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. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    Anyone have any suggestion on a ceiling mount for a tv?

    I am limited on wall space in the garage but want to put a tv so I can have football on while working in the garage. It would be nice if it swiveled so I could point it in various directions.
     
  2. billdozer

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    Cheetah's a good brand and has a few options
    http://www.cheetahmounts.com/category-s/85.htm
     
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  3. comrade static

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    We bought this for our patio tv. Fairly easy to install. No complaints.

    Mount-It Ceiling TV Mount Bracket, Fits 40 42 47 50 55 60 70 Inch Flat Panel Televisions, Adjustable Height Telescoping Tilt and Swivel, Mount on Vaulted Ceilings Up To VESA 600x400 (MI-509L), Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HSKJVFO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZOwxFbTC4Y9KG
     
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  4. DriveByBBQ

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    please put a golf simulator in there.
     
  5. 49ers169

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    Does anyone know a lot about trees?

    We have three main trees in our yard and have had a few guys and then an arborist out to see them. The two bigger companies suggested removing our redbud that is drooping big time while the arborist said to leave it and then over the next 2-3 years have a strategic plan to prune it ($1,600 for his plan a year) to take off 15% of the leaves a year and encourage new growth.

    Then we have a smallish maple a few feet away from our property line (neighbors house is pretty close) that the bigger companies just thought needed minor pruning while the arborist said to take it out as it was planted poorly.

    Lastly, we have a fully mature maple directly in front of our house. The big companies said it is doing really well with the arborist saying when the previous owners put in the retaining wall it completely put it under distress and the soil type will prevent it from recovering or at least in a cost-effective way and encouraged it to be removed.

    Didn't really plan to invest so much in trees and really the only one that has us worried is the red bud in the back. But honestly have no idea what the ballpark for this type of work should be.
     
    #24955 49ers169, Sep 14, 2020
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2020
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  6. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    So I just bought a house and when I got the cable guy over to set us up, he notified us that some of the tvs, and notably our projector, will not work with our current wiring. We couldn't get our audio system working either (currently the only form of audio that works is a cd player for some reason).

    I called out a local company to take a look at the wiring and let us know the damage. He basically said all the wiring is ancient (the house was built in 2007) and if we wanted to use our new A/V equipment we should just rewire everything.

    He just sent me a quote and I'm not sure if I'm getting screwed or not. Any experts here?
     
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  7. texasraider

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    I don't know how wiring would be the cause of audio issues.

    As far as the cable wiring ... it would be a lot cheaper to just buy appletv's, roku's or fire sticks and use youtubetv or something similar. If you pay for wiring, I would just wire cat5e to each room in the house and have a home run to where your modem is.
     
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  8. WillySaliba

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    Hard to tell you if you are getting screwed without a price. Also, coax is coax so short of just not having a jack at the wall where you want the TV I dont understand how that would not work because there is no way in hell that would be out of date.

    Also, not sure what the company is that you contacted. Cheapest way I would think to go outside of doing it yourself is through an electrician.

    Last, not sure the size of your place but instead of wiring everywhere invest in two runs and put in a solid wireless mesh system. There are tons of great solutions out there now, some of which not requiring even one cable to be run.
     
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  9. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    you sound like you know what you're talking about, and some of those things are on the quote.

    Here's an example for one room. I don't know what any of these things are or if they're even necessary:
    1 Each Audio Quest HDMI Cable HDMIPEARL15MA $349.00 $349.00
    1 Each Audio Quest Optical Cable (Smart TV Apps) OPTPEARL16M $159.00 $159.00
    100 Feet Cat6 Cable GENCAT6BL $0.35 $35.00
    1 Each Owner Provided Cable Box EXISTING - -
    1 Each Audio Quest HDMI Cable HDMIPEARL2M $40.00 $40.00
    1 Each Sonos Port PORT1US1BLK $449.00 $449.00
    1 Each Universal Remote Control MX990 $485.00 $485.00
    1 Each Universal RF Extender Kit MRF350 $219.00 $219.00
    1 Each Denon Receiver AVRX4500H $1,149.00 $1,149.00

    Then this for network. I have no idea what a Eero Pro or eight port ethernet switch are or why I need them:
    1 Each Owner Provided Cable Modem EXISTING - -
    1 Pkg Eero Pro (3 Pack) B010301 $459.00 $459.00
    3 Each Eight Port Ethernet Switch TLSG108 $27.00 $81.00
    200 Feet Cat6 Cable GENCAT6BL $0.35 $70.00

    Then this for the ring doorbell, I don't know what the Elite does or why I need 3 chimes:
    1 Each Ring Elite 88EL000CH000 $314.99 $314.99
    3 Each Ring Chime 88CH000FC000 $27.00 $81.00

    The theater room was a laundry list of stuff for 6.5k (most expensive was 4k for a projector and 1.15k for a receiver).

    Quote for labor/installation/programming alone is $3.8k.
     
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  10. WillySaliba

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    I don't know shit about home audio. Love music but Im no audiophile so I cannot help you up there. Eero is the wireless mesh system I was referencing, that's a viable solution and from the looks of it they are doing that properly but they are marking it up quite a bit. If this is something you are not going to do yourself I'd recommend getting a few more quotes. Keep things consistent with the solution that you would like to use so you can compare apples to apples.

    If you would like to piece meal this thing and do some on your own you can certainly break it out. Again I can't help you too much with the audio piece but as I understand it you can go full Wifi with a sonos or you may need one wired connection for the main Hub. I know we have quite a few Sonos guys in here who can speak to that. Also I would be married to Sonos.

    On the wireless mesh solution you can see they are saying 200 feet of cable to cover your house. So hard to know without seeing your home's layout but I would guess that covers you for two runs where the access points would be. If you could run those, or have an electrician run them, I'm sure the labor will be cheaper than these guys. Buying the equipment on your own should cut your cost in half. Eero looks to be pretty straight forward on set up and it's a fine product but I would not necessarily be married to that.

    Once your mesh is in place you can tackle your Sonos and doorbell. If you current doorbell works and you have some voltage there you should be good. For Sonos, I know many people that have that set up and you should be able to manage.

    Home theater, again I am not going to pretend to know or recommend because there is so much in this space I don't know about. I also know you can easily drop 10k without blinking an eye.

    If you don't want to figure any of it out, I get that as well. I work in technology and I routinely turn into a caveman and want to destroy shit when it does not work. If you are going to farm everything out, I cannot stress enough, know what you want. It will make your life much easier when deciding who you are going to hire.
     
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  11. THF

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    Holy shit a $350 hdmi cable. Wow.

    I would get a second opinion. If you have a hdmi cable already ran and it doesn’t have the bandwidth to send a 4K signal; that can be replaced.

    Overall those prices look high; but most AV vendors can be pricy when looking at this stuff. My suggestion is get a couple different bids to see what others say.
     
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  12. Houndster

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    It sucks ass spending money on trees
     
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  13. texasraider

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    :roll::roll::roll:
     
  14. bigred77

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  15. Funshot Residue

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    Maples suck, imo. Get old, bottom rots out from inside, falls on your house. Seen it too many times to have one within 75' of our place, and I love trees. Pruning maples also makes them get really stunted/bushy, from what I've seen. I also wouldn't pay someone $1600 year to prune a redbud, but that's me. In your shoes, I spend the money to have anything that puts your (or your neighbors, if you're a nice guy) in danger, and prune the redbud myself.
     
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  16. 20/20/20/20

    20/20/20/20 running thru the house with a pickle in my mouth
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    Wouldn’t it make more sense to at least use cat6?
     
  17. BayouMafia

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    came to post this

    I wonder where the guy intended the tree to land, because there doesn't seem to be any good options, nor did the guy with the rope have any prayer of affecting the direction of that tree
     
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  18. texasraider

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    Yeah might as well. Especially if there’s any POE stuff you need it for
     
  19. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    It's less common to find cat6/6a stuff in hardware stores (jacks, bulk cabling, etc) AND 5e is just fine, but if you're a snob like me, spend a little more going Cat6a throughout, to pay for the headroom from 1 Gig to ~10 Gigs and future proof from the get go.

    I have 1 Gig up/down in every room, and even today Google announced plans to start offering 2 Gig internet in some of its fiber markets in the next ~30 days.
     
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  20. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    GGCD He has dumped crazy overpriced cables and components into your bid. Without going line by line, I'd get a couple more quotes. Your original question was about the current wiring to run your own stuff, but nothing about Ring, Sonos, Eero, or a high end Denon stereo receiver. He's also built you an enthusiast system, do you need all of those components?

    If you want to talk in depth, send a pm.

    Additionally, to echo above, A/V specialty vendors aren't going to be cheap, and may or may not be fairly priced. Some of this an electrician can do (cable drops and running cables etc) but they won't be messing with A/V configuring or smart home programming, in my experience.
     
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  21. bigred77

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    Definitely quoting you MONSTER cables
     
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  22. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    I literally just called them because we couldn't get video on 4 of our tvs, only audio. Then he dropped the bomb about the wiring.

    I did also ask about the ring, but that's about it.

    I explained to him that I was planning on waiting until March to upgrade the theater because apparently that's when the new 4k projectors are coming out and are supposed to be more affordable than current models.
     
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  23. Tommy Jefferson

    Tommy Jefferson Well-Known Member
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    Im struggling to understand how a house build in 2007 could possibly have technology so outdated you can’t watch TV.

    Regardless, installing an Eero mesh and plugging a fire stick into a TV is quite simple. The theater is a different story, but also not that complicated.
     
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  24. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    For the theater, they want me to get a projector, a mount for the projector, 100 feet of cat 6, a Roku Ultra, 2 HDMI cables, a receiver, a universal remote, and a universal RF extender kit.

    As far as I know, this all exists in the theater already, outside of the Roku and HDMI (they had those red green and yellow cord thingies...porta?). Don't know about the cat6 but guessing that's not there either. There is already a mounted projector, receiver, universal remote though. I know that.

    They want to cut a hole in the ceiling and fish wires from the receiver to the projector.
     
  25. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    do you have a cable box? running something on coax? That would only be the reasonable possible issue related to multiple tvs and the video/audio feed.

    Seems weird video wasn't working. If you have a diagram or can share what equipment you have, the internet can probably help you.
     
  26. lfriend

    lfriend Well-Known Member
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    Have them quote you for lube because you'd be getting fucked in the ass.
     
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  27. southlick

    southlick "Better Than You"
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  28. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    I have a bunch of cable boxes yes. None of the existing systems ran off of HDMI, only the Blue-green-red cables, which I believe is the source of the problems? I really don't know shit about this.
     
  29. NDfanPSUgrad

    NDfanPSUgrad Well-Known Member
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    On the audio front I forgot what it’s like to go in a Best Buy. Was at the one near King of Prussia last week. The Magnolia room is such a treat to test out speakers and receivers.
     
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  30. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    Those are component video cables. A legacy connection format at thips oint.

    ask your cable provider for new boxes that allow HDMI or buy some for yourself. that will solve the problem.
     
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  31. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    GGCD go to best buy and have the geek squad come out
     
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  32. texasraider

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    That's why you weren't getting audio
     
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  33. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    I am getting audio on all my tvs. Only getting video on one of my tvs (can get video in the theater but only in black and white).
     
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  34. THF

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    I think it’s why he wasn’t getting video. He may be plugging into the wrong connections.

    red, green, blue are ALL video (component video) cables.

    red, black, yellow are video AND audio. Red, black are the audio, but they need the yellow for video. That yellow cable isn’t going to carry a high end video signal, usually an hdmi or the component video would go along with it to carry HD signals.
     
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  35. THF

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    What color and type cables are hooked up to the theater?
     
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  36. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    To go even further than above: component is video only, they do not transport audio - so you'll need to connect another cable for audio.

    Traditionally the red + white (or black) pairing is the most suitable for this. If there is an attached/joined yellow cable, ignore it. The yellow is for video but is standard def. your component cables allow HD resolution.

    your cable provider should give you those modern cable boxes I referenced above as a free exchange.
     
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  37. Where Eagles Dare

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    All this TV talk finally got me off the couch....

    Bought the newer TLC Series 6 TV. 65" Delivered Saturday. Had to get an extra wide wall mount for over the fire place b/c there is a center stud then each 16" out from that...so had to get a 32" stud mount. I'm kinda surprised these aren't more prevalent. Paying some guy 30" to install it on Monday
     
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  38. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    I am looking at the TCL 50 inch for my garage. Doing more grilling on the weekends and want a permanent tv to watch the games when near the grill or working in the garage. Looks like if I want to put it in the center I will need a new power outlet so I will have to find someone to put that in.
     
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  39. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
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    30"'s?
    You gunna fuck him 10 times?







    Laps taken
     
  40. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    Both the cable guy, a handy family friend, and the electrician tried getting the video going, and all of them could only get audio (although we were able to get black and white video).

    We do have a modern cable box. Electrician told us the problem was that we would actually need an OLD cable box to work with the existing equipment in the theater.

    Currently our projector is 1080p, I am going to upgrade that to 4K either now or sometime next year when the new models come out. So he said when I do that i'll need new wiring/receiver anyway.
     
  41. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    How is the equipment hooked up?
    Is it cable box to projector and cable box to AV receiver? Or possibly cable box to AV to projector? It might be a setting in the receiver not passing the video to the projector.
     
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  42. bigred77

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    The black & white picture only is cracking me up
     
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  43. texasraider

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    the red, green and blue cables are video only. If you plug them in incorrectly, you'll get B&W.

    You need to simply switch to HDMI cables. Newer cable boxes don't have RGB ports.
     
  44. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    It's a complete mess, I can't even tell what's what there's so many wires.

    I do know that the electrician was able to get video, only in black and white.

    The cable guy told us we needed a HDMI-Portta converter, which we bought, but the electrician told us it was trash and won't help.

    I took some pics, maybe this will help?

     
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  45. CF3234

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    This.
    Are your cables run through the walls?
     
  46. GGCD

    GGCD The most wasted of days is one without CUM
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    Yes everything is through the walls or ceiling.
     
  47. Where Eagles Dare

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    Yeah, I'm going to shuffle all my TVs in the house around once I get the new one up. Wife isn't happy the current 42" TV will stay in the living room as a second TV for the rest of fall...she always complains but it'll get good use. Can also take it outside easily.

    I've got some old 37" TV that I'll either just put on a bookshelf in the garage or I'll get something and hang it. They are so fucking cheap now it's almost like why not spend a few hundred and have a massive TV everywhere
     
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  48. texasraider

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    so you have one issue or another.

    Either the projector doesn't have HDMI inputs or your receiver doesn't have HDMI outs... or the previous owner thought HDMI cables brought demons in the house so he had HDMI signals converted to RGB (also called component cables and YPbPr)

    So you need either a new projector or a new receiver and then run HDMI cables
     
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  49. goblue31602

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    I assume that means you have access to both sides of the cables. If you pull on one side, do you have much resistance? Curious if they're just laid in place or secured to studs, etc. If they're just loosely in place, you can possibly tape HDMI cables to one end and pull them through.
     
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  50. CF3234

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    exactly what I was going to recommend.
     
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