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I noticed some soot on my gas fireplace logs so I was going to vacuum them off and adjust the intake/put the logs back the way they are supposed to be. Hmm there are only 4 logs and there should be 6. And these 4 logs aren't even from the correct set. And the grill they are sitting on isn't even the right grill for this fireplace. So I take all that stuff out and order the right replacement parts, and then I notice that someone has apparently sawed off parts of the burner assembly and some of those parts are required to like, hold up the logs that are supposed to be with this fireplace. So I go and find the replacement part to THAT and order it, order gets cancelled because apparently they don't make it any more. Call the company that says the part doesn't exist and talk to the hugest loving prick I have ever talked to in my entire life trying to figure out a solution. He says there is no new part, it's discontinued forever, he doesn't know when it got discontinued, there is nothing I can do I just have to buy a new fireplace and rip everything all out, he can't give me the height of the one important bracket I could weld back on because that's SECRET INFORMATION that he is not allowed to share, he whines about the call taking 20 minutes (whose loving fault is that you clown). Finally after 25 minutes I get him to tell me the model of a current fireplace that might have the same shell (so theoretically I could just replace all of the gas parts without ripping out the whole shell) and I look it up and ITS THE EXACT SAME GODDAMN FIREPLACE AS MINE BEING CURRENTLY MANUFACTURED AND SOLD UNDER A DIFFERENT BRAND NAME. I look in the manual for the replacement burner to this new current one and it lists the same goddamn part number I already tried to order which is discontinued, and the loving assclown on the phone says "that's a typo" and for the next five minutes loving REFUSES to tell me what the current replacement part number is for some reason and then hangs up on me. So anyway gently caress you fireplace guy and gently caress whatever moron destroyed half my fireplace and stole the goddamn logs that were supposed to go with it for some reason. Edit: I was able to order the burner under the new brand/number just fine once I talked to the dealer so hopefully everything will be good in 1-3 months when this moronic company sends it out to me. Droo fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Oct 25, 2018 |
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Oct 25, 2018 21:43
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Queen Victorian posted:All four of my fireplaces are boarded up, but it looks like they all had gas inserts at one point. Also I peeked behind the board on one and it was full of bird skeletons (really need to get the chimney guy out for some chimney caps). You probably have real fireplaces with flues and stuff, as opposed to the fireplace-in-a-box thing that is more common in new houses. If they have already been converted to gas, your best bet is to take pictures of every setup and go to a fireplace store and discuss getting fake log sets for each fireplace. With a real chimney that has been converted to gas, you will have tons of options and can pick the log set you want for each one. The only downside is they are less efficient and you will still need to get your chimneys cleaned and inspected occasionally (although not like if you burned wood in them). I think it would cost about $500-$1000 per chimney to buy a nice log set and have it installed and have the chimney checked out and cleaned, assuming you already have a gas source available at each chimney. I have had a wood burning fireplace, converted it to gas, and now I have a prefab fireplace in a box at a new house. The real gas fireplace was probably the nicest looking and least pain in the rear end to deal with.
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Oct 26, 2018 05:47
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enraged_camel posted:Yeah, the plumber suggested getting a water sensor and putting it on the floor next to the heater so that it starts beeping if it detects water. For what it's worth I just got informal quotes for $1300/$1800/$2300 for a 50 gallon / 50 gallon high recovery / 75 gallon installed. Those quotes are probably about 25% too high because I wasn't really negotiating and plumbers are all busy here now so they can charge whatever they want. In the past I have paid a contractor friend $500 and a more annoying but less professional plumber $600 to replace a cheap 50 gallon water heater, both times that included them taking my old one to some magic warranty place where they just got to drive away with a free replacement. A tankless installation will probably run close to $3,000.
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Nov 6, 2018 23:32
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Jealous Cow posted:Why did you repost this from reddit? Good question sir, surely we will need to greatest detective of all time to figure this mystery out
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Dec 17, 2018 22:41
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Kritzkrieg Kop posted:What are some of your favorite ways of dealing with hard water? Inside of my shower looks like dried milk sometimes. Install a good quality water softener
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Dec 27, 2018 20:06
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brugroffil posted:Started looking into some sort of wireless interconnected smoke/CO2 alarms since my house was built in the 80's and just has a bunch of stand alone units. I'd really rather not have to run wiring all over the house, so I was looking at these: I recently replaced mine and I wasn't able to find an alarm that did both kinds of fire AND carbon monoxide - it seemed like only combinations of up to 2 types were available. I ended up buying combination Ionization/CO smoke alarms for my hardwired house and adding a wireless PV smoke alarm on each floor connected to my home security system to get full coverage. If you are just installing battery operated ones in the first place you can just buy a couple different styles to achieve the same thing. One thing I learned during the process is that typical CO alarms have a hilariously high threshold for CO before they start going off - something like 100 PPM where adverse health effects can start occurring after prolonged exposure to 10ppm. You can buy a more sensitive alarm but it will cost about $150.
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Dec 30, 2018 05:56
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PitViper posted:Apparently I'm not able to use anything more than the cheapest fiberglass furnace filters in my brand new Bryant HE furnace... Because my builder's HVAC guys used a 16x20x1 filter when the manual for the furnace recommends a minimum of a 2" thick pleated filter for minimum pressure drop. Your best outcome would be to make them install a box for a 5 inch media filter on the furnace at the input, if there is room. Also, depending on where your filter sits you might be able to just modify something to make a wider one fit in there. If a brand new Merv 5 filter causes it to break I think you have bigger problems though, and you might need to increase the size/number of air returns into your system. Also make sure all your output vents are open - sometimes people close lots of vents and that screws it all up too.
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Jan 14, 2019 19:26
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PitViper posted:Using even a merv5 Nordic Pure I don't think Nordic Pure makes a Merv 5 filter - are you sure that's what you have? Maybe it is a higher rating than you think.
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Jan 14, 2019 20:16
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How weird would it be if you hired a professional to do some work and they showed up with a plug-in drill or something.
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Jan 18, 2019 08:52
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Medullah posted:New house, first time I've had an automatic garage door opener since I lived at home - it's not opening all the way at first, goes up two or three feet, stops, I hit the button it goes down again. Usually repeat once or twice and it opens fine. I don't see any obvious obstructions on the tracks, should there be anything I'm looking at short of greasing the skids? There are a few things you should do: 1. Your garage door opener should have two sets of adjustment screws (four screws). One set controls how far the door goes when it opens and closes. Your want the garage door when closing to just barely touch the floor, not slam into the floor at high speed. If it slams into the floor at high speed, when you open it it will cause vibrations that could make the motor think it's stuck and stop part way up. 2. Clean the tracks and door hinges using light machine oil or silicone spray lubricant. Do not use WD40. 3. If your tracks are all moving metal parts are clean, and the open/close distances are set correctly, then you can use the other set of adjuster screws to increase the power the motor uses to open. You don't want to do this unless you are pretty sure everything else is good though, because increasing this setting could mask a problem and cause your motor to burn out.
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Jan 19, 2019 20:42
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opengl128 posted:Is there a hose thats not a piece of crap thats actually lightweight/flexible? Anything sold by Eley is really good. I dunno how lightweight you are looking for though.
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Jan 23, 2019 22:48
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Anonymous Zebra posted:This is incredibly frustrating, and I feel like I must be doing something wrong here. My homeowner's insurance agent is asking me for a quote, but no one will just tell me a number for the subfloor. Contractors are all busy right now because the economy is good and building is up, I doubt you are doing anything wrong. You could try going in to some bathroom showrooms and talk to the salespeople inside about a general bathroom rehab and mention that you think the floor might have water damage - they probably have relationships and can get the ball rolling on some quotes. I have also had luck asking the people who turn down the work if they have any recommendations for who I could call.
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Mar 27, 2019 21:43
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novamute posted:Putting up some floating bookshelves and drilled through some wiring behind a stud. If I were you I would cut enough drywall out to put a proper electrical box in there, and splice the wires together inside the box. You can then put a solid cover on it. Not much more work than what you were planning, it would satisfy code as far as I know, and your outlet would still work. I think they sell retrofit boxes that are able to install this way without having to patch any drywall afterwards (they definitely sell low voltage plastic ones like this, even using one of those would be better than nothing).
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Apr 8, 2019 20:56
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Water softeners use 50-150 gallons per regeneration, and regeneration should run every 1500-3000 gallons of water used (5-10 days probably) depending on how hard your water is. If yours is using 200+ gallons every night then something is wrong with it. https://web.archive.org/web/20101007181800/http://www.watervalue.com/softener_regen_water_usage.html
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Apr 16, 2019 14:46
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Mizaq posted:I sure hope their "smart" meter isn't hosed or I'm chasing shadows. Landscape irrigation system? Crazy neighbor using a hose? City "smart" meter applying the full day of water use to just that 1 hour block?
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Apr 18, 2019 16:10
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How much water does it take to dig up a bunch of gasoline, burn the gasoline mining iron ore, refine it into washing machine components, ship the components to a factory somewhere, build a new washing machine, box it up, ship it to the distributor and then have it delivered to my house, and transport my old one to a dump somewhere?
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Apr 23, 2019 21:26
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Sirotan posted:Saving water seems like a cool and good thing to do, imho. You seem to have missed my point - all the water your washing machine uses flows back into your sewage line and returns to the city to be treated and reused in a happy cycle. All the oil that got burned to pointlessly manufacture a new version of something you had that was working fine, on the other hand, is now gone or turned into CO2 and other bad things. As far as the pure financial aspect of it, I pay about $0.05 for 25 gallons of water so assuming a nice new washer is about $750 I will break even after 15,000 loads.
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Apr 23, 2019 22:07
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Irritated Goat posted:Would there be a nice roundabout figure I could go with? I know cost of living changes things but even a ballpark would be nice. It sounds like a small job and you will probably have a hard time finding someone to do it without paying quite a bit more than it's worth in this market during summer - if you don't already have a relationship with a landscaping company you might want to just do it yourself. I have a landscaping group I am happy with, I trust them to do everything from remove a plant to repair a PVC connection without screwing it up and as a very wide ballpark I probably end up paying $30-$40 per guy per hour, and I am happy with it. I only have them trim stuff twice a year and try to include any new planting/lighting/irrigation stuff at the same time though.
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May 21, 2019 19:08
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Sepist posted:My tenants Samsung French door refridgerator had the freezer stop functioning 2 years in. I put in forced defrost mode for a while then reset it but it's still not freezing. I've already ordered a replacement fridge but does anyone have any experience fixing something like this? Were gonna out it in the garage for extra fridge storage but it would be nice to get freeze functionality back. Samsung french door refrigerators have a fairly common problem where the drain line gets clogged and causes a bunch of problems, you could search online for pictures to see if that's the same problem you are having and how to fix it. A tankless upgrade will cost around $3,000. Tankless systems need a bigger gas pipe from the meter than most existing heaters usually have so it can be fairly disruptive or even just not worth upgrading, depending on how far apart those two things are and what's in between.
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May 29, 2019 14:08
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Chimp_On_Stilts posted:As a new homeowner, I'm afraid to break them. Is there some secret to prying them off? Should I just apply more force and if it breaks buy a new one? The cover is a single piece of plastic, it can't be too expensive. I'm guessing under $15. They are called screwless wall plates, you can find videos online for how to remove various kinds. For example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV0T3CFFyzA If you break it you can replace it with a normal one for like $3 from a hardware store. But on the new one you will be able to see the screws so your social status will be greatly reduced.
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Jun 18, 2019 16:16
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Chimp_On_Stilts posted:Any suggestions for what to check? Meanwhile, I am leaving the windows open and the alarm is not going off currently. Residential carbon monoxide alarms generally require a lot of carbon monoxide to go off, well past the point of levels that could harm someone if they were exposed to it for a long time. For example my combo smoke/CO alarm only alerts me if it detects >100ppm, whereas a more expensive detector can detect as low as 5ppm. In your situation I would think about calling a professional or buying a better "low level" detector and moving it around the house (let it sit for a few hours in different spots). They are usually around $150 but this one detects down to 10ppm and is only $80: https://www.trutechtools.com/Defend...AiABEgJSePD_BwE Also keep in mind that both smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors should be replaced every 7-10 years so you should check the age on the ones in your new house and replace if necessary. Droo fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Jun 18, 2019 |
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Jun 18, 2019 18:48
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Yeah it's probably always worth the money to have a backup, battery operated pump installed in the same pit and maybe also set a wireless smart water alarm on the edge in case somehow both fail.
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Jun 20, 2019 20:24
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Solar panels don't start to look interesting economically until at least ~$0.20/kwh, and even then you always have the risk of your utility company screwing you over in year 2,3,4,etc if your numbers counted on them reimbursing you for excess power provided to the grid. Air conditioners use so much power that you can't really happily run your whole house including AC indefinitely, unless you install like 4 powerwalls and a huge amount of solar cells on the roof. The technology has been getting better and definitely cheaper, but on the other hand the same stuff basically existed 30 years ago so I'm not holding my breath waiting for a breakthrough.
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Jul 12, 2019 16:42
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EVG posted:Any other insight? Is the fridge already twisted as much as possible so that the back is against the right wall and the front left hits the countertop? What part of the refrigerator is hitting the wall problematically, the hinge corner of the door or the handle? If the countertop is the only thing stopping you from twisting it a bit more, you could pay a granite place to cut about 1/4-1/2" off the edge of that countertop and polish it up. Hard to tell from the pictures how much of an overhang you have there though, or if that would give you enough wiggle room to mostly solve the problem (you will probably never be able to get the drawer completely out without shimmying the fridge out a few feet). Edit: you could also maybe flip the door on that bottom cabinet so it's less annoying to open, just use a little wood putty/wood stain pen to fill in the hole from the pull after you flip it. Hard to tell how much of a problem flipping the hinges to the other side is from the pictures too though. Looks like you might be able to leave the hinges in the door and just rotate it 180 degrees too, since the design looks the same whether the door is upside down or not. Droo fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Aug 8, 2019 |
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Aug 8, 2019 23:44
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I have a samsung fridge that looks basically just like that and if I pretend a wall is in the way, I'm still able to open the drawer about 8 inches and reach everything inside it with the right door half open - I think if he levels it and pushes the front as left as possible it will probably be fine. You can use the leveling feet in front to fix it, or you might have to slide an old rubber mat or something under the whole right half if the floor is crooked.
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Aug 9, 2019 21:57
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Anonymous Zebra posted:I don't even know where to start with diagnosing the issue. The HVAC unit is serviced once every 6 months (so twice since we moved in), and it's latest service was this July, which it passed easily. The house was built in the 1940's and the little vents are kinda small and don't blow a lot of air out. I'm not really sure at this point how to cool my place down. There is a big list of stuff that could be wrong, most of which any HVAC technician should be able to tell you. Have you asked the person who services it? * Unit could be undersized for the house. Sounds like it should be a 5 ton unit, how big is it? * House could have poo poo insulation in every wall/window (this sounds like the most likely scenario based on heating up so fast) * Filter could need to be changed, and make sure it's a low MERV filter that you change every month or two * Outside condenser coils could be covered in dirt and other crap, hose them off * Unit could be broken somehow, but if it was just serviced and it's blowing 60 degree air when it's 85 degrees outside it sounds fine * If you have untinted windows that you don't cover in any way, the sun alone could be your whole problem Your next step is probably to get a free home energy audit from your electric company, they will be able to help you figure out if your windows are garbage or whatever.
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Sep 6, 2019 23:20
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Running the air conditioner 24/7 for 30 years is less expensive than new windows, mind you. He should be able to at least improve the situation a lot with window tint / solar screens, caulk and more insulation. Edit: and weather stripping
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Sep 6, 2019 23:33
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I think I need to have my HVAC refrigerant lines rerun. The previous owner moved the outdoor units and welded/buried an additional ~60 feet of line to get to the new location, and one of the lines has had a slow leak ever since. In addition, both sets of lines are basically run over the ceiling and down the wall right above the master bedroom and have started making loud noises whenever an AC unit kicks on or off. My units are 11 years old but are still in good shape, so I think the best thing to do is run entirely new lines over a different route - ideally they will go as directly as possible over the 2nd floor guest bedroom, and then drop down and go through the large garage attic directly to the units. I figure this has a good chance of fixing the leak issue, will solve the stupid noise that wakes me up all the time, and my house will no longer use buried refrigerant lines which was dumb in the first place. The lines will also go from about 120 feet in total length (half outside underground) to more like 80, all inside. I scheduled a couple companies to come out and quote it but hoped to get some thoughts before I meet with them. 1. For two 5 ton R410 units, I am expecting this to cost about $2,000. Does that seem reasonable? I expect some drywall will have to be cut but hopefully not a huge amount. 2. Is it worth replacing the units at the same time, if I think they have 5-10 more years in them? Is there anything special I should make sure to get to future-proof these new lines? 3. Is this super unusual? I got a little bit of whining on the phone from one company - is there something other than a standard residential HVAC company, where this would be a more typical job?
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Sep 16, 2019 20:00
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I want to have a few of my fixed-glass windows replaced with simple windows that can open. It's a basic stucco house in the southwest so the windows just kind of sit inside a stucco frame like the picture below, and they would need to be a synthetic material because of the weather. What's the best way to find someone to do this? There are window stores in town, or there are contractors on Yelp, or I could decide what brand I want and try to find someone through a specific manufacturer. Are there any brands to avoid or specifically try to get? I want something really quiet/good quality/well insulated, and just a simple so I can get some more fresh air in here when I want. 
Droo fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Nov 30, 2019 |
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Nov 30, 2019 19:40
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Motronic posted:Weren't we talking dishwashers a few weeks ago? What's the thread consensus? I like Bosch "European" style dishwashers because they don't use heat to dry stuff off so I can put plastic anywhere I want and nothing ever warps or melts. The cons are that they don't grind up food residue so it's generally not great to throw a bunch of disgusting dishes in there, and it's better to open up the dishwasher right away and shake the water off certain dishes that tend to pool water on them if you want it to dry off. https://blog.yaleappliance.com/american-vs-european-dishwashers
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Dec 12, 2019 00:15
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Motronic posted:Oh yeah, should have mentioned, I'm only considering Euro style. That's what in there now (an old LG). I have a Bosch SHX87PW55N which seems to be an 800 series, it's nice. I think I set the jet-dry setting to max, and I always run it with the "sanitize" option and stuff is mostly dry at the end. I have to add jet-dry every few weeks and it doesn't seem to hold very much, that's about my only complaint.
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Dec 12, 2019 01:28
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Slow Motion posted:Anyone here ever buy a wall bed (murphy bed)? I want to upgrade my guest room from an air mattress but not give up the floor space all the time. It seems like a good compromise. Any thoughts? I bought this bed: https://bredabeds.com/murphy-beds/shop-metropolitan-collection/metropolitan-murphy-bed-w-hutches.html It's very nice, but it was kind of maddening to put together. Picture a giant Ikea piece of furniture, except at the end of assembling it you get to an unexpected step where you screw the steel frame to the hardwood front with 100 tiny screws, and if you drill too far on any one of them you'll have a hole in your bed. It is very nice though!
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Apr 19, 2020 06:09
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