|
We closed on our house a week ago and I've spent every spare hour since last Friday removing wallpaper. I do not like wallpaper. That is all.
|
#
¿
May 18, 2019 06:14
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 23:41 |
|
|
Yesterday after mowing my new lawn for the first time (and my first time on a riding lawnmower, a sequence which felt deserving of having been humorously portrayed by Tom Hanks in an 80s-era comedy), I was chatting with my neighbor. He asked how I was planning on taking care of the lawn "past the bushes," and recommended I just let it go, since it was so far away, and why bother. I responded that that wasn't our yard, and that it belonged to the city, as it adjoins a public baseball diamond/park. He insisted it was ours. We went inside to investigate, and it turns out, we had received the search & survey that very day, and just hadn't opened the mail yet. Lo and behold, it turns out he was right. Our neighbor casually mentioned our yard is 200 feet longer than we were told by the real estate agent, bringing the total length of our backyard to something like 95 meters. (Just under 80 feet wide.) I have absolutely no idea what to do with this space. This isn't the country for pete's sake, we're in Buffalo! Considerations so far have been building a giant wooden fort for future children, or putting in a stable and giving pony rides on the weekend. I've also considered building a massive trebuchet to try and shoot things at the houses across the river.
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2019 20:07
|
|
|
couldcareless posted:I'd be slightly annoyed at the realtor for not knowing or informing me of that extra chunk of land because lot sizes here have a decent affect on your property taxes. Enjoy your extra lawn though! We already knew the taxes, so it's not like this changes that. It makes a bit more sense why they're as high as they are though.
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2019 21:05
|
|
|
All good ideas. Gardens of any variety are a decent place to start discussions. The challenge there is choosing plants that we'd like to grow, but that are wildlife-resistant, as there's quite a bit of deer and assorted smaller creatures that pass through the area. I was thinking about some shortish trees, perhaps when mature with the lowest branches at four to eight feet, that grow well in very wet soil. It does feel like we should do something more substantial with it though, since it's so much space. On another topic, I've gotten all the wallpaper down in my house. I'm now running through with a hand sander and smoothing out all the chipped paint, marks in the plaster, etc. My next steps will be to apply joint compound where appropriate, sand that down, apply primer, and then paint. My question is about where joint compound is appropriate. You'll see in the photo and album below the type of damage I'm looking at. Obviously any visible cracks or missing plaster is going to get covered. I'm not sure about the rest of the damage though. For instance, how about where the paint has chipped off, but the plaster underneath is smooth? Or where the the paint has worn down to the outer paper, but not through to the plaster underneath? Do I apply compound to all these places, or does slapping down the primer do all the necessary prep work?  https://imgur.com/a/dg1mylO The Wonder Weapon fucked around with this message at 19:58 on May 27, 2019 |
|
#
¿
May 27, 2019 19:56
|
|
|
We'd like to install a fence across our driveway. We got a quote from a local fence installer for something like $1,500, and I'm wondering if I can beat that doing it myself. Our driveway is ten feet wide concrete slabs, which I have no intention of changing or ruining the edges of. The guy that gave us the quote said they would custom make two 5' 2" chain link frames that would span the driveway, and put the posts in the ground next to the driveway without modifying the existing concrete slabs. I did some light googling and it seems like people install their own fences all the time. Shove a pressure treated 4x4 or 6x6 or a steal beam that won't melt a foot or two into the ground, anchor with concrete, then hang the gates from them. Since the gates would need to be at least 5' 2", and possibly up to 6', I'd mostly be worried about constructing all of this strong enough to support the weight of hanging those gates. As for the material and design of the gates, I'm not especially picky. They only need to be three or four feet tall, as the primary purpose of the gate is to keep our small dogs from running out into traffic. Wood would be totally fine, but if that's going to be too heavy, I'd be fine with aluminum slats, or vinyl, or whatever. I'd probably want them to look something like this, but again, I'm not married to it:  How difficult would it be to build something like this myself? Mount the posts, build the gate frames, put it all up aligned correctly, and make sure it's strong enough to not rip the hinges off in a month?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2019 17:11
|
|
|
eddiewalker posted:You said the $1500 quote was for chainlink? Do you have an existing chainlink fence to match? There's plenty of premade gate panels you could probably hang without much problem. QuarkJets posted:I think it would be pretty easy to build yourself, in the style of that picture. Use treated wood for everything, paint it all, slam it all together, use huge gently caress-off barn door hinges. You could buy casters for the end of each door if you're worried about sagging due to the weight, but if you buy 1" thick wood instead of 2" then I'd think it'd be fine. Jaded Burnout posted:One thing I would say from experience is that you can build just about anything yourself but you will gently caress up a lot to begin with and have to redo things, and there'll be a surprising amount of investment required in tools and skills. It will be long and gruelling and more expensive than buying one, but in the end you'll have a gate you made that's pretty good and also some tools and the skills to use them. We have no existing fence to match it to. The driveway is flanked by our house and our neighbor's fence. The company that gave us the quote was going with chain link since it would be the cheapest. I'm leaning towards giving it a shot myself. It looks like the wood easy-hang kit is a good middle ground. I figure if I pay ~$400 for the kit, I can probably do supplies for another ~$200 to $300. That would cover the two wood posts, a few pieces of wood to cover the frame (I wouldn't be going with complete coverage, just attaching a few boards), a pint of stain or paint, and the concrete to set the posts. I've got a fair set of tools at this point, and what I don't have I can probably borrow from my father or FIL. I'm happy to give these types of projects the ol' college try as I'm a new home owner (just a few weeks), and expect these types of experiences to pay for themselves over the years. Thanks for the encouragement, this is going onto the list of projects to plan for once I get my drat painting done.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2019 20:38
|
|
|
WithoutTheFezOn posted:If it’s wood you’re probably going to want to paint or stain it every few years, so maybe prepare for that. That sounds a bit annoying. If I wanted to do something other than wood, what would my options be? Aside from metal plates, are there faux wood vinyl planks or something? Using a plastic would also cut down on the weight, which I'm all about. I'm not even sure what to search for here.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2019 15:17
|
|
|
I dug a hole in my lawn this weekend to build a firepit. Looking forward to s'mores this weekend. FirstAidKite posted:Hello, I was directed to this thread. My fiancee and I went through a big tragedy on the 2nd when we were lying in bed and a tree fell onto our apartment and destroyed it. We and our 3 cats are lucky to be alive but as far as furniture goes we're basically clueless since the furniture in there was all provided by the landlord so we've never actually been furniture shopping before. We might have an apartment lined up to move into soon and I was wondering if this is the kind of thread I would ask for help in regarding information about obtaining good quality furniture without paying an arm and a leg for it. You can also try the interior decorating thread. That one tends to move a bit faster than this one: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3819901&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2019 16:49
|
|
|
I haven't even started painting my house yet, so I'm about two projects ahead of myself now, but whatever I'm bored at work. I'm thinking about building a short mortared stone wall. It would be two sections, each eight to ten feet, maybe three feet tall, and two feet wide at the absolute most. I'd put a gate between the two walls and maybe some small mounting bracket of some sort for attaching lights. Something roughly like this, although this doesn't appear to be mortar'd:  Mortar will be necessary because buying all rocks that would work for dry stacking would be about five times more expensive than other, more generic stone. ($500 for 1.5 tons of Pennsylvania flat stone vs $60 for 1 ton of...not that stone.) I haven't gone to look at the $60/ton stone yet though, so maybe I'll get lucky and it will be dry stackable. It sounds like building a wall like that isn't terribly complicated. Dig a trench that reaches below the frost line, lay down tamped crushed stone, then start placing stones and mortaring. That's reductive of course, and there's obviously a lot of technique and artwork to applying mortar that I'm sure I'll gently caress up completely. What do you guys think, sound reasonable? Also if I do a great job (hah) I'd absolutely do something foolish and try to build something like this in a future section 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2019 18:44
|
|
|
That Works posted:Any guidance on spraying vs rollers for interior wall painting? I'm in the middle of rolling most of my house right now. It's probably 10+ hours of work to cut and roll one coat of primer and two coats of paint. I imagine spraying the paint on the wall would be maybe 2 hours, but the prep would be a hours and hours and hours. I can't imagine the effort involved with sealing your floor and every inch of trim would be worth it when cutting+rolling is so easy, if a tad slow.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2019 18:09
|
|
|
Nevets posted:I'm thinking of getting some roller shades for my living room / entryway. I've got 7 big floor to ceiling windows that face west, in the summer afternoons it gets really bad. Any suggestions on the type that would block out the most heat? A long term solution is planting deciduous trees, climate permitting
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2019 19:16
|
|
|
How do I connect this new light fixture: To this very old mounting system that the old chandelier used?  EDIT: Ok, I figured it all out. It's late and I'm going to bed, so I'll finish it tomorrow. Sorry to bother the thread! The Wonder Weapon fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Jul 10, 2019 |
|
#
¿
Jul 10, 2019 03:19
|
|
|
ntan1 posted:We had an inspection today and it passed with very minor issues, except one:
|
|
#
¿
Jul 15, 2019 21:48
|
|
|
What's the best way to attach some (reasonably hefty) string lights to my home and out building? I initially saw some videos of people screwing eye hooks to the underside of their vinyl (pictured in photo 2), but I'm not convinced, having thought about it some more. This is what the edge of my outbuilding looks like. The face is a thin, aluminum or vinyl sheet attached to wood with what appear to be normal nails. The underside is a just a sheet of...vinyl? It's not backed by anything. This is just my outbuilding, but I want to run them along my house, to a tree, down the length of this outbuilding, and then along my garage (which thankfully has an easily accessible wood board to to use.)  
|
|
#
¿
Jul 16, 2019 03:33
|
|
|
Motronic posted:That doesn't seem right at all. There should be wood under there. Earlier while it was still light out, after some fudging, I was able to separate the soffit from the vertical face. That's where I saw the board behind the face, but nothing above the soffit. I can try and grab a photo tomorrow. Since there's a 2xWhatever behind the vertical face, can I just screw the eye hook into that? I was initially worried that adding a hole would lead to corrosion, but in typing all this out, I realize it's already got nails in it, so that's probably not a big deal.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 16, 2019 03:50
|
|
|
I vote that you buy a $20 pickaxe and make a hole for shittin'
|
|
#
¿
Jul 17, 2019 13:58
|
|
|
LiterallyATomato posted:Hey! It's way too soon to get a quote from a contractor (more to save, still,) but could anyone give me a really, really rough ballpark on how this project could range in price? devicenull posted:Those vines growing into your house are going to cause bigger issues then some water getting around an eye bolt.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 23, 2019 15:02
|
|
|
 How dumb would it be to do this with my double door driveway gate? I figure I could put the actual center of the gate (and the latch) where the red line is, and then extend the planks various lengths into the other gate. It would mean that you'd need to open and close them in a specific order, but other than that, would it be a terribly bad idea? In the interest in sharing, here's my mid-process driveway gate beams. 6x6, each about 4' deep with a load of gravel underneath. Please do not tell me there's anything wrong with what I've done because they are now encased in 1,000 lbs of concrete each and there is absolutely no way either of them is moving a hair's breadth. 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 5, 2019 22:53
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:Those posts are pressure treated right? what did I jUST SAY
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2019 01:39
|
|
|
Untrustable posted:I bought the lumber for the deck/porch thing. I dug a five foot hole to sink a high line pole in. Now my great grandpa is trying to convince me that I should wall over the front door and CUT A BRAND NEW FRONT DOOR closer to the middle of the trailer. He's...he's not wrong. It would look better. I'm considering making a thread to chronicle my dumb rear end renovating this $3,000 trailer into a liveable home in the quest to be willed the untouched (other than where the trailer is) 80 acres of land. It's a long story but the gist is if I get this place fixed and powered and plumbed I will get 80 acres of pristine land. Where are the 80 acres
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2019 18:29
|
|
|
I'd take the land, wait an appropriate amount of time, and then sell. Water access is going to become a severe issue out there. Worst case scenario is that nothing comes of climate change and you sold fine land for market value and moved somewhere fun. Best case is that you completely miss severe droughts, bloodshed over water control, the lands value going to nil, and in some eventualities, your death. Sorry if this is too political for this thread, but it's the type of thing I was thinking about when I bought this house, and I've been eyeing sustainability upgrades for the future.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 7, 2019 00:40
|
|
|
I need to drill a single 1/2" or 3/4" hole in my 3" deep concrete driveway. I've got a home depot special power drill that has worked well enough so far in all other applications. It's not a keyed chuck; it's just a simple twist mechanism with three fingers that spread or collapse to grab onto bits. Despite doing some reading, I'm unable to determine exactly which drill bit will accomplish what I want as well as fit into my drill. Any suggestions?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2019 15:28
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:You want to rent a home depot rotary hammer drill and buy a masonry bit for it. The job will take you less time than you spent renting it with that tool. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh it's just one hole! Renting tools at my local HD sucks because I spend longer standing in line waiting than I do executing the job. (My drill is corded.) e: $40 for 4 hours aaaaaaaaaaaaa If that's truly the best answer then that's what it is I guess, it just feels like overkill for a single hole.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2019 16:13
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:a corded drill and masonry bit. This is sort of my initial question. I can't figure out which bit will work with my drill and also accomplish what I need. Like, will this work? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZHVD2XE?pf_rd_p=183f5289-9dc0-416f-942e-e8f213ef368b&pf_rd_r=4ZJZ3GHFZ7PGGTH56AHV
|
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2019 17:06
|
|
|
Is it possible (and a not-bad idea) to install a gate latch on the side of a house? I've got this post about 5 feet from the side of my house with a big driveway gate hanging off. I'm tempted to put a person-sized gate on the other sided of the post, between the post and the house. I'd hinge the gate to the existing post. That would leave me needing to attach the latch mechanism to something on the handle side. Theoretically I could plop another, much smaller post right next to the house and attach the latch to that. The latch wouldn't be doing any holding of the weight of the gate, just keeping it shut. I was planning on doing that, but if I could realistically attach the latch to the house, that would be ideal for at least a few reasons. Gap in question (piled with junk to keep the dogs in): 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 28, 2019 23:56
|
|
|
n0tqu1tesane posted:This is your answer, really. Plop a pressure treated 4x4 there, and you should be golden. This is primarily why I don't feel like going this route. We had to dig 4ft holes for the 6x6s holding the gate, and it wasn't pleasant. That's why I find the idea of screwing a small board with half a gate latch screwed on appealing. I started doing some reading and I see people attach hose reels by just drilling 3" through their vinyl, filling with caulk, and then putting the screws into said caulk-filled holes. Would I regret doing that?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 29, 2019 22:17
|
|
|
Motronic posted:To be fair, "$10k is the minimum for a decent leather couch. A barely nice one." (anyone remember that thread title in BWM? I think it was about shoes.) I bought a "leather" love seat from Raymore and Flanigan a little less than a decade ago, and a similar sectional a few years after that. When we moved out of the apartment in May of this year, none of what remained came with us. Every piece was either cracking or shedding leather bits terribly. They looked and felt nice in the store, but after five years, it was like thanos snapped his fingers at my couch. I spent about 1300 for the sectional, for reference. We also barely used that furniture - like, we could go a week without sitting in them easily. The bottom line is that real leather is expensive, and couches have a lot of surface area. This is on top of all the craftsmanship of wood furniture required. You're really paying for both the materials and the build quality when you buy a couch, which is why good ones cost as much as a car. If you're balking at paying 1300 for a couch, leather is right out the window. Nothing that you buy new for that price will be real leather. I'd focus instead on finding something with a synthetic fabric that's comfortable to sit on and looks decent. Plus, if you go with a synthetic fabric, it might last longer than five years. An alternative would be scouring Craigslist with cash in hand. Rich people buy new furniture and sometimes sell their old ones, which means you may be able to get a steal. Think getting a $7000 leather couch for $2000 (maybe). You just have to watch all the time and be ready to ounce. If they're truly real leather they'll hold up great, so don't let a 10 year old piece scare you. The broader question is to ask yourself if you even need a couch. Depending on your lifestyle, it may be a lot of money to spend on something that gets an hour of rear end time a week.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 2, 2019 21:58
|
|
|
MetaJew posted:I thought they were referring to "synthetic" as in the microfibres/synthetic suedes. At least that's what I was thinking of. The feeling against your skin is generally pretty nice; It doesn't stick to you if you're a sweaty goon; and keeping them clean isn't too tough. Although I don't have children. Food and pet fur, though aren't a huge problem. I said synthetic, but I mostly meant "non-leather." Whether it's one of the microfibres or just a normal fabric, either is likely preferable to fake/discount leather on a timeline longer than a few years.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2019 14:41
|
|
|
Pollyanna posted:I thought fabric couches got smelly and fell apart quickly? That said, if it really is like $10000 to buy a leather couch that isn’t fake/badly made, maybe I’ll just get a fabric couch as a temporary measure while I save up...or maybe just not get one, cause spending thousands of dollars on furniture is moronic. I don't want to overrepresent my knowledge here. You should ask in the interior decorating thread. That said, I'd expect any $1800 or less leather sofa to be bonded, which is crap. I could be wrong though.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2019 22:30
|
|
|
Ceiling fans are ugly but quite good at what they do. If you've got central air you can skip them, but if you live somewhere that gets warm days at all, and don't have ac, you'll regret removing them. It's my understanding that over-stove microwave vents are worthless, or worse than worthless, so consider that before you swap the microwave for double duty. Beyond that, I'm not sure how you'd have the physical space for a true hood and also a microwave without needing a step ladder to reach.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2019 00:37
|
|
|
Motronic posted:I find them quite useful even with central AC. It's quite a bit cheaper to run them than AC on those intermediate days and I'd always rather have my windows open than recycled air. Definitely a personal preference thing, but it's definitely a thing. Oh, I didn't realize some microwaves came with that option. I've only ever seen the recirc ones. Cool.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2019 03:02
|
|
|
Lotta ceiling fan action itt
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2019 15:24
|
|
|
To add to the dog pile, 4500 total for two is offensive in its unbridled disdain. We bought a 2200 this year, only having gone that large because we intend to have children. At the moment a solid half of the house is dust storage because we simply have no use for it, and that's accounting for a large entertaining space and a shared 400 office. To go a step further, they purchased an 8 acre lot. You're not getting that type of space in any urban setting, probably not even suburban. They're going to have something like 2000 that's basically strictly for entertaining, but they're going to be so far removed from population centers they'll be lucky to have people over once a month. Cut 2000 off and donate it as an extension to some local clinic or something.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2019 13:55
|
|
|
To add something more pleasant, I'm 98% done with our driveway gate (just need to put a few extra screws into some brackets.) This was my first time doing anything like this, and I'm pleased with how it all turned out. Of course, the real test will be how it looks in 10 years. Next summer I'll be applying a deck refinishing product of some sort to give a uniform and more appealing color. 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2019 14:20
|
|
|
Has anyone installed a smart lock on their home's common entrance? I'd primarily like something that has a Bluetooth sensor so that it unlocks when I get close, and being able to voice control it (not voice control from my phone, but the lock itself) would be good too, but not necessary. What I don't need, or want, is a wifi enabled one. I don't need logging, temporary codes, remote activation etc etc.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2019 17:57
|
|
|
I attempted to loosen the pipe under my bathroom sink in order to clear out years of accumulation, and as soon as I applied pressure to unscrew the joint, rather than unscrew, the entire pipe split in half
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2019 22:06
|
|
|
We got an old neighbor who's a plumber to come over Saturday afternoon. Took him less than 45 minutes to replace the broken pipe and reassemble everything. He charged me $40,but I gave him $50. We spent like 9 hours putting up photos and such yesterday. That took longer than I anticipated.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2019 13:45
|
|
|
TofuDiva posted:Just in case someone hasn't seen these yet, This Old House does a series of galleries showing Home Inspection Nightmares that professional inspectors have written in with. It is... cautionary, and very entertaining. If it's good enough for America it's good enough for your house dammit
|
|
#
¿
Oct 11, 2019 13:13
|
|
|
80%+ of my house is hardwood and I want to refinish the floors. My dad did their inlaw apartment and said he'd be happy to help me do mine, but reading all this, I'm not sure I wouldn't be happier paying someone. What do you think it would cost to have someone redo 1800 sqft, including a set of stairs?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2019 22:06
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 23:41 |
|
|
Sirotan posted:Ok finally took back all the sanding belts I did not end up using, so here is what I've spent (so far) to refinish ~700sqft: So doing a bit under 2,000 Sq ft yourself looks like it would save four to six thousand dollars. But you have to do it yourself. Ughhhh I guess at those cost savings it's worth it even if it means taking two days off work, buying a friend pizza and beer, and even getting a cheap hotel one or two nights
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2019 22:04
|
|