Homeownership day 1:
* Had 3 roofers come out to give replacement quotes. Liked the first one, he did measurements and went over the major parts of the quote which talked about everything they would do. Second one basically said "hi, I need to count vents, I have a satellite photo and I'll email you an estimate" (we still don't have it) and the third gave us the quote but instead of listing the things they would do it was just a materials list and spent way to long showing us shingle samples.
* Pulled out some old shelving and other screws, filled holes and taped up one room to get ready for painting
* Picked out colors for the rooms we want to paint.
* Spray painted the display case that was left behind that the fiance wants to use.
* picked up a few things we will need. Smoke and CO2 detectors. Looked at appliances.
Doesn't feel like a lot, and writing it down doesn't look like a lot but we are both exhausted.
The problem with appliance shopping just by itself is the amount of focus is mentally draining. Especially if you're trying to make decisions within a few days.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Welp, got my inspection today on the two-flat we're under contract on. Let's hope it goes better than the last one. It's raining pretty hard today, which doesn't bode well for exterior inspection, but could be a good test for any basement leaking (the owner did disclose there was a very small amount of seepage on heavy rain days) in the secondary basement (dug out after the original 1890s basement).
Sunday: painted two walls
Monday: After contacting gas company, turned on gas and lit water heater (furnaces can wait). Was my first time crawling through the attic. Decided I did not enjoy. Also, the ladder definitely feels like a hazard, but I'm not sure if it can be fixed or just needs to be replaced.
18 days to finish whatever we want to do before we move and finish packing. Doesn't sound like that much time.
So, selling a place with a basement and moving to a bigger place, but sans basement. Logic: Aside from my 36x18 tool cabinet and the Christmas tree nothing in the basement is worth keeping and just having the basement has encouraged us to accumulate just so much shit.
What I didn't stop and think of: The basement is fully furnished (our ill conceived "guest suite" while the only guests we've ever had stay just slept on the damn couch upstairs). And it's all unsellable run down old shit from the 60's that I inherited with the house and my wife and I have spent eight years replacing and now it all has to go SOMEWHERE, even throwing it all out to the curb is going to be a goddamn project.
Hevach on
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I've had very good luck with the liquid Terro ant baits for a couple years now. I always see a massive influx of ants feeding in the first couple days, then their numbers start to crash and by a week or so they're basically gone.
And there's nothing more toxic than some Borax in them.
+4
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That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
I've had very good luck with the liquid Terro ant baits for a couple years now. I always see a massive influx of ants feeding in the first couple days, then their numbers start to crash and by a week or so they're basically gone.
And there's nothing more toxic than some Borax in them.
IMO Amdro is the way to go. Just sprinkle it around the perimeter if you house every 6 months and you'll never had a problem again.
I've had very good luck with the liquid Terro ant baits for a couple years now. I always see a massive influx of ants feeding in the first couple days, then their numbers start to crash and by a week or so they're basically gone.
And there's nothing more toxic than some Borax in them.
I have some of those down too. But these ants have been strange. They haven't gone after anything I think of as insect food and are ignoring the kitchen just a short distance away. I have both a Raid bait and a liquid Terro bait by the bathroom door (also by the front door of the house where I've seen some get in) but the ants just want to hang out around the base of the toilet instead as if they're not interested in food and instead are trying to ritually summon some sort of insect poop demon.
Today: most of the game room is painted. Pulled tape off the wall in another room and it pulled (old) paint with it, on walls / ceiling we weren't going to paint. Back in the game room, tape pulled old paint off even though it had only been on the wall for a couple of hours. What the hell!
Also, the fiance spilled paint on the carpet, and got a bullshit ticket for stopping a little too far in a red light, before she had a chance to correct. Not her best day ever.
But, I've slipped over to the house every day this week during my lunch break. We don't have much there, but it is starting to feel more like home.
I feel like such a responsible home owner. Fence is done aside from the gate, which is going to be done after my neighbors' fences so they can do all the metalwork at the same time.
Backyard:
Front-to-back fence:
In addition to this, new HVAC/furnace going in tomorrow to replace our 19 year old one, I've replaced all the smoke detectors (since we need to get an inspection after the HVAC and a few of them revealed how old they were during a recent power outage), which two of them are now combo carbon monoxide/smoke ones to free up some outlets. Got a new fan for the bathroom which has a moisture sensor and better CFS which will hopefully take care of our humidity problems.
We had fun with the sprinkler system today. I knew it worked since the inspectors tested it but we had never used it before now. We won’t use it often but since we have to maintain a green front lawn for the HOA it will see some use.
One of the front yard sprinklers was mainly watering the fence, so Mori’s mom tried to adjust it for me and she ended up spraying her car...then realized she’d left her car window open, haha.
And the single backyard sprinkler watered half our house! Luckily its powerful spray was aimed at the house because the newly-planted plants in the bed below probably would have been blitzed by the power.
Back (well, side) yard; the wisteria is juuuust beginning to bloom and it’ll look so pretty soon! Also just to the left of the photo is where I’ll plant a fig tree.
Thanks! Although I did make a point to take the pictures from an angle where you can't see places where weeds are overgrowing planters and such :P
And yeah, sprinklers can be a nightmare to get right. We definitely have some patches which will be struggling to get enough water as the summer heats up.
4th different “landscaper” in a row who has no clue what’s a weed and what’s a native plant and ripped out half my butterfly garden
I might open a business now and our value proposition will be “plant people that actually fucking know plants”
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MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
When you design your signs & business cards, make sure that 'know' is bold and all caps. Otherwise your smaller customer base will be very dissatisfied.
Just because it's the same size, don't assume you won't be showered by the edges of the drywall. Wear goggles (this wasn't a mistake on my part, I did, but man a lot more came down than I expected)
These things are usually held in on one side, and getting them out can be tough. Having a flathead to pry between the wood and the previous box helps get things started.
You can't see the duct connection before you take it out (unless you're going from the attic, of course). Be prepared that you may need to get a size adapter for your new fan (the pipe to my roof is 3", my new fan is 4". So that was a trip to home depot :P )
Have more useful labels for your fuse box than "outlets and switches." *shakes fist at former owner who has that on like 5 different fuses*
Don't just use a screw or a nail size because you've got it and it'd technically work, but isn't necessarily the best option. Long nails can get stuck halfway and then you have to work fucking hard to either get it in or out. Also don't go on autopilot because the previous fan was held in with nails and use that as a "oh, I should use a nail." Screws are a hell of a lot easier to get in and out, particularly when working inside of a small box without much room for leverage with swinging a hammer.
Seriously, read that last bullet point, that took as long as everything else combined fucking A.
Abandoned nail holes make for good lead holes for screws, though. >_>
If you're installing a bathroom fan, due to point one, odds are you'll get to try it out right after being done, because of all the bits of dust that will shower down on you.
Tomorrow is the AC install. The cat is definitely not going to be happy with me - she's getting locked in the master suite for the duration (we just picked up a disposable litter box for the occasion.) But having AC installed and ready for the summer is going to be so worth it.
In an unrelated note, let me just say that walking through a big box store having a liquidation sale when you have a lot of needs for your house is not...wise. My wallet is still crying, even if we did get a lot of holes filled in our house needs.
@Jragghen I went through that when I replaced one for my mom. I had to work in the attic and on a ladder to get it in. Also I had to cut back some of the drywall for the new fan. Ugh.
Also is your wife happy you spent all day screwing a small box and came down tired and dirty when you were done? :winky:
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AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
I need a bathroom fan installed in a bathroom that doesn't have one, which would include putting a brand new hole in the roof for ventilation. I've been putting that one off for a long time.
We tested out rotating our couch and TV so that the couch wouldn't split the room in two, and it's a no-go. The reflection from the windows fully across the apartment at the other end of the kitchen (12.5 meters away) is way too bright. Opaque curtains on the apartment's primary source of natural light feels bad, so the TV and couch will stay where they were.
That leaves us wanting some kind of secondary seating so people can face each other when hanging out there, and needing to decide on what to do with the space behind the couch.
Leaning towards a dining table now. It's redundant with the table in the kitchen, but it's a nicer place for hosting parties, and the in-laws happen to have a dining table they haven't used since they added their indoor patio.
I bought a condo recently and I have a weird question: how many layers of paint is too many? I've painted it once already, but I'm not happy with the color in one room and want to paint it again. I know the place had probably 3-4 layers of paint on the walls already from before I moved in. I have a fear that I'm going to have like 8 layers of paint on there and it's somehow going to screw things up and need to be removed. Am I worrying over nothing? What happens if you paint a wall too many times?
There's definitely times when there's too many layers of paint, but I don't think 3-4 layers is that bad. Really what starts to look worse much more quickly is baseboard/trim that is painted over many times. It starts to lose the definition in its edges and molding and definitely screams that this was an apartment at some point and painted over every year, year after year. If that's the case then it probably wouldn't be too hard to rip off the baseboard, paint the walls, then put up new baseboard. If you have patience and a miter-saw you could probably do it yourself with cheap MDF baseboard you can get at Home Depot.
There's definitely times when there's too many layers of paint, but I don't think 3-4 layers is that bad. Really what starts to look worse much more quickly is baseboard/trim that is painted over many times. It starts to lose the definition in its edges and molding and definitely screams that this was an apartment at some point and painted over every year, year after year. If that's the case then it probably wouldn't be too hard to rip off the baseboard, paint the walls, then put up new baseboard. If you have patience and a miter-saw you could probably do it yourself with cheap MDF baseboard you can get at Home Depot.
I installed quarter-round around the cabinets in the kitchen with a newly purchased miter saw, having never done anything like that before. It's actually not as hard as it seems and you can get some really nice results from doing it! Though I sometimes had to spin the quarter-round around a bunch until it figured out how to cut it to fit into corner and match up with the other piece right. And lots of measuring before cutting!
Update on my (hopefully) soon to be two-flat. We had our inspection, it came up with a lot of things, including electrical, some basement leaking, some HVAC issues with the boiler and vent pipes, amongst lots of other smaller (but not little) things (all the old galvanized pipes need to be replaced, garage needs to be partially reframed, need to install all new flashing around the chimney, etc, etc). We requested repairs to be made only to imminent health and safety issues (electrical, HVAC) and let all the rest slide, hoping that the seller wouldn't tell us to get lost. We were worried about that since there was a bid in $30k more than ours (which was itself already $20k over asking), but the seller like us and liked the personal letter we wrote (this market is absolutely bonkers right now). But the seller committed to fix absolutely everything on our list, and we're set to have the last big question mark (appraisal) tomorrow morning. We're really excited!
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
I just moved into a new apartment and for various reasons I'm looking into cellular blinds. Why are they so expensive? My windows are pretty big (46.5" x ~ 60"), but still. I basically want the ability to have like a privacy screen sometimes and black out other times. Cheapest I've seen is like $250/window. Am I missing something?
I just moved into a new apartment and for various reasons I'm looking into cellular blinds. Why are they so expensive? My windows are pretty big (46.5" x ~ 60"), but still. I basically want the ability to have like a privacy screen sometimes and black out other times. Cheapest I've seen is like $250/window. Am I missing something?
Posts
* Had 3 roofers come out to give replacement quotes. Liked the first one, he did measurements and went over the major parts of the quote which talked about everything they would do. Second one basically said "hi, I need to count vents, I have a satellite photo and I'll email you an estimate" (we still don't have it) and the third gave us the quote but instead of listing the things they would do it was just a materials list and spent way to long showing us shingle samples.
* Pulled out some old shelving and other screws, filled holes and taped up one room to get ready for painting
* Picked out colors for the rooms we want to paint.
* Spray painted the display case that was left behind that the fiance wants to use.
* picked up a few things we will need. Smoke and CO2 detectors. Looked at appliances.
Doesn't feel like a lot, and writing it down doesn't look like a lot but we are both exhausted.
Blerg.
The volumes involved in ground cover are always surprising.
Yeah the cheap Bosch appliances are made in the same factories as all the cheap store-brand stuff.
The good stuff is real good, though.
Once you get into the $1000+ price range you've probably got real bosch stuff on your hands.
Agreed.
Also, that doesn't include the 300 sq ft I've already done.
After running a 5k yesterday, I did nothing but rake up and bag old woodchips and lay new ones.
I'm exhausted and I'm still not done. I think I have a couple hundred square feet to go.
Getting there!
It's hard to tell but there are 37 bags there.
My dad decided he hated mowing the lawn, so when we moved to VA he got a house that had nothing but mulch.
So I never mowed the lawn growing up, but BY GOD did I spread mulch every year.
Sunday: painted two walls
Monday: After contacting gas company, turned on gas and lit water heater (furnaces can wait). Was my first time crawling through the attic. Decided I did not enjoy. Also, the ladder definitely feels like a hazard, but I'm not sure if it can be fixed or just needs to be replaced.
18 days to finish whatever we want to do before we move and finish packing. Doesn't sound like that much time.
Oh, and ants are annoying. Lemongrass oil kills them but your house smells really strongly. No, more than that. Way more than that.
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What I didn't stop and think of: The basement is fully furnished (our ill conceived "guest suite" while the only guests we've ever had stay just slept on the damn couch upstairs). And it's all unsellable run down old shit from the 60's that I inherited with the house and my wife and I have spent eight years replacing and now it all has to go SOMEWHERE, even throwing it all out to the curb is going to be a goddamn project.
Depending on where they're coming in, diatomaceous earth can end the problem pretty quickly.
Still figuring that part out. They were concentrated around the toilet of a half bath but I'm not sure if that's where they had a way in.
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And there's nothing more toxic than some Borax in them.
IMO Amdro is the way to go. Just sprinkle it around the perimeter if you house every 6 months and you'll never had a problem again.
I have some of those down too. But these ants have been strange. They haven't gone after anything I think of as insect food and are ignoring the kitchen just a short distance away. I have both a Raid bait and a liquid Terro bait by the bathroom door (also by the front door of the house where I've seen some get in) but the ants just want to hang out around the base of the toilet instead as if they're not interested in food and instead are trying to ritually summon some sort of insect poop demon.
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*looks at the results of days of heavy rain outside* Man, ants are dumb.
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Okay, that's more likely a "their nest is flooded and they're looking for somewhere dry"
Also, the fiance spilled paint on the carpet, and got a bullshit ticket for stopping a little too far in a red light, before she had a chance to correct. Not her best day ever.
But, I've slipped over to the house every day this week during my lunch break. We don't have much there, but it is starting to feel more like home.
Backyard:
Front-to-back fence:
In addition to this, new HVAC/furnace going in tomorrow to replace our 19 year old one, I've replaced all the smoke detectors (since we need to get an inspection after the HVAC and a few of them revealed how old they were during a recent power outage), which two of them are now combo carbon monoxide/smoke ones to free up some outlets. Got a new fan for the bathroom which has a moisture sensor and better CFS which will hopefully take care of our humidity problems.
Whew!
We had fun with the sprinkler system today. I knew it worked since the inspectors tested it but we had never used it before now. We won’t use it often but since we have to maintain a green front lawn for the HOA it will see some use.
One of the front yard sprinklers was mainly watering the fence, so Mori’s mom tried to adjust it for me and she ended up spraying her car...then realized she’d left her car window open, haha.
And the single backyard sprinkler watered half our house! Luckily its powerful spray was aimed at the house because the newly-planted plants in the bed below probably would have been blitzed by the power.
Back (well, side) yard; the wisteria is juuuust beginning to bloom and it’ll look so pretty soon! Also just to the left of the photo is where I’ll plant a fig tree.
And the front...
And yeah, sprinklers can be a nightmare to get right. We definitely have some patches which will be struggling to get enough water as the summer heats up.
I might open a business now and our value proposition will be “plant people that actually fucking know plants”
So how's everyone else's Sunday going? :P
In an unrelated note, let me just say that walking through a big box store having a liquidation sale when you have a lot of needs for your house is not...wise. My wallet is still crying, even if we did get a lot of holes filled in our house needs.
Also is your wife happy you spent all day screwing a small box and came down tired and dirty when you were done? :winky:
That leaves us wanting some kind of secondary seating so people can face each other when hanging out there, and needing to decide on what to do with the space behind the couch.
Leaning towards a dining table now. It's redundant with the table in the kitchen, but it's a nicer place for hosting parties, and the in-laws happen to have a dining table they haven't used since they added their indoor patio.
I installed quarter-round around the cabinets in the kitchen with a newly purchased miter saw, having never done anything like that before. It's actually not as hard as it seems and you can get some really nice results from doing it! Though I sometimes had to spin the quarter-round around a bunch until it figured out how to cut it to fit into corner and match up with the other piece right. And lots of measuring before cutting!
Because they have to be custom made.
Have you looked at JC Penney? They tend to have decent prices (and fairly common sales) on window treatments.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]