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Post by ganews on Mar 2, 2019 15:46:34 GMT -5
Not a real doctor what they don't tell you about cutting for new drains is what you need to do for the carpet. I folded the carpet and pads back, but turns out I know nothing about laying carpet. I was not keen to try to hammer new carpet tack strips into my the replaced cement, to rent the device that does it, or to get a diamond-tipped drill bit to cut holes and insert nail-able dowels. I read about peel n' stick tack strips, then I read further that those don't work unless you have perfectly smooth concrete (which the slab is, but not the new pour). So instead I got out the caulk gun and put down the strongest wood/concrete formulation of Loctite they had to grip the strips. With the carpet pads already cut to fit, it was easy to lay the tack strips at the margin. After the adhesive cured I rolled the carpet back down and stepped it over the strips. Looks fine; I think I was right that it's stretched an cut enough since it never moved from half the house. If it looks crummy later, I can always just pull the carpet back and do it all over again. Now I want to get a little cleaner maybe like Pedantic Editor Type to get out the dirty spots where the seepage used to happen. Then there's the drywall cut. I'm thinking to make some kind of 13-14" high panel strip to cover the cut, maybe anchor it to the slab periodically. I wouldn't do that upstairs, but it's just the basement.
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Post by Not a real doctor on Mar 2, 2019 17:01:34 GMT -5
Lucky for me ganews, I already tore out all the carpet in my basement when I discovered the previous owner carpeted over two floor drains and they backed up a tad during a massive storm last summer. I'm planning to do vinyl plank flooring when I (eventually) get around to fixing things. |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Mar 13, 2019 7:17:36 GMT -5
Mo Houses, Mo Problems
I mentioned before our house in NC had a pipe burst. The company that did mitigation said they could also do restoration. But they did a horrible job. Because that house was built and expanded over time, it turned out to be more difficult than they realized and rather than telling us that they really weren't qualified, we now have a non-level floor and less living space. Mrs. Rumak is still trying to convince them to fix some of that, but I'm ready to move on and find someone more qualified, even if it means its not covered by insurance.
The AC in our new house in Winter Garden seems to have died. Luckily, it cooled off yesterday, and we have someone coming on Thursday. Hopefully, its just a repair and not a complete replacement at this point. We got a new washer and dryer last week, and to say the dryer sucks is putting it mildly. 3 cycles minimum to dry the clothes. As this is still under warranty, also someone is coming on Thursday. Also, for sure there are some additional leaks in the sprinkler system. We had one fixed before we agreed to close that was up against the house (that had damaged the wall). These are out in the yard somewhere, so not as urgent.
And finally, of course, our Cocoa Beach house has been on the market since the beginning of February with no offers. We hoped that it would help after we moved out (which is why we did it before selling the old place), but still nothing. Based on what other houses are selling for (including one across the street that went under contract 2 weeks after being on the market), I think we're priced right. We just have to find someone who wants to pay a little less for a house that is either smaller than some of the others or the same size but without a pool. Once that sells, all the other stuff will be much easier to take care of.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Mar 13, 2019 12:34:15 GMT -5
Mo Houses, Mo Problems I mentioned before our house in NC had a pipe burst. The company that did mitigation said they could also do restoration. But they did a horrible job. Because that house was built and expanded over time, it turned out to be more difficult than they realized and rather than telling us that they really weren't qualified, we now have a non-level floor and less living space. Mrs. Rumak is still trying to convince them to fix some of that, but I'm ready to move on and find someone more qualified, even if it means its not covered by insurance. The AC in our new house in Winter Garden seems to have died. Luckily, it cooled off yesterday, and we have someone coming on Thursday. Hopefully, its just a repair and not a complete replacement at this point. We got a new washer and dryer last week, and to say the dryer sucks is putting it mildly. 3 cycles minimum to dry the clothes. As this is still under warranty, also someone is coming on Thursday. Also, for sure there are some additional leaks in the sprinkler system. We had one fixed before we agreed to close that was up against the house (that had damaged the wall). These are out in the yard somewhere, so not as urgent. And finally, of course, our Cocoa Beach house has been on the market since the beginning of February with no offers. We hoped that it would help after we moved out (which is why we did it before selling the old place), but still nothing. Based on what other houses are selling for (including one across the street that went under contract 2 weeks after being on the market), I think we're priced right. We just have to find someone who wants to pay a little less for a house that is either smaller than some of the others or the same size but without a pool. Once that sells, all the other stuff will be much easier to take care of. For the dryer, consider too whether the vent needs to be cleaned out - if dryer lint is packing the whole thing it doesn't matter how new the thing is. |
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist 
Posts: 7,699
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Post by Trurl on Mar 13, 2019 20:18:16 GMT -5
Mo Houses, Mo Problems I mentioned before our house in NC had a pipe burst. The company that did mitigation said they could also do restoration. But they did a horrible job. Because that house was built and expanded over time, it turned out to be more difficult than they realized and rather than telling us that they really weren't qualified, we now have a non-level floor and less living space. Mrs. Rumak is still trying to convince them to fix some of that, but I'm ready to move on and find someone more qualified, even if it means its not covered by insurance. The AC in our new house in Winter Garden seems to have died. Luckily, it cooled off yesterday, and we have someone coming on Thursday. Hopefully, its just a repair and not a complete replacement at this point. We got a new washer and dryer last week, and to say the dryer sucks is putting it mildly. 3 cycles minimum to dry the clothes. As this is still under warranty, also someone is coming on Thursday. Also, for sure there are some additional leaks in the sprinkler system. We had one fixed before we agreed to close that was up against the house (that had damaged the wall). These are out in the yard somewhere, so not as urgent. And finally, of course, our Cocoa Beach house has been on the market since the beginning of February with no offers. We hoped that it would help after we moved out (which is why we did it before selling the old place), but still nothing. Based on what other houses are selling for (including one across the street that went under contract 2 weeks after being on the market), I think we're priced right. We just have to find someone who wants to pay a little less for a house that is either smaller than some of the others or the same size but without a pool. Once that sells, all the other stuff will be much easier to take care of. For the dryer, consider too whether the vent needs to be cleaned out - if dryer lint is packing the whole thing it doesn't matter how new the thing is. Clean your dryer ducts folks - take the grills off inside and outside and stick your vacuum's hose in as far as it will go. |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Mar 13, 2019 20:28:14 GMT -5
For the dryer, consider too whether the vent needs to be cleaned out - if dryer lint is packing the whole thing it doesn't matter how new the thing is. Clean your dryer ducts folks - take the grills off inside and outside and stick your vacuum's hose in as far as it will go. My dryer duct goes up through the roof. If that's the issue, I hope the repair guy can clean it out, even if I have to pay for it. |
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,699
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Post by Trurl on Mar 13, 2019 20:32:20 GMT -5
Clean your dryer ducts folks - take the grills off inside and outside and stick your vacuum's hose in as far as it will go. My dryer duct goes up through the roof. If that's the issue, I hope the repair guy can clean it out, even if I have to pay for it. We recently had an entire fabric softener sheet get into the ductwork somehow and then ended up blocking the outside vent. Dryer wouldn't dry worth a damn. My wife wanted to use it as an excuse to replace the dryer (which is 15 years old) but I managed to save us from having to do that. |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Mar 16, 2019 17:42:52 GMT -5
Well, the air conditioner had a bad capacitor that was keeping the compressor from running. So, at least it was an easy fix, and the system looks fine, other than that according to the A/C guy. As predicted, the problem with the dryer was the vent. The repair guy does not do that, but we were able to find someone who had a ladder, and I got on top of the roof, and cleaned out where the lint comes out, and that seems to have resolved the issue. If more gets stuck inside, we'll need better tools.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Mar 18, 2019 12:58:19 GMT -5
So here's my possibly silly question. How does it work when you sell your house and are buying a new one? Let's use some hypothetical numbers here and say our current house cost $200k and between the downpayment and slooowly paying down the mortgage we owe $160k on it. If we were to sell the house for $225k, would we then have ~$65k to work with, not counting closing costs and paying the realtor? Is that really how it works? We have no plans to sell but I've been thinking we're saving up cash for a new downpayment all this time - and while we certainly could be, if we'd really have equity in the house coming out as cash to play with that changes the equation somewhat.
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Mar 18, 2019 15:28:49 GMT -5
So here's my possibly silly question. How does it work when you sell your house and are buying a new one? Let's use some hypothetical numbers here and say our current house cost $200k and between the downpayment and slooowly paying down the mortgage we owe $160k on it. If we were to sell the house for $225k, would we then have ~$65k to work with, not counting closing costs and paying the realtor? Is that really how it works? We have no plans to sell but I've been thinking we're saving up cash for a new downpayment all this time - and while we certainly could be, if we'd really have equity in the house coming out as cash to play with that changes the equation somewhat. Yes, as long as you sell the first house prior to buying the second one. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Mar 18, 2019 15:53:57 GMT -5
So here's my possibly silly question. How does it work when you sell your house and are buying a new one? Let's use some hypothetical numbers here and say our current house cost $200k and between the downpayment and slooowly paying down the mortgage we owe $160k on it. If we were to sell the house for $225k, would we then have ~$65k to work with, not counting closing costs and paying the realtor? Is that really how it works? We have no plans to sell but I've been thinking we're saving up cash for a new downpayment all this time - and while we certainly could be, if we'd really have equity in the house coming out as cash to play with that changes the equation somewhat. Yes, as long as you sell the first house prior to buying the second one. Well, yes, can't pay with money you don't have yet. That timing feels a little nervewracking - I guess that's what bridge loans are for, and short-term rentals  We're not selling anytime soon, but I think about this stuff sometimes. |
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Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,684 
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Post by Baron von Costume on Mar 28, 2019 11:18:14 GMT -5
So while I was on vacation my hot water heater blew...
...now that I'm home there's a leak in the roof or something dripping water down along the front wall...
ugh, home ownership
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Post by ganews on Mar 28, 2019 12:12:58 GMT -5
We din't go to crazy during the week I was back at my parents' house, but I did so some basic organizing and trash disposal, including cleaning out the utility closet. Which confirmed something I had been idly wondering: yes that is the same hot water heater that has been there the 32 years since the house was built, running well water.
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,699
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Post by Trurl on Apr 18, 2019 9:20:35 GMT -5
Put in a new mini sink from Ikea in our crowded bathroom (the sink literally sticks out 10" from the wall). Now this is an old house and is plumbed through the floor, which means an S bend instead of a P, which would be fine except the drain sits under what would be the bottom shelf of the little cabinet that goes under the sink. So simple right? Just get a couple ABS 45 degree bends and make an offset. But the drain already has a 1.25" OD slip fit adaptor bonded to it, so I need to just do that in 1.25" OD. But it's impossible to find 1.25" OD plumbing supplies - you can find tail pieces, S and J bends, and extensions and *that's it*.
Research shows that there's a flexible accordion-like thing that does exactly what I want but seems to be unavailable in Canada. It's ridiculous - it's a sink drain, not anything difficult. Heck, washing machines use corrugated plastic drain hoses and they are dealing at higher temperatures and volumes that a bathroom sink will ever see. I ended up having to plumb something with a mixture of 1.25" to 1.5" adaptors and lots of hacksaw work. But it works. We'll see if any of the joins end up leaking though.
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Post by ganews on Apr 18, 2019 9:37:18 GMT -5
Put in a new mini sink from Ikea in our crowded bathroom (the sink literally sticks out 10" from the wall). Now this is an old house and is plumbed through the floor, which means an S bend instead of a P, which would be fine except the drain sits under what would be the bottom shelf of the little cabinet that goes under the sink. So simple right? Just get a couple ABS 45 degree bends and make an offset. But the drain already has a 1.25" OD slip fit adaptor bonded to it, so I need to just do that in 1.25" OD. But it's impossible to find 1.25" OD plumbing supplies - you can find tail pieces, S and J bends, and extensions and *that's it*. Research shows that there's a flexible accordion-like thing that does exactly what I want but seems to be unavailable in Canada. It's ridiculous - it's a sink drain, not anything difficult. Heck, washing machines use corrugated plastic drain hoses and they are dealing at higher temperatures and volumes that a bathroom sink will ever see. I ended up having to plumb something with a mixture of 1.25" to 1.5" adaptors and lots of hacksaw work. But it works. We'll see if any of the joins end up leaking though. I have the plastic accordion dealies under all my bathroom sinks, they were installed by the maintenance team that prepped the house for sale by the bank I bought from. My home inspector said they kinda suck and ought to be replaced, but I havn't gotten around to it/had a problem yet. |
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Post by nowimnothing on Apr 25, 2019 19:32:37 GMT -5
Getting ready to put our house on the market, so I have been working on a ton of projects. Here is the boss checking out the new vinyl floor in the basement, she was unimpressed.  And the final result after painting the wall and shampooing the carpet.  |
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Post by nowimnothing on May 4, 2019 5:42:10 GMT -5
Well that was fast. Our house went on the market at 4 pm on Friday. We had an offer by 9 pm and we accepted by 11 pm. I feel bad for the 13 more showings we have scheduled for this weekend. I kind of wish we had pushed the asking price up a bit, but my wife says not to be greedy. The offer was $2,000 over our asking price and $20,000 more than we paid just 18 months ago. Which seems fair because I put at least 20,000 into it. So we will make our money back plus a little bit. That is more than we would normally expect given that we were not there very long.
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Post by Dr. Rumak on May 4, 2019 17:09:16 GMT -5
Well that was fast. Our house went on the market at 4 pm on Friday. We had an offer by 9 pm and we accepted by 11 pm. I feel bad for the 13 more showings we have scheduled for this weekend. I kind of wish we had pushed the asking price up a bit, but my wife says not to be greedy. The offer was $2,000 over our asking price and $20,000 more than we paid just 18 months ago. Which seems fair because I put at least 20,000 into it. So we will make our money back plus a little bit. That is more than we would normally expect given that we were not there very long. I'm happy for you, but also, as someone who has had a house on the market for several months without any offers, extremely jealous. |
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Post by nowimnothing on May 5, 2019 18:55:14 GMT -5
Of course after we accepted the offer but before the status changed on the website, we started getting offers for $8k-$10k over the asking price. I am starting to regret going with the real estate agent's suggestion to start low in a booming market.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on May 12, 2019 19:50:00 GMT -5
I can’t seem to get my Roomba’s caster wheel out to clean it. The videos show it pulling out fairly easily, but I can’t get a grip on it, and it’s frustrating.
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Post by Dr. Rumak on May 27, 2019 20:25:56 GMT -5
Well, we finally got an offer on the Cocoa Beach house. It's considerably less than we listed for, especially compared to our original price, but since we've had nothing else, and this is a cash offer and as-is (we told them we won't be fixing anything), and they will close in 3 weeks, we took the offer. It will cover the money we borrowed to buy the new house, so once again, we'll be debt free. At least, until we borrow against this house to fix the NC house.
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Post by Powerthirteen on Jun 14, 2019 12:36:25 GMT -5
Our landlord is finally rebuilding the front steps up to our porch, which were original to the house from 1929 and had settled and cracked a *lot* over the years. For now we're missing our main entrance, which is a major pain in the ass, but it'll be nice when it's done. And we spent last week doing a lot of other maintenance ourselves, like repainting all the kitchen cupboards, because even though we're renting I like to pretend I own the place and am invested in keeping it up. Meanwhile, I keep looking idly at house listings in a couple of towns; if we moved to Lancaster I'd be in a good position to put a nice down payment on a small house, which is tempting.
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Jun 14, 2019 15:19:45 GMT -5
Well, we are finally down to two houses.
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Post by nowimnothing on Jun 25, 2019 20:29:30 GMT -5
The new garage is pretty big so I decided that a large workbench would help me with all the other projects I need to work on. Not sure if my wife bought it, but it was cheap and only took me a few hours to throw together out of one sheet of plywood, one sheet of pegboard and a few 2x4s. Now I just need some more light over the bench...  |
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Baron von Costume
TI Forumite
Like an iron maiden made of pillows... the punishment is decadence!
Posts: 4,684
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Post by Baron von Costume on Jun 26, 2019 10:27:44 GMT -5
Yeah that's my problem too. I'm getting into carpentry and have set up a reasonable little workbench area in the basement but now need to rewire the damn place for better light and some more actual plugs so I'm not running everything off extension cords.
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GumTurkeyles
AV Clubber
$10 down, $10 a month, don't you be a turkey
Posts: 3,066
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Post by GumTurkeyles on Jul 8, 2019 13:18:08 GMT -5
Yesterday, the last day of my 2 week vacation, I was in the shower when I heard my wife freaking out. Turns out water is dripping down to the 1st floor. We had a really bad clog in the shower a few months ago and had to call a plumber. He warned about the soft lead pipes we have (from the late 30's) and said he'd be very careful not to break the pipe, but it could be tricky. I guess it was. So, no more using the upstairs shower for the time being. I've identified that it's definitely the drainage from the tub that's causing the issue. Now to deal with...well, everything else. We wanted to redo the downstairs bathroom this year. Guess it'll be the upstairs one.
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GumTurkeyles
AV Clubber
$10 down, $10 a month, don't you be a turkey
Posts: 3,066
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Post by GumTurkeyles on Jul 17, 2019 12:41:30 GMT -5
Yesterday, the last day of my 2 week vacation, I was in the shower when I heard my wife freaking out. Turns out water is dripping down to the 1st floor. We had a really bad clog in the shower a few months ago and had to call a plumber. He warned about the soft lead pipes we have (from the late 30's) and said he'd be very careful not to break the pipe, but it could be tricky. I guess it was. So, no more using the upstairs shower for the time being. I've identified that it's definitely the drainage from the tub that's causing the issue. Now to deal with...well, everything else. We wanted to redo the downstairs bathroom this year. Guess it'll be the upstairs one. On the plus side, it wasn't the soft lead pipe that had a crack. On the minus side... who knows what was causing the leak? The plumbers ran water for a good 20 minutes and no leaks appeared, and below the tub (they have access from a closet) was fully dry. They said it could be cracks in the sealant, and water working its way down and dripping to the floor/ceiling from there. So, that'll be the next, much easier project. If that doesn't work, we need to open up the 1st floor ceiling and see what's going on, and that I don't want to do. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Jul 28, 2019 21:41:48 GMT -5
I’m a little concerned that our AC does not appear to be functioning well. Our inside temp is set at 76 during the day and I just looked at the thermostat and it’s 77 in here and kinda humid. It’s now set to go down to 71 for the night but if we didn’t get to 76... plus our upstairs is usually 4-5 degrees warmer. We may have an uncomfortable night.
Update: we DID have an uncomfortable night (the coolest it got in our bedroom was 78) but at least I got some sleep.
It's cooler today though still humid; should be much more pleasant tomorrow, but we gotta get this looked at, so I did talk to the HVAC guy - and he'll come out Wednesday to take a look (I'll work from home that day). It occurred to me that the system was installed 7 years ago and has had zero maintenance/service since, so here's hoping some cleaning and maybe new coolant is all it needs.
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Jul 29, 2019 20:03:28 GMT -5
It's cooler today though still humid; should be much more pleasant tomorrow, but we gotta get this looked at, so I did talk to the HVAC guy - and he'll come out Wednesday to take a look (I'll work from home that day). It occurred to me that the system was installed 7 years ago and has had zero maintenance/service since, so here's hoping some cleaning and maybe new coolant is all it needs. Even with a new AC, I got mine serviced every year. In Atlanta, where we had seasons, I had it serviced twice a year. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Jul 29, 2019 20:32:18 GMT -5
It's cooler today though still humid; should be much more pleasant tomorrow, but we gotta get this looked at, so I did talk to the HVAC guy - and he'll come out Wednesday to take a look (I'll work from home that day). It occurred to me that the system was installed 7 years ago and has had zero maintenance/service since, so here's hoping some cleaning and maybe new coolant is all it needs. Even with a new AC, I got mine serviced every year. In Atlanta, where we had seasons, I had it serviced twice a year. Yeah, I know we’re a bit negligent on that. I think the thermostat might be jacked up too, it was doing weird things today. I dunno, but thank goodness the weather is more tolerable. |
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We're not selling anytime soon, but I think about this stuff sometimes.
