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The Home Renovation Thread

Sanzabar said:
Have an odd situation..

Home inspection was done on my townhouse and the inspector said that I needed my drain pipe that is in my attic to be extended to the exterior of structure. It is currently going into a pan with a shut off switch.

Called two local HVAC company and they said as of January 1, 2016, those drain lines are not required to be on the exterior of structure. Talked to my friend who is a HVAC mechanic and he said those exact words before I could finish what the inspector said.

Inspector responded by saying it needs to be done.

What to do now??
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Find out what code changed the mandate, print out the section that applies and forward it to the inspector. I would also keep a copy just in case it's needed later. However if it's not required by an over arching building code doesn't mean that municipality has accepted the newest codes, or that the local municipality hasn't modified that code to be more stringent than the national code. Also I will say that if it was my house and my system I would have the drain line running out to day light, switches and relays can go bad, and the only way you'll know is if the pan over flows and you have bigger mess on your hands.
 
T2GRN18 said:
Find out what code changed the mandate, print out the section that applies and forward it to the inspector. I would also keep a copy just in case it's needed later. However if it's not required by an over arching building code doesn't mean that municipality has accepted the newest codes, or that the local municipality hasn't modified that code to be more stringent than the national code. Also I will say that if it was my house and my system I would have the drain line running out to day light, switches and relays can go bad, and the only way you'll know is if the pan over flows and you have bigger mess on your hands.
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The odd thing is... My neighborhood has over 100 Townhomes, built in 2010-2013, and none of them have drain pipes on the exterior. That's what baffled me.

How much does it cost to have one extended and ran to the exterior? Inspector estimated at $125 and that sounds insanely cheap to me.
 
Sanzabar said:
The odd thing is... My neighborhood has over 100 Townhomes, built in 2010-2013, and none of them have drain pipes on the exterior. That's what baffled me.

How much does it cost to have one extended and ran to the exterior? Inspector estimated at $125 and that sounds insanely cheap to me.
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It is cheap, as long as the drain line and maintain a 1/4" per foot fall to the outside, like through a soffit or whatever. Overhang is nearby. Some counties require that the drain line be situated to drip on an exterior window sill so it will alert the homeowner of a problem. Most likely it's 3/4" PVC PIPE, A couple fittings and strapping. MAYBE 2 hours of labor if it's accessible.
 
Be careful with the composite decking. They can get really slick when wet. Uncle of mine had a really bad accident while cleaning gutters. Ladder slid on the decking and brought him down with it.
 
Looking at puting up a pole barn for our garage and doing some work to the barn to poor concrete and make it more useable.


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18k board foot of reclaimed redwood from Oregon. Beautiful species
 
JB said:
Its not that I dont want to, its that you have met me...haha
No, its a unique situation where we are just looking to extend ours a bit. The problem is that the original homeowner laid the concrete underneath and went with the thin/half pavers. So I am not exactly sure what to do here, but I know it needs to be done and needs to be done soon.
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Wake said:
I did my pavers and they turned out well, definitely not a pro however. It's actually not difficult, but is pretty laborious.

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Crazy part is all we are looking to do is extend one side by about 4 feet and the other by about 4 feet. Not a lot of pavers at all, but I am ****ing clueless.
 
JB said:
Crazy part is all we are looking to do is extend one side by about 4 feet and the other by about 4 feet. Not a lot of pavers at all, but I am ****ing clueless.
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If you want to take it on yourself there are tons of videos and articles online about it. The one difference I learned from talking to multiple people is forget about the sand, just use the paver base all the way. You can get it at home depot, or can get it much cheaper at a rock and gravel yard, but for such a small place the price difference might not make it worth the extra effort.

The other thing to consider will be matching the pavers. Even if you find the exact paver, if they have been subjected to sunlight you will likely have fading.

I'm sure you'll pay a bit more to have it done if you go that way, just because it's a small job.

You did say they did it right over the concrete, is the rest also going to be over slab, or extend out over an area that is currently unpaved? Part of mine was over concrete and part of mine wasn't so I had to do it both ways.
 
Quick question on home inspection results.

I received the results back and the inspector is stating to provide paid receipts by licensed contractor. The two repairs are to have the panel box door reattached and to have the linoleum in the spare bathroom resealed and recaulked that butts up against the bathtub.

It is literally four screws that need to be screwed in to re-attach the panel box door and it is a simple reseal and recaulk job by the bathtub.

I can do those myself in no time, so is it mandatory that I have a licensed contractor come in to do those two things?
 
Sanzabar said:
Quick question on home inspection results.

I received the results back and the inspector is stating to provide paid receipts by licensed contractor. The two repairs are to have the panel box door reattached and to have the linoleum in the spare bathroom resealed and recaulked that butts up against the bathtub.

It is literally four screws that need to be screwed in to re-attach the panel box door and it is a simple reseal and recaulk job by the bathtub.

I can do those myself in no time, so is it mandatory that I have a licensed contractor come in to do those two things?
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The inspector is not the one who will make that decision assuming things are vastly different there. Talk to your agent about it, it will come down to the language in the contract and language on the repair addendum. Usually on stuff like that they buyer will not care who performs the repairs.
 
mhuelsman131 said:
Hopefully we have some HVAC/plumbing guys on the forums that can help...I'm looking to remove one baseboard hot water heater in my kitchen and was hoping someone could shed some light on how difficult/easy this project might be. I've done some light research on it and have the basic steps down: Drain boiler, cut out radiator, patch/cap pipes based on system, fill and purge boiler. It sounds and looks relatively easy in my head, but I'm sure there are some nuances that I don't know about. Any help?
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It doesn't really get more difficult than that. Even with draining the boiler you will probably get some black water at the radiator so be prepared for that. If there's a drain on each radiator you should be able to isolate that Zone and not have to drain the boiler.
The main thing is removing all air from the system when you fire it back up. Air is the devil and it never wants to just go away.
 
JB said:
Its not that I dont want to, its that you have met me...haha
No, its a unique situation where we are just looking to extend ours a bit. The problem is that the original homeowner laid the concrete underneath and went with the thin/half pavers. So I am not exactly sure what to do here, but I know it needs to be done and needs to be done soon.
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Wake said:
If you want to take it on yourself there are tons of videos and articles online about it. The one difference I learned from talking to multiple people is forget about the sand, just use the paver base all the way. You can get it at home depot, or can get it much cheaper at a rock and gravel yard, but for such a small place the price difference might not make it worth the extra effort.

The other thing to consider will be matching the pavers. Even if you find the exact paver, if they have been subjected to sunlight you will likely have fading.

I'm sure you'll pay a bit more to have it done if you go that way, just because it's a small job.

You did say they did it right over the concrete, is the rest also going to be over slab, or extend out over an area that is currently unpaved? Part of mine was over concrete and part of mine wasn't so I had to do it both ways.
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That is where I am stuck. I dont know what to do. The part done is over concrete. The part we want to continue is just grass right now. I dont know what to do. The quotes we got were astronomical.
 
JB said:
That is where I am stuck. I dont know what to do. The part done is over concrete. The part we want to continue is just grass right now. I dont know what to do. The quotes we got were astronomical.
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Are the quotes broke down? Are they gonna lay concrete then pavers or base to get to paver height to match?

Can always ask for a cash price as well, which may work or not to reduce price some. That depends on the company and how they operate.
 
Chelsea is really good at paver patio installation.. I wonder if she'd want to fly to Tampa...
 
JB said:
That is where I am stuck. I dont know what to do. The part done is over concrete. The part we want to continue is just grass right now. I dont know what to do. The quotes we got were astronomical.
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We can talk about it Saturday, I bet you can do it, maybe with the help of some hired labor.
 
Wake said:
We can talk about it Saturday, I bet you can do it, maybe with the help of some hired labor.
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You have met me right? haha
 
So we have a leak in our window sill somewhere and it's causing major water damage to the wall underneath it.

I am going to attempt to fix this myself. I think I can do it. I just need to figure out where the leak is coming from, and then I think I can do the rest. I am so tired of paying people thousands of dollars to fix this stuff. To have someone fix it I am looking at somewhere between $1500-$2000.
 
GG check the caulk on the outside of the window and the drain holes in the bottom of this sill.
 
Decided to scrape the smaller deck with composite.

Spent most of the weekend headed to landfill after completely removing the old decking including all posts etc.

Now to work towards a natural stone patio....lots of work ahead.
 
#Cookie said:
Decided to scrape the smaller deck with composite.

Spent most of the weekend headed to landfill after completely removing the old decking including all posts etc.

Now to work towards a natural stone patio....lots of work ahead.
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You going with cut stone or just natural as you dug it out of the ground?
 
JohnSinVA said:
You going with cut stone or just natural as you dug it out of the ground?
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Was thinking natural but also pondering a concrete solution. To say we are undecided is an understatement. Hahaha
 
GolferGal said:
So we have a leak in our window sill somewhere and it's causing major water damage to the wall underneath it.

I am going to attempt to fix this myself. I think I can do it. I just need to figure out where the leak is coming from, and then I think I can do the rest. I am so tired of paying people thousands of dollars to fix this stuff. To have someone fix it I am looking at somewhere between $1500-$2000.
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The leak has been fixed, the old moldy drywall has been removed, new drywall is in place, and now the mudding has begun.

A HUGE thanks to T2GRN who has basically been on 24/7 face-time during this process, and another HUGE thank you to mward who has been my partner in crime during this adventure. We are basically like the blind leading the blind, but we got it done!

I still have several steps to go, especially because I had to rip out the entire baseboard running on that side of the wall, but we are making major progress. And the total so far has been less than $300 vs the $2K companies wanted to charge me.
 
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