Home Buyin/Maintenance Thread - Where most of us are 30ish but act 47. Oh, and fuck home inspectors

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by Swim Cantore, May 4, 2015.

  1. Rabid

    Rabid Fan of: DQ Treats
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    Avoid Protection One. They suck and they also happen to be in the process of acquiring ADT.

    If you're looking for home automation out of your system Vivint specializes in that (but you're going to pay for it).
     
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  2. texasraider

    texasraider thanks
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    Vivint doesn't really specialize in it other than selling the 2GIG Go system. You can get that system from many other companies.

    I'd recommend it if you have any interest in home automation via ZWave.
     
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  3. Rabid

    Rabid Fan of: DQ Treats
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    I saw them present at an investor conference recently and they claim to have a lot of proprietary things coming down the pipeline. :idk:
     
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  4. jaimej

    jaimej Not OZ
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    We closed on our house on Friday and were also there 3 separate times over the weekend. Going to be dangerous.

    Also, things I've learned from 3 days of home-ownership - it's possible to buy garbage cans that are too big for the town to pick up. Who knew there were size limits? We bought what we thought were common, 50 gallon cans. Nope.
     
  5. Rabid

    Rabid Fan of: DQ Treats
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    You have to buy your own garbage can? In our city there are 7 garbage truck companies licensed by the city. Each one offers weekly pick up of one of three different sized cans and they supply the can (shown below). There is a cost difference based on your can size.
    [​IMG]

    The city provides recycling services (contracted through Allied Waste) every other week and they supply the (largest size) can for that.

    I'm curious which one of us is unique versus the rest of the country.
     
  6. texasraider

    texasraider thanks
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    We have the supplied cans. Waste services is contracted by the city
     
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  7. KJROD20

    KJROD20 the ends will justify the means.
    Boston Red SoxBoston CelticsNew York RangersSeton Hall Pirates

    Ours, in NY, is done by the town, we buy our own cans. My dad in NJ has privatized and the company supplied the cans.
     
  8. jaimej

    jaimej Not OZ
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    I'm curious as well. We don't pay for it outright though, assume it comes out of our taxes.
     
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  9. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Ours, they supply one of the big ones pictured above, and you can put up to two of your own big cans next to it if you have that much trash

    All recycling you haul yourself if you wish to do so
     
  10. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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    Just got preapproved :ohnoes:
     
  11. killerwvu

    killerwvu Restoring WVU's E-Rep 1 Post At A Time
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    Anyone have any washer/dryer recs?

    Our house doesn't have one, and I have no idea about them. It's just me+wife. It'll be in the basement so noise isn't really an issue

    Think it's OK for a basic cheap one? We don't need any too fancy
     
  12. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    buy the basic cheap ones now, maybe even used off craigslist




    then be sure and post in the dumb shit my wife does thread later when she starts bitching about wanting new fancy front loaders
     
  13. DollarBillHokie

    DollarBillHokie Usher is the worst
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    Why do they suck? They claim the customer service wait times are far better than ADT, the time from customer call to technician visit is much quicker, and their attrition slaughters ADT.
     
  14. je ne suis pas ici

    je ne suis pas ici Well-Known Member
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    got the whirlpool cabrio combo. like 1300 installed? got em at best buy on sale

    [​IMG]

    you could smuggle 11 Guatemalans in these things. they huge. and we've never had an issue.
     
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  15. MORBO!

    MORBO! Hello, Tiny Man. I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!!
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    For like a trillion dollars too, amirite?
     
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  16. Rabid

    Rabid Fan of: DQ Treats
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    Maybe they have gotten better under PE ownership but they were a disaster when Westar (Kansas utility) owned them. They almost bankrupt the utility. My fraternity had them for our fire alarm support and they put us in test mode for 15 months without telling us and charged us full price throughout. Our experience didn't seem unique.
     
  17. DollarBillHokie

    DollarBillHokie Usher is the worst
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    Westar sold them in 2003. Their entire executive management staff is new and doesn't appear to have worked at the company that long ago.
     
  18. Rabid

    Rabid Fan of: DQ Treats
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    Yeah, I'm old. I was covering utilities in 2003 when they sold them. It was hard to believe how bad they were. I'm sure they've gotten better with PE ownership but if somebody wants to avoid ADT it makes sense to avoid the merger partner too.
     
  19. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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    Well I bought a powerball ticket the other day so my buying power is subject to substantial change.
     
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  20. MODEVIL

    MODEVIL Well-Known Member
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    PAHokieinRVA and Rabid like this.
  21. slogan119

    slogan119 Her?
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    Should have combined shows with Holmes on Homes for a full power-hour of TV. :twocents:
     
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  22. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    Did you end up going this route? Pretty interested on the experience as I love saving money but those customer reviews would scare me off.
     
  23. Baseballman86

    Baseballman86 Well-Known Member
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    Grass and landscaping went in today, the only thing left really is carpet in bedrooms and blinds, then we are (finally) done.
     
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  24. tigr2ndbase

    tigr2ndbase Well-Known Member
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    What's everyone's thoughts on Scotts lawn service? The manager stopped by today to give us his "new construction discount" of $40/month for full service. I'm just curious if with new sod it's best to go ahead and use them for a little while. Never used any lawn service company so just curious on the TMB's insight. TIA
     
  25. Ty Webb

    Ty Webb Living rent free in Jigga's head
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    Radon mitigation. Is it worth it? My reading came in a couple of points over 4.
     
  26. bnob

    bnob Well-Known Member
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    I use a company called Weedman and they come out basically every other month year round. I started using them right after sodding our back yard. It has made a huge difference in my opinion. I have far less weeds and grass looks so much better than people who don't put anything down. I'm sure I could get same results on my own but the cost is minimal.
     
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  27. Festus McBadass

    Festus McBadass Cool ass dog and 5 star recruit
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    I've bought from Sears Outlet 4 or 5 times and never had any issues. It's all new stuff but might have a scratch or dent somewhere so they can't sell it in the store.
     
  28. FightingCock

    FightingCock Smoltzy, 2 dollar bourbon, Bluehose
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    Installed a water filter system (softener, iron, brine tank, sediment filter), removed 2 old hot water heaters upstairs and got a high efficiency stainless steel one installed downstairs, and now trying to get some general repair done. The drywall were the heaters were, some siding, painting some French doors, and a new cooktop stove.

    Still need to get a couple of trees removed, clean the gutters, and get the pool up and running. Also fix some screens around the lanai that are torn and old. Man, home ownership wooo
     
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  29. Lip

    Lip Well-Known Member
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    Did you buy yourself a shanty?
     
  30. FightingCock

    FightingCock Smoltzy, 2 dollar bourbon, Bluehose
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    No, it's a 2511 sq ft house built in 1997. Homeowners moved out early last summer and looks like they let a lot go before they even left. Most of the stuff is still original and needed to be serviced/replaced and just hadn't been done. I'm going to be here in Fla for a while so I like the projects once I get to a good baseline
     
  31. tjsblue

    tjsblue I was right at the time
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    Nice cans.
     
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  32. colonel_forbin

    colonel_forbin Well-Known Member
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    How much does it cost to maintain a non- salt water pool? Just curious.
     
  33. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
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    [​IMG]
     
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  34. tigr2ndbase

    tigr2ndbase Well-Known Member
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    That's only if you put sharks with freakin laser beams in it.
     
  35. London Humphreys

    London Humphreys The next Julian Edelman, obviously.
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    Any tru green people? Got my first treatment about a month ago. Going through the death phase for weeds and grass is now filling in. Was pretty expensive as I have 1.7 acres, so I'm hoping it's worth it.
     
  36. kentucky_dawg

    kentucky_dawg Fan of: Georgia
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    Got my first treatment about a month ago or so, as well. Seeing similar results.
     
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  37. NC Wolfpack

    NC Wolfpack Go Pack Go
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  38. Wicked

    Wicked Next One's Comin' Faster
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    Looking for a pressure washer. Any of you guys have any recommendations? Main uses will be washing our house, driveway, cars, fence and outdoor furniture. Also the will be stripping my garage and fence at some point. Leaning towards gas powered but just looking for experience/recs.
     
  39. CraigAnne Conway

    CraigAnne Conway Putting that ball into the basketball ring
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    Rumpke does our trash/recycling. It's like $13/mo. $15 if you lease their trash container.
    They will take whatever, whether it's your own trash can, or if you just throw your bags out there. We chose to lease their container because it's a nice 96 gallon roller can and if it breaks they replace it. Cheapest route would obviously be just tossing your bags out on the curb on Friday mornings, but fuck piling garbage bags in your garage all week waiting on Friday
     
  40. C A N E

    C A N E Let justice be done though the heavens fall
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    Has anyone else used Alliance Security? I signed up with them. I have sensors on the all entry points on the first floor, touchpad, camera, and wifi thermostat with scheduling capability. $200 for the thermostat at the time of install and $38/mo.
     
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  41. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    Got them about a month ago. Have had one treatment and an aeration. Seeing a big difference already. I'm on .62 acres and it's running a little over a grand a year for soil amendment, aeration and eight treatments.
     
  42. GoodForAnother

    GoodForAnother I’d rather be down the allotment
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    we pay like $8/month for trash and recycling. trash we can leave out in bags (but I bought a can at Home Depot that I use) and recycling is in a big can they provided. trash picks up twice a week and recycling once. lumped in with our water bill.
     
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  43. London Humphreys

    London Humphreys The next Julian Edelman, obviously.
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    Yeah, I'm at $235 per treatment.
     
  44. tad

    tad Well-Known Member

    :shocked: Acreage?
     
  45. George Costanza

    George Costanza It's not a lie if you believe it
    Florida GatorsPhiladelphia PhilliesPhiladelphia 76'ersPhiladelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Flyers

    Anyone ever dealt with having to overhaul a large part of their yard because of weeds?

    Now that the snow is gone and stuff is sprouting, I have a ton of weeds popping up in both my front and back yards. Not surprised as there is a decent amount of exposed soil, but it just seems like it's going to be a daunting task getting rid of them all.

    What should be my approach? Spend an afternoon ripping them out and then spraying with Roundup or some other form of weed killer and let it sit for a couple of days? Thinking of laying some seed in the exposed soil areas once cleared to get some grass to fill in.
     
  46. George Costanza

    George Costanza It's not a lie if you believe it
    Florida GatorsPhiladelphia PhilliesPhiladelphia 76'ersPhiladelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Flyers

    How expensive we talking? See my above post. Going through a weed problem now and trying to determine the best remedy. Previous owner said weeds would be an issue.
     
  47. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    North Carolina State Wolfpack

    I'm redoing my entire yard as we speak. It's definitively a large job though. The short of it is I sprayed everything with glyphosate (the active ingredient in round up, a lot cheaper to buy just as glyphosate) about two weeks ago. Everything has died off and now I'm just cleaning everything up to get it ready. Getting all the weeds cleaned up, pine straw raked up, and going to basically scalp what grass I do have and bag that. This weekend I'm renting a big ass tiller to till everything up, and then roll it all out to get as flat a yard as I can. Then I'm seeding with compadre zoysia. If everything goes to plan I should have a damn nice yard by end of summer.
     
  48. London Humphreys

    London Humphreys The next Julian Edelman, obviously.
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    $235 per treatment * 8 treatments per year.
     
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  49. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    Speaking of weeds, I have a few hundred square yards of ground cover that I just hit with roundup. Anyone know if I can burn those in a burn barrel or something instead of bagging?
     
  50. London Humphreys

    London Humphreys The next Julian Edelman, obviously.
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    Georgia BulldogsAtlanta BravesAtlanta FalconsAtlanta UnitedLiverpoolFormula 1

    [​IMG]