Useless Conversation

[Nebu]

Ya, youtube is the bomb for home repair. Replaced the icemaker in my older fridge for 35 bucks in parts.

This.  

I replaced the control module in my fridge for $80.  I was expecting to have to replace the fridge itself.  Saved me $1500+

[Morat20]

Man, whoever installed this weatherstripping was way too serious. I'm gonna have to scrub bits of it out. They decided to use some sort of adhesive (it's not the sort that needs it) so some places just shred instead of popping out.

[Sky]

Firefox and NoScript?

Hah. Woops. 

Morat, I needed to replace the weatherstripping for my french doors to the yard. 8 years later, still saying 'fuck that'. Dude overengineered like crazy...which I do as well...so I'll be cursing myself in a decade or so.

I'm a big fan of repairing stuff. I spend tens of dollars at most and save hundreds and thousands. At least once or twice a year. And I learn stuff as I go. I feel bad for people who are unable or unwilling to repair.

[apocrypha]

Same, thankfully both my wife and I have always been prepared to try and fix things ourselves and learn how to do it properly. Means we've got plenty of decent tools and experience. A godsend when you live in a 110 year old house. Biggest problem we have though is that because of the era it was built it has 3m high ceilings and therefore the roof and guttering are too high up for us to reach with ladders. Any job that needs doing up there needs scaffolding which is really fucking expensive. Hopefully we've got all of that done for a while now but it's not been cheap.

[Morat20]

I'm a big fan of repairing stuff. I spend tens of dollars at most and save hundreds and thousands. At least once or twice a year. And I learn stuff as I go. I feel bad for people who are unable or unwilling to repair.

I'm trying to triage stuff into can/maybe/shouldn't.

Shouldn't ranges from "requires specialized tools and knowledge" to "Fuck that shit, it's hot in the attic". I'm slowly expanding the "I can" stuff. Maybe is the stuff that falls into "It's not outside my skillset, but I'm not comfortable working with it (a lot of simple electrical repairs, like replacing light switches)  to "I can do it, but it's a PITA and don't want to".

[01101010]

I'm a big fan of repairing stuff. I spend tens of dollars at most and save hundreds and thousands. At least once or twice a year. And I learn stuff as I go. I feel bad for people who are unable or unwilling to repair.

I'm trying to triage stuff into can/maybe/shouldn't.

Shouldn't ranges from "requires specialized tools and knowledge" to "Fuck that shit, it's hot in the attic". I'm slowly expanding the "I can" stuff. Maybe is the stuff that falls into "It's not outside my skillset, but I'm not comfortable working with it (a lot of simple electrical repairs, like replacing light switches)  to "I can do it, but it's a PITA and don't want to".

About the only things I will not work on involve gas and water lines. Gas for obvious reasons, but water lines always seem to leak for me. I can handle the minor stuff like replacing lines from wall to faucet and the drain lines, but actual delivery pipes are a pass.

[Mandella]

Same, thankfully both my wife and I have always been prepared to try and fix things ourselves and learn how to do it properly. Means we've got plenty of decent tools and experience. A godsend when you live in a 110 year old house. Biggest problem we have though is that because of the era it was built it has 3m high ceilings and therefore the roof and guttering are too high up for us to reach with ladders. Any job that needs doing up there needs scaffolding which is really fucking expensive. Hopefully we've got all of that done for a while now but it's not been cheap.

How high are we talking? I have a couple of extension ladders with stabilizing arms on the top that do the trick for the really high points of my house. I also invested in a set of those brackets that attach to the ladders which can be used with planks to make a temporary easily moved scaffold.

Not for those with vertigo problems, but reasonably safe. Safe-ish, at least.

Also, real scaffolding can be rented, but it is a royal pain in the ass to assemble/disassemble.

[Sky]

I was lucky to have an electrician for a step-father, so I'm comfortable with most household electrical work. I wouldn't wire in a new service panel, but I've been able to tackle everything else easily, so far. Even had to change the way my (low end) contractor wired my bathroom switches. So many people like to ignore or bend codes, I believe codes is only a starting point and you should be exceeding them by as much as possible.

Hell, that guy is half the reason so much stuff I want to do to the house is unfinished. Around here there are no competent small-medium contractors that can meet my standards (and I'm willing to pay for it, too). Ah, well.

Anyway, I also contract out plumbing (gas and water). I'll put in a new fixture or replace the pipes under a sink, but anything in a wall is a call.

Roofs, well, I make my fiancee nuts and I only have a one story house. I used to work on roofs as well as free climb (very stupidly rock climb without safety gear). So I'm as comfortable 5 stories up as I am on the ground. But nothing can convince someone who has no experience in working up there. Hell, one job I had was cleaning snow and ice off a 3 story metal roof. We used to chuck snow at each other to try to knock the other guy off the roof, I've been knocked off a couple times (it's easy, wet metal = super slippery) and know how to fall. Only real danger was hitting an ice chunk with your head, so I was lucky in that respect.

[Morat20]

I just finished replacing the weatherstripping on three doors (sadly the one into the garage doesn't really close well. Have to give it a firm push. I think that'll pass, if it doesn't I'll figure out where the issue is). Didn't replace the bottom sweeps. I'm not sure how they're on (they're not slip ons and I think they may be either screwed in on the bottom or have kerfs, so I need to remove one). And to take the door off to get a serious look requires take off the hinges, I can't just pull the pin in the hinge and lift.

But the sweeps aren't bad, not like the sides and top were, so I'm content. Also put down a strip of crap onto the window near my AC, because it was leaking air. (Bad place for it. Right between the outside unit, the interior air intake, and ALSO it's always a swamp outside that window due to my AC draining outside. French drain is on my 'to-do' list for that).

Hopefully I'll see some improvements.

Seriously, I should have done this years ago. 20 minutes tops, 50 bucks, done.

[MahrinSkel]

About the only things I will not work on involve gas and water lines. Gas for obvious reasons, but water lines always seem to leak for me. I can handle the minor stuff like replacing lines from wall to faucet and the drain lines, but actual delivery pipes are a pass.

Same here: Won't even touch a gas line beyond turning a shutoff valve, and once the  plumbing goes into the wall, I am out. Won't paint if I can help it, and I can handle just about any minor carpentry work, plus any electrical that doesn't require tearing out a wall. Only done minor tile work, but it doesn't scare me (just seems unbelievably tedious).

--Dave

[rattran]

Gas lines seemed scary until we had to do some work on them, it really wasn't any harder than anything else in the end. Except the gas lighting pipes that were filled with gooey 100 year old parafin gunk. Those were scary, and impressive when we set the gunk on fire on the driveway.

Thankfully the new house has no gas, and very simple water and electric. Everything has access from the crawlspace, and was run in a logical fashion. The biggest project will just be replacing some of the house banding that's sagged enough to make one of the sliding glass doors stick.

[apocrypha]

How high are we talking? I have a couple of extension ladders with stabilizing arms on the top that do the trick for the really high points of my house. I also invested in a set of those brackets that attach to the ladders which can be used with planks to make a temporary easily moved scaffold.

Not for those with vertigo problems, but reasonably safe. Safe-ish, at least.

Also, real scaffolding can be rented, but it is a royal pain in the ass to assemble/disassemble.

The eaves are 10m up. The highest ladder we have is 6m at full extension and neither of us are comfortable working at heights. I'm sure some stuff would be doable with ladders, but we're not prepared to do it ourselves. Along with gas, major electricals and sewage it's in the list of 'nope' jobs for us.

Only done minor tile work, but it doesn't scare me (just seems unbelievably tedious.

It really, really is. The tiling around our shower has been done so badly by the previous owners that it lets water theough, so we need to re-do it all at some poont. We
re avoiding it for now though because it's not in our budget right now and because it's soooo tedious. We've replaced and regrouted the few tiles that we absolutely need to in order to stop the leakage (we hope). The rest can wait.

[Yegolev]

I had to borrow a hydraulic lift to put a screen on top of my chimney.  There is a limit to climbing on rickety things.

[apocrypha]

Zero. My limit is zero rickety things.

[Sky]

So get the ladders you need to maintain your house? 

[Yegolev]

Ladders are inadequate for taller reaches, that's what I'm saying.  Also, if you hire someone else, the hospital visit is theirs.

[01101010]

Get a cherry picker truck! I'm sure some telecom is selling off their old fleet. 

[Merusk]

They make ladders for those taller reaches, but I'm with you on the "Fuck climbing that" stage. My 25' extension ladder pushes the edge of my comfort level. That only reaches to the lower portions of the roof. No way I'm getting a ladder for the upper portion/ chimney. (I can reach the upper roof by walking up the garage) Lift truck or someone else's problem if it's the eaves in those areas.

Of course this also means that the 3-4 rotten clapboards I have had for 2 years now haven't been replaced. I need to resolve that.

[Sky]

The ladders with the side bars are very stable when extended out a long way. But I do understand, I'm comfortable and experienced with working at heights. I clean my gutters from the roof rather than mess with moving the ladder every couple feet.

I do clean the snow off my roof from the ground now, though. But that's mostly because it's so much quicker and easier, I miss doing flips into the snowbanks off the roof.

[Rasix]

Getting up on my roof currently involves me pulling myself up onto the lower tiled porch via my arms with my legs basically dangling in the air.    Getting back onto the ladder is worse.  If the tile broke or detached, I'd be in a lot of trouble. I really need to just get an extension ladder and skip the porch area altogether.  I'd rather not crack a tile walking over it.

It's a flat roof, though, so once you're up there it's pretty easy to work.  I do plan on doing my own roof coating when the current one needs to be replaced.  I should probably go up there and clean around the scuppers and look for hives/nests every once in a while as well.   

[Salamok]

Also, real scaffolding can be rented, but it is a royal pain in the ass to assemble/disassemble.

The problem I ran into was Scaffolding for rent is reasonably priced and easy to come buy during the cold and wet months, as soon as the summer hits the rental price doubles and they never have any.  I also work at a slow (yet thorough pace) so renting can get pricey when I am taking 2 months to repaint the house.  I ended up buying scaffolding, was a bit over $1000 for a 20' tower, the only real pain is storing it when not in use.  The other advantage to scaffolding is you can bring ALL of your tools and materials up to where you are working, less trips up and down that way.

[Samwise]

Firefox and NoScript?

Hah. Woops. 

30 points to Ravenclaw!

[Khaldun]

I stupidly bought "Cotton Candy" grapes on my way out of Wegman's, thinking ok no prob that's just a farm name right?

NO.

NO NO NO NO.

It's a bred variety of Thompson's seedless grapes that taste like cotton candy. No fucking joke. I almost puked when I ate one. This is worth a goddamn crusade. People should be mobbing the stores demanding they all be destroyed as a crime against all that is decent. This is like Red Delicious apples times one thousand. It is too much to bear. It is one of the seven seals.

[Mandella]

I stupidly bought "Cotton Candy" grapes on my way out of Wegman's, thinking ok no prob that's just a farm name right?

NO.

NO NO NO NO.

It's a bred variety of Thompson's seedless grapes that taste like cotton candy. No fucking joke. I almost puked when I ate one. This is worth a goddamn crusade. People should be mobbing the stores demanding they all be destroyed as a crime against all that is decent. This is like Red Delicious apples times one thousand. It is too much to bear. It is one of the seven seals.

Hmmm. Wonder if Kroger has them?

 

[schild]

I loved them. I could've sworn I posted about them last year.

[Rendakor]

I think you did; I've heard of them and this seems like the only place where I would have done.

[MahrinSkel]

It really, really is. The tiling around our shower has been done so badly by the previous owners that it lets water theough, so we need to re-do it all at some poont. We
re avoiding it for now though because it's not in our budget right now and because it's soooo tedious. We've replaced and regrouted the few tiles that we absolutely need to in order to stop the leakage (we hope). The rest can wait.

Try some spray-on polyurethane tile sealer. Intended for granite/marble, but it will act as a short-term fix for the grouting of regular tile. Had a rented house once where they hadn't used any kind of liner or backer-board for the shower wall, so the drywall or plywood behind the tile started swelling (and it would leak water into the basement below). Used some of that every few months to keep it from getting worse (since the landlord didn't care enough to get it fixed right).

--Dave

[apocrypha]

Will bear that in mind, cheers. Mostly the problem is that the fuckwits who tiled had obviously never done it before, didn't use spacers and thus left no room for grout. The vast majority of effort and money we've had to spend on this house has been undoing work that they've done previously really, really badly.

Genetically engineered fake tasting grapes. Fucking hell. Burn your civilisation down, start again, you've failed this one.

[Samwise]

I'm pretty sure I had the cotton candy grapes a couple of years ago and posted about them here.  Didn't see them in the grocery stores this year so I figured the fad had come and gone.  I didn't mind them but don't miss them either.

[MrHat]

Zero. My limit is zero rickety things.

We had some roof repair done on our trilevel condoish place.

Dude came out and drove his truck right up next to our place. His friend put a ladder into the truck bed and climbed up the ladder onto our roof. That's about 40 plus feet high.  On a ladder in a truck bed.

[Sky]

Will bear that in mind, cheers. Mostly the problem is that the fuckwits who tiled had obviously never done it before, didn't use spacers and thus left no room for grout. The vast majority of effort and money we've had to spend on this house has been undoing work that they've done previously really, really badly.

The HGTV generation has destroyed so many homes. My realtor laughs and tells me I need to get into home inspection because shoddy work is so obvious to me. And my mantra is if you can see shoddy work, you should run from what's behind the walls.

Other than the fact I've always loved to climb stuff, when I was a kid my bedroom was on the second story and I was always getting grounded. So I'd sneak out the window, climb down the side of the house and go out for the night. So...I have the training of countless drunken/stoned nights coming home and having to scale the side of the house to get into my 2nd story window. Quietly. Got really good at it.

[Khaldun]

I keep meaning to do a serious fix on the badly installed bathtub in our house--the previous owner hid most of his DIY crimes in a way that was cunning. Actually I think it was the wife who got the house after the divorce who hid her husband's shitty work, as I understand it. Bunches of stuff:

She put cheap fake-veneer tile in the entryway probably a couple of months before putting the house on the market. About a year after we moved in, it started coming unglued.

He installed the bathtub himself. She put one of those solid sliding doors on the tub to hide some of the bad work, sprayed the short-term grouting cover on another area to hide bad joining, and bought two huge escutcheons for the temperature controls to hide the drunken tile saw work for the piping.

We're almost thinking of selling when my daughter goes to college and moving back into a rental just to get away from the property taxes but also because more than another five years and we'll probably have to sink $50k into the place. As it is we need to do new windows and paint the exterior, since it's made with refractory brick and it simply can't get wet (paint is peeling in a few places). But once we realized how much she'd deliberately hidden, we were pretty angry.

[Sky]

moving back into a rental just to get away from the property taxes

That's not how that works.

[Merusk]

Yeah.

My property taxes would also have to quintuple before it became more financially viable to rent than own. That's before you take into account the whole "fixed payment" difference between a mortgage and anything you rent. We went 'round and 'round with Ingmar about this back in the day, as I recall. I wonder if his miracle "never raised the rent in 10 years" owner still manages their place.

[Sky]

My mother had a landlord like that for almost 20 years. She was so fucked when he sold the house, she had no idea what things actually cost. She's paying more than twice as much for her apartment than she was for a 4br 1ba split level house. Really tried to get her to buy a small house near me before she retired, but what do 'kids' know, right?

But yeah. Most landlords just roll any increase in expense into the rent. You pay for taxes.

I'm super biased now because I don't carry a mortgage