Call or email local code official/building inspector. Send them some pics if you email.. Wire would have to be protected (probably metal conduit) and the gas line might have to be upgraded. Your new unit will have info on best entry points and stand-offs.
As long as both the wiring and the gas line are in the proper piping, and the routing don't get inside any offsets required by the insert manufacturer, I can't see why it would be an issue. Again, doesn't hurt to email the inspector and check the installation pdf on the new unit. You should have a cut off valve for the gas that is accessible from the room with the insert. I assume the unit is direct wired. All that info should be found pretty easily. Around here, you can get a permit online for $30. Cheap insurance.
100% get a licensed and insured contractor for any gas plumbing. Do not let Francisco do this on the side.
How do you feel about this type of product in a basement with a potential for light water intrusion? We've had some hydrostatic pressure in our new house and the concrete floor has had some smaller puddles show up after heavy rains. We had a sump pump installed but are going to monitor for the next year or so to see if that resolves anything. Just ran across this the other day and wasn't sure if it was legit. Seems to logically make sense that allowing airflow underneath the subfloor would allow someone to finish their basement without worrying about ruining the main flooring, but I also have no idea what I'm doing so I could be totally off here. https://dricore.com/product/overview/
As with any basement flooring, my only concern is how well can it hold up when the inevitable 1-6” of water is sitting on top of it. Could be 1 year, could be 30 years but it will most likely happen at some point. I have no idea how it would stand up to that.
i have not worked with him before, so hard to say. so far, i've liked working with him. yes, he's licensed. he does some major stuff. we got hooked up with him by our designers (who are in their own right very well known). https://www.instagram.com/star_contractingandpainting/?hl=en The person running the gas line is a subcontractor from a local plumbing company.
Thanks, this is super helpful. Only part I didn't follow was: "and the routing don't get inside any offsets required by the insert manufacturer"
There will be areas around the inser where you can't have any combustible materials. Setbacks/offsets whatever you want to call them. All this will be in the installation instructions, and should be observed. It'll also tell you where the hard connections for the gas and wiring are. Might be important vis a vis routing for those utilities.
That makes sense. I need to make sure the installation instructions for the fireplace insert get into the hands of the plumber before he runs all the lines. Or perhaps he'll just bring them to the opening and the fireplace installers will bring them the rest of the way? not sure.
The good news is the ash trap is literally concrete / cinder blocks. that said, can never be too careful.
Francisco came back at $600, I offered $500. Agreed on $550. Doing it this Thursday. I will accept no “Francisco” comments as a derogative. He’s done 3 projects for me and batting 3 for 3 so far. I referred him to my brother who is selling his house and he’s doing work there to get it market ready.
Tore out my old mailbox yesterday and put in a new one today. Decided not to dig a posthole and set it in concrete because it's right next to an old growth cypress and I didn't want to deal with roots, so I pounded a steel post down 16 inches and set the mailbox post on it. Not as stable, but a decent temporary fix for the next few years
I genuinely hope it works out well for both of you. Glad you have a good resource for your home. The trust you describe is worth more than you know from the contractors side. No disrespect meant towards either you or Francisco. I'm definitely jaded by years in the business and the number of folks that get ripped off. Sounds like you are getting squared away for a good price.
Seems steep to me for how small the job is. At that rate, I probably would have just DIY'ed it. To each their own though.
No. Appraisal practice takes this into consideration. It's called an adjustment for "conditions of sale". MLS databases include these types of conditions in the comments of the comparable write up.
What if it sold a week ago instead of 70 years ago? Depends. USPAP requires the Appraiser to analyze the subject's sales history for the previous 5 years from the effective date of the appraisal. Market condition adjustments applied by the Appraiser can be quantified by calculating the +/- % of the previous sales price to the contract price. It's all the time value of money. What if you immediately invested $200K in renovations after purchasing your home for $150K 5 years ago. The Appraiser is going take that into consideration and probably assumes your home is worth no less than $350K. Sales price is an indication of market value at that time, it can be significant.
Then of course that would count. That’s a comp. Stop being obtuse. In my experience, I don’t think this is a likely (or even plausible) scenario. Are you an appraiser? I’m not, so if you are, you would certainly know better than I would.
I wasn't trying to be snarky, I was just making a point bc you were speaking in absolutes. I'm licensed as a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser in probably 10 states, but thankfully I haven't had to write a report in a few years now. During the 10 or so years I was actively appraising, I appraised two single family residential properties. I'm not an expert in Residential Appraisals but the principles of the Sales Comparison approach to value are the same. My valuation experience is based in income producing properties, I valued cash flows more so than real estate. In the hypothetical I threw out about the renovations plus sales price, something like that might be used as a test for reasonableness before reconciling on the final value estimate (more commonly in commercial real estate appraisal).
I am doing a home renovation/construction loan where the appraiser has to give the estimated value of the property by looking at the finished plans. I am nervous about the appraisal.
Yeah there can be complexities to these types of appraisal problems.The appraiser will have to use two approaches to value (Cost and Sales) for both the "As-Is" and "Upon Completion" values. One sales approach for the land, two sales approaches for the improvements, and two replacement cost of improvements plus depreciation (as they are and when they're finished). So it's effectively 5 values that have to be developed and reconciled into two final value estimates. The challenge here is putting a value on the dirt. The cost approach requires developing a value for the site (through the sales comparison approach) and then estimating the cost of improvements and any depreciation and adding it all up with consideration for other adjustments (location, size, zoning, et al.) Sales data for vacant lots in developed residential markets is typically scare and vacant land is the most difficult thing to appraise. The most common problem that arises with this scenario, as with most of the world's problems, is a failure to communicate. When appraisers receive bid requests there is almost never sufficient information to determine the necessary scope of work to complete the assignment. It happens all the time, an appraiser bids $400-$500 on a single family residential property based off on the bid request (anticipating he'll only have to do one sales comparison approach to value), shows up to inspect the property and finds an active job site. So the appraiser is now faced with either completing the assignment with 5 times the time/work he thought it would be or walking away from the assignment and churning out more less complex values. Now the appraiser gets thrown under the bus, you miss your closing, and the entire project gets delayed. Fee appraisers over promise and underdeliver and "bid it to get it". They cut each others throats more so than any other professional I'm aware of, depress their fees and have completely commoditized the profession. Real Estate appraisal is the perfect example of the engineering triad; "Good, Fast, Cheap...pick two."
Remodeling the kitchen in a month or so. Have already redone two bathrooms (guest and common area half), removed popcorn ceilings throughout house, new paint/light fixtures throughout. I refi post kitchen right? Been in the house 2.5 years in a booming area.
Anyone put in storage closets before? We have a room in our basement that we want to hide all our random stuff thats in tubs and boxes. I.e. all of our Christmas decorations. This room is 1/2 storage 1/2 kids playroom. So we don't need fancy bedroom stuff but want it nicer then garage shelves. My wife wants it to enclose so its not visible for the few times a year someone outside our family would walk in. Ikea has some options but I've told myself I'm no longer ever buying and building Ikea products. My buddy recommended just hiring a local carpenter to build it out but curious if anyone has done a similar project. My ideal vision is closets covering the full back wall (~12') with multiple doors. Similar to the set up that I'm sure some of us had in your elementary school classroom.
I believe Craig James’ son was put in a storage closet before. Perhaps our #Texas Tech Red Raiders fans can help out here.
I literally just spent the weekend putting ikea closets in the future son’s room. It was really easy to put together. Spent way more time doing the demolition work to fit the cabinets into the space where the closet used to be.
That is pretty spot on to what we are looking for. The last time I put together a dresser made me promise myself I wouldn't do that again with more Ikea furniture due to missing pieces/too many pieces/poor craftmanship.
Nothing was missing from my order. Is it cheap material? absolutely. But I now have a pretty decent built in closet for 1k. If I had hired a closet company, it would have been 3x the price for better quality MDF board closets. Real wood would have been 5k minimum. Was it a bit of a pain building each shelf? absolutely, but once I did the first one, the others took a few minutes each. Just use a drill on the lowest setting and your building time is cut in half.
Pretty sure my dyson handheld needs a new battery. Didn’t find out till just past the 2 year warranty.
Anyone ever buy/sell "by owner"? When i bought my first home i did all the leg work finding it online. Saw it in person once and bought it. My real estate agent (who is an unqualified "friend" from high school) probably put 3 hours of work into it including the closing. I'm looking to purchase another property and would really like to avoid paying him (anyone) a fat commission for doing nothing. I think the real estate business is garbage. Requiring a license to buy a property basically another form of taxation.
Man I'm with you Bought my house through a realtor who after I had told my exact qualifications for a house to, I had to send him a link to the house I wanted Bought that house and he died in an accident right after I made an offer Literally felt like I was on my own the rest of the way but the company still got their commission
As I've mentioned before in here, 95% of real estate agents suck. 3% are good and 2% are great. Sounds like yours is deep in the 95%. If you're not in a market where you think you need an agent then you can definitely get around using one. Just need an attorney or someone who can write/provide a good sales contract that suffices for your state. Should be some basic but decent templates out there you could use.
I'm curious about this. Did the company keep the commission or was it paid to your deceased agent's family/estate?
Fuck if I know This was 10 years ago I asked and they basically said something like "ohh they will get the commission "
tankless water heater bros: we bought a house with a tankless system, the first time with one for us. We've been here ~14 months but it's never cranked out hot water instantly or even quickly. It gets wonderfully hot, but only after a traditional amount of runoff. Any tips or tankless "101" things to know before I lookup make/model and doing some googling about our specific unit? Our system (gas) is outside and has a remote inside, but there appear to be nothing of use on the remote itself, other than changing temps and measuring flow. TIA
I don't think tankless is what gives you instant hot water. That is something else. Tankless is gives you "bottomless" hot water. At least that's my understanding.