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Sirotan posted:Monoprice just emailed me to say the CAT6 cable I bought last year and still haven't gotten around to installing in my house is being recalled due to increased risk of fire spread. Procrastination wins again!  that is one expensive recall.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:57
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Sirotan posted:Monoprice just emailed me to say the CAT6 cable I bought last year and still haven't gotten around to installing in my house is being recalled due to increased risk of fire spread. Procrastination wins again! I've been thinking about getting my house wired for networking. How much of a deal is it? How expensive? Obviously, mileage may vary, but I am going to have to convince the wife.
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Sep 15, 2020 05:05
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A possible lien is what I was afraid of. It's only $90 and this dumbass already paid for a home warranty (which we'll probably never use) which we'd declined, so we'll just pay this one to make it go away. I'll send him a letter but I doubt I'll see any money. But talking to our agent and will seek out a lawyer since this piece of poo poo has probably stiffed everybody else too.
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Sep 15, 2020 05:07
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D-Pad posted:I've been thinking about getting my house wired for networking. How much of a deal is it? How expensive? Obviously, mileage may vary, but I am going to have to convince the wife. Not as bad as electrical, depending on your house. If it’s a single story and you have good enough access to an attic or crawl space, then it’s just drilling holes and dropping in lines. It doesn’t need to be stapled or anything. Some quotes I’ve seen in the networking thread were about $100 per drop.
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Sep 15, 2020 05:29
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FCKGW posted:Not as bad as electrical, depending on your house. If it’s a single story and you have good enough access to an attic or crawl space, then it’s just drilling holes and dropping in lines. It doesn’t need to be stapled or anything. Oh that is much more reasonable than I was assuming. We are in a single story with an attic that is surprisingly easy to get around in for an attic.
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Sep 15, 2020 06:03
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BonerGhost posted:A possible lien is what I was afraid of. It's only $90 and this dumbass already paid for a home warranty (which we'll probably never use) which we'd declined, so we'll just pay this one to make it go away. I'll send him a letter but I doubt I'll see any money. Oh $90? Yeah just forward it to your realtor and tell the electrician it's not your bill. I bet it evaporates into the realtors commission. FCKGW posted:Some quotes I’ve seen in the networking thread were about $100 per drop. This is about right once you're past the trip charge. That first drop is the most expensive. The guy I used begrudgingly accepted $250 total for the work I asked him to do after being a real pain in the rear end about the work and having to hound him to even show up. H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Sep 15, 2020 |
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Sep 15, 2020 06:09
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Wow our agent sucks too. "Call them and tell them to send it to PO and name drop his agent." Looks like I'm getting on the phone and telling strangers to gently caress off today.
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Sep 15, 2020 15:26
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BonerGhost posted:Wow our agent sucks too. "Call them and tell them to send it to PO and name drop his agent." Translation: "I got my commission, get hosed"
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Sep 15, 2020 15:39
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D-Pad posted:I've been thinking about getting my house wired for networking. How much of a deal is it? How expensive? Obviously, mileage may vary, but I am going to have to convince the wife. I saw the follow ups, but $100 a drop was the price around here 20 years ago for commercial with a drop ceiling. Market are different, etc but depending on whether you want the walls fished (you do) the construction, whether these are going on exterior walls, etc it's likely to be a lot more expensive than that. It's almost unknowable without seeing your house, the locations you want the drops and crawling around in your attic. You very well may also be left with some drywall repair to complete after the electricians are done.
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Sep 15, 2020 16:18
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DaveSauce posted:so now it has poo poo like "all decking shall be Trex" in it. Azek -> Pressure Treated -> Trex is my preference on a deck or dock you are going to use that gets direct sunlight. Azek can be expensive as poo poo too--like $10 a square foot expensive. But it really is worth it in three to five years when the PT is going to need to be re-stained. Azek has a 50 year fade and stain guarantee.
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Sep 15, 2020 17:10
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HycoCam posted:Trex will work under the covered area. But if that deck is southern facing and you are in a warmer climate--be prepared to have a deck so hot you won't want to spend time on it between noon and 8PM. Trex has not done as good of job formulating a heat dissipating decking board as some of the others. TimberTech/Azec is a product I use and highly recommend. I've heard that as well, but looked around and the few seemingly-objective analyses I've seen seem to show that it's only slightly hotter than other options. But frankly even the current wood deck is fairly miserable to be on in the 95 degree blazing July sun, so I don't know how it can get much worse. I already wear something on my feet when I'm grilling, MOSTLY because of the rot, but also because the boards get pretty hot in the sun. One builder tried to warn me about how hot Trex is, but he wanted to push pressure treated instead of other composites. And honestly composite is a must here. The current deck is falling apart because of lack of maintenance (it was bad when we bought it, and has just gotten worse since we never intended on keeping it), and with 2 kids I know I'm never going to be able to keep up with staining. But to be sure, we are in North Carolina and the deck is EXTREMELY south-facing, so right now being out there between noon and 8pm is already a no-go. So even if it's hotter, I don't see it as a huge loss since we'll be hiding our asses in the covered/screened portion for the most part.
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Sep 16, 2020 01:34
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Hey double post but slightly different but similar topic: what are everyone's thoughts on two-tone (or apparently "picture frame") decks? I'm thinking something like this:  Probably a more subtle color contrast and narrower outer edge, but something like that. I don't think we'd have the center divider, just the outer edges (I've seen crazy things like inlays that look awesome, but holy money batman). It would help mitigate any material waste on the deck boards, but my understanding is the structure would have to be modified to suit the edge boards, which would probably be a wash at best. Or is this trendy and going to be dated as hell in 10 years?
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Sep 16, 2020 02:11
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I think it looks really nice, and kind of hate how my current front deck is a bit bland and monochromatic (I spiced it up with some contrasting planters). Anticipating trends in 10 years is a fool's errand. For all we know people will be demanding that the sliding barn doors be removed from their bathrooms so they can continue to entertain guests while taking a poo poo.
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Sep 16, 2020 02:34
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Motronic posted:I saw the follow ups, but $100 a drop was the price around here 20 years ago for commercial with a drop ceiling. Market are different, etc but depending on whether you want the walls fished (you do) the construction, whether these are going on exterior walls, etc it's likely to be a lot more expensive than that. It's almost unknowable without seeing your house, the locations you want the drops and crawling around in your attic. You know, I may be thinking of unfinished, open walls in one of the home building threads for that $100 drop figure. So yeah, budget accordingly.
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Sep 16, 2020 04:04
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DaveSauce posted:Hey double post but slightly different but similar topic: I think it would've looked better if they'd used one dark strip by the doors instead of 2, but otherwise it seems alright.
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Sep 16, 2020 10:36
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I’m not into he middle stripe but totally into the border.
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Sep 16, 2020 12:15
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If that style really did become dated in a decade, it would be trivial to replace a handful of boards to (mostly) match it all back up. I think it looks nice, I'd probably even make the borders wider and more obvious.
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Sep 16, 2020 12:20
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Sirotan posted:If that style really did become dated in a decade, it would be trivial to replace a handful of boards to (mostly) match it all back up. I think it looks nice, I'd probably even make the borders wider and more obvious. Yes wider would work too. IMO the issue is that the balustrade cuts two (or three, we can't see behind the camera) borders in half, making them appear half as thick when you're on the deck, which makes the one by the doors seem double the thickness. For me, any configuration where the border inside the balustrade is consistent all the way around would work better.
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Sep 16, 2020 12:58
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I have upgraded from the home-buying thread to the home-owning thread. And so far it has been an adventure in cleaning up left over lawn gnomes in the dark.
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Sep 16, 2020 16:47
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Deviant posted:I have upgraded from the home-buying thread to the home-owning thread. It'll be more interesting when they re-appear in the morning!
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Sep 16, 2020 16:59
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tater_salad posted:It'll be more interesting when they re-appear in the morning! Especially because i put em in a fuckin' trash compactor.
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Sep 16, 2020 17:11
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DaveSauce posted:I've heard that as well, but looked around and the few seemingly-objective analyses I've seen seem to show that it's only slightly hotter than other options. But frankly even the current wood deck is fairly miserable to be on in the 95 degree blazing July sun, so I don't know how it can get much worse. I already wear something on my feet when I'm grilling, MOSTLY because of the rot, but also because the boards get pretty hot in the sun. One builder tried to warn me about how hot Trex is, but he wanted to push pressure treated instead of other composites. With all that said, Trex is much easier buy and will have better margins for the contractors. Depending on where you are located, Lansing Building Products, Talberts, or Home Depot can supply TimberTech/Azek. Home Depot is typically the best place to buy if your not buying Azek regularly because you can play the other suppliers off of them for a better discount. (Talberts doesn't typically cut deals with home owners, but since you'll be spending well over a $1,000 the Home Depot guy can call corporate to get a better price.) As for two toned and varied width decking--it really does set the deck apart. TimberTech has a deck designer that will handle different colors and widths. https://deckdesigner.timbertech.com/ And last thought. If your deck is going to be too hot to use during the day--don't build a deck. Go with pavers.  In our market--covered decks/porches are still a thing, but new decks aren't being built and old decks are being torn down and replaced with stonework. Outdoor kitchens--a place to grill and a place to sit around and stare at a fire are the current rage.
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Sep 16, 2020 18:41
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Looks like the composite stuff has come a long way, I remember it being very hot all the time. though even with cedar it can get pretty bad without some kind of shade some days. Speaking of decks I'm looking at mine right now and have a horde of aggressive wasps buzzing around all day trying to find a nice winter home, makes going out the door a little more exciting when you're allergic. What can I do to discourage this? I saw something about lemongrass and peppermint oil being natural repellents and I could put out soapy water traps, does anyone have any advice or tips? I know I need to take care of where the nests currently are but tearing down the retaining wall and scrapping the outdoor wood burner wont be happening until there is a good deep freeze.
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Sep 16, 2020 21:30
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I have heard that fashioning a brown paper bag into the shape of a wasp’s nest and hanging it up somewhere may make them move on thinking it is occupied. I have also heard this doesn’t really work though.
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Sep 16, 2020 22:11
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Yay I'm trying to mud over the PO mistakes. My goal is to make it look better than they did. I hate taping and mudding. By the end of this maybe I'll be good.
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Sep 16, 2020 22:13
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tater_salad posted:Yay I'm trying to mud over the PO mistakes. My goal is to make it look better than they did. I hate taping and mudding. By the end of this maybe I'll be good. This weekend I'm going to attempt to drywall, tape, and mud a wall I just put up. I was hoping I could use some other wall covering, but dry wall is sooooo much cheaper.
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Sep 17, 2020 00:02
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HycoCam posted:I can tell you from real world usage in North Carolina--the Azek Vintage series is by far the best of the mainstream composite options. Trex is changing their product line to deal with the heat issues, but when it comes to heat and quality of the product TimberTech is 100% worth the extra cost. Scratches, stains, sagging haven't been an issue with the Azek stuff. Coastline and Teak are the two colors we use most on full sun docks. People that build docks want to be able to walk barefoot on the dock at anytime--kind of defeats the purpose of the dock if you can't use it on the hottest days. Man quit posting poo poo. You're making way too much sense and trying to screw up my half-baked plans. FWIW, all the builders we had come out pretty much agreed that Trex is the way to go, though I'm sure margins certainly play a role. If price were a concern we wouldn't be doing composite, but again with the un-screened portion it won't be used for much outside of grilling, which is why I'm OK with going smaller. And again, given how miserable it is to be out in the sun anyhow, being a bit hotter isn't a deal breaker to me. Seriously, the paver idea is extremely tempting if it weren't for a couple problems. First issue is that we'd have steps down from the screened section... not a big deal, but not ideal. The other, bigger, issue is that the grade is just enough where we'd step down to the pavers, and then have a step UP somewhere, unless we regraded the whole area and gently caress if I'm doing that. I'm already paranoid about a bunch of long-term quality issues since this is my first big contract as a homeowner, I don't need to add drainage to that list. And I absolutely want a fire pit and outdoor kitchen, but I don't have the money or real estate to justify it. Also, do you have connections in the RDU area, or opinions on who is good and who is poo poo? We haven't picked a builder yet of the 4 that have been out so far. We have one more scheduled for Oct 2, but I'd like to pick soon so we can have this done before the holidays screw everything up. tater_salad posted:Yay I'm trying to mud over the PO mistakes. My goal is to make it look better than they did. I hate taping and mudding. By the end of this maybe I'll be good. I did a few patches in the past few months and holy gently caress I'm bad at this. Every patch so far I've had to fix bubbles or peeling tape, despite putting what I think is WAY too much compound. At least by the 3rd patch I learned that you're not supposed to overlap the tape...
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Sep 17, 2020 01:27
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Patio chat. My wife and I are just about ready to tear down the shoddy deck the PO built (1-2 ft off the ground, 2x4 joists, 24" centers, 4x4 posts resting on dirt, clad in ~trex~, it's bouncy). We'd like to do a paver patio, but I have a few questions before we start meeting with contractors. 1) the dryer vent is currently below the deck, with maybbeee 12" above grade. If we put in a patio would we need to excavate so that the finished patio surface would be at least 12" below the vent? 2) the deck/patio is located on the inside of the L of the house, and right now there's a downspout in that corner. The PO just let it dump on the dirt under the deck which was super awesome and totally didn't make the basement damp. What's the best way to handle that with a patio? I was thinking rain barrel and pump, but that become a maintenance item and there have been a few times recently that our other rain barrel has been maxed out in a single storm.
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Sep 17, 2020 12:08
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DaveSauce posted:I did a few patches in the past few months and holy gently caress I'm bad at this. Every patch so far I've had to fix bubbles or peeling tape, despite putting what I think is WAY too much compound. At least by the 3rd patch I learned that you're not supposed to overlap the tape... Yeah I have a bunch of bubbles I had to cut out. Today I'm trying a technique of adding a tiny bit of water to the mud, like 1 tablespoon to ~2 cups of mud, to see if that helps with getting it to lay better. Pretty soon I'll be a pro at this. Downside is it was chilly yesterday night and without hvac moving air around some of the stuff didn't dry so stuck a fan down there and a small space heater to warm up the air a little. edit: My goal is "bettter than teh PO" which I've already achieved since I used tape.. and sanded and am using a few coats. Still not going to look great but will be better than the shitshow on some of the places it was.
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Sep 17, 2020 13:11
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How much slope does your yard have, can you bury part of the drain for the downspout? Can you check your local code to see how far above the ground vents need to be? I remember having to be at least so many inches above the potential snow depth for my furnace and water heater vents when I did them. Drywall work sucks, you get better each time and the right tools and the nicer joint compound make it easier but I still don't like doing it. A decent sanding screen/pad and the better joint compound helped me the most, a face shield made overhead sanding less miserable too. I will be hiring it out when I gut the from 2/3 of my house though.
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Sep 17, 2020 14:16
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(E: on reflection I think this is a better fit in the BFC thread)
ToxicFrog fucked around with this message at 15:19 on Sep 17, 2020 |
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Sep 17, 2020 15:00
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If you’re worried about an outdoor floor surface getting too hot in the sun, then switching to pavers is the opposite of the direction you want to go, in my experience.
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Sep 17, 2020 17:27
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There are very affordable fabric shade sails that you can use to cover your decks and patios. I would recommend that junk.
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Sep 17, 2020 19:55
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Anybody know about siding maintenance? Just bought a house in the Ottawa area, and it has what I believe to be fiber-cement siding that's in need of some attention.    So clearly some of it has been either replaced, painted or just cleaned in the past because there's a delineation between really weathered bits and not so bad bits. I don't know if you can tell from the close-up picture but it's definitely not plastic or wood, if I pick away at a corner or whatever it is for sure some kind of fibrous material - feels a bit like MDF or something (but it definitely isn't otherwise it would be utterly hosed). Anybody know what I can do with this, short of replacing it? Although it's a *little* warped in places it does still seem to be structurally sound.
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Sep 17, 2020 21:08
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Deviant posted:I have upgraded from the home-buying thread to the home-owning thread. Where's the home buying thread?
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Sep 17, 2020 21:13
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WhatEvil posted:Anybody know about siding maintenance? Sounds like Masonite? If so, your best bet is to gut it. There was a class action in 1995-ish because it was junk after like 1980 or something. Metaline posted:Where's the home buying thread? Over in BFC: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3131399
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Sep 18, 2020 01:38
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Oh I should have mentioned, house was built in '85 and I suspect it's original.
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Sep 18, 2020 05:14
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It's going to shock you to hear this but I'm finding home ownership in an expensive city to be expensive. Boiler acting up, so got quotes to either swap out or change to tankless. Merely $12-15k! Joy.
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Sep 18, 2020 16:16
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Academician Nomad posted:It's going to shock you to hear this but I'm finding home ownership in an expensive city to be expensive. It sucks, but you might be able to reap benefits of greater efficiency. I had to replace my 1967 boiler a few years and got a Energy Kinetics, went from 3 or 4 fill-ups per year to one every 9 months.
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Sep 19, 2020 14:43
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Yeah, even upgrading our 90s forced air furnace to a new 95% efficient one will pay for itself over 10 years.
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Sep 19, 2020 14:49
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