most appraisers suck. it's a little different if you live in the suburbs, but I got fucked the last time I refi'd because i live in a high-density area in DC and the appraiser used completely not-comparable properties because at the time sales had been low in the area and the closest available comps for his criteria were like, two neighborhoods away, and my place appraised lower than what I bought it for. fast forward like 6 months and a place right next to me sold for over $80k more than what my place appraised for, and my place is roughly 150 sq ft larger. in general fuck appraisers. I know of one in my area, but i dont use that bank anymore, and the bank gets to pick the appraiser.

6/27/2013 10:52:36 AM

I knew my re-fi guy and my appraiser. So I got a fucking phenomenal appraisal. He hand-picked the highest comps in my neighborhood.

I think it would have been good regardless...but I probably got a $10k bump just because I'm good friends with the guy. It ended up being $25 or $30k over my original purchase price from three years ago.

6/27/2013 11:00:33 AM

The appraisal I just had done for my refi was pretty spot on IMO.

I think being an appraiser looks like a damn cushy job.

6/27/2013 11:52:57 AM

^^I know the guy I'll be refinancing with, but his bank does a rotation with the appraisers. I'm just worried I'm not going to see as much return on the $40k-50k sweat equity we've put into this thing as I'd like.

6/27/2013 12:34:59 PM

following on jbrick83's comment, generally the smaller the financial institution, the better the appraiser will be, i've found in my experience. might not be yours.

6/27/2013 1:01:14 PM

Yeah. My plan was to present a list of all the work that's been completed on the house since purchase w/ the cost associated with each. There are only a few comparable properties in the area, so I'm fairly hopeful. When we bought the house in late 2008, the original appraiser had to broaden his comp search. Truthfully, homes just aren't sold and bought out in my area often enough to have anything reasonably up to date.

6/27/2013 1:34:57 PM

ultimately the problem is that it's an art, not a science. i would manage your expectations as far as getting full return on sweat equity. it's the nature of it. but you're right to document it all.

6/27/2013 1:55:16 PM

Oh, sure. I'm not looking for full return. But if I could get 60-70%, that'd be great. I want to avoid a situation where I'm only getting 10-15% return.

6/27/2013 2:06:44 PM

Wife and I enjoy shopping at the Habitat ReStore. We bought and I replaced the kitchen faucet with one that appeared to be brand new. No real problems getting it hooked up, but now I have ridiculously low water pressure at the sink. This is one of the pull down faucets with no screw on aerator so I'm having trouble figuring out where the problem is hiding.

I'm in the process of taking it apart piece by piece to try and see where the water pressure magically drops. If there is some blockage, is there any way I can clear out the lines sufficiently? Other than that, I'd probably just have to replace the whole thing again. Any suggestions?

6/29/2013 2:56:57 PM

^Nevermind. Figured that shit out. Hey-o.

6/29/2013 4:55:01 PM

I'd like to start shutting off the water when I go out of town to limit damage if a leak occurs. I have a Rinnai tankless water heater and I'm not sure if it's safe to leave it on or if I need to shut it off as well. In the past I had an electric water heater and I always just flipped the breaker before shutting off the water, but I'm not sure if this Rinnai unit needs to be shut down. It's in the crawlspace and it's a pain to get to it (low crawlspace, small door, etica), so it would be highly preferable for me if I can leave it plugged in. Anyone know? I've consulted the owner's manual and they don't seem to cover this.

My initial guess is that no water flow = no firing of the water heater and no chance of damage, but it would be nice to confirm.

6/30/2013 1:10:37 PM

I'd call the 1-800 number and write down in the owner's manual the date, name of the rep. you spoke with, and their response. That should make it easier for you if you ever need warranty service.

6/30/2013 3:50:09 PM

My showers are about to be too ill. This saves me the trouble of carrying my Bose Sounddock into the bathroom every few days.

http://bcove.me/v8my9vyi



also apparently authorizes me to wear both clothes and sunglasses in the shower. poor ad image aside, this is a great thing.

7/2/2013 8:55:30 AM

found water leaking into my attic from the wall (nail penetration); looks like it's been looking for several weeks (pretty damp and mold).

7/2/2013 10:33:48 AM

Agent 0 is like the white Tom Haverford.

7/3/2013 2:15:25 PM

I get that and Ders from Workaholics.

7/3/2013 7:45:13 PM

dammit, my house is barely over a year old--the builder's warranty is barely expired by a few months--and I have a fucking leak. Ceiling and baseboards in one of the bedrooms are showing water stains.

7/4/2013 12:21:07 AM

showerhead is awesome.

two negatives. it won't (so far) auto-connect to a device by connecting from another device when you last used a different device. so if i was playing shit on my iPad, I have to go turn the bluetooth off on it to connect to my iPhone, and vice versa. However, I bet I just am not doing something right, so im going to continue working on that.

no volume control on the speaker, have to control from device. again, not a huge issue, and probably simplifies design immensely, but would have been nice if there was a way.

I'll live on both though, the enjoyment outweighs the issues. it's got plenty of volume, although as should be expected, this is just a simple speaker, so you're mostly getting mids, no significiant highs or lows.

oh, and it's also a pretty solid showerhead as far as water output too. not as much pressure as my old one, but i was actually looking to decrease a bit on the GPM flow in order to get more hot water out of my 30 gal heater

[Edited on July 7, 2013 at 1:11 PM. Reason : .]

7/7/2013 1:10:32 PM

why does the speaker need to be integrated into the shower head? why not just have a speaker that hangs on the shower wall and then you can have whatever shower head you want. i don't get it.

7/7/2013 1:15:04 PM

because given the chance to combine both without losing performance in either, i prefer the aesthetic look of not having "a speaker that hangs on a shower wall", but rather integrated into my showerhead, where it is also closer to my ears and thus more clearly heard in a room with generally terrible acoustics to begin with.

7/7/2013 3:20:33 PM

Badass. Although I don't spend enough time in the shower to justify a gadget such as that. And I wouldn't want to encourage my fiancee to spend any more time in the shower than she already does.

7/7/2013 4:37:19 PM

^ you'd be surprised. it's not just for the shower. I basically have it on for the 20-30 minutes i spend taking an AM dump, showering, brushing my teeth, etc, and any other AM bathroom related acts.

yes, i could just put my bluetooth-ed soundlink speakers in the bathroom, but in my case, countertop/shelf space is somewhat scarce by design, therefore it's nice to have it right there in the shower, where it's easy to hear both while im in the shower because it's right above my head, and also outside of the shower when the water isn't running.

7/8/2013 10:24:58 AM

Here's my latest woe.

Went to India for three weeks, and when we got back, we were greeted with a horrible musty odor. After airing out the house, the smell didn't go away, and I traced the source to the A/C vents on the ground floor.

Called the HVAC guy, and he confirmed the A/C was working fine, but the problem was that the crawlspace was extremely damp and saw condensation everywhere.

Called a mold/moisture specialist company, and they came out and gave me good news and bad news.

Good news is that there was no mold, just mildew and plant pathogens (non-toxic mold that smells bad but isn't dangerous) and that the source of the moisture wasn't rainwater penetration, being that the the ground under the vapor barrier was dry at all locations. The humidity from the air around the house was being 'sucked' into the crawl space with the slightly lower temperature under the house, and then condensing all over the place.

He suggested closing up all the vents to reduce the amount of air transfer, and temporarily putting in some floor fans to get the air moving and dissipate the moisture. Since closing up the vents don't create a full seal, the moisture can still escape. I was a little doubtful on how fast the moisture could escape with sealing the vents, but it did make sense in terms of reducing the amount of humid air coming in. So i also bought a bunch of damprid and put it all over the crawlspace, along with some crap that was supposed to absorb odors.

So the musty odor is markedly better. That said, I need to consider whether I really need to fork over the cash for dehumidifiers. I'd need two because I have two separate crawlspaces (previous owners added on to the house). I wonder if it would be better to replace the crawlspace vents with something that does seal out air, and manually get the existing moisture outta there.

I'd be looking at around $3k for permanent de-humidifiers based on what I've been reading online (still haven't gotten the quote from the company that came out). It's probably worth noting that my property is waterfront, so humidity will be a constant threat.

Talking to a neighbor, he had his crawlspace sealed and conditioned to avoid the problems I've been having, as well as for energy savings by not having his HVAC ductwork lose heat or cooling due to being in unconditioned space (he also had his attic sealed and conditioned for the same reason). I doubt i'd do that anytime soon, but it seems intriguing. Anyone had any experience with any of the shit I just typed out?

7/8/2013 12:27:54 PM

Quote :

"The humidity from the air around the house was being 'sucked' into the crawl space with the slightly lower temperature under the house, and then condensing all over the place."

yep. which is one reason why the whole idea of foundation vents is outdated and frankly wrong.

I don't have a lot of time to get into it atm and some people who do crawl spaces as a living can probably do a better job (I do commercial/industrial hvac and utilities, so the knowledge has a lot of crossover but residential crawl spaces are not my everyday expertise..) but I think I've posted a couple times about this in the past on this forum. If you are willing to spend the money, sealed and conditioned (or at least dehumidified) crawl spaces are definitely the way to go. Helps moisture control (both in the crawl space and in the first level of the house) as well as improves energy efficiency.

7/8/2013 12:43:39 PM

^ Thanks, i searched and found some of your old posts on the subject, very helpful.

7/8/2013 1:06:01 PM

we semi-remodeled our bathroom (new tile floor, refinished grout in the shower, replaced about half the drywall) in our master bathroom about this this time last year...we only just got around to refinishing the cabinets a little over a week ago

my wife noticed a small puddle behind one of the vanities as we were removing drawers and doors and when i checked, found the entire wall and the back of the vanity to be soaking wet...punched through some of it and removed the mirror and there's mold all over the place

anyway, just heard back from insurance and they're going to cover it (to whatever extent insurance will cover everything)...my only experience with insurance payouts is from 2 years ago when the tornadoes came through and we had some damage from fallen trees...they just cut us a check and then we did most of the work ourselves

this, apparently, is different...they cut me a check for about half so i can get started, then cut the rest after the remediation or something...in any case, the whole thing is done in stages and they (as far as i can tell) cover the actual cost of remediation, cleanup, rebuild, and new vanity and no more (ie. i can choose my companies and the like, but it all has to be replaced...and that's fine with me)

the thing is, we have this old, apparently unused black pipe about the diameter of a nalgene bottle running up through the wall that causes about half of the wall to jut out (they just added some 2x4 spacers to the existing frame and so the wall is just thicker there)...we'd like to go ahead and have the pipe removed (i think it was used for venting before the house was moved to its current location) so that the bathroom doesn't have the weird shape

also, when i redid the floor, i cut tile to go around the vanities...so now, once the vanities are removed, the old tile, thickset, and metal lath will probably be removed and i'll have gaps where they were...how hard is it to cut out the new tile that i cut to fit around the vanities and replace/fill in the missing spots with new tile and grout?

also, suggestions for drywall and tile folks? the restoration company gave me a quote, but it seems pretty high for just drywall (they didn't take into account the tile)...i figure it's because they're an all-in-one solution and can charge a premium for basic services

7/10/2013 9:05:02 AM

This is not a woe, but a question - in newly built homes is it standard to have a water hook-up for the refrigerator or is it something you probably have to request?

7/11/2013 1:08:31 AM

Standard

7/11/2013 7:03:35 AM

^

7/11/2013 9:08:42 AM

OK, good to know! I'll still ask them at the design center

7/11/2013 9:52:14 AM

unsolicited advice-- this may or may not be standard depending on your builder, but make sure you have a kitchen vent that vents outside (typically this works with a microwave that's mounted above the stove or a range hood).

if it's not standard, it's worth every penny.

7/11/2013 2:37:58 PM

^yes, that is much nicer, and required for a gas range. however, if you have electric, just prepare to pay for exterior venting. It's not hard, nor much work, but I imagine some contractors love to charge a shit ton for little things like that.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 3:14 PM. Reason : .]

7/11/2013 3:13:14 PM

OK, I will definitely make a note of that. I would have thought that ventilation over a stove/oven was standard.


I do have an electric range. I just hope that the ventilation is standard because it really useful for sucking out heat and food vapors when you are cooking.

Thanks

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 4:52 PM. Reason : /]

7/11/2013 4:49:56 PM

I don't recall if ventilation is a code requirement or not for non-gas ranges. I've seen plenty of homes without range ventilation, primarily those without stacked ranges and microwaves, and most of those were older homes.

In general, range ventilation is standard (in fact, I haven't seen a newer home without this); however, exterior ventilation is not standard on electric appliances (only on gas, where it's required)

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 5:38 PM. Reason : .]

7/11/2013 5:37:35 PM

Whats the difference between range ventilation and outside ventilation?

7/11/2013 9:07:29 PM

some range hoods and over-the-stove microwaves just blow the air right back into the kitchen. exterior ventilation means that it exhausts up through the roof and out of the house.

7/11/2013 9:16:41 PM

Oh I see. I definately have to ask about that. I have never lived in a place that did not have exterior ventilation over the range.

In my soon-to-be-place there is a microwave over the stove, so would this suggest that I am getting the ventilation that blows air right back into the kitchen? If so, how does this fare based on your experience?

Thanks for the heads up.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 10:15 PM. Reason : /]

7/11/2013 10:14:33 PM

It may also vent to an exterior wall. My parents and one of my friends has exterior ventilation straight through the wall. As a result, then inside of the microwave gets cold in the winter lol.

7/11/2013 10:31:16 PM

I recall the agent saying that it has a Zoned HVAC system as well, but I will double check on that as well.

So far on my checklist :

- Ventilation type over range
- Water hook-up for refrigator
- Zoned HVAC

Everything else is pretty self-explanatory on the standard features list.

Maybe (most of) these come standard but I am just gonna double check anyway.

7/11/2013 11:17:00 PM

You can set microwaves up to vent either way so that doesn't mean anything. Ours vents outside because the house was built with a gas stove but later converted to electric.

I'm pissed our fireplace is only built to handle gas logs and not real wood, but that's way too much money to change so I'll deal with it.

7/11/2013 11:41:44 PM

Range vents can either go through the wall, soffit, or roof. Wall and roof are most popular; wall is cheapest (but it does put a pipe sticking through the exterior of the wall - which can either be an eye sore or if someone designed properly, an interesting "architectural" feature with some lipstick.

Chances are, if you have electrical units and a vent; it's interior vented. I mean, there's no guarantee it's vented at all (almost bought a house that originally did not have a microwave above the range, the current owner cut the cabinets above the range and installed a countertop microwave... about 6" too low and obviously no venting).

I've always lived in places with interior venting and haven't had any issues. Yes, it does blow hot/moist air around/keeps it in the house, but it's generally not enough to worry about. The only thing to worry about with moisture is what you keep in the cabinets directly above/in the path of the vented air... e.g., don't store spices whereever the vent exhausts. Interior venting obviously also doesn't get rid of cooking fumes/aromas...

If you have the option, go with exterior venting. I prefer wall or soffit vents (I hate roof penetrations). If exterior isn't an option, join the 70% of households with interior vented ranges, it's not a huge deal.

7/12/2013 9:28:09 AM

As a fantasy I would like to have a jacuzzi installed in my living room

7/12/2013 10:44:30 AM

Tried to move the stove out while I was cleaning. I couldn't slide it out. Kept getting caught on the linoleum. So I thought I could just tip it front side down. When I tipped it the power cord was long enough and ended up breaking the power plug housing

7/14/2013 2:25:12 PM

What kind of fire extinguishers do you guys have?

7/15/2013 11:27:14 AM

No clue. Its probably six years old. How fucked am I if fire breaks out?

7/15/2013 11:29:07 AM

can anyone recommend an exterminator?

i need to get on a plan and am currently dealing with ants. I hope to have the ant problem taken care of but still need to get a good company to come out and spray.

i tried to search but only found old information.

7/15/2013 12:32:20 PM

I used this shit as a job site on one and it works well:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Terro-3-lb-Outdoor-Ant-Killer-Plus-9016/203225196#.UeQmr21c6t0

And if you know their entrance you can put down the traps and it should take care of them unless you have an ants problem that is ridiculous. The key is persistence.

7/15/2013 12:44:25 PM

^^^^Kiddie
^^^If it's still charged, then no.
^^I used Alexander Exterminating. Don't judge them by their website They've been good to me over the last year and are always willing to come re-apply if I find bugs.

[Edited on July 15, 2013 at 1:07 PM. Reason : .]

7/15/2013 1:06:54 PM

yeah, so i'm having my entire crawlspace fully encapsulated, vents sealed, and two dehumidifiers installed.

I can think of other ways I would have preferred to spend $17k.

7/16/2013 10:02:11 PM

7/16/2013 11:06:50 PM