The Home Ownership Thread

[RedLantern]



Do they frame with 2x4 or 2x6 over there? They generally use 2x6 here on the East side of the state so they can jam in more insulation.

I'm fairly certain that current practice for exterior walls is 2x6 for just that purpose, but I'm not sure what I've got. Supposed to be having some new windows put in today, so maybe I'll find out.

 

[Joffrey]



I had to gut my entire house due to past owners inside chain smoking yuck. $5k for a paint job definitely burns a hole in my wallet. No more floors no more cabinetry appliances. Now I'm going to have to spend another $15k replacing all the necessaries that I have ripped out. Hoping to score on a deal for some granite. Damn that stuff is spendy.

You didn't notice the smell before purchasing? If the sellers were desperate I would've tried to get them to cover some of the cost.

 

[Snoogz]

I excavated only the base so that the main structure was level. My total time in was 14 hours.

Very nice! I believe my model was estimated at 24 hours to complete. A friend and I were able to finish in roughly 16. Then spent a few lonely hours re-staining the set.
Came out very nice, and built it directly on grass, with 6 stakes holding it into the ground. I just need to clear the grass inside the downstairs playlet, and come up with a large rubber mat to insert.

You excavation is filled with rubber chips?

 

[Ataturk]

Must have cut a sprinkler wire or something over the winter. The situation is inexplicable -- very little resistance between the various sprinkler hot wires to each other, but very high resistance between all the sprinkler wires to the common.

You should be thinking I cut all the wires and that they're bundled, but they aren't--the bundled wire is split to individual wires right next to the controller. They do seem to travel together underground, at least away from the controller; but they're not wrapped together or anything like that.

I only know where four of the valves are. I guess I'm going to have to find the rest and rewire the whole thing if I have no luck finding the break. If I do I'm putting the stupid wires in a pipe.

Edit:

I'm only getting 120 ohms of resistance between all of the valve wires to each other. The 24 volts jumps it and lights up all of the wires when one is hot. But none of the valves work. Haven't checked to see if they have juice at the valves but I imagine not. I'm no electrician but the only way I can imagine that is possible is if all the wires are cut and sitting in water or something.

 

[Ataturk]

Turned out to be easier than expected. A rebar stake for the greenhouse cut the common wire. Why the common wire? Figure 1/2" wide rebar, 36" spacing, so it was a one in 72 chance I'd hit the stupid wire. That's my kind of luck! Only had to dig four holes to find it.

That still leaves the question of why there's continuity between the various hots, but, you know, I can live with not knowing. It works.

 

[texas_jack]

My sprinkler system is manual. 7 valves total, 5 in back 2 in front.

 

[Ataturk]

If the valves are all accessible and in the same place, it'd be easy to convert it over to an automatic system. I think...

You'd just need to have 110v for the controller. So you'd either have to run a wire to the valves or run wires from the valves to the outlet.

Edit: I mean, you might have to replace the valves with automatic ones, obviously, but the whole thing might only cost you $200.

 

[texas_jack]

Unfortunately they are not in the same place

 

[Douglas]

So, I'm a dumbass, and broke one of my frost-free hose bibs over the winter. I guess you're not supposed to leave the hose hooked up to it.

Fortunately, it's broken in a way that only leaks when I open the valve.

 

[Ataturk]

You could do two separate controllers then if they're in clusters. Or you could run wires from the back to the front. It's actually not that hard to do direct bury, low voltage wires. You could just slot the ground with a shovel, I'd think. Just remember where it is so you don't do like I did...

 

[Snoogz]

So theres a mouse in my house...its a small one, as I've seen it a few times the last few weeks. If it stays any longer, I'll have to name him.

I have Catchmasters set up in attractive areas to lure the catch. No luck thus far. I continue to find droppings under the sink, and behind the fridge. The catch boards are slotted in areas to only allow entrance and exit through them....yet no luck in a catch


Have I got a smart little critter on my hands? Once they understand to avoid them traps, do they have the mental capacity or state of mind to continue to avoid them at all costs? I believe they are jumping over them at this point in order to avoid them.


Who has a plan?

 

[Douglas]

find out where he comes in and out from. Set traps in those places; several of them in a row, along the wall or baseboard or cabinet where he runs. They run along walls and such. They are smart enough to jump over them, but if startled or in a pinch they will not be as cautious. Lie in wait and then try to startle him.

We had a horrific infestation at our old house, which was so old it didn't even really have a crawlspace so much as just a ditch underneath it. Mice got in with ease and chewed holes underneath the useable space of the cabinets, under the kickboards essentially. They were brazen; one day I set about 10 traps, turned off the lights, and laid in wait watching all their ingress and egress holes. Sure enough, they would cautiously approach the traps, taste the goods on offer, then casually hop over them. Refining my locations, I would suddenly jump up and turn on the lights and shout, and in their panic to get out of sight, *snap*. I offed about 12 of the bastards in 30 minutes' time.

It was horrible, actually. One of them didn't die, just got his leg, so I took him outside and offed him. Couldn't bear to do it myself really, I guess this makes me squeamish, but I put him under a car tire and backed over him.

 

[aravenel]



It was horrible, actually. One of them didn't die, just got his leg, so I took him outside and offed him. Couldn't bear to do it myself really, I guess this makes me squeamish, but I put him under a car tire and backed over him.

Like a boss.

That actually sounds more badass. "Nope, this guy here, I'm not just gonna snap his neck/crush him/whatever... I'm going to run his ass over with the car."

 

[Douglas]

in my defense, i considered just stomping him, but if he had exploded I would have gotten blood all over the place. It was the fastest, cleanest way I could think to do it on short notice.

 

[RedLantern]

So I have an ancient water heater in my house (early 80's at the latest, probably mid-70's by the fonts/graphics on the label) - the home inspector said it was maybe the oldest operational water heater she had seen. I'm looking to replace it, and it turns out my local electric company offers a $500 rebate on a heat pump water heater. Given that a new "standard" electric water heater would be about $500 and a heat pump water heater (which consumes about 1/2 the electricity) is about $1000 before the rebate, I'm really interested in the heat pump water heater.

Anybody have one, heard anything about them, etc?

Considerations I am aware of:

Can be loud
Needs moderate air temperatures to operate efficiently
Needs to drain condensate

It will be in a dedicated utility/storage room within the house that has a drain already for a utility sink/laundry. Seems like an ideal setup to me . . .