The Home Improvement Thread

[Oswego]

Rookies like us use/need fingers, a trash can, and a horder's supply of paper towels. We end up with caulk all over ourselves and other tools.

Good pro's use/need slickers and get a little bit of caulk on themselves.

Great Pro's use/need nothing additional, use battery operated caulkers, and never wear anything. They have it down to a science.


Same reason even when I was a PM for glass guys that caulked weekly if the job was large enough I'd hire caulkers to save $$. It's all they do every day....day after day so they would blow my guys away. Also cheaper and would do a better job

At the end I had one good horizontal bead I didn't need to do anything to.

Never got my second coat on. Rain was forecast for last night and I didn't want to risk the second coat not drying in time so I tarped off the bottom of both entrances before I went to bed so they could dry before their first rainstorm.

 

[Anathollo]

Rookies like us use/need fingers, a trash can, and a horder's supply of paper towels. We end up with caulk all over ourselves and other tools.

Good pro's use/need slickers and get a little bit of caulk on themselves.

Great Pro's use/need nothing additional, use battery operated caulkers, and never wear anything. They have it down to a science.


Same reason even when I was a PM for glass guys that caulked weekly if the job was large enough I'd hire caulkers to save $$. It's all they do every day....day after day so they would blow my guys away. Also cheaper and would do a better job

At the end I had one good horizontal bead I didn't need to do anything to.

Never got my second coat on. Rain was forecast for last night and I didn't want to risk the second coat not drying in time so I tarped off the bottom of both entrances before I went to bed so they could dry before their first rainstorm.

Yeah the problem down here in the armpit of Texas is the caulkers aren't that great and they are expensive. We call them "waterproofers" down here.

 

[Oswego]

Yeah the problem down here in the armpit of Texas is the caulkers aren't that great and they are expensive. We call them "waterproofers" down here.

Like anything these days there are 90% good and 10% bad and the 10%er's mistakes outweigh the 90% of the good.

I always love when they would caulk over the weep holes... Had multiple consults for that crap and caught it. Never let it happen on my jobs. The systems would fill up then breach the sub-sill and flood the interior of the buildings....like WTF morons.... There aren't 100 holes in the bottom of the system for the hell of it

I just caught one of my doors seeping this morning at the back of the threshold. Apparently last nights caulk/paint job + wind driven rain + bad door gaskets = new leak. Once I get the exterior frames done I'm installing the old storm door to the front and a new one out back, then Ill have proper temps to take care of the interior of the door frames/thresholds/gasketing/paint the doors themselves.

 

[Oswego]

Klipsch.....


The bad: I lost about 3" of foam from the side of my sub foam yesterday in a catastrophic blow out so now I'm down 2 of 3 speakers.

The good: Apparently there is a cult following for the Klipsch THX 2.1 & 4.1 systems

The great: I got a new tweeter for the speaker and new foam for the sub for less than $40

The whoops: Black Friday had already suckered me into ordering a upgraded yet 'cheap for Klipsch' replacement system for the old one.....a R-100SW 10" sub and pair of bookshelf R-51PM speakers. Maybe Ill see if I can make a 4.2 system out of two 2.1's..... thats how that works right?

 

[CowboyTaco]

I have the R-51M speakers and like them. You should like the R-51PM, as I believe those are a step up. Might as well order that R-52C (or whatever the PM equivalent) while Black Friday is still going on.

 

[Oswego]

they don't support a center channel by themselves. you could do it but some rigging would be involved.

No worries, I didn't pay "mfg price" for anything ~ Everything from China is being blown out

I don't need it anyway. Last set was a decade + old and turns out "me blowing them out" turned out to be "Klipsch typical issues" after a decade of abuse.

Room it's in is only 10' x 11'-6"

Going from:

To:

On another note helping mother nature heat up for the second coat of paint. Back door never see's the sun in the am and it's 37* right now. Front doors in the sun so no worries there.

 

[Oswego]

wind picked up...had to modify it a little. I can smell drying paint in the house when I crack the door open so now it's working good

 

[Silverback]

If you have a receiver with pre-outs for all channels you can have powered speakers for L/R/C without any issues.

 

[Oswego]

Went down that research rabbit hole a while ago and was going to pull the trigger for a complete Atmos system. Looking back I'm glad I did not. I feel guilty spending less than $500 on what I did.

When I retire Ill build a real nice system ~ Give me something to look forward

 

[Silverback]

I pre-wired our living room f0r 7.2 but have not put anything in it other than a nice Polk soundbar and sub. Now with the larger TV in there I was looking at putting in a system. I've always had good luck with Klipsch. I still have 4 Klipsch subs around here (3 in the media room and one in my computer room) and a set of Klipsch Quintets in the garage for L/R/C speakers. For the living room I just want some 6" in-ceiling speakers, a small set of bookshelf and matching center with a nice 8-10" sub. Do not need to try to compete with the media room. But there was some good deals going on.

 

[Oswego]

Case of basement awning windows came into today so I just got back from grabbing them. I can't wait to see what kind of BS they did when they installed the original hollow metal framed single pain windows back in 64'. I did some exploring to get frame sizes for the new windows and I'm thinking I need to chisel about 2" of concrete to get the old frames out. Gotta hit up my film girl and see how much she wants for a few feet off a roll. Thinking Ill frost them all cause screw shades, especially in a unfinished basement

Sure my house/wallet/hvac will be happy to finally have all the single pane windows removed & replaced.

 

[Taco Loco]

I installed 7.2 in my old house, I had a front and rear sub, it was great, that is something I do miss.

 

[Oswego]

Spent the morning compiling and reading through all my local permit applications (construction/building/fire/electrical/plumbing) and online resources.

Of course they aren't clear so then I spent a while compiling all the questions I need to ask associated with my "remodel due to storm damage" or if that tact is even the best to take.

My town has 1 official, 3 sub-code officials and 1 inspector so I'm getting ready to pucker up. Guy I used to know I got to stamp my drawings last time is no longer working there.

This time I'm going to reach out to a work associate thats a PM for a GC and see what he says prior to contacting any officials.

I need to get this taken care of properly but at the same time want to avoid any potential "red flag statements or actions" that could increase the amount of red tape/politics....

So either the appliance fire at my neighbors house brought them around or a neighbor ratted me out... doesn't matter... in the end I should of listened to my gut that told me to get my permit shit together and submit it on the 19th. 5 days after I make the list and sit on it - the inspector "inspected" my house. Obviously there were issues. Apparently one can not demo their front concrete steps, concrete porch, siding, gutters, and chimney w/o pulling a construction permit first. I knew better so hopefully I can get back on their good side. Just left a VM w/the inspector.

 

[tx_shooter]

That is a load of crap. As long as it does not pose a public safety hazard and does not cause undue burden on anyone/group off of your property how does YOUR house stairs and ramps become their business? Freaking gov shakedown.

 

[Oswego]

That is a load of crap. As long as it does not pose a public safety hazard and does not cause undue burden on anyone/group off of your property how does YOUR house stairs and ramps become their business? Freaking gov shakedown.

Price you pay for living in an incorporated town/city/whatever. Made my bed now must lie in it. I was all anti-gubment worked up at first then looked into the mirror and saws the real issue. I know better.

Funny thing is my development is pretty big - all the houses made at the same time - not one chimney (used for gas fume venting only) nor one set of stairs comply to any current codes. All of the chimney's aren't even tied into the buildings and all of the stairs had risers that were over 8-1/2" tall and no handrails on the landing that was over 18" above the ground. In my designing Ive had to add an extra step just to comply - I also need to bump it from 60" wide to 72" wide so I have 18" on either side of the door frame (ADA).

Good news is I only see a "permit required" for general construction. Hopefully I don't need to draw up plans for approval, but it is what it is if I need to. Been a few months since I drafted so prob not bad idea to sharpen my pencil at it

 

[Oswego]

worst part is I only have until the 6th to comply - I opened the latter last night. Not sure when it came in - I only open mail every few days. They inspected on the 24th and I was home all day so it's not like they tried to physically contact me.

 

[Oswego]

No one ratted me out. The inspector lives two streets down and drives down the street my court connects to every day twice a day. When I was honest and told him how long ago I took my chimney down, he was amazed he did not see it earlier. When my neighbor cut down all her trees it opened up the side of my house to that road and he saw it then wrote me up. When he called me back today I apologized and insured him I wanted to comply and had already begun work on the items. He agreed to extend my time limit to comply until the first of 2021. He also told me I'd have to contact the building manager to see what permits I needed to pull. Guy was super cool and is a retired firefighter from our town. I told him if he ever wanted to look at anything to just give me a call.

Now the fun begins - I call Lisa the building manager and now have a headache.

If I close in a doorway I need a framing permit and inspection.

If I re-frame a window I need a permit, plans, and inspection.

If I rebuild my steps larger so that they actually meet code I need a permit, plans, land survey, and inspection. and since I demo'd them....yea I'm on the hook for that crap. Luckily my original land survey will work so no need for a new one - that wouldl of really pissed me off if I had to pay for that again.

Sounds like a bunch of BS, but honestly it's not all that bad. Since I'm doing the work myself at least I can draw the plans up and they don't req. a architects stamp prior to submital. Technically I could draw them old school with a pencil not to scale and they would suffice.

So today/tonight I'm putting together an e-mail with my wish list of items I'd like to modify along with pictures. She's going to talk it over with her boss then get back to me on how to streamline the process.

 

[Anathollo]

No one ratted me out. The inspector lives two streets down and drives down the street my court connects to every day twice a day. When I was honest and told him how long ago I took my chimney down, he was amazed he did not see it earlier. When my neighbor cut down all her trees it opened up the side of my house to that road and he saw it then wrote me up. When he called me back today I apologized and insured him I wanted to comply and had already begun work on the items. He agreed to extend my time limit to comply until the first of 2021. He also told me I'd have to contact the building manager to see what permits I needed to pull. Guy was super cool and is a retired firefighter from our town. I told him if he ever wanted to look at anything to just give me a call.

Now the fun begins - I call Lisa the building manager and now have a headache.

If I close in a doorway I need a framing permit and inspection.

If I re-frame a window I need a permit, plans, and inspection.

If I rebuild my steps larger so that they actually meet code I need a permit, plans, land survey, and inspection. and since I demo'd them....yea I'm on the hook for that crap. Luckily my original land survey will work so no need for a new one - that wouldl of really pissed me off if I had to pay for that again.

Sounds like a bunch of BS, but honestly it's not all that bad. Since I'm doing the work myself at least I can draw the plans up and they don't req. a architects stamp prior to submital. Technically I could draw them old school with a pencil not to scale and they would suffice.

So today/tonight I'm putting together an e-mail with my wish list of items I'd like to modify along with pictures. She's going to talk it over with her boss then get back to me on how to streamline the process.

Damn that sucks!

 

[Oswego]

We shall see how bad shortly... I just sent a 6 page PDF via e-mail to them with marked up pics and a summary of my intent.

Only difference between what I was going to do prior to what I'm doing now is - nothing except me starting on the wrong foot. I needed to doc & permit all this stuff anyway cause my intent is to upgrade for sale.

I document all my stuff so Ill be OK. Dedicated an entire notebook just to dates/times/summary of conversations for each time I am in contact with them.

Also just trying to be honest but still keep my cards to my chest so I don't put a foot in my mouth....

Thanks goodness all the work in the back of my house was done prior to this BS blowing up

 

[Oswego]

My town doesn't mess around. Head muckity muck called me tonight to review all my questions about an hr after I submitted them. Of course I just sat down to a hot meal

Tomorrow Ill submit for a demo permit so I can continue work at tear down as soon as it is issued. Then "behind the scenes" tomorrow Ill yank off the interior trim so I can figure out where the studs/headers are. Not supposed to start until it's issued but whatever.

Then I can get a jump on drawing up the framing plans for submittal approval so I can get the actual construction permit issued.

Guy was pretty cool overall. He said if my framing plans were as good as the package I sent him tonight he will turn them right around within a week at the latest.

I didn't ask how many specific inspections I would need but I assume no more than two. One to insure I put studs where I said I was going to and then to see it all done and close them out. Time will tell.

He didn't care what I built my stairs out of but I can't do floating anything so a minimum of 2 sonotube piers below frostline will be required if I utilize a ledger and 4 holes if I decide to keep it separate. Not a fan of digging holes but also not a fan of attaching wood ledger boards to the exterior of a house. Ill flip a coin on that design.