The Home Improvement Thread

[Oswego]

And passed w flying colors.

Dude offered me a job. Said I wasnt kidding about being meticulous. I followed up with asking how bad it is out there. He told me to stick to commercial construction and that his jobs horrible all around.

I learned a long time ago not to do residential. People suck

 

[tx_shooter]

Commercial can suck too; at least in my experience in IT support. But at least commercial does not guarantee to suck as bad as residential. There is a reason I stopped telling people I worked in IT Support. Even now I just say IT Management which is true; I just leave off the hands off side.

 

[Anathollo]

Welp, no one knows so it's being kicked upstairs to the big boss.

Apparently I'm the first to retrofit a house with rockwool. Since its unfaced being used in a remodel they aren't sure.

I'd guess it's not a good idea and that's why everyone's houses rot out. That plus using crappy tyvek

I've never had issues with real Tyvek plastic. I have seen issues with Tyvek knockoff plastic (usually has your local hardware store branding on it).
The same with the tape, it needs to be real Tyvek tape.

 

[Anathollo]

And passed w flying colors.

Dude offered me a job. Said I wasnt kidding about being meticulous. I followed up with asking how bad it is out there. He told me to stick to commercial construction and that his jobs horrible all around.

I learned a long time ago not to do residential. People suck

Nice!

And yes, fuck residential work. I can't stand working on old shitty houses and giving people quotes for work that you know they can't afford. I always ask "what's your budget for this renovation?" and 99% of people don't have one. But yet when you give them a quote, they magically know in a second what they can afford at that point.

If you don't know what you can afford to pay, then don't waste a contractors time.

 

[Anathollo]

My sister & BIL is in town for turkey day and they brought me their old Apple Extreme wifi router since my BIL upgraded to a new one (I don't know why he needed to upgrade yet) so I added it to extend my wifi network (and retired my first Apple router that's been on since 2007).

 

[Oswego]

Commercial can suck too; at least in my experience in IT support. But at least commercial does not guarantee to suck as bad as residential. There is a reason I stopped telling people I worked in IT Support. Even now I just say IT Management which is true; I just leave off the hands off side.

My biggest frustration in commercial is the same as residential, ignorance.

Nice!

And yes, fuck residential work. I can't stand working on old shitty houses and giving people quotes for work that you know they can't afford. I always ask "what's your budget for this renovation?" and 99% of people don't have one. But yet when you give them a quote, they magically know in a second what they can afford at that point.

If you don't know what you can afford to pay, then don't waste a contractors time.

Average American was in 18k cc debt prior to covid. Imo our government overspending is only a result of the public's similar approach and reluctance to change.

I've never had issues with real Tyvek plastic. I have seen issues with Tyvek knockoff plastic (usually has your local hardware store branding on it).
The same with the tape, it needs to be real Tyvek tape.

If I was going to use a loose type wrap 30# felt would be my choice. That stuff holds up to decades of abuse.

I'm not happy with what I've seen from both tyvek and lowes tyvek with about 2x their exposure rating. That said I exceeded it on both, but both have the same rating

 

[tx_shooter]

Seems topical

 

[Oswego]

Little slower than I had hoped but siding my front should start tom. Cut/notched all the trim today indoors.

Also decided starting December I'm disallowing my neihbors from parking on my property. Came home today and almost flipped out because I could barley fit in my driveway. For ref mine is 2 cars wide and theirs 1 so they were over the property line by 10' or so. Didnt used to be an issue but like all jackasses they took advantage. I'm going to survey it based on my land survey and put a post 1' inside my property.

 

[tx_shooter]

I would send them a certified letter with a cut off date. If they want to be real shady about it they can try to claim they have a verbal easement. I have seen that argument make it to court but never through court. But it still cost the money of getting there.

 

[Oswego]

I'll have a verbal conversation tom. This will not draw out. They wont like it but have no means to argue anything. I'll have my survey in hand plus posts, fencing, and plants will just show up in the ground one day while they are at work.

Worst case I know my local Leo's and town officials all through highly positive encounters. My neihbor knows them for the opposite. Plus last thing my drug dealing neihbor wants is heat. Fuckers on dissability slinging pills while painting houses on the side under the table.

God I cant wait to get out of this shithole

 

[CowboyTaco]

I actually like the plants idea better than the fence post. The post is a blatant FU, whereas the plants serve the same purpose but would be a more aesthetic option. Some sort of hedge like holly bushes should do the trick. Hopefully they wouldn't just run them over while they are still small though.

 

[Oswego]

Now you guys got me worried so I threw this together to hand him today. Also having a buddy extrapolate better dimensions off my survey so I can stake it out easier.

What im handing him

Dims my buddy is pulling up for me

 

[tx_shooter]

You would be surprised how many states respect "historical use" arguments in court.

 

[PSU Taco85]

Yeah I was happy with the results. I'm 12 hours into the 30 hour break in. I ordered some watt meters to install on my breaker panel so I can monitor each leg as I load up the machine to ensure it's balanced. Be interesting to see how many amps the house normally draws sitting "idle" and then starting up various items to see what they draw.

I got the 80 gallon kobalt from my dad for free. He had it for years but never really used it. I don't think Lowes even makes that model anymore it was the largest one at the time. I think it's rated for 17 CFM @90 PSI. More air than I'll ever need that's for sure.

Finished up the wiring of my panel this morning and continuing the break in period.

Got a nice indoor rated case from here, awesome site and great products. They charge a bit much for shipping though, oh well so be it.

Plastic Enclosures & Boxes for the Electronics Industry

Polycase is a premier manufacturer of plastic electronic enclosures and boxes. Purchase high-quality plastic, aluminum, steel and NEMA-rated enclosures for any application from Polycase.com.

www.polycase.com

Cut out the area for the meters and the knockouts

Extended the CT wiring with some 18/5 thermostat wire I had laying around

Fused the inlet with some bussman 1 amp fuses. The feed to here I used 10 AWG wire since it's wired in parallel with the generator breaker. Probably could have gotten away with smaller wiring but didn't want to chance it in case a fault happened upstream of the fuse.

Pretty nice display, one for each split phase. Normally the meters will be off unless my generator is running as I'll manually open the generator inlet breaker.

Compared a few loads with my fluke and they were pretty close to the meter reading, close enough for me to keep an eye that I'm not overloading the generator

Also installed an AC "powerback" to let me know I can shut off the generator when the linesman restore power, THP108 The Home Protectors - Reliance Controls Corporation

I know I didn't put the generator feed with the interlock kit up to code but oh well, I didn't feel like rewiring the other two circuits, don't think I will have an issue unless I go to move out and an electrical inspector is really nitpicky. Here's a video of me closing all the feeder circuits, nice to have the indication right at the panel.

 

[Taco Loco]

Finished up the wiring of my panel this morning and continuing the break in period.

Got a nice indoor rated case from here, awesome site and great products. They charge a bit much for shipping though, oh well so be it.

Plastic Enclosures & Boxes for the Electronics Industry

Polycase is a premier manufacturer of plastic electronic enclosures and boxes. Purchase high-quality plastic, aluminum, steel and NEMA-rated enclosures for any application from Polycase.com.

www.polycase.com

Cut out the area for the meters and the knockouts
View attachment 39759

Extended the CT wiring with some 18/5 thermostat wire I had laying around
View attachment 39760

Fused the inlet with some bussman 1 amp fuses. The feed to here I used 10 AWG wire since it's wired in parallel with the generator breaker. Probably could have gotten away with smaller wiring but didn't want to chance it in case a fault happened upstream of the fuse.
View attachment 39762

View attachment 39765

Pretty nice display, one for each split phase. Normally the meters will be off unless my generator is running as I'll manually open the generator inlet breaker.
View attachment 39764

Compared a few loads with my fluke and they were pretty close to the meter reading, close enough for me to keep an eye that I'm not overloading the generator
View attachment 39761

Also installed an AC "powerback" to let me know I can shut off the generator when the linesman restore power, THP108 The Home Protectors - Reliance Controls Corporation
View attachment 39763

I know I didn't put the generator feed with the interlock kit up to code but oh well, I didn't feel like rewiring the other two circuits, don't think I will have an issue unless I go to move out and an electrical inspector is really nitpicky. Here's a video of me closing all the feeder circuits, nice to have the indication right at the panel.

Awesome work!

 

[PSU Taco85]

Awesome work!

Thanks, hopefully once I finish the break in (5 more hours) and change the oil, I'll not need to look at this for a good long while except to start it up maybe once a quarter

 

[Silverback]

Very nice.. I have a couple of those same meters. I was planning to use them to monitor the power usage on the trailer. As per typical.. I have not installed them yet.

 

[Oswego]

You would be surprised how many states respect "historical use" arguments in court.

How many ex heroin addicts you know that are selling drugs while defrauding workmans comp and had their house in preforclosure for over a year take a guy to court when he tells them to fuck off parking in his own yard???

Yea.......

 

[Silverback]

You still got that slingshot you built?

 

[Oswego]

You still got that slingshot you built?

I lost all mine in a boating accident.

Coughfellonycough