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. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    I want to seed the grass in the backyard of my Oklahoma home. Its clayrich soil about 20-30% shaded and I have two dogs. Not sure what kind of grass the existing is but it has thinned quite a bit over the winter with the dogs running on it.

    1. Recommendations for a hearty, semi shade tolerant grass?
    2. Is sod that much better than seed?
    3. What time of year would be the best to put this down?
    4. There was a sprinkler system but it hasn't been in use for years. It seems like between the rain and clay souls of Oklahoma a sprinkler system wouldn't be necessary.
    5. I grew up in Iowa where anything will grow anywhere. Our only responsibilities were to know it before it went crazy. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. One Two

    One Two Hot Dog Vibes
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    Sod is much better than seed. You can try Bermuda grass seed but that’s not going to be a permanent fix. That much sun in an Oklahoma summer will fry fescue.
    Clay holds water just as well as it dries the hell out. Any extended period of dry weather with temps over 85 degrees your grass is gonna need to be watered manually. Might not need the sprinkler system but definitely keep some sort of sprinkler on hand
     
  3. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    I have all of these questions and am going to have a green thumb out. Too many specifics to my property (shade, grade, existing grasses, soil composition, etc) for general answers, imo. This is my first home to own, but St. Augustine has covered all but one of my family and extended family members' homes in Texas, so I'm leaning that way, but a sod company and arborist will be steering me.
     
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  4. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    Could you elaborate on the bermuda not being a permanent fix?
     
  5. One Two

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    grass from seed typically grows in on the spotty side which leaves room for more weeds than if you are doing sod. Bermuda and fescue are the easiest to grow from seed which is why I mentioned those two.

    Just generally speaking, yards from seed look good for a season if you get them to germinate properly but get weeded in pretty quick. It’s just tough to do any better than thick pieces of sod
     
  6. Russellin4885

    Russellin4885 Well-Known Member
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    Most Bermuda isn't going to like shade very much. Look into Zoysia, a little pricier but it's a great looking grass that loves heat but can also tolerate a little shade.
     
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  7. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    What's that price at for sod?
     
  8. double RL

    double RL old school
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    Zeon Zoysia. You're welcome.
     
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  9. DriveByBBQ

    DriveByBBQ Well-Known Member
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    Always offer to buy sod (or any big ticket purchase, jewelry etc...) in cash if they’ll agree to knock off the sales tax...usually works.
     
  10. double RL

    double RL old school
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    They will knock off sales tax and the credit card charge if you pay cash. Not sure about everywhere, but Coshatt's definitely does. My bank thinks I'm sevretly a drug dealer or something because I frequently come in and pick up 5 or 6 grand in cash to buy sod.
     
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  11. DriveByBBQ

    DriveByBBQ Well-Known Member
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    Levy’s is usually good for this too.
     
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  12. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    Take it to the next level and, the next time you go to the bank, say "I need to pull out 5k for a large purchase of grass."
     
    #21763 Imurhuckleberry, Feb 19, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2020
  13. Houndster

    Houndster Well-Known Member
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    It is illegal
     
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  14. Snakes

    Snakes clumsy interloper
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    Sod tax evasion. How exciting.
     
  15. One Two

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    Get a load of these squares. I bet y’all drive the speed limit, too.
     
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  16. The Blackfish

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    Don’t worry guys I emailed this to the IRS
     
  17. double RL

    double RL old school
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    Only for the seller. :prawl:
     
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  18. Imurhuckleberry

    Imurhuckleberry Avid spectator of windmill warriors
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    Fify
     
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  19. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Is there a device that will let me monitor device data usage internally from within my network? Other than a fancy mesh system that I don't really need?

    An unknown device on my home network either has a major "leak" or has been hacked. In December, AT&T alerted me that I had exceeded my monthly 1TB allotment when an unknown device downloaded 600gigs of data in a single day. The other day, at 2AM I was notified that I had reached 65% of my monthly data allotment, and then at 5pm I reached 90% (that's about 300gig over the course of the day). The kicker is that both times this occurred we were out of town and no one was home. The next time it happens, I'll get fined $10 for each 50gigs of data consumed over 1TB, which would have been $120 in December.

    I suspect the device in question is probably my QNAP NAS (which was exploited in Oct), Apple TV, or Nest Camera, but I'd like to make sure before I go through the hassle of offloading the data on the NAS and wiping the machine.
     
  20. goblue31602

    goblue31602 Well-Known Member
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    Does your data get drained continuously from one device, or is it sporadic when it happens? I'd assume the cheapest approach would be to unplug each for a day or two and monitor data usage, but I'm assuming it may not be that simple.
     
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  21. Oranjello

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    It's sporadic and hard to anticipate when it will occur. I thought I cleansed my NAS and fixed it in January, but then got an alert again the other day after ~50 days of nothing suspicious.

    upload_2020-2-20_14-16-25.png
     
  22. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
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    Solarwinds will do the trick for you. You’ll want to isolate on a newly introduced item on your network. Stand alone PC. It’s not rocket science to use but it’s not something you just set up and it runs automatically. Let me know if you have any questions.
     
  23. Snakes

    Snakes clumsy interloper
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    Alright so i have an old 2 story house built in the 50s. This morning I discovered a leak coming from below the upstairs shower directly into the room right below. There is a little crack in the ceiling and evidence of some water damage. My assumption is that it has been there a while. (it went unnoticed because it leaks directly onto the downstairs bathroom floor and that's where we give my kids baths every day so it's always wet in there )

    It was only dripping while my wife was showering and stopped within minutes of her turning the water off. I'm thinking it's coming from a break in the grout between the tiles of the shower? Does anybody have any experience here? I am afraid this could get expensive quick.
     
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  24. Oranjello

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    Looks like I would need a Windows PC to install their Orion thing before I could install a 30 day trial of their network analyzer pack. I don't use PC and I'd buy a mesh router that monitors network traffic before buying a PC.

    I was also hoping for a hardware solution (e.g., new router to replace AT&T modem/router) rather than spending a few hours to set up a network monitor, because I could instead use that time to wipe the NAS. Any other thoughts? Spend $200+ on a mesh router that monitors network use?
     
  25. Tiger Tiger Woods Y'all

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    Maharaja White Quartzite direct from India

    upload_2020-2-20_15-29-2.png
     
  26. Tiger Tiger Woods Y'all

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    My next home is going with something like this tho

    [​IMG]
     
  27. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
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    Any solution you look at is time intensive. I guess my main question would be what is your NAS set up and how was it compromised? What is it really doing for you? Does it need to be on all the time?
     
  28. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    It's just a QNAP NAS that sits there as a file server primarily hosting music for around the house (read: purely internal network server; doesn't have a need to face the outside world). Not being on 24/7 would somewhat defeat the purpose of having it (music host).

    I got the "qsnatch malware" back in the fall, and I believe it's still unknown precisely what the malware does: https://lifehacker.com/update-your-qnap-nas-box-right-now-to-block-qsnatch-mal-1839615325
     
  29. Det. Frank Bullitt

    Det. Frank Bullitt God Bless Texas
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    Can you unplug one of those devices for a few days to see if it changes? Oranjello
     
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  30. CF3234

    CF3234 Fan of: Bandwagons
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    :yaoface:
     
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  31. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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  32. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    The fact it's 600gigs downloaded rather than uploaded is what leads me to believe it may be something like Apple TV. Given the malware, the NAS is the most likely culprit but since the data is almost always downloaded I'm doubtful it was turned into a bot as part of a botnet.
     
  33. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
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    Normally some snatch is a good thing but gonna say with 99% certainty this is the source of your problem after reading about it for 30 seconds. Bandwidth analyzation or a new router aren’t going to solve this.
     
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  34. Oranjello

    Oranjello Well-Known Member
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    Agreed, but it'll identify the source of the problem

    And:
     
  35. Det. Frank Bullitt

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    I just logged into my router to see what my Apple TV 4K usage was, but it seems I can only view UL/DL data on wifi devices, not ethernet wired ones.
     
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  36. THF

    THF BITE THE NUTS, THUMB IN THE ASS!
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    So if I am not mistaken I believe my Asus Router will allow you to track bandwidth by device so you can see exactly how much data is being used by what.

    I have the Asus RT-86U which was kind of pricy. I think their lower end models may offer the similar functionality.

    I am mobile but can probably take a photo later when I can log onto my VPN.
     
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  37. BigReff73

    BigReff73 Well-Known Member
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    Unfortunately I do. I had/have this same issue except over my living room where It opened up a hole in my ceiling. Had a couple of guys come out to look at repairing it but most said they would touch it unless they redid the whole shower. After some initial sticker shock, I’ve accepted that’s the best thing to do because they can also put down a waterproofing membrane to help fix this if it were to ever happen again. I got quoted 6-8k to redo the shower when all said and done.

    I still haven’t done the work....we just shower in the other 2 showers in the house. My main hesitation is we are probably going to just redo the whole bathroom now (New floor tile, new sinks, new separate tub, etc) so the work has expanded a bit and we haven’t decided what look we want.
     
  38. Snakes

    Snakes clumsy interloper
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    fuck. thanks for the response.
     
  39. Boo MFer!

    Boo MFer! No longer a cog in some powerhouse machine
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  40. Boo MFer!

    Boo MFer! No longer a cog in some powerhouse machine
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    For the guys that have built a cookie cutter home in a neighborhood, how picky were you in the final walkthrough? For instance, uneven grout lines in shower wall tile. Worth pitching a fit over? tigr2ndbase, how was yours?
     
  41. texasraider

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    Be picky. You’re buying it
     
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  42. Boo MFer!

    Boo MFer! No longer a cog in some powerhouse machine
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    I get that but at some point there’s still the human element, ya know
     
  43. Funshot Residue

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    From that age you almost certainly have a 3 peice drain and mud pan under the upstairs shower tile. There likely isn't a fix for your problem without a total floor tearout of that shower.
     
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  44. texasraider

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    I get it. You can still be picky without being an asshole. Crooked grout lines are one thing and a small crack in the patio is another
     
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  45. Boo MFer!

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    Here’s an example of some of the sloppy grout work.
    25EA5BE1-640A-4B5F-A8FF-D6CF61F8DF80.jpeg
     
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  46. texasraider

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    It could be the picture but it looks like a shit tile job. I see a lot of inconsistencies with the grout lines
     
  47. Boo MFer!

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    Yeah, I think a lot of that is the angle of the picture. But that one spot is bad.
     
  48. BigReff73

    BigReff73 Well-Known Member
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    I, having very little tile experience, could have done that. I’d push back on that one
     
  49. gilstein21

    gilstein21 Tight Rip 26 Seal Right
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    AT&Ts app does this. I can see what each device uses by day, hour, week.
     
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