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[Homeowner/House] Thread. How long is it going to take? Two weeks!

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    Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt (effective against Russian warships) Registered User regular
    Artereis wrote: »
    I'm not quite sure where it came from
    Birb eat blackberries, birb really like this place you gave it to chill and take a dump.

    When I was a kid, we put raspberries in the raised beds in our garden. I think it was two years before the only thing in there were raspberries, and I still really can't eat raspberry jam to this day.

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    ThawmusThawmus +Jackface Registered User regular
    I fucking love blackberries so I'm now reading about how to plant and tend them and naw fuck it I'll keep buying them at the store thanks

    Twitch: Thawmus83
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    Stabbity StyleStabbity Style He/Him | Warning: Mothership Reporting Kennewick, WARegistered User regular
    I planted a couple raspberry bushes a few years back not realizing they would start sprouting all over the yard.

    Oh yeah, raspberry bushes are a prickly nightmare.

    Stabbity_Style.png
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    ArtereisArtereis Registered User regular
    Thawmus wrote: »
    I fucking love blackberries so I'm now reading about how to plant and tend them and naw fuck it I'll keep buying them at the store thanks

    Blackberry prices are crazy considering how productive and wide spread they are here. I can pick hundreds of dollars of blackberries in an hour at the park down the street.

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    AiouaAioua Ora Occidens Ora OptimaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2021
    blackberries are public fruit

    but you never want them in your own lawn

    it's been bad enough for me ripping out the ivy that got in here, once the blackberries take hold you're screwed

    I see some saplings here and there and I dig them out with great fervor

    Aioua on
    life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
    fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
    that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
    bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
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    schussschuss Registered User regular
    I have raspberries and blackberries in my yard. They're awesome for constant snacking

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    AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    I also enjoy mulberries but goddamn do they make a mess.

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    MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    It's not really adulting until you start questioning why the builders or previous owners did something obviously dumb. It happens with every house/homeowner.

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    PailryderPailryder Registered User regular
    berry bushes aren't too bad for maintenance, just mow them down at the end of the season (seriously), cover with a little straw or grass and reap the benefits next year. They do require lots of water for the best berries.

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    StraygatsbyStraygatsby Registered User regular
    Skylight replacement is a go. Went with 3 new fixed lights as we didn't think we'd be arsed using a 12 foot pole to open up the lights on a very hot day or paying thousands of dollars to install a motorized version of the same damn window in the ceiling. Should be a good value replacement with insulated glass replacing ancient acrylic and between a tax credit and the stimulus check that's paying for it, it all seems completely right.

    But there's something about opening up your roof that chills me........

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    Phoenix-DPhoenix-D Registered User regular
    In the backyard currently we have a blackberry cane growing out of a pile of old rotting pallets that has a wasp nest in it. It's a very impressive amount of suck in a tiny package.
    Pailryder wrote: »
    berry bushes aren't too bad for maintenance, just mow them down at the end of the season (seriously), cover with a little straw or grass and reap the benefits next year. They do require lots of water for the best berries.

    Ever tried doing this to a blackberry bush? I think most of the ones in WA would just eat your mower and laugh.

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    MadpoetMadpoet Registered User regular
    Pailryder wrote: »
    berry bushes aren't too bad for maintenance, just mow them down at the end of the season (seriously), cover with a little straw or grass and reap the benefits next year. They do require lots of water for the best berries.
    Most black/raspberries are floricane bearing so you might never get fruit. You'd have to make sure you have a primocane bearing variety. Even then, I think you usually get a better yield just cutting out the dead growth every winter - I spend maybe 20 minutes a year on 6 plants.

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    Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    8LKG44N.jpg?1

    That's 16 amp hours worth of sawzall battery. About 3 actual hours of cutting. Finger pointing where I started.

    I hate runner bamboo.

    Once it's all cut down I'm literally going to rent a backhoe and complete dig up everything to make sure there are no runners left.

    And that is why all the bamboo I just planted is in planters.

    On a concrete patio.

    I still have motion activated flamethrowers on standby.

    Although it does remind me, I did make the mistake of planting mint in a bed last year.

    Pulled at least ten pounds of mint root out of the dirt when converting the bed over to roses this spring, despite having tried to yank everything out end of season last year.

    My last house, the previous owners planted mint in wooden planters. When I got the house those planters were rotting, full of ants, so I just got rid of them. I didn't however get all the mint roots. Overtime the mint overgrew the grass in that area; which did make it smell nice when I mowed.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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    GilgaronGilgaron Registered User regular
    Madpoet wrote: »
    Pailryder wrote: »
    berry bushes aren't too bad for maintenance, just mow them down at the end of the season (seriously), cover with a little straw or grass and reap the benefits next year. They do require lots of water for the best berries.
    Most black/raspberries are floricane bearing so you might never get fruit. You'd have to make sure you have a primocane bearing variety. Even then, I think you usually get a better yield just cutting out the dead growth every winter - I spend maybe 20 minutes a year on 6 plants.

    Yeah the second year canes bear the fruit so don't clear cut each year. I don't give it to be any more work than tending tomatoes, we planted raspberries and blackberries immediately after we moved into our current place. Strawberries and mint in planters.

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    StarZapperStarZapper Vermont, Bizzaro world.Registered User regular
    edited May 2021
    Trajan45 wrote: »
    8LKG44N.jpg?1

    That's 16 amp hours worth of sawzall battery. About 3 actual hours of cutting. Finger pointing where I started.

    I hate runner bamboo.

    Once it's all cut down I'm literally going to rent a backhoe and complete dig up everything to make sure there are no runners left.

    And that is why all the bamboo I just planted is in planters.

    On a concrete patio.

    I still have motion activated flamethrowers on standby.

    Although it does remind me, I did make the mistake of planting mint in a bed last year.

    Pulled at least ten pounds of mint root out of the dirt when converting the bed over to roses this spring, despite having tried to yank everything out end of season last year.

    My last house, the previous owners planted mint in wooden planters. When I got the house those planters were rotting, full of ants, so I just got rid of them. I didn't however get all the mint roots. Overtime the mint overgrew the grass in that area; which did make it smell nice when I mowed.

    I got tired of replanting my grass every year where the plow pushed everything, so I just planted a bunch of mint instead. Never have to worry about seeding again! Also, Mint tea is lovely and I have many jars full of it dried.

    StarZapper on
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    CorvusCorvus . VancouverRegistered User regular
    Phoenix-D wrote: »
    In the backyard currently we have a blackberry cane growing out of a pile of old rotting pallets that has a wasp nest in it. It's a very impressive amount of suck in a tiny package.
    .

    Have you considered fire as a solution to this situation? :rotate:

    :so_raven:
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    CorvusCorvus . VancouverRegistered User regular
    Also, I’m not much of a gardener but we had chives in a raised bed last year and those things are all over now.

    :so_raven:
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    GrudgeGrudge blessed is the mind too small for doubtRegistered User regular
    edited May 2021
    Gilgaron wrote: »
    Madpoet wrote: »
    Pailryder wrote: »
    berry bushes aren't too bad for maintenance, just mow them down at the end of the season (seriously), cover with a little straw or grass and reap the benefits next year. They do require lots of water for the best berries.
    Most black/raspberries are floricane bearing so you might never get fruit. You'd have to make sure you have a primocane bearing variety. Even then, I think you usually get a better yield just cutting out the dead growth every winter - I spend maybe 20 minutes a year on 6 plants.

    Yeah the second year canes bear the fruit so don't clear cut each year. I don't give it to be any more work than tending tomatoes, we planted raspberries and blackberries immediately after we moved into our current place. Strawberries and mint in planters.

    Yes, it's quite easy to identify the dead ones in the spring and just cut them down. One tip is that if they grow against a wall, tie the old surviving canes in one direction (say left), and the new ones in the other (right), then you'll know which is which, and it's easy to know where to expect fruit. Then in the early spring cut down all the old ones to make room for a new generation.

    Grudge on
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    Romantic UndeadRomantic Undead Registered User regular
    Welp, we were outbid. Not really that surprised, but a bummer nonetheless.

    The final accepted offer was 70k over asking (we only went to 50k).

    Lesson learned, let's go to the next one on the list!

    3DS FC: 1547-5210-6531
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    AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    70k over is completely bonkers to me. When we bought our house, our bid won because it was the only bid that wasn't under asking price.

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    zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    edited May 2021
    70k over is completely bonkers to me. When we bought our house, our bid won because it was the only bid that wasn't under asking price.

    It depends on the area. You can buy a house in Chicago or Philly for asking or for under asking. Seattle and San Francisco become how much over you can go. In my area there were 2-3 offers on houses we put in bids for. But in hot areas it can be 10 offers in on a house. The one we put in for the house we got. We put in the bid within 3 hours of the house going on the market. They hadn’t even put up a sign yet.

    zepherin on
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    Romantic UndeadRomantic Undead Registered User regular
    70k over is completely bonkers to me. When we bought our house, our bid won because it was the only bid that wasn't under asking price.

    Agreed, it is crazy, but it's just the market in our area right now.

    To re-contextualize: I currently live and work as a public servant in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Housing prices in Canada are ballooning right now, mainly as fallout from the insane market prices in British Columbia and Toronto. With the pandemic, many people like myself have transitioned to work-from-home, meaning commuting has become less of an issue for a large segment of the population, myself included.

    What's happening is that other people like myself are seeing this as an opportunity to cash in their current over-valued properties that are within a short commuting distance to urban centres to move out to the more affordable outlying villages, which, naturally, then serves to inflate the value of houses in those areas as well, and the market hasn't adjusted to that fact yet. (Houses comparable to the one I was looking at were going for under 200k just last year, but this one just sold for 321k).

    I'm no exception, with the difference being that I'm currently a renter, and it's my landlord who's looking to cash in, meaning I have no over-valued property to sell which I can then flip into buying a nicer house further away, so I'm stuck competing with other buyers who can basically pay cash for homes and make crazy offers that I can't match.

    We haven't completely lost hope yet, but I certainly feel like I'm at a disadvantage here. It looks like we're going to have to take a huge risk and start making crazy offers if we even want a chance of scoring something before our September deadline.

    3DS FC: 1547-5210-6531
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    ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    It's the market in a lot of places. We were just told our shitty house would sell for 100k more than we bought it for, and we bought it for $110k. If I were confident we could find a decent apartment we could afford we would have already sold.

    WiiU: Windrunner ; Guild Wars 2: Shadowfire.3940 ; PSN: Bradcopter
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    QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Mugsley wrote: »
    schuss wrote: »
    Quid wrote: »
    Y'all look at this dishwasher

    rscbspczuy6j.png

    Imma marry this dishwasher

    We just got a new Bosch, it's amazing

    Bro you guys gotta throw model numbers. Don't do me like that. I'm low key looking to replace this 7 year old Kenmore

    @Mugsley
    KitchenAid model KDTM404KPS

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    QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Anyway I came here to complain that Costco notified us the installation would take place between 1 to 5 today but did not notify us delivery would be around 9.

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    CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    Some of my coworkers live in (or near) Orange County, CA. They periodically post houses for sale/recent sales. They're absurd, even by, like, Vancouver standards. There was a place that looked like someone took a car port and built rooms under it with whatever materials were handy at the time. Listed for, I think, $1.5mil. Sold for $2.3mil. The person who bought it is planning to spend another $500k just to make it livable.

    PSN,Steam,Live | CptHamiltonian
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    AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    I don't know if anyone here has ever been at their mercy but I'd just like to say JW Logistics totally sucks. They are the courier Home Depot selected for a large purchase placed over a month ago and this thing has just been sitting in JWL's warehouse for several days now. When the estimated delivery date comes and goes they will update to a new date on the tracker, but that's it. They don't answer their phone or return calls. Home Depot at least answers their phone, but all they do is say they'll look into it and promise an email that thus far has not materialized.

    This experience is going to turn me into a Lowe's customer, I think.

    cs6f034fsffl.jpg
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    BullheadBullhead Registered User regular
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    It's the market in a lot of places. We were just told our shitty house would sell for 100k more than we bought it for, and we bought it for $110k. If I were confident we could find a decent apartment we could afford we would have already sold.

    same, my house has appreciated here in the Tampa area nearly $150k since i bought it THREE YEARS AGO. It's nuts down here. I could not afford to live in my current neighborhood if I tried to buy now.

    96058.png?1619393207
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    AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
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    electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    Carpet can be replaced. I'd buy it.

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    AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    Carpet can be replaced. I'd buy it.

    You have to admit that is quite the first impression.

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
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    electricitylikesmeelectricitylikesme Registered User regular
    edited May 2021
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    Carpet can be replaced. I'd buy it.

    You have to admit that is quite the first impression.

    I live in Sydney, Australia. At that price if it's not "unlivable" then it's an incredible buy. Our housing market is insane.

    electricitylikesme on
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    KetarKetar Come on upstairs we're having a partyRegistered User regular
    I don't know if anyone here has ever been at their mercy but I'd just like to say JW Logistics totally sucks. They are the courier Home Depot selected for a large purchase placed over a month ago and this thing has just been sitting in JWL's warehouse for several days now. When the estimated delivery date comes and goes they will update to a new date on the tracker, but that's it. They don't answer their phone or return calls. Home Depot at least answers their phone, but all they do is say they'll look into it and promise an email that thus far has not materialized.

    This experience is going to turn me into a Lowe's customer, I think.

    My experience buying a refrigerator from Home Depot about 2 years ago was absolutely abysmal. The only good thing I can say about it is that they screwed up the delivery so much, so many times that they ended up giving us the refrigerator for free.

    And then the local store that we had bought from tried to take back the refrigerator after our money was refunded since "you haven't paid for it." It was a manager there who kept insisting that they didn't care what customer service had told me, we weren't getting an appliance for free. That might have been the only time I've ever angrily unloaded on someone working in retail, but they were a manager and refused to actually follow-up with corporate to verify what I was telling them, so fuck 'em.

    I would never buy another appliance (or anything else) from Home Depot.

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    KetarKetar Come on upstairs we're having a partyRegistered User regular
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    Wow, that's like 15 minutes from my house. Less in good traffic.

    You can do way better for that price around here. Here's even more square footage (if you needed it for some reason), at basically the same price, in the same suburb of Chicago, and without all of the fugliness: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2S385-Milton-Ave-Glen-Ellyn-IL-60137/4455117_zpid/

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    CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    Ketar wrote: »
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    Wow, that's like 15 minutes from my house. Less in good traffic.

    You can do way better for that price around here. Here's even more square footage (if you needed it for some reason), at basically the same price, in the same suburb of Chicago, and without all of the fugliness: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2S385-Milton-Ave-Glen-Ellyn-IL-60137/4455117_zpid/

    Well, if I end up able to double my budget for my next house I'm coming to the Chicago suburbs, I guess.

    We did our final walkthrough today for closing tomorrow. We noted there were a bunch of wall-mounted speakers on the deck, the covered patio, and in the garage on a previous visit but thought they were hooked up to a panel in the basement. Turns out they're not, so hoping the current owners answer our last minute question about where the hell the plugs are for them. They also have some sort of weird-ass in-wall surround system going on in the basement. The wires there are at least obvious but the, I guess, proprietary Bose wall jacks may present some challenges.

    Oh, also we pulled out the under-counter mini fridges to plug them in and discovered "BROKEN" written in the dust on the top of one by someone's finger. It turned on when we plugged it in so I guess we'll find out what that's about.

    PSN,Steam,Live | CptHamiltonian
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    matt has a problemmatt has a problem Points to 'off' Points to 'on'Registered User regular
    It's not the price of the house in the Chicago suburbs that gets you, it's the property tax. The nicer one linked up there has been averaging around $30,000 per year it looks like.

    nibXTE7.png
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    jmcdonaldjmcdonald I voted, did you? DC(ish)Registered User regular
    So, we closed on our new build earlier this week as noted in the thread. Overall it’s been amazing. But man, I gotta tell you, every “smart” device needing its own app is real stupid.

    Also, google you suck. I spent over an hour trying to get my nest thermostats set up in the google home app only to have to google the solution that you need the nest app (5+months out of date no less!!!) to do that. But if you want to add another user? Google home app only.

    Shit has been out for nearly a decade and it all still feels beta level at best.

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    evilmrhenryevilmrhenry Registered User regular
    Ketar wrote: »
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    Wow, that's like 15 minutes from my house. Less in good traffic.

    You can do way better for that price around here. Here's even more square footage (if you needed it for some reason), at basically the same price, in the same suburb of Chicago, and without all of the fugliness: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2S385-Milton-Ave-Glen-Ellyn-IL-60137/4455117_zpid/

    The house is both bigger and has more bedrooms than the listing says; there's a mother-in-law suite that's not on the floor plan. And I wouldn't call it fugly; it was just built in the 30s, which means it has character. It just needs the 70's era carpet ripped out. I'm not enthusiastic about the space usage of the design, but that's an issue with most larger houses. They're designed for entertaining, which means that for day-to-day life there's just too much space.

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    CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    I like that two of the spaces in the basement they just gave up and named, "ROOM".

    PSN,Steam,Live | CptHamiltonian
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    AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    Ketar wrote: »
    From the "It Came From Zillow" files, it looks like Barbie is selling her mansion.

    Wow, that's like 15 minutes from my house. Less in good traffic.

    You can do way better for that price around here. Here's even more square footage (if you needed it for some reason), at basically the same price, in the same suburb of Chicago, and without all of the fugliness: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2S385-Milton-Ave-Glen-Ellyn-IL-60137/4455117_zpid/

    The house is both bigger and has more bedrooms than the listing says; there's a mother-in-law suite that's not on the floor plan. And I wouldn't call it fugly; it was just built in the 30s, which means it has character. It just needs the 70's era carpet ripped out. I'm not enthusiastic about the space usage of the design, but that's an issue with most larger houses. They're designed for entertaining, which means that for day-to-day life there's just too much space.

    Looking through the images, my thoughts were "this is a Regency novel made manifest".

    XBL: Nox Aeternum / PSN: NoxAeternum / NN:NoxAeternum / Steam: noxaeternum
This discussion has been closed.