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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Dec 13, 2019 13:32:57 GMT -5
As noted in the general overshare thread, I narrowly avoided either an electrical fire or electrocution this morning when I accidentally plugged in my hair straightener with a necklace tangled in it. Thankfully aside from the toasted necklace clasp and some scorch marks all is fine; my electrical engineer BIL did recommend I double-check for melted wiring behind the outlet just in case.
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Dec 18, 2019 18:52:30 GMT -5
I finally, after only 3 or 4 weeks of delays, distractions, and being sick off and on, finished hooking up the new wood burning furnace yesterday. I discovered it needed a thermostat to work properly (our old one didn't) and I had a new programmable heat/AC one I had never hooked up, so I switched the gas furnace over to that one, and used the older, simpler one on the wood stove.
The wood stove works fantastic. I have to admit it heats better using less wood than our old one did.
However, as soon as I turned the gas furnace back on, I found that it would ignite for just a second, then go out. I disconnected everything and hooked the original thermostat back up, and it still didn't work. I took the cover off the furnace and tapped around on it, but still no luck. I again hooked the new thermostat back up, and we called our furnace guy. He arrived, took the cover off, and said it was igniting for just a second, then blowing the flame out. Only 3 of the 4 burners was igniting. He tapped around on it, and the fourth burner cleared and it began working properly. You don't pay by the tap, you pay for the tech knowing where to tap.
With the gas furnace offline last night, and the temp getting down to around 10 degrees, the wood furnace kept the house pleasantly warm, and used about a quarter of the wood the old one would have.
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Dec 20, 2019 16:43:07 GMT -5
Our Christmas lights/decorations must have tripped a breaker, and none of our outside outlets work now, and neither does our garage door opener. There must be an outlet with a GFCI breaker on the outlet itself that we cannot find, because the breaker is not off at the breaker box. Undoubtedly its in the garage hidden behind tons of stuff. I need an outlet detector, but alas, googling “electrical outlet detector” returns only testers, and those would only help if I knew where the outlet was. It turns out that there was no hidden GFCI breaker outlet, but instead one of the outlets we could see had its breaker broken in the off position and needed to be replaced. |
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repulsionist
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actively disinterested
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Post by repulsionist on Dec 20, 2019 20:14:12 GMT -5
Dr. Rumak, we were correct to have counted on you. Well done.
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on Jan 15, 2020 15:20:27 GMT -5
Started ripping out my basement carpet. There is a bunch of old chipped tile underneath that I should probably remove if I want the new flooring (faux wood vinyl tiles) to sit properly. My original plan was to leave it but it's chipping and popping up when the carpet and carpet tack strips are being removed. My BIL mentioned that it might contain asbestos so I just ordered a test for that. It's mostly coming on it's own without much effort so I hope it doesn't contain asbestos. That's not really something I want to deal with.  |
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Post by nowimnothing on Jan 15, 2020 18:26:46 GMT -5
Started ripping out my basement carpet. There is a bunch of old chipped tile underneath that I should probably remove if I want the new flooring (faux wood vinyl tiles) to sit properly. My original plan was to leave it but it's chipping and popping up when the carpet and carpet tack strips are being removed. My BIL mentioned that it might contain asbestos so I just ordered a test for that. It's mostly coming on it's own without much effort so I hope it doesn't contain asbestos. That's not really something I want to deal with. It will certainly be better to get it off, but if you don't want to deal with it or it does have asbestos then you could try some leveling compound to fill in the low/chipped spots. |
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Post by ganews on Jan 18, 2020 16:52:18 GMT -5
The organization and donations reached the goal: there is now a new ping pong table in my basement! Not exactly regulation space, but good enough to play. And just in time for our annual Super Bowl party. This only took four years.
I'm looking forward to spending all of my MLK holiday playing in the basement with my wife.
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Jan 18, 2020 21:46:48 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to spending all of my MLK holiday playing in the basement with my wife. Well, be careful not to break the ping pong table. |
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on Jan 29, 2020 10:26:11 GMT -5
The tile does have asbestos. I think I might just do some leveling compound like nowimnothing suggested. I don't want to pay to get it removed and I don't want to risk removing it myself. They'll be a thin foam pad under the flooring, too, so hopefully that helps. |
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Post by ganews on Feb 29, 2020 19:09:09 GMT -5
Another job accomplished after being put off for years: today I pulled up my sunken, front yard stepstones, laid down 420 pounds of sand in the pits, and put the stones on top. Maybe now there won't be puddles on the stepstones after a big storm.
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Post by ganews on Mar 11, 2020 22:12:59 GMT -5
Finally been gathering quotes for a nice, new entry door, plus a sidelight replacement. Plus a nice storm door. All framed up with new trim, labor and everything- looks like it will be just under $7k. Sounds like a lot? Well the first four companies have put in bids within $100 of each other.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Mar 12, 2020 10:50:41 GMT -5
Our door replacement is still not officially done - it needs to be repainted and the guy told me he'd probably want to re-do the insulation then too. So we still haven't been billed for it. Which is nice I guess.
Meantime, the time change on Saturday night did something screwy to our Roomba. It's not currently on a schedule; I usually start it manually when TWBE leaves for his Sunday morning workout class (the timing of which varies). This past Sunday we got up around 8:30 (new time) and not only was it running on its own, it was stuck in the powder room - managed to close the door behind it. It wasn't showing up on the app as a job, I have no idea when it started, but it seemed like it'd been running for awhile because the carpet in the living room had tracks on it. Funny and confusing.
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Post by ganews on Mar 31, 2020 9:52:46 GMT -5
I painted the dining room yesterday. I know I haven't had the paint for quite a full year, or I would have done it during the government shutdown, but I must have had it for at least 8 months. I think in another two weeks I'll paint the kitchen. Got to space these things out.
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Post by Gumbercules' Jugband Christmas on Apr 2, 2020 11:53:38 GMT -5
Before all the craziness in the world, we hired a carpenter to build some built-in bookshelves in our living room. He's finishing up on them, but my wife is freaking out about anyone coming in the house. So we're going to pay him for his work, but we're going to store the units in our garage for the next few months, then have him install them once things normalize a bit. So, no new units yet, and on top of that all of our books are packed up and in the basement, so we don't have reading material during this social isolation. On the plus side, this made me clean out the garage, which we've been meaning to do for a year now.
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Post by ganews on Apr 2, 2020 12:32:10 GMT -5
Finally been gathering quotes for a nice, new entry door, plus a sidelight replacement. Plus a nice storm door. All framed up with new trim, labor and everything- looks like it will be just under $7k. Sounds like a lot? Well the first four companies have put in bids within $100 of each other. I ended up collecting five estimates, and after the first four were right on top of each other, the last one was $1700 cheaper from the same manufacturer even after we added in some decorative glass. I signed the deposit; maybe we'll get it installed in three months. |
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Post by nowimnothing on Apr 2, 2020 22:46:55 GMT -5
I built a catio:   I finished it in a couple of days, so now I have to move on to other, less fun, quarantine projects like cleaning the garage. Mocha spends a lot of time out here, but she glares at me from her prison, as if this illusion of outdoor freedom is worse than no outdoor access at all. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Apr 3, 2020 9:26:08 GMT -5
Last September we contacted a door company about replacing our front door. After several delays we finally got it installed in early December - but it was the wrong color, per our HOA. So it was installed but not 100% properly insulated because the guy said he'd have to remove the framing to paint it so he'd do it "right" then. Also we wanted a different glass. This has all been confirmed with the door company, and I assumed it would happen when the weather warmed up; sometime around .... now.
Except, of course, pandemic. So I'm not really in a rush to contact the company, even though they could theoretically do it while we stayed 6 feet away (but, also we're working from home, so it would be disruptive).
We also have not PAID for the new door yet. So while our new door installation is incomplete and the wrong color, at least we haven't actually shelled out any money for it yet?
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Post by Not a real doctor on Apr 30, 2020 9:47:19 GMT -5
I'm trying to finally finish the lower half of the garage (so I can both work out and work on my VW and truck) which means taping and mudding drywall joints in the ceiling and rolling on some sort of texture then painting.
Folks, we've found the newest "worst project ever"
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on May 23, 2020 0:39:06 GMT -5
We've begun the long, slow, painful (physically, emotionally and financial) process of renovating my former house/shop/office/warehouse. It's a one story six thousand square foot brick building that was once a rural grade school. I bought it almost 30 years ago, lived in it and worked out of it for many years until a series of unfortunate events* caused me to give up and move out about 10 years ago.
For a long time, I couldn't even go there without getting really weirded out. I still have some bad moments, but as we are cleaning it out, and I can see the improvements, these are getting fewer and farther apart.
We are gutting it out pretty much to the original brick, block and steel. We will then have a clean slate to reformat it any way we can afford. It's still an amazing building. I have walked around it a few times each year, and even up to today I have not seen so much as a crack that needs tuck pointing in it's structure. Anyway, the building is built on a slab, and in the cafeteria area, right where the floor meets the stage, the concrete floor had cracked and dropped about 2 or 3 inches. I was convinced it was just a matter of time till the walls fell in, but apparently this wasn't the end of the world, and is a fairly common happening with this age and type of construction.
Mrs Floyd located a couple of companies advertising as experts in this sort of repairs, and we had them come out and look at it. Today one of them came, ground off the edges of the crack, drilled some holes in the floor, and shot expanding foam under the floor until it raised back up to its original level. It looks great. This company, based out of St Louis, I think, did an amazing job, and they charged one tenth of the price the other company estimated. (Upon further investigation, this company wasn't charging one tenth of what everybody else does, the first company overestimated the job by a factor of ten, so they didn't gain my trust.) They asked me if they could put up a yard sigh of their business I said "sure". The company's main business is basement waterproofing and repairs, and the sign says "All Things Basement-y". I cant wait to tell everybody who asks about it "Yeah, I had them install a basement under the slab. They did it all in one day, too." I also used a flat bladed tile spade and removed the last two dozen or so possibly-asbestos floor tiles out of that room. I did use a professional respirator mask, but if it gives me lung cancer in 50 years, I will probably have already been dread a decade or two anyway. I'm kinda old.
*short list: leaking roof, crooked roofing contractor, new roof peeling off in storm, building flooding, mold, suing crooked roofing contractor, fire, psycho ex, business downturn, flooring contractor guy breaking into house, sending flooring contractor guy to prison, psycho renter, getting psycho renter evicted, repeated break-ins/theft/vandalism, deaths in family
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on May 27, 2020 21:59:04 GMT -5
This happens every year but it seems worse this year? Our house is 1600 sf, but has a bit too small AC thanks to poor planning on the builders part (the ductwork is not big enough for a bigger unit). The end result is that our second floor does not cool off much, and our fairly large bedroom only has one vent, so it stays at or above 75 degrees even when it’s 71 downstairs. (Earlier it was 74 downstairs and 79 upstairs.) Fans only do so much.
A window AC unit seems like an obvious solution, but I don’t think our HOA allows it. So I’ve been warm and restless for the last 4 nights, until it cools off enough tomorrow to open the window. And of course it’s likely to be hot and humid again. Ugh. I hate it.
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Crash Test Dumbass
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on May 28, 2020 10:26:45 GMT -5
This happens every year but it seems worse this year? Our house is 1600 sf, but has a bit too small AC thanks to poor planning on the builders part (the ductwork is not big enough for a bigger unit). The end result is that our second floor does not cool off much, and our fairly large bedroom only has one vent, so it stays at or above 75 degrees even when it’s 71 downstairs. (Earlier it was 74 downstairs and 79 upstairs.) Fans only do so much. A window AC unit seems like an obvious solution, but I don’t think our HOA allows it. So I’ve been warm and restless for the last 4 nights, until it cools off enough tomorrow to open the window. And of course it’s likely to be hot and humid again. Ugh. I hate it. Can you get a portable A/C? I think there are even ones that vent outsde but don't have the obvious machinery that your HOA probably is wary of. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on May 28, 2020 10:45:45 GMT -5
This happens every year but it seems worse this year? Our house is 1600 sf, but has a bit too small AC thanks to poor planning on the builders part (the ductwork is not big enough for a bigger unit). The end result is that our second floor does not cool off much, and our fairly large bedroom only has one vent, so it stays at or above 75 degrees even when it’s 71 downstairs. (Earlier it was 74 downstairs and 79 upstairs.) Fans only do so much. A window AC unit seems like an obvious solution, but I don’t think our HOA allows it. So I’ve been warm and restless for the last 4 nights, until it cools off enough tomorrow to open the window. And of course it’s likely to be hot and humid again. Ugh. I hate it. Can you get a portable A/C? I think there are even ones that vent outsde but don't have the obvious machinery that your HOA probably is wary of. There are, I did a little research last night - they all need to vent somewhere, of course but window access isn't a problem. They run anywhere from $150-$600 up, so it's an investment, but it might be worth it. I wish we could put in a ceiling fan, but there's no overhead light and I'm sure wiring one would be a whole fiasco. Things did seem a little better last night; I moved the fans around a little and turned the temp down earlier. But maybe I just adjusted, and the difference was at most 2 degrees. |
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Post by MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin on May 29, 2020 9:40:25 GMT -5
About a month away from being a first time homeowner and I have to select a homeowner's insurance policy. As tempting as it is to put zero thought into it and just pick the cheapest offer I can find, I thought I would turn it over to the finest and most experienced minds at my immediate disposal. Any advice on what to look for and what extras to dismiss as an outright scam?
It's a ranch condo rather than a regular house, for the difference that would make.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on May 29, 2020 10:15:39 GMT -5
About a month away from being a first time homeowner and I have to select a homeowner's insurance policy. As tempting as it is to put zero thought into it and just pick the cheapest offer I can find, I thought I would turn it over to the finest and most experienced minds at my immediate disposal. Any advice on what to look for and what extras to dismiss as an outright scam? It's a ranch condo rather than a regular house, for the difference that would make. Biggest consideration is what your HOA - if you have one - covers. We live in a townhome and our HOA covers all exterior maintenance including the roof and siding and has its own insurance policy, so we have a "walls-in" policy that is considerably cheaper than a whole-house policy. Check any documentation they provide. The other thing is basically, what are your belongings worth. It's tempting to undervalue them, but replacing a houseful of furniture, electronics, appliances, etc., etc. in case of disaster can add up quickly. If I were you I'd talk to an actual agent about it, ours was pretty helpful. |
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on May 29, 2020 15:26:53 GMT -5
After reading everyone's ordeals involving door replacement, I'm feeling better about my (ongoing) custom storm door fiasco...
My nomination for Worst DIY Project Ever is stripping carpet off a concrete front stoop, which involved hours of scraping dissolved adhesive with a wire brush and respirator mask.
Now that my new tankless water heater is in (just in time, as the tank was 14 years old), I only have some minor electrical work in the house and small exterior projects like re-sealing windows. So that feels pretty good.
I really wanted to dig a french drain in the breezeway between me and my neighbor, but pandemic-related loss of Airbnb income means I'll have to postpone until next year. Perhaps I can also save up and redo the fence at the same time, since my neighbors on the other side just put in a new one.
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Post by ganews on Jun 6, 2020 17:05:40 GMT -5
About a month away from being a first time homeowner and I have to select a homeowner's insurance policy. As tempting as it is to put zero thought into it and just pick the cheapest offer I can find, I thought I would turn it over to the finest and most experienced minds at my immediate disposal. Any advice on what to look for and what extras to dismiss as an outright scam? It's a ranch condo rather than a regular house, for the difference that would make. I reckon a big company is unlikely to be a scam. I recall getting a few quotes and they were fairly similar. I bundled it with my Progressive car insurance to save a few bucks, and I've gotten payouts from a break in theft and a tree that fell and clipped my gutters, but my water seepage was not covered. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Jun 8, 2020 16:06:09 GMT -5
I am posting this form the master bedroom of our second property, my former house\shop\warehouse. This is big news for us because before, the only internet I could get here was via satellite, and the only phone was via landline. I am using a router getting signal from a cell tower somewhere. I don't care as long as it works. I have the phone set to make and receive calls via our wifi. I have successfully made and received a call. I feel like we are moving boldly into the 2000's. Maybe even the 2010's.
We are continuing the process of cleaning out the building and doing prep work towards starting renovations. It hasn't been fun, but this and seeing the progress is making me feel a lot better.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Jun 15, 2020 14:48:17 GMT -5
At what point do I start hassling the door company about painting the door that they replaced in December but we have not yet actually paid for?
They also owe us new glass and it's sitting slightly crooked in its frame now. But, pandemic.
Did I mention we haven't actually paid for it yet.
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Post by nowimnothing on Jun 15, 2020 15:03:54 GMT -5
At what point do I start hassling the door company about painting the door that they replaced in December but we have not yet actually paid for? They also owe us new glass and it's sitting slightly crooked in its frame now. But, pandemic. Did I mention we haven't actually paid for it yet. Personally, I would let it go. At least until your HOA starts getting impatient. You might get a free door and the HOA might forget too, win, win! Slightly crooked glass seems like a small price to pay. You could even paint the door yourself, then when the door company comes back for their money, ask them to take a few hundred off the bill since you had to wait so long for the glass and the HOA made you paint the door. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Jun 15, 2020 15:22:16 GMT -5
At what point do I start hassling the door company about painting the door that they replaced in December but we have not yet actually paid for? They also owe us new glass and it's sitting slightly crooked in its frame now. But, pandemic. Did I mention we haven't actually paid for it yet. Personally, I would let it go. At least until your HOA starts getting impatient. You might get a free door and the HOA might forget too, win, win! Slightly crooked glass seems like a small price to pay. You could even paint the door yourself, then when the door company comes back for their money, ask them to take a few hundred off the bill since you had to wait so long for the glass and the HOA made you paint the door. Oh, the door is slightly crooked in its frame, not the glass. It's very slight and still seals tightly, but you can see it if you look closely. They were going to replace the glass with "rainfall" effect instead of clear for privacy. (We currently have opaque window clings on it.) I feel like it'd be most likely to bite us in the ass if/when we go to sell the house and the HOA realizes it's the wrong color. And I'm reluctant to paint it myself since they promised to and would do a better job. BUT... haven't paid for it yet. |
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