Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
- Start date
Intrinsic
Person of Whiteness
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Our counter depth fits one perfectly, but it is noticeably less deep. It is a Samsung I think? We bought it when we moved in and it has been really great after a year and some months.
On the other hand regarding dishwashers.... I'm about to buy a new one because the one that came with the house, the lower tray or whatever is a piece of shit. The wheels are all jacked so it doesn't roll out, the teeth are all jacked and plates don't sit straight. Loading it is like playing Jenga while drunk. One slight move and like 10 plates fall down like dominoes. Looking on LGs website and Amazon I couldn't find a replacement either, but haven't called a direct line or anything. Otherwise it is awesomely silent and does a great job cleaning.
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That's too dang bad, man. If I had that, I'd look all over ebay and google to see if you can't find a replacement. Post your make and model, I'll give it a go.
That may be something that you could use from another dishwasher or after market as well as long as the dims match up
Falstaff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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It was in the house when we bought it last year. I'll check the receipt when I get home and let you know (they left the receipt because they bought the 5 year protection plan from best buy in case anyone is wondering).
I ran it last night and while it's not entirely silent, if you aren't in the kitchen you definitely cannot hear it at any phase of its cycle.
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Ok, it's picture time. I'll reiterate the problem I'm having too. Took these with my new phone, if they suck or need to be higher res, let me know, I'll retake them.
These the stairs from the outside. You can see the large splotch down the middle. The previous owners thought that's how the water was getting in, so every winter, all they would do is repatch this crack and just run the dehumidifier. They weren't big conservationists so I don't think they cared that a dehumidifier averages around 700W. The horizontal lines are me thinking the water was coming in through smaller cracks, so I caulked them, to no avail.
This is the left side of the stairs, to demonstrate that about 0.75' just doesn't get wet. I've seen animal tracks through that dirt preserved all summer. Even on really heavy rains where the gutters are overflowing directly onto the stairs, that stays dry. Makes me think there must be some drainage there. I did ask the previous owners, they didn't know.
View of the understairs and fuel tank from the door that leads into the room. Where the wood changes is where the concrete above starts. You can see a couple of those boards have come loose. Water is getting in there too, just not nearly as much. Basically winter thaw is the problem there.
Close up of the back right of the room, you can see some black tar stuff on the cinder blocks. Some of it was on the wood as well. I think someone had the same idea as me, they just didn't apply it nearly wide enough.
Closeup of the back left of the room. Most of the cinder blocks are discolored from, I'm guessing, mold growth. It's dead, I haven't seen it progress at all and any time it gets musty in there, I run the dehumidifier. The puddle on the floor is about 3-4 days worth of seepage. If I wanted to apply some sort of sealant to the cinder blocks, does that mold/whatever need to be scrubbed off? I've gone at it with a steel wire brush, wasn't that effective. That ring on the floor? Previous owners left a big metal bucket there. For how long? For however long it takes for metal to rust and then fuse to concrete.
Just a picture of the wood damage. This is look up at the stairs. The flat pieces were all thick pieces of wood while the other piece picture is very thin and probably provided no support even before rotting out.
Couple more pics in this album:Leaky stairs - Imgur
There is one that shows the front left of the room. Most of the wood on the floor comes from the particle board above. I'm guessing the previous owners put that there so that the pets they had(the put the litter box in here) wouldn't chew on the exposed insulation directly behind. You can see some damage on the board touching the ground. No idea if that can be left as is or if it needs to be replaced.
These the stairs from the outside. You can see the large splotch down the middle. The previous owners thought that's how the water was getting in, so every winter, all they would do is repatch this crack and just run the dehumidifier. They weren't big conservationists so I don't think they cared that a dehumidifier averages around 700W. The horizontal lines are me thinking the water was coming in through smaller cracks, so I caulked them, to no avail.
This is the left side of the stairs, to demonstrate that about 0.75' just doesn't get wet. I've seen animal tracks through that dirt preserved all summer. Even on really heavy rains where the gutters are overflowing directly onto the stairs, that stays dry. Makes me think there must be some drainage there. I did ask the previous owners, they didn't know.
View of the understairs and fuel tank from the door that leads into the room. Where the wood changes is where the concrete above starts. You can see a couple of those boards have come loose. Water is getting in there too, just not nearly as much. Basically winter thaw is the problem there.
Close up of the back right of the room, you can see some black tar stuff on the cinder blocks. Some of it was on the wood as well. I think someone had the same idea as me, they just didn't apply it nearly wide enough.
Closeup of the back left of the room. Most of the cinder blocks are discolored from, I'm guessing, mold growth. It's dead, I haven't seen it progress at all and any time it gets musty in there, I run the dehumidifier. The puddle on the floor is about 3-4 days worth of seepage. If I wanted to apply some sort of sealant to the cinder blocks, does that mold/whatever need to be scrubbed off? I've gone at it with a steel wire brush, wasn't that effective. That ring on the floor? Previous owners left a big metal bucket there. For how long? For however long it takes for metal to rust and then fuse to concrete.
Just a picture of the wood damage. This is look up at the stairs. The flat pieces were all thick pieces of wood while the other piece picture is very thin and probably provided no support even before rotting out.
Couple more pics in this album:Leaky stairs - Imgur
There is one that shows the front left of the room. Most of the wood on the floor comes from the particle board above. I'm guessing the previous owners put that there so that the pets they had(the put the litter box in here) wouldn't chew on the exposed insulation directly behind. You can see some damage on the board touching the ground. No idea if that can be left as is or if it needs to be replaced.
Hmm it is going to be hard to determine whether your problem is a low water table or a drainage problem. Your cinder blocks already so damage and I bet if you drilled into them you will find them full of water. For the fungus stains a 10% bleach solution will clean it up a bit and likely to the point where you will be able to paint over them. It was said before but I bet you will have to dig down to the bottom of you foundation on the outside of you house, seal the block and build a french drain to move the water around the house not through it. That is what I will be doing on my new house this summer and not really looking forward to it as I do not know how I will deal with the area under my driveway without breaking it up.
Many contractor do free estimates so you can have them take a look at it and determine what it will take for you/them to fix it.
Many contractor do free estimates so you can have them take a look at it and determine what it will take for you/them to fix it.
The water behind the blocks will actually make the blocks bow and eventually damage the foundation.
During the engineers inspection on my new house the water was pointed out. So I got another contractor to go with me and take a look at it, how bad it is and what can and needs to be done. Me mentioned everything thing I have told you. I specifically asked if I could just seal the inside and he said the damage will still occur as the water is getting into the blocks, with weather changes this water will expand and contract destroying your foundation.
During the engineers inspection on my new house the water was pointed out. So I got another contractor to go with me and take a look at it, how bad it is and what can and needs to be done. Me mentioned everything thing I have told you. I specifically asked if I could just seal the inside and he said the damage will still occur as the water is getting into the blocks, with weather changes this water will expand and contract destroying your foundation.
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Ok, but it's foundation for a useless fuel tank and some stairs. As long as the stairs don't collapse, I kinda don't care. I'm still considering busting up the stairs, hauling out the tank, and then filling in that area with earth and moving back the blocks. Might be the same amount of work or less. And since that dirt next to the house stay so dry already, I'm guessing there's already some drainage in place and I could just link it up.
Vinen
God is dead
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Have contractors coming in to install Harvey Acoustic Windows for my entire house. Gotta replace the shitty Harvey Slimline which were installed before... STC 28 vs STC 44... Wife and I wanted Storm Windows and the Slimlines don't support them so we decided to go all out.
For ~20 windows and 2 storm doors we are looking at around $12.5K
For ~20 windows and 2 storm doors we are looking at around $12.5K
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
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That right there is the *only* downside to living here in the midwest where housing costs are so low. A lot of remodel/upgrade costs are fairly consistent no matter what part of the country you are in, and spending 12K on windows doesn't make much sense when your home is only valued at 150K to begin with. 12K is a drop in the bucket on a half a million dollar home on the coasts, you'll probably easily see a good return on that investment when it's time to sell, but it's hard to justify a lot of higher-end finishings and upgrades around here. Dropping 30 grand on a full kitchen remodel would be absolutely insane to do in a lot of homes here, thats 20% of the value of your whole home, and it definitely won't raise the value of the home that much.
We currently live in an older(built in the 60s) ~1500 sqft home that is probably valued around 150-160K. We'd like to move to something bigger probably in the next 5 years, but our current home needs some serious remodels, the bathrooms and kitchen are sorely out of date(one bathroom still has original lime green tile on the walls from 60s/70s) Spending 5 or 6 grand for each bathroom isn't too bad, but I just don't think we'll ever justify dropping 20-30 grand on a new kitchen, when it might bump up our home value by 10-15K tops. We watch all the HGTV/DIY network home remodeling shows and it always amazes me when someone in an area with a high cost of living drops 50K into their kitchen and it raises their home value from 800K to 900K or whatever. That's a damn good tradeoff in those situations.
Sewer gas leak in house.
Can't find source.
Day later, find out it's the toilet.. maybe.
Check wax seal.
Bad seal.
Learn how to replace seal.
Still leaks, but not has bad?
Call plumber to look, no issues at all.
Time to caulk the toilet to the floor with silicone.
Time to find some junk to cake the waste line from the toilet from the basement.
Crosses fingers.
Can't find source.
Day later, find out it's the toilet.. maybe.
Check wax seal.
Bad seal.
Learn how to replace seal.
Still leaks, but not has bad?
Call plumber to look, no issues at all.
Time to caulk the toilet to the floor with silicone.
Time to find some junk to cake the waste line from the toilet from the basement.
Crosses fingers.
Falstaff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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The people who we bought our house from bought it for 180k and we bought it from them for 215k 18 months later. They redid the kitchen (floor, counters, cabinets, all appliances), redid 1 full bath, brand new hard wood floors in the entire house except basement, brand new roof, torn down two walls to make an open kitchen, new windows in the upstairs, new tankless water heater, and a new vinyl fence for the entire back and side yards. What our agent told us (that the sellers agent told him) and that the neighbors confirmed to us is the couple got divorced, the wife got the house, but her new boyfriend/fiancee needed to live in another county in order to be a sheriff out there... so they didn't flip it which was what we were nervous about. All that being said, they put in way more than 35k in material costs alone, not to mention labor.
Regarding windows, our house was built in 1966 and the basement and living room windows are original and we need to replace them. I am hoping to not spend more than 4k on them but fuck...
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
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Windows vary WILDLY in price. We got a quote from a local window company, one of those places that advertises triple-pane glass and all that crap. They game us a quote of 14K for like 10 normal windows and a big bay window in our living room. Lowes had one of their contractors come out and give us a quote for like 5K to install their windows. the 14K ones were all wood & metal, not vinyl(which they claimed would warp and have trouble opening over time) like the Lowes windows, but fuck me if I'm going to spend 10% of my homes value on Windows. I really don't even want to spend 5K on friggin windows.
Vinen
God is dead
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Yeah, they will vary defiantly.
We are going with top of the line (in our area) Harvey Acoustic Windows (Noise Resistant Windows Acoustic Noise Reducing Window Pane Glazing). These windows are targeted towards people near major roads or trains. We got quoted at about ~600 a window.
The majority of people don't need these.
The funny thing is my wife likes traffic noise! gdam people who grow up in major international cities... in her case, Shanghai.