What home improvement work did you do today?

Oof. That sucks. I had to chisle out tiles, then a pour over laminate to get to the subfloor. Someone had previously done a half ass repair under the tub, so that had to come out too. I had to jack the top plate/header above the window and build in a new double header to support it. Got everything done and sheetrock hung then realized the ceiling had a 1/4 inch runout from left to right in the shower. I was too tired tear it out to shim it. Unless you are looking for it you will never see it.

 

AC tripped the breaker 3 times over the past 3 days now. Swapped the breaker with a new one and hoping that does the trick. Almost 4 hours and so far so good...

 

Yep, they go bad or were never quite good from the beginning.

 

Almost got a twitch in my eye reading this post. LOL So, where I currently live (we close on the sale of our house here in Missouri in exactly 8 days) is in what's called a 'non-code-bearing jurisdiction.' I have a sub box that's off the main breaker box; every electrician I know has inspected it and says it's safe as hell, you'll never ever have any issue with it....*BUT* if someone ever wants a VA loan or something like that, it'd require replacing the box.

Well...that would require upgrading the box from 200A to 250A (I believe). That would require new line (8/2 with a ground, or whatever they said) and *THAT* stuff is about $100/foot, and the power pole is 60' away from the house...so it'd easily be $10K or above to replace it.

Thankfully, the guy buying the house is the son of the local foreman @ the power cooperative, so if there's ANYONE who could replace that on his own, it's that guy, so no need for me to do all that.

 

Congratulations on the near closing, hope all goes smoothly. Staying in State or joining the rest of the transient US and heading to a humid hellhole?

 

Roof was finished this evening. A couple of pics before is started raining. Next is Exterior painting.

 

Timing is everything! Glad they got finished just in time! Looks good!

 

I've got to re-roof our place in the next couple of years and I was leaning twords a metal roof. What made you decide to go with metal ?

 

Being rich

 

Energy efficiency, lower hurricane premium on insurance, longevity.

 

Not when you work for the government lol.

 

Oh I know haha

 

Between my retirement, VA, and GS pay, I don't do too bad, but definitely not on the rich side lol. A few hundred more and I would be at a 5 digit take home every month after taxes.

 

I'd say you're doin better than most bud. If it wasn't for my ol' lady who makes 3x more than I do, me and the dog would be sharing the back seat of the rig.

 

I hear ya. It took me 24+ years to get there. I remember being a young airman back in the early 90's when the pay was really low. It is alot higher for airmen now.

 

Recruiters are throwin everything but the kitchen sink at ppl to sign up

 

They sure are. Numbers are low for all branches right now.

 

disclosure: I am responding without reading all of the previous replies, but we had a musty smell years ago.

Turned out one of the main feeds to all the returns was uninsulated.

It was above the garage (which is usually open during the day).

The added moisture/humidity was accumulating on the freshly cold pipe and causing all kinds of condensation in the garage ceiling and mud room, where the unit was located.

Insulated everything and the moisture has seemed to resolve itself.

Hopefully this helps as it was long winded.

 

Painted the treehouse with the sprayer. ALMOST got it all done but ran out of paint so I’ll roll it another day. Looks a bit dark but it is a pretty dark blue to start with. That’s the color the kids picked though.

 

I went with Ranchio since, at the time, that worked with the Nest Thermostat I have. My only concern is if I ever need a third party to come out, how do they access it, but luckily I don't thing there will be a need.

 

Well, the drive way replacement seems to be looking good, the only problem was when they washed the surface to have an aggregate appearance, the residue washed into the drain area. I figure that would happen and did… I decided to work on it myself as I want it done right. So I spent time clearing out the sand, concrete, rocks etc. I’ ve gotten the worst area cleared out and I continued to the sidewalk drain that I installed. I found the drain after some digging and it looks good and water flows thru the drain. After I get more of the dirt/rocks/cementing wash removed I will get some clean rock. I have a drain that goes from the driveway across underneath the front lawn to the side trench drain. I ran some water into the drain at the downspout and the water came out! Yea! It should be good for a long time then. The drain has a cover, black, and is difficult to see so I added a zoom.

 

Wife and I sat down with a window/door company. I kind of had an idea at what it would be to do the house, but she was way low. Starting with getting out sliding patio door done first. Then slowly update all the windows.

 

I replaced all of our windows in the house myself and added a french door where a window was to the back porch. Door was $800, windows were $250 a piece for Low E vinyl single hung. Some of the larger windows are actually doubles, so they count as two. Total cost for me to do 9 windows and the french door was around $3500 with install materials.

 

That is A LOT cheaper than we were quoted just for the patio door. With technically 26 windows in the house, and my limited knowledge about hanging windows, plus a second story, I know where my limits are.

 

You've got about $7-8000 worth of windows to replace. Depends on what you're buying obviously, but they get the standard windows for $2-300. The doors can vary widely, but a slider patio door can run $1500-4000 pretty easily. Then the install price is the wildcard. A second story would require a lift to do safely for me.

 

HVAC dilemma. My Central AC is about end of life and I have also been wanting to get away from heating with oil. I have an oil boiler with hot water base board heat. The AC unit is in the attic with the vents in the ceilings. The house is bi-level with only the AC vents in the upper house level, no vents in the lower finished level, but do have baseboard heat every where. I also have a wood/coal boiler tied into my baseboard and domestic hot water. I use this 3 months out of the year.

I got a price for geothermal. They will keep and use the existing duct work in the attic and add nothing to the lower level. Total price is 29K, 21K after tax credits.

I had another outfit come out for an estimate and they suggested just going with a 19SEER 2 inverter heat pump. They wold rework some of the attic duct work to to shorten some pretty long runs. Add two return vents closer to the floor on the upper level and add two vents and returns in the lower level. This will not be enough to completely heat and cool the lower level, but will help warm it in the winter. Total price for this is 18K, 16K after tax incentives.

I am in Central PA. Any expert opinions??

 

I’m no expert but our house had propane heat installed for the main floor, 2500 sq ft. I wanted a heat pump to get AC and cheaper heat. We added the heat pump to the existing unit as it was almost configured for it. We have propane heat back up if power goes out. We also have a 800 sq ft basement, with no connection to the main floor except for stairwell. The builder originally installed 3 electric wall heaters, not even baseboard. They did not work at all as the large room at 500 sq ft was way too big for the electrical unit. We added a separate unducted heat pump down there, and it works great. It might not be cheaper but a unducted heat pump would work in your lower area better imo. My $0.02.

 

Do you mean a mini split unit? I did consider that as an option for later. I am not too concerned right now. But at some point I may not use the wood boiler for heat. Right now I have been fortunate enough to locate free wood for the 30+ years that I have been there.

 

So electric or propane heat pump is a no-go?