Anybody know of anywhere local the rents FLIR cameras? I want to try to get an idea of where my home loses heat, in hopes that some will be easy fixes.

10/31/2011 11:06:26 AM

CarZin, I will be curious to hear how much the radiant heat costs to operate. My wife wants this in our bathroom. The Nuheat website has a calculator that claims it would cost like 17 cents/day to operate, which seems impossibly low to me. If you can truly operate this for ~$5-10/month, it seems like a no brainer.

10/31/2011 11:18:32 AM

^^I was thinking about that same thing while in the shower last night. There are several things online but I didn't see much else.

http://www.flir.com/thermography/americas/us/content/?id=18978
http://www.thermalcamerarentals.com/do-it-yourself-home-energy-inspections.html


[Edited on October 31, 2011 at 7:40 PM. Reason : ]

10/31/2011 7:28:46 PM

7 piece martha stewart patio set
$384 shipped


I just ordered mine.

http://www.homedepot.com/Featured-Products-Overstock-Event/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbz2y/R-202353414/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

10/31/2011 7:48:52 PM

Anyone try one of those do it yourself spray foam kits?
http://www.sprayfoamdirect.com/

10/31/2011 8:08:37 PM

Has anyone purchased a "2nd home / property" in a relatively faraway place. Not like another country, but at least a day or so drive away? Pondering the challenges of owning / maintaining a second place that you can't just hop over to on a whim.

11/1/2011 1:28:24 AM

My grandmother used to have a cabin in Colorado. She would rent it out during the winter months to skiiers and use it herself in the summer when she'd go horseback riding out there. She hired a maintenance company to check up on the property once a week to make sure it hadn't burned down or anything lol. If you don't have someone who can check up on it periodically I don't know how you would make sure it's not falling into the ground otherwise.

11/1/2011 9:00:15 AM

^^^ I have done the kind that you spray out of a can (I used it to go around a door frame). It worked well, but expanded a little more than I thought it would so I can to go back and sand it down a little.

11/1/2011 10:56:04 AM

where do i dispose of a dead tree?

shithead HOA is starting to enforce rules, in the middle of the worst drought in a very long time.

11/1/2011 11:00:26 AM

Chop it up for firewood? Or get someone on Craigslist to take it off your hands for firewood.

11/1/2011 11:08:53 AM

the trunk is like 4", i doubt anyone would want it for firewood

new construction last fall, this little turd didnt make it

was thinking of chopping it up and putting it in the trash can a few pieces per week

11/1/2011 11:37:41 AM

yeah, i've resorted to the same solution myself, dismembering a tree and slowly having the city pick it up

like some kind of tree serial killer

11/1/2011 11:44:35 AM

One of my broke off and flew away during one of the big wind storms several months ago.

11/1/2011 11:45:20 AM

^8

My dad has a place outside of Boone. We don't rent it out. He's retired, and in warm weather he's gotta go up there once every 2-3 weeks to mow and whatnot. It's a hassle sometimes. He wants my brother and I to take up some more slack, but I've got family/work/whatnot and I can't go up as often as he (and I) would like to.

Someone broke in a few years back and took everything a meth addict considers worthwhile, but left most of the actual expensive stuff. A water pipe froze once and there was some minor water damage. Overall, now that it's up and running, it's a nice place to have.

If you can afford two sets of basic stuff so you don't have to haul everything each time, and two sets of phone/electric/gas bills, and it's somewhere you want to continue to visit, it's good.

11/1/2011 4:27:57 PM

Not really a "Woe", but I think this is the most relevant active thread. All the other hardwood flooring threads also seemed to lack useful information for my scenario.

I'm looking to have around 600 sf of wood flooring installed alongside roughly 200 sf of existing wood flooring. I consider myself handy enough in most disciplines, but definitely not in this domain.

Can anyone recommend a local company or provide rough estimates on what they paid for a full installation?

11/1/2011 4:37:44 PM

depends on what you are getting but I have a guy that does it for $1.50/sqft. if you need to sand/finish too it will run you an additional $1.50/sqft

11/1/2011 11:22:28 PM

depends on what you are getting but I have a guy that does it for $1.50/sqft. if you need to sand/finish too it will run you an additional $1.50/sqft

11/1/2011 11:23:04 PM

We have started looking for a new sofa and chair for our living room (to replace the current sofa and loveseat) and have had a hard time finding ones that we really like outside of a few sites online. Most of the stuff we have looked at in person at the big stores like Ashley's, Havertys, etc. is just too traditional in general and thus has only a couple options close to what we want. The few local stores that have some things in the style we like are just much more expensive than we are wanting to spend.

So, we started looking at some sites online where I have liked the style of stuff I have seen in the past. Examples are Room and Board, Crate & Barrel, and West Elm. Definitely several we like across those sites. In particular a couple items we really liked from C&B. The problem here is that none of these companies really have easy access to view the furniture in person. C&B at least has a store at a mall in Charlotte that we might try and hit up (we live in SC).

Has anyone purchased furniture from one of these sites? Or furniture directly online? Decent furniture isn't cheap, so I'm a little leery of buying furniture online that I haven't actually seen in person but I also don't want to settle for something we are lukewarm on stylistically just because we can see it in person. We already have a comfortable, well-built furniture set that we are lukewarm on as far as looks go so that just wouldn't make much sense.

11/2/2011 9:43:00 AM

I just don't know if I could buy a couch online. So many couches it seems like they look nice but when you sit on them they feel awful and are uncomfortable. I would at least want to be able to test it out before buying it online.

11/2/2011 10:20:53 AM

Yea I definitely agree with you. That's why we're kind of leaning toward C&B right now since we can at least go to a physical store up in Charlotte and they did have multiple couches we liked online (I need to make sure they are displayed in store).

I wish we had found more that we liked at local stores near us. There was one single couch at Havertys that was nice and very similar to our favorite at C&B but I wasn't a fan of any of the fabric choices and of course it was more $ to get a special order. I might still consider it though.

I guess I've been surprised we have had a hard time finding what we are looking for - at a reasonable price. We are looking for something that sort of has that mid-century modern look: Clean lines, fairly simple, not overstuffed, not microfiber or leather (an interesting fabric weave if possible). It seems like that style shouldn't be so hard to find these days; I thought it was more popular. I suppose the traditional big box stores simply carry more traditional furniture. Examples of what we are looking for:




[Edited on November 2, 2011 at 10:44 AM. Reason : ]

11/2/2011 10:40:15 AM

Quote :

"CarZin, I will be curious to hear how much the radiant heat costs to operate. My wife wants this in our bathroom. The Nuheat website has a calculator that claims it would cost like 17 cents/day to operate, which seems impossibly low to me. If you can truly operate this for ~$5-10/month, it seems like a no brainer. "

I will, but I doubt 10 sq feet of the stuff, which I think is about 70 watts of energy, is going to make my bill change too much

11/2/2011 10:47:08 AM

^^ Have you tried maybe checking out thrift stores in your area? I feel like I see those sorts of couches all the time at thrift stores. Get it reupholstered in whatever fabric you like.

11/2/2011 11:17:44 AM

Not yet. We are actually planning to do that though. We don't have a great selection of thrift stores around here but there is still a chance for something decent out there. I see people do that all the time online and on blogs I read, I just don't know how much it costs to get something reupholstered.

Actually, I just looked online (after you said that) at the "new arrivals" section for a consignment shop near us that we have been to before and saw this:



That's a little more "formal" than what we had in mind but it also isn't too far off and worth considering since it is $300 for a normal $1500+ Thomasville piece. I just have a feeling getting something like that reupholstered would get pricey quickly defeating the purpose - but I could be way off.

[Edited on November 2, 2011 at 12:06 PM. Reason : ]

11/2/2011 11:37:17 AM

Question about a suspended slab porch:

Our house was added on to at some point and the porch was a part of the addition. The now enclosed porch has a concrete sub-floor. There's an access door that I can go into and walk around underneath. I have noticed after the last two winters that the floor gets really cold and the room itself stays colder than the others. The bottom side of the floor in the crawl space is just a flat slab of concrete. Would it be worth while to string up some false joists and insulate it to see if that cuts down on the cold floor? Anyone have any experience with something like this before?

11/2/2011 11:57:59 AM

Is there a vapor barrier on the ground below the slab? Is the foundation for the porch vented? I've never encountered this situation, but I'm curious.

11/2/2011 12:37:25 PM

Quote :

"That's a little more "formal" than what we had in mind but it also isn't too far off and worth considering since it is $300 for a normal $1500+ Thomasville piece. I just have a feeling getting something like that reupholstered would get pricey quickly defeating the purpose - but I could be way off."

I had a chair reupholstered a few years ago and it wasn't all that expensive. $300 + reupholstry will definitely be cheaper than $1500. Could always go take measurements of the couch and get some quotes before committing.

11/2/2011 2:13:48 PM

I appreciate the info. I found the dimensions online for that sofa. Thomasville actually sells it for $2199 base model. I might try and get some quotes on reupholstering just to get an idea in general for getting a sofa this size done to keep in mind.

11/2/2011 3:39:17 PM

Quote :

"Is there a vapor barrier on the ground below the slab? Is the foundation for the porch vented? I've never encountered this situation, but I'm curious."

No vapor barrier. It is vented, two vents.

11/2/2011 5:30:49 PM

Kitchen sink drain is clogged. Thankfully I found a special on Angie's list to unclog it for $60

11/2/2011 8:27:37 PM

$150 for the plumber...and then we realized it was covered by the home warranty. No reimbursements....ffffffiuuuuuuu

11/4/2011 6:32:49 AM

After rain I find wet spots on the floor in two places. There is a light bulb above each place. I assume the water drips down from the light but it's weird because the ceiling looks perfectly dry and I haven't actually seen it happen. How big of a hazard is this? Any other explanations?

11/4/2011 10:12:17 AM

^^I mean... liquid plumber?

11/4/2011 11:56:36 AM

Quote :

"After rain I find wet spots on the floor in two places. There is a light bulb above each place. I assume the water drips down from the light but it's weird because the ceiling looks perfectly dry and I haven't actually seen it happen. How big of a hazard is this? Any other explanations?"

Ive seen that happen in a few homes. Its a huge hazard, imo. I actually saw one that had dripped through the fan fixture, and filled the light globe at the bottom with water. The bulb was completely submerged. It kept blowing the breaker, so they asked me to come look. Couldnt even tell the globe was full of water until I removed it to check the actual bulb base.

A roofer came in and was able to trace the leak by the stains it left on the rafters and fix the roof in the spot that was leaking.

11/4/2011 12:22:53 PM

^^ Yeah we tried that first. Turned out the previous owner had been pouring grease down his drain for 20 years and it was clogged all the way to the sewer with hardened grease.

11/4/2011 1:09:14 PM

ew. what did the plumber have to do?

11/4/2011 1:36:18 PM

I had a similar situation...plumber pulled carpet remnants out of the sewer line from previous owners

there are some curiously dim individuals out there.

11/4/2011 1:54:08 PM

Kinda like the people who rented the house before we bought it. Their kids had flushed toy cars, little army men and fingernail clippers down the toilet. Had to buy a brand new one.

11/4/2011 2:09:07 PM

Plumber had to take his extra long snake and was pulling out huge globs of grease. He said it should be fine for now but it looks like we're going to need more work done to it in the near future. Good thing we pushed for that home warranty.

11/4/2011 2:47:56 PM

Quote :

"Plumber had to take his extra long snake"

twss

11/5/2011 8:52:12 PM

Quote :

"Shivan Bird Football time 10993 Posts user info edit post After rain I find wet spots on the floor in two places. There is a light bulb above each place. I assume the water drips down from the light but it's weird because the ceiling looks perfectly dry and I haven't actually seen it happen. How big of a hazard is this? Any other explanations? 11/4/2011 10:12:17 AM "

The hole in the ceiling is allowing the water to drain. If the water sits you will notice the ceiling damage. Water/electricity don't mix so I would get the leak fixed.

11/5/2011 10:45:02 PM

I was planting some flower bulbs around our mailbox today and my neighbor stops in her car and goes, "Man you're making me feel bad about not doing anything to our house."

11/6/2011 6:14:44 PM

How hard is it to remove a chain linked fence? I assume it's most likely cemented in the ground?

11/6/2011 7:20:51 PM

Quote :

"A roofer came in and was able to trace the leak by the stains it left on the rafters and fix the roof in the spot that was leaking."

Quote :

"The hole in the ceiling is allowing the water to drain. If the water sits you will notice the ceiling damage. Water/electricity don't mix so I would get the leak fixed."

Thanks. So what's step 1? Calling a roofer?

11/6/2011 8:11:52 PM

^^You might be able to get it done for free/cheap. Advertise on craigslist that they can have the fence if they remove it. Otherwise, you just have to remove the fencing first. Then you can either dig up the posts or pull them out with a truck. Depending on how deep the posts are and how much concrete was used you could be lucky and be able to pull them out pretty easily with a little digging.


[Edited on November 7, 2011 at 4:01 AM. Reason : ]

11/7/2011 3:59:00 AM

Need to secure the doors...

Looking at getting the Door Safe Frame reinforcement kit...

fuuuu

11/7/2011 5:53:32 AM

Quote :

"How hard is it to remove a chain linked fence? I assume it's most likely cemented in the ground?"

As long as the fence is in pretty good shape, maybe try calling Coalition to Unchain Dogs and seeing if they would want it? I'm sure if they could salvage the fence to use on one of their fencing jobs they would want to use it. I just don't know how feasible it is to salvage something like that without breaking it up.

http://unchaindogs.net/

11/7/2011 9:42:24 AM

Quote :

"Thanks. So what's step 1? Calling a roofer"

Yeah, I would just go ahead and call, you are going to end up there anyway unless you feel like you can fix the roof.

11/7/2011 11:10:12 AM

wish I had a house to have home ownership woes

11/7/2011 2:39:00 PM

HOA wants to bump fees $50 a month or do a $2500 assessment. FML.

11/7/2011 9:08:56 PM

$50/month Is it a townhome?

11/7/2011 9:37:39 PM