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ScooterMcTiny posted:Sorry if there’s a better thread for this, but can someone remind me the name of the company/association for independent insurance brokers? Trying to get new quotes for home/auto/life and my googling is letting me down. Most states have a group that handles regional marketing/membership and stuff. <State> independent insurance agents works for me. There's a national listing as well which is probably what you're looking for. https://www.trustedchoice.com/ Yooper posted:I'm in need of a ceiling fan that is not wireless/remote/Alexa. I just want to use a wall switch to make the fan spin, and a switch to turn on the light. Does anyone know of a good model? We had Hunters in our last place, other than the cheap remote they worked great. I've used Hunter, Hampton Bay, and HD/Lowes store branded, they all work fine. The hard part is going to be finding something that works in the style you want that does not have a remote. I spent a fair bit of money making sure every room in my current house was wired with 2 switches for a ceiling fan with a light, only to find out when I was buying fans that almost everything was ran off a remote control these days. There were some old style 3 bulb fans with pull chains like your grandma has, but we didn't want that style. We ended up with remote control units. It looks like there are some more stylish options now.
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May 3, 2021 16:53
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NomNomNom posted:Most fans that come with remotes have optional receiver modules that you install when you hang the fan. If you don't install the module then you have to use a switch to control it. You've got to double check the wiring on the newer fans. I didn't install the remotes for the fans I put in my first house, they were totally optional. I have Hunter Contempo II LED fans in my current house, and when we bought them on special (99 bucks @ Costco, PBUC), i thought I could do the same. Sadly to the best of my knowledge the remote module is not optional. There's a few people online who have rewired the internals a bit to make them work off wall switches, but that's way outside my comfort zone, and I'm not trying to burn my house down. fake edit: Upon further searching, it looks like it's possible to use a fan speed controller and bypass the remote on these, but I'm not 100% sure. I have a big 70" Harbor Breeze fan in my main living room, and that thing just connects to electricity. 100% have to use the remote. The remotes haven't been that big of a deal to me really. I bought a Bond device and tied it into the rest of the Alexa stuff, so I don't really have to deal with the remotes very often. Alexa can turn the lights on/off and lower/increase fan speed as needed. I'm not sure I'd do it differently. Hunter makes a model called Antero that is almost the same but can be wired to a dual switch setup directly. I wanted some smart home control though, so I was planning on getting z-wave fan and light control switches. Buying a single Bond device to control all the fans is a ton less expensive than buying a bunch of z-wave switches. TL;DR; double check wiring diagrams before buying a fan
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May 3, 2021 18:20
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BonoMan posted:This seems like a possible unexpectedly good place to ask this: You're on the right track. I did something similar, but we stayed in town. Sold our old house, spent 3 months in an apartment while the new one was being built. No family or support local either. Break things down into manageable chunks. Life is insane with 2 kids, jobs, and everything else going on. Even if you can get 45 minutes to go through 1 bedroom closet, thats a win. Just do a little bit at a time. Break it down into 30 to 60 minute chunks, and schedule it. You're not going to be doing much else the next month. Purge everything you don't need. We had over 8 years of accumulated baby clothes, accoutrement,etc. Good clothes got donated, things that couldn't get donated got trashed. Stuff we didn't need anymore got posted on NextDoor or FaceBook. If you're budget allows go to Home Depot or Lowes and buy a bunch of boxes. They have a great selection and they're really not that expensive. It was really nice dealing with similar sized boxes for all our stuff, and made moving easier. Box up all your nonessential stuff (you'll be surprised how much stuff you own that is non essential), and put it in a staging area. I used my garage. I have tons of kitchen stuff, but really only use a core set of things on a regular basis. I didn't miss my kitchenaid or springform pans the 4 months I didn't have them. Start clearing out your pantry and freezer(s). Get rid of the expired stuff, or anything you haven't used in a week. Meal plan to consume the rest of it. Pay movers. The best money you'll ever spend is paying someone else to load and unload your stuff for you. You should be able to find help to load/unload your truck on each end of the trip. Get a plastic filing box and put all your important stuff in it (birth certs, marriage licenses, etc). That box stays with you at all times. I'm assuming you're wife will be driving her and the kids in a vehicle, while you drive the U-Haul. The box goes in the car with the kids. Plastic totes are great for moving some stuff as well. On moving day we just threw everything left in our bathrooms into a couple plastic totes, slapped the lid on, and threw them in the back of the truck. If something spilled it was contained. Involve the kids, not sure how old yours are, but mine were 8 and 6 at the time. I put a couple boxes in their room and had them load things up they didn't need until we got to the new house. I made it sound like an adventure and their stuff would be waiting for them. They won't be much help, but they'll be some help, and they get to feel involved. My ADD brain can focus on something small like organizing/sorting the junk drawer and end up spending 2 hours on that. Don't do that, you're on a time crunch, worst case just dump everything into boxes and sort it out later. Progress over perfection. YouTube is a godsend for small home repairs. I knew nothing when I bought my first house, and YT videos helped me make drywall, window trim, and other repairs on my house before we sold. Saved me a ton of money.
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May 3, 2021 19:07
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ScooterMcTiny posted:I’m having trouble with our sprinkler system. One zone just randomly goes off and won’t turn off unless I kill the water to the sprinklers. It’s the middle one in the attached picture. When the system is off, I can hear some water start to fill in the white pipe and I’m assuming when enough water is in there or the pressure builds, that zone just goes off and needs to be manually killed. I’m not 100% sure how these sprinklers function, but it’s almost as though the valve at the top isn’t working properly. I unscrewed the valve on the top and it seems to be in working order and looks the same as the others. Is there a simple fix that I should look into or do I just need to call someone out to take a look? I’m phone posting so to be brief those are easy to rebuild. I’m guessing it’s a rainbird valve, rebuild kits are cheap and easy to install. No need to spend the money on a pro if you’re even slightly handy. Rainbird has a pdf to help troubleshoot, and there’s a bunch of YouTube videos. https://www.rainbird.com/sites/default/files/media/documents/2018-02/man_PGAValveTroubleshootingCards.pdf
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May 8, 2021 19:05
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BigPaddy posted:Going to hit 100+ here and stay there Fixed that for you. I sometimes miss living in Phoenix, but I don't miss May to October at all.
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May 13, 2021 17:39
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Deviant posted:Welp, I got hail and wind damage from a storm recently, so I get to learn all about babby's first homeowners insurance claim Be very careful who you choose to handle the repairs. There is so much shady poo poo going on, fly by night roofing companies. They literally just travel the country, following storms and throwing up lovely roofs as fast as they can. Pick a good local company with solid reviews thats been in business a long time. Check and verify their insurance, and licenses, anything else that applies in your area.
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May 20, 2021 17:52
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Deviant posted:Have done this, was referred by a friend who had work done and was very pleased. 4.5 stars on google with 500 reviews in addition. All seems on the up and up. Ok awesome!
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May 20, 2021 18:03
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actionjackson posted:I call my local hardware store for referrals This is not a bad idea at all. I live in an area where there are still a couple smaller mom and pop type Do-It-Best and Ace Hardware stores. Never thought about using them as a good resource. Queen Victorian posted:The good contractors pretty much never have an online presence that extends beyond automatically generated entries on public info websites and possibly a static webpage that their nephew made for them in 1998. You need to ask around (in person or at least on NextDoor/local social media group) to find them. This is super accurate. Good contractors don't need to advertise. A slick website should be a red flag really. My mom and step dad built semi custom homes for over 25 years with nothing but word of mouth, and referrals. The fanciest they got was a fax line at the house.
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May 20, 2021 21:37
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I had a basic french door Whirlpool at my last house that ran for almost 9 years with no problems. I have a LG that's less than 3 years old that has already needed to be repaired once. Manufacturing defect with the filter drier in the compressor loop. I'm generally not a fan of extended warranties on things, but I did buy one for the Fridge. I have no idea how these things cost 3500 dollars and aren't designed to last for 20 years like they used to be.
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May 24, 2021 16:37
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slave to my cravings posted:Our new french door whirlpool fridge is barely getting the items in the right side door to 44 degrees. The bottom door freezer is fine at around 0F and the most of the main fridge seems to be at an okay temp between 33 and 40. The fridge is set to it’s coldest temp at 33. It seems like it is mostly an air circulation problem but I don’t know how that’s possible unless it’s a design flaw. The doors are level and there doesn’t seem to be any obvious leaks in the door seal. It’s only about 1/2 full and it’s been 4 days since we got it so it should have cooled down sufficiently by now. I really don’t want to return a fridge but goddammit this is so dumb for a 2000$ appliance to not work like it should. The side door bins are advertised as being “gallon bins” so that you can fit milk, juice, etc in them so there really is no excuse why they should be above 40F consistently. Did you make sure all the packaging material, tape, foam, etc was removed after it was delivered? It sounds like a vent or something isn’t working properly or blocked. Are the doors aligned properly? Even a tiny seal issue can screw with a fridge. Put a really bright light inside and shut the door. Make sure you can’t see any light at all
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May 28, 2021 23:36
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BonerGhost posted:Settle a dispute for me: my husband wants to be cute and mix up only part of a $30 bag of mortar for the $500+ we spent on tiles and material, and not back butter these 12" x 24" tiles because *-*reasons*-* This is very short sighted. The manufacturer should have installation guidelines for the tile. Large Format Tiles, should be installed using mortar designed for LFT's, and be backbuttered. You really need good solid coverage with the larger tiles. Vintersorg posted:There's no way in hell I would have used 4,598.000 kWh in 62 days, right? I don't even remember submitting my first meter reading but the bill says 3837 and today it was 8555. I have a feeling whoever submitted it goofed and meant 8337. I know you got this sorted already, but just for reference the most electricity I have ever used in a single month was 2900 kWh. That was in South Texas, in August. I have a 3400 sq ft house and my 2 AC units pretty much ran non stop for a month straight. I mean it's doable
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Jun 8, 2021 21:36
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BonerGhost posted:Thanks for the input. I'm pretty against not following the instructions but his dad wants to half rear end it too, so I guess they're half assing it. Show them this picture of my hosed up tile installation, and ask if they want to pay to have it all ripped up and redone. My builder's tile guys did a crap job, they ripped up 1200 sq ft of 12x24 tile, ground it all down to bare concrete and had to do it again. No idea what it costs, and it took me 12 months of arguing with them to get them to fix it.   It's a lot cheaper to do tile the right way the first time, but I also recognize that you're not going to win this battle with husband and FIL, so I guess sit back and enjoy the shitshow?
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Jun 8, 2021 22:19
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slave to my cravings posted:Why do all modern fridges suck rear end. It's a combination of chasing maximum energy efficiency and lowest cost possible.
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Jun 10, 2021 19:17
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BonoMan posted:Lol. So I ordered that UHaul "3 Bedroom House Box Pack" the other day. Lots of boxes, supplies etc. Our local UHaul places are shitholes so I wanted to order online for delivery instead of picking it up (and it was free shipping!) That's hilarious. UPS driver is going to love you. FWIW, LowesDepot carries all those moving supplies at pretty close to those prices. Just in case you find yourself needed more of a certain kind of box.
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Jun 16, 2021 18:38
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IOwnCalculus posted:I realize it would be a hilariously bad idea but that's almost cheap enough to make me want to install one in my garage. Just being able to have it be 85-90 in there in the summer instead of absolutely roasting would be nice. If you really want to take a flyer on setting one up in the garage, my Facebook marketplace has tons of listings for 12, 18, and even 24K units for suspiciously cheap. Like a 12K unit for 400 bucks, or a 2 ton WiFi enabled for 850, and the dudes will install it for you for 200 bucks plus materials. I mean the boxes and instructions are in Spanish, but air conditioners are relatively simple devices.
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Jun 17, 2021 15:08
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Anyone have a good source for some quality 3K bulbs? I bought the 40 pack of FEIT bulbs from Costco about 3 years ago when we moved into my current home, and I have about 25 dead bulbs already out of those 40. I'm guessing I got a bad batch and will end up trying to warranty them, but honestly I'll pay a bit more not to deal with the hassle of changing the bulbs.
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Jun 22, 2021 06:46
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The Bosch 800 series dishwasher is the best option, but I will say I don't hate the top of the line (3 years ago) Whirlpool dishwasher my house came with. It's the model WDT970SAHZ. I know the Bosch is hard to come by, but this Whirlpool I have is pretty good as far as dishwashers go, and might be worth looking at if you can't find a Bosch.
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Jun 26, 2021 06:45
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leper khan posted:Closing on a house tonight and the previous owner took their washer/dryer. What's the good one to get, I assume there are some Opinions around here given what I've seen on dish washers. I totally recognize Speed Queen and Maytag Commercial are the most bulletproof buy it once and don't worry about it washing machines available, but I went with a front load washer. I live in an area with a higher than average cost of water. Water usage is a factor I considered, coupled with the amount of laundry we do. We probably do 10 loads a week maybe. I also find front loaders to be more gentle on clothes. I've got 2 schools of thought on this when it comes to front loaders 1) Buy the most basic front load set you can find. We had a Frigidaire Affinity (made by Electrolux) set that ran for 8 1/2 years, and we probably did over 4,000 loads of laundry in without any issues at all. They still worked fine when we replaced them, but you could tell the suspension in the washer was getting a little tired. We paid 900 bucks for the set back in 2010 and definitely got our money worth. These were basic units, no fancy steam settings, wifi, smart detergent dispenser, etc. I'm not exaggerating on how much we used them. Infants and toddlers go through a ton of clothing. We easily did 2 loads of laundry a day when the kids were smaller. 2) Get the longest warranty possible and hope nothing breaks. We bought a the Samsung Flex washer and dryer set from Costco a little over 3 years ago, and with the extended Costco Warranty, Squaretrade, and Citi Costco card, we have a total of 7 years of warranty coverage. It's a pretty cool washer and dryer system, and we use the top tiny washer more than we thought between covid masks, kids sports uniforms, and other small/delicate loads. It has WiFi, steam, and all sorts of fancy settings, so I'm lucky nothing has broken yet, and I hope the warranty comes through if it does. I don't recommend them though, Samsung appliance quality is spotty at best, and I feel like we've just been lucky so far. It is pretty neat to get a phone alert when a load is finished though.
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Jun 30, 2021 17:30
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SourKraut posted:God dammit, I was all set to go with a LG front loader now, and then I saw this... I wouldn't worry about mold in the gasket too much anymore. It's a known issue, and if you just leave the washer door open after you're done using it, it's pretty much a non issue. Some folks go as far as keeping an old dish towel in the laundry room and wipe the gasket out when you're done using it, which takes like 2 seconds. We just leave the door open, and our Samsung bitches at us every 20 or 30 loads to run a self cleaning cycle. The self clean lasts 4 hours though, so we run that overnight.
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Jul 2, 2021 14:57
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Seems reasonable to me, materials included?
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Jul 7, 2021 01:54
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Toebone posted:Wife wants a sectional. Where should we be looking? Most of our stuff is Ikea or hand me down. Biggest thing with furniture is what's your budget? You could spend 2K to 20K. Material preference? Shape? Personally I recommend you stay away from the big chains, especially ones that are publicly traded. Start with a good local furniture store, preferably family owned. They'll be happy to work with you, and they want to establish a relationship.
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Jul 15, 2021 23:10
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Tremors posted:If it can be done wrong, someone will find the worst possible way to do so. Oh god I saw that earlier and I’m convinced it has to be staged right? Right?
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Aug 4, 2021 04:38
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And now you get a roof claim on your CLUE report
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Aug 13, 2021 15:43
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Blinds, Plantation Shutters, Hunter Douglas makes some roll down privacy sheers. External solar screens. I've always been told not to put any sort of film on the windows. It can cause issues with modern sealed low-e type windows. Birthday wrapping paper? 
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Aug 23, 2021 20:33
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Queen Victorian posted:Which just got me thinking about landscaping for privacy - longer term but you could plant some stuff around the house to help block being able to see in from the street or whatever. This is a double edged sword though, it's very inviting for potential burglars.
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Aug 23, 2021 21:19
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cruft posted:Is there, like, a massive run on contractors due to COVID, or something? Yes. Many contractors have more work than they can deal with. Try a local FB group or NextDoor, might find someone there. I despise social media, but it can be handy for local recommendations.
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Aug 26, 2021 20:24
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I am very much pro water softener. I use a ton less cleaning products, and things are much easier to clean without all the scale buildup. Our hardness varies from 170 to 340 mg/L. Depends on where the water is being pulled from. We have surface water, and water being pulled from limestone aquifers in my area. Pretty much everyone has one here in the San Antonio area, and most newer houses come pre-plumbed for one.
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Aug 30, 2021 22:46
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Well I guess we don’t have it so bad then 
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Aug 30, 2021 23:37
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tater_salad posted:I bought a house last year. My smart thermostat has done nothing for me because well.. someone has basically been home for the last 18 months. Thanks for listening to my ted talk. I don't really like the smart energy saving features of a lot of smart thermostats. Modern homes are designed to maintain a temperature, not let the house heat up in the summer and then bring it back down to temp when you get home. Oversized HVAC equipment leads to to increased wear and tear on the system. I bought a couple of Ecobees just for the remote temp sensor features, it helps keep my desired temp in the rooms I'm in. I have one on each floor with 2 extra sensors and it keeps everything comfortable. The WiFi access is nice as well, but I turned off all the eco stuff.
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Sep 2, 2021 17:59
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If it gets hot, but takes forever to dry it's probably an airflow issue. Cleaning the exhaust duct will probably resolve the issue.
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Sep 20, 2021 16:10
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That’s carpet seam tape. Still doesn’t make sense for it to be there though 
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Sep 22, 2021 02:43
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Deviant posted:I might have misread but not in Florida there aren't. Why did you get a policy from them? I’ve never even heard of that company until now.
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Oct 5, 2021 03:34
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Quarterroys posted:Is this the place to ask for recommendations on home security cameras/video doorbells? Or is there a better thread elsewhere on the forums? Here’s a thread that might have a bunch of info for you https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3635963&perpage=40&noseen=1&pagenumber=137
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Oct 22, 2021 01:39
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I’m not a fan of top load washing machines but a basic whirlpool or Maytag top loader is a fine relatively inexpensive choice. I recognize speed queens are awesome but I don’t care for their low capacity and water usage. Maytag commercial series are another alternative to the speed queen. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Oct 31, 2021 |
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Oct 31, 2021 18:27
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Bosch 800 series seems to be the favorite for sure. I have the nicest whirlpool made in 2018 and I have zero complaints. Quiet. Cleans dishes. It takes over 3 hours to run a load but we set it for 2 am anyway The time thing is due to the energy star stuff. Most new dishwashers take like 3 hours to do a normal load I think
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Oct 31, 2021 19:35
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The flip side of the 80's rates was CD's actually paid a ton of interest as well. My wife deals with old people all the time discussing the days of earning 15% on a CD while they complain that todays rates are like 0.55%
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Nov 15, 2021 17:07
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You can use vinyl wrap to update kitchen cabinets as well. Similar to how it’s used on cars. I don’t think it’s a good long term solution but might last a few years and not cost too much.
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Dec 9, 2021 06:24
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So the back wall is 58.x inches wide from drywall to drywall? Remove the drywall I bet it's really close 60 inches. I really doubt this is a non standard size tub, especially if it's a bulk builder special. What size of a shower pan are you looking for? The length is usually the longer number, and the width is the shorter one. My shower is a 60" length (side to side)x 42" wide (front to back) pan. I know it seems opposite of what it should be If you go with a 48" long shower pan, say something like this https://www.us.kohler.com/us/rely-48-x-32-single-threshold-shower-base-with-left-hand-drain/productDetail/shower-bases/1123367.htm, once you build the wall on the right side, your alcove space is going to be... 6 inches wide or so? A standard 2x4 wall with drywall on each side is about 4 1/2 inches or so. Does that work for you? Extending the shower drain through 2 joist shouldn't be a huge deal either, but I understand not wanting to mess with it if possible.
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Dec 27, 2021 19:36
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This is the Maytag equivalent of a SpeedQueen https://www.maytag.com/washers-and-dryers/washers/top-load-washers/p.3.5-cu.-ft.-commercial-grade-residential-agitator-washer.mvwp575gw.html It's a monster. The downside is water usage and only 3.5cu ft of capacity. I'm a fan of front loaders, but don't listen to me I do dumb poo poo like buy Samsung Appliances. edit: I'm feel like I have to share this. Visited my wife's 94 year old Grandpa a while ago, and this is their dryer. Best I can tell it was manufactured in Jan of 1969. I asked Paw how many times he's had to fix it, in over 50 years of owning it. He said he thinks he replaced the drum belt twice. His refrigerator I think is from April 1972. (last photo of the serial number), I don't know how much electricity that thing uses, but it's about to turn 50 as well. The G in the serial number means April and the R could be 1972 or 1984.    skipdogg fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Dec 29, 2021 |
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Dec 29, 2021 21:57
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~Coxy posted:Front loaders cycle time is absurdly long. I can get my Samsung front loader to run a 2 hour long wash cycle if I select the right options. Our normal cycle is about 75 mins I think.
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Jan 1, 2022 06:48
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