Hm, think I have a better idea of how to wire my house with ethernet. There's a closet on my main floor that's pretty big and should do nicely to mount the patch panel/switch/router. The only three things that are slightly problematic about it are 1) the builders for some reason sealed up the attic access for that side of the house, so there's currently literally no way to get into the attic. So I'll have to cut a hole in the ceiling to access it. 2) the closet doesn't have a power outlet, so I'll probably need to hire an electrician to put one in there? Probably cost like $200 or so? And 3) running from the attic to the basement seems like it might be kind of a problem. It'll be on an outside wall, too, so it'd be running it inside insulated walls. Plus I'd probably have to drill down between floors within the wall and idk if that's something that can be done cleanly?
(Honestly, you should probably fix the attic access before it becomes important.) As for the actual switch, running the cables is going to be the most annoying bit, not finding a spot for the switch, and you should probably optimize on that. This doesn't sound like a super-awesome location.
Do you have siding on the outside of the house? You can drill a hole in the attic that runs near a corner, feed the cable out, then run it down near the foundation and tuck it under the corner coaming. Then drill another hole for basement access.
Then use silicone to fill both holes. If you do it strategically, it'll be nearly invisible. This is what my cable guy did for me about 8 years ago when we moved in.
Tonight marks my first snow as a homeowner, is there anything special I need to do/know that's not readily apparent? Do I need to clear snow off my roof proactively, for example, and if so, at what depth?
Look up roof rakes for clearing snow off the roof. Generally try to keep it to less than a foot of snow, but depends on the climate. The ones to watch for are heavy wet snows that freeze as those are the heaviest.
Also - how much land/what region?
Also if you have neighbors you don’t like with high enough windows, you can make a penis in the snow in their yard by walking out the outline
Oh but also make sure your exterior hoses are empty/cared for, and exterior faucets are turned off or covered if need be- water backed up in the nozzle can freeze and shatter and that’s a pain
Tonight marks my first snow as a homeowner, is there anything special I need to do/know that's not readily apparent? Do I need to clear snow off my roof proactively, for example, and if so, at what depth?
As others have mentioned, the snow isn't really something to be concerned about. Really the only thing to be worried about up there is ice dams. A little late now, but just always make sure your gutters are clean going into the winter season, otherwise ice/snow melt can pool in the gutters and then re-freeze creating ice dams. If you don't see masses of icicles forming along the length of your gutters, you're probably fine.
Busted through nearly 3 feet of old salt, but finally got my softener running and regenerating normally. Am sore and have 2 salt tank edge shapped bruises on either side of my chest from leaning over the edge angrily hacking away at the thing with a hammer and chisel and scoop, but shit be working. Yeesh.
Busted through nearly 3 feet of old salt, but finally got my softener running and regenerating normally. Am sore and have 2 salt tank edge shapped bruises on either side of my chest from leaning over the edge angrily hacking away at the thing with a hammer and chisel and scoop, but shit be working. Yeesh.
Busted through nearly 3 feet of old salt, but finally got my softener running and regenerating normally. Am sore and have 2 salt tank edge shapped bruises on either side of my chest from leaning over the edge angrily hacking away at the thing with a hammer and chisel and scoop, but shit be working. Yeesh.
Busted through nearly 3 feet of old salt, but finally got my softener running and regenerating normally. Am sore and have 2 salt tank edge shapped bruises on either side of my chest from leaning over the edge angrily hacking away at the thing with a hammer and chisel and scoop, but shit be working. Yeesh.
I think you need a pitchfork.
Hell yeah! Where are we taking our angry mob to?
Need a voice actor? Hire me at bengrayVO.com
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051 Steam ID Twitch Page
0
AbsoluteZeroThe new film by Quentin KoopantinoRegistered Userregular
Get a snow blower. Especially if you have a bigass driveway.
It is absolutely one of those value of time thing to not come home after work and have to spend an hour out in freezing cold temperatures doing physical labor.
Anyone have experience with changing cable companies? We have Comcast coming Saturday and previously were with Verizon but they are being bitchy about pricing.
I'm likely going to keep the Verizon service through this month as overlap. Any tips for hopping between them?
(Just bought a good cable modem so I'm not sure what the Comcast dude is going to do when he shows up, that I couldn't do)
Anyone have experience with changing cable companies? We have Comcast coming Saturday and previously were with Verizon but they are being bitchy about pricing.
I'm likely going to keep the Verizon service through this month as overlap. Any tips for hopping between them?
(Just bought a good cable modem so I'm not sure what the Comcast dude is going to do when he shows up, that I couldn't do)
We're using this to move fully over to streaming.
Some techs will tell you that your modem won't provide all the services that their modem will. It's 99% bullshit. Most good techs will tell you that it's fine to use your own. Keeping Verizon an extra month seems like overkill as you won't likely be using it at all as when Comcast comes in they will switch all coax into the house over to their system. The switch should be painless and all behind the scenes if they do it properly.
For reasons, I haven't lived in my own house for a year, but I'm now back. I have virtually no furniture, so I've been taking the opportunity to get the house to a blank canvas. Pulling down wallpaper, cleaning floors, fixing minor things, emptying rooms.
I want to make the house an airbnb eventually, but I have no sense of interior style. Furthermore, I have cats who will claw at things, so it doesn't make sense to get a bunch of nice furniture yet.
Once all the wallpaper is gone and the walls are primed, I don't actually know what I'm going to do. Most of home decor seems to be about building around a few anchor pieces of furniture or art, and I don't have that.
Also, my house has zero interesting features. It is literally the most boring shape and floorplan you can imagine. A rectangle with a central hallway.
Oh yeah, I had the cable installation guy come on Sunday. Got through like an hour of installation stuff and then like 20min before the end, it came up that they'd deactivate my internet at my old place when they activate it here. That was something I super didn't want, since I'm still living at my old place during the next week. I was super confused, because like, why did they even give me the option to have a deactivation date after the installation date if you couldn't have it active at the old location after installation anyway? So now that's another thing I get to do this weekend on top of doing the big move and getting everything set up.
Oh, also, the spare fridge I brought from my mom's house to have in the garage died upon being plugged in, so that ended up being a big waste of energy. I'll probably have to call home depot and see if they can take it away when they install the fridge I ordered. And the Seahawks lost. Kind of a crummy weekend!
Had a third foundation company come out to look at our problems.
Company #1 was who the prior owner used, said the warranty repairs aren't where the problem is, used a bubble level and his feet for measurements, quoted me $8k
Company #2 was a lot more precise, quoted me $15k (but also did not suggest that all the work was needed right now).
Company #3 did same as #2, measurements were about the same, said we didn't need to do anything right now (but would keep our file and be glad to re-evaluate in the future).
Since we aren't seeing any major problems I think we are going with #3's opinion and just keep an eye on things. We have measurements to compare with in the future.
Today I am annoyed. We closed on our house late November of last year. One of the conditions was that we service our ductless splits, so obviously we did so. At the time the technician said everything was fine though there was some work that could eventually get done on the units in the form of a new cover and potentially a new motor for one of the units down the road. I tell him I'm not interested so long as the units are in working order now as we're selling the house.
Today we get a call from our agent who tells us he got a call from our buyer's agent saying they're coming after us because one of the ductless splits has broken. They sent along a report from the folks who cleaned and maintained the unit when we were selling that we never received. I did see the report as I signed it on the bottom but it's clear that after the technician left the house he added the line "Owner is selling the house and does not want to fix anything. New buyers may want to." - this is after I signed the report.
I'm at a loss. I feel we held up our end of the agreement by getting the units maintained and providing the associated invoice. Now I'm receiving this mysterious report with info that wasn't on it when I signed it. I honestly don't even know how the new owners got the report.
Today I am annoyed. We closed on our house late November of last year. One of the conditions was that we service our ductless splits, so obviously we did so. At the time the technician said everything was fine though there was some work that could eventually get done on the units in the form of a new cover and potentially a new motor for one of the units down the road. I tell him I'm not interested so long as the units are in working order now as we're selling the house.
Today we get a call from our agent who tells us he got a call from our buyer's agent saying they're coming after us because one of the ductless splits has broken. They sent along a report from the folks who cleaned and maintained the unit when we were selling that we never received. I did see the report as I signed it on the bottom but it's clear that after the technician left the house he added the line "Owner is selling the house and does not want to fix anything. New buyers may want to." - this is after I signed the report.
I'm at a loss. I feel we held up our end of the agreement by getting the units maintained and providing the associated invoice. Now I'm receiving this mysterious report with info that wasn't on it when I signed it. I honestly don't even know how the new owners got the report.
The lesson here is you want to keep a copy of anything you've signed. If you had a signed copy that differs from the copy the buyers have, things would be quite different.
Huh? We sign stuff all the time that we don't get copies of. This was presented as me signing off on the maintenance happening. I actually specifically told them I didn't want any kind of report from them aside from the invoice, which was the only requirement of our agreement.
Well, after six goosing months we finally have our reno permit from the city.
Development and reno approvals are an absolute disaster in BC right now.
:so_raven:
0
DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
I'm in the midst of some refinancing and it seems like everything is approved and good to go..
Is there anything I should be aware of here?
Like it seems solidly like a bunch of great upsides with no reason not to. (shorter term, lower rate, technically slightly lower payments, and an overall savings of pretty damn huge over the lifetime of the loan)
And maybe that is the case! But whenever something seems to be this good for so little effort when I don't know too much about it I become mildly wary.
Huh? We sign stuff all the time that we don't get copies of. This was presented as me signing off on the maintenance happening. I actually specifically told them I didn't want any kind of report from them aside from the invoice, which was the only requirement of our agreement.
And if there had been any disagreement about the scope of the maintenance work, they're the only ones with a signed copy of the document.
So I have a patio/deck conundrum. My back yard is pretty small, maybe 25ftx20ft. The back fence buts up right against the alley. Just on my side of the fence is a large oak tree. It's nice that it provides shade for my whole building from the east, and I'd like to keep it alive and around as long as possible. I'd also like to have useable backyard space like a patio or deck where I could put an outdoor dining area, grill, etc. Now with the oak tree on the alley, almost 180 degrees of its roots are covered by asphalt from the alley, meaning it probably gets all of its water from my meager back yard, the drip line being directly over where I'd want my patio/deck.
That makes a stone/brick paver patio out of the question, since they use compacted watertight base. The other option is a floating (not attached to the house) deck. Unfortunately, my city has some pretty stringent codes, and I can't make heads or tales whether a unattached floating deck on a concrete pier block system is even up to code, or whether everything needs to be in buried concrete footings (42" deep in my climate zone). If I have to go so deep, I might run into a root and risk killing the tree that way. Also no a fan of going from a ground level back door and back sidewalk and having the deck 7-8" above that.
The next thing I discovered was wood deck tiles. These are pretty interesting, and manufacturers say they can be installed anywhere, even bare ground, as long as it's flat. I've looked at permeable base solutions, and that all seems a mixed bag. Pea gravel isn't very compactable, so doesn't make a stable base, even if it is good for drainage. At this point I'm wondering if my only option is to just dig down about an inch and a half and compact and level the dirt, throw down some geotextile barrier and lay the wood deck tiles directly on top of that. Frost heave will almost certainly make things uneven every year, but I guess I could just pull up the tile and try to tamp things down again flat. Anyone have any experience/ideas here?
I'm in the midst of some refinancing and it seems like everything is approved and good to go..
Is there anything I should be aware of here?
Like it seems solidly like a bunch of great upsides with no reason not to. (shorter term, lower rate, technically slightly lower payments, and an overall savings of pretty damn huge over the lifetime of the loan)
And maybe that is the case! But whenever something seems to be this good for so little effort when I don't know too much about it I become mildly wary.
Nope - as long as you aren't rolling a bunch of money from closing costs into your loan (and sometimes even if you are), refinancing tends to be all upside (or you wouldn't go through with it).
I'm in the midst of some refinancing and it seems like everything is approved and good to go..
Is there anything I should be aware of here?
Like it seems solidly like a bunch of great upsides with no reason not to. (shorter term, lower rate, technically slightly lower payments, and an overall savings of pretty damn huge over the lifetime of the loan)
And maybe that is the case! But whenever something seems to be this good for so little effort when I don't know too much about it I become mildly wary.
Nope - as long as you aren't rolling a bunch of money from closing costs into your loan (and sometimes even if you are), refinancing tends to be all upside (or you wouldn't go through with it).
Awesome to have confirmation on that!
And yea the payments still come out lower with all the closing stuff rolled into it.
0
MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
Anyone have experience with changing cable companies? We have Comcast coming Saturday and previously were with Verizon but they are being bitchy about pricing.
I'm likely going to keep the Verizon service through this month as overlap. Any tips for hopping between them?
(Just bought a good cable modem so I'm not sure what the Comcast dude is going to do when he shows up, that I couldn't do)
We're using this to move fully over to streaming.
Should be fine. Call Comcast and check if your model is ok, or if it has a Comcast/Xfinity logo on the box it's probably good.
I don't know if you can use both at once unless you have separate equipment? Otherwise just have Comcast set up your network with the same SSID & passwords and should be seamless with devices.
I switched over to a Netgear with my existing Comcast no problem except that I needed an extra router for the security system. Still need to call about that.
So I have a patio/deck conundrum. My back yard is pretty small, maybe 25ftx20ft. The back fence buts up right against the alley. Just on my side of the fence is a large oak tree. It's nice that it provides shade for my whole building from the east, and I'd like to keep it alive and around as long as possible. I'd also like to have useable backyard space like a patio or deck where I could put an outdoor dining area, grill, etc. Now with the oak tree on the alley, almost 180 degrees of its roots are covered by asphalt from the alley, meaning it probably gets all of its water from my meager back yard, the drip line being directly over where I'd want my patio/deck.
That makes a stone/brick paver patio out of the question, since they use compacted watertight base. The other option is a floating (not attached to the house) deck. Unfortunately, my city has some pretty stringent codes, and I can't make heads or tales whether a unattached floating deck on a concrete pier block system is even up to code, or whether everything needs to be in buried concrete footings (42" deep in my climate zone). If I have to go so deep, I might run into a root and risk killing the tree that way. Also no a fan of going from a ground level back door and back sidewalk and having the deck 7-8" above that.
The next thing I discovered was wood deck tiles. These are pretty interesting, and manufacturers say they can be installed anywhere, even bare ground, as long as it's flat. I've looked at permeable base solutions, and that all seems a mixed bag. Pea gravel isn't very compactable, so doesn't make a stable base, even if it is good for drainage. At this point I'm wondering if my only option is to just dig down about an inch and a half and compact and level the dirt, throw down some geotextile barrier and lay the wood deck tiles directly on top of that. Frost heave will almost certainly make things uneven every year, but I guess I could just pull up the tile and try to tamp things down again flat. Anyone have any experience/ideas here?
I'm not sure that stone/brick paver patios require a watertight base. Honestly, that sounds like a recipe for puddles on your patio, and frost damage every year. I think you should get a second opinion there.
So I have a patio/deck conundrum. My back yard is pretty small, maybe 25ftx20ft. The back fence buts up right against the alley. Just on my side of the fence is a large oak tree. It's nice that it provides shade for my whole building from the east, and I'd like to keep it alive and around as long as possible. I'd also like to have useable backyard space like a patio or deck where I could put an outdoor dining area, grill, etc. Now with the oak tree on the alley, almost 180 degrees of its roots are covered by asphalt from the alley, meaning it probably gets all of its water from my meager back yard, the drip line being directly over where I'd want my patio/deck.
That makes a stone/brick paver patio out of the question, since they use compacted watertight base. The other option is a floating (not attached to the house) deck. Unfortunately, my city has some pretty stringent codes, and I can't make heads or tales whether a unattached floating deck on a concrete pier block system is even up to code, or whether everything needs to be in buried concrete footings (42" deep in my climate zone). If I have to go so deep, I might run into a root and risk killing the tree that way. Also no a fan of going from a ground level back door and back sidewalk and having the deck 7-8" above that.
The next thing I discovered was wood deck tiles. These are pretty interesting, and manufacturers say they can be installed anywhere, even bare ground, as long as it's flat. I've looked at permeable base solutions, and that all seems a mixed bag. Pea gravel isn't very compactable, so doesn't make a stable base, even if it is good for drainage. At this point I'm wondering if my only option is to just dig down about an inch and a half and compact and level the dirt, throw down some geotextile barrier and lay the wood deck tiles directly on top of that. Frost heave will almost certainly make things uneven every year, but I guess I could just pull up the tile and try to tamp things down again flat. Anyone have any experience/ideas here?
If you do any kind of paver/tile deal without a waterproof barrier under it you're likely going to end up with grass/weeds growing in the cracks pretty quickly.
If you think a floating deck would work but just aren't sure if it's legally an option you could find a contractor and ask them to come out and give you a quote. They should know the codes in your area and whether what you want to do is legal.
Anyone have experience with changing cable companies? We have Comcast coming Saturday and previously were with Verizon but they are being bitchy about pricing.
I'm likely going to keep the Verizon service through this month as overlap. Any tips for hopping between them?
(Just bought a good cable modem so I'm not sure what the Comcast dude is going to do when he shows up, that I couldn't do)
We're using this to move fully over to streaming.
Should be fine. Call Comcast and check if your model is ok, or if it has a Comcast/Xfinity logo on the box it's probably good.
I don't know if you can use both at once unless you have separate equipment? Otherwise just have Comcast set up your network with the same SSID & passwords and should be seamless with devices.
I switched over to a Netgear with my existing Comcast no problem except that I needed an extra router for the security system. Still need to call about that.
I don't want to go into details much, but I have the network setup specifically so that the Modem connects to a switch, and everything connects to the switch; including my wifi router/AP. So even now, I have the FiOS wifi shut off and I'm using it as a gateway + DHCP.
I'll have the cable disconnected from the FiOS gateway before the tech arrives, since I don't even use it now anyway.
The modem I bought was one of the models listed as compatible on the Xfinity website, but I'll make sure the tech confirms (Netgear CM1000)
Today I am annoyed. We closed on our house late November of last year. One of the conditions was that we service our ductless splits, so obviously we did so. At the time the technician said everything was fine though there was some work that could eventually get done on the units in the form of a new cover and potentially a new motor for one of the units down the road. I tell him I'm not interested so long as the units are in working order now as we're selling the house.
Today we get a call from our agent who tells us he got a call from our buyer's agent saying they're coming after us because one of the ductless splits has broken. They sent along a report from the folks who cleaned and maintained the unit when we were selling that we never received. I did see the report as I signed it on the bottom but it's clear that after the technician left the house he added the line "Owner is selling the house and does not want to fix anything. New buyers may want to." - this is after I signed the report.
I'm at a loss. I feel we held up our end of the agreement by getting the units maintained and providing the associated invoice. Now I'm receiving this mysterious report with info that wasn't on it when I signed it. I honestly don't even know how the new owners got the report.
It's probably talk to a lawyer time. Because so long as you met the requirement of the sale, it doesn't matter one lick what the technician says was or was not required. So if the sale says you have to get them "serviced" (not inspected or repaired) and you got them serviced, then the buyers can fuck off with any claims. You met the conditions of the agreement, and it was on the buyers to not accept sale if they felt additional work was required from inspection or service reports they received.
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
+12
MichaelLCIn what furnace was thy brain?ChicagoRegistered Userregular
I'll post a picture another time, but finally cleaned up the garage a little and it's SO much better.
Previously it was wire shelves above a Rubbermaid-type shelf thing with doors, and it was impossible to get anything or of the unit, and the shelves were too narrow with stuff falling off.
So using some IKEA credit, I got a bunch of their white plastic boxes and also a deep plastic shelf unit from Amazon. Moved some of the other stuff around, drilled a few hooks into the cinderblock, and just tidied up.
So much better, but best is the $13 motion sensor I plugged the overhead light into so now when I open the side door the light turns on instead of walking to the main door and flipping the switch.
I'm in the midst of some refinancing and it seems like everything is approved and good to go..
Is there anything I should be aware of here?
Like it seems solidly like a bunch of great upsides with no reason not to. (shorter term, lower rate, technically slightly lower payments, and an overall savings of pretty damn huge over the lifetime of the loan)
And maybe that is the case! But whenever something seems to be this good for so little effort when I don't know too much about it I become mildly wary.
Nope - as long as you aren't rolling a bunch of money from closing costs into your loan (and sometimes even if you are), refinancing tends to be all upside (or you wouldn't go through with it).
Awesome to have confirmation on that!
And yea the payments still come out lower with all the closing stuff rolled into it.
Generally the only time you end up 'losing' on a refi is if you sell the house before the accumulated savings from the refi become larger than the closing costs you incur by doing it. Obviously the time before you break even varies based on both the terms of the refi and the terms of your previous mortgage, but it usually takes in the neighborhood of 1-3 years. If you know you're gonna stay in your house longer than that, it's probably free money. If you move next year, you can end up losing on the transaction. That's basically where the risk is (but even then, your exposure is pretty much limited to the amount of the closing costs at most).
0
ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
Anyone have experience with changing cable companies? We have Comcast coming Saturday and previously were with Verizon but they are being bitchy about pricing.
I'm likely going to keep the Verizon service through this month as overlap. Any tips for hopping between them?
(Just bought a good cable modem so I'm not sure what the Comcast dude is going to do when he shows up, that I couldn't do)
We're using this to move fully over to streaming.
Should be fine. Call Comcast and check if your model is ok, or if it has a Comcast/Xfinity logo on the box it's probably good.
I don't know if you can use both at once unless you have separate equipment? Otherwise just have Comcast set up your network with the same SSID & passwords and should be seamless with devices.
I switched over to a Netgear with my existing Comcast no problem except that I needed an extra router for the security system. Still need to call about that.
I don't want to go into details much, but I have the network setup specifically so that the Modem connects to a switch, and everything connects to the switch; including my wifi router/AP. So even now, I have the FiOS wifi shut off and I'm using it as a gateway + DHCP.
I'll have the cable disconnected from the FiOS gateway before the tech arrives, since I don't even use it now anyway.
The modem I bought was one of the models listed as compatible on the Xfinity website, but I'll make sure the tech confirms (Netgear CM1000)
That's the modem I have with Comcast, it should work absolutely fine.
Today I am annoyed. We closed on our house late November of last year. One of the conditions was that we service our ductless splits, so obviously we did so. At the time the technician said everything was fine though there was some work that could eventually get done on the units in the form of a new cover and potentially a new motor for one of the units down the road. I tell him I'm not interested so long as the units are in working order now as we're selling the house.
Today we get a call from our agent who tells us he got a call from our buyer's agent saying they're coming after us because one of the ductless splits has broken. They sent along a report from the folks who cleaned and maintained the unit when we were selling that we never received. I did see the report as I signed it on the bottom but it's clear that after the technician left the house he added the line "Owner is selling the house and does not want to fix anything. New buyers may want to." - this is after I signed the report.
I'm at a loss. I feel we held up our end of the agreement by getting the units maintained and providing the associated invoice. Now I'm receiving this mysterious report with info that wasn't on it when I signed it. I honestly don't even know how the new owners got the report.
It's probably talk to a lawyer time. Because so long as you met the requirement of the sale, it doesn't matter one lick what the technician says was or was not required. So if the sale says you have to get them "serviced" (not inspected or repaired) and you got them serviced, then the buyers can fuck off with any claims. You met the conditions of the agreement, and it was on the buyers to not accept sale if they felt additional work was required from inspection or service reports they received.
Yeah I agree. I work with contracts all the time so I'm incredibly comfortable with how we approached the situation. I've told my agent to tell theirs that they can pound sand or take me to small claims court but that they can expect to have a counter-claim for my lost wages if I have to show up in court.
We're two months out from the sale of that house now and we're talking about a piece of equipment that sees 24/7 use that sits outside in the middle of a Canadian winter. There's no way I'm responsible for this. These are first time home buyers and this is likely them not understanding that there's no warranty on an old house and I'm not their landlord.
So I have a patio/deck conundrum. My back yard is pretty small, maybe 25ftx20ft. The back fence buts up right against the alley. Just on my side of the fence is a large oak tree. It's nice that it provides shade for my whole building from the east, and I'd like to keep it alive and around as long as possible. I'd also like to have useable backyard space like a patio or deck where I could put an outdoor dining area, grill, etc. Now with the oak tree on the alley, almost 180 degrees of its roots are covered by asphalt from the alley, meaning it probably gets all of its water from my meager back yard, the drip line being directly over where I'd want my patio/deck.
That makes a stone/brick paver patio out of the question, since they use compacted watertight base. The other option is a floating (not attached to the house) deck. Unfortunately, my city has some pretty stringent codes, and I can't make heads or tales whether a unattached floating deck on a concrete pier block system is even up to code, or whether everything needs to be in buried concrete footings (42" deep in my climate zone). If I have to go so deep, I might run into a root and risk killing the tree that way. Also no a fan of going from a ground level back door and back sidewalk and having the deck 7-8" above that.
The next thing I discovered was wood deck tiles. These are pretty interesting, and manufacturers say they can be installed anywhere, even bare ground, as long as it's flat. I've looked at permeable base solutions, and that all seems a mixed bag. Pea gravel isn't very compactable, so doesn't make a stable base, even if it is good for drainage. At this point I'm wondering if my only option is to just dig down about an inch and a half and compact and level the dirt, throw down some geotextile barrier and lay the wood deck tiles directly on top of that. Frost heave will almost certainly make things uneven every year, but I guess I could just pull up the tile and try to tamp things down again flat. Anyone have any experience/ideas here?
If you do any kind of paver/tile deal without a waterproof barrier under it you're likely going to end up with grass/weeds growing in the cracks pretty quickly.
If you think a floating deck would work but just aren't sure if it's legally an option you could find a contractor and ask them to come out and give you a quote. They should know the codes in your area and whether what you want to do is legal.
Yeah, that's what the geotextile is, a non-woven fabric barrier. It's mostly preferred to landscaping fabric now because it actually allows good drainage through it, but prevents anything else from coming up. Expensive stuff though. As for the deck quote, I might just have to do that. Extensive googling and reading of the actual building code has found me nothing, so I might just have to call someone for a quote and then copy their plan.
Anyone have experience with changing cable companies? We have Comcast coming Saturday and previously were with Verizon but they are being bitchy about pricing.
I'm likely going to keep the Verizon service through this month as overlap. Any tips for hopping between them?
(Just bought a good cable modem so I'm not sure what the Comcast dude is going to do when he shows up, that I couldn't do)
We're using this to move fully over to streaming.
Should be fine. Call Comcast and check if your model is ok, or if it has a Comcast/Xfinity logo on the box it's probably good.
I don't know if you can use both at once unless you have separate equipment? Otherwise just have Comcast set up your network with the same SSID & passwords and should be seamless with devices.
I switched over to a Netgear with my existing Comcast no problem except that I needed an extra router for the security system. Still need to call about that.
I don't want to go into details much, but I have the network setup specifically so that the Modem connects to a switch, and everything connects to the switch; including my wifi router/AP. So even now, I have the FiOS wifi shut off and I'm using it as a gateway + DHCP.
I'll have the cable disconnected from the FiOS gateway before the tech arrives, since I don't even use it now anyway.
The modem I bought was one of the models listed as compatible on the Xfinity website, but I'll make sure the tech confirms (Netgear CM1000)
That's the modem I have with Comcast, it should work absolutely fine.
Just an FYI for @shadowfire and @mugsley, apparently that modem (and probably most modems) has a pretty significant vulnerability. Not sure if there is a patch yet. Cross post from the security thread:
Hundreds of millions of cable modems are vulnerable to critical takeover attacks by hackers halfway around the world, researchers said.
The attacks work by luring vulnerable users to websites that serve malicious JavaScript code that's surreptitiously hosted on the site or hidden inside of malicious ads, researchers from Denmark-based security firm Lyrebirds said in a report and accompanying website. The JavaScript then opens a websocket connection to the vulnerable cable modem and exploits a buffer overflow vulnerability in the spectrum analyzer, a small server that detects interference and other connectivity problems in a host of modems from various makers. From there, remote attackers can gain complete control over the modems, allowing them to change DNS settings, make the modem part of a botnet, and carry out a variety of other nefarious actions.
Cable Haunt, as the researchers have named their proof-of-concept exploit, is known to work on various firmware versions of the following cable modems:
Sagemcom F@st 3890
Sagemcom F@st 3686
Technicolor TC7230
Netgear C6250EMR
Netgear CG3700EMR
Seems like this attack is being served up via JavaScript, which means it can be delivered to your computer via ads even on trusted websites. It's unclear if having your own router between you and the modem makes a difference.
I'm hoping JavaScript whitelisting and ad blocking are sufficient, because my cable modem is on the list, and there are NO firmware updates available for my cable modem.
Edit The Cable Haunt website has a much more exhaustive list of vulnerable modems that include other brands than those listed in the Ars article. I recommend checking the Cable Haunt site to see if you are impacted.
The cable haunt website has a more extensive lists which indicates the CM1000 is vulnerable for up to the latest patch (V6.01.02), although it was a community verification rather than verified by the guys who found the original exploit.
"The world is a mess, and I just need to rule it" - Dr Horrible
Posts
(Honestly, you should probably fix the attic access before it becomes important.) As for the actual switch, running the cables is going to be the most annoying bit, not finding a spot for the switch, and you should probably optimize on that. This doesn't sound like a super-awesome location.
Then use silicone to fill both holes. If you do it strategically, it'll be nearly invisible. This is what my cable guy did for me about 8 years ago when we moved in.
Look up roof rakes for clearing snow off the roof. Generally try to keep it to less than a foot of snow, but depends on the climate. The ones to watch for are heavy wet snows that freeze as those are the heaviest.
Also - how much land/what region?
Also if you have neighbors you don’t like with high enough windows, you can make a penis in the snow in their yard by walking out the outline
Oh but also make sure your exterior hoses are empty/cared for, and exterior faucets are turned off or covered if need be- water backed up in the nozzle can freeze and shatter and that’s a pain
As others have mentioned, the snow isn't really something to be concerned about. Really the only thing to be worried about up there is ice dams. A little late now, but just always make sure your gutters are clean going into the winter season, otherwise ice/snow melt can pool in the gutters and then re-freeze creating ice dams. If you don't see masses of icicles forming along the length of your gutters, you're probably fine.
You sound a tad salty.
I think you need a pitchfork.
Hell yeah! Where are we taking our angry mob to?
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
Switch ID: MNC Dover SW-1154-3107-1051
Steam ID
Twitch Page
And get it before October so you have time to test it and put it together and not end up in january on year 2 like me who is still shoveling.
It is absolutely one of those value of time thing to not come home after work and have to spend an hour out in freezing cold temperatures doing physical labor.
I'm likely going to keep the Verizon service through this month as overlap. Any tips for hopping between them?
(Just bought a good cable modem so I'm not sure what the Comcast dude is going to do when he shows up, that I couldn't do)
We're using this to move fully over to streaming.
Some techs will tell you that your modem won't provide all the services that their modem will. It's 99% bullshit. Most good techs will tell you that it's fine to use your own. Keeping Verizon an extra month seems like overkill as you won't likely be using it at all as when Comcast comes in they will switch all coax into the house over to their system. The switch should be painless and all behind the scenes if they do it properly.
I want to make the house an airbnb eventually, but I have no sense of interior style. Furthermore, I have cats who will claw at things, so it doesn't make sense to get a bunch of nice furniture yet.
Once all the wallpaper is gone and the walls are primed, I don't actually know what I'm going to do. Most of home decor seems to be about building around a few anchor pieces of furniture or art, and I don't have that.
Also, my house has zero interesting features. It is literally the most boring shape and floorplan you can imagine. A rectangle with a central hallway.
Oh, also, the spare fridge I brought from my mom's house to have in the garage died upon being plugged in, so that ended up being a big waste of energy. I'll probably have to call home depot and see if they can take it away when they install the fridge I ordered. And the Seahawks lost. Kind of a crummy weekend!
Company #1 was who the prior owner used, said the warranty repairs aren't where the problem is, used a bubble level and his feet for measurements, quoted me $8k
Company #2 was a lot more precise, quoted me $15k (but also did not suggest that all the work was needed right now).
Company #3 did same as #2, measurements were about the same, said we didn't need to do anything right now (but would keep our file and be glad to re-evaluate in the future).
Since we aren't seeing any major problems I think we are going with #3's opinion and just keep an eye on things. We have measurements to compare with in the future.
Today we get a call from our agent who tells us he got a call from our buyer's agent saying they're coming after us because one of the ductless splits has broken. They sent along a report from the folks who cleaned and maintained the unit when we were selling that we never received. I did see the report as I signed it on the bottom but it's clear that after the technician left the house he added the line "Owner is selling the house and does not want to fix anything. New buyers may want to." - this is after I signed the report.
I'm at a loss. I feel we held up our end of the agreement by getting the units maintained and providing the associated invoice. Now I'm receiving this mysterious report with info that wasn't on it when I signed it. I honestly don't even know how the new owners got the report.
The lesson here is you want to keep a copy of anything you've signed. If you had a signed copy that differs from the copy the buyers have, things would be quite different.
Development and reno approvals are an absolute disaster in BC right now.
Is there anything I should be aware of here?
Like it seems solidly like a bunch of great upsides with no reason not to. (shorter term, lower rate, technically slightly lower payments, and an overall savings of pretty damn huge over the lifetime of the loan)
And maybe that is the case! But whenever something seems to be this good for so little effort when I don't know too much about it I become mildly wary.
And if there had been any disagreement about the scope of the maintenance work, they're the only ones with a signed copy of the document.
That makes a stone/brick paver patio out of the question, since they use compacted watertight base. The other option is a floating (not attached to the house) deck. Unfortunately, my city has some pretty stringent codes, and I can't make heads or tales whether a unattached floating deck on a concrete pier block system is even up to code, or whether everything needs to be in buried concrete footings (42" deep in my climate zone). If I have to go so deep, I might run into a root and risk killing the tree that way. Also no a fan of going from a ground level back door and back sidewalk and having the deck 7-8" above that.
The next thing I discovered was wood deck tiles. These are pretty interesting, and manufacturers say they can be installed anywhere, even bare ground, as long as it's flat. I've looked at permeable base solutions, and that all seems a mixed bag. Pea gravel isn't very compactable, so doesn't make a stable base, even if it is good for drainage. At this point I'm wondering if my only option is to just dig down about an inch and a half and compact and level the dirt, throw down some geotextile barrier and lay the wood deck tiles directly on top of that. Frost heave will almost certainly make things uneven every year, but I guess I could just pull up the tile and try to tamp things down again flat. Anyone have any experience/ideas here?
Edit: picture here: https://imgur.com/a/OJWc3aV
Nope - as long as you aren't rolling a bunch of money from closing costs into your loan (and sometimes even if you are), refinancing tends to be all upside (or you wouldn't go through with it).
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Awesome to have confirmation on that!
And yea the payments still come out lower with all the closing stuff rolled into it.
Should be fine. Call Comcast and check if your model is ok, or if it has a Comcast/Xfinity logo on the box it's probably good.
I don't know if you can use both at once unless you have separate equipment? Otherwise just have Comcast set up your network with the same SSID & passwords and should be seamless with devices.
I switched over to a Netgear with my existing Comcast no problem except that I needed an extra router for the security system. Still need to call about that.
I'm not sure that stone/brick paver patios require a watertight base. Honestly, that sounds like a recipe for puddles on your patio, and frost damage every year. I think you should get a second opinion there.
If you do any kind of paver/tile deal without a waterproof barrier under it you're likely going to end up with grass/weeds growing in the cracks pretty quickly.
If you think a floating deck would work but just aren't sure if it's legally an option you could find a contractor and ask them to come out and give you a quote. They should know the codes in your area and whether what you want to do is legal.
I don't want to go into details much, but I have the network setup specifically so that the Modem connects to a switch, and everything connects to the switch; including my wifi router/AP. So even now, I have the FiOS wifi shut off and I'm using it as a gateway + DHCP.
I'll have the cable disconnected from the FiOS gateway before the tech arrives, since I don't even use it now anyway.
The modem I bought was one of the models listed as compatible on the Xfinity website, but I'll make sure the tech confirms (Netgear CM1000)
It's probably talk to a lawyer time. Because so long as you met the requirement of the sale, it doesn't matter one lick what the technician says was or was not required. So if the sale says you have to get them "serviced" (not inspected or repaired) and you got them serviced, then the buyers can fuck off with any claims. You met the conditions of the agreement, and it was on the buyers to not accept sale if they felt additional work was required from inspection or service reports they received.
Previously it was wire shelves above a Rubbermaid-type shelf thing with doors, and it was impossible to get anything or of the unit, and the shelves were too narrow with stuff falling off.
So using some IKEA credit, I got a bunch of their white plastic boxes and also a deep plastic shelf unit from Amazon. Moved some of the other stuff around, drilled a few hooks into the cinderblock, and just tidied up.
So much better, but best is the $13 motion sensor I plugged the overhead light into so now when I open the side door the light turns on instead of walking to the main door and flipping the switch.
Generally the only time you end up 'losing' on a refi is if you sell the house before the accumulated savings from the refi become larger than the closing costs you incur by doing it. Obviously the time before you break even varies based on both the terms of the refi and the terms of your previous mortgage, but it usually takes in the neighborhood of 1-3 years. If you know you're gonna stay in your house longer than that, it's probably free money. If you move next year, you can end up losing on the transaction. That's basically where the risk is (but even then, your exposure is pretty much limited to the amount of the closing costs at most).
That's the modem I have with Comcast, it should work absolutely fine.
Yeah I agree. I work with contracts all the time so I'm incredibly comfortable with how we approached the situation. I've told my agent to tell theirs that they can pound sand or take me to small claims court but that they can expect to have a counter-claim for my lost wages if I have to show up in court.
We're two months out from the sale of that house now and we're talking about a piece of equipment that sees 24/7 use that sits outside in the middle of a Canadian winter. There's no way I'm responsible for this. These are first time home buyers and this is likely them not understanding that there's no warranty on an old house and I'm not their landlord.
Yeah, that's what the geotextile is, a non-woven fabric barrier. It's mostly preferred to landscaping fabric now because it actually allows good drainage through it, but prevents anything else from coming up. Expensive stuff though. As for the deck quote, I might just have to do that. Extensive googling and reading of the actual building code has found me nothing, so I might just have to call someone for a quote and then copy their plan.
Just an FYI for @shadowfire and @mugsley, apparently that modem (and probably most modems) has a pretty significant vulnerability. Not sure if there is a patch yet. Cross post from the security thread:
The cable haunt website has a more extensive lists which indicates the CM1000 is vulnerable for up to the latest patch (V6.01.02), although it was a community verification rather than verified by the guys who found the original exploit.