The Swamp

I came back from traveling all last week to a few new projects.

1) The A/C has two inches of water in the bottom. It runs fine, but water is flying everywhere. The drain may be clogged internally because I can't see anything. Repair guy comes tomorrow. I also found that the insulation around the coolant line looked wet. It has some greasy residue on it. Is that the coolant?

2) I had to drill a 4" hole in the side of the house for the bathroom vent. I ended up breaking my drill and nearly my wrist. It was the final task of finishing our basement. We added 1,000 sq/ft with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a big family room. It took two years of weekends and 100's of trips to various home improvement centers.

3) After I finished drilling the hole I crashed on the recliner. So my wife tells me she want a deck. I think not a big deal. Wrong. She wants a roof, with screens. She then brought her phone over and showed me this:

testuser2 wrote:3) After I finished drilling the hole I crashed on the recliner. So my wife tells me she want a deck. I think not a big deal. Wrong. She wants a roof, with screens. She then brought her phone over and showed me this:

We wanted to renovate the bathroom in our old house, and my wife wanted to replace the plastic shower liner with ceramic tile. I've never installed ceramic tile before, and I was reluctant to agree to attempt the project, but I told her I'd give it a shot if it was a simple pattern. She said OK, that's fine, and came back with a pattern two days later.

This is the design she created:

- Ceramic tiles laid out in a herringbone design for the first three feet above the tub.
- A straight line of mosaic glass tiles about six inches wide.
- More herringbone tile above the straight line, but pointing the other way.

I just looked at her and walked away. We hired someone to install the tile, and fortunately it wasn't the design she created.

testuser2 wrote:I came back from traveling all last week to a few new projects.

1) The A/C has two inches of water in the bottom. It runs fine, but water is flying everywhere. The drain may be clogged internally because I can't see anything. Repair guy comes tomorrow. I also found that the insulation around the coolant line looked wet. It has some greasy residue on it. Is that the coolant?

We had a small drip out of one of the hoses coming from the ac. Water spraying all over the interior of the unit Long story short - the evaporator coil was clogged.

I've never been one to negotiate (outside of a flea market or car dealership), but that might change. When my bill came in from the plumber for my giant project, it was $3400 over the estimate, partly because I misunderstood that the drywaller billed separately. The contract reads very poorly, and the explanation was worse. Anywho, I wrote a very long letter explaining why the price was too high, and insisted that I was only paying the amount of the estimate and included a check for that amount. This was preceded by a series of e-mails where they never really responded to my concerns. They never responded, and finally cashed my check. Saved myself $1,750! I even said in the letter that if they could justify the budget overruns, I'd be willing to listen. And I would have, too. What really got me was billing both the plumber and his assistant at the same rate, which was $90/hour each. The assistant was being paid $10/hour, and was unskilled, lazy and bitching about his back hurting half the time while the plumber yelled at him that he was slowing him down.

Anywho, my point is that home improvement repairs are negotiable. Good lesson learned.

The Sybian wrote:Anywho, my point is that home improvement repairs are negotiable. Good lesson learned.

I'm always wary of haggling much with anyone who afterward has to come work in my house on something I don't fully understand (or simply can't see if it's behind drywall). I want them doing the best job they can, not trying to get their money back or get revenge.

The way you handled it - negotiate AFTER - is much safer.

Shirley wrote:

The Sybian wrote:Anywho, my point is that home improvement repairs are negotiable. Good lesson learned.

I'm always wary of haggling much with anyone who afterward has to come work in my house on something I don't fully understand (or simply can't see if it's behind drywall). I want them doing the best job they can, not trying to get their money back or get revenge.

The way you handled it - negotiate AFTER - is much safer.

Yeah, I hate the feeling of holding them hostage after they fixed my house, but the overruns seemed insane to me, especially since the plumber kept telling me they didn't find anything unexpected, and that they should be close to the estimate. In the future, I'll probably pay full amount if it seems fair, but I am studying invoices from now on with a more critical eye.

Mildly off-topic, but we just got our inspection today on the house we're buying. Looking forward to negotiating down due to the deck, since it was built entirely above-ground and now tilts toward the house, threatening to cause water to leak into the foundation.

Sabo wrote:

testy boxcar wrote:we do that shit for fun in the midwest. my dad has a backhoe!

Exactly. Being able to operate power equipment is a requirement to live in the Midwest.

Right up there with an inebriated willingness to cunnilingualize a thick, native girl with a clitoris the size of a baby's fist.

ZaZ wrote:

Sabo wrote:

testy boxcar wrote:we do that shit for fun in the midwest. my dad has a backhoe!

Exactly. Being able to operate power equipment is a requirement to live in the Midwest.

Right up there with an inebriated willingness to cunnilingualize a thick, native girl with a clitoris the size of a baby's fist.

glad to be born in jersey.

For people with central air...if you have a room not being used; let's say that one of your kids is sleeping over a friends for the night, do you shut the door and close the vent in that room? Should I be doing that?

done it in the past, but saw no difference in regards to my billzz.

Jerloma wrote:For people with central air...if you have a room not being used; let's say that one of your kids is sleeping over a friends for the night, do you shut the door and close the vent in that room? Should I be doing that?

I think it would only be prident if it were for long periods of time that a room was sitting empty. For a night? Neglible.

And if it were a room you didn't use for long periods, you'd probably need to seal off the room completely to make much of a difference.

Replaced my front door yesterday. Only took 9 hours!

It finally started dipping into the 30s at night this week, so I turned on the furnace for the first time yesterday.

I thought it kicked on OK, but when I went upstairs I smelled gas. I went back down and the pilot light (and whole furnace-y part) were out. I re-lit it, turned the heat off, waited for the fan to turn off then started it up again. This time I watched, and when the fan kicked on the flame went blue for a couple of seconds (like it was being blown) and then went out. I re-lit the pilot and decided at that point, fuck it, someone else who knows what the fuck they're doing it going to have to look.

I don't get what could have changed since last year. Access to the innards of the thing is via these two giant metal panels, which are all beat the fuck up and as a result are a pain in the ass to open and close. Maybe I just did a shitty job closing them and caused an ill-placed draft, though I can't figure out how I just managed to do that for the first time this year after living in the house for nine years. Or maybe it's just 40+ years old.

Luckily we just blew a bunch of our disposable income on a new bedroom set that is due to be delivered tomorrow, so we can be home to wait for the HVAC guy, too!

rass wrote:I thought it kicked on OK, but when I went upstairs I smelled gas. I went back down and the pilot light (and whole furnace-y part) were out. I re-lit it, turned the heat off, waited for the fan to turn off then started it up again. This time I watched, and when the fan kicked on the flame went blue for a couple of seconds (like it was being blown) and then went out. I re-lit the pilot and decided at that point, fuck it, someone else who knows what the fuck they're doing it going to have to look.

Are you leaving the pilot on for a bit? It needs to warm up the thermocouple so it can send the signal to the solenoid. Otherwise the gas will shut off. If any of that stuff is broken it should be pretty cheap to replace. I leave that to the professionals.

testuser2 wrote:

rass wrote:I thought it kicked on OK, but when I went upstairs I smelled gas. I went back down and the pilot light (and whole furnace-y part) were out. I re-lit it, turned the heat off, waited for the fan to turn off then started it up again. This time I watched, and when the fan kicked on the flame went blue for a couple of seconds (like it was being blown) and then went out. I re-lit the pilot and decided at that point, fuck it, someone else who knows what the fuck they're doing it going to have to look.

Are you leaving the pilot on for a bit? It needs to warm up the thermocouple so it can send the signal to the solenoid. Otherwise the gas will shut off. If any of that stuff is broken it should be pretty cheap to replace. I leave that to the professionals.

Whoa, man. We're in America. Try speaking English.

I don't know anything other than things are working differently than they have for the past nine years, and further fucking around on my part risks blowing the house. So yeah, professionals. Already scheduled the appointment.

I'm a dork and pay for a tuneup every fall for the furnace and spring for the A/C simply because it makes me feel better

We've been having this odd thing happen that our hot water doesn't work until it has been run for a while. Not sure what the issue is, but if I get up out of bed when the first alarm goes off, I can turn the water on and let it run until the next snooze. Then sleep one more snooze and it is usually OK.

Very odd, as it only seems to be in the morning (which is probably because it's sat idle for a few hours).

Anyhoo, we're out of the townhouse and into the new home in 28 days, so who cares. I can deal with it for a bit.

Just put together an IKEA closet system for the master closet in the new place LIKE A BOSS.

AB_skin_test wrote:We've been having this odd thing happen that our hot water doesn't work until it has been run for a while. Not sure what the issue is, but if I get up out of bed when the first alarm goes off, I can turn the water on and let it run until the next snooze. Then sleep one more snooze and it is usually OK.

Very odd, as it only seems to be in the morning (which is probably because it's sat idle for a few hours).

Anyhoo, we're out of the townhouse and into the new home in 28 days, so who cares. I can deal with it for a bit.

Sounds like you need to insulate your hot water copper pipes.

And like Bronto, I pay someone to service the furnace and AC every year, especially since we also have a whole-house air filtration system. That filter gets pretty damn dirty after one year.

Last week, my dad and I hung two new fluorescent lights in my garage and installed three new electrical outlets. Now I can work out there at night and not strain my eyes. Previously, it was just a single 60 watt bulb illuminating a two-car garage, which is less than ideal.

Brontoburglar wrote:I'm a dork and pay for a tuneup every fall for the furnace and spring for the A/C simply because it makes me feel better

I signed up for a plan this summer when my AC went out. Damn near paid for itself!

I also installed a Nest a few months ago. Works great, but took three tries to get my funrace wire into the right port. But boy howdy when I fixed it did i FEEL LIKE A MAN.

AB_skin_test wrote:Very odd, as it only seems to be in the morning (which is probably because it's sat idle for a few hours).

Is it a tankless model? If it is then it's just the way it is.

If it's a tank you may have a bad heating element/sensor. If the top one doesn't work it may take a while to push the hot water at the bottom up to the top discharge. Take a look at the diagram. You're moving out. So I wouldn't worry about it.

testuser2 wrote:

AB_skin_test wrote:Very odd, as it only seems to be in the morning (which is probably because it's sat idle for a few hours).

Is it a tankless model? If it is then it's just the way it is.

If it's a tank you may have a bad heating element/sensor. If the top one doesn't work it may take a while to push the hot water at the bottom up to the top discharge. Take a look at the diagram. You're moving out. So I wouldn't worry about it.

The bad top element is my suspicion as well, but as I said, FUGEDABBOUIT.

Well, fuck.

rass wrote:Well, fuck.

Did the house blow up or is it just going to be an expensive fix?

Thanks for the concern!

Something is wrong with the heat exchange? He said the flames were jumping all over the place. Then when the blower would kick on (or turn off, once) it was sometimes enough to snuff the flames completely. Because the furnace is so old, replacements parts are not an option. Getting a whole new furnace is.

Fortunately we have a guy (a good friend of my wife's boss) who does this shit for a living, and while I guess the degree of separation is such that we weren't worthy of giving the old furnace a look-see on a week night, it sounds like he would be willing to take the job of replacing the whole damn thing (and we'll likely have him do the water heater, too, since that is over 10 years old).

On the plus side, my wife says the new bedroom set looks fabulous!!!

rass wrote:On the plus side, my wife says the new bedroom set looks fabulous!!!

I guess burning it for heat is out of the question then?

testuser2 wrote:

rass wrote:On the plus side, my wife says the new bedroom set looks fabulous!!!

I guess burning it for heat is out of the question then?

What about burning up the sheets?

Do you think that even for the most fleeting of moments DSG pictured me having sex?


The friend of my wife's boss stood us up on Saturday, so we moved on to a friend of a different co-worker of hers (I obviously need handier friends). He showed up today, verified the diagnosis, took some measurements and will work up some options for us.

So, humidifiers attached to furnaces...yay or nay?

Seems like just one more thing to break.

rass wrote:So, humidifiers attached to furnaces...yay or nay?

Seems like just one more thing to break.

I have one. No problems with it, but it's only a couple of years old. Mine has a filter that needs to be replaced once every year, but it's an easy install.

The old furnace didn't have a functioning humidifier the first winter we lived here, and I got shocked a lot due to static electricity. After the humidifier was installed, I haven't had that problem since.

We also had a whole house air filtration system installed, and that thing is wonderful. We rarely have to dust, and my mother-in-law's allergy symptoms were reduced considerably.

rass wrote:So, humidifiers attached to furnaces...yay or nay?

Seems like just one more thing to break.

I have an ancient one that hasn't worked since we moved in 5 years ago. Sure the kids get nose bleeds due to the dry air, but other than that, no issues.

We've never had an issue with static electricity in the house, and one of our kids used to get nose bleeds occasionally, but we do have a single room humidifiers to handle that. I just know from those things what a pain in an ass it is to keep them clean and mold free, so I was worried about having to deal with a larger one with the ability to spew mildew throughout the house.

I thought the guy was supposed to call and lay out our options yesterday, but apparently my wife talked to him and just OK'd everything he suggested over the phone, including the humidifier. I wasn't (stilln't?) sure about the humidifier, and called back and left him a message telling him that, but giving him the opportunity to talk me into it. Which he'll probably just take as "no".

The guys are here replacing the furnace and water heater. I'm bored, slightly chilly, and unable to stop raiding the Halloween candy.

And the day isn't a complete loss! As I was dragging our old bedroom set (which we were planning on giving away via Craigslist or tossing) outside I got a good look at the back. Ethan Allen, Old Tavern, 1965. So I looked it up, and there are individual pieces going for hundreds on eBay. We have a dresser, hutch, desk and chair. I just pulled the "free" listing off CL and told the couple of people who showed interest it is no longer available.

rass wrote:The guys are here replacing the furnace and water heater. I'm bored, slightly chilly, and unable to stop raiding the Halloween candy.

What is the furnace setting you back?

Our furnace stopped working yesterday. Had the guy come out (always cheap on a Sunday), and he said that the "board" is no longer working. I guess the board is what sends the signal to the fan to come on when the heat kicks in. We can keep the fan running with the switch on the thermostat, and that works fine, but if we turn that off, then heat will kick in with no fan, and the furnace will overheat.

Anyway, the repair guys says its a $900 repair. And our furnace is more than 15 years old.

So ... is it really $900 to replace the board, or are they taking me for a ride? If so, is it worth spending a grand on a furnace that's 15 years old?

And why do I need ball bearings for the Fetzer valve?

We're getting hit for $6000 for the whole job (removal of the old shit, price of the new shit, plus installation, the latter of which includes a new vent for both). This is supposed to be a friend of a friend, so hopefully we're not getting shafted.

rass wrote:We're getting hit for $6000 for the whole job (removal of the old shit, price of the new shit, plus installation, the latter of which includes a new vent for both). This is supposed to be a friend of a friend, so hopefully we're not getting shafted.

The repair guy said that new ones from them run $4K-$10K. He looked at the heat exchanger and did not find any cracks, so at that price range, we are leaning toward just spending the $900 and hoping the furnace lasts a few more years.

Steve of phpBB wrote:

rass wrote:We're getting hit for $6000 for the whole job (removal of the old shit, price of the new shit, plus installation, the latter of which includes a new vent for both). This is supposed to be a friend of a friend, so hopefully we're not getting shafted.

The repair guy said that new ones from them run $4K-$10K. He looked at the heat exchanger and did not find any cracks, so at that price range, we are leaning toward just spending the $900 and hoping the furnace lasts a few more years.

Just get some duct tape and do it yourself!

rass wrote:And the day isn't a complete loss! As I was dragging our old bedroom set (which we were planning on giving away via Craigslist or tossing) outside I got a good look at the back. Ethan Allen, Old Tavern, 1965. So I looked it up, and there are individual pieces going for hundreds on eBay. We have a dresser, hutch, desk and chair. I just pulled the "free" listing off CL and told the couple of people who showed interest it is no longer available.

I ended up getting $170 for the whole set. The guy who took it had a compact pick-up truck, and we managed to stuff all four pieces plus the mirror in the back and lashed it all down pretty tight. He had an almost 2 hour drive South on the GSP. Hope he makes it OK. And I hope his wife is OK with the furniture. She wanted to come and look at it before making a purchase, but couldn't make it, which end up being good because we stuck the desk chair in the passenger seat.