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Kiroy

Kiroy

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Adding about 650sq feet to my deck along with an extended cover, wish me luck. Squared all the footer markings today and once this coming rainstorm is over next week i'll rent an auger and dig the footer holes. Thanks god I live in an area with zero frost.
 
C

Captain Suave

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Erronius said:
2.5kW? On a single residential circuit?

Leaking to ground?

And this isn't tripping a breaker?

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Fuck if I know, man. All I can tell you is that the breaker is hot to the touch and when I shut it off the meter shows a 2.5 kW drop. Usage spikes back up instantly when I turn the breaker back on. The circuit is only connected to a single overhead light and a couple outlets with nothing in them.

Our household winter power draw up through Jan was 400-450 kWh per month, then we get our Feb bill and see 1900+. Hourly usage charts from the power company show baseline of 3+ kW starting in late Jan even in the middle of the night when there's fuck all going on, which would be consistent with 2.5 kW on this circuit.

Maybe someone has a crypto farm in the attic, but it isn't me.
 
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BrutulTM

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2.5 kW should blow a 20 amp breaker. I think I would start by swapping out the breaker. If that doesn't help then shut off the power and open up the outlets and the light fixture and look for burned up or frayed wires or anything else that looks out of order. Definitely keep that breaker shut off until you figure out what the problem is.
 
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Captain Suave

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Yeah something is definitely fucked. Landlord knows the problem and will get an electrician. Fortunately we just bought a house and are moving out at the end of the month anyway. I'm going to tell him to pound sand on this electric bill.
 
Borzak

Borzak

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Neighbor stealing your power and mining or growing with it. Just kidding but that's a LOT of power.
 
Daidraco

Daidraco

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Captain Suave said:
Yeah something is definitely fucked. Landlord knows the problem and will get an electrician. Fortunately we just bought a house and are moving out at the end of the month anyway. I'm going to tell him to pound sand on this electric bill.
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Examine your lease before you jet off to greener pastures. If I was the landlord and I was responsible for your light bill, and expected you to pay it - it would be in the lease agreement. There is very likely no clause in there for faulty equipment or similar, leaving you responsible for the outstanding bill. You've bought a house to move into, so your credit is displaying that you're a stable person in job and income.

Knowing that, I wouldnt think twice about not only taking you to court for the remaining amount, but also getting a lawyer to cover all my bases and, in the end, charge the electric bill, the court fees, my "missed opportunity" time and the lawyer fees, all to you. If you cant afford it then and there, I would push for the court to garnish your wages until its paid for. During that time, I would also be expecting the state you live in, to charge its highest approved interest rate on the amount you owe until paid.

You can argue that there is a faulty line that has caused the electric bill to spike, which that repair should not be your responsibility (again, check the lease to make sure its not). The judge will ask if you tried to work it out with the landlord, (which you should at least attempt to before leaving. Get documentation that you tried. Certified Letter to the landlord with a Return Receipt.), and if all else failed, the judge may be lenient enough upon you to lessen the amount owed on the electric bill. But, the kicker here is, you may very likely still be fucking dunked on because it went to court and be responsible for all fees associated with the court case.

This is all based on your landlord not being a complete moron. But very much a fuck around and find out situation because I deal with this dumb shit all of the time. Again, you're displaying that you're competent with money - so the courts are already going to be on the landlords side.
 
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Captain Suave

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Daidraco said:
Examine your lease before you jet off to greener pastures. If I was the landlord and I was responsible for your light bill, and expected you to pay it - it would be in the lease agreement. There is very likely no clause in there for faulty equipment or similar, leaving you responsible for the outstanding bill. You've bought a house to move into, so your credit is displaying that you're a stable person in job and income.

Knowing that, I wouldnt think twice about not only taking you to court for the remaining amount, but also getting a lawyer to cover all my bases and, in the end, charge the electric bill, the court fees, my "missed opportunity" time and the lawyer fees, all to you. If you cant afford it then and there, I would push for the court to garnish your wages until its paid for. During that time, I would also be expecting the state you live in, to charge its highest approved interest rate on the amount you owe until paid.

You can argue that there is a faulty line that has caused the electric bill to spike, which that repair should not be your responsibility (again, check the lease to make sure its not). The judge will ask if you tried to work it out with the landlord, (which you should at least attempt to before leaving. Get documentation that you tried. Certified Letter to the landlord with a Return Receipt.), and if all else failed, the judge may be lenient enough upon you to lessen the amount owed on the electric bill. But, the kicker here is, you may very likely still be fucking dunked on because it went to court and be responsible for all fees associated with the court case.

This is all based on your landlord not being a complete moron. But very much a fuck around and find out situation because I deal with this dumb shit all of the time. Again, you're displaying that you're competent with money - so the courts are already going to be on the landlords side.
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I was venting a bit and speaking loosely. I have a great relationship with my landlord and he's a been reasonable guy. I will of course speak to him proactively and not leave the problem financially unresolved before vacating. If he's a dick about it I'll just eat the loss and think worse of him. This isn't a commercial slum lord situation; I'm renting a $1M+ single family home from an individual who lived in the residence last year.

I'm really amazed there hasn't been a fire. Check the hourly usage from yesterday - you can see at 3 PM where I shut the breaker off. (House has solar, hence the mid-day reduction.)

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Captain Suave

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Follow-up: Problem identified as ground fault in a hidden subterranean line between the main house and the pool. Some previous owner DIY'd the electrical work, total shitshow when we opened the junction box, which was behind finished drywall. Full circuit load straight into the dirt. Whee.
 
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BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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I'd probably still replace the breaker. Even if it didn't fail to trip which it sounds like it did, just the fact that it got hot would make me nervous.
 
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Lanx

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Daidraco said:
Examine your lease before you jet off to greener pastures. If I was the landlord and I was responsible for your light bill, and expected you to pay it - it would be in the lease agreement. There is very likely no clause in there for faulty equipment or similar, leaving you responsible for the outstanding bill. You've bought a house to move into, so your credit is displaying that you're a stable person in job and income.

Knowing that, I wouldnt think twice about not only taking you to court for the remaining amount, but also getting a lawyer to cover all my bases and, in the end, charge the electric bill, the court fees, my "missed opportunity" time and the lawyer fees, all to you. If you cant afford it then and there, I would push for the court to garnish your wages until its paid for. During that time, I would also be expecting the state you live in, to charge its highest approved interest rate on the amount you owe until paid.

You can argue that there is a faulty line that has caused the electric bill to spike, which that repair should not be your responsibility (again, check the lease to make sure its not). The judge will ask if you tried to work it out with the landlord, (which you should at least attempt to before leaving. Get documentation that you tried. Certified Letter to the landlord with a Return Receipt.), and if all else failed, the judge may be lenient enough upon you to lessen the amount owed on the electric bill. But, the kicker here is, you may very likely still be fucking dunked on because it went to court and be responsible for all fees associated with the court case.

This is all based on your landlord not being a complete moron. But very much a fuck around and find out situation because I deal with this dumb shit all of the time. Again, you're displaying that you're competent with money - so the courts are already going to be on the landlords side.
Click to expand...
dawg, have fun next month

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Cutlery

Cutlery

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I'm not sure what thread this should go in. Could say it could go in the guns thread, home improvement, or woodworking. I'm gonna put it here, because I think it's most closely related to the project.

I am a member of a 275 member private outdoor gun range. The 10 yard and 25 yard pistol ranges both share a shooting shed, and are both basically in a "bowl" of earth. You go down to get to the shed, and the backstop and the barrier to the adjacent 50 yard range form essentially a soup bowl where water tends to collect in the spring and fall. Since it's outdoor, it's a lot of water. This means that for most of the spring and a good chunk of the fall, and any time it rains, the entire range is essentially mud. I wouldn't actually care about it, but, you've gotta go hang targets, and that's where the annoyance comes in, because if you're not wearing some pretty decent boots, you're in for a treat.

When I joined a couple years ago, I ripped a sheet of plywood in half and tossed that down as part of a walking path to the target hangers, but it was quickly swallowed by the mud, just literally vanished into the earth. I'm sure you could still find it pretty easy, but it's definitely not a walkway anymore. So, i proposed we build basically what amounts to a deck all the way down to the target line. I've gotten approval and the funding to construct the one for the 10 yard range, and based upon that, I'll probably get approval to do the 25 as well. My plan is pretty simple - I plan on using green treat 2x6s as a frame, and then green treat decking, and build 8' by 32" (so I can tri-sect a 8' piece) sections in my garage where I have all the power tools, then haul them down to the range to install them. The plan is to have this thing basically just be a boardwalk - it's only gonna be raised up off the ground high enough to be not in contact with the ground to stave off rot as much as possible. Of course, when you're a member of a 275 member range, everyone's got a fucking better idea than you have, and I'm kinda sick of it, because I'm the one doing the work here, so I don't really care what they think I should do. But, I can see the merit behind a pair of ideas here, and I'm looking for some more feedback.

This thing can't just lay on the ground, even if we leveled it all out with a bobcat or something, it would twist and warp and sink and rot and basically just be useless, so it's gotta be up on something. I had originally though about just getting an augur and digging post holes, drop in some 6x6's and a piece of concrete for a footing and calling it good. Probably dig a hole every 4 feet, so 6 per section. That seemed easy enough. But almost everyone I talk to seems to think that I can just get some landscaping pavers and lay the frame on there - just so it's enough off the ground for water to run under it, and the bottom not to rot. Level it out either with some shovels or with extra pavers (which are pretty fucking cheap). I gotta admit, that's a helluva lot easier than setting posts all day, but I can't help but think that's halfassing this a bit too much. But then I've got people saying that frost is gonna heave it if you put footings in anyway, so now I'm not sure what to think.

This is not gonna be your standard deck with a railing - more like a boardwalk. But it's gonna be rather large - the first section is 11 out to the target wire, and then 20' across it, so L shaped. The other side is gonna be 56' out to the wire, and another 16' across.

What thoughts do you guys have about it? I've never built a deck before - but I'm super excited to finally do a project that's not part of my fucking house -- and with someone else's fucking money!
 
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lurker

lurker

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Have you looked into figuring out how to drain the place? Without seeing it, I would think someone with machine could build a crown down the middle of the range like you would do with a road, and then put gutters on both sides to carry away the water.
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

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lurker said:
Have you looked into figuring out how to drain the place? Without seeing it, I would think someone with machine could build a crown down the middle of the range like you would do with a road, and then put gutters on both sides to carry away the water.
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We have enough problems in other places at the range with roots growing thru drain tiles and shit.

And I don't have any of that machinery, and this is what I'm willing to do, so I will do that. It's a good idea, but there's not really anywhere to carry the water to, it would just sit in that trench unless we plumbed it somewhere.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Kind of hard to visualize but I think I'd dump some gravel or road base or something in there to get your wood out of the mud so it doesn't just rot or sink.
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

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BrutulTM said:
Kind of hard to visualize but I think I'd dump some gravel or road base or something in there to get your wood out of the mud so it doesn't just rot or sink.
Click to expand...

Well, that was the point of basically putting posts in and making it a deck. Which still seems like the way to go
 
Erronius

Erronius

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You're missing a prime opportunity here.

Put in a bunch of barb wire about 18" off the ground and make people have to low crawl under it to get to the firing line
 
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BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Also you should put a pressure plate so if you completely miss the target a foot pops out of the bench and kicks you in the balls.
 
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