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Inner Light posted:Ever tried something like this? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-2-in-Clear-Soft-Rubber-Like-Plastic-Self-Adhesive-Round-Bumpers-16-Pack-49967/203661150 I’ve been too lazy to do anything about it, but that’s a good mitigation measure
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May 10, 2022 05:06
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Casimir Radon posted:So I have a rough sawn beam that spans the ceiling of my living room and some previous owner went and painted it. What’s a good way of stripping the paint so I can properly stain it?
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May 10, 2022 13:30
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:It's really hard and messy to strip rough sawn wood and get all the paint off so it looks nice. You might have better luck finding a faux-finisher to repaint it so it looks likes woodgrain. A good faux-finisher can do amazing things. I'd like to hear more about this faux finish thing. I've never seen it done well, but man, do I have some ugly loving beams. The original builder stained the beams blood red which faded to red-black, then the next owner painted them and the tongue and groove ceiling cream. My current plan is to clad the beams in 1/4" walnut or hickory and make a false tongue and groove ceiling to cover the painted T&G.
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May 10, 2022 14:19
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Yooper posted:I'd like to hear more about this faux finish thing. I've never seen it done well, but man, do I have some ugly loving beams.  Faux-finishing, also known as graining and marbleizing (for imitating wood grains marble/stone, respectively), is an age-old technique used to make one material look like another (usually more expensive/rare/exotic) material.It was extremely common in the Victorian era (my Victorian house is full of it). In this time period, materials tended to be expensive while labor was cheap, so applying labor to cheap materials to make them appear expensive was cheaper than buying the expensive materials. Also in this time period, there was a lot of emphasis on appearing materially wealthy, with the rise of the bourgeoisie and consumerism and all that, hence the popularity of making cheap pine and slate look like exotic hardwood and fancy marble. When it boils down, it's really just painting with some special brushes and techniques. If you're up for DIY, you can learn all about graining in this handy 1881 book: House-Painting, Carriage-Painting, and Graining. It's actually really cool - tells you the types of brushes and other implements you need and how to use them to imitate certain types of wood and advises on pigments to get the right tones (except maybe substitute the lead white). As for the state of faux-finishing in the present day, I don't know much beyond lovely hacks featured on social media and one article about a really good marbleizer in the UK. Even back in the day it wasn't always good - the quality of the graining in my house (pine -> quarter sawn oak) ranges from pretty good and surprisingly convincing to downright bad (it's like the guy had his noob apprentice do the insides of the closet doors), and all the marbleizing is hilariously bad. But when it's good, it can be reeeaally good and effectively indistinguishable from the real thing.
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May 10, 2022 16:29
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Yooper posted:I'd like to hear more about this faux finish thing. I've never seen it done well, but man, do I have some ugly loving beams. To add to the above, someone that's good can definitely fool you into thinking it's stained wood, especially on a ceiling or beam where there is some distance. I've just worked with one guy locally on a few things and he is incredibly good, but I have definitely seen other people do....less than great work. I know he's a member of this trade organization, and that may help you find someone locally: https://decorativeartisans.org/Find-A-Pro I think he calls himself a 'decorative painter' not a faux-finisher-that may get you further on google. Asking local interior decorators is a good place to start. They love faux-finished because it lets them change/colors and even textures without doing actual construction. It's also not terribly difficult to do yourself if you're at all artistically inclined. At least play around with some samples!
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May 10, 2022 17:41
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Awesome, thanks! I am not artistically inclined and was going to fabricate a soda blast system with a ventilation hood attached, but maybe I'll go down this route...
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May 10, 2022 18:06
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Verman posted:I've got the same thing. You might want to try and find a section that isn't painted, maybe in a closet or something, just to see if it is actually natural wood grain or if it was stained/painted another color when installed. Mine, confirmed by my neighbors identical house, was painted brown upon install, which I think might have been to protect the wood from moisture because my beams go from my center beam to my eaves outside. Then my POs painted them white at some point during their early 90s reno.
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May 10, 2022 21:07
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Verman posted:I've got the same thing. You might want to try and find a section that isn't painted, maybe in a closet or something, just to see if it is actually natural wood grain or if it was stained/painted another color when installed. Mine, confirmed by my neighbors identical house, was painted brown upon install, which I think might have been to protect the wood from moisture because my beams go from my center beam to my eaves outside. Then my POs painted them white at some point during their early 90s reno. We had what I thought was a natural beam, that was also painted brown. Turned out to be a casing around a steel I-beam. We also painted it white.
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May 10, 2022 22:01
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Any recommendations for a good brand/model of utility sink for my laundry room? I'd prefer a more commercial kitchen style steel sink, but I also know those are like $300-600 compared to like $100-150 for just one of those plastic ones. I'm not against plastic, I just want to make sure it's not super thin flimsy plastic with teeny-tiny little legs that will just constantly wobble anytime I rinse/wash things in it.
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May 12, 2022 20:12
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DrBouvenstein posted:Any recommendations for a good brand/model of utility sink for my laundry room? You might be surprised at the price if you're willing to go for a real deal basic commercial 1 compartment sink with no side boards (or with for that matter): https://www.webstaurantstore.com/14911/1-compartment-sinks.html?filter=style:0-drainboards The smaller (and basic) ones are pretty reasonable.
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May 12, 2022 22:26
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For a year my mortgage company has had our escrow set to 3x what it should be because they are convinced the taxes are 3x what they actually are. They haven't been paying the inflated rate, but they also aren't adjusting the escrow payment down as they should, and they also haven't issued a refund. Any advice on how to actually get them to calculate the correct escrow? They've 'recalculated' it twice and each time they use the wrong tax information even when I've sent them the most recent tax bill.
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May 13, 2022 02:10
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Wait, where has all the escrow overage gone? Are they just holding it while your escrow account balloons? I'd be on the phone demanding some answers on this bumping as high as it can go unless you really like lending out money for free (because they sure don't)
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May 13, 2022 03:01
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quote:where has all the escrow overage gone? 
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May 13, 2022 06:08
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The Slack Lagoon posted:For a year my mortgage company has had our escrow set to 3x what it should be because they are convinced the taxes are 3x what they actually are. They haven't been paying the inflated rate, but they also aren't adjusting the escrow payment down as they should, and they also haven't issued a refund. Any advice on how to actually get them to calculate the correct escrow? They've 'recalculated' it twice and each time they use the wrong tax information even when I've sent them the most recent tax bill. That's.... not right. You should probably escalate that. And I mean talking to actual people and telling them you want to talk to someone higher up. If you're not in a state that mandates interest on escrow accounts, that's just pissing away money. You're getting surplus checks back every year, right? I mean, could be worse... as long as it's in the account and they're paying YOUR taxes, not fat fingering numbers and paying someone else's taxes. That would be bad. Worst case, a CFPB complaint will get their attention real fast. Kind of the nuclear option, though... well, not really, but they're serious and banks react quickly to them. I mean, around here at least property tax is not nothing, 3x would hike my monthly payment a lot for no reason. If they're refusing to fix it, then I don't really see any other choice. Love the MTV logo helping to carbon date that song back to ancient times in which MTV actually played music videos. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 12:04 on May 13, 2022 |
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May 13, 2022 12:00
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Isn't it an MTV2 logo? Meaning actual MTV didn't play videos af the time. Also who is it?
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May 13, 2022 12:13
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The Slack Lagoon posted:For a year my mortgage company has had our escrow set to 3x what it should be because they are convinced the taxes are 3x what they actually are. They haven't been paying the inflated rate, but they also aren't adjusting the escrow payment down as they should, and they also haven't issued a refund. Any advice on how to actually get them to calculate the correct escrow? They've 'recalculated' it twice and each time they use the wrong tax information even when I've sent them the most recent tax bill. Jump up and down on their heads. They're required to give you back any overage if it exceeds a certain cushion amount based on the annual amount paid out of escrow (I don't remember what the percentage is, but if you're actually paying 3x then you will have surpassed it). If they're being dipshits and running with a calculation that's 3x what it should be, then their calculation for what's a legitimate overage and what's a cushion will also be off. Wallet fucked around with this message at 12:22 on May 13, 2022 |
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May 13, 2022 12:18
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falz posted:Isn't it an MTV2 logo? Meaning actual MTV didn't play videos af the time. Also who is it? It’s Paula Cole. To be period accurate it should have a VH1 logo. This is like Jordan in a Wizards jersey.
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May 13, 2022 12:21
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I've got an old breeze block wall with the mortar coming out. What's the right product/procedure for replacing it? My current plan is to pick up a bag of Quikrete mortar mix. Then I'll scrape the loose stuff out with a screwdriver/chisel/wire brush. Then I'll wet the blocks, mix up the mortar and stuff it in. Anything else I should consider?
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May 13, 2022 18:09
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armorer posted:My old next door neighbor kept bees in his back yard. Once a year, for 8 years, I sprayed the weeds that came up through the pavement cracks with the roundup that claims to last for a year. I only ever did so on a windless day, and it never seemed to have any impact on the bees that lived literally 50 ft away. Bees have a 3-5 mile flight radius, so it's actually more about the overall usage in aggregate across that area, along with what's blooming/being fed off of. A little sidewalk weed murder x [number of houses in your community + municipal road weed control efforts] is actually a huge amount of uncontrolled spraying. The industrial scale applications are controlled and timed and contractually enforced with industrial pollination services, but natural pollinators have no such set of relationships.
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May 13, 2022 22:19
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Wallet posted:Jump up and down on their heads. They're required to give you back any overage if it exceeds a certain cushion amount based on the annual amount paid out of escrow (I don't remember what the percentage is, but if you're actually paying 3x then you will have surpassed it). If they're being dipshits and running with a calculation that's 3x what it should be, then their calculation for what's a legitimate overage and what's a cushion will also be off. Thanks for the feedback everyone. It's an odd situation because the property was assessed (~$7k) in taxes as a two family, but was sold (closing date November FY21, 2020) as two condos. The assessment for the property did not change until the start of FY22 (July 2021), when a tax bill was generated that showed the new amount (~$5k). The city also has a residential exemption, which didn't take effect until the start of FY22 Q3 (January 2022), which lowered the total annual tax bill to ~$2k. Fy22 Q1 and Q2 taxes were paid at the rate that didn't account for the residential exemption, and so the total annual taxes for FY22 were already paid in Q1 and Q2 (with some overage even), so no taxes are owed Q3 or Q4. They updated the escrow based on the post-condo split, but not the residential exemption. They did cut a check for a portion of the funds, based on going from $7k to $5k taxes, although it never arrived. They said they will re-issue that check but it will take 2-3 months. So now I'm sitting waiting for that check while also waiting for them to fix the escrow, which should literally be half of what it is now. There is enough in the account to pay the entirety of FY23 taxes currently. I've called numerous times and whoever is doing escrow apparently doesn't believe that the taxes have gone down to an annual $2k, as it's showing the pre-residential exemption amount for FY23 Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 taxes on the escrow page of the account. All the payments from the account have been correct, they just haven't actually set the escrow correctly and issued a refund. Last time I talked to them was mid March. It's not causing an emergency money issue, but also I would like the escrow amount to be correct and to actually get the refund I am owed. e: It does look like my state requires interest to be paid but I'm sure it's 0.01% The Slack Lagoon fucked around with this message at 23:49 on May 13, 2022 |
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May 13, 2022 23:26
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     It’s like when bees seal up cracks in their hives.
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May 14, 2022 19:35
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The Slack Lagoon posted:Thanks for the feedback everyone. I ran into almost exactly this when I bought my place. It was a single property split into two condos that I bought half of. They had the escrow hosed up for a while (based on the taxes for the whole property), and then I kept getting tax bills that were double what they should have been (which, of course, the mortgage company paid out of escrow). My closing lawyer thought I was just an idiot who didn't understand tax bills, so I got to chase the country assessor's office around to figure out what the gently caress was going on. Turns out the prior owner still owed taxes on the property (which should have been handled at closing). IIRC they're required to pay you any overage they have identified within 30 days but it may not be worth fighting over.
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May 14, 2022 20:02
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Wallet posted:I ran into almost exactly this when I bought my place. It was a single property split into two condos that I bought half of. They had the escrow hosed up for a while (based on the taxes for the whole property), and then I kept getting tax bills that were double what they should have been (which, of course, the mortgage company paid out of escrow). My closing lawyer thought I was just an idiot who didn't understand tax bills, so I got to chase the country assessor's office around to figure out what the gently caress was going on. Turns out the prior owner still owed taxes on the property (which should have been handled at closing). The excess escrow they are holding right now is $4,500 so...
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May 14, 2022 21:32
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Probably not the right thread but maybe, who knows. While digging around in the old garden shed I found a brand new motor left by the previous owner: https://www.baldor.com/catalog/JSL725A I know he used to irrigate from the nearby river and I was wondering 1) what is something like this used for, generally, and 2) could this be used as part of a water pumping system?
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May 15, 2022 01:04
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Is wood filler a good product to use in repairing some water damage on wood trim over a sliding glass door? Hell, would bondo work? It’s not deep damage, but definitely noticeable and I want to fill it in, make it the proper shape, and paint it so no one knows the difference. Is this doable by a guy like me or do I need a pro to do it? I don’t want to replace the trim because frankly I’m not sure it needs to be.
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May 15, 2022 01:11
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Post a picture. Probably yes, but how easy it is depends on what shape or profile you are trying to match.
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May 15, 2022 01:17
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Bondo works really well
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May 15, 2022 05:21
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unlimited shrimp posted:Probably not the right thread but maybe, who knows. You can kind of run whatever you want with a motor like that, it's general purpose. It does say "pulley code: pool pump" on the catalog page you linked, so they're probably commonly put into those. That also fits with it being 2 horsepower since there's listings for 2HP pool pumps at home depot that look like they might include a motor like that: https://www.homedepot.com/p/XtremepowerUS-High-Flo-2-0-HP-Dual-Speed-Pool-Pump-for-In-Above-Ground-230V-5280-GPH-75039-H2/320095470 He might have been using a pool pump to move the water and had that on hand to replace the motor if it died at some point.
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May 15, 2022 10:33
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life is killing me posted:Is wood filler a good product to use in repairing some water damage on wood trim over a sliding glass door? Hell, would bondo work? It’s not deep damage, but definitely noticeable and I want to fill it in, make it the proper shape, and paint it so no one knows the difference. Is this doable by a guy like me or do I need a pro to do it? I don’t want to replace the trim because frankly I’m not sure it needs to be. Sounds totally doable to me. Bondo makes a wood filler, so be sure to buy that instead of their usual stuff which is made for bonding to metal. Just be aware it dries pretty quick so you don't have a ton of time to work with it. Add less of the activating agent to give yourself more time if necessary.
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May 15, 2022 13:21
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unlimited shrimp posted:Probably not the right thread but maybe, who knows. It's entirely possible it was used on a pumping system. It is not a 56C which is the industrial standard for small HP like that.
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May 15, 2022 19:00
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Got a question. If given the chance, would you change all the walls in a house from plaster to drywall? I’ve always been under the impression that plaster is inferior to drywall: - hard to hang and mount things on - hard to make smooth and level in a room - heavily complicates ensuring quality of wall, frame, electrical, plumbing (i.e. hard to tear open) - prone to cracking and crumbling - older tech and therefore lower quality But recently I’ve heard that it’s apparently preferable to drywall. Something about insulation and water resistance. Plus, since it’s older tech, tearing it down will make it more likely to disturb lead and asbestos. The problem I have with plaster is that it just ends up being weird, bulgy, and lumpy. And it also cracks incredibly easily. The place I live in is all plaster and there’s a hole outside my apartment that’s gradually chipping away. It’s also old and gently caress old. If I buy a place with plaster walls, I’m of half a mind to rip ‘em out. Is that worth it?
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May 15, 2022 19:51
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Pollyanna posted:Plus, since it’s older tech, tearing it down will make it more likely to disturb lead and asbestos. You could test if you were concerned and wanted better information. Old plaster walls do not commonly have asbestos in them, it’s almost always horse hair, unless you’re dealing with the ceiling above a furnace or something like that. A lot of times plaster and lathe points to a building at predates the asbestos boom. Always worth checking out though. Lead paint is more of a concern I would say.
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May 15, 2022 20:26
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Vim Fuego posted:Post a picture. Probably yes, but how easy it is depends on what shape or profile you are trying to match. Sorry, when I posted this I was out of town with my wife. https://imgur.com/a/EjkYPgk Sirotan posted:Sounds totally doable to me. Bondo makes a wood filler, so be sure to buy that instead of their usual stuff which is made for bonding to metal. Just be aware it dries pretty quick so you don't have a ton of time to work with it. Add less of the activating agent to give yourself more time if necessary. Yeah I have used bondo on aircraft, which is what made me think of it. I sand it down for aerodynamic smoothness, so I feel like it would shape well as long as I get it more or less in shape and then sand when dry before painting. I didn’t know they made a wood filler specifically, so I’ll have to check that out. life is killing me fucked around with this message at 21:09 on May 15, 2022 |
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May 15, 2022 21:03
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My condo is the third floor of a triple-decker, with older electrical - we just upgraded from 60 amp service to 150 amp service (per unit) two years ago, with the breaker boxes in the basement. From the 150 amp box, we also have a 60 amp sub-panel in our unit. We would like to replace our gas stove/range with induction. However, that means we need a new outlet behind the stove with a dedicated 40-50 amp breaker, from my understanding. Currently the outlet behind the stove is just a regular outlet. I'm fine with hiring an electrician for that, but given the limits of the electrical system, does that seem likely to require a huge-scale undertaking? Would it even be possible to wire to the sub-panel, or are we talking somehow getting a wire from the basement up three floors (along/through the condos we don't own) to ours? Academician Nomad fucked around with this message at 11:10 on May 16, 2022 |
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May 15, 2022 21:10
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Pollyanna posted:Got a question. If given the chance, would you change all the walls in a house from plaster to drywall? I'd push back on the hard to hang comment - most of the time you'll hit lathe and then your hangar is nice and secure. Don't replace lathe and plaster is there's no other reason to.
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May 15, 2022 21:11
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That's not gonna come from the subpanel. How difficult it will be depends entirely on how the existing wiring was installed. It could be as simple as an open cable chase or extra conduit they installed. Or it could be a full on disaster requiring opening up walls all along the path. Nobody here will know. You should get in touch with whoever is familiar with how this was rewired.
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May 15, 2022 21:13
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Motronic posted:That's not gonna come from the subpanel. Thanks, but the sub-panel hasn't been rewired, it was there when we bought the place a few years ago (when the unit as a whole only had 60 amp service). There's no way of getting in touch with whoever set up the sub-panel in the first place. Sounding like it's likely to be way more trouble than it's worth even in the best case, as much as we would like the upgrade, darn. Good to know, though.
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May 15, 2022 21:29
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Academician Nomad posted:Thanks, but the sub-panel hasn't been rewired, it was there when we bought the place a few years ago (when the unit as a whole only had 60 amp service). There's no way of getting in touch with whoever set up the sub-panel in the first place. Looking closer at the main panel labeling it looks like they just offloaded circuits for things that weren't' actually in your apartment (AC condenser and the like) so yeah, they probably didn't have any reason/need to figure out how to run anything from the main to the sub. Depending on the building layout it could (and probably will) be very expensive. But I didn't necessarily mean the installer when I said getting in touch with someone who would be familiar. Other residents where these when this happened presumably. Maybe you have building maintenance who would know, etc.
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May 15, 2022 21:37
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I have a question regarding vents. We just turned on the AC and the basement is absolutely freezing, first floor is comfortable, second floor is warm but not terrible. The basement vents are closed but still leak a lot of cold air, does it make sense to stuff them with something in order force the air to go upstairs? If yes, what's the best material to use? My friend says t-shirts but I'm not sure.
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May 15, 2022 21:40
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bobmarleysghost posted:I have a question regarding vents. Magnetic sign material works great. You can cut it to shape and just slap it on each vent that is leaking or slid is off a bit to allow some air through. I wouldn't suggest stuffing things into your vents.
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May 15, 2022 21:49
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