Home Improvement Thread

robbiestoupe
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Postby robbiestoupe » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:03 am

I agree with the ole' 24 TL. Keystone suggested a French drain around the entire perimeter of my basement with two sumps. Every other contractor suggested a partial drain and one sump. Keystone also came in with all the pretty brochures and videos and such. Totally a marketing scam.

I used A Better Choice and they did a good job.

Troy Loney
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Postby Troy Loney » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:07 am

I think Keystone Basements is just out of their element in the city where all the houses are old and the basements are for storage.

If you get some dampness in a concrete basement, that's just sort of how it goes. But, if you've finished your basement, have carpets and such where mold can't just be cleaned up, then you need the intensive water proofing.

nocera
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Postby nocera » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:17 am

I'm planning a renovation of the basement and need the water proofing, unfortunately. The good news is that it's never standing water and certainly never flowing water. I installed one of those poly rock/mesh french drains along the perimeter when I first noticed the issue but unfortunately it hasn't seemed to help much.

I'll look into A Better Choice. Thanks

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:20 am

I hate even referring to this site, but it's worth checking out Angie's List, as well. I've come across a few contractors on that site while doing research, and it has all worked out pretty well for me. A lot of times you can get an idea of how much it'll cost you while reading reviews, too.

Willie Kool
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Postby Willie Kool » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:20 am

We used to get water running in the basement every time it rained. It was in a corner by a floor drain, so I wasn't really too concerned but wanted to eliminate it. All I did was dig a small trench (maybe 3" - 4" wide and 3" deep) from my downspout about 10 feet into a flower bed, and re-contoured (higher up against the wall and tapering away) the ground around the outside basement wall. Still get a small amount of moisture, but it's at least 90% better.

robbiestoupe
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Postby robbiestoupe » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:53 am

I'm planning a renovation of the basement and need the water proofing, unfortunately. The good news is that it's never standing water and certainly never flowing water. I installed one of those poly rock/mesh french drains along the perimeter when I first noticed the issue but unfortunately it hasn't seemed to help much.

I'll look into A Better Choice. Thanks
The issue is the water will eventually find its way below the foundation and up through the holes in the cinder blocks. The cinder blocks are porous and will weep the water through. This is how the water gets into the basement. An external French drain will catch some of the water, but unless you dig that drain all the way to the foundation, it won't solve everything.

LITT
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Postby LITT » Wed Jun 27, 2018 2:38 pm

i am looking to build an outdoor table for my grill. it will be outside all year; however, i have a cover and a gazebo on deck that will shield it slightly.

i have been doing some reading, it seems like most people recommend cedar; however, those that use pressure treated pine get good life as well (5+ years). since this is my first 'large' project, i feel like cedar is sort of a waste of money until i can get more comfortable with everything. do i need to let the pine sit for 30+ days before using it to dry out?

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:14 pm

Treated, nah.

Some people would be concerned about food coming into contact with treated wood.

I take my chances..

meow
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Postby meow » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:36 pm

I would highly recommend leaving treated pine outside for the thirty days. It can split where you have holes/screws/bolts if it isn’t dry enough when those holes are made. I’m also not thrilled with putting food directly on treated lumber

Willie Kool
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Postby Willie Kool » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:40 pm

Do they even still use arsenic to treat wood?

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:44 pm

Not since 2003 according to the Google machine

LITT
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Postby LITT » Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:32 am

I won’t be putting food directly on it what do you think i am? I am also going to try and put a granite remnant inlay in the top to handle the grill components

LITT
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Postby LITT » Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:47 am

I would highly recommend leaving treated pine outside for the thirty days. It can split where you have holes/screws/bolts if it isn’t dry enough when those holes are made. I’m also not thrilled with putting food directly on treated lumber
would i need to let cedar sit out?

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 10:28 am

Another house mortgage question:

How many homeowners here pay escrow into their mortgage to pay their taxes vs. paying the taxes on their own?

I got a letter near Christmas time stating my escrow payments are going up $420/month, while my total projected taxes in 2018 are only going up $128/mo compared to the 2017 projections. I get that their 2017 projections were off, mainly due to a reassessment on my home that raised my taxes. I can understand if they had to increase my escrow payments $256/month to make up for last year, and keep me in line in 2018 with the reassessed values (even though I had a positive balance at the end of 2017).

Due to the fact the escrow account can't go lower than 1/6 of my total tax bill for 2018, new math dictates they have to fluff up my bill even more. This seems like BS, even though they state it is a federal law.

I just can't afford the extra $420/month payments right now. It's a kick to my gonads. Are there any ways around this other than telling the mortgage company that I'll pay my own taxes now?
My taxes are paid through escrow, for now. Like I said earlier, I am petitioning my lender to drop it and let me take care of it on my own. Twice in the last four years I've had to make catch up contributions to get to a certain level, which is required by law. I'd much rather let all of that money sit in a high interest savings account so that it at least earns some money.
I see. When you mentioned your petition earlier, wasn't sure you were talking about escrow. It all makes sense now. That being said, did they require an assessment on your house to drop escrow? If so, I can kill two birds with one stone.
I don’t know what they’ll require because I can’t even petition for it until June. I’ll definitely post back here in case it helps you out.
This is an excerpt from an email I just received from my mortgage:

"It looks like we can release your escrow once we know if we can release your PMI because you have to escrow if your loan to value ratio is over 80%. There is a fee of .125% of the principal balance to drop your escrow. I attached a document you signed at closing that indicates that fee."

So I am tied to escrow because I idiotically signed up for it in the beginning, and my loan to value ratio is still (supposedly) above 80%. I'm also obligated to pay a fee to get out of escrow, based on this tidbit from the document that was attached:

"In addition, I/we have acknowledged that I/we may have received a financial benefit (either in rate or fees) by allowing (bank) to collect and hold escrow funds on my/our behalf. If...I/we decide to terminate...I/we will be charged a fee of .125% of my/our outstanding principle..."

I doubt I received any financial benefit from this bank in either rates or fees. This loan was sold to them from the original mortgage lender, and they had to keep the initial contract conditions. Either way, I don't remember escrow being one of those things where they said if I opted out, I'd get a worse rate or more fees.

Such a racket.
So, I finally requested to have my escrow account waived, but was denied due to seasoning rules. I can request escrow to be waived in September, and confirmed that there is no fee for this to happen. You also mentioned a 75% LTV ratio requirement in another post. I saw the following on my loan servicer's site that could be what you saw, referring to home improvements:
If you have completed substantial STRUCTURAL improvements (e.g. an addition put on the property or other combined substantial improvements), please send specifics including what improvements were made, materials used, and costs excluding labor. We are requesting this information so we can determine if you are eligible to receive the pre-2 year appraisal information. Loans that are under 5 years will need to show a LTV of 75.0% or 25% equity from an appraisal. If the improvements do not meet the requirements, then you must wait two years to have an appraisal done. Loans that are under 5 years will need to show a LTV of 75.0% or 25% equity from an appraisal. If the improvements do not meet the requirements, then you must wait two years to have an appraisal done.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Thu Jun 28, 2018 10:46 am

I'm learning how to remodel a bathroom, in the Latrobe house. My Dad built their 5000sqft house and has been doing remodels for family for years, now it's my turn. I do car stuff, I don't do house stuff, so this is all new to me. Listening to my Dad and Brother talk about how to do it is completely foreign to me. I'm going to start demo'ing this weekend, I think I can reasonably not **** that up. Probably.

If all goes well I might try my hand at remodeling my own bathroom next summer.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 10:56 am

Source of the post If all goes well I might try my hand at remodeling my own bathroom next summer.
If you plan on doing your shower, I highly recommend going the Schluter (Kerdi, specifically) route for waterproofing.

robbiestoupe
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Postby robbiestoupe » Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:14 am



My taxes are paid through escrow, for now. Like I said earlier, I am petitioning my lender to drop it and let me take care of it on my own. Twice in the last four years I've had to make catch up contributions to get to a certain level, which is required by law. I'd much rather let all of that money sit in a high interest savings account so that it at least earns some money.
I see. When you mentioned your petition earlier, wasn't sure you were talking about escrow. It all makes sense now. That being said, did they require an assessment on your house to drop escrow? If so, I can kill two birds with one stone.
I don’t know what they’ll require because I can’t even petition for it until June. I’ll definitely post back here in case it helps you out.
This is an excerpt from an email I just received from my mortgage:

"It looks like we can release your escrow once we know if we can release your PMI because you have to escrow if your loan to value ratio is over 80%. There is a fee of .125% of the principal balance to drop your escrow. I attached a document you signed at closing that indicates that fee."

So I am tied to escrow because I idiotically signed up for it in the beginning, and my loan to value ratio is still (supposedly) above 80%. I'm also obligated to pay a fee to get out of escrow, based on this tidbit from the document that was attached:

"In addition, I/we have acknowledged that I/we may have received a financial benefit (either in rate or fees) by allowing (bank) to collect and hold escrow funds on my/our behalf. If...I/we decide to terminate...I/we will be charged a fee of .125% of my/our outstanding principle..."

I doubt I received any financial benefit from this bank in either rates or fees. This loan was sold to them from the original mortgage lender, and they had to keep the initial contract conditions. Either way, I don't remember escrow being one of those things where they said if I opted out, I'd get a worse rate or more fees.

Such a racket.
So, I finally requested to have my escrow account waived, but was denied due to seasoning rules. I can request escrow to be waived in September, and confirmed that there is no fee for this to happen. You also mentioned a 75% LTV ratio requirement in another post. I saw the following on my loan servicer's site that could be what you saw, referring to home improvements:
If you have completed substantial STRUCTURAL improvements (e.g. an addition put on the property or other combined substantial improvements), please send specifics including what improvements were made, materials used, and costs excluding labor. We are requesting this information so we can determine if you are eligible to receive the pre-2 year appraisal information. Loans that are under 5 years will need to show a LTV of 75.0% or 25% equity from an appraisal. If the improvements do not meet the requirements, then you must wait two years to have an appraisal done. Loans that are under 5 years will need to show a LTV of 75.0% or 25% equity from an appraisal. If the improvements do not meet the requirements, then you must wait two years to have an appraisal done.
Spoilered to keep the eyes from falling out

I may have mentioned new windows being put in, and hearing that you can expect to reap 75% of the value of the windows back into the home's value. That's all BS because the appraisers have a finite list of items they use to value your home against other comparables. Things like square footage, number of rooms, finished basement, etc. None of those include windows, so an appraiser couldn't care less if you had no windows. It doesn't impact their assessment of the home.

robbiestoupe
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Home Improvement Thread

Postby robbiestoupe » Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:14 am

Source of the post I'm going to start demo'ing this weekend, I think I can reasonably not **** that up
Nah, that's the best part. It's also fun to do when you have some aggression built up and a few beers in you.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Thu Jun 28, 2018 11:17 am

I should have started last weekend. I was moving a freestanding double-sized utility deep sink out of the basement because it was cracked and leaking. Replaced it with a simple single sized sink made of some kind of semi-flexible plastic. Anyway, the old sink had to be 30 or 40 years old, it was made of CONCRETE. It came apart as I was dragging it. Concrete. WHY U DO DIS?

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:18 pm

Spoilered to keep the eyes from falling out

I may have mentioned new windows being put in, and hearing that you can expect to reap 75% of the value of the windows back into the home's value. That's all BS because the appraisers have a finite list of items they use to value your home against other comparables. Things like square footage, number of rooms, finished basement, etc. None of those include windows, so an appraiser couldn't care less if you had no windows. It doesn't impact their assessment of the home.
Yep, windows are not considered "structural improvements".

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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 12:57 pm

In the last week, we've sanded and stained our deck, assembled a basketball hoops, and assembled nice new Hampton Bay deck furniture with six seats and a big slate table. We are really just looking to get 3-4 more years out of the deck, at some point we are probably going the pavers route, but the weed potential is a big concern. As we are living on converted farmland, the weeds are absolutely insane on our property if we don't constantly keep up on them.

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Postby blackjack68 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:23 pm

In the last week, we've sanded and stained our deck, assembled a basketball hoops, and assembled nice new Hampton Bay deck furniture with six seats and a big slate table. We are really just looking to get 3-4 more years out of the deck, at some point we are probably going the pavers route, but the weed potential is a big concern. As we are living on converted farmland, the weeds are absolutely insane on our property if we don't constantly keep up on them.
When you get there, just have to clear the area, spray it, then a thick layer of weed cloth before you lay down gravel/pavers. Should take care of them for a while and then an occasional spray of Round-Up or other weed spray will do the trick.

meow
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Postby meow » Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:10 pm

I would highly recommend leaving treated pine outside for the thirty days. It can split where you have holes/screws/bolts if it isn’t dry enough when those holes are made. I’m also not thrilled with putting food directly on treated lumber
would i need to let cedar sit out?
Negative Ghost Rider

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:38 pm

Love the smell of the wood after you stain it. Smells like the fruits of labor.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Thu Jun 28, 2018 9:05 pm

Also applicable to picking fruit.

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