Home Improvement: A Task Rabbit fucked up my entire condo and I don’t know what I should do |
- A Task Rabbit fucked up my entire condo and I don’t know what I should do
- I’m buying my first house! What unexpected surprises will be coming my way?
- Contractors charging extra for permitted work?
- things that you wish you knew prior to renovating a bathroom.
- Project Completed! 2nd Water Meter, self install with cost breakdown
- 34 year old with declining health, need quality of life house improvement ideas for future self.
- Help! Dog knocked bottle of hand sanitizer on old tile... took the color out of tile and grout.
- Tools to combat seasonal depression this winter?
- Took out a rotting deck
- Laser Levels, where have you been all my life...
- Can’t Drive Screw Into Stud
- Indoor Humidity Level
- Any decent home design software?
- Sealing Exposed Wood Beams | High Humidity
- Is there a difference between floor and wall/ceiling HVAC registers?
- New Build Appraisal?
- “Old Person” smell in new to me house.
- Alternative Make/Model location on A/C unit?
- Attaching a fireplace mantel surround without drilling
- Sinkhole? Depression?
- Breaker Keeps Tripping (Electrical Fault?)
- How is it possible for sound to reach one apartment floor to another, in a well isolated building?
- Dog chewed carpet. How can I replace just one small section?
- How to remove a flush nail?
| A Task Rabbit fucked up my entire condo and I don’t know what I should do Posted: 05 Sep 2020 02:45 PM PDT I hired a Tasker who had dozens of good reviews to come mount a flatscreen in the living room. Long story short, he ripped giant holes in my drywall. He installed the mount incorrectly causing the TV to fall. The TV is broken (which was brand new and will cost $1k to replace by itself) and there are soccer ball sized holes in the drywall. There's pieces of drywall and powder all over the place. He said he used the wrong screws. He up and goes "Yeah, I'm gonna have to walk away from the job" and just leaves, with our TV on the floor and an explosion of drywall powder and various debris everywhere. TaskRabbit won't answer their customer service line and I have no idea what to do. The Tasker keeps messaging us saying he'll come back and patch the dry wall, but I don't trust him after he already messed up so badly. Also he said he's not paying for the TV. Has anyone here had an issue with Task Rabbit like this? Any suggestions? [link] [comments] |
| I’m buying my first house! What unexpected surprises will be coming my way? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 03:04 AM PDT My partner and I are part-way through getting a loan for our first house together. 10/10 excite. There are a few small changes we want to make to the house (paint jobs, lighting fixtures) and one large change (remove the bathtub). So, as experienced homeowners/buyers/squatters: what nasty surprises should we look out for? EDIT 1: Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I don't know the year this house was built, but very likely within the last ten years, so it's still pretty new. Also, it's an Australian house, not American. So no attic/basement and I'm sure various rules and laws are different too [link] [comments] |
| Contractors charging extra for permitted work? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 06:57 PM PDT I'm in Maryland, in a pretty restrictive - pull permits for everything county. Trying to hire a contractor for remodeling. Every one, "licensed, bonded, and insured" either asks if I want permits pulled or seems surprised when I do. When I say yes they quote a much higher price. Why are contractors treating permits as optional? Or is this me caring too much? [link] [comments] |
| things that you wish you knew prior to renovating a bathroom. Posted: 05 Sep 2020 12:09 PM PDT hi folks, the wife and i are renovating our bathroom and are trying to do it ourselves unless we get absolutely stuck. i'm curious to know what type of things you've encountered that you wish you knew before redoing your bathroom. the wife is a certified plumbing design engineer and while she knows a lot about designing i wouldn't necessarily say she has experience putting everything together. i have worked as a laborer back in the day but was always just a helper so i know how to bang on things and which way the screw needs to rotate to tighten/loosen. so, basically, we are complete noobs. we bought some tile, a faucet and sink, a toilet and will eventually obtain a bath tub. we got some common tools, screw drivers, crescent wrench, tile cutters, tile nips, plenty of duct tape and the drive to fancy up the upstairs bathroom. we have more tools and materials and can drop by home depot as needed. is there anything that we should be mindful of before we get too far into the project? any tools that you wish you would have gotten that are not commonly found at a hardware store? are there any connections (regarding electrical / plumbing) that could be a big a huge problem? your feedback would be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Project Completed! 2nd Water Meter, self install with cost breakdown Posted: 05 Sep 2020 07:42 AM PDT First time poster! 2nd water meter for irrigation DIY install. $1000 savings over a pro install, about $250 a year in savings over single meter. I do want to support people in the trades but their cost need to be practical. Even with a 20% mark up on parts & $50/hour labor they should have came in at an extra $200-300. First time I pulled a permit, only needed to buy 1 new tool was well worth the time. Highly recommend for anyone who spends 200$+ a year on lawn irrigation who's city allows them to use a lower cost irrigation meter (savings is they remove the sewer fee for irrigation water only). I was sweating the city inspection process, guy rolled up didn't even turn off his work truck, looked outside went downstairs pulled on 1 pipe said "good enough for me" handed me the approval sheet and was gone in 5 minutes. [link] [comments] |
| 34 year old with declining health, need quality of life house improvement ideas for future self. Posted: 05 Sep 2020 05:27 PM PDT Hey everyone, I'm a 34 year old with a lung disease which progressively gets worse each year. I've (single male with dog) purchased a 1600sq ft house 2 years ago and in the middle of remodeling it with my father who builds homes for a living. The house has no structural issues but a mountain of other issues and shortcuts (missing headers for doors and windows, uncapped live wires inside walls, etc.) The upper level was gutted and redone properly to code and is finished... Things completed so far:
Now while we start redoing the downstairs from scratch (living/dining/kitchen/utility room/1pc bathroom)...I'm trying to plan some things now while I have my father, my somewhat capable self and the disposable income to make it easier on my future self as I won't be able to tackle them when my health condition worsens. So if you guys could provide me some quality-of-life suggestions and ideas for my home that would be great! Thanks Edit: I forgot to mention, the downstairs flooring already has in-floor heating...and I've purchased and will be installing a Venmar EV05 700 air exchanger as well [link] [comments] |
| Help! Dog knocked bottle of hand sanitizer on old tile... took the color out of tile and grout. Posted: 05 Sep 2020 05:19 AM PDT As the title says, we have a gallon bottle of hand sanitizer we keep on hand (thanks covid).. and our dog unfortunately knocked the whole thing over. We didn't know until a little later and by the time we cleaned up, the tile and grout has become off colored. A little acidic lemon juice has been able to restore the tile but I can't figure out how to restore the dark grout that was previously there. See picture below. Help! Thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| Tools to combat seasonal depression this winter? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 04:26 PM PDT I live in northern New England and I get pretty gnarly seasonal depression. My strategy in past winters has been to do a lot of indoor social activity and try to get outside when I can--still going for runs in the morning, then going climbing or to the gym in the evening, grabbing some drinks with friends, etc. The problem for me is that I've always found the social component of it uplifting. Looking at our pandemic, and looking at how long winters are here (think upstate VT/NH/ME for climate and daylight hours) I'm not excited for what's to come this winter. I don't think I'll be able to go climbing indoors with friends like I usually do, I'll have to be indoors at a crowded bar if I want drinks, etc. If COVID somehow gets resolved between now and then, great, life goes back to normal, but I don't see that happening in a few months. So I'm wondering what I can do at home to make a difference. I've heard of lights that help with SAD, but a lot of the ones I see online are quite expensive. Have people tried putting these throughout their house, or in their home office? It also gets very cold here, are there any electric heaters I could mount onto my porch so I could eat meals outside with my girlfriend? Is there any heater that can warm up an exposed deck in the middle of a VT winter? I've looked around but everything I see is like $400+ so I'm hesitant to take a gamble and find out they're only really effective when it's 40-50 degrees, which means I'm still boned from November through April. Any other tricks people have found? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Sep 2020 08:18 PM PDT So I took out my rotting deck that must be decades old (1900s house) Found: - complete disaster under the (cracked, not put in correctly) concrete threshold - two full rows of bricks just fell out, as well as ones to the side. Gotta source "new" 1900s brick and get a new threshold (ideas? I'm thinking stone?) https://imgur.com/gallery/Z9yvaV8[clusterf^k](https://imgur.com/gallery/Z9yvaV8)
So now my deck is gone and my back hurts from digging up rocks, breaking up and moving concrete, and repointing that section of the foundation and I'm afraid my house is going to collapse. [link] [comments] |
| Laser Levels, where have you been all my life... Posted: 05 Sep 2020 07:51 PM PDT At the big box today picking up some wire shelving for one of my closets and happened to walk by a display of laser levels. Picked up a very inexpensive one made by Ryobi. OMG... where have these been all my life. The amount of time it saved laying out everything was huge. I can't believe I haven't bought one of these sooner. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Sep 2020 03:51 PM PDT Just moved into an apartment and was trying to put up a shelf on drywall. Used stud finder to drill screws in and can't penetrate very deeply. Tried drilling were too previous holes were then used bit to make another and went little higher with no luck. Any idea what's happening? I'm novice. Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Sep 2020 05:08 AM PDT Hey guys, I'm looking for some feedback on my indoor humidity level. My thermostat has a humidity setting, and I have it set to 45%. But I can't seem to get it below 65%. I even purchased a few hygrometers to really measure it and it is reading 66%. Seems a bit high especially given that mold likes 70% humidity levels. For reference, I have a 30yr old siding house, no brick. It's in good shape and the windows were all replaced recently. Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Any decent home design software? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 12:11 PM PDT I want to design a home for myself, but I'm not at a phase where I want to plan things down to square footage and other detailed measurements. Is there a software that would help me draw out and visualize what it might look like, that doesn't require such details? [link] [comments] |
| Sealing Exposed Wood Beams | High Humidity Posted: 05 Sep 2020 10:39 PM PDT I'd like to seal some wooden beams that will eventually be exposed to high humidity (80-90% range) being inside a terrarium/greenhouse enclosure Would a stain and sealer combo be the best option in this case? Most of the sealing would be done above head so somethings that's not very drippy would be preferred. The wood in question will mostly be invisible so I don't care about the color if other options are better for sealing. Can I seal, then paint over with a latex paint for added protection? [link] [comments] |
| Is there a difference between floor and wall/ceiling HVAC registers? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 10:37 PM PDT Looking to replace my 10x6 floor registers and most of the ones I'm finding are for the ceiling/wall. Is there a difference? Or can I use a wall register in the floor? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Sep 2020 06:50 PM PDT So we're building a home in a new development, and we were one of the first to sign for a lot in this new area. This was a few months ago, and since we signed our contract, the base price of the floor plan options have increased about 10%. So using round numbers, we're in contract to build a house for 250k, and someone else would now have to pay 275k to build that same exact house. Will that 25k difference be reflected in our appraisal / equity at closing? As in, will we have that 25k + our down payment as equity after we close? Or will the house appraise at the price we're paying? I feel like logically it should work like the former, but I guess have a poor understanding of the appraisal process as a whole for new builds. If this doesn't make sense please let me know and I'll edit the post! Thanks for your help! [link] [comments] |
| “Old Person” smell in new to me house. Posted: 05 Sep 2020 03:04 PM PDT Closed on a house yesterday. House from 1925, previous owner bought it in the early 70's. It had heavily worn, bright green carpet which was yellow in spots due to wear. Pulled the carpet out today, which revealed a hardwood floor which looks pretty good. I have yet to pull all the pad and stapes, but I'm hopeful. I suspect the carpet is the cause of the old person smell. Has anyone had a similar experience where the carpet was the issue, or should I also look somewhere else? [link] [comments] |
| Alternative Make/Model location on A/C unit? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 06:37 PM PDT The rating plate on my A/C unit outside is completely worn off. You can not see any of the printing that used to be on the plate. I'm doing an electrical panel upgrade, and want to make sure it has the correct sized breakers going to it. Is there anywhere else I can look to find the make and model so I can look this info up? [link] [comments] |
| Attaching a fireplace mantel surround without drilling Posted: 05 Sep 2020 10:16 PM PDT Hello! My friend and I just moved into our first apartment. In our attempt to make the old place looked new and fresh, we have acquired a mantel surround. We were hoping to attach it to the wall around our brick fireplace. However, our lease requires that we do not drill holes in the wall. Any ideas on how to attach this mantel? (Specifically for two college students with minimal construction experience) Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Sep 2020 10:14 PM PDT Bought a house last year for my mother and had to go over there today to pay for the new fence that was installed when my mother showed me this and now I'm really worried this is going to cost a fortune to fix. This section of the house is an add on from 2006 so I have no idea what it was built ontop of, we did have French drains installed last year due to there being no drainage away from the house. I am hoping this is left over issue from that and not an new one (other than this hole). [link] [comments] |
| Breaker Keeps Tripping (Electrical Fault?) Posted: 05 Sep 2020 10:10 PM PDT Hello there, We got a new portable cooler during the summer, and in one of the rooms (Room A), it keeps tripping the breaker all the time. The cooler is rated at 9A, and we earlier had a breaker of 15A, which we increased to 20A recently to check if the rating could be an issue. However, it still keep tripping. We tried moving the cooler to another room, and it works fine. Cooler: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DLPUWHQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is making me worried about whether there's some kind of fault in the wiring in Room A. We called a handyman but all he did was increase the breaker to 20A. I don't want to do more (even increasing to 20A without changing the wires was risky in my mind). Could somebody point me to the best way to find what the issue could be, and what would be a good way to resolve this. This is also way out of my handy skills personally, so I would need to get some help. What would be the best way to get help, and what should I budget for the kind of issues. Thanks a lot to the amazing community here in advance! [link] [comments] |
| How is it possible for sound to reach one apartment floor to another, in a well isolated building? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 09:59 PM PDT Hello My upstairs neighbor has been waking me up for a year now, every night, multiple times per night, by speaking from the upstairs apartment into my apartment. I have tested loud music from my apartment in several adjoining apartments, including his, and not a sound comes through. So I'm wondering, if you would have to get creative: how would you wake up a neighbor in an apartment that seems to have excellent acoustic isolation? Can it happen by, for example, pressing against the wall or floor? I'm out of ideas. Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Dog chewed carpet. How can I replace just one small section? Posted: 05 Sep 2020 11:24 AM PDT Dog chewed carpet. How can I replace just one small section? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Sep 2020 09:55 PM PDT We just closed on a house that used to be a rental property with all of the bruises and scars that brings. It's a 1930 at the youngest house that was expanded in 1960; it has (to me) beautiful knotty pine tongue in groove panels with all wood ceiling, floors, and original wood windows. Well for reasons I can't understand the previous renters nailed scrap pieces of plywood 3/4 the way up in the window framing and screwed the cheapest, crappiest plastic blinds into that. The nails are flush and different types/head sizes; we pulled out 5 different screws from the blind mounts so I guess they used leftover hardware from wherever? How do I pry out these flush nails and the plywood scraps without damaging the wood surface of the window framing? I can live with filled in nail holes but I don't want to gouge wood that's somehow otherwise smooth and beautiful. Also I just gotta bellyache: some people genuinely have no business touching anything DIY. Not most. But some. I almost understand using the plywood to make too-small blinds fit even if it's wrong. But why only 3/4 the way up the window??? [link] [comments] |
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