Our home project is to get the office redone so all three of us can work / school in there instead of the half assed temporary places we have been sitting and working that are probably pretty bad long-term.
So we got the desk in, modified some bookshelves and my wife made the cabinet under the center.
We have a nice 8' shelf to center over the desk and I had to get brackets. Lowes and Home Depot didnt have the black ones we needed so I ended up getting chromed ones, etching them, and spraying them and they turned out pretty damn good. Excited to get that up tomorrow.
Here is where we are at now...
Where’d you get the table top/what is it? Been thinking about making a desk area, but I need a piece of wood that is like 7’ x 3’, and so far I am not enamored with the plywood options.
And also way to lazy to try and make the surface out of smaller prices, since I want something very flat.
Jebus314 on
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
Our home project is to get the office redone so all three of us can work / school in there instead of the half assed temporary places we have been sitting and working that are probably pretty bad long-term.
So we got the desk in, modified some bookshelves and my wife made the cabinet under the center.
We have a nice 8' shelf to center over the desk and I had to get brackets. Lowes and Home Depot didnt have the black ones we needed so I ended up getting chromed ones, etching them, and spraying them and they turned out pretty damn good. Excited to get that up tomorrow.
Here is where we are at now...
Where’d you get the table top/what is it? Been thinking about making a desk area, but I need a piece of wood that is like 7’ x 3’, and so far I am not enamored with the plywood options.
And also way to lazy to try and make the surface out of smaller prices, since I want something very flat.
It's the pemium maple 3/4 plywood from Lowes a 4×8 sheet for like $50. A black walnut stain with a gloss seal. And that's the expensive part.
We used just cheap as 2x4 for the back and sides for support, with a real nice cedar 2x4 for the middle support that someone if they are at a perfect angle. The shelves underneath are some old black bookshelves on the sides, and a really nice cabinet my wife made in the middle.
Our neighbor somehow had a whole lot of extra wood from a project they did that matched exactly to our project. It was like $100 of perfect wood out of the blue and a whole other neighbor story I'll share sometime.
Hardware and all, what you see in the picture is maybe $150 from scratch. Maybe...
Edit - can explain better when not phone posting from bed. But the good plywood at Lowes sanded + stain looks really really good.
If you don't care about walnut / cherry / cabinet grade it is really hard to beat for 2x the price.
We've been getting a bunch of flesh flies in our downstairs bathroom. Pretty sure there is a dead mouse/mice in our crawlspace/oil tank room. Gross. At least the poison box they put out is working?
We are about to go grab some fly paper and steel wool to plug up some things. I am terrified to crawl under our deck outside and plug up the old cement stairs under it with steel wool. GOOD LUCK ME. Also, I guess there isn't much we can do about a dead mouse/mice unless we go into the inside crawl space? We were told the flies will eventually stop (they are basically DOA because I assume eating a mouse that has poison in it).
MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
If you can get under there, you may want to have a look - at least get a light in there to see it's if something bigger than a mouse. Suit up in long pants and shirt, gloves, hat.
You'd be surprise how long just an expired mouse can linger. I think copper wool is better, resists chewing more and won't rust?
Also against my better judgement I searched for 'flesh flies' and got this lovely housewarming suggestion:
I wonder if the homemade fly trap using apple cider vinegar and soap in a jar with fly-size holes in the lid would work for flesh flies. It certainly worked super well for fruit flies.
I didn't do the crawl space yesterday. I lost momentum at some point and bailed.
BUT, I did fix up the bathroom. I hung a fly trap in the oil tank/crawl space room. I also had some rubber to reinforce the mirror/door to that room since there was space around it and I figure they were crawling in through that. Used different bungie cords and a zip tie to make the door hold tighter (since it doesn't line up with the part to click into and can't stay shut without the bungies - yay previous owners). No space around the mirror/door frame. Ever since, no flies (checked this morning as well). Went from like 14 in the span of maybe an hour or few, to none.
Now to build back that courage to crawl under the deck out back and plug concrete holes with steel wool (stop gap fix) until we have a handyman fix it. Might have a stop gap fix for the pantry giant hole where they used to come in.
Slowly but surely we are taking care of these dumb mice.
Any recommendations on an edger? I've been trying to do the job with a string trimmer but it suuuuuucks.
We might have different thresholds for good edging, but I just use my black and decker cordless string trimmer that has a shaft that rotates to do edging and it works well enough for me. Are you using a trimmer like that, or just trying to hold a string trimmer sideways to do it?
My mom's back deck is basically original to the house. I've been debating rebuilding it as a Summer project/gift next year.
My intent would be to pull up the decking and railing to get a good look at the joists. Assuming the entire deck doesn't need rebuilt, I'd like to put down composite boards for the deck surface itself and possibly the railing.
1- is it wise to combine wood and composite?
2- what's a rough cost per sq ft or linear ft?
3- is there any difference when it comes to installation?
4- should the railing also be composite or should it be wood?
My mom's back deck is basically original to the house. I've been debating rebuilding it as a Summer project/gift next year.
My intent would be to pull up the decking and railing to get a good look at the joists. Assuming the entire deck doesn't need rebuilt, I'd like to put down composite boards for the deck surface itself and possibly the railing.
1- is it wise to combine wood and composite?
2- what's a rough cost per sq ft or linear ft?
3- is there any difference when it comes to installation?
4- should the railing also be composite or should it be wood?
Mixing the two is fine so long as the wood is in good condition. Railing is up to you based on appearance preference. If it were me I'd want to go composite for all the exposed-to-weather bits if I was doing any. However well you match the composite boards and railing next summer one is going to look basically the same the following year and the other won't.
Cost depends on which type of composite material you're using. Your costs there are just the material, though, and the hardware so you should be able to just look up materials and go by price/sqft on whichever website.
Installation difference depends on the deck. Composite decks normally use screws made for the composite materials. They'll hold composite-to-wood or wood-to-wood just as well.
PSN,Steam,Live | CptHamiltonian
0
Options
AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
Any recommendations on an edger? I've been trying to do the job with a string trimmer but it suuuuuucks.
We might have different thresholds for good edging, but I just use my black and decker cordless string trimmer that has a shaft that rotates to do edging and it works well enough for me. Are you using a trimmer like that, or just trying to hold a string trimmer sideways to do it?
Mine also rotates for edging but it burns through trimmer line extremely quickly doing that and the trimmer head almost never automatically feeds more line like it's supposed to when used in that configuration. So I have to stop, disassemble the head and manually pull out more string every 2 minutes. I've tried a few different trimmer lines in there but it's always the same. I feel like I need something that has an actual blade for this job.
I’m trying to come up with some way of extending one of our corner gutter spouts without it running across the path from the front to back yard, and I think I might just need to dig a trench and run it to the abandoned garden bed on the other side (there’s about five feet of grass, so a short little stretch).
I’m comfortable doing most of the work here, but I’m seeing these little “bubbler pots” at the terminal end, and have no idea what they do. Worst comes to worst I’ll just have the pipe peek out from the garden and cover it with some reasonably spaced grating, but the easier I can do this the better. Any tips?
Edit: I also really need to do a full French drain on that same side of the house since the neighbors run-off hits right against one of our walls, but I’m happy passing that to somebody else.
Making some assumptions, you can add a pop-up vent to the end of the PVC run that should hide in the garden when not in use but allow the water to run out when it rains.
My yard slopes hard, but also slightly towards our home, so I just need to get some distance for the water to disperse more evenly and further into the yard itself for gravity to do it’s work. Right now it comes out away from the house, some runs back towards the house, some out into the yard.
Didn’t realize how pop-up drains work, that might be my end solution. I guess if it’s closed off it’s not a problem that there would be residual standing water in the pipe? Or am I missing an element of how they work?
Because rates are great and all that shit, I'm being persuaded I should consider doing a refinance to a shorter term mortgage, which might save me a decent chunk of change in the long run.
Does anyone know what the correct way is to rate shop from several places to get a refinance rate? There seems to be quite a bit of variability and I can't tell at which point you're getting useful/non-marketing information and if you can do that at all PRIOR to paying for them to run the full background pull and write you a rate guarantee.
I'm like 95% certain that refi credit checks are handled like mortgage credit checks; in that a number of them in a short period of time count as one hard pull.
Also the credit bureaus are currently letting you check your report as many times as you want, so take advantage of that.
Check sites such as www.bankrate.com. You can also check with a mortgage broker.
Because rates are great and all that shit, I'm being persuaded I should consider doing a refinance to a shorter term mortgage, which might save me a decent chunk of change in the long run.
Does anyone know what the correct way is to rate shop from several places to get a refinance rate? There seems to be quite a bit of variability and I can't tell at which point you're getting useful/non-marketing information and if you can do that at all PRIOR to paying for them to run the full background pull and write you a rate guarantee.
I’m doing this right now too. Refi high five!
So far I’ve just been going to banks I already have accounts with (local credit union and BofA) banks other people have said good things about (other local credit unions), and a few random online places (better mortgage, rocket mortgage).
They all did a soft pull of my credit rating right off the bat. I mostly just filled out some application sheets with things like home value, loan value, income, savings, etc. Pretty much all of it I just put in values that were close enough (no verification paperwork yet). Nobody has asked for any money yet.
Online places I got rate offers right away (although they are presumably contingent on them being able to verify the numbers I gave them).
Banks have all called me to ask for more information (have not yet seen a rate). I will be calling them back this week, but I will not be paying any money without seeing at least a rate estimate first.
Major thing to look out for is closing costs. Online places were around $1-3k in closing costs. They also offered to give me credit towards the closing costs if I took a worse rate (basically negative points).
One thing I’m currently trying to figure out, before I go further, is if the inevitable home value assessment will significantly increase my taxes since places like Zillow are saying my home is worth a lot more than when I bought it. This could have a pretty big affect on whether the refi is worth it or not.
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
Because rates are great and all that shit, I'm being persuaded I should consider doing a refinance to a shorter term mortgage, which might save me a decent chunk of change in the long run.
Does anyone know what the correct way is to rate shop from several places to get a refinance rate? There seems to be quite a bit of variability and I can't tell at which point you're getting useful/non-marketing information and if you can do that at all PRIOR to paying for them to run the full background pull and write you a rate guarantee.
I’m doing this right now too. Refi high five!
So far I’ve just been going to banks I already have accounts with (local credit union and BofA) banks other people have said good things about (other local credit unions), and a few random online places (better mortgage, rocket mortgage).
They all did a soft pull of my credit rating right off the bat. I mostly just filled out some application sheets with things like home value, loan value, income, savings, etc. Pretty much all of it I just put in values that were close enough (no verification paperwork yet). Nobody has asked for any money yet.
Online places I got rate offers right away (although they are presumably contingent on them being able to verify the numbers I gave them).
Banks have all called me to ask for more information (have not yet seen a rate). I will be calling them back this week, but I will not be paying any money without seeing at least a rate estimate first.
Major thing to look out for is closing costs. Online places were around $1-3k in closing costs. They also offered to give me credit towards the closing costs if I took a worse rate (basically negative points).
One thing I’m currently trying to figure out, before I go further, is if the inevitable home value assessment will significantly increase my taxes since places like Zillow are saying my home is worth a lot more than when I bought it. This could have a pretty big affect on whether the refi is worth it or not.
A refinance shouldn't cause a tax reassessment unless you are doing something really screwy. There isn't an ownership change or anything like that.
Because rates are great and all that shit, I'm being persuaded I should consider doing a refinance to a shorter term mortgage, which might save me a decent chunk of change in the long run.
Does anyone know what the correct way is to rate shop from several places to get a refinance rate? There seems to be quite a bit of variability and I can't tell at which point you're getting useful/non-marketing information and if you can do that at all PRIOR to paying for them to run the full background pull and write you a rate guarantee.
I’m doing this right now too. Refi high five!
So far I’ve just been going to banks I already have accounts with (local credit union and BofA) banks other people have said good things about (other local credit unions), and a few random online places (better mortgage, rocket mortgage).
They all did a soft pull of my credit rating right off the bat. I mostly just filled out some application sheets with things like home value, loan value, income, savings, etc. Pretty much all of it I just put in values that were close enough (no verification paperwork yet). Nobody has asked for any money yet.
Online places I got rate offers right away (although they are presumably contingent on them being able to verify the numbers I gave them).
Banks have all called me to ask for more information (have not yet seen a rate). I will be calling them back this week, but I will not be paying any money without seeing at least a rate estimate first.
Major thing to look out for is closing costs. Online places were around $1-3k in closing costs. They also offered to give me credit towards the closing costs if I took a worse rate (basically negative points).
One thing I’m currently trying to figure out, before I go further, is if the inevitable home value assessment will significantly increase my taxes since places like Zillow are saying my home is worth a lot more than when I bought it. This could have a pretty big affect on whether the refi is worth it or not.
Did you call and speak to someone to get this, or go through an online app? I started applying for what I thought was a soft pull with one of the banks I'm with, but then they were like "Ok pay for us to pull your credit report and also give us copies of your w-2, etc." so I figured I was on the wrong course.
Because rates are great and all that shit, I'm being persuaded I should consider doing a refinance to a shorter term mortgage, which might save me a decent chunk of change in the long run.
Does anyone know what the correct way is to rate shop from several places to get a refinance rate? There seems to be quite a bit of variability and I can't tell at which point you're getting useful/non-marketing information and if you can do that at all PRIOR to paying for them to run the full background pull and write you a rate guarantee.
I’m doing this right now too. Refi high five!
So far I’ve just been going to banks I already have accounts with (local credit union and BofA) banks other people have said good things about (other local credit unions), and a few random online places (better mortgage, rocket mortgage).
They all did a soft pull of my credit rating right off the bat. I mostly just filled out some application sheets with things like home value, loan value, income, savings, etc. Pretty much all of it I just put in values that were close enough (no verification paperwork yet). Nobody has asked for any money yet.
Online places I got rate offers right away (although they are presumably contingent on them being able to verify the numbers I gave them).
Banks have all called me to ask for more information (have not yet seen a rate). I will be calling them back this week, but I will not be paying any money without seeing at least a rate estimate first.
Major thing to look out for is closing costs. Online places were around $1-3k in closing costs. They also offered to give me credit towards the closing costs if I took a worse rate (basically negative points).
One thing I’m currently trying to figure out, before I go further, is if the inevitable home value assessment will significantly increase my taxes since places like Zillow are saying my home is worth a lot more than when I bought it. This could have a pretty big affect on whether the refi is worth it or not.
Did you call and speak to someone to get this, or go through an online app? I started applying for what I thought was a soft pull with one of the banks I'm with, but then they were like "Ok pay for us to pull your credit report and also give us copies of your w-2, etc." so I figured I was on the wrong course.
So far everything has been an online application. I clicked on whatever button mentioned home loans until it said start application, then I filled out whatever details they asked for, and hit submit (usually took like 10-15 minutes to fill out). Of course the actual banks have all called and said they need more information and/or they want to talk to me about the process. So I'll report back later if they are going to ask for payment or other documents.
Only ones that gave me rates already where the online only places (I did better mortgage and rocket mortgage). At which point I realized I probably need to make some spreadsheets to see what my break even point would be for different closing costs and different rate reductions (I'm not planning on owning this house forever, will probably sell in like 5-10 years).
Jebus314 on
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
Any recommendations on an edger? I've been trying to do the job with a string trimmer but it suuuuuucks.
We might have different thresholds for good edging, but I just use my black and decker cordless string trimmer that has a shaft that rotates to do edging and it works well enough for me. Are you using a trimmer like that, or just trying to hold a string trimmer sideways to do it?
Mine also rotates for edging but it burns through trimmer line extremely quickly doing that and the trimmer head almost never automatically feeds more line like it's supposed to when used in that configuration. So I have to stop, disassemble the head and manually pull out more string every 2 minutes. I've tried a few different trimmer lines in there but it's always the same. I feel like I need something that has an actual blade for this job.
Back when I had a lawn/sidewalk that needed edging a good manual rotary edger worked great. The first pass took some effort but after that as long as I hit it every couple weeks it was real easy to keep it looking clean.
“We do have a credit card option but it does have a % fee.”
*does math*
“Yeah I ain’t paying $230 for the same effort it takes to buy a pack of gum. I’ll go pick up a cashier’s check.”
All in all we’re out ~$7,600 but we no longer have to worry about a flooded basement.
NINJA EDIT: Turns out he sent us the invoice that included the fee. He came back to let me know I overpaid and gave me cash back to cover the difference.
“We do have a credit card option but it does have a % fee.”
*does math*
“Yeah I ain’t paying $230 for the same effort it takes to buy a pack of gum. I’ll go pick up a cashier’s check.”
All in all we’re out ~$7,600 but we no longer have to worry about a flooded basement.
NINJA EDIT: Turns out he sent us the invoice that included the fee. He came back to let me know I overpaid and gave me cash back to cover the difference.
FWIW, the credit card companies charge a % fee so the contractor is just passing that fee on to you.
Also I just find it weird and a little uncomfortable paying that much via cashier's check and it not being a property closing.
+1
Options
zepherinRussian warship, go fuck yourselfRegistered Userregular
My yard slopes hard, but also slightly towards our home, so I just need to get some distance for the water to disperse more evenly and further into the yard itself for gravity to do it’s work. Right now it comes out away from the house, some runs back towards the house, some out into the yard.
Didn’t realize how pop-up drains work, that might be my end solution. I guess if it’s closed off it’s not a problem that there would be residual standing water in the pipe? Or am I missing an element of how they work?
Generally pop up drains move the water from one are of the lawn to the a different discharge point. You might want to go with a french drain which pulls in the water and slowly leaches it out into the soil. It's roughly the same amount of effort, but I think you'll get a better result.
“We do have a credit card option but it does have a % fee.”
*does math*
“Yeah I ain’t paying $230 for the same effort it takes to buy a pack of gum. I’ll go pick up a cashier’s check.”
All in all we’re out ~$7,600 but we no longer have to worry about a flooded basement.
NINJA EDIT: Turns out he sent us the invoice that included the fee. He came back to let me know I overpaid and gave me cash back to cover the difference.
FWIW, the credit card companies charge a % fee so the contractor is just passing that fee on to you.
Also I just find it weird and a little uncomfortable paying that much via cashier's check and it not being a property closing.
So, was gonna crawl under the deck out back to fill the old concrete step cracks (between them and the house) with steel wool. After sweeping a little under there, it seems like said crack is....just all along the base of the house as well (between the concrete and the house). Any recommendations for a stop gap to fill presumably the whole back of the house along there? Haven't used "mason" stuff before.
2nd thing. We have a bunch of small holes in the backyard. Last time I mowed I noticed one. When I was out back dealing with the crack stuff, I walked on the lawn and noticed significantly more holes (seemingly). Thoughts on what that could be? I didn't think there was dug up dirt around the holes and they weren't big enough for rabbits.
The holes are likely squirrels looking for buried seeds or potentially those hornets that lays eggs in cicadas.
For the crack, get a caulk gun and run a bead along the whole house, in the crack. It fills the gap and is flexible. If there's no specific "outdoor" formula you can find, get bathroom caulk since it can handle moisture. You don't need any sort of cement mixture just because it's masonry
Building a new house (i.e. someone is building it for me). About to do a walkthrough in a few days to look at roughed-in electrical and plumbing.
What should I look for that I haven't thought of already?
Have you had the electrician pull Ethernet as well?
Yes, I've got data pulled to all three floors, multiple drops by the TV/gaming area and in the office.
Make sure they used at least Cat6, if not Cat7. Also, if you're thinking about external cameras, you'll want to get PoE drops to where they'll be placed. It's best to do all this now, while the walls are open.
Building a new house (i.e. someone is building it for me). About to do a walkthrough in a few days to look at roughed-in electrical and plumbing.
What should I look for that I haven't thought of already?
I'm sure if it's freshly built it won't be an issue, but feel like I would give a good look at all the plumbing seals and such. Maybe look at the main line from house to city sewer if possible, but only because that's the big issue with the house I bought (it settled such that it goes up/down at each joint and pools water in the lower sections, etc).
Posts
Where’d you get the table top/what is it? Been thinking about making a desk area, but I need a piece of wood that is like 7’ x 3’, and so far I am not enamored with the plywood options.
And also way to lazy to try and make the surface out of smaller prices, since I want something very flat.
It's the pemium maple 3/4 plywood from Lowes a 4×8 sheet for like $50. A black walnut stain with a gloss seal. And that's the expensive part.
We used just cheap as 2x4 for the back and sides for support, with a real nice cedar 2x4 for the middle support that someone if they are at a perfect angle. The shelves underneath are some old black bookshelves on the sides, and a really nice cabinet my wife made in the middle.
Our neighbor somehow had a whole lot of extra wood from a project they did that matched exactly to our project. It was like $100 of perfect wood out of the blue and a whole other neighbor story I'll share sometime.
Hardware and all, what you see in the picture is maybe $150 from scratch. Maybe...
Edit - can explain better when not phone posting from bed. But the good plywood at Lowes sanded + stain looks really really good.
If you don't care about walnut / cherry / cabinet grade it is really hard to beat for 2x the price.
Tumblr | Twitter | Twitch | Pinny Arcade Lanyard
[3DS] 3394-3901-4002 | [Xbox/Steam] Redfield85
Before:
And after:
We are about to go grab some fly paper and steel wool to plug up some things. I am terrified to crawl under our deck outside and plug up the old cement stairs under it with steel wool. GOOD LUCK ME. Also, I guess there isn't much we can do about a dead mouse/mice unless we go into the inside crawl space? We were told the flies will eventually stop (they are basically DOA because I assume eating a mouse that has poison in it).
Home owning is great!
Tumblr | Twitter | Twitch | Pinny Arcade Lanyard
[3DS] 3394-3901-4002 | [Xbox/Steam] Redfield85
You'd be surprise how long just an expired mouse can linger. I think copper wool is better, resists chewing more and won't rust?
Also against my better judgement I searched for 'flesh flies' and got this lovely housewarming suggestion:
BUT, I did fix up the bathroom. I hung a fly trap in the oil tank/crawl space room. I also had some rubber to reinforce the mirror/door to that room since there was space around it and I figure they were crawling in through that. Used different bungie cords and a zip tie to make the door hold tighter (since it doesn't line up with the part to click into and can't stay shut without the bungies - yay previous owners). No space around the mirror/door frame. Ever since, no flies (checked this morning as well). Went from like 14 in the span of maybe an hour or few, to none.
Now to build back that courage to crawl under the deck out back and plug concrete holes with steel wool (stop gap fix) until we have a handyman fix it. Might have a stop gap fix for the pantry giant hole where they used to come in.
Slowly but surely we are taking care of these dumb mice.
Tumblr | Twitter | Twitch | Pinny Arcade Lanyard
[3DS] 3394-3901-4002 | [Xbox/Steam] Redfield85
We might have different thresholds for good edging, but I just use my black and decker cordless string trimmer that has a shaft that rotates to do edging and it works well enough for me. Are you using a trimmer like that, or just trying to hold a string trimmer sideways to do it?
My intent would be to pull up the decking and railing to get a good look at the joists. Assuming the entire deck doesn't need rebuilt, I'd like to put down composite boards for the deck surface itself and possibly the railing.
1- is it wise to combine wood and composite?
2- what's a rough cost per sq ft or linear ft?
3- is there any difference when it comes to installation?
4- should the railing also be composite or should it be wood?
Mixing the two is fine so long as the wood is in good condition. Railing is up to you based on appearance preference. If it were me I'd want to go composite for all the exposed-to-weather bits if I was doing any. However well you match the composite boards and railing next summer one is going to look basically the same the following year and the other won't.
Cost depends on which type of composite material you're using. Your costs there are just the material, though, and the hardware so you should be able to just look up materials and go by price/sqft on whichever website.
Installation difference depends on the deck. Composite decks normally use screws made for the composite materials. They'll hold composite-to-wood or wood-to-wood just as well.
Mine also rotates for edging but it burns through trimmer line extremely quickly doing that and the trimmer head almost never automatically feeds more line like it's supposed to when used in that configuration. So I have to stop, disassemble the head and manually pull out more string every 2 minutes. I've tried a few different trimmer lines in there but it's always the same. I feel like I need something that has an actual blade for this job.
Absurd tale of sewer line repair to follow; for now it's sit on the floor of an actual house I actually own and have a beer time!
I’m comfortable doing most of the work here, but I’m seeing these little “bubbler pots” at the terminal end, and have no idea what they do. Worst comes to worst I’ll just have the pipe peek out from the garden and cover it with some reasonably spaced grating, but the easier I can do this the better. Any tips?
Edit: I also really need to do a full French drain on that same side of the house since the neighbors run-off hits right against one of our walls, but I’m happy passing that to somebody else.
Didn’t realize how pop-up drains work, that might be my end solution. I guess if it’s closed off it’s not a problem that there would be residual standing water in the pipe? Or am I missing an element of how they work?
Does anyone know what the correct way is to rate shop from several places to get a refinance rate? There seems to be quite a bit of variability and I can't tell at which point you're getting useful/non-marketing information and if you can do that at all PRIOR to paying for them to run the full background pull and write you a rate guarantee.
Also the credit bureaus are currently letting you check your report as many times as you want, so take advantage of that.
Check sites such as www.bankrate.com. You can also check with a mortgage broker.
I’m doing this right now too. Refi high five!
So far I’ve just been going to banks I already have accounts with (local credit union and BofA) banks other people have said good things about (other local credit unions), and a few random online places (better mortgage, rocket mortgage).
They all did a soft pull of my credit rating right off the bat. I mostly just filled out some application sheets with things like home value, loan value, income, savings, etc. Pretty much all of it I just put in values that were close enough (no verification paperwork yet). Nobody has asked for any money yet.
Online places I got rate offers right away (although they are presumably contingent on them being able to verify the numbers I gave them).
Banks have all called me to ask for more information (have not yet seen a rate). I will be calling them back this week, but I will not be paying any money without seeing at least a rate estimate first.
Major thing to look out for is closing costs. Online places were around $1-3k in closing costs. They also offered to give me credit towards the closing costs if I took a worse rate (basically negative points).
One thing I’m currently trying to figure out, before I go further, is if the inevitable home value assessment will significantly increase my taxes since places like Zillow are saying my home is worth a lot more than when I bought it. This could have a pretty big affect on whether the refi is worth it or not.
A refinance shouldn't cause a tax reassessment unless you are doing something really screwy. There isn't an ownership change or anything like that.
Did you call and speak to someone to get this, or go through an online app? I started applying for what I thought was a soft pull with one of the banks I'm with, but then they were like "Ok pay for us to pull your credit report and also give us copies of your w-2, etc." so I figured I was on the wrong course.
I have a Ryobi cordless edger and I love it.
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
So far everything has been an online application. I clicked on whatever button mentioned home loans until it said start application, then I filled out whatever details they asked for, and hit submit (usually took like 10-15 minutes to fill out). Of course the actual banks have all called and said they need more information and/or they want to talk to me about the process. So I'll report back later if they are going to ask for payment or other documents.
Only ones that gave me rates already where the online only places (I did better mortgage and rocket mortgage). At which point I realized I probably need to make some spreadsheets to see what my break even point would be for different closing costs and different rate reductions (I'm not planning on owning this house forever, will probably sell in like 5-10 years).
Back when I had a lawn/sidewalk that needed edging a good manual rotary edger worked great. The first pass took some effort but after that as long as I hit it every couple weeks it was real easy to keep it looking clean.
*does math*
“Yeah I ain’t paying $230 for the same effort it takes to buy a pack of gum. I’ll go pick up a cashier’s check.”
All in all we’re out ~$7,600 but we no longer have to worry about a flooded basement.
NINJA EDIT: Turns out he sent us the invoice that included the fee. He came back to let me know I overpaid and gave me cash back to cover the difference.
FWIW, the credit card companies charge a % fee so the contractor is just passing that fee on to you.
Also I just find it weird and a little uncomfortable paying that much via cashier's check and it not being a property closing.
Beats the original deck that cost $12,000 >>
I got really lucky with per diem that year.
So, was gonna crawl under the deck out back to fill the old concrete step cracks (between them and the house) with steel wool. After sweeping a little under there, it seems like said crack is....just all along the base of the house as well (between the concrete and the house). Any recommendations for a stop gap to fill presumably the whole back of the house along there? Haven't used "mason" stuff before.
2nd thing. We have a bunch of small holes in the backyard. Last time I mowed I noticed one. When I was out back dealing with the crack stuff, I walked on the lawn and noticed significantly more holes (seemingly). Thoughts on what that could be? I didn't think there was dug up dirt around the holes and they weren't big enough for rabbits.
Tumblr | Twitter | Twitch | Pinny Arcade Lanyard
[3DS] 3394-3901-4002 | [Xbox/Steam] Redfield85
For the crack, get a caulk gun and run a bead along the whole house, in the crack. It fills the gap and is flexible. If there's no specific "outdoor" formula you can find, get bathroom caulk since it can handle moisture. You don't need any sort of cement mixture just because it's masonry
What should I look for that I haven't thought of already?
Have you had the electrician pull Ethernet as well?
Yes, I've got data pulled to all three floors, multiple drops by the TV/gaming area and in the office.
Make sure they used at least Cat6, if not Cat7. Also, if you're thinking about external cameras, you'll want to get PoE drops to where they'll be placed. It's best to do all this now, while the walls are open.
I'm sure if it's freshly built it won't be an issue, but feel like I would give a good look at all the plumbing seals and such. Maybe look at the main line from house to city sewer if possible, but only because that's the big issue with the house I bought (it settled such that it goes up/down at each joint and pools water in the lower sections, etc).