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Post by WKRP Jimmy Drop on Aug 18, 2023 21:17:23 GMT -5
Ok, I'm getting my roof replaced, and insurance is covering it all sort of!
The sort of:
The guy suggested upgrading my shingles to Tamko XT, which are supposed to be much better for high winds and hail that what I have now, and we do get a lot of that round these here parts Oklahoma global warming yay  Insurance won't cover the upgrade, so it would be about $2k out of pocket (not including with my deductible and a soffit fix).
Obviously I know nothing about roofing, so I went poking around the internet, and now not only am I sure that I have scurvy, I am of course second-guessing myself agreeing to a shingle upgrade. Anyone got any knowledge and/or opinions on it?
For what it's worth, we had a steel roof installed. I think they just put it right over our existing old shingles. So far (a few years) it's been great. I really would like that, but they’re definitely more than I can spend right now. Someone around the corner from me has one, and it’s so nice. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 21, 2023 19:31:27 GMT -5
Does anyone know how much paint I need for a hallway and a bathroom? I have to go buy some tomorrow. Same color, will probably get the same finish to make things easier. I feel like a gallon is ok but I don’t want to run low… and yes I can ask the paint counter guy  |
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Post by nowimnothing on Aug 22, 2023 7:10:29 GMT -5
Does anyone know how much paint I need for a hallway and a bathroom? I have to go buy some tomorrow. Same color, will probably get the same finish to make things easier. I feel like a gallon is ok but I don’t want to run low… and yes I can ask the paint counter guy A gallon should be good if the color change is not too pronounced. You can probably get two coats out of a gallon in that much space, but if you need three coats you would probably run out. It also depends on the quality of the paint. The really high end stuff does not need as many coats for full coverage. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 22, 2023 7:39:20 GMT -5
Does anyone know how much paint I need for a hallway and a bathroom? I have to go buy some tomorrow. Same color, will probably get the same finish to make things easier. I feel like a gallon is ok but I don’t want to run low… and yes I can ask the paint counter guy A gallon should be good if the color change is not too pronounced. You can probably get two coats out of a gallon in that much space, but if you need three coats you would probably run out. It also depends on the quality of the paint. The really high end stuff does not need as many coats for full coverage. It's Valspar, though I haven't bought the actual paint yet. The bathroom is a fairly similar color - though I am painting the ceiling as well. The hallway will be a bigger change, from brown to a medium purple-gray. |
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Post by nowimnothing on Aug 22, 2023 10:31:44 GMT -5
A gallon should be good if the color change is not too pronounced. You can probably get two coats out of a gallon in that much space, but if you need three coats you would probably run out. It also depends on the quality of the paint. The really high end stuff does not need as many coats for full coverage. It's Valspar, though I haven't bought the actual paint yet. The bathroom is a fairly similar color - though I am painting the ceiling as well. The hallway will be a bigger change, from brown to a medium purple-gray. Probably 2 gallons then just to be safe. Always better to have half a gallon left over to fix up any spots in the future than to be scraping the bucket to finish the last corner. Some other tips: Watch a couple of Youtube videos on cutting in and how to pick a decent brush to do it. I used to tape off all my molding, then I started using those edging paint pads. Both take more time and give you worse results than just cutting in. You can get the hang of it pretty quickly. I wish I had learned how to do it years ago. I find it is easier to paint all the edges and corners with a brush first and then go back with the roller for the center. Sometimes you can get away with just one coat on the edges and corners. For a bathroom you will want something with some sheen to it. But the more sheen, the more the imperfections will show through. This is where the extra paint will help if you want to add a third or even fourth coat. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 22, 2023 10:34:25 GMT -5
It's Valspar, though I haven't bought the actual paint yet. The bathroom is a fairly similar color - though I am painting the ceiling as well. The hallway will be a bigger change, from brown to a medium purple-gray. Probably 2 gallons then just to be safe. Always better to have half a gallon left over to fix up any spots in the future than to be scraping the bucket to finish the last corner. Some other tips: Watch a couple of Youtube videos on cutting in and how to pick a decent brush to do it. I used to tape off all my molding, then I started using those edging paint pads. Both take more time and give you worse results than just cutting in. You can get the hang of it pretty quickly. I wish I had learned how to do it years ago. I find it is easier to paint all the edges and corners with a brush first and then go back with the roller for the center. Sometimes you can get away with just one coat on the edges and corners. For a bathroom you will want something with some sheen to it. But the more sheen, the more the imperfections will show through. This is where the extra paint will help if you want to add a third or even fourth coat. I'm not personally painting it, I have a guy coming - I have already tried painting the bathroom on my own and, well, it looks bad But I do need to buy the paint. Two gallons sounds good. Thanks! |
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Post by nowimnothing on Aug 22, 2023 10:39:03 GMT -5
Probably 2 gallons then just to be safe. Always better to have half a gallon left over to fix up any spots in the future than to be scraping the bucket to finish the last corner. Some other tips: Watch a couple of Youtube videos on cutting in and how to pick a decent brush to do it. I used to tape off all my molding, then I started using those edging paint pads. Both take more time and give you worse results than just cutting in. You can get the hang of it pretty quickly. I wish I had learned how to do it years ago. I find it is easier to paint all the edges and corners with a brush first and then go back with the roller for the center. Sometimes you can get away with just one coat on the edges and corners. For a bathroom you will want something with some sheen to it. But the more sheen, the more the imperfections will show through. This is where the extra paint will help if you want to add a third or even fourth coat. I'm not personally painting it, I have a guy coming - I have already tried painting the bathroom on my own and, well, it looks bad But I do need to buy the paint. Two gallons sounds good. Thanks! If you have a guy coming, I would ask him. You might still be able to get away with one gallon. I think I saw your color samples the other day and none of them looked very saturated. If you current colors are some flavor of beige or off white and you are moving to a purple-grey off white you won't need many coats. There are also different grades of Valspar. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 22, 2023 10:46:44 GMT -5
I'm not personally painting it, I have a guy coming - I have already tried painting the bathroom on my own and, well, it looks bad But I do need to buy the paint. Two gallons sounds good. Thanks! If you have a guy coming, I would ask him. You might still be able to get away with one gallon. I think I saw your color samples the other day and none of them looked very saturated. If you current colors are some flavor of beige or off white and you are moving to a purple-grey off white you won't need many coats. There are also different grades of Valspar. No, none of them are too deep/dark, I'm using Valspar Foghorn for reference. I will check with the service and/or the paint department guy, but having a little extra is fine - I just don't want to wildly overbuy |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 25, 2023 11:42:27 GMT -5
I went with 1 gallon, plus ceiling paint. The guy is here right now. I have actually forgotten the agreed-upon hourly rate, but I don't even care because it's worth it to have everything done well and not by me.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 25, 2023 16:37:57 GMT -5
I went with 1 gallon, plus ceiling paint. The guy is here right now. I have actually forgotten the agreed-upon hourly rate, but I don't even care because it's worth it to have everything done well and not by me. So the only lesson I have is that I should have bought more ceiling paint, but a gallon of the wall color was perfectly fine. |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 25, 2023 21:29:30 GMT -5
https://www.instagram.com/p/CwYfRj5vnGv The change in the hallway is more dramatic, but every single day in the shower I would look at the ceiling and think about what a lousy job I did. So I’m thrilled to have them both done. |
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ABz B👹anaz
Grandfathered In 
This country is (now less of) a shitshow.
Posts: 1,993
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Post by ABz B👹anaz on Sept 5, 2023 18:09:40 GMT -5
Gotta love* meeting with a house painter who's highly rated on Nextdoor and Facebook for our neighborhood, getting the process started with a quote, having him schedule to start working the following week... ...but then keep stalling when my wife asks him for proof of insurance for him and his crew, saying he has it and will send it over soon, repeating this for several days... ...then stop responding and not show up on the planned day. Guess we're done with you, dude! (* - No, I don't really gotta love this, Some Kind of Munster  ) EDIT - Aha, it appears he is operating with a suspended license. Moving on! |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Sept 14, 2023 14:31:06 GMT -5
Progress is being made!  So, the septic lids are obviously still visible, but they are flush now with the mulch around them, and also softened visually (from ground level, which is really all that matters) being set into an intentional "area" and blocked (somewhat) by the plantings. Those are coneflowers and black-eyed susans, with lavender along the path; everything's basically played-out for the season already, but will presumably fill in quite a bit next summer. We still need to seed the grass/clover along the other side of the path, then (and replace that one stone that the landscaper people broke during this phase of the install), but other than that, it's done! The little patio is just delighting me, even though the furniture for it is still backordered. We've got a couple of ornate teak benches to come, but for now we can swing the picnic-table benches down from the deck when we want to grill there. The oyster shell was well worth the trouble and extra expense -- it's pillowy soft, and looks gorgeous in the sun. The landscaper wants to come back next spring to do some drainage stuff between the septic lids and the garage, and also to add a decorative stone border around the shell patio; I think that'll be great! |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 9, 2023 23:49:52 GMT -5
Lots going on around here, with my cousin and his kids moving into the farmhouse, and us renovating the schoolhouse in preparation of us moving into it.
So tonight, I'm in my office in the basement of the farmhouse, when I heard running water. First I thought it was because I have new hearing aids and I was hearing the washing machine, or water running in the sink drain, which runs over my head. Then I figured I better have a look, and on the outer wall, where the drains from the house exit through the wall, there was water pouring out, onto my shelves full of my electronic test equipment.
Well, shit.
At least it wasn't shit, just bath water, and nothing got very wet.
We have newer PVC drains pipes from the upstairs bath and kitchen that make a "Y" and downspout to a rubber right angle elbow which is fastened from the PVC downspout to the metal exit pipe with hose clamps. Turns out the 70+ year old metal drain pipe had rusted off on the bottom where it exits through the wall. Panic city. The kids have school tomorrow, and my cousin has orientation for his new job, and it looked for a minute like nobody was going to be able to bathe, do dishes, or wash hands for a while.
Then I have an idea. I measure the inside diameter of the broken pipe, locate and cut off a 6 inch piece of the hose for my shop vac that is the right size, stuff it up inside the broken pipe past the leak, and reconnect the rubber elbow. There is still a little seepage, but it drips into the drain channel cut into that part of the basement floor. That will let everybody shower in the morning. I am going to head to the hardware store tomorrow, to locate some better pipe, metal or PVC, to stuff up into the broken pipe and glue or caulk it in, giving us a new attachment point for the elbow. I am hoping this will last long enough to get us to spring, or at least till the tractor hydraulic pump is fixed and the backhoe attachment is working so we can replace part or all of the old drain pipe. I also plan to use the pressure washer to flush out the grease from the drain pipe before we patch it.
Wish us luck!
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Post by nowimnothing on Oct 10, 2023 7:18:41 GMT -5
I also plan to use the pressure washer to flush out the grease from the drain pipe before we patch it. Wait, what? I have never thought of something like that, I think I need to see a video, sounds messy but also cool like using a leaf blower to clean the dryer vent. I guess that is also a good way to stress test the drain pipe which usually does not see much pressure. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Oct 10, 2023 11:20:20 GMT -5
I also plan to use the pressure washer to flush out the grease from the drain pipe before we patch it. Wait, what? I have never thought of something like that, I think I need to see a video, sounds messy but also cool like using a leaf blower to clean the dryer vent. I guess that is also a good way to stress test the drain pipe which usually does not see much pressure. I may not use the pressure washer after all. I had forgotten that they make a thing that looks like a rubber sausage with a hose connector on one end and an "X" slit on the other, to clean out drain pipes. I have used one before and it worked really well. You put the unexpended sausage into the pipe. When you turn on the hose, the sausage swells and blocks the pipe, and the "X" slit makes the water shooting into the drain pipe high pressure. I picked one up today to use on the drain. I imagine the pressure washer would be a lot messier since you would have to try to plug the pipe around the washer nozzle with rags or something. The one I got today cost around $15. |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Oct 23, 2023 7:55:30 GMT -5
We've finally got the benches we ordered for the new patio, so, until the landscape guy comes back next spring/summer to do the grading stuff he was talking about closer to the garage, my backyard is complete! It was an extremely expensive and upsetting route to get here, and I would prefer not to have the dumb aerobic septic tank, but all things considered, I think this is all a net improvement. I just love sitting out there now, in a space that never used to exist, and I'm going to enjoy watching our trees grow in over the next few decades!  For the foreseeable future this is a place to watch birds soaring overhead, or to enjoy bats flitting about as dusk falls. Someday it'll be a place to enjoy a rustling, leafy canopy and cool shade on a hot day. I love it! |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Dec 14, 2023 9:16:41 GMT -5
This morning, like many mornings, I went out to the garage, dressed and ready for work, hit the opener button, put my stuff in my car and.... the garage door stopped halfway up. The motor kept running, but the door wasn't moving. Great! After trying the button a couple more times, I went back inside and told my husband that we had a problem.
Long story short, we got it open the rest of the way, TWBE left for work, but I am working from home so as to await the repair guy. I feel like it won't be that crazy of a fix - possibly we need a whole new opener since it's 25 years old, but we'll see. Isn't home ownership fun?
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Dec 14, 2023 14:22:33 GMT -5
This morning, like many mornings, I went out to the garage, dressed and ready for work, hit the opener button, put my stuff in my car and.... the garage door stopped halfway up. The motor kept running, but the door wasn't moving. Great! After trying the button a couple more times, I went back inside and told my husband that we had a problem. Long story short, we got it open the rest of the way, TWBE left for work, but I am working from home so as to await the repair guy. I feel like it won't be that crazy of a fix - possibly we need a whole new opener since it's 25 years old, but we'll see. Isn't home ownership fun? Update: I should have known. The WHOLE THING is 30 years old - nobody ever replaced anything. So we're getting a new motor, springs and bearings. The old motor's gears were "dust". The current springs are still intact, but after that long they could break at any point, so I'd just as soon not risk it and just get this all done today. Funny, I was just thinking "hey, we have some extra in checking I should probably put in savings" and uh...no, guess that's for the garage door. |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Dec 28, 2023 14:26:26 GMT -5
It's been warm enough here that we shut the heat off a couple days before Christmas, and haven't turned it back on yet. I have built a fire in the wood stove a couple times this last week, and it has kept the house nice and cozy when needed.
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Jan 2, 2024 15:47:19 GMT -5
In real life stately Dick N Hisses Manor's name is Maple Hoo; it was a nonsense name mentioned in passing as a joke shortly after we moved in, and it's stuck. Having lived here for over 18 years, we actually use the name a lot. As the calendar turned to 2022, we had some exciting ideas for some changes we'd like to make to the house; Hugs declared of the new year, "A new Hoo in '22!" and we were so thrilled with the promise of fun tweaks to the house. Of course, what ended up happening instead of "fun tweaks" was a two-year slog of disappointments, failures, stress, interminable waiting, and mind-boggling expense.
As New Years Eve dwindled down to the start of 2024, Hugs proposed our resolution/hope for this new year: "Same boring Hoo in '24!" It doesn't have the rhyme, but I think I'm feeling really good about this goal.
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Post by ganews on Jan 2, 2024 16:29:21 GMT -5
In real life stately Dick N Hisses Manor's name is Maple Hoo; it was a nonsense name mentioned in passing as a joke shortly after we moved in, and it's stuck. My house is named The Gigglehut. Wifemate and I were talking about what to name the house, she said it should be something tough. I said, "we're not really a Dreadfort [we were watching Game of Thrones, that's the Bolton family home], we're more like a Gigglehut." |
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Jan 2, 2024 16:34:05 GMT -5
My house is named The Gigglehut. Wifemate and I were talking about what to name the house, she said it should be something tough. I said, "we're not really a Dreadfort [we were watching Game of Thrones, that's the Bolton family home], we're more like a Gigglehut." The Gigglehut is a FANTASTIC name for a house! |
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Post by ganews on Jan 11, 2024 10:48:10 GMT -5
I'm planning on a few things this year. First I got a new cement stoop for the front door. The original was sunken in a few inches and no longer properly tilted away. It's something I've been meaning to get around to for a while, and when I was walking around town I saw a guy with masonry services painted on his truck. Now I need to add a bit if earth or something around the edges.
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Jan 11, 2024 14:13:11 GMT -5
Our plans this year including getting an upgraded panel, and replacing our baseboard heating with a heat pump (not cheap, but will reduce our winter electrical usage tremendously). Maybe getting a tankless water heater. After the electrical work, we can look into solar panels.
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Post by Powerthirteen on Jan 11, 2024 14:18:23 GMT -5
This year's big plan is just getting the front yard regraded and maybe actually "designed" a bit. Right now it's awful lumpy and in certain places it drains towards the house. Depending how much that costs, I may also have a concrete slab next to the house removed. Other than that, I'm kind of recovering from spending all my money on replacing the siding and would like to just quietly putter in the back yard, maybe do a little work in the garden and repaint some rooms inside. Also, I want to tear out the weird partition wall in the garage and make the space useful and pleasant for doing things. So maybe grading the yard isn't the only plan.
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Post by Liz n Dicksgiving on Jan 11, 2024 15:13:57 GMT -5
For all that I was capital-N capital-T Not Thrilled about having to redo our roof last year, man... we've had some seriously heavy rain situations over the last couple of months. It feels absolutely FANTASTIC having that new roof in place now.
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Jan 11, 2024 18:11:00 GMT -5
Our plans this year including getting an upgraded panel, and replacing our baseboard heating with a heat pump (not cheap, but will reduce our winter electrical usage tremendously). Maybe getting a tankless water heater. After the electrical work, we can look into solar panels. You might want to consult with a solar company to see if there are any changes in particular you should or shouldn't do beforehand if you're planning on solar. That's something we are going to do before we begin upgrading our electric at the place we're remodeling. |
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Post by ganews on Jan 11, 2024 20:39:26 GMT -5
Our plans this year including getting an upgraded panel, and replacing our baseboard heating with a heat pump (not cheap, but will reduce our winter electrical usage tremendously). Maybe getting a tankless water heater. After the electrical work, we can look into solar panels. You might want to consult with a solar company to see if there are any changes in particular you should or shouldn't do beforehand if you're planning on solar. That's something we are going to do before we begin upgrading our electric at the place we're remodeling. Make sure the roof is young enough, for one. |
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Post by Dr. Rumak on Jan 12, 2024 10:35:16 GMT -5
You might want to consult with a solar company to see if there are any changes in particular you should or shouldn't do beforehand if you're planning on solar. That's something we are going to do before we begin upgrading our electric at the place we're remodeling. Make sure the roof is young enough, for one. We had the roof replaced about 3 years ago. |
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Insurance won't cover the upgrade, so it would be about $2k out of pocket (not including with my deductible and a soffit fix).
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