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. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    furniture shopping is a mess

    but if people are in the market scandinavian designs has good stuff at pretty reasonable prices

    the way other furniture stores operate (we're way over priced but we always offer discounts! everything looks poorly made!) is sad.
     
  2. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    we looked at like 20 stores and then ordered our couch from Burrow

    everything was umm a clusterfuck
     
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  3. pratyk

    pratyk Arsenal FC, Rutgers Scarlet Knights
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    How bad (or good) is the Burrow couch?
     
    #28703 pratyk, May 4, 2021
    Last edited: May 4, 2021
  4. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    Had an electrician out. He wanted to charge me $650 to change out 3 breakers that were the wrong size.

    Each breaker is $11 at home depot and it's a 30 minute job :cmonson:

    It's a dirty game out there, boys
     
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  5. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    unclear it’s in storage in 11 boxes, our house is 5 months delayed under construction right now
     
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  6. Name P. Redacted

    Name P. Redacted I have no money and I'm also gay
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    That’s his way of saying “I really don’t want to do this but if you pay me enough I will.”
     
  7. infected donkey

    infected donkey Arkansas Razorbacks
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    My friends dad is a plumber and on things simple that anyone can do he’d say it’ll be this much if i come out, or you can go and buy these parts and do it for $30 and talk them through how to do it. But he’s also nice enough if you have issues afterwards he'll come out and repair, if you fuck it up for like $50 instead of the initial $2-300 fee.
     
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  8. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    Maybe, but it took him longer to look at the panel/appliances than it would have to make the fix. I'm just going to hand his assessment to someone else who won't gouge me. It's a pure sucker play on his part imo
     
  9. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    I found a guy who will let me byob (bring my own breaker)
     
  10. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Well see now you are just being the asshole
     
  11. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    He came into the tank with an unreasonable valuation. He only has himself to blame
     
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  12. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    Any BTW, any reputable electrician will not do what you are asking
    They should analyze and figure out what the problem is themselves, that way they can actually warranty their work
    But if you want and electrician who doesn't give a shit if you're house burns down, that's on you I guess
     
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  13. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    It's a long story, but the next guy will do the same assessment. I'll just know on the front end what they charge to switch them out if he or she agrees it's necessary.
     
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  14. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    You are literally the homeowner that every person that works on homes hates
     
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  15. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    Wait - I'm the bad guy because someone tried to charge me literally 5 times what other electricians will do? I guess I can see why someone who likes to overcharge would hate that
     
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  16. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    to continue the saga of subtly annoying things the previous homeowners lived with or changed to sabotage us with

    finally got around to looking at the under microwave over range lights that were out, they cooked a lot obviously based on the dirtiness of this before we made them get it cleaned pre-move in, but took the panel off to see what kind of lights go in there

    weird, no lights at all, so took a picture of the fixtures and headed to go see what kind of bulbs we needed

    wife decides to stick her hands in the opening as she thought she saw something and there were two bulbs, unused, just tucked up into the frame out of sight but not plugged in

    just bizarre shit we continue finding
     
  17. a.tramp

    a.tramp Insubordinate and churlish
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    Most reputable electricians I know of/work with will not show up for less than a $150 service call. And lmao if you think a $11 breaker is going to get passed along dollar to dollar or anywhere close. They either have $1000s of dollars of inventory stored in their van/truck to knock out jobs quickly or they have to make a round trip to the supply house to pick up inventory for each job. Either way, you are getting charged for it, and them some. I do work for a company that charges essentially $320 for the first breaker. Yes, they are cheaper after the first one as there is not a service call on each one. The electricians are generally booked 7-10 business days out year round.

    Just because a job is fast does not mean it can not be charged a premium for. Service panel work is about the most important thing in your house.

    I get a pretty good chuckle out of people thinking that contractors are only there to rip people off. It almost assuredly comes down to supply and demand. They would not be charging that unless the market supports it, which it does.
     
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  18. a.tramp

    a.tramp Insubordinate and churlish
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    And I am not trying to unload on you ned's head . This just comes up pretty frequently.
     
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  19. Gotch Yarbrough

    Gotch Yarbrough Canada eh?
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    Sold my 85 year old house last Friday and found out the buyers had an electrical fire today. They had an electrician do a dedicated inspection during the inspection period (unspecified minor findings but didn't ask for any electrical repairs) and apparently had one on site today when the fire started, but I can't wait to find out how buyer-wife's stepdad (attorney) tries to blame this on me.
     
    #28719 Gotch Yarbrough, May 4, 2021
    Last edited: May 4, 2021
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  20. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    I never asked for it to be passed on dollar for dollar. I'm just not interested in paying someone an hourly wage that a corporate lawyer makes.

    Our inspection said: These breakers may not be the correct size. We told buyers we would confirm findings and/or fix. Electrician verified said findings. I paid his service call fee and bid him good day.

    You all act as if I am taking this poor soul's electrical algorithms to sell on the black market.
     
  21. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    Maybe I missed it but if you know the problem why not just change the breakers out yourself? It’s incredibly easy to do.

    edit: see the post above and I’m guessing an actual electrician needs to do it for the inspection.
     
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  22. Festus McBadass

    Festus McBadass Cool ass dog and 5 star recruit
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    I paid $170 for the electrician to run the power for my mini split system. Way lower than expected.
     
  23. a.tramp

    a.tramp Insubordinate and churlish
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    Let me help you out. Electricians, as well as other trades, charge by flagged hour. Similar to lawyers. But lawyers generally charge 100s-1,000s per hour. A breaker most likely has .5-1 hour flagged per breaker.

    You look at it like he is just trying to rip you off. He is just running a business.
     
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  24. BigReff73

    BigReff73 Well-Known Member
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    Speak to me of this mini split. What’s a good ROM to add a unit to a 3rd story townhouse? Any major changes to energy bill?
     
  25. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
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    I don’t know what a ROM is but we added a mini split to an office that was previously an exterior space so insulation isn’t great. Have that thing on full blast 3/4 the year and no negligible difference in our bill.
     
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  26. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    Idk, man. After speaking to my former electrician FIL and a few other electrians after the fact, I believe was being asked to pay far above market. I do agree that it's supply and demand. I've already found several other licensed electricians who aren't in the same statosphere for this work, so it's not like I'm getting someone off of backpage.
     
  27. BigReff73

    BigReff73 Well-Known Member
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    Rough order of magnitude cost for everything
     
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  28. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
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    About tree fiddy zero.
     
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  29. Rabid

    Rabid Fan of: DQ Treats
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    My county property tax is off by a similar dollar amount to your hypothetical. I bought 7 years ago. The current appraised value is like 2% higher than our purchase price. Home prices themselves have increased more than that but we also did a renovation and added about 10% to finished square footage. We filed permits so they know what we did and paid. A few years later they sent a letter asking to do a walk-through appraisal (normal course of business to everybody in the neighborhood, not just us specifically). It is totally optional to let them walk-through and if you don’t allow it they just guess the quality of finishes. The downside if you don’t like their estimate is appealing like you did. That seemed better than letting them walk through and appraise it off the remodel. It clearly worked.
     
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  30. Name P. Redacted

    Name P. Redacted I have no money and I'm also gay
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    Orders came in. Time to start shopping in earnest.
     
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  31. Lyrtch

    Lyrtch My second favorite meat is hamburger
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    where tho
     
  32. Duck70

    Duck70 Let's just do it and be legends, man
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    Found a house for sale in my #1 neighborhood. Worst house on the block, complete gut job and at least $200k addition and reno needed... but still... I can't quite say no quite yet.

    Meeting with our lender tomorrow

    Zestimates of the said house and the surrounding homes.
    Screen Shot 2021-05-03 at 10.54.47 AM.png
     
  33. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    Also not trying to unload ned's head , but the part about the lawyer cracks me up. Drawing parallels between an overpriced service that most of us never need (Corp lawyer) and a tradesman that we basically all will at one point or another is kinda silly.
    While I do think the price is high IF it is as simple as replacing 3 breakers, I'd rather my house not burn down because I went cheap. You're also not a terrible person for getting other opinions/ prices. There are many tasks that I don't like giving quotes for because it's hard to get our hourly rate. I try and work with people on those depending on our schedule.
    If my personal electrician gave me that quote and offered any kind of reasonable explanation, I'd let him do it because I trust him implicitly. The old construction adage is "Cheap, fast, or good, pick one".
     
  34. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    I think it's pick two.
     
  35. a.tramp

    a.tramp Insubordinate and churlish
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    I just had a journeyman electrician work with me on 2 jobs that I needed to knock out for a day and a half, total of about 13 hours total. Best $150/hour I can spend time & time again.

    Trustworthy, competent, and professional are almost priceless in the tradesman world.
     
  36. Name P. Redacted

    Name P. Redacted I have no money and I'm also gay
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    Manhattan KS the little apple
     
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  37. Snakes

    Snakes clumsy interloper
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    It's always fun when someone comes in this thread shitting on servicemen every month or so.
     
  38. EMAW FC

    EMAW FC Proud Smucker
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    still need to do the stairs but waiting to do that until we replace our pavers. Feels good

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    #28738 EMAW FC, May 5, 2021
    Last edited: May 6, 2021
  39. ned's head

    ned's head Well-Known Member
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    Totally agree and I was relieved to have a qualified guy in today that was able to do the work in that ballpark.
     
  40. HuskerInMiami

    HuskerInMiami Well-Known Member
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    I need help with a few issues that came up while trying to repair the sprinklers my wife ran over with the mower. The site is messed up right now so it's hard to format this correctly.

    1 - It is just a plastic line running out. How would I fix that

    2 - Our pool pump top has this white piece inside of it that holds it in place when untwisting. It no longer stays on. Pretty sure i can jsut buy this piece and it's an easy fix. I just don't know what it would be called.

    3 - It sheered the head off completely and I'm not sure how to get it out of the plumbing.

    4 - Check out our pineapples that are growing. We planted the top of one last year and it made a pineapple. This year it somehow had two sprout.
    Preview attachment IMG-1473.jpgPreview attachment IMG-1474.jpg
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    3 MB
     
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  41. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    I can't see any of the pics, even clicking on them
     
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  42. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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    Any quick advice is appreciated.

    had my Propane guy stop the other week to fill my tank. I asked him for a ballpark to split a line over to my char broil grill. It sounded reasonable so he put in the notes for the owner to swing by to give me an estimate. Guy shows up today and says he has all the parts and can just do it. I agree but he doesn’t look at my grill until he already ran the line. Now he is saying the connector is fixed and he couldn’t find a part and was on with Char Broil support to see what they can offer.

    my grill has a side burner and where the line right now connects to the portable tank. He’s suggesting I would need to remove that entire piece in order to hook it up. I had this setup at my last house and it didn’t seem this difficult but it was a different grill. Anyone have any ideas to make this work?
     
  43. UncleJesse

    UncleJesse Did I invent hip-hop? No, but I was there.
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    I feel like this is the part where I should tell you to suck the propane guy's dick, but I'm not going to do that.
     
  44. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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    First, thanks for taking the time to reply. I’m going to consider other options though.
     
  45. One Two

    One Two Hot Dog Vibes
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    How old is the Grill? This sounds like a good excuse to get a new one that won’t need any modifications
     
  46. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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    Just bought it last year.
    His fix was to put a T valve but I have to keep the smaller tank hooked up because the knob/valve is all one piece. It works and at least I have it connected to the tank from my house too.
     
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  47. Pharm

    Pharm Right Handed
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    I put in a gas hookup when i built my house only to realize that propane and natural gas burn different and grill would need to be modified.
     
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  48. Open Carry

    Open Carry TMB Rib Master
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    Put in my 3rd offer today. House has a pool. Let’s go batchelor party house!!

    [​IMG]
     
  49. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    So something passed by me today. With remodeling two houses and looking at flooring costs I'd been hesitant. My buddy said his grandpa had bought maple flooring in 1971, stacked it in his shed, and never installed it. His grandpa passed away in 82 and the whole house and shed are caving in. They are going demolish all the structures and just sell the land but they are selling everything out first. I had to crawl through insulation, caved in ceiling, broken everything but I get to the back and there is, by my estimate, 1850 square feet of maple wood flooring. 2.25". It's got some grime on it but ran my belt sander on it and cleaned up beautifully. Couldn't see it all because it's stacked and probably covered in black widow and brown recluses. Going to go up there with a chain saw and cut the wall out of the shed because fuck going all Andy Dufresne to move all that out.

    Three questions:

    1. After sanding is there any sort of treatment that could be applied to protect the wood but not overshadowed the natural maple?

    2. If any of the wood has a bow in it can it be restored? If not after installing will the bow not matter as long as it's strait along the length?

    3. What would be a fair price considering I'm going.to have to demolish a building and then resurfacing the flooring and might die from a swarm of spider bites?

    PXL_20210507_030400614.jpg
     
    #28749 Imurhuckleberry, May 7, 2021
    Last edited: May 7, 2021
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  50. Funshot Residue

    Funshot Residue Mammoth Stabber
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    1. Clear or natural oil based polyurethane. Probably a 5 day process better left to pros. I like a satin or matte finish on maple.
    2. You may have your work cut out for you. Maple can be very hard, but if it is milled well, it's mostly technique and having the right tools. Does it have T&G on the ends?
    3. Hard to say. Maybe $1.50 sq/ft? Depends on quality of material as well. Will def need to acclimate for a while in climate controlled setting prior to installation.

    Could be a real find buddy, but potentially quite a challenge too.