Octopus Overlords

Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Feb 25, 2021 11:24 pm Its the pipes under your home that freeze. They are in an open air environment under there. If there is a way for air to blow on them its worse but simply being cold enough and them not dripping inside a faucet it enough to burst them. They have to come up and around in your house sometime.

Not if you have a cellar, as all houses here do. The water line comes up through the basement floor.

stimpy wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:25 pm Not so much a project, but for any homeowner that lives in a state that has to deal with decent snowfalls, this is a must have as I have recently found out.



I've never experienced an ice dam, but have heard horrific things about them.
Not sure if raking a good portion of the snow off my roof will prevent that, but it cant hurt.

I have been raking mine since I had horrible issues with Ice Dams about 10 or so years ago (worst winter we've had in SE Michigan since I lived here I think). This year is the first i had ice dams (wasn't raking it early on). But raking even after the ice built up took care of it except in one spot I didn't rake thoroughly enough (missed a significant amount of snow because of the stupid pine tree I couldn't work around easily).

Can't promise it will prevent issues, but it most likely will if you don't let them get built up and and don't miss any large clumps.

Just got word that the safety manager for our company shattered multiple vertebrae falling off a ladder at his home while clearing ice dams from his gutters.
Safety. Manager.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Feb 25, 2021 11:32 pm laughs in slab foundation

Laugh until one of those pipes starts leaking and your choices are to have the house re-plumbed or have your foundation jackhammered.

I chose the new pipes.

I've seen some really janky heat-tape applications to folks' rooves just above and behind the eaves to deal with ice dams in Colorado. Not sure they'd work to handle Illinois climate. But they were ridiculous-looking (sort of like one of my Factorio bases), but I'm sure they accomplished their goal.

The Meal wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 11:20 am I've seen some really janky heat-tape applications to folks' rooves just above and behind the eaves to deal with ice dams in Colorado. Not sure they'd work to handle Illinois climate. But they were ridiculous-looking (sort of like one of my Factorio bases), but I'm sure they accomplished their goal.

Heat tape? I've got some heat cables that work pretty well. For the front I was too lazy I just ran the cable along the bottom of the gutter. But it still works. For the small back section over the kitchen window I actually installed it the way they wanted. You run it up about 1-2ft and back in inverted v's. And then run it along the gutter like:

^^^^^^^^^^^

I had enough left over to run it all the way down to the end of the down-spout.

I wouldn't call it janky though. You can't even see it from ground level. So I'm assuming you are referring to something else.

It could've been heat cables. And in the particular installation we looked at (we were considering buying a home with this installation, very visible from their own front yard), it was the first thing you'd notice when walking up to the home.

We did not put forth an offer.

I found a stud! It turns out that the ceiling in the living room is plain old drywall, so I can actually attach stuff to it!

Makes me wonder who's been living above it.

Last I checked? Opossums, squirrels, and brown recluses.

Home ownership has its moments where I can't help but think the 'wealth building' aspect is oversold .

The increasingly crazy weather has led to a cycle of thousands of dollars of exterior repairs every couple of years. This year took the cake though with the multiple massive winter storms and a recent windstorm have led me to dump out a huge outlay ... the damage alone is nearly $10K. All of it uncovered by my home insurance. Gee wonderful. The storms also accelerated some other projects I had hoped weren't immediate. This winter somehow turned a tiny crack mid-driveway into a heaving uplift that demanded a repair. After a few contractors come out to scope out repair work, I ended up bundling in some improvements to try to drive down overall cost since I'm opening a vein anyway.

So far in the last few weeks, we re-did my driveway, rebuilt my porch since it tried to kill me this winter, rebuilt a retaining wall that was severely damaged by a gopher who some burrowing creature over the winter. I also had to have gutters repaired since they were damaged by a falling branch. That alone was to the tune of $15000 unbudgeted dollars including some foundation work and stone work. The landscaping damage and modernization just came in at $7K and a replacement more weather proof outdoor gazebo is an option at $2K built. I have to spend about $600 later this week to have debris removed by a junk hauler.

Geez.

We have someone coming out on Thursday to give us an estimate on replacing the roof on the older part of the house. Since I've been here for ~20 years, and I think it was replaced a few years previously, it's probably ~25 years old. So it likely needs it. But I have no idea what the cost will be. I'm hearing that the prices for materials is climbing steadily. Guess we should have had it done a few years ago instead of waiting.

When the tornado tore our roof apart in 2011 it cost $12,000 I 'think' for full roof shingles, rebuilt eaves on front, and some wood repair on top. Lucky insurance covered it all. Thats on an 1100 sq ft home.

I had my roof replaced 8 years ago. For reference, my house is about 2800 sq. ft. house with an attached 2-car garage. I got an insane range of quotes with the highest being $25,000. I ended up going with the lowest bidder since my wife's father used him twice. It came in at ~$8500 and used good quality GAF roofing products and they even installed some roof vents for me.

Our original roof had two roof vents that were rusty and I opted for a inline roof vent that travels the length of the roof at the point.

malchior wrote: ↑Mon Apr 05, 2021 1:27 pm I had my roof replaced 8 years ago. For reference, my house is about 2800 sq. ft. house with an attached 2-car garage. I got an insane range of quotes with the highest being $25,000. I ended up going with the lowest bidder since my wife's father used him twice. It came in at ~$8500 and used good quality GAF roofing products and they even installed some roof vents for me.

That seems like a really good price. I was expecting north of $10k. Now I'm thinking it will likely be more in the $15k+ range. We'll see. I don't know if this builder will give me the best rate. But it's the same people that built our addition. The cost of the addition was pretty reasonable. And the work was excellent. So while this might cost a bit more, I am not concerned about the quality of the work.

It's nice that 13+ months into the pandemic having home contractors (1) call you back and (2) show up when they say they will still isn't a thing.

All kinds of stuff I'd like to get done - money I'd love to just shovel at someone - and they can't be bothered. In my next life, I want to come back as someone with home improvement skills.

My fence hasn't been restained because the guy couldn't follow through on getting me scheduled.

Apparently I need to treat contractors like resumes and blast out calls to orders of magnitude greater than I'd like to consider in the hopes that the fraction that responds does quality work.

I can honestly say before today, I've never been yelled on the phone by a contractor because my house isn't where his GIS told him it was.

When I pointed out this was addressed with his office administrator (how GIS doesn't work on our house), he replied "That's my wife."

Danger.

So, after extensive research and hearty confusion, I just pulled the trigger on a super-cheap ($40) hammer drill, masonry bits, and a box of 1/4"x4" concrete screws that seem to be what I need for attaching things to my walls. I've got a serious case of the 'hope I got the right thing' version of buyer's remorse.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 8:09 pm So, after extensive research and hearty confusion, I just pulled the trigger on a super-cheap ($40) hammer drill, masonry bits, and a box of 1/4"x4" concrete screws that seem to be what I need for attaching things to my walls. I've got a serious case of the 'hope I got the right thing' version of buyer's remorse.

And for good reason, it turns out.

The tools haven't arrived yet, but I decided to dig deeper. I drilled a larger test hole. Not brick. Now I have to return a hammer drill, masonry bits, and some tapcon screws. It's money saved, which is good, but I'm going to wear out my welcome with Amazon at this rate.

The problem, it turns out, is that while it is plaster and lath, it's an incredibly narrow wall. The gap between the two sides is only about an inch and a half. I thought I was hitting brick when I was really just hitting the other side of the wall. I'm still going to go with the rails I'd been planning on. I've had enough of plaster. More than enough.

So today I'm going to be stopping by Lowe's to get the rails/panels to put on my wall. My lack of home improvement knowledge is going to make it interesting. What I know I need: Wood. I'm going to have to comb the entire store trying to find something that is the right shape and size (I need between six and seven feet - I have some flexibility there), then hope they'll cut it enough to fit it in the car (and it's raining, so no open windows for us!) I'm thinking three rails of 2x6 cut down to 3' or 3 1/2' (, but could also go with 2' square panels and mount three of them, or some other option.

Home Depot doesn't publicize it, but their lumber department gives you one free cut per board. You always have to track down a clerk who always does it grudgingly, but it's quite a time-saver over doing it yourself. IDK if Lowes has the same policy.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 8:52 am What I know I need: Wood.

Good luck.


There is no inflation.

Prices have, in turn, skyrocketed. For years, the price of 1,000 board feet of lumber has generally traded in the $200 to $400 range. It’s now well above $1,000. (One board foot is 12x12x1 inches, and the average new single-family home takes about 16,000 board feet of lumber to construct.) A new house that would have cost $10,000 in wood to get off the ground a couple of years ago now costs $40,000 worth of wood — assuming, that is, you can even get your hands on the lumber.

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 10:19 am You always have to track down a clerk who always does it grudgingly

This part is so true, and so totally annoying.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 10:40 am Good luck.

Yeah, I just got a quote for deck repair; $13K.

Again, repair. I can only imagine it's $50K+ to install a brand new one.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 8:52 am What I know I need: Wood. I'm going to have to comb the entire store trying to find something that is the right shape and size...

There are a lot of aisles you can totally skip... Stick to the lumber section... As much as you might think they might store wood all over the place, they really don't stock the store like that....

Oh, I know my way around the store. I browse it periodically just to familiarize myself with what's there. The thing about non-mainstream hobbies is that you always have to improvise with tools and materials intended for something else. It pays to at least know what's around.

My sculpting surface, for instance is a glass tile intended for bathrooms, and most of the terrain is made from insulation.

It's just hard figure out exactly where a certain thing is. Raw lumber? Table tops? Decorative wood? Any could be where I find what I need for this. (Note - I ended up with three 10"x1"x6' boards from the raw lumber section that fit in the car without cutting.)

two plaster walls with nothing between? thats rough man. that is rough.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 10:40 amThere is no inflation.

Prices have, in turn, skyrocketed. For years, the price of 1,000 board feet of lumber has generally traded in the $200 to $400 range. It’s now well above $1,000. (One board foot is 12x12x1 inches, and the average new single-family home takes about 16,000 board feet of lumber to construct.) A new house that would have cost $10,000 in wood to get off the ground a couple of years ago now costs $40,000 worth of wood — assuming, that is, you can even get your hands on the lumber.

Wood, steel, and computer chips are all in very short supply right now but this was expected. We'll have to see what happens over the next few months but I put off a deck project until next year. Partly because I had to do a lot of other unexpected work and partly because of the lumber shortage which is even impacting some of the substitution products (e.g. Trex).

malchior wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 12:14 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 10:40 amThere is no inflation.

Prices have, in turn, skyrocketed. For years, the price of 1,000 board feet of lumber has generally traded in the $200 to $400 range. It’s now well above $1,000. (One board foot is 12x12x1 inches, and the average new single-family home takes about 16,000 board feet of lumber to construct.) A new house that would have cost $10,000 in wood to get off the ground a couple of years ago now costs $40,000 worth of wood — assuming, that is, you can even get your hands on the lumber.

Wood, steel, and computer chips are all in very short supply right now but this was expected. We'll have to see what happens over the next few months but I put off a deck project until next year. Partly because I had to do a lot of other unexpected work and partly because of the lumber shortage which is even impacting some of the substitution products (e.g. Trex).

It sure wasn't priced into lumber futures.

We've got about 750sq feet of deck to replace in the next few years. Probably going to have to be Trex, even if they're getting a knock-on increase.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 12:47 pm It sure wasn't priced into lumber futures.

Yeah a very curious failure. Mid-summer due to pandemic they were talking about a run on housing, house prices go up, so builders want to build houses, people fixing up their staycations, etc. It's weird to me to be sure. I wish I paid attention to lumber futures.

We've got about 750sq feet of deck to replace in the next few years. Probably going to have to be Trex, even if they're getting a knock-on increase.

FWIW - for all we know by next year lumber prices could be normalized.

Ugh, looks like I won't even get to start until Wednesday. I don't have a garage, so I have to let things dry inside, and apparently wood stains (pre-stain, stain, finish) are dangerous while they're drying. That means that it'll be drying in the bedroom. Right now the humidity is 85%+, which means an extremely long drying time. Tomorrow it'll be 90%+. That means we'd be stuck breathing wet stain overnight. We can't let it dry in the kitchen or living room because we have a bird.

The more I'm reading, the more I think I made a mistake - I won't be able to use the stain. In even moderate Indiana humidity it would be dangerous to be in a closed area with for several days, and there's nowhere else that we could dry it. No garage, outside is too humid and crawling (everything I've ever tried to dry outside has come inside looking like flypaper.) Even if we could dry it, it would apparently be toxic, even deadly to the bird for as long as several weeks.

Luckily, stain isn't too expensive. Time to figure out what kind/color of paint to use, then look for a place that sells it.

Any chance you have a friend or neighbor who might let you borrow their garage for a day or two?

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 2:29 pm Ugh, looks like I won't even get to start until Wednesday. I don't have a garage, so I have to let things dry inside, and apparently wood stains (pre-stain, stain, finish) are dangerous while they're drying. That means that it'll be drying in the bedroom. Right now the humidity is 85%+, which means an extremely long drying time. Tomorrow it'll be 90%+. That means we'd be stuck breathing wet stain overnight. We can't let it dry in the kitchen or living room because we have a bird.

Is your inside humidity the same as outside? I'd expect some variance there.

malchior wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 3:27 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 2:29 pm Ugh, looks like I won't even get to start until Wednesday. I don't have a garage, so I have to let things dry inside, and apparently wood stains (pre-stain, stain, finish) are dangerous while they're drying. That means that it'll be drying in the bedroom. Right now the humidity is 85%+, which means an extremely long drying time. Tomorrow it'll be 90%+. That means we'd be stuck breathing wet stain overnight. We can't let it dry in the kitchen or living room because we have a bird.

Is your inside humidity the same as outside? I'd expect some variance there.

Not the same, but not low enough to solve the problem.

Copper pipes under the house are starting to spring small leaks. I've plugged 5 but time to replace it with the new PEX, so I will also update the shower from a 3x3 fiberglass to 3x7 walk in tiled shower, and update the vanity. Grand total, $6k to $7k. had to refinance due to the divorce so I just added the extra funds in the refinance and my monthly payments are lower now but I added 2 years onto the loan.