depends on what you're looking for. I havent looked into them in the past 2 years so I'm sure a lot has changed. I liked my honeywell wireless for a non-smart. Personally i liked the ecobee more than nest in that realm. But a lot changes in 2 years...

3/23/2017 9:31:23 AM

I have a Honeywell dual-system that works just fine. Can set schedules and remotely adjust temps from my phone even while off of my home network.

3/23/2017 9:42:41 AM

$3000 for fucking tree removal?????

Fuck some adulting.

3/23/2017 9:53:03 AM

How many trees, how big, and where are they at on your property?

3/23/2017 10:16:04 AM

trees are asspensive, yop

3/23/2017 11:52:18 AM

[reposting] I'm sick of my contractor grade thermostat(s). Is Nest the way to go these days?

Thanks for the responses thus far. I do recall honeywall having a good product a few years ago, so I'll check those out as well.

3/23/2017 11:53:09 AM

^^^^ man-up and buy a chainsaw and comealong

3/23/2017 12:40:30 PM

It took me an hour or two to remove a 20+ ft tall crepe myrtle with a shovel and a hatchet...and it was fucking WORK.

It made me realize why people charge a lot of money to remove real trees.

3/23/2017 12:47:58 PM

I like my nest although previously I had a non wireless non programmable thermostat so the bar was set quite low.
It works with my phone for location/away status and integrates nicely with a lot of other products though...

3/23/2017 11:57:15 PM

+1 Nest

3/24/2017 12:43:43 AM

One consideration is that I have a 2-zoned system (same HVAC unit, separate thermostats). It doesn't appear that the nest supports multiple zones, is that correct? It seems to Ecobee3 can, but it seems I would need to purchase 2 units?

3/24/2017 10:13:15 AM

EcoBee 3 supports multiple zones. If I recall you connect sensors to manage that. The unit should come with 2 additional sensors.

3/24/2017 9:01:05 PM

Gf is on her third Honeywell. Needless to say, do not get a Honeywell!!!

3/24/2017 11:11:25 PM

^^not seeing how that would work. The remote sensors just communicate back to the main thermostat it seems. But my system has 2 separate thermostats. IIRC, both thermostats are wired independently to the control panel in the attic; they are not slave / master.

Ah, think I finally found an official answer:

Quote :

"Q: If down the line you do support multi-zone systems will it just be a firmware upgrade, or will there be a hardware upgrade as well? If it's a full hardware upgrade would there be any incentive to previous owners? A: In order to manage a multi-zone system today, you will need to purchase one ecobee thermostat for each zone. This will work perfectly well and is being used in many homes today. Those thermostats can be controlled together through a single web interface and we support grouping of thermostats so that you can synchronize them for things like vacation events and programming. At some point in the future, our goal is to add lower cost thermostats that can be used for the various zones. If you purchased thermostats today, you would not need and would not get any additional functionality from the lower cost thermostats and therefore, no additional hardware would be required. Firmware upgrades are included in the cost of your thermostat so to the extent that we added additional zoning functionality in the future there would be no cost for those upgrades."

[Edited on March 27, 2017 at 1:09 PM. Reason : .]

3/27/2017 1:02:12 PM

Anyone have any recommendations for a tree service or a flooring guy/company?

3/27/2017 3:28:04 PM

Any idea how much it would cost to replace an old fluorescent light with canned lighting?
Any recommendations on someone to do this?

3/27/2017 11:06:52 PM

I found an app called "thumbtack", which allows you to advertise these types of jobs. Once the job description is submitted, you receive estimates from a couple different contractors. I am using this for the first time to have some stairs added to my deck. It might be helpful for some of the work proposed ITT.

3/28/2017 12:41:27 PM

Quote :

"Ugh, just paid Roto Rooter to come clean out our clogged sewer pipe. Our house was built in the early 40s and piping inside the house is cast iron. Got them to feed a camera through the line and the cast iron pipe is fine. However, about 5 feet outside of the house to the main line, the piping is terracotta and has roots growing through at each break in the pipe (guessing where the concrete has cracked). Still has some roots in a few of the breaks, but it's relatively clear now. Estimate to replace the line and cut down a maple tree and shrubs/bushes would be roughly $7800 Apparently it's possible homeowner's insurance could cover some of the cost, so will be looking into that to see if it's worth doing sooner than later."

I know this was a couple months ago, but that's pretty much exactly what happened to us except it was orangeburg pipe rather than terra cotta. There were a few pieces of tc down there when they dug up the orange so it was probably a 60's-ish replacement for a failed original pipe, and failed again. Much like yours, 9 feet underground. Ran $5500 and that's with no extant trees in the way (the roots were presumably coming from the neighbor's yard). Homeowners insurance said NOPE since it wasn't within the foundations of the house.

I feel your pain!

3/30/2017 1:44:27 AM

When tree services remove big trees, do they sell them, and for how much-ish?

4/6/2017 2:36:17 PM

Unless they can keep the trunk intact, they're only getting firewood money if they even bother. Probably just mulch them.

4/7/2017 6:12:56 PM

isn't that a lumber processing place across the street-ish from the fairgrounds?

4/7/2017 8:50:03 PM

4/7/2017 11:21:00 PM

atleast they were honest and upfront

4/8/2017 11:09:43 AM

Quote :

"Unless they can keep the trunk intact, they're only getting firewood money if they even bother."

the guys that just did my big pines dropped then in the street via crane, then measured the trunk cuts into like 4-5 foot sections or so then loaded them all up...so i assume they're selling them somewhere.

4/8/2017 4:43:02 PM

I used some siding cleaner a few years back that worked really well...just hosed it off and everything was very clean. Then I used some other junk that didn't work at all.

What have you all used that worked? I feel like bleach might be the key ingredient...

4/10/2017 9:59:05 AM

wet and forget works pretty well

4/10/2017 10:32:12 AM

^^ rent a pressure washer with a chemical feed venturi line, rent an extension wand, then pressure wash with the bleach and TSP

4/10/2017 10:37:04 AM

Most tree co's I know mulch everything.

Tree removal for anyone that doesnt know, runs some major insurance, and for the big stuff, requires cranes/heavy equipment. Money adds up.

(new topic since previously got complaints that I responded and posted new stuff)

Getting sick of pressure washing everything outside on the house every year.

Debating if I want to try to run some new electrical from some crawlspace junction boxes. I could use some more outlets in places there are none.

4/13/2017 9:34:18 PM

extra outlets are always worth negating the hassle. added more outside outlets in the last two homes i've owned and worth it in every case.

4/14/2017 2:22:04 PM

Anybody have any experience with replacing panels in a garage door? We have had small stress fractures in our cheap contractor grade garage door for a while now, and I guess the strain was more than it could bear. The main problem is with the top panel. This is a single door with 4 horizontal panel, and I'm wondering if I could just have that top panel replaced, or if it is even worth it.

I'm looking at at least 1800 for a decent insulated door.

4/19/2017 10:03:19 PM

Sounds to me like the door already sucks. I wouldn't spend money if it's just going to break again.

4/20/2017 3:17:31 PM

Just got another correspondence about the roof on my condo building. I already paid $1,800 last year to fix the roof that we apparently had no reserves for whatsoever (the building has no amenities so literally the roof and the driveway should be the only thing our dues would even go to besides maintenance/landscaping). A guy sued and is currently still suing over it. Now we got another estimate and will basically need to raise another $50-60k, of which I'm responsible for $4-5k in addition to the $1,800 last year.

I've only lived here two years. This really sucks.

5/4/2017 9:44:15 AM

got ghosted by the guy doing roof repair. the next dude takes forever to call me back. now insurance is saying ive waited to long so extra repairs are on me. hate coordinating this shit when i get no phone reception at work.

5/8/2017 10:26:52 PM

get google voice

5/9/2017 9:05:55 AM

^^^ #condolife

Friend of mine lives in a historic (read:old) condo building in Richmond and has some real horror stories

5/9/2017 10:07:46 AM

Landscapers used a mower over the driveway and threw rocks into my truck chipping paint and dinging it.

HOA says the Landscapers are "investigating."

I assume I have a right to press charges since its damage to personal property?

5/9/2017 11:36:54 AM

"press charges"? You've been watching too much TV. If you can't come to an agreement with the landscapers, you can sue them in small claims. They're probably insured for this sort of thing.

5/9/2017 12:35:08 PM

does your car insurance cover it?

5/9/2017 3:20:06 PM

My closet ceiling needs a new sheet of drywall. Any recommendations of who to do that job?


Any of you ever do this?

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/skills-and-know-how/masonry-and-tiling/how-to-check-and-re-caulk-flashing

5/9/2017 8:02:50 PM

My mini-split A/C unit in the garage died, compressor is dead. Dammit.

5/9/2017 9:19:50 PM

^ How old was it? We put three mini-splits in our new addition. Loving them so far.

5/10/2017 8:12:34 AM

Do decompressors require routine maintenance? I've got one in the crawlspace that's been running for a long time with none : /

5/11/2017 6:32:12 PM

*Dehumidifiers*

5/11/2017 8:13:01 PM

I change out the filters in my crawlspace dehumidifiers about once a year. that's about it.

5/12/2017 12:20:38 AM

Quote :

"^ How old was it? We put three mini-splits in our new addition. Loving them so far."

8 years old. I'm going to replace it with another mini-split. They work great.

5/12/2017 5:02:39 PM

what's the expected lifetime of a mini split.

I've got two in an addition in my house done by the previous owners, and they're 15 years old. the one in my home office barely blows cold air anymore.

wondering if it's worth recharging the refrigerant again or just replacing it.

5/13/2017 9:28:51 PM

If they use R-22, replace them.

5/15/2017 1:51:55 PM

Need to replace a float switch on my attic AC unit. Does Home Depot/Lowes sell them or some other place local to Raleigh?

5/18/2017 4:35:51 PM

Do you all put mulch against your foundation, or do u leave it about a foot off for termite prevention?

5/20/2017 4:21:43 PM

I mulch up to it. Though I have a fairly high crawl space so the mulch isn't close to the wall panels (have vinyl siding).

But I also have a termite bond / annual inspection

5/22/2017 7:52:50 AM