The Home Improvement Thread

[balakay]

Plumbing issue came back after a a few weeks. Plumber is coming out in the morning. 99% sure a cast iron pipe is busted under the foundation. Luckily I'm pretty sure it's only a few feet from the edge of the house so hopefully it can be tunneled to and we don't have to jackhammer to it. Building a new house and getting away from this piece of shit is looking better and better by the hour...

 

[balakay]

Also the wall behind the washing machine is completely ruined. Can damn near poke my finger through the drywall so cutting that out is on the menu for tomorrow as well. Almost certain it's related to the broken pipe issue.

 

[balakay]

Spent most of the morning putting up Christmas lights and outside decorations. Now I'm programming them all to Kasa plugs I got off of a Cyber Monday deal on Amazon (same day shipping FTW!). Because fuck plugging and unplugging my wife's 5 Christmas trees, the Christmas lights, inflatables, porch decorations, etc every day.

"Alexa turn off the fucking lights". Easy peasy.

 

[tex]

I used a dawn/dusk timer for the outside lights. The LEDs draw way leas power so it was easy to split the different strands off 1 timer.

 

[Anathollo]

Spent most of the morning putting up Christmas lights and outside decorations. Now I'm programming them all to Kasa plugs I got off of a Cyber Monday deal on Amazon (same day shipping FTW!). Because fuck plugging and unplugging my wife's 5 Christmas trees, the Christmas lights, inflatables, porch decorations, etc every day.

"Alexa turn off the fucking lights". Easy peasy.

I did the same thing! But make sure you write in sharpie where you put each kasa outlet (i.e. "Front Door", "Side fence lights", etc...) when you take them down. I had to plug them in one by one to see where I had put them

 

[tx_shooter]

I tried numbers and ended up going with logical location names.

 

[balakay]

I did the same thing! But make sure you write in sharpie where you put each kasa outlet (i.e. "Front Door", "Side fence lights", etc...) when you take them down. I had to plug them in one by one to see where I had put them

They'll likely be used for other things in between Holiday seasons. So I just gave them numbers. When I unplug the Christmas tree (which is #1) I'll change the name back from Christmas Tree to Mini #1 in the app so I can repurpose it as needed.

 

[balakay]

Plumbing issue came back after a a few weeks. Plumber is coming out in the morning. 99% sure a cast iron pipe is busted under the foundation. Luckily I'm pretty sure it's only a few feet from the edge of the house so hopefully it can be tunneled to and we don't have to jackhammer to it. Building a new house and getting away from this piece of shit is looking better and better by the hour...

Definitely a busted pipe under the foundation. Going to have to tunnel under to fix it. Would like to replumb everything with PVC but it's just not in the cards right now. We've spent enough money in the last few weeks. Going to schedule it for next week when we get back from Broken Bow.

 

[Anathollo]

Got this 8' fence installed last week. My neighbor got the material for free so he helped me install the posts and I did the rest of the framing and picket install myself. I got the fence framing plumb and level but the damn pickets were crooked as hell which made them a pain to install. This was my first time installing treated wood pickets as well instead of cedar pickets. I wasn't about to take the time to saw each picket plumb either. I just made sure the pickets were as tight together as I could get them so when they dry out, it will have a small of a gap as possible. Had my neighbor not gotten these pickets for free, I would've returned them and gotten something else, they were that bad.
I still have to finish the portion on the left but that requires asking my neighbor some questions before proceeding with the work and he was on vacation.

 

[balakay]

Galvenized fence post FTW.
Any plans on removing that oversized crape myrtle too? It has potential to cause foundation problems.

The crepe myrtle is getting removed. My insurance cancelled my coverage because of it and other providers are denying me coverage because of it. I'm sick of cleaning up after the fucking thing anyway so no skin off my back. I'll probably start taking it down next week when we get back.

 

[PSU Taco85]

Definitely a busted pipe under the foundation. Going to have to tunnel under to fix it. Would like to replumb everything with PVC but it's just not in the cards right now. We've spent enough money in the last few weeks. Going to schedule it for next week when we get back from Broken Bow.

Don't use PVC, go with PEX, copper or poly. PVC will get brittle in just a few years and crack on you if it's disturbed

 

[balakay]

Don't use PVC, go with PEX, copper or poly. PVC will get brittle in just a few years and crack on you if it's disturbed

It's a drain line

 

[PSU Taco85]

It's a drain line

gotcha, that makes the decision easy then

 

[Anathollo]

FInally got my replacement window. Due to a bunch of fuckups on McCoy's end, I got $200 off the window. Now, I just have to take out the trim and old window and replace it with this new one. This is a heavy mofo and was a work out getting it off my trailer by myself.

 

[balakay]

Definitely a busted pipe under the foundation. Going to have to tunnel under to fix it. Would like to replumb everything with PVC but it's just not in the cards right now. We've spent enough money in the last few weeks. Going to schedule it for next week when we get back from Broken Bow.

That's definitely a problem.

 

[balakay]

That's definitely a problem. View attachment 63740

So this pipe is in the beam. Going to have to bust the beam out here and at the other end of this run where the washing machine is and run PVC along side the beam. But we have to have the tunnel extended to another 7 feet to reach the washing machine. So the price just doubled. They can't extend the tunnel until Saturday and the plumber will be here Monday to replumb. Buying used houses is the same as buying used cars. You're just buying someone else's problems. But with houses, everything is more expensive. Our next house will be a custom build. No more cookie cutter builders grade half assed bullshit.

 

[Anathollo]

I've been getting a bunch of small jobs done around the house.
I got another section of my pier rebuilt.

I got the bench that wrecked my pier during the hurricane installed. I replaced all of the garbage deck screws the contractor used with 316 stainless steel screws.

I finally got this fan replaced at my mom's. It was her bday gift after the hurricane broke the previous one.

 

[balakay]

Looks like our plumbing saga will hopefully be coming to an end this weekend. Ready to be done with this shit. Been a month or so now. Luckily we didn't end up having to jackhammer through the floor in the laundry room like we thought. Basically everything under my laundry room and kitchen has been replumbed at this point. Both supply and drain. A lot more work and money than the project was originally intended to be but we kept finding more questionable shit so I told them while we already had the tunnel, just do it all. I'd rather spend an extra 25% now than have to pay for another tunnel to be dug in a year or two.

 

[Anathollo]

Looks like our plumbing saga will hopefully be coming to an end this weekend. Ready to be done with this shit. Been a month or so now. Luckily we didn't end up having to jackhammer through the floor in the laundry room like we thought. Basically everything under my laundry room and kitchen has been replumbed at this point. Both supply and drain. A lot more work and money than the project was originally intended to be but we kept finding more questionable shit so I told them while we already had the tunnel, just do it all. I'd rather spend an extra 25% now than have to pay for another tunnel to be dug in a year or two.

You definitely made the right choice there.

 

[balakay]

Plumbing is done. Well the pipe replacement is done at least. Half of my house has been converted to PVC and all the supply lines have been rerouted out of the beam so they're no longer completely encased in concrete. Still getting water backing up into the kitchen sink when my washing machine drains. Working on getting the blockage cleared out. I'm so ready to sell this piece of shit. Just have to get the wife on board which will be impossible.

In other news, got another rick of wood delivered today. Had to stack it in the garage because my backyard is still completely blocked off until they put all the dirt back under my house. So I'll have to move it once that's done later this week. Having a tree in our front yard taken down this spring and that will yield me probably a cord or so of wood so I should be set next year if we're still living here.