Home Improvement: Weird but I think inspector broke my gate? |
- Weird but I think inspector broke my gate?
- My experience with self-leveling cement
- Anyone have experience with steel roof that looks like shingles?
- Contractor is tearing off rotted siding and replacing with LP smart siding. He said we can do houswewrap with or without plywood. I don’t know any better. Help!
- A/C repairs - capacitors, contactors & hard start kits
- Burning smell from bathroom light
- Small patch of mold on HVAC
- Need to replace both AC unit and furnace. Can I get a deal by doing both at the same time?
- What are your views on soundproofing a ceiling?
- Upgrading sliding door to French. What should I know?
- Help with gap between screen and actual window
- Can I use a jetted corner bathtub as a bathtub/shower combo.
- Two dishwashers... Is it a "what were they thinking" idea? And if not, please help me decide how to approach this.
- Repairing Cracked Exterior Window (Upper Sash)
- Flaw in home 2yrs old... What can I do?
- Attic insulation costs??
- What’s the best way to remove wallpaper from lath & plaster walls?
- Planning ahead: What type of person do I need to hire?
- Roofing opinions
- Replacing existing fence - I need a couple day laborers to help. Where can I hire them?
- Mold after frequent humidifier use in nursery
- Wiring Question
- Some king of piano extension to support keyboard
- Is anchoring furniture to the wall necessary if you don't have kids?
- I'm building a Pergola/Trellis and stained raw Western Red Cedar a truly horrible color, now trying to stain over again without sanding... Am I an idiot?
| Weird but I think inspector broke my gate? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:30 PM PDT We are selling our house. I recognize how shitty it sounds to accuse a person of breaking something and not owning up to it. Also that it's the inspector's job to find issues with a house and something one "normal use" away from breaking, isn't really their fault if it breaks. That said, we have a wood gate on both sides of our house. Gates on each side as well. On one side, the wood is warped from water. The gate still shut and the latch worked. The door is just bent out at the bottom. We always leave it shut because it's on the far side of the house and never need to use it. Anyway, I walk out there today, a few days after a house inspection, and it's wide fucking open. My heart races. Check, the dog is safe. Baby is safe. So it's all good. Terrible mistake (in my opinion) to leave it open but no harm no foul. I go to shut it. It won't shut. It won't come close to latching and the heavy duty metal latching part is bent, like it will no longer line up to be functional. Someone must've really racked on it. I assume trying to get the bottom warped part lined up. I'm going to go out there tonight with a rubber mallet and try to force it in but I don't think it'll go. So I'll put up some plastic fencing until I can figure out how to repair it. We close on the house sale in 3 weeks! I can't leave these people with a shoddy gate. For context — We have a BELOVED small fast dumb dog and live on a busy street and one block from a major highway, so you can be sure we legit never would leave the gate open or let it fly being open anything more than the 2" inches that it had warped at the bottom. We have never let the dog go outside alone or be offleash here in 7 years. So, yeah I'd basically have someone's head if I saw them leave a door or gate open because it would mean my dog could quickly die. She is extremely important to us and I just can't believe we got so close to potentially losing her. Okay rant about dog obsession over. Anyway - I'm just pissed about this. This inspector also left our front doors unlocked after leaving, too. And he put a radon test on our washing machine without telling us about it or how to do laundry for the next 2.5 days until pickup. So this fence thing grinds my gears. I want to be done with this dude but is it worth mentioning it to our realtor or home warranty people? Inspector guy is the boss of his own company. I'm honestly just really sad that someone's life could be gravely impacted by him being absentminded or not giving a fuck. Im planning to fix the fence. Hopefully it's just a new latch installation because the door itself is a custom width. Also maybe worth noting - his inspection was very generous. We saw a copy of the report and it didn't list many of the things I thought it would. It appears he didn't test all the lights or faucets either because some don't work and he didn't mention it (we are fixing them before closing). Thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| My experience with self-leveling cement Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:32 AM PDT I've searched the forums here, elsewhere, and a lot of websites for reviews/tips and everything seemed to either fall under "it worked great!" or a long post about how the SLC doesn't level and royally screwed up a homeowner's project. I took the plunge and thought I'd contribute my experience to the general Internet record. Area had been poorly carpeted. Wife would like large-format wood-look tile. The scene: Our basement has a hump in the middle of the room because an interior-perimeter drain was installed and they never brought the cement back up to level when it was replaced. Then they framed over the area. One section is even lower (drop of 1.5 inches over 5 ft) near where they placed the sump pump. Room is 285 sq ft. The prep: Shop vacuumed the area, caulked the floor to the bottom plate of the framing and then duct taped this angle so the SLC wouldn't come in contact with the wood, then I used primer on the floor (LevelQuik Acrylic primer). The primer is blue and actually makes the floor look kinda neat. Rather smelly. Tip- after the primer I noticed hair cracks better, which actually sucked up some more. I put some caulk on all cracks and flattened it with a gloved hand before the SLC. After this dried, I took a 6 ft bubble level and went around the room to calculate the volume I'd need. I found the level was faster than trying my laser level. I marked the areas I was going to pour all over the room. I didn't want to do the whole room because this would get very costly and I didn't need to based off the specs of the rise/run the tile needed. The pour: I used the Custom- LevelQuick RS 50 lb bags because it was the cheapest thing at HD at $28 a bag. It calls for 5.25 - 5.75 quarts of cold water to a bag. I opted for 6 quarts plus a cup. It is rated at 4500 psi cured so I don't care if I'm losing a little bit for human foot traffic. I had 1 friend mix a bucket (dusty!) and hand it to me (after I poured it I asked him to bump it up a cup because I wanted it to run more). By the time I dumped it and pushed it around my prescribed area with a rubber squeegee the next bucket was ready. After 80% of the bags were poured I added checking level with the bubble level on the surface (you can wash it off the level). This helped me decide where I should add my last few pours. The whole thing took around 30 minutes. The last 5 was me feathering the edges with a smoothing trowel. The result: It worked perfect. My math was exactly right (I should have gone over just in case though). The whole room is now either level or off by 1/16". I was debating posting pictures, but it wouldn't really show much. I'll do another post when I'm done with tiling and drywall. I just wanted to get this out there for folks thinking of doing this. It isn't bad. 10 bags with 1 bucket (5 gallon HD bucket) mixing was about the limit before it started to not want to be coaxed around so maybe 20-25 mins. [link] [comments] |
| Anyone have experience with steel roof that looks like shingles? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:43 PM PDT I need a roof and was considering the a steel roof for longevity vs shingles. They appear to look like traditional shingles. Anyone have experience with them? Pros/Cons [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2020 10:08 AM PDT |
| A/C repairs - capacitors, contactors & hard start kits Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:34 PM PDT Hello, I've got a home with 2 a/c units, and also a condo with a single unit. Had my pre-summer maintenance and checkup, and, like last time, the tech recommended new contactors on two units, and a new capacitor on one. I'm planning to do this myself, but since they're so cheap, I figure I may as well replace on all 4 units while I'm in there. He also recommended surge protectors and hard start kits for all 3 units. I haven't dug into those yet, but would like to hear opinions on if it's worth it, necessary, and easy enough to DIY. Specs: Unit 1 capacitor: 35/3/440 +/- 6% (editted: original thought it was 3%, but looked up part # and it's actually 6%) Contactor: 2-pole (?) - considering replacement with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YVJTTP5/ . Unit 2 Capacitor A: 60uF +/- 6% 440/370 VAC Capacitor B: 5uF +/- 6%; 370VAC Contactor: single pole (?) - considering replacement with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YVJTTP5/ . Unit 3 Capacitor: 55/5/440 +/- 6% Contactor: single pole (?) - considering replacement with https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YVJTTP5/ . My questions are: 1) can I use a dual capacitor for unit 2, and would I be looking for one that's 60/5 and 370/440 ? Would this be better/simpler? 2) for the contactors, are the replacements proposed above appropriate? Mainly want to confirm that it's ok to exceed the LRA/FRA/RES, and that I just need to make sure it's 24v coil. . Pics: https://m.imgur.com/gallery/Bmu8gtk Thanks! Edit: contactor specs (only listing the FRA/LRA/RES for the 240/277 line, as I believe that's the only one relevant here? Also, all are 24v coil): 1) 240/277 / 40 / 200 / 50 2) 240/277 / 30 / 150 / 40 3) 240/277 / 25 / 150 / 35 Sorry I missed uploading a pic for the specs for unit 2's contactor. [link] [comments] |
| Burning smell from bathroom light Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:58 AM PDT I started smelling a slight burning smell (smells like a hot glue gun) coming from my bathroom light. I replaced the light fixture and didn't see any signs of melting or burning inside the box. The new light fixture after only a few days is making the same smell again. Please help!https://i.imgur.com/t81d2Hl.jpg [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:53 PM PDT I have a very small patch of mold just starting on my HVAC unit.How should I clean these molds and prevent them from spreading. [link] [comments] |
| Need to replace both AC unit and furnace. Can I get a deal by doing both at the same time? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:40 PM PDT My furnace and my AC unit are about 20 years old and need to be replaced. They are extremely inefficient and the AC unit doesn't really cool my house adequately. I've seen a couple local hvac companies offering deals such as buy an AC and we will give you a furnace for free, or they offer a big rebate. Are these offers legitimate? I worry that deals like this are just shell games where they say the item is free and then jack up install costs or the price on the AC, or maybe the brands they are offering aren't worth it - I know next to nothing about hvac brands that are good or adequate except for trane and lennox. Any ideas about the most economical way to go about this? My house is about 1600 sq ft, one story with a basement. [link] [comments] |
| What are your views on soundproofing a ceiling? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:10 AM PDT I've been contemplating soundproofing my ceiling since I'm constantly disturbed by impact noise from the neighbour above. I've looked at a couple of options, and I've heard the words, "soundproofing clips", and "green glue", but still I'm not sure if the price (for a 550 square foot apartment) is worth it if the results aren't that noticeable. Has anyone had any experience with this? [link] [comments] |
| Upgrading sliding door to French. What should I know? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:06 PM PDT We've got a old (2005) sliding door that we want to upgrade/change to French. I'm fairly certain it's a 72x80 standard. Exterior is stucco. I believe it's resting on Slab. I suspect if I rip it out, there will be some cosmetic work / flashing that needs repair. It's there anything I should be aware of before pulling this thing out? Sliding door https://imgur.com/a/M3FErsi [link] [comments] |
| Help with gap between screen and actual window Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:44 PM PDT We are renting and our windows suck. I would love to open the windows because it's 70 out. The frame of the screen doesn't match up properly to the wood on the actual window. Anyone have any idea to put on the screen to the frame? Bugs can easily fit and i can't have that especially the mosquitos. Please help. I'm desperate [link] [comments] |
| Can I use a jetted corner bathtub as a bathtub/shower combo. Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:37 PM PDT Going to redo the only bathroom in our house. It's currently small and the plan is to take a little space from the adjacent bedroom. I wanted to surprise the wife with a really nice jetted tub, she mentioned she'd like a corner tub, which I think would fit the space really well. My question is, has anyone done this before? Also, will I be able to attach glass doors to enclose the shower. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2020 01:14 AM PDT Reasoning: loading and unloading the dishwasher is a pesky chore. If unloading isn't done on time, dirty dishes and utensils will start piling up in the sink and on the countertop. With three pretty young kids (range 4-8) and two working parents, things are never perfect, and our kitchen is a mess most of the times. We prefer to enjoy our lives to seeking perfection in the kitchen... But there's the idea. With two dishwashers, there will be no unloading part. One dishwasher is like a shelf - storing the clean dishes. And the other is like a sink for dirty dishes. When the latter gets full, turn it on, and swap the roles. Rinse and repeat, literally. Is it a "what were they thinking" idea? It makes sense to me... Is there a strong non-financial reason not to do that? (I'm not seeking financial advice) (EDIT: Or parenting advice, or time management advice.) If it sounds like a plan, here's a picture augmented by some measurements in mspaint... (Actually, JSPaint): https://i.imgur.com/OwoGqo3.jpg For ergonomics, dishwashers would make most sense side by side. But I'm not sure if it's technically doable. The granite-like (I don't know what it is) countertop would lose all support it has. And I don't think it could rest on the dishwasher. But maybe there's still space for a new support? Not sure. Thanks in advance for your opinions and suggestions. *EDIT: Thank you everyone for your feedback! It appears whoever had two dishwashers doesn't want to part ways with them voluntarily, and they love/loved it. Plus two dishwashers are actually more and more common in high end houses. So what the heck, I'm getting a second one too! It appears option #2 wins by landslide, and #1 is probably in the "what were they thinking" territory! The reasoning behind option #2 is being close to the sink, close to water connection, and aesthetically symmetrical. Also, the countertop doesn't get its support removed. Thanks for helping me realize #2 is the way to go! Many Redditors suggested a Fisher & Paykel dishwasher which has two independent drawers. Some Redditors have it and love it. That's an interesting idea but I think I'll just double my dishwashing capacity and get a second dishwasher. Getting a Fisher & Paykel costs the same as adding a standard dishwasher in spot #2 and making the cabinet/plumbing modifications. And I end up with two independent dishwashers, especially handy if one dies. Also, two Redditors pointed out a separate 20A circuit is needed as I shouldn't connect the second dishwasher to the first one! I appreciate this advice, it's very valuable. Finally, I took a stance of not responding to comments that can be categorized as financial advice (whether it's worth spending money or not), or parenting advice (what kind of chores I should assign to my kids), or time management advice (what time I should do my dishes and how). I was seeking a home improvement advice, and they were not. I do respect your comments and ideas though, and I'm glad they work for y'all. And yeah, RAID-5 dishwasher setup sounds like the best idea! [link] [comments] |
| Repairing Cracked Exterior Window (Upper Sash) Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:22 PM PDT So the problem. The homeowner before us, maybe even the flipper prior to the previous homeowner, installed one of the sash locks too close to the window. It's pretty clear what happened, the screw went into the corner of the glass cracking it. There is one screw longer than all the others so my guess is they lost one of the screws and used what they had. The crack, now ten years later, spans the entire window pane. It's been on my list to fix for a while now, but I'm a bit confused of my options. It is a Jeld-Wen double-hung wood window.
Now I know I can pop the upper sash out, board up the window, and take the sash to a glass shop and have them fix it. BUT, I might be...a bit...lucky. So it looks like the flipper knew his mistake and ordered a new window. Lucky for everyone, they got two new sashes, an upper and bottom. But, they are both still sitting up in the attic. Turns out, they broke the new upper sash as well. I've since already thrown away that one (not sure why they didn't).
So, just to recap, I now have a broken upper sash, and a brand new lower sash. I'm 99.9% sure I can't just swap the lower sash into the upper one, but is there a way to remove the glass from the newer sash, remove the broken glass from the current window, and swap them out? The sizes of both sashes are the same. [link] [comments] |
| Flaw in home 2yrs old... What can I do? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:31 PM PDT I posted on here a while back about some water leaks due to vinyl siding not having flashing where it meets the stone cap. This allows water in behind the stone fascia and it's causing wood rot in the crawlspace. I now have my insurance company involved, but I'm pretty sure they will deny the claim and say it's pre existing.... With that being said what can I do? Do I contact the builder and request that he fixes the issue? Or contact LLR board ( I'm located in SC) or....??? I'm at a loss for what recourse I have... [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:59 PM PDT I recently decided it's finally time to get my attic insulated. The old stuff up there is from the 50s when it was originally built. And I can tell it's minimal at best. I live in a ranch with a hip style roof. After looking online I got a figure in my head around how much it would cost for a company to come blow in insulation. After getting three quotes, I'm blown away (pun intended) by how expensive they came in!! I figured by looking online the most I would spend is $2400. My quotes were $2500, $4300, and $5600. All pretty much would do the same thing besides the most expensive one would install a humidistat fan. Do these prices sound right?? I had all intentions of getting this done, but now I'm wondering why the prices are all over the place. The house size is 40' x32' and the attic spans the whole house. Thoughts?! [link] [comments] |
| What’s the best way to remove wallpaper from lath & plaster walls? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 02:04 AM PDT Hi Redditors. I have an old house with the wallpaper in a poor condition. What is the best way to remove the wallpaper without damaging the lath and plaster walls too much? I heard using a steamer could damage them? Edit:- Thank you for all your tips and suggestions. [link] [comments] |
| Planning ahead: What type of person do I need to hire? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:24 PM PDT After a long hunt, I finally joined the homeowners club last Thursday. We are in Middle Tennessee, and have a 2 bed 1 bath 1100 sq ft bungalow from the 1920's. The house is currently livable, but we plan to expand the home over time. Things like dormer and expand 2nd floor, add a 300 sq ft addition off the back, 2nd bathroom, etc.. We want to have a clear vision of the final product so we don't accidentally have to do the same projects more than once. Examples: House has knob and tube wiring that needs to be remediated ASAP, and based on our electrical box, we'll probably want to upgrade and relocate that as well. We don't want to move it to a wall or location that may be knocked down or covered up in 5 years. Plumbing is cast iron and will need replacing. Don't want to replace a bunch of stuff, and then need to relocate it all in 2 years. Who should I hire? An architect? An engineer? Ideally, at the end of the day we'd have a master plan of what the home could potentially look like, and then have jobs done built around that end goal over the next few years as funds allow. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2020 03:08 PM PDT Hi everyone I need your opinion. I got a call from a client. She had water damage in the ceiling and needed it repaired. She explained that she had the roof replaced 2 years ago and this damage started, she called the roofer and the guy came and caulked something but the water damage continued within a year. She called the roofer back and the guy said " It not my problem because the water is coming in from the Furnace exhaust vent but I will see what I can do. I think she should call a HVAC company." personally I say that the roofer is responsible to secure the roof from all water infiltration. What say all of you guys? [link] [comments] |
| Replacing existing fence - I need a couple day laborers to help. Where can I hire them? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 06:49 PM PDT I'm replacing apprx 260 linear feet of wood fence with vinyl fencing. I need to hire a few day laborers to help with the removal of the old fence, digging new post holes, and installing the new vinyl. Where can I find some people willing to help out and what's a reasonable hourly rate to pay them? I was thinking $20/hr Edit: there are no day laborers outside my local home Depot [link] [comments] |
| Mold after frequent humidifier use in nursery Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:04 PM PDT https://i.imgur.com/jvfAArk.jpg We're seeing mold in our nursery windowsills after all winter use of a humidifier. Was wondering the best way to kill that off? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2020 08:41 PM PDT I have a light switch that turns on the main light in my front mudroom and the porch light. I want to replace the porch light with a motion sensor light. How much rewiring am I looking into to have the motion sensor light set up properly, I don't want to have to turn on the mudroom light just to have it work. [link] [comments] |
| Some king of piano extension to support keyboard Posted: 10 Mar 2020 05:48 PM PDT I have my computer on a very small table and my midi keyboard in front of it. Sometimes I want to sit closer to my computer and use the computers keyboard. Is there some kind of moveable platform I could install so that I don't have to scooch backwards and use the folding TV tray. [link] [comments] |
| Is anchoring furniture to the wall necessary if you don't have kids? Posted: 10 Mar 2020 07:58 PM PDT This may be a stupid question and if it's not allowed here, please let me know and maybe suggest another sub more well-suited for this. I'm moving to a new place in May (I'm a student, so I rent and don't have any kids who may topple over my furniture), and the room I'm going to have doesn't contain a closet. I'm looking into buying a wardrobe, but most, if not all, say they need to be anchored to a wall, which my new place doesn't allow (no drilling into walls permitted). My question is, is it safe to have my wardrobe not anchored to the wall? I have a dresser now that I never anchored but that's below hip height and the wardrobe would obviously be much taller. I'm not going to tip the thing over myself, I have no kids who would do so, and the floor is level so I can't imagine it would tip over on its own, but I guess you never know. If anyone has any advice to help out a clueless 20 year old I'd appreciate it! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 10 Mar 2020 04:00 PM PDT Basically I picked a color in the store that brought out the natural cedar color of the new boards. Looked great! So I went ahead and stained every board I have... Now that I have them all out to the house, the cedar color looks horrific with the color of the house. I used a transparent stain (which is also a sealer) from Sherwin Williams. Now I'm looking to move to a darker Semi-transparent deck stain and just layer over the transparent stain I just put on. Horrible idea without stripping/sanding the original off?? [link] [comments] |
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