Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[jm2e]

<p>

The open trench is really not practical, as I would have to go through my neighbor&#39;s yard, whereas the reliner appears to be no fuss no muss. After looking at his camera, as it went down my line, I went aaah fuck and told him let&#39;s do this. So yeah, hopefully in 3 weeks I never have to snake that fucker again in my lifetime. Sent from my moto g stylus 5G (2022) using Tapatalk

I think of it as a machine that mixes cement in with gravel and water to make concrete. So kind of both</p>

[Name Redacted]

So how do you know when you need to redo your roof shingles?

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Asphalt or wood?

[Name Redacted]

Asphalt shingles. House is about 30yo, but might have been redone during that time, not sure.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Widespread granule loss and cracking, loose and torn shingles.

Granule loss exposes the matting which will lead to rapid deterioration due to UV and weather exposure, and can happen with hail damage, foot traffic, age, or manufacturer defects. Cracking is usually age related and a good indicator of end of service life. Loose shingles occur when the glue strip isn't adhered anymore and the shingles can lift and tear in the wind, also usually age related.

You can google search for pictures and that will give you a good idea what to look for.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

You're welcome

[dan_pdx]

First heating season with our new heat pump and I've been shocked at what a POS it is. Fortunately we installed a NG furnace as backup heat and have just been using that almost all the time.

Finally called the HVAC company when the thermostat was at 68 but the temp was 62 with outside temps in the low 40s. They agreed that seemed off and came out today to check it out. They determined it wasn't charged with enough refrigerant at install and brought it up to spec. Total eyeroll, but interested to see if it works better for us now.

[Mazderati]

Mine are working well into low single digits.

[liv2ski]

With electricity so expensive in San Diego, a heat pump makes little sense to me. Hopefully your location is way different.

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[::: :::]

With electricity so expensive in San Diego, a heat pump makes little sense to me. Hopefully your location is way different.

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I’m not sure when is the right time for you, but the City of SD is headed towards electric power exclusively (solar, wind ok too, but electric)

https://www.sandiego.gov/sustainabil...20partnerships.

[singlesline]

Mine are working well into low single digits.

Been experimenting with mine during a recent cold spell and it seems to stop being able to keep up right around zero:


It is set to keep running until -5--my understanding is that even though it can't keep up with the heat loss, it is still likely producing some heat at a lower cost than the heat strips. But I'm not 100% sure that's true and it might be better to just have a hard cutoff around 0-5F and switch over to the heat strips.

Partially for comfort--when the heat pump is borderline, it pushes out very lukewarm air and runs the fan nonstop. Constantly having 75F air blowing around the house trying to keep it at 69 probably feels drafty/cooler than just blowing HOT air from the backup heat a few times an hour.

Mine is new but not a particularly fancy unit (single stage 14 seer installed by previous owner in 2023 when they knew they would be moving out soon).

[dan_pdx]

Have a 100 year old retaining wall in the backyard that's at end of life. Its about thirty inches tall by twenty five feet long. Replacement options are poured concrete (or is it cement?), dry laid stone, or gabion. Need to put a six foot privacy fence either on top or six to twelve inches behind it. Anyone have thoughts on relative costs to hire it out? Would like the stone but assuming it will be way more expensive than the other options to have it done right.

[nickwm21]

Natural stone will be $$$$

You mostly see dry stacked block walls for that application - they hit the sweet spot - cost vs looks.

I would be concerned with a fence directly behind the wall. But [emoji637][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]]”+ wouldn’t be a concern.


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[shroom]

setting fence posts in concrete sounds easiest if you can narrow to one contractor and aren’t worried about losing lot space

[dan_pdx]

The retaining wall is the property line, so the fence behind the wall would be a convo with that neighbor, but he would probably be ok with it because thats not really usable space in his yard. Theres an existing fence in that location already but its falling down

[Core Shot]

Tough call without seeing it or knowing your budget

Could dry lay a stacked concrete wall in front of the existing wall. Then need backfill.

Could also dry lay stone in front.

Or. Pour concrete. And veneer or whatever. Ooof. Big money.

If you can get three truckloads of nice stones a foot diameter. And dry lay them against the failing wall it’s a diy and affordable and will be a nice look. Place fabric behind the stones as you backfill.
The fence can be the same place.

[Rideski]

https://youtu.be/xBQsQoGodPY?si=SvkROw0C6r7mM184&t=399

[dan_pdx]

Best material for a shower pan? Design/build folks suggested acrylic (barf) or a mud base with tile. I'm going to ask them to look at enamel/porcelain over steel/cast iron. Are any of the composites worth a damn?

Biggest criteria is longevity and low maintenance, I want it to last 30 years.

[climberevan]

Best material for a shower pan? Design/build folks suggested acrylic (barf) or a mud base with tile. I'm going to ask them to look at enamel/porcelain over steel/cast iron. Are any of the composites worth a damn?

Biggest criteria is longevity and low maintenance, I want it to last 30 years.

Schluter or equivalent is my go-to. Unless you don't want to tile the floor, in which case you could use a one piece fiberglass/acrylic or metal. Either will be done unless you drop an anvil onto it.

Tile redi makes some very nice one piece custom pans that might be good if you (gasp!) want a linear drain.

[dan_pdx]

Schluter or equivalent is my go-to. Unless you don't want to tile the floor, in which case you could use a one piece fiberglass/acrylic or metal. Either will be done unless you drop an anvil onto it.

Tile redi makes some very nice one piece custom pans that might be good if you (gasp!) want a linear drain.

Thanks man! I'm open to tiling the floor, just assuming it will need to be sealed often and regrouted every 5 to 10 years or so, which seems like a drag. Am I wrong about that?

Is schluter a pre-made pan? That seems like a better approach than getting someone to build the mud bed and tile it. Lots more opportunity for error if you're doing the mud bed by hand, right? I wonder why our design build folks didn't suggest a pre-made pan.

Re: linear drains, I have no strong feelings one way or the other beyond recognizing that they are the hot new thing, which might not be a fit for our 1913 bungalow. Are they a challenge from a plumbing perspective?

[jackattack]

Schluter is a waterproofing and isolation system. They have a premade pan option, is a foam base with slope. There are a thousand YouTube videos for this stuff.

[J. Barron DeJong]

My dad&#39;s a DIY guy and has redone three bathrooms with Schluter now. He loves the stuff.

(I&#39;d value climberevans opinion over mine on this any day, but point is that it&#39;s not something that only people who work with it day in day out can use.)

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

I think the composite (corian) pans are nice, and pretty care free, but you're not going to save any money on them holy cow.

[Skistack]

[emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]][emoji638][emoji637][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]]]Schluter is a waterproofing and isolation system. They have a premade pan option, is a foam base with slope. There are a thousand YouTube videos for this stuff.

I did this, it’s pretty straightforward.


Sent from my iPhone using [emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]][emoji640][emoji638][emoji638][emoji638]]TGR Forums

[dan_pdx]

I did this, it’s pretty straightforward.


Sent from my iPhone using [emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]][emoji640][emoji638][emoji638][emoji638]]TGR Forums

This is the only bathroom in the house and we decided it would be better for marital harmony to hire it out rather than for me to figure it out over the course of a few months. So DIY is off the table and we're going to pay through the nose instead for hopefully a better end result than what I would have delivered