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. Dick Trickle

    Dick Trickle Has a Well-Known Member
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    You'll want to run power at least so you don't have a power chord exposed. Is there attic above the ceiling or is it a 2nd story? If its attic, an electrician could run power down through there and out of your new hole for the recessed box in a matter of minutes.
     
  2. Where Eagles Dare

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    Here is an outlet already on the wall for the TV behind the mirror in the staging pic.
     
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  3. Dick Trickle

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    Oh well then you're good. I would just pop that outlet out and see if you can get a tape in the hole to measure the studs then put it back. I don't trust stud finders when drilling into finished millwork.
     
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  4. goblue31602

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    Yeah that's definitely what that is. That's exactly how you'd blow insulation in.
     
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  5. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    Are you comfortable switching the breaker with another in the panel with the same amperage rating? If the answer is no, proceed to electrician.
     
  6. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Just got a random letter in the mail saying a 5 minute phone call could lock me in at 2.4% , lower my monthly payment by almost $500, and give me $30,000 cash out with no closing costs or anything out of pocket, and no payments for the first 2 months

    Kinda sounds too good to be true, no?
     
  7. comrade static

    comrade static i love french fries
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    yes. Adding 30k to the loan amount doesn’t typically lower a loan payment by $500. Lots of variables at play though
     
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  8. Boo MFer!

    Boo MFer! No longer a cog in some powerhouse machine
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    Did they also offer to free a Nigerian prince from exile?
     
  9. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    Yup, I can do that.
     
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  10. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    Right on. Don't touch the big conductors. Breakers do go bad occasionally. What's on the circuit that is tripping?
     
  11. Imurhuckleberry

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    At this point 1 whole room. It trips instantaneously even with nothing plugged in.
     
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  12. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Outlets, lights, and ceiling fans?

    I had a similar situation where I thought it was the shitty old push the wire in the back style outlets
    I had that problem in another room and had to replace all the outlets to get it fixed (been slowly replacing outlets circuit by circuit for years)
    This one room, I replaced all the outlets and the problem persisted, ended up figuring out the neutral wire to the ceiling fan had been half stripped of its insulation (looked like it got pulled in with the fan bracket in place which rubbed the insulation off), which didnt make any sense being romex, but whatever
    Put in a new j-box in the attic and replaced the end of that wire and it has been good
     
  13. Where Eagles Dare

    Where Eagles Dare The Specialist Show On Earth
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    My buyers just terminated our contract on the last day of the contingency period due to coronavirus

    :killme:
     
  14. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    Bad news: roof has a leak and who knows how long it'll be before it can be looked at.

    Good news: I just found 10 solar screens in the garage that should be a godsend for the hot ass texas summer.
     
  15. buy_dont_lease

    buy_dont_lease Ha ha ha. What a story, Mark.
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    Sorry, man. Are you locked in on your purchase already?
     
  16. NineteenNine

    NineteenNine Divers are, in fact, wankers. It's science.
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    God damn it. That sucks dude. Sorry.
     
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  17. Where Eagles Dare

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    No, still in the contingency period there. But everything is in motion, alreay paid 700 for inspection/radon test. Loan locked and in progress. etc.
     
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  18. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Have had issues with one of our bathrooms since we bought this house. Shower nor toilet drain well. Had them cleaned. Still not totally fixed. Had a new plumber come today and try to fix it and managed to backup the shower with sewage. They need a colleague with a particular machine to come fix it. Said he can't come until Tuesday. So now I've got a shower with two inches of sewage in it and all I can do is hope it slowly drains between now and then. All of this during a time when we're supposed to spend as much time at home as possible and part of our house smells like raw sewage.

    Should've had the pipes inspected when I bought the damn house.
     
  19. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
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    Previous owners' wife probably flushed tissues.
     
  20. goblue31602

    goblue31602 Well-Known Member
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    What's the issue? Not a plumber but sometimes slow drains can be from a clogged or partially clogged drain stack.
     
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  21. Funshot Residue

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    How steep is your roof, and are there trees growing over the house? Could be a clogged vent pipe? Is this first floor? Finished space underneath?
     
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  22. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    goblue31602 Funshot Residue

    We had the vent stack replaced a couple weeks ago but it didn't do the trick. We've had the pipes snaked three times by three different plumbers. We've literally had everything done except for a jet. And that's looking like our only option but there's a risk of it spewing water up the other drains and messing stuff up. We've got another bathroom that functions perfectly and has since we bought. This one has been the opposite and we just avoided using it for the most part but decided a few weeks ago to finally get it fixed for good.

    The guy that ran a snake+camera up there this morning said it was something solid they couldn't break through with the machine they brought. Said there was a lot of grease buildup too. Not sure who was flushing grease down the toilet but it sure has caused problems for me.

    This is ground floor on a 60 year old one story home. Old cast iron pipes beneath the house. Roof is not real steep. No trees directly above the vent.
     
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  23. Boo MFer!

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    Fuck. Sorry to hear it, WED.
     
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  24. goblue31602

    goblue31602 Well-Known Member
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    Yikes, good luck. When my vent stack closed off at my old house it was rust in the pipes, as it was similar age with cast iron.
     
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  25. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Seventh plumber (from the third different company) may have fixed it. Guy is in his late 60s at the least and talks to himself (like constant full conversations with himself playing multiple roles) but by God I think he got it. My house might not smell like sewage by the end of the day!!!

    Ben's Plumbing in the Birmingham area. Ben is the guy to call!
     
  26. goblue31602

    goblue31602 Well-Known Member
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    And if you don't call him, he may call himself!
     
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  27. Snakes

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    I have always used Eagle. My wife's 2nd cousin owns it. They are expensive, but I have never had to call them back. Those guys get shit done.
     
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  28. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    The first 3 plumbers that came to my house were from Eagle. I've always had good experiences with them until this time. First two guys were real nice and thought they fixed the problem but we didn't find out for a couple days that it wasn't actually fixed. Called them back and they sent another guy who couldn't fix it. Then we tried our home warranty company in an attempt to save money and they sent a guy from K&S Plumbing. He tried but didn't have the required machine so they sent two new guys days later (which was this morning). They tried really hard but didn't even bring the necessary machine so they couldn't fix it either. Actually made it worse by backing up the shower with raw sewage somehow. Then they were like "Sorry, we'll have to have our colleague come with his machine. Can't be here until Tuesday though." A quarantine weekend with standing raw sewage wasn't going to work so I called the guy my parents and my in-laws both recommended -- Ben's Plumbing. It seems like he got it fixed (at least as far as we can tell currently) and he'll be my first call from now onwards. Was less expensive than others, too. Didn't give Eagle another shot to fix it since we tried our home warranty instead so I can't really knock Eagle. And then the K&S guys left us with a problem we needed fixed today.

    Truly think Ben might be some sort of plumbing savant. He would very much be worthy of a reality TV show crew following him around listening to him talk to himself and solve complicated plumbing problems.
     
  29. goblue31602

    goblue31602 Well-Known Member
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    Any idea what he did to fix it?
     
  30. Snakes

    Snakes clumsy interloper
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    Haha of course Eagle was the one that fucked up after I recommended them. As a matter of fact, the problems they deal with at my house are pretty easy stuff that most guys in this thread would handle on their own. I have had bad experiences with K&S as well.

    Sounds like you had a particular messy situation and i'm glad Ben was able to take care of you. Next house I buy I am doing a complete plumbing audit and sending in a guy to do preventative work before we even move in.
     
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  31. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Sent some much stronger, thicker snake up the line and messed with it for a while. Said it was an issue with one section of pipe and buildup over the years. Legendary dude.
     
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  32. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Eagle really didn't do a bad job or anything. Just didn't fix it like we thought and then we pivoted to the home warranty company's suggestion and those guys made things worse. I won't refrain from calling Eagle again for small stuff if need be. Definitely expensive though as I paid $400 for them to not really fix anything the first trip out.
     
  33. goblue31602

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    Awesome, gotta be a huge relief for you.
     
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  34. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Absolutely. We were planning to go spend the weekend elsewhere if we couldn't get it fixed today. Wasn't about to sit around breathing and smelling shit water for a whole weekend of quarantine. No sir I was not.
     
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  35. goblue31602

    goblue31602 Well-Known Member
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    Nice. You're fixed before the apocalypse takes hold! My 70 year old dad decided to tile his laundry room. After tearing up the floor he found a rotten threshold and door, which has now leaked into the basement and rotted a piece of wood in the crawlspace they have under the laundry room (rest of basement is finished). Ugh, poor guy. With the covid stuff I'm trying to figure out how to help him. With 2 kids here that could be carriers, I want to limit contact, I am hoping he can get materials delivered from Lowes or Home Depot.
     
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  36. The Blackfish

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    Have a similar issue. Will be calling Ben. Probably not until all this shit is over though. Its not that serious, just two slow drains and a shower that stinks every once in a while. Pour drain-o down the sinks all the damn time. Drain-o has stopped working on one of them.
     
  37. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Ben told me he thought drain cleaners I'd attempted to use we're probably responsible for complicating the problem. Something about them hardening the blockage or something. Not sure if Ben is on the internet or not but let me know if you need his number. He doesn't strike me as a guy who cares to advertise online.
     
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  38. goblue31602

    goblue31602 Well-Known Member
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    Any rec on what to use instead, or is it more of a "snake the drain, don't pour more shit down there" type advice?
     
  39. The Blackfish

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    How did you find him
     
  40. blind dog

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    I like the cut of Ben’s jib
     
  41. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Negative. Didn't give me much feedback. Just glad it got fixed. Ben is a god.

    My dad did somehow. A couple years ago, my mother and my wife's mother were chatting about plumbers and one mentioned how great their plumber is but that he tends to talk to himself a lot which can be confusing. The other was shocked and said "Wow, our plumber talks to himself too!" Turns out it was the same guy - Ben!

    No clue how my dad found him originally.
     
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  42. Doc Louis

    Doc Louis Well-Known Member
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    Get a good rate?
     
  43. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    I'm honestly disappointed in you that you didnt call Ben first
     
  44. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    I wasn't aware of him until my wife and I spoke to our parents and asked if they knew anyone good. When they both endorsed the same guy, it was game over.

    $250. Paid the first guys $400 and they didn't actually even fix it (though we thought they did at first). No intentions to pay the second guys that made it worse. They were very nice and tried hard though. They just weren't and aren't Ben.
     
  45. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Still disappointed in you
     
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  46. Doc Louis

    Doc Louis Well-Known Member
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    Oh I meant for the hotel room
     
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  47. Barves2125

    Barves2125 "Ready to drive the Ferarri" - Reuben Foster
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    Ahhh, I didn't get that. No hotel. Lucky to have access to a lake house nearby that we would've gone to. Wouldn't have been a bad quarantine weekend at all.
     
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  48. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    We're working on getting refinanced. At the same time, we were planning on getting work done in our basement. Rather than pay for it out of our bank accounts we'd like to bump up the mortgage a bit and get the extra money out to use for the work. Other than the slightly higher mortgage payment than what we would have gotten, are there any negatives to doing this?
     
  49. NoNatty

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    I know no one truly knows and it’s still early, but any idea how the coronavirus could impact the housing market? We held off on refinancing because we were going to move next summer. Now I’m a little bit nervous about a huge value dip and that not being able to occur.
     
  50. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
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    Markets have been cut by 1/3 to date. I don’t think it’s out of question this could cut us in half when it’s all said and done. Remember just the ripples of our 08 housing crisis completely crippled other countries in the world. That was just one sector that took a hit and it had a global far reaching impact. As you know, this global and impacts far more than one industry.

    At this point in time I think the general American should be most worried about having a job in a year. I’m not telling you how to think, just my perception in regard to your ability to move in a year. Of course there are people that are insulated from impact (you may or may not be one of them I don’t know your situation) but shits going to be fucked for at least a few years.
     
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