The Home Improvement Thread

[Oswego]

I gots.... No shop, no trailer, & no lawn guy.

& for what I pay in taxes and the little resources I use here in town - don't 'TREAD' on me

I'm kidding about the tread reference .......still pisses me off through

 

[AlienXtx]

 

[balakay]

Shit, our guys will take whatever I leave as long as it fits in a can they can pick up with the robot arm on the truck. Even with the bulk pick up, I've never once seen them get out of the crane truck and inspect it. They just drive up, swing the grapple over and take it all at once. I've gotten rid of a ton of "stuff" by just piling other crap on top of it.

 

[Oswego]

Thats the way it used to be less the boom until a few years ago when we changed companies to save $$.

Don't get me wrong - I mostly like my town and how it runs - it's the subcontractor who sucks.

 

[AlienXtx]

Shit, our guys will take whatever I leave as long as it fits in a can they can pick up with the robot arm on the truck. Even with the bulk pick up, I've never once seen them get out of the crane truck and inspect it. They just drive up, swing the grapple over and take it all at once. I've gotten rid of a ton of "stuff" by just piling other crap on top of it.

I get rid of "stuff" at the scrap yard the same way, but get paid for its weight

 

[Oswego]

High temps today but also high winds and I didn't feel like messing w/the house so I knocked out a bed out front.

got everything graded including the wood @ 1/4 bubble away from the house

got it about 1/2 way full of river rocks now but it got dark so I called it.

gotta go back w/some backer rod and urethane and caulk the wood to the sidewalk. Whoever set the forms for the sidewalk should be shot. I hit up the high spots w/my grinder (diamond blade) and a chisel but it would of taken me all day to get it perfect so big gap + some limestone colored caulk it is just liker all my other concrete joints.

 

[Taco Loco]

I got a call today from TSC, the rest of my back ordered fence wire came in, picked up another 6 rolls/1980 ft. of wire, and another 12’ gate, the store manager gave me 20% off .

 

[TacoXpo]

As the guy that does what I do for a living, remove all these pics and stories long before you sell the place. No how much you now what you have done is right, any sleaze bag real estate attorney could easily use all of it that you have intimate knowledge of the home and any defect that they find later.

 

[TacoXpo]

Please know that I love what you are doing.

 

[CowboyTaco]

As long as they don't connect him to TOR, he should be good.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Not sure if I mentioned the oven saga over here, but long story short: the Whirlpool oven microwave combo unit that came with the house sucked donkey balls. We got the unit replaced once and the new unit had the same problems. After 4+ service calls to replace every part in it, Whirlpool agreed to either replace it with another identical unit or buy it back. They would not upgrade us to the next unit up.

We opted for the buyback and got an LG on Black Friday special. Only problem was that it couldn't be delivered until Christmas eve. I'm not trying to replace an oven on Christmas eve, so we scheduled it for last Wednesday. My first time replacing a wall unit and darn that thing is heavy. Manual says 202lbs, but it seemed heavier than that. Had to enlarge the hole for it to fit.

 

[Oswego]

As the guy that does what I do for a living, remove all these pics and stories long before you sell the place. No how much you now what you have done is right, any sleaze bag real estate attorney could easily use all of it that you have intimate knowledge of the home and any defect that they find later.

I get it, but not worried. I'm not knowingly doing anything thats not 100. In 99% of cases anytime I touch anything I go above code. Ex.: I put in Comfortbat fire rated insulation and 19/32 plywood. Could of gotten away with crappy fiberglass that burns and 3/8" plywood for half the cost. That said and no matter how bad I want out of here - I'm not going to change who I am just to put some lipstick on this pig for a unethical sale.

House is being sold as is and all work has gubment permits being pulled with gubment inspections approved.

All above the table here & I know thats not the point but it is mine. You're giving great advice, I just choose to dismiss it based on my old profession. I already live with enough anxiety - can't be concerned about this or the truck being online.

I also plan on having my own 'home inspection' when I have caught all I can so I can fix whatever they find. I already reviewed my checklist from the inspection when I bought as a guide for what I need to keep an eye on. Most of that crap is little stuff I wouldn't know to look for - I can see the major issues

Save this post so if I have issues 4 months from now you can re-quote it and give me the "I told you so" story so it sinks in next time

 

[TacoXpo]

I get it, but not worried. I'm not knowingly doing anything thats not 100. In 99% of cases anytime I touch anything I go above code. Ex.: I put in Comfortbat fire rated insulation and 19/32 plywood. Could of gotten away with crappy fiberglass that burns and 3/8" plywood for half the cost. That said and no matter how bad I want out of here - I'm not going to change who I am just to put some lipstick on this pig for a unethical sale.

House is being sold as is and all work has gubment permits being pulled with gubment inspections approved.

All above the table here & I know thats not the point but it is mine. You're giving great advice, I just choose to dismiss it based on my old profession. I already live with enough anxiety - can't be concerned about this or the truck being online.

I also plan on having my own 'home inspection' when I have caught all I can so I can fix whatever they find. I already reviewed my checklist from the inspection when I bought as a guide for what I need to keep an eye on. Most of that crap is little stuff I wouldn't know to look for - I can see the major issues

Save this post so if I have issues 4 months from now you can re-quote it and give me the "I told you so" story so it sinks in next time

I had an agent that worked for me that had a client that replaced his tub faucet. The home sold for $1 million. it sat on a 25 x 75 lot. The 500 sf 'home' was a 1930s beach home with 2x4s as floor joists. When they took out the bathtub they saw 'black mold.' When talking with the neighbors, the neighbor said that he helped the seller replace the faucet. Long story short, the buyer was awarded $125k for failure to disclose. I have seen master carpenters been hosed by douchebags. I guess I am super jaded and do everything in my power to protect my clients. That's all.

 

[Oswego]

I had an agent that worked for me that had a client that replaced his tub faucet. The home sold for $1 million. it sat on a 25 x 75 lot. The 500 sf 'home' was a 1930s beach home with 2x4s as floor joists. When they took out the bathtub they saw 'black mold.' When talking with the neighbors, the neighbor said that he helped the seller replace the faucet. Long story short, the buyer was awarded $125k for failure to disclose. I have seen master carpenters been hosed by douchebags. I guess I am super jaded and do everything in my power to protect my clients. That's all.

Apples/oranges in my mind, but I get that the moral is the same and applies.

I'd be happy if I walked out with 125k from the sale alone ~ I have HUD housing with tarps on the roofs in my neighborhood.

Been managing commercial construction projects almost my entire adult life and avoiding all those pitfalls through a very basic code.

Use superior products, be truthful but guarded, use good labor practices, and document everything all the time.

and if a window and door guy does his windows and doors wrong - he deserves to get sued. no one knows about leaky walls more than the guy who always gets blamed for them even though 99.9% of the time the window's not the issue

 

[TacoXpo]

Apples/oranges in my mind, but I get that the moral is the same and applies.

I'd be happy if I walked out with 125k from the sale alone ~ I have HUD housing with tarps on the roofs in my neighborhood.

Been managing commercial construction projects almost my entire adult life and avoiding all those pitfalls through a very basic code.

Use superior products, be truthful but guarded, use good labor practices, and document everything all the time.

and if a window and door guy does his windows and doors wrong - he deserves to get sued. no one knows about leaky walls more than the guy who always gets blamed for them even though 99.9% of the time the window's not the issue

Just know that I am jaded and do my best to help people from getting hosed.

 

[Oswego]

Just know that I am jaded and do my best to help people from getting hosed.

I'd be the same way if you were getting windows or a shower.



Done washing rocks by hand for a while till I build the opposing bed. Maybe later this week. Just got done giving them a hose down w/some wet & forget so by tomorrow they should be nice and clean looking. Ill plant them out later winter/spring when that sides done. I do not want to have to worry about damaging plants during construction. Already going to suck rolling ankles on the rocks but I needed them moved from where they were + it gave me an excuse to spend a few hrs doing layout of grade w/my laser so I can draw up the stairs for my permit app.

Kid next door is checking w/his boss tonight regarding work this week. If he's available & the weathers good hopefully we can knock out the rest of my sheathing and complete that task on that side of the house. Got about 4 more sheets all aboev the first story to go till thats complete.

Then it's time to start one more side of the house but this ones easy & hopefully won't require new plywood everywhere like this one did. Started with the hard stuff first.

& if the lawyers reading this I even used Pro grade weed blocker so the next guys not screwed in 2 years time

 

[Oswego]

By by walkway. I should of done this in fall so I could of seeded it and had some coverage by now but it is what it is.

Walkway caused more issues that positives + I'm the only house on the block with one. I already have a concrete driveway with sidewalk so I decided to kill three birds w/one stone. Using the extra dirt from under my front slab to fill it in, using the old stone for new projects, and less BS to shovel in the snow + safer w/less liability to focus foot traffic to an actual safe sidewalk that meets code.

I left about an inch or two below grade with the compacted base so I can cover it with some topsoil.

I top soiled and seeded in front of my shed in fall but no matter how hard I try to not walk on it I end up killing it

going to let these sit here for a little bit to see how I like them in that location.

same for the garden - see if I like it then set them.

still got 7 nice sized stones left so I need to figure out some sort of patio/small seating area I can use them for with my chimenia

also got all my stones placed for my fire pit to see if I like that location. Pretty sure Ill be moving it all a few feet. Fire's getting a little too close to my kayak and the fence for comfort on windy days.

 

[Silverback]

I want to build a similar walk-path from our pool around to the side door at the garage. Dogs have worn down a nice trail already.

 

[Oswego]

my neighbors dogs have created a mud track that does a complete circle around their house. Saw it from my roof last week

I added another stone at one of my gates this morning. all the pinch points of traffic that are heavily traveled will get one or two. also going to center the middle slab at the garden gate so it looks better. I was tired and cold by the time I got to them last night so they got flopped on the ground w/little thought.

still no idea where I want to put my chinenia. Been here 16 years and to date never found a good spot for my fire pit or chiminea. Guess thats my subconscious telling me I can't find one I'm happy with because there are none for me in suburbia so GTFO as soon as possible

 

[Silverback]

Luckily my trail is not a mud track.... more of a worn down grass area.