I bought a house 2 years ago and still did my taxes by hand like always, but I also have simple income and investments. Adding the house in did not make things much different for me.
Since my first house (this is my second) I have talked about finally screening in a patio. So here's a little before and after. Spoiler: Before After:
Nice! Do you plan on extending the patio out past the window, where the grill and chairs are? No clue how the screens work with grilling.
It's a great question. There may actually be laws against grilling within the screen but I'm not sure. That said, I didn't want to go past the windows (yet) because there's irrigation there and I knew the screen wasn't going to go that far. SO I may just get a stand a grill on the outside. I also have a smoker I was planning to move to the outside whenever I use it (but maybe store it inside the screen)
Live in Florida and while we had a screened in patio grilled underneath it all the time. Id be extremely surprised if there was a code against it.
Well even if there was it not like it's enforceable but I'd be interested to understand if there's an actual risk that prompted a code And yes especially those with huge screened in pools here in Florida people grill and use outdoor kitchens all of the time
I installed two garage door openers solo. Took about 4-5 hours for the 1st one and about 2 hours for the 2nd one. Feeling p good right now.
I’m in the middle of a kitchen remodel. The ceiling is open now on a two story home. I’m adding can lights, led puck lights and I’m considering having some speakers wired into the ceiling that would have bluetooth capabilities for music or movies(kitchen rolls continuously into the living room). Thoughts on speaker systems and if there’s something else I should consider doing before closing up the ceiling. I already converted PB to PEX while it was open.
Then make sure you run speaker wire to a closet or something where you can stack some fugly tech gear
Oh this is not what I want to hear. It’s nearly 2020 these things are supposed to be seamless and super easy.
For in ceiling? You’re going to either have to have a power source (for an active/self powered speaker) or the speaker wire (for a passive speaker). You have to get electricity to the speakers one way or another. The only truly “wireless” things are battery powered. If you had attic above you could tie in to a plug up there but I think you said this is first floor of 2 story, so... run some speaker wire to a closet (or opaque kitchen cabinet) that has a plug. Or get Sonos or something (not sure they offer built in ceiling variety) but even in that case you have to run a power cord. Footnote - throw away the “in ceiling” requirement and then just buy a couple Sonos and put them on a shelf or two. Spoiler Still need plugs
Yes, the only way to run passive speakers that you can use bluetooth with is to wire them back to a receiver that's bluetooth capable. That's what I did in my basement so that I could connect my music through my receiver to all of my speakers down there.
I was gifted a Sonos sound bar and it's badass. The next step is a couple of smaller ones to put on the shelves on either side of my couch.
I feel like there used to be a thread where we discussed the different mattress companies. Anybody buy 1 in the last year and have recommendations?
I would wire these into the ceiling as it’s currently opened. I didn’t know if they now had speakers that would act as the command center without having them wired back to a control center. I’d want to wire these with a power source. Maybe I should just get sonos and stop complicating my life.
I was just talking to the guys in the back and we all agree. Love my Sonos, even more when I'm listening to one of my pieces of voinyl.
Started finishing my basement door n Saturday. Did all the electrical Saturday and hung the drywall for the ceiling yesterday. I can’t move this morning.
(Note:I like medium to semi-stiff firmness) I was lazy and paid a premium for a tempurpedic, but it has undoubtedly been the best mattress I’ve ever owned. The OG foam is still the best and most durable in my opinion Buddy at work has gone through multiple purple mattresses, and returned both after a couple weeks. Said the medium and firm options were still too soft.
I think their prices have gone up but I got a Leesa 3 years ago or so and I can't say enough good things about it.
also, has anyone had any experience with the people who come out and raise a slumping cement slab? Looks like some sort of inflation tool? The house didn't have proper guttering so it eroded a bit underneath the back slab.
I should have done this on a rich guys house, it's pretty straight forward. Make holes in concrete, lift slab like you're mentioning if necessary, pump mud in the holes, fill holes. I cut the holes and he said fuck it after he saw the cost of renting a pump. Just blended the uneven sections after jackhammering the higher piece down some. I do not recommend this route trying to save a few bucks
Just be inquisitive when dealing with contractors or a subject you're not well versed in. I'd be interested in why inflating the slab up is a necessity or would pumping aggregate alone get the desired results? Is that route cheaper/easier? Make sure it's done well i.e. passes the eye test, and that you dont get ripped off and as you stated, fix the root cause and it should be a one off job.
tbh, i'm currently in uncharted territory. With getting the house we picked one that the opportunity for a remodel. The ex's friends are house flippers and were going to work with us at cost. With her now in the rear view I am trying to figure out, from an ROI standpoint, what are the things to fix. The slab has a roof over it with three wooden pillars however because of the lowered portion on one side that pillar is no longer weight bearing. I'll look into this pumping aggregate but any other thoughts you have or predictions on cost would be greatly appreciated. On a completely unrelated note, after multiple hours of the ADT tech out here trying to connect my ADT control to Alexa, I found a comment on a comment in an Amazon thread. You have to turn off 2fa in order to link the accounts. I don't often have useful info in this thread but that might save someone some time.
Hard to say on price without seeing it, but investing in your foundation is never a bad move unless you get straight ripped off I figured for the 1.5mm house I half-assed it was a 2k job for a professional to level the lower part of the split slab and another hour or two for me to seal the 30+ ft crack. He figured he could have me do it cheaper by renting a pump and then backed out and came back with a jackhammer.. blew my mind to be that cheap with as much money as he had This is a pretty straight forward outline of what I'm describing. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/how-to/how-to-lift-sinking-concrete-slab I dont have experience in inflating a slab, I'm guessing there is access to the problem area from the outside and I could see how it would be quicker/easier for a company who deals in this every day to use/invest in such a setup. Get multiple quotes, point out the pillar and other noticable issues to anyone giving you a quote to establish a baseline of what is happening
ordered a Casper King size middle price point with the firmest tension and it’s been great. It’s like a folding table with generous camping pad on top. The firmness is slightly softer than an examination table at your doc in the box. Very satisfied.
Here in Texas and Oklahoma it’s pretty common to have piers done. They lift the concrete up and slide concrete piers in. Sometimes more than one gets stacked to create enough support. Did it at my house a couple years ago. Fairly straight forward process.
We're thinking about building a small (300 sqft) guest/pool house in our backyard. My brother spends a few months a year down here, so he could use it as well as any family visiting. I don't want to go bigger than 10x40, but I'm kind of stuck with the width being 10 or 11 ft because of boundaries. I started looking at container homes to get layout ideas. Has anyone built something like this before (not container)? I'm curious in a ballpark price.
We've been redoing our living room. Modified and painted a built in, built a new coffee table, got a new sectional and rug, and just got finished building a mantel. Still need to replace the fireplace door covers. But there's a big difference. Old Spoiler New: Spoiler
I have 3 bedrooms upstairs, master, nursery and guest bedroom. Last week I went to turn on my daughters sound machine in her room but it wouldn't work. Thought it was broken but noticed her monitor camera light wasn't on either. Started to investigate a little more and then figured out that none of her outlets worked. I live in a 1973 house with aluminum wiring so I knew this was going to be fun. I spent about 7 hours that day tracking wires, crawling through my attic (which is about 3 feet tall) trying to figure out what's going on. My house is wired in a way that makes zero sense, that was my main problem in figuring out what the hell was going on. Every outlet in my daughters room was dead, but only half the ones in the guest room next door. Finally found the problem when I randomly tested an outlet in my bedroom on the other side of the house, no fucking idea why that one random outlet would be on the same breaker and daisy chained to the others. When I started to look at this outlet though I quickly figured out this was my problem. At some point someone before me had pulled power from there to wire up a new outlet. They didn't have enough wire to work with in the box and tried to get 4 wires under a wire nut, they weren't successful. The entire box was charred and all the wire nuts were completely melted off. I now get to cut up my drywall pulling new wires from my breaker box to this outlet so I can get my outlets powered back up.
The breaker box is fairly new, we did a big reno when we first moved in 5 years ago and in that we upgraded from 120V to 220V. Honestly I'm just tired of this house so I don't want to do anything more than what is necessary. Since having a kid I've come to hate the layout and how functional the house is. I'm 100% in on wanting to build a house, just need to find the right lot that will work.