Home Improvement

Terro liquid traps are pretty good. Honestly though, as said, I doubt the fuckers every go away forever. We've had a few home invasions so far, and each time because we left food out on the counter overnight. We just try to not do that, and each time they come in, I seal the entrance used. I figure another 20 invasions and I might have all the entrances covered!

Right, I'm not under the delusion that I will get rid of them forever. I figured that they were staging some sort of campaign outside my house and I should do what prevention I can. The dude downstairs is loving it though. I'll take a picture of his murder later.

So who is one supposed to call when you have a water leak of unknown origin? Long story short I bought a new townhome/condo in 2008 and it's had leak issues ever since day one when we get a torrential downpour about 2-4 times a year. All the townhome units have the same leak to varying degrees, which we fought with the builder for the first few years to fix, but none of his band-aids stuck and your rights in Texas as a homeowner are basically non-existent. There's a 3rd floor outdoor patio that sits on top of our 2nd floor living room (where the water leaks from the ceiling) so the leak is coming from there, but we're unsure whether it's the windows or the stucco. We've had people out over the years to caulk the windows and patch any stucco cracks, but when we get a torrential downpour we all get the same leak which necessitates redoing a part of the ceiling.. I've called two contractors, both of which seemed unlikely to have graduated high school and could only surmise the leaks' origin. Called a window company, and they only seemed interested in selling me windows rather than fixing the leak. I'm at wits end as to who can competently fix this once and for all...

Follow up on windows:

So my wife had Lowes price match each individual window to Home Depot or Ziggies (local building store). Then we put it on our LAR account (5% off) and she had some moving coupon for like 10% off. We did this with just about everything (doors, windows, cabinets, counterparts, flooring, appliances, trim, etc).

Frenzied Wombat_sl said:

So who is one supposed to call when you have a water leak of unknown origin? Long story short I bought a new townhome/condo in 2008 and it's had leak issues ever since day one when we get a torrential downpour about 2-4 times a year. All the townhome units have the same leak to varying degrees, which we fought with the builder for the first few years to fix, but none of his band-aids stuck and your rights in Texas as a homeowner are basically non-existent. There's a 3rd floor outdoor patio that sits on top of our 2nd floor living room (where the water leaks from the ceiling) so the leak is coming from there, but we're unsure whether it's the windows or the stucco. We've had people out over the years to caulk the windows and patch any stucco cracks, but when we get a torrential downpour we all get the same leak which necessitates redoing a part of the ceiling.. I've called two contractors, both of which seemed unlikely to have graduated high school and could only surmise the leaks' origin. Called a window company, and they only seemed interested in selling me windows rather than fixing the leak. I'm at wits end as to who can competently fix this once and for all...

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I would call a drywall company that has a general contractor on staff. That way they can tear into the ceiling, figure out where the leak is coming from, fix it, and then repair the ceiling. Make sure it is a drywaller who is doing the ceiling cutting.

I used to have ants in my back yard so badly I couldn't grow grass in large sections. For two years, I went and put a few drops of straight up gasoline in every single ant hole I could find in the yard, while simultaneously putting liquid Torro ant killer all over the house (in non obtrusive places, but lots of places). Took two years, but there is no evidence of any ants anywhere in my yard anymore, and it is EXTREMELY rare that there are ants inside the house. I continue to apply the liquid ant killer in the house a few times a year.

As far as table saws - I have a 10 inch Craftsman, and if I had to buy a new one tomorrow, I'd get the same one. Incredibly accurate, nice, straight cuts, great angle cuts. It's a quality machine. I do everything from rip large sheet of plywood to make delicate furniture using this saw. Something like this:

Craftsman 21807: Make Those Miters Tight with Sears


And if you have to find a leak, it will be so much cheaper if you can find the source of the leak yourself. Get a buddy, get a garden hose, and go experiment. Once you have found the leak, call a roofing company, or similar. They will find the leak for you, but they'll charge a lot.

I saw this on Craigslist. Duno if that extension is worth it.

Makita Table Saw w/Rousseau Extension

Draegan_sl said:

I saw this on Craigslist. Duno if that extension is worth it.

Makita Table Saw w/Rousseau Extension

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That's a nice saw, and the extension is worth it, except I would never buy a table saw with a blade smaller than 10 inches. I'd love a 12 inch one, but they're crazy expensive. Realistically, with an 8 1/4 blade, you have about 3.25 inches of cutting clearance. Won't even cut a 2x4 on end.

Remit_sl said:

I would call a drywall company that has a general contractor on staff. That way they can tear into the ceiling, figure out where the leak is coming from, fix it, and then repair the ceiling. Make sure it is a drywaller who is doing the ceiling cutting.

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Thanks, will do. I swear, I bought a brand fucking new home under the misguided impression that would help me AVOID home repairs/surprises, yet ironically it's been the exact opposite. The builder was a fucking total scumbag post sale that would just slap more caulking on the windows and repair the ceiling each time, then after his fourth repair attempt after two years (each fix we'd have to wait months until the next rain) he just basically said it was "the nature of the beast in Texas with horizontal rain". The HOA looked into suing his ass but every lawyer we spoke to said it was practically hopeless because if found guilty local builders just close shop and open under a new name. Not that he would necessarily be found guilty though, because state law protects the builders more than homeowners. Even the warranty the state obliges them to furnish through a 3rd party is useless (Ace's home warranty). Three months after moving in a crevice 1/4" wide opened on the ground floor (finished/polished cement) stretching from one end of the house to another, caused by the foundation settling. Well, this was "covered" under warranty with the stipulation that "any crack over 1/8" wide must be brought back within tolerance". So all the fucker did was run a bead of epoxy along the crevice (which obviously looked like shit). There was no obligation to make it look good or like new. Seriously fuck home builders and contractors. Shadiest most uneducated fucks I've ever dealt with. /Rant off.

You can hire someone to tear into your drywall, or you could just open the drywall yourself. The repair cost will be the same afterward, and you won't have to pay someone to tear holes in your ceiling.

lurkingdirk_sl said:

You can hire someone to tear into your drywall, or you could just open the drywall yourself. The repair cost will be the same afterward, and you won't have to pay someone to tear holes in your ceiling.

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I have personally witnessed an employee (who stuck his foot through the ceiling during a wiring project) tear out 14x4ft of drywall because "figured it would be easier to replace a whole sheet". If you dont know how to cut along tape lines or studs... have a drywaller do it.

Turned a $20 fix into a $300 one.

Picasso_sl said:

It probably would have been ok if he didn't think a sheet was 14' though

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Yeah, luckily I stopped him where I did. He was headed through the second sheet. Fucking idiots.

Took down 2 light fixtures, made a huge fucking mess. Had to feather the whole thing out about 2 feet because it was the sheet right behind the lights and it was going to show bad. Luckily my drywall guy got the texture perfect first try.

Could have fixed it for free though if it was just a foot hole. Even had a can of spray texture left over from the remodel

Update on the ants: They are on full assault mode.

I bought some Orkin spray stuff for the outside of my house. Did the 12 inch spray around the perimeter and on the side of my house. I also sprayed in the path where all the ant holes were coming up. The ones in the path have ceased activity. Now I notice a shitload of them in my driveway with no visible signs where they're coming from. They're now being found all over my kitchen and dining room (kitchen entrance door and also sliding glass door). I keep spraying the entrances but they keep coming. We don't have any food out and we don't have trails of them coming in, so I assume they're just trying to locate some food or whatever. They don't bother me, but the wife is pissy about them. My dog just keeps eating them.


Also, potentially dumb question. I've noticed that our dishwasher has a hi-temp drying feature, but it doesn't seem to work. Whenever it runs everything is still wet inside. Is this something I should seek warranty for? It's a frigidaire and brand new if that matters. Just a mild annoyance.

As mentioned earlier, get the Terro ant traps. Those things work. Anytime I get ants, I throw a couple of those out and the ants are 100% gone within 48 hours. They Terro traps are poison that they carry back to their home, so no dead ants all over your counter or anything, it's slow-acting so that it wipes out more than just the ant that eats it.

Noodleface_sl said:

Also, potentially dumb question. I've noticed that our dishwasher has a hi-temp drying feature, but it doesn't seem to work. Whenever it runs everything is still wet inside. Is this something I should seek warranty for? It's a frigidaire and brand new if that matters. Just a mild annoyance.

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Is everything wet, or just items that are plastic (tupperware, plastic cups, plastic plates, etc) Anything that is glass or ceramic or metal should definitely be dry from the heat, but plastic will never get dry, it doesn't heat up like those other materials.