REVscene Automotive Forum - What did you do to your house today?

REVscene Automotive Forum (https://www.revscene.net/forums/)

- House and Home Renovations (https://www.revscene.net/forums/house-home-renovations_338/)

- - What did you do to your house today? (https://www.revscene.net/forums/717205-what-did-you-do-your-house-today.html)

gutted the house, added a lot of pot lights etc.

My electrician wants and say we do need a sub panel which will be $2000

i need to know wtf, is it legit, is 2k reasonable... can anyone provide insight?

Electrical work is finished and he/she wants to add a subpanel after the fact? Are you upgrading service at all? Ie, you currently get 100A from the city, but electrician wants to make it 200A

I've been putting an effort into my lawn this year to see how good I can get it. Bought a soil analysis test, bought lime to neutralize the soil, fertilizer to adjust for nutrients that were missing based on the soil test, some top dressing and seed.

Well it's been ok but not as great as I'd hoped. I had a few bare areas from dead leaves and grubs over the winter and those unfortunately did not fill in.

https://i.imgur.com/KoFwhXc.jpeg

However the areas with existing grass is looking pretty good.

Finally cut the lawn today after seeding about 4 weeks ago to see thr initial results of all my hard work and $$$ as well as cleaned my glass patio cover.

https://i.imgur.com/RUSLKcj.jpeg

Next on the plan this weekend is to power wash the deck and patio furniture.

Did you climb on top of the cover or cleaned from the ladder? It looks really clean!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5 (Post 9135308)

Did you climb on top of the cover or cleaned from the ladder? It looks really clean!

Cleaned from the ladder. I think I saw the installers stand on the cover but I'm not sure what weight it could support. Would be way easier if I stood on it.

There are streaks for sure, if I was patient to dry and wipe the squeegee each time it would be cleaner, but I ain't got no time for that

But yeah I did it from the ladder, I bought two of these from Princess Auto last autumn and made a 12ft pole just for this purpose

https://i.imgur.com/rC65End.jpeg

Shower head + faucet is leaking will need to replace the cartridge behind the knob.

Anyone done this before or should I hire someone?

Bathroom fan is also rattling and noisy!

If you can find the part numbers and can turn a wrench the shower cartridge is a very easy DIY. Bathroom fan may take a little more skill depending if it's a re/re of the same model or if you're changing our to something else but not outside the skillset of most RSers if you have experience tinkering with your car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonick (Post 9135309)

The last people that washed and painted my awning used planks like this to get on top.
https://b2194183.smushcdn.com/219418...strip=1&webp=1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerbs (Post 9135338)

Shower head + faucet is leaking will need to replace the cartridge behind the knob.

Anyone done this before or should I hire someone?

Bathroom fan is also rattling and noisy!

I've changed a few. Not all are the same. Delta was a one piece, just pull out the old and push in the new. I think the other brand was Moen, and that was 2 part a mixer and diverter. Had to make 2 trips to the store cuz I changing only 1 part didn't solve the problem.

It's pretty simple, just need some basic tools and know how to shut off the water. Some rough in valves can let you shut off right at your shower, otherwise you need to shut off your whole place. I had to shut off my whole house each time I did the shower valve.

FYI if yours is Delta, try to utilize the lifetime warranty. It was pretty painless to get them to mail me a replacement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerbs (Post 9135338)

Shower head + faucet is leaking will need to replace the cartridge behind the knob.

Anyone done this before or should I hire someone?

Bathroom fan is also rattling and noisy!

can be done yourself. just make sure you have the tools and ensure any nuts and bolts don't fall into the drain LOL. it does happen.

as for bathroom fan, take it out, give it a clean wipe and 99% of the time it'll be smooth unless the barring is done .

This is in a condo and I've been advised 2x that I shouldn't do the shower faucet because if I fuck up I may leak into floors below me.

But watching this video, seems super easy. But worried about liability.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5 (Post 9135001)

Electrical work is finished and he/she wants to add a subpanel after the fact? Are you upgrading service at all? Ie, you currently get 100A from the city, but electrician wants to make it 200A

they are still working on the wiring.
saying they need more space' they can totally use these dual circuits... say it might trip 100AMP wth

total BS. hot water tank (not even the instant heating ones), heat pump / aC, oven, dryer.. no EV.. 2600 sq ft.. 4 rooms.. ic an't see how we can trip 100AMP unless they wire like shit.

https://i.ibb.co/Lg0sn5B/1.jpg
100 amp house
hot water tank
oven
https://i.ibb.co/yqSd7hw/2.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerbs (Post 9135410)

If you have your own shut off to your unit. DIY. Water isn't going to leak to other floors cuz the golden part of the rough in protrudes into the shower area, so excess water will drip into the shower and not behind the wall. Since you have already shut off the water to your suite, worst case is you have no water until a pro comes in and fixes it if you happen to fail. I skimmed the video, but that chrome ring removed by the belt, I was able to remove with my bare hands. If I wasn't able to use my hands I'd try gloved hands for more grip. I have a spare delta valve, looks the same as the one in the video. It only does on or off, if yours can choose hot and cold, then it's a different valve. If delta won't send you a new valve and mine is what you need, you can have it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6793026 (Post 9135412)

If space is the problem, tell them to use the tandem breakers. If they plan to keep it at 100A service and still adding in the new circuits, it'll trip anyways whether it's 1 panel or 2. My suspicion is that they just want more room to work instead of having to shove wires in a tight spot. Couple tandems should be cheaper than a subpanel, cuz you'd have to buy a breaker to put in the main to feed the sub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonick (Post 9135242)

It's a 3-4 year process to start from scratch. I'm on year 3 now and there are still some patches and each year that passes the patchiness becomes less and less. It's a lot of work, especially if there's lots of shade, but patience is key!

I've also been working on a 10 year old apple tree for 3 years now, has also finally started to look good, thinking it will be ready in another 2 years.

https://i.ibb.co/TRRCt41/1.jpg
our house reno, have a low voltage line - cabinet lights etc

https://i.ibb.co/Mpq38dQ/2.jpg
wife bought this and ripped out wiring and wants to thread her own with this.

https://i.ibb.co/m6scXws/3.jpg
will it work?

we are just too embarassed to ask the general contractor to ask the electrician...

I'm confused on what you're trying to do, but in that last picture no. You can't use 12V wiring for 120V and absolutely do not hook up 120V to a 12V device.

I'm confused too. There green mark is where you want to put the down light? What's the wall in the 2nd photo for?

Are they light switches or outlets beside the window?

If they are outlets you could just meret a jumper and install a new box where you want the light fixture and run the 120v from the existing box to the new light.

If you wanted to really half ass it you could even just drill a hole and fish the wire itself from the existing box and just tuck it behind the fixture lol.. presumably though that fixture has some sort of mounting box no?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6793026 (Post 9135412)

total BS.

No, not BS.

Just as a start:
Hot water tank: 20A
Heat Pump: 30A
Electric Dryer: 30A
Electric Range: 50A

Those 4 items alone all running simultaneously at full capacity are already above your 100A service's capability....

Quote:

100AMP unless they wire like shit.

How they wire has no impact to how much current a load draws.

That’s also why you include diversity though

But I agree, you’re basically at your limit for 100a

Yeah for a service load calc it'd look like this:

Basic Load (General lighting & receptacles), 2600sqft house: 30A
Range: 25A (50% of 12000W rated range)
Hot water tank: 5A (25% of rated load when house has an electric range)
AC: 30A (100% of rated value)
Electric Dryer: 7.5A (25% of rated load when house has an electric range)

=97.5A

It really is right on the cusp of that 100A service.

My point is that 6793026 is really out to lunch with his comment that the electrician was telling him BS that additional loads risked tripping...

If anyone is needing a custom door, I recently dealt with Terra Doors in south van, really great experience.

They built me a totally custom door for my suite for $650, whereas most place just wanted to stick me with a cut down 34 or 36 inch door, pre hung exterior flat panel door very high quality threshold and jam. Good experience overall with good communication through the entire process and even threw in free delivery given it made everything easier for both of us

If anyone has a tumble/condensing dryer at home and you start getting drain/pump errors you probably have this issue:

I have a different model than he does but mine was almost exactly the same in terms of opening and the issue, the lint sludge in the trap at the bottom. Started getting pump errors after about 10 minutes of drying. Did this and vacuumed/wiped down the sump and venting inside. Works like brand new now

If you have any sort of ability using a screw driver you can do this

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hondaracer (Post 9137551)

Who did you work with there?

That sounds reasonable. I need a custom door for my suite as well. The robbers broke the door around Christmas. We installed a metal gate, but a new door would be better.

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traum (Post 9117818)

Need some help and suggestions from the RS collective hive mind on how to proceed after a basement flooding event.

The atmospheric river we had on Monday resulted in a section of my brother's basement flooding. His house is an old bungalow in a long rectangular shape, and the water pooled at one end where the fireplace is. We actually have no clue how or where the water came from -- on Monday night when the rain was coming down hard, he noticed that water just started seeping out from the laminate floor, and it gradually pooled up to about the size of a queen / king size bed. It never got very deep, and they were able to soak the water up when the rain stopped on Tuesday.

Obviously insurance has been called, and a restoration company has come to take an initial look. The restoration work will proceed, and will probably take a few months to complete. We've gone through the very same process a few years ago when my parents' bungalow basement suffered a really bad flood, so we know the drill in how the restoration will happen.

But what we don't know and desperately need help with is on identifying the water breach and getting that fixed. With my parents' home, that was the easy part because our sump pit drain got clogged, so the atmospheric river water backed up and overflowed from the sump pit, flooding the entire basement in a good 2" - 3" of water. But in my brother's case, we honestly have no idea -- the sump pit is not at that end of the house, and it didn't overflow.

It'd be pointless to do the restoration work if we are unable to identify the breach because the same flooding will happen all over again at the next atmospheric river event -- or maybe even just from heavy rain. The restoration company has already indicated that they can only do the restoration work, and has no interest in performing any work to identify and/or repair the breach.

So we are stuck here because we literally have no clue on how we can even proceed. We are thinking we need to hire somebody who can help us identify some potential sources of the breach, and perform the necessary work to eliminate those potential causes. We know that would likely be educated guesswork instead of definitively identifying where the breach is, but we are not even sure who we can/should talk to to get the ball rolling.

I know we have a lot of trades / construction knowledge in RS, and I know we have a lot of experienced home owners that are far more knowledgeable and resourceful than I am, so I am hoping I can tap into your brains to help my brother out.

Thank you for your help in advance.

Have you guys made any progress since? It's been a few months since it happened.

We recently did some work in the basement and your case made me think of two things that we were dealing with.

1. We had a small crack in the foundation, about 1 inch long. We learned that typically there's a waterproof paint that's added to the outside of the concrete foundation, at least for a house from our era. The crack meant the waterproofing at that spot was compromised. It wasn't a HUGE leak but the concrete surrounding the crack was damp during the atmospheric rivers. In the week that it was dry, the concrete dried off. We sealed it from the inside but it's not a true fix, it just keeps the water from coming through the crack, but concrete is porous so there will always be some moisture. The proper fix would be to dig up the concrete walkway that surrounds the house and properly seal it from the outside. I didn't want to embark on that right now as I simply don't have money.

2. We had to dig in the basement and we found ground water during the atmospheric river. We live on a hill so the ground water appeared on the deeper/more in the hill side of the house. We consulted some builders and engineers and they said if it's below the bottom of the foundation, it's not unexpected.

So combined those two things, you may run into a flooded basement without any visible source during very heavy rainfall.