Home Improvement Thread

Postby **meow** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:21 pm

Put your hand print in it

Postby **LITT** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:24 pm

thats a good reminder that i need to get the gypsies to come by and reseal our driveway

Postby **dodint** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:29 pm

Niiiice.

Postby **willeyeam** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:58 pm

thats a good reminder that i need to get the gypsies to come by and reseal our driveway

what does this normally run? i need to get this taken care of too

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:10 pm

thats a good reminder that i need to get the gypsies to come by and reseal our driveway
what does this normally run? i need to get this taken care of too

The guy who did my driveway said it should be around $250 to have it resealed by a contractor.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:11 pm

Put your hand print in it

Why don't you put your face in the freezer and make us some uglycicles?

Postby **meow** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:22 pm

The jerk store called

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:23 pm

I am disappointed that you didn't get that quote, meow.

Postby **willeyeam** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:35 pm

thats a good reminder that i need to get the gypsies to come by and reseal our driveway
what does this normally run? i need to get this taken care of too
The guy who did my driveway said it should be around $250 to have it resealed by a contractor.

not bad

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:39 pm

FWIW, he also recommended avoiding big box stores in general for the sealer, and said to always use a commercial supplier if you're going to do it yourself. I was going to go the DIY route myself until he told me that it really shouldn't be that much more to hire somebody to do it since they get such steep discounts on the sealer buying in bulk.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 4:25 pm

A guy came to the house while my wife was home today from Trinity Solar. Long story short, the solar credit program got extended. Only about 2 in 9 homes get approved for 100% reimbursed solar panels. Because we do not have any trees in our yard and our back roof is large and faces due south, apparently we have a stronger chance of getting approved by the state.

Another guy is coming out next Friday to more closely assess the property. My wife told the guy point blank today that we do not have money to spend right now, with a second child coming and remodeling going on. They will only move forward if it is 100% covered by the state of PA. The guy said if we don't get approved this time to do it with them, to just wait and try again in a few years with a different company.

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing? The reviews online are the usual mix but considerably more good than bad. If we could indeed have them completely installed for free, I feel like we could save a ton of money given how much sun the south side of our house gets. Obviously these are sales guys--so basically they are hoping that we get approved so the state pays them to do this work? Is that how this works?

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 4:36 pm

Vivint Solar, along with another company, installed panels on a few houses in our neighborhood. I looked into it with Solar, and while the entire installation was 100% free for me, it came with a 20 year “contract”, where nobody could provide specifics on what exactly happened at the 20 year mark. That was enough for me to pass on, personally. That and I don’t plan on being in this house in 20 years.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:03 pm

it came with a 20 year “contract”, where nobody could provide specifics on what exactly happened at the 20 year mark. That was enough for me to pass on, personally. That and I don’t plan on being in this house in 20 years.

Yup...I have been doing some research on Reddit, and that gives me major pause. My power costs would likely be greatly reduced because of all the southern exposure we have, but the reason it works out for them is they sign you to that solar lease and you pay them for the electric. The thought of being stuck with them for 20 years (and having any potential home buyer agree to said contract if we sell the house) makes me very nervous.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:16 pm

Just came across this article: https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2 ... sales-roof

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:21 pm

$12,460 for a single system including a PowerWall for my house. That’s pretty damn tempting.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 6:48 pm

it came with a 20 year “contract”, where nobody could provide specifics on what exactly happened at the 20 year mark. That was enough for me to pass on, personally. That and I don’t plan on being in this house in 20 years.
Yup...I have been doing some research on Reddit, and that gives me major pause. My power costs would likely be greatly reduced because of all the southern exposure we have, but the reason it works out for them is they sign you to that solar lease and you pay them for the electric. The thought of being stuck with them for 20 years (and having any potential home buyer agree to said contract if we sell the house) makes me very nervous.

I have similar concerns down here, with other companies. I don't think a 20 year contract is worth it, especially when I hope to be out of the house by then.

I like the 100% payment idea though, but that's a no go here in SC.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Wed May 01, 2019 9:59 am

$12,460 for a single system including a PowerWall for my house. That’s pretty damn tempting.

*whistles*

When I ran the numbers last year, it was something like $45k for my house. That's a big no, Elon.

Was this for the solar panel shingles, or just the large, rectangular looking system?

Postby **NTP66** » Wed May 01, 2019 10:32 am

This was for the panels. As far as I know, the shingles are very, very far behind.

Postby **King Colby** » Sun May 19, 2019 5:12 pm

I need to refinish my deck. I thought it was painted but now I'm starting to wonder if it's solid stain.

I definitely don't want to paint it unless it already is. But i have no clue how to figure out what's on there now.

Postby **mac5155** » Sun May 19, 2019 7:08 pm

I. Am. Beat.

Since 645am Saturday I've been outside doing work. Planting, landscaping, mowing, trimming, wow. what a weekend.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Sun May 19, 2019 7:53 pm

Anyone with experience with irrigation systems?

I’ve got a bad solenoid, so I’ve ordered a replacement via Amazon. It’s attached to the valve, and when I pulled it, I got a geyser of water in my face.

So, when the new one arrives, do I:

1. Crawl under my house and find the well pump cutoff
2. Cut the power to the well pump in my fuse panel
3. Or do the geyser in the face thing again

The pump is nearly unreachable in the crawlspace under my house, and it involves some Catherine Zeta-Jones maneuvering around pipes and conduit under the house. I may not be able to actually do it these days lol

I’m worried that the well will run dry if I cut the power to it, and then I’ll have to crawl under the house anyway to re-prime the pump.

The geyser thing looks like the best option of all of them, to be honest.

Postby **blackjack68** » Sun May 19, 2019 8:07 pm

Just video it for us.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Sun May 19, 2019 8:09 pm

Huh, my wife said the same thing.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue May 21, 2019 3:52 pm

Has anyone procured landscaping services before? We just got a quote for 5K to clear out the front and side yard and lay mulch. No tree removal, only digging up bushes.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Tue May 21, 2019 8:54 pm

So I geysered it, to laughter of my kids and neighbor.

Cleared the fault, and we’re back in the lawn watering business...in time for upper 90s and triple digits the end of the week.