 18:48

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

willie_dee posted:

I am not worried about that, if things ever turned sour my lawyer has insured I will be protected.

Fozzy The Bear posted:

You can then figure out later how much per month to charge your girlfriend in rent to live with you.

willie_dee posted:

my lawyer/solicitor/attorney has done the due diligence in protecting my deposit as mine, ensuring that if we do break up and have to sell, I will get that back.

willie_dee posted:

Buying a house together is far more of a commitment financially anyway, but neither of us really believe in marriage.

On this week's Lifetime movie for millennials - how true is their love for eachother? Will Randy give Cheryl a 10% discount on this month's rent so she can eat, or will he maintain the integrity of their legal cohabitation agreement? Tune in Friday for the shocking conclusion with guest appearance by Judge Judy to sign off on the temporarily modified agreement of mutual expectations performed by current housing parter.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2017 04:38

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

brugroffil posted:

What is the point of an elaborate home CCTV system?

Maybe they can see it by connecting securely to a home VPN server and then looking at the cameras on the "local" network.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2017 03:57

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

I use mine to to check a few things when I'm away from my house on vacation.

Is my pool overflowing/losing water?
Is my pool equipment spouting a stream of water from around the pumps?
Have any of my shade sails ripped in half and flapping in the wind, banging a metal chain everywhere?
Does all my stuff look undisturbed/unrobbed?
If my alarm went off, is it a false alarm or is someone actually trying to break in?
Is there an unexpected package sitting on my doorstep?
If my doorbell rings, I can see who it is without going to the door so I can ignore most people without seeming rude, since they can see through the glass.
Did I remember to close my garage?
If someone is working on my house, I can often make sure they aren't loving something up without being annoying and hovering over them.

There are probably useful things I get out of them, but I mainly like to make sure everything is OK with the house when I'm not in it. I usually check once a day when I'm on a trip, takes a couple minutes.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2017 04:09

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

QuarkJets posted:

that all just sounds like self-voyeurism to me

Don't get me wrong there are some definite practical applications there but some of these ideas are definitely just "I like to watch the spaces in my home"

Most people have lovely houses that wouldn't warrant any kind of security or remote monitoring, so I can see where you are coming from too.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2017 04:24

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

How much do these cameras actually cost? My wife keeps making noise about getting motion detecting stuff/cameras.

I paid about $125 per camera for hikvision 4k, $200 for a PoE router, $60 for Blue Iris, and about $1000 for two low voltage guys to help me install 10 cameras over 2 days.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2017 08:24

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

QuarkJets posted:

$2500 for a DYI CCTV system seems kind of high, don't most security companies only charge a few hundred dollars for a full installation? I guess those usually come with pretty long monitoring contracts

According to a google search I spent 10 seconds on:

How much to install security cameras?
The average cost of a 4 channel HD Camera system is around $1000.00 and it will take about 8-12 hours to install the system that is connected to the Internet for remote monitoring. The average labor rate per hour is ~75.00.

According to actual research I did when I set up my system, companies quoted about $500/camera for a complete install of their own camera, which lines up pretty perfectly with that google search snippet. I don't know if they also try to charge you a fee to monitor it after that, I never went that far down the road with them.

I also forgot the reason most people seem to want security cameras, which is so they can watch their stupid dogs all day while they are at work.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2017 16:37

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

baquerd posted:

A pool is similar, just more expensive and with more automated treatments as I understand it.

I found my hot tub to be far more annoying than my pool. Maybe because my pool has a small leak somewhere which prevents all the bad things from building up in the water, so I never have to really drain any water, just pay a bit more in chemicals every year to keep the levels right. Draining and refilling the hot tub twice a year was annoying.

Both things came with the house, and I got rid of the hot tub about 4 months ago and I am surprised by how much less annoying stuff there is to deal with now. Plus, the pool is actually nice to look at. I also think it's hard to find a professional company to take care of a hot tub because people are gross and the hot tub water gets way nastier than pool water.

I agree with your $400 estimate, and if your hot tub is in decent condition you could sell it privately or to a hot tub dealer - you won't really get much money out of it but at least it will be gone.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2017 01:23

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

I got some pretty serious seepage and I have like an inch of water in my basement. I have a wet-dry vac but apparently 16 gallons is not as much water as it sounds like and it feels like I am hardly making a dent. What can I do to get this water out short of paying someone a gazillion dollars to come out and pump it?

I guess the good news is that seepage is specifically mentioned as a covered problem in my home's warranty

Buy a pump like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018LRUDUU?ref=emc_b_5_i, make sure it can clear the water down to a very low level (1/8th inch or 1/16th inch).

Don't you already have a sump pump somewhere, since you have a basement? It should already be pumping out the water for you.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2017 23:29

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

therobit posted:

One wonders how people managed to cook meat indoors for loving centuries without a vent hood. Y'all have had too cushy a life if you have never had to smell dinner cooking.

I like to use this exact same argument against electricity, plumbing, and horseless carriages.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2017 04:11

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

QuarkJets posted:

The presence of a range hood isn't what's controversial here, but rather the lack of one. Apparently. A lot of posters seem to think that kitchens without range hoods just reek of old meat all the time but that's only true if you're a messy cook

I own two metal spatulas and a couple of cast iron things (wok, pan, dutch oven) that use them, seems like a good combo

People are saying that if you cook lots of bacon without a range hood over a long period of time a greasy nasty residue will build up on all your kitchen cabinets and walls.

I bought a house with a range hood and this can apparently happen despite having a fancy vented hood with 3 blower speeds that vents directly outside. I have no idea how the previous owners managed it - I assume they didn't bother to turn the thing on. Cleaning grease off of cabinets is a pain in the rear end.

I now assume that everyone's house is covered in bacon grease and they are somehow unaware of it.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2017 22:12

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Elysium posted:

Is there a goon recommendation for a cordless drill for various DIY house projects? The rest of the internets suggests Dewalt or Milwaulkee, although this list suggests Bosch. Most of that list also is the smaller 12v drills, and not the 18v ones. I get that they are lighter and cheaper, but should I get an 18v one just in case I do something that needs more power? Is it worth it to also get a dedicated driver?

I would get a 20V Dewalt one - and the driver has been almost useless to me as a homeowner, but I do use a hammer drill occasionally for concrete and steel so you might consider just buying a hammer drill in the first place. Something like this kit I guess (I haven't researched which 20V hammerdrill is best though) https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCD98...0V+hammer+drill

I have mostly Dewalt 18V XRP tools, but they are killing off the 18V line so they aren't worth buying.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2017 17:17

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

Does "driver" mean impact driver? Even if you don't really "need" one to do whatever you're doing they're a lot nicer to use if you're driving tons of screws because they don't cam out as easily.

Yeah I was talking about an impact driver, useless was a strong word - I have used mine occasionally but as a homeowner doing small stuff I pretty much just predrill and then just switch the bit on the same drill I grabbed when I started.

If I was building decks or installing closets all day I would use it all the time I'm sure.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2017 02:19

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

ex post facho posted:

Correct, I have an existing forced air furnace and ducting.

I asked about why not 200A, and the inspector said the vast majority of homes never come close to 200A unless you're using a ton of additional electrical equipment/appliances regularly, which I am not. I've also made it a point to use HE lighting and other appliances throughout. Only two people live in my home and that will be all for the forseeable future.

That said I'm not opposed to a 200A, bur it seems unnecessary if I can get away with 150A. All told after taxes I'm looking at $6,800.

If you only have a single 3 ton AC unit you will probably never have a problem at 150A. On the other hand, if your existing meter and street feed are already big enough to support a 200A panel, it might only cost you like $50 more to get the bigger panel.

If the only difference in the job was literally paying extra for the bigger main breaker panel, I would go with the 200 personally. Running out of space/capacity three years from now because you wanted to save $50 would be really annoying.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2017 20:07

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

wooger posted:

Need some help with blinds/curtains for a square bay window on the lounge at the front of my house.

Window is only about 15ft from the street and it's big (central section is 90"x60"). House is also a little lower grade than the street, so we need some privacy, while still letting in light. Plus something to keep the cold out.

I'm thinking of a screen/mesh type roller blind that rolls up from the bottom - for privacy in the day. Then maybe some thicker curtains or roman blinds for night time.

Anything else that would work better?

For heavy thermal/blackout/sound curtains I really like these from Amazon/Half Price Drapes/Exclusive Fabrics on Overstock. They are cheap and they make some colors in a 100 inch wide panel if you have really big windows. Make sure you buy the SIGNATURE ones so you get the heavy blackout version.

https://www.amazon.com/Half-Price-D...rapes+signature

# ¿ Apr 22, 2017 17:51

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

How much bleach did you dump in there? The right dose to sanitize a 500 gallon hot tub would be like less than 30 ounces.

If I had to clean a disgusting 3 year old hot tub I would probably fill it up with clean water and some specialized cleaner or Cascade dishwasher powder, run it for at least a few hours, drain all the water, and then refill with clean water and follow the process here using bleach and a chlorine test kit: https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

Alternatively, hot tubs are a huge pain in the rear end and you should just get rid of it.

Edit: and replace the filter between the two refills.

Droo fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Apr 26, 2017

# ¿ Apr 26, 2017 16:12

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

Frown Town posted:

Apparently it's a self cleaning thing that doesn't need maintenance, but I'm kind of wondering if the previous owners were draining the old one off every few years to extend the life of that thing. Does anyone regularly drain their newer water heater or check on anode rods or whatever? Or is it pretty much set it and forget it?

I live in Vegas which has very hard water (somewhere in the 18-25 range for a water softener setting, about 500 on a TDS meter). I hook a hose up to the drain on my water heater every 3-6 months and I change the anode rod every 2-3 years. Both are easy assuming you have enough clearance over your heater to easily remove the anode rod.

If you have good quality water, you probably don't need to do anything to it but it wouldn't hurt to drain it from the bottom once a year anyway.

# ¿ May 11, 2017 00:56

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 19:29

Droo: Jun 25, 2003

BusinessWallet posted:

I've got a 3 story with finished basement new construction townhouse corner unit - 1900 sq ft of total living space and was built last year. The HVAC system is new, with a 3-ton condenser. It seems to struggle to keep the house cool, consumes a lot of electricity and runs more than it should, so I'm trying to narrow down reasons why this might be.

The two supply trunks are run from the basement where the air handler is through two 16 inch 2x4 stud bays in the exterior wall. More on that later. One of the trunks stops in the first-floor living room where the grille is, the other goes up two stories to the third-floor hallway. (Here's a photo of the supply trunks before they were drywalled - https://i.imgur.com/6fguakM.jpg) You can see how the trunk on the right terminates at the ceiling, and the left one goes into the ceiling and up to the third floor. When they installed the supply grille for the first floor (pictured here - https://i.imgur.com/aobG3Ho.jpg) they for whatever reason cut the drywall about 6 inches into the third floor supply trunk on the left.

I'm wondering if this is a design flaw, I can't understand why you would want to partially open up the third-floor trunk on the first floor, seems like it would just rob pressure potential from the third floor supply and make the system less efficient.

Another thing I realized is that the supply trunks are running up the entire side of the house, and since they take up two entire stud bays, there is no insulation. The exterior wall is clad in metal siding, and it is a southern facing wall, so I'm assuming these trunks are taking on a decent amount of heat from the siding and bringing it into the system, reducing efficiency.

Lastly I noticed they ran Romex through the supply trunks, can see that in the first link. Is that kosher?

I'm not an HVAC person, but it seems like two 15x4 inch bays is not enough input air for a 3 ton unit. I have a 4 ton unit in my house, and it has two 20x20 air filters that it sucks air through. An HVAC company could rectify this by adding a large supply vent near the unit (sounds like it is in your attic/third floor?) to provide more air.

Obviously a unit can also struggle if you have dirty filters, or filters that are too high a MIRV rating - don't use the crazy MIRV 10+ filters, just buy a decent quality MIRV7/8 filter and change it often enough.

I also had the exact symptoms you describe when my unit was low on refrigerant - it ran for way too long and couldn't keep up. You can kind of check this yourself in a couple ways - measure the temperature drop between the supply air and the output air at a vent near the unit, it should be 20 degrees or more. Or go out to the condenser and feel the refrigerant pipe as it goes into the unit - it should be ice cold. If there is a low level of refrigerant it will feel warm.

# ¿ May 19, 2017 18:35

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Homeowners: I own 8 different power saws, primarily to attract a mate.

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