Home Improvement

lurkingdirk · May 5, 2014

Eomer_sl said:
The reason why gas tanks fail is that scale builds up on the fire tubes within the water heater, and that basically insulates them.

How does scale build up on "fire tubes" in a gas water heater? The "fire tubes" of a gas water heater are not in the water, they are in the chamber below the water.

Water Heater - Gas Type - Detailed Operation Explained with Diagram

I am confuse.

Khane · May 5, 2014

Turns out my problem was just a leaking connector. To Home Depot!!!

Eomer · May 6, 2014

lurkingdirk_sl said:
How does scale build up on "fire tubes" in a gas water heater? The "fire tubes" of a gas water heater are not in the water, they are in the chamber below the water.

Water Heater - Gas Type - Detailed Operation Explained with Diagram

I am confuse.

See that white vent up the middle? That's where the scale builds up on, and that's what heats the water. Depending on the design of the hot water tank, it may have a single tube, or several, up the middle.

How It Works: Water Heater - Popular Mechanics

Instead of electrical-resistance elements, gas-fired heaters have a burner that's fed gas through a control valve and a thermostat switch. In an oil-fired heater, the burner is similar to that found on an oil-fired furnace. In either case, the burner is usually situated to throw a flame under the tank. The exhaust gases are vented either through a hollow core at the center of the tank or around the tank sides. Because fuel-fired heaters heat the tank, which in turn heats the water, there will be more wear and tear on the tank than with electric heat. A fuel-fired heater, therefore, may have a shorter life expectancy than an electric heater.

And the latest and greatest high efficiency tanks generally don't just have a straight vent flue up through the tank. They slow the vent products down to ensure that they get as much heat out of them as possible, typically with some sort of spiral arrangement. Example:http://www.hotwater.com/resources/li...-(aoscg01000)/

Vandyn · May 6, 2014

This is kind of an open ended question, but has anyone ever had a screened porch put in? We're considering is and I've read different things on the process, like how many quotes/quote ranges/insurances/etc. We already have a deck but were looking to replace that with the porch.

Intrinsic · May 7, 2014

I think this was covered a couple of months ago, but I'm going to start looking in to window replacements for our house. Either a later this year or mid next year project. Using Angie's List to find a contractor, but they all seem to sell different brand of windows. Are there brands that I need to avoid?

The main goal here is energy efficiency. So I'll likely begin with one of the home energy consultations. A couple of co-workers have had them done for free. The house was built in 1981 and I'm almost positive it still has the original windows and patio doors.

What are my big bullet points to focus on when collecting bids?

Joeboo · May 7, 2014

Windows can vary WILDLY in price. We don't have an overly large house(about 1400sq ft not counting the finished basement) and no unusual windows (no bay windows or anything) and when we got bids for new windows they ranged anywhere from like $6000 for the entire house(Lowes, Home Depot) to $22,000 from a local place that does triple-pane wood framed windows(not cheap vinyl like Lowes/Home Depot)

We haven't chosen an option at all yet, we have a few other projects we are going to finish first, but we were absolutely stunned by the huge price variation depending on the company and type of window.. FYI most companies that do siding also do windows, so look them up locally for bids too. The couple we got bids from were a tad more expensive than Lowes/Home Depot, but seemed a little better quality.

Ameraves · May 7, 2014

We just got new windows put in over the weekend, and it took us a long time to pick what exactly to do. We ended up ordering the Milgard Tuscany windows from Lowes, and had 2 of our neighbors (one is a contractor who has his own company, the other works in construction) put them in for us. The house was built in 1963 and I am quite sure they still had the original windows in. They were single pane, aluminum frame all the way around. Even the window sill was just exposed aluminum, it was awful.

We ordered a total of 9 windows, 8 of them retrofit and one new construction since we were cutting a new window into one of the rooms that didn't have a window in it. The total cost of the windows was around $2800, and labor is going to be $1300 or so. On top of that we spent probably another $500 or so in materials for the trim as well as lumber and sheet rock for the new construction window. Of course this is our neighbors doing it so they aren't charging as much as a regular contractor would. The retro fit windows go in so easy though, it took them no time. The window we are adding in is going to be finished this weekend. Quite a bit more work goes into that one, and they will be finishing the sheet rock work on it this weekend.

So in the end we will be spending less than $5k on all new windows for the house, and so far they look great. Compared to some of the quotes we got to have someone come out and do them, which ranged from $12k-$17k, we are pretty happy. Next up will be the 2 sliders that we didn't have the budget for right away.

Intrinsic · May 7, 2014

My big struggle with this is the ROI, if we average a $200 power bill and the window job is $10k is like a 16 year ROI assuming we save $50 a month. Which even that seems largely optimistic. We certainly won't be in the house for 16 more years and doubt we'd see an immediate return (or any) in value of the house when we went to sell in 5 - 7.

I'm glad you mentioned siding too, Joe. We're all wood siding currently and b/c of where the house sits exposed to the weather (and the ridiculous weather we have in Arkansas) it is in dire need of a paint job. So was going to get a quote for that vs. just going with new siding.

Great feedback so far, appreciate the comments.

Ameraves · May 7, 2014

Well depending on how shitty your current windows are, they will definitely increase the value of your home when you go to sell. So keep that in mind too.

As far as brands I would avoid the off the shelf stuff from both Home Depot and Lowes. I think Lowes is Jeld-Wen and I can't recall Home Depot's off the top of my head.

Falstaff · May 7, 2014

Lowe's sells Pella windows too.

OneofOne · May 7, 2014

We just had 2 new windows put in 3 months ago - Mercer 800 series vinyl, standard double pane (Energy Star, whee). We had a local business take care of it all. For a 5'x8' double slider and a 3'x5' half slider it cost us about $1700 total. Wasn't the cheapest, and by far wasn't the most expensive, but they had the best overall reviews on the various online sites. As best we can tell, they save us about $40-$60/month for an average winter month, but that's a bit skewed in our favor considering our previous 5x8 living room window was leaky as a sieve. At the least it was noticeable that the heater wasn't running 24/7 on the few really cold days, like it had been. They should save us more in the dead of winter when the heater is going a helluva lot more.

They should pay for themselves somewhere between 6-7 years, just depends on weather. But again, we were replacing an already jacked window, so this is favorable to us. We're going to replace the rest of the windows, too, since they are still original from the '70's. Also got two glass sliding doors to do, but those won't be cheap so they are further down on the list, even though I'm sure replacing them would really help our gas bill.

Remit_sl · May 7, 2014

I did 9 windows in the house I bought last summer. Most were 4x3, one 5x4 one 6x4. $750 for Pella, and took me about a 2 days including interior and exterior trim(probably another $150 in trim, maybe $50 in silicone). 0 construction experience up to this point, but I am fairly handy.

Windows are stupid easy. Materials are cheap.

lurkingdirk · May 7, 2014

Windows are easy to get in the hole, yup. Making sure they are set securely and squarely enough that they'll continue to function for 30 years while being insulated tight but not too tight is the challenge.

Ameraves · May 7, 2014

Remit_sl said:
I did 9 windows in the house I bought last summer. Most were 4x3, one 5x4 one 6x4. $750 for Pella, and took me about a 2 days including interior and exterior trim(probably another $150 in trim, maybe $50 in silicone). 0 construction experience up to this point, but I am fairly handy.

Windows are stupid easy. Materials are cheap.

Wait, you bought 9 windows for $750? I mean those are all relatively small windows except for the 6x4, but that would still be dirt cheap. Are Pella windows the ones you can just grab off the shelf from Home Depot?

Remit_sl · May 7, 2014

Ameraves_sl said:
Wait, you bought 9 windows for $750? I mean those are all relatively small windows except for the 6x4, but that would still be dirt cheap. Are Pella windows the ones you can just grab off the shelf from Home Depot?

Yeah they were just the basic vinyl double pane energy star ones. All standard sizes. Ill have to ask my wife how she got them for that. I think we did it at Lowes on our LAR account. It might have been that we spent over $5k or something. It was all a blur, but I think even the normal price was under $1k

Noodleface · May 9, 2014

This might not exactly qualify as home improvement.

The day we moved in we noticed a handful of ants patrolling inside the house. I'm not sure how ants work, but my guess is they were looking for food and would report back. They never made it back. Last night I went into the basement because a couple days prior my wife told me there was a giant spider that needed to die. My intent was to set it free, but as I laid my eyes on it a little poop dripped out of my butt. Then I noticed beneath it... a genocide of ants. The spider killed probably 50-60 ants and they lay on the floor dead beneath him. I high-fived the spider and told my wife he was dealt with. He's on borrowed time at this point.

Then I left my house this morning and noticed that our walkway (bricks laid into a path) has ant mounds sprouting up all over it (seemingly overnight).

What's my best course of action here? I feel like the troops are assembling outside the gates of Mordor and I need to take charge. Is there a preferred spray to use on the exterior of my house and possibly on my path as well? What should I do inside? The warden in the basement is taking care of that level, but what about upstairs? We haven't seen any since my bro in the basement has been on death duty, but like I said as soon as my wife spots him he's done.

chaos · May 9, 2014

I have the same situation with ants. We had pest guys for a while but he leveled with me and said look, the ants will never, ever go away and the shit the professsional companies use is the same shit you buy ar lowes.

Noodleface · May 9, 2014

Is there a preferred spray? Right now we aren't seeing them inside with the exception of 1 or 2 (and the death mound in the basement). I'd like to do whatever I can to minimize the impact.

Draegan_sl · May 9, 2014

I pay a company $400 a year and they come out to my house and spray the shit out of it and then take care of mouse traps in my basement/garage. They do this 3 times a year. I feel it's a good deal.

On another topic: I'm buy a table saw soon. Any recommendations? I found an 8" Makita on craigslist with what appears to be good rails on it. I have no idea what I'm looking at though as I've never owned one. Any difference between 8 and 10" blades?

Mostly going to be used for ripping boards at an angle for my most immediate project.

Falstaff · May 9, 2014

We get the mounds between bricks that you are describing as well. I just kick them but they pop back up two days later. Never see any ants though and they never make it into the house. We get some "ant hills" in the yard but I just take my metal rake to them and then dump a can of Raid on it and it goes away for the most part.

Asked the Orkin guy who comes to our office about it and he said the same thing as chaos... you'll never get rid of them and you can buy the same, or good enough, stuff at Lowe's.

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