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Post by ganews on Sept 5, 2020 14:41:10 GMT -5
The house behind us (in NC) is a small A-frame house. Someone bought it and is basically gutting it and rebuilding it. And this week they got to the part where they give it a new roof. But the roof on this house is pretty much the whole outside of the house, and slopes dramatically, and they are now on their sixth day of roofing.  This is the best case for investing in metal roofing that I have ever heard of. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Sept 5, 2020 17:00:33 GMT -5
The house behind us (in NC) is a small A-frame house. Someone bought it and is basically gutting it and rebuilding it. And this week they got to the part where they give it a new roof. But the roof on this house is pretty much the whole outside of the house, and slopes dramatically, and they are now on their sixth day of roofing. Someone advertised components of a house for sale as salvage, including materials for a sun room. I went to look at it and was angered to find that it is a really nice two story A frame house even nicer than this one on the shore of a local lake. The setup is pretty much exactly what I would want if ever I were to live on a lake. The side facing the water has a second story deck with the sunroom below, and a large deck and wooden steps leading down to the lake. It's just lovely. I suppose there could be some sort of structural damage that isn't visible, or some other legitimate reason to need to replace it, but I saw no evidence of it. I became filled with a seething rage at the thought of someone tearing down this apparently perfectly usable, beautiful little home, and replacing it with some shitty McMansion abomination. It turned out that their sun room was built in a way such that we wouldn't be able to use parts of it to build the type of sun room we would like to have. |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Sept 14, 2020 7:44:38 GMT -5
When we came down to Florida for the funeral, our dishwasher leaked. It's still under warranty, so when I got back, I called for service, and the repair guy is here. It turns out that the issue was in our distracted state, Mrs. Rumak used soap not intended for the dishwasher, and that caused massive suds, which apparently can cause the issue. Only pods for us from now on.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Sept 16, 2020 15:17:08 GMT -5
After several weeks of prodding emails and one guy promising me that another guy would call me about getting our new front door's hinges fixed, I FINALLY heard from him and he's coming first thing tomorrow.
The door is still the wrong color, but the hinge fix needs to happen before the painting, so at least we're getting somewhere.
(Still haven't paid for the thing, nor did I get a straight answer the last time I brought that up.)
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Sept 17, 2020 8:29:55 GMT -5
Y'all. The Other Guy came out and he's the guy who originally installed the door and ... well, it can't be fixed with new hinges. The door jamb itself is trash. Which he knew last year when he installed it but apparently was hopeful it would be ok? It's not ok. And since the door and jamb are the wrong color and the glass is wrong, we're getting an entirely new door. Again. Dear GOD I hope this happens before the end of the year. At first I felt guilty having not paid for the door in full but now I think the deposit they got last year is really all they deserve  |
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Post by ganews on Sept 19, 2020 20:37:32 GMT -5
Spent 6 hours today digging a 9"x16"x42' trench around the backyard deck and down to the low edge of the property, to lay a drainage pipe. To fight the giant flow coming off my uphill neighbor's awful grading. 6 hours is too much, but the last few yards were thick with tree roots that had to be carefully excavated and dug around. This is also part of Wifemate's ongoing plans to transform the backyard into a bird and butterfly native species habitat.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Sept 22, 2020 15:17:04 GMT -5
One slightly funny thing about all of this door-installation nonsense... we initially asked my father in law for recommendations on door companies, 'cause he owns a glass/mirror/shower door company and knows a lot of contractors, so we were assured that the door company would "take care of us" after we name-dropped FIL's company.
Seems like someone finally remembered that connection again. A guy came out to personally color-match the door paint color, and then someone else called to follow up and apologize again for All This Nonsense. And he said "so you're associated with [glass company]?" uh yes I mean I don't WORK there but I am "connected" lol. "Oh yeah," he said "we've been on the phone with them all day. Don't worry, we'll take care of you."
like it finally clicked that yes, I'm being very nice and patient, but if I wanted to, I could wreck your company's reputation with my father in law...
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Post by Gumbercules' Jugband Christmas on Sept 27, 2020 19:32:53 GMT -5
We finally got the shelves for the built-in bookshelf we had put in. Back before March, we had a carpenter working on them. We put the project on hold because of Covid. He dropped off everything in our garage so it wouldn't take up his workspace. We had him come and "finish up" in August. He installed them, but he hadn't taken the measurements for the shelves, so he needed to do that. Another month later and we finally have them. Most of this wait was our doing, so some of this is on us, but it just feels like it's taken forever. Well, only 1 day later and we already have issues. The pegs he drilled don't line up, so every shelf sits crooked. He drilled new holes so they'd fit in, but two of them are still crooked; one severely. On top of that, on one of the shelves where I put all the comics I have, two of the pegs bent down and destroyed the wood underneath those pegs. So now we're pulling all the books off again and we're going to get L brackets to hold the shelves in place. At this point I just don't want to delay this anymore, so I'm just going to finish everything up myself. We didn't want the peg holes to begin with, so I'm going to use wood filler in all of them and drill my own new holes. Altogether it looks nice, I hired a professional because I didn't want to have to do any of this alignment. I suck at this and figured he'd get it right.  |
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Post by ganews on Sept 27, 2020 21:14:51 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. Wow, this was right before the shutdown. So it must have been the day after this post when I got a fifth and final quote nearly $1500 less than all the others, and I went ahead and put down the 1/3 deposit right then. Same Provia door and sidelight options, so I was wondering what the catch was. Was the company just underpaying contractors?
Well about 11 weeks ago I called the company and scheduled the final measurement and door ordering. Then yesterday they came and did the work, and it looks pretty great! I opened some windows and set up a fan to blow outwards, and the contractors stayed at the bottom of the stairs and were pretty good about masks from what I saw (though Wifemate and I mainly hid in the bedroom). There was only one snafu, the salesman had promised me a composite material replacement for my crappy wooden kickboard. Then when I inspected and asked where that was, we had to call the company and find that it wasn't in their paperwork. Thought the guys would have to come back a different day, but somehow they found someone else with the material and were able to go ahead and finish.
I didn't interrogate my contractors, but they seemed like real employees, at least they had company-branded clothes. And in my limited experience even big companies are often just subcontracting out.
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Post by MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin on Oct 2, 2020 14:28:57 GMT -5
I bought a thirty year-old home that still has its original furnace. I haven't tried to run it, but I have a very strong feeling I'm going to need to replace it very, very soon.
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Post by ganews on Oct 10, 2020 18:25:10 GMT -5
Columbus Day weekend + even-numbered year = re-coating water seal/stain to the deck.
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moimoi
AV Clubber 
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Post by moimoi on Oct 16, 2020 17:40:37 GMT -5
Now that the $40 ceramic space heater for the back addition has crapped out, I'm excited to upgrade to an $75 wall-mounted infrared unit with a remote control. Also ganews, I can't believe you dug a 40+ foot drain yourself! I'm hoping to use next year's tax return to put a 40' french drain in the breezeway of my property line to manage my neighbor's overflowing gutters, flowing into a small swale in my back yard. Hand digging into midwestern clay would be back-breaking; I expect the landscaper to bring in a roto-tiller and a crew of at least 3 people. |
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Post by ganews on Oct 16, 2020 20:00:05 GMT -5
Now that the $40 ceramic space heater for the back addition has crapped out, I'm excited to upgrade to an $75 wall-mounted infrared unit with a remote control. Also ganews, I can't believe you dug a 40+ foot drain yourself! I'm hoping to use next year's tax return to put a 40' french drain in the breezeway of my property line to manage my neighbor's overflowing gutters, flowing into a small swale in my back yard. Hand digging into midwestern clay would be back-breaking; I expect the landscaper to bring in a roto-tiller and a crew of at least 3 people. The digging wasn't that difficult actually, except for the bottom 10 feet or so which were full of tree roots. I dug more than half the length while Wifemate excavated around the largest roots. The big project now is building a backyard porous patio, for which Wifemate is doing 80% of the work. I'll fill and empty a barrow with earth and gravel all day, but this is her desire and design so she did all the leveling and tamping and most of the stone wall construction. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 23, 2020 19:09:12 GMT -5
We're still working at renovating the basement at the farmhouse. Today we removed most of the old flooring using a shovel and a blowtorch.
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Post by nowimnothing on Oct 24, 2020 8:03:53 GMT -5
Someone ran over a section of fence in our front yard. We thought we heard something, but traffic noise is pretty loud in general and by the time we checked, they had driven off. It is only a couple of sections to replace, but the whole fence is kind of rotten so it may be time to pull it all out and put in a new fence. I think they were just drunk or driving too fast and veered off because they missed our Biden sign and just hit some local candidate signs.  |
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on Oct 31, 2020 12:42:09 GMT -5
OK homeowners, I'm stumped. For the past few days, there has been a very strong and noxious tar/asphalt smell coming from the vicinity of my trash cans. However, I could not identify anything in the trash cans that would be causing this smell and the garbage was collected on Wednesday anyway. Prior to that, I cleaned up some weeds growing in the alley around the cans in case anyone had dumped motor oil or something there. However, the smell wasn't on the plants or dirt either.
My first impulse was to check my car in the adjacent garage. Both me and dad's caregiver inspected it for any chemical leaks and found nothing. We checked with the gas company, who were digging up sections of concrete down the road recently, but they claim they are not using asphalt...I also don't see anybody in the vicinity tarring their roof, which still wouldn't explain why the smell is so strong by my trash cans.
Could something be buried nearby, like an old oil tank? What do I do if this smell doesn't go away? It's been a few days now.
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 31, 2020 15:51:17 GMT -5
OK homeowners, I'm stumped. For the past few days, there has been a very strong and noxious tar/asphalt smell coming from the vicinity of my trash cans. However, I could not identify anything in the trash cans that would be causing this smell and the garbage was collected on Wednesday anyway. Prior to that, I cleaned up some weeds growing in the alley around the cans in case anyone had dumped motor oil or something there. However, the smell wasn't on the plants or dirt either. My first impulse was to check my car in the adjacent garage. Both me and dad's caregiver inspected it for any chemical leaks and found nothing. We checked with the gas company, who were digging up sections of concrete down the road recently, but they claim they are not using asphalt...I also don't see anybody in the vicinity tarring their roof, which still wouldn't explain why the smell is so strong by my trash cans. Could something be buried nearby, like an old oil tank? What do I do if this smell doesn't go away? It's been a few days now. Are there any commercial buildings nearby? Might any of them have flat roofs that might be having roofing work done? I know that wouldn't usually be a localized smell like that, but I'd say it's the most common origin for an asphalt tar smell I've experienced, if there's no roadwork nearby. |
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Post by ganews on Nov 11, 2020 12:06:23 GMT -5
Phase one of Wifemate's backyard transformation project is complete: after several weeks of on-and-off work we have completed construction of a backyard patio. She did the surveying, leveled the spot, constructed the retaining wall, tamped the gravel, and laid the pavers - I hauled the tons of gravel/sand/pavers from the driveway delivery to the site. So she did the skilled work, I did the brute labor. (Although I also chiseled square pavers into corner pieces to lay into the perimeter of the 15'x10' oval. I am now have experience with a millennia-old skill!) Then we swept sand into the cracks between the pavers, and I must say it looks pretty professional. Now that we've had rain to wash the stones clean it looks even better.
I'm not fooling with the planting though - that's all her. I'll gladly move excavated dirt to shore up the berm against my uphill neighbor's property.
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Post by Powerthirteen on Nov 18, 2020 11:04:48 GMT -5
I was rudely awakened this morning by scrabbling mouse claws in the radiator next to my bed, which is a bridge too far for our occasional mouse visitors and I *do not care for it.* The landlord has now aggressively be-trapped the house and attic.
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Nov 22, 2020 1:53:44 GMT -5
I had to use a hammer and chisel while attempting to install a "new" sink in the basement. I don't know shit about carpentry, and only very basic stuff about plumbing, but I think eventually the water will flow, pool up, and then go away on command.
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Dec 2, 2020 22:14:11 GMT -5
Now that the farmhouse basement has the wall stabilized and the leaks stopped (I had forgotten how great it is to have a dry basement) I started renovation the kitchen. This was a do-it-myself project using mostly stuff we already had laying around. Literally. The old sink faucet had leaked and rotted away the backsplash where it was mounted to an old single tub sink. We have had what turned out to be a pretty nice double tub sink we got in with a bunch of other stuff at an auction, laying in the yard. I dug it out and measured it, and it just barely fit the available space between the cabinets. Because it's faucet mounts into the sink itself, rather than the countertop like the old one did, I was able to install it without replacing the entire countertop. I made a backsplash by using two coats of spray-on truck bed liner on a 1X4, and covered the crumbling plaster behind it with a piece of....something, countertop stuff or whatever, that was inside a container we bought. We even had a brand new faucet set that probably also came from an auction. It doesn't have a sprayer attachment, but I have a single faucet I am going to run well water to to fill the fourth hole in the sink. I cleaned and repainted the cabinet and drawers, and I think it came out OK for what we want. The only things I bought were shutoff valves and feed lines for the faucet, some wood filler, and a paint on countertop treatment.    Before There's still a lot to do on the basement, but I think the kitchen looks pretty good for 65 years old. I know it hadn't been used or cleaned since my mom became unable to go up and down the stairs, about 40 years ago. I found newspapers from 1973 and 74 lining some shelves.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Dec 12, 2020 12:40:56 GMT -5
We discovered the seals are bad on our 25 year old windows and they’re leaking. This is not a massive surprise. But here we are. My husband grabbed the caulk gun only to discover it was completely solid. We’ll get more caulk but decided we probably need to replace the windows this spring. The good news is my FIL owns a glass company that does replacement windows so I think we’ll get a good deal |
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Post by ganews on Dec 15, 2020 13:49:34 GMT -5
In remaking the drainage system in the back yard we attempted to keep water off the shed, but that ended up pushing some water up against the ground-level sliding-glass door, and our dual trench system wasn't cutting it. I ended up excavating around the cement door pad, building a wall from leftover patio pavers, and humping earth up against the new wall. I exposed a bit of one trench to the newly-created dip. I also laid a short PVC pipe level with the door frame to deliver any collection to a shallow rock pit ~5 feet away.
The big test was yesterday with twelve hours of heavy rain. The dip grew a big puddle at its lowest point, and the now-recessed door pad slowly collected some water, maybe some of it falling through the deck overhead but most likely just seeping through the paver wall. The collecting water never rose to the level of the door and PVC drain. I was checking periodically during the rain, but within three hours of the rain ending the dip puddle had all flowed away to the covered trench and the water on the pad had seeped back out.
So I'm pretty pleased. That dip needs a grate over the top of it, but the trenches do the job as intended. There are still some puddles in the back yard away from the house, but I think the only way to deal with it is to allow water to flow across the shed landing. Sorry shed, there's no other place to put you.
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Dec 16, 2020 22:50:36 GMT -5
Phase one of the farmhouse basement kitchen is pretty much completed, it is now a workable kitchen. My next step is to build an electrolysis tank and try to remove the rust from my cast iron cookware, then season it and cook with it.
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Post by WKRP Jimmy Drop on Dec 16, 2020 23:22:18 GMT -5
Phase one of the farmhouse basement kitchen is pretty much completed, it is now a workable kitchen. My next step is to build an electrolysis tank and try to remove the rust from my cast iron cookware, then season it and cook with it.
That stove is amazing!! And I love the shelves on the cabinetry. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Dec 16, 2020 23:35:08 GMT -5
Phase one of the farmhouse basement kitchen is pretty much completed, it is now a workable kitchen. My next step is to build an electrolysis tank and try to remove the rust from my cast iron cookware, then season it and cook with it.
That stove is amazing!! And I love the shelves on the cabinetry. My folks built the basement in the early 50's, and lived in it until they built the house above it several years later. You can't see them in this picture, but all the ceiling beams in the basement are rough cut oak from out own timber.
All those cabinets must be hand cut and hand assembled, because no two of them have the same dimensions. The stove is a Montgomery Ward. It has no pilot lights I have ever found, and had instructions printed in the oven on how to light it with a match. My dad told me they got it from a railroad salvage store. It is at least 65 or 70 years old, and while my mom was scared to death of lighting it, she said it cooked better than any stove she ever used. The oven and all the burners work. I test fired it, and it regulates it's temperature nicely. I hope to be ready to try it out soon.
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Post by WKRP Jimmy Drop on Dec 16, 2020 23:50:47 GMT -5
That stove is amazing!! And I love the shelves on the cabinetry. My folks built the basement in the early 50's, and lived in it until they built the house above it several years later. You can't see them in this picture, but all the ceiling beams in the basement are rough cut oak from out own timber.
All those cabinets must be hand cut and hand assembled, because no two of them have the same dimensions. The stove is a Montgomery Ward. It has no pilot lights I have ever found, and had instructions printed in the oven on how to light it with a match. My dad told me they got it from a railroad salvage store. It is at least 65 or 70 years old, and while my mom was scared to death of lighting it, she said it cooked better than any stove she ever used. The oven and all the burners work. I test fired it, and it regulates it's temperature nicely. I hope to be ready to try it out soon.
Wait.
It's a basement? What's up with those windows? They just look like normal crank-open windows. Is it one of those "only partially actually underground basements" that I always find so confusing?
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Dec 17, 2020 0:02:26 GMT -5
My folks built the basement in the early 50's, and lived in it until they built the house above it several years later. You can't see them in this picture, but all the ceiling beams in the basement are rough cut oak from out own timber.
All those cabinets must be hand cut and hand assembled, because no two of them have the same dimensions. The stove is a Montgomery Ward. It has no pilot lights I have ever found, and had instructions printed in the oven on how to light it with a match. My dad told me they got it from a railroad salvage store. It is at least 65 or 70 years old, and while my mom was scared to death of lighting it, she said it cooked better than any stove she ever used. The oven and all the burners work. I test fired it, and it regulates it's temperature nicely. I hope to be ready to try it out soon.
Wait.
It's a basement? What's up with those windows? They just look like normal crank-open windows. Is it one of those "only partially actually underground basements" that I always find so confusing?
It is a walk-out basement built into a hillside. I don't think it ever had a dirt covered roof, but a shingle roof on top of the basement. Our front (south) yard is mostly flat, with some slope at the west end, but the back yard is sort of a small valley. Those windows are at ground level facing the north, and the door is a walkout exit with concrete block walls. |
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Post by nowimnothing on Dec 17, 2020 8:20:51 GMT -5
Phase one of the farmhouse basement kitchen is pretty much completed, it is now a workable kitchen. My next step is to build an electrolysis tank and try to remove the rust from my cast iron cookware, then season it and cook with it.
I like that you are not fucking around with those hooks for the cast iron pans. Those suckers are not going anywhere. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Dec 20, 2020 17:37:36 GMT -5
We are *finally* getting our new door, correct color and glass, tomorrow. The guy called today to say it was in. Hopefully it goes pretty quickly. It’s been over a year since the wrong one was installed |
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