Home Improvement Thread

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Postby meow » Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:23 pm

Have you tried swearing at it?

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Postby dodint » Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:25 pm

Only when my socks get wet.

meow
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Postby meow » Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:33 pm

Well I’m out of ideas

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Postby dodint » Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:34 pm

Called a guy, he'll be here at lunch time tomorrow. Best home improvement tool in the world is a checkbook.

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 22, 2020 5:06 pm

That pipe is your gas (leading to the burner manifold), and I have no idea how the hell water would be getting anywhere near that based on the photo you posted. So now I’m really curious to see what he finds.

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Postby dodint » Mon Jun 22, 2020 8:30 pm

The black pipe is gas. The little white one on tbe left with the 90 degree bend is the water outlet pipe. It turns upwards after going through the exterior wall of the unit, far enough back to punch through behind that plate I cannot get to.

I just called it a down pipe in positional reference to the panel. My bad.

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Postby DigitalGypsy66 » Mon Jun 22, 2020 11:39 pm

USAA is coming by to see if we need a new roof after a hail storm last month. We are literally (no exaggeration) the only house that doesn't have a roofing contractor sign in front of it in our neighborhood. We don't have any obvious leaks, but a few of the shingles look warped. I'd rather get it over with before hurricane season.
Well, they are quoting about $14,000 worth of repairs. Yikes. Really didn't see that coming.

Do you show the roofing contractor the insurance estimate with the diagram and description of damages, or let them figure it out? We've only had smaller, obvious repairs before with insurance.

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Postby NTP66 » Tue Jun 23, 2020 6:11 am

Source of the post Do you show the roofing contractor the insurance estimate with the diagram and description of damages, or let them figure it out?
Let them figure it out and tell you what's wrong - that's always the right move, IMO. If they're missing stuff, move on to the next contractor.

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Postby DigitalGypsy66 » Wed Jun 24, 2020 2:37 pm

The contractor came over yesterday, to finalize the contract. We've got a month wait for our new roof.

They matched the quote given by the insurance company, once they found out it was the entire roof being replaced.

Because they of the volume they are doing, all of their customers are automatically being upgraded to a lifetime/60 year shingle for no additional charge.

They paid our $1000 deductible in return for keeping their sign in our yard and the names/numbers of five friends/families to cold call when their business quiets down. The contractor said just get five names out of the phonebook, he didn't care if we knew them or not.

So we're essentially getting a new roof for free. There are actually a lot of different color choices, too.

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Postby NTP66 » Wed Jun 24, 2020 2:44 pm

There's no such thing as a lifetime shingle, but I assume that means warranty? I take it they're going to use architectural shingles for the job? That would be a requirement for me.

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Postby robbiestoupe » Wed Jun 24, 2020 3:44 pm

The contractor came over yesterday, to finalize the contract. We've got a month wait for our new roof.

They matched the quote given by the insurance company, once they found out it was the entire roof being replaced.

Because they of the volume they are doing, all of their customers are automatically being upgraded to a lifetime/60 year shingle for no additional charge.

They paid our $1000 deductible in return for keeping their sign in our yard and the names/numbers of five friends/families to cold call when their business quiets down. The contractor said just get five names out of the phonebook, he didn't care if we knew them or not.

So we're essentially getting a new roof for free. There are actually a lot of different color choices, too.
Had a completely different experience. Adjuster found no hail damage, opposed to the contractor who said he found damage. Starting to think the contractor was lying to me in hopes to get extra work. I asked him to send me the photos he promised to send 3 weeks ago. I don't expect to see these photos in my inbox at all.

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:25 am

Yesterday was **** brutal. Tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible for a while thanks to the temps:

Image

I had never seen a 12° difference between upstairs and downstairs before. It never dropped below 73.2° (setting was 70°). As a result, I'm keeping the HVAC fan on full-time during my profiles before our "Sleep" profile, so that it's always circulating air. If that doesn't help, I'm just going to put in a second unit for the upstairs. I'm tired of this **** - especially on a relatively young house that has more than sufficient insulation.

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Postby mac5155 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:35 am

Can you close a vent or two on the first floor?

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:40 am

Can you close a vent or two on the first floor?
I did close a few, but you want to be cautious with doing that. It strains the system more than you'd think. My BIL is an HVAC guy and is going to come over at some point and take some readings everywhere to see what's really going on.

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Postby robbiestoupe » Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:03 am

Can you close a vent or two on the first floor?
I did close a few, but you want to be cautious with doing that. It strains the system more than you'd think. My BIL is an HVAC guy and is going to come over at some point and take some readings everywhere to see what's really going on.
I've heard from an HVAC friend that closing vents to circulate more to other rooms is not a solution.

Do you have an open ceiling plan in the master bedroom? Ours is open with no attic above us. I think that's the reason the room is always cooler in the winter and hotter in the summer than all other rooms in the house. Even if they put insulation between the supports on the trusses, you don't have that extra space of air acting as another thermal barrier.

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:28 am

Can you close a vent or two on the first floor?
I did close a few, but you want to be cautious with doing that. It strains the system more than you'd think. My BIL is an HVAC guy and is going to come over at some point and take some readings everywhere to see what's really going on.
I've heard from an HVAC friend that closing vents to circulate more to other rooms is not a solution.

Do you have an open ceiling plan in the master bedroom? Ours is open with no attic above us. I think that's the reason the room is always cooler in the winter and hotter in the summer than all other rooms in the house. Even if they put insulation between the supports on the trusses, you don't have that extra space of air acting as another thermal barrier.
No open ceiling - fully insulated (above code) attic that spans the entire second floor, too. I don't think air leakage can account for this degree of difference, so it could be something like an undersized unit. I should know more later this week.

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Postby robbiestoupe » Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:37 am

Can you close a vent or two on the first floor?
I did close a few, but you want to be cautious with doing that. It strains the system more than you'd think. My BIL is an HVAC guy and is going to come over at some point and take some readings everywhere to see what's really going on.
I've heard from an HVAC friend that closing vents to circulate more to other rooms is not a solution.

Do you have an open ceiling plan in the master bedroom? Ours is open with no attic above us. I think that's the reason the room is always cooler in the winter and hotter in the summer than all other rooms in the house. Even if they put insulation between the supports on the trusses, you don't have that extra space of air acting as another thermal barrier.
No open ceiling - fully insulated (above code) attic that spans the entire second floor, too. I don't think air leakage can account for this degree of difference, so it could be something like an undersized unit. I should know more later this week.
Undersized unit would only make sense if all the other rooms were struggling.

Obviously hot air will rise so the upper floors will be warmer than the lower floors. I'm not an HVAC expert, but you would think more returns would be needed upstairs to remove the extra heat that is coming from the lower floors. Our house only has two returns that I could think of - one upstairs and one downstairs.

Let me know what your BIL says. Could be something useful for my situation as well.

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:53 am

Source of the post Let me know what your BIL says. Could be something useful for my situation as well.
Will do. We have 7 total returns, so barring them being too small, it's probably something else.

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Postby shafnutz05 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:55 pm

Yesterday was **** brutal. Tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible for a while thanks to the temps:

Image

I had never seen a 12° difference between upstairs and downstairs before. It never dropped below 73.2° (setting was 70°). As a result, I'm keeping the HVAC fan on full-time during my profiles before our "Sleep" profile, so that it's always circulating air. If that doesn't help, I'm just going to put in a second unit for the upstairs. I'm tired of this **** - especially on a relatively young house that has more than sufficient insulation.
I have the same issue man. We have one central air unit outside--we actually have to keep a window unit in our room to sleep at night. Thank God our 9 month old is not a picky sleeper--I had the thermostat at 72 last night and it was 81 in his room, which makes me really nervous.

Like you said, closing vents is *not* the answer, even if it instinctively makes sense. We have five vents in our basement, so it's annoying that all of the air conditioning is going down there too although it plays a big role in keeping our basement nice and dry in the summer. I think the only answer is going to be to buy a second central air unit just for the upstairs. We do have the return vents in most rooms but they don't seem to help much.

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Postby Trip McNeely » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:08 pm

Yesterday was **** brutal. Tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible for a while thanks to the temps:

Image

I had never seen a 12° difference between upstairs and downstairs before. It never dropped below 73.2° (setting was 70°). As a result, I'm keeping the HVAC fan on full-time during my profiles before our "Sleep" profile, so that it's always circulating air. If that doesn't help, I'm just going to put in a second unit for the upstairs. I'm tired of this **** - especially on a relatively young house that has more than sufficient insulation.
I have the same issue man. We have one central air unit outside--we actually have to keep a window unit in our room to sleep at night. Thank God our 9 month old is not a picky sleeper--I had the thermostat at 72 last night and it was 81 in his room, which makes me really nervous.

Like you said, closing vents is *not* the answer, even if it instinctively makes sense. We have five vents in our basement, so it's annoying that all of the air conditioning is going down there too although it plays a big role in keeping our basement nice and dry in the summer. I think the only answer is going to be to buy a second central air unit just for the upstairs. We do have the return vents in most rooms but they don't seem to help much.
Bigger houses, and in many cases even average sized houses, should probably have two separate systems. At the very least, you should probably have the hvac zones. Is that a possibility with your system? Basically, you have separate trunks lines that feed 2 (or 3) locations in your house. And basically you have a damper that will open or close depending on where the air is needed

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:12 pm

Dampers may be an option for me, as I have good access to the trunk runs in the basement.

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Postby Trip McNeely » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:15 pm

Dampers may be an option for me, as I have good access to the trunk runs in the basement.
Hvac guys would clearly know more, but basically when I did it, you separate the trunk runs. So one trunk for basement and first floor, then another for the upstairs. Then you add a thermostat for the upper floors. And in the main system, a damper is installed that opens and closes based on the thermostats.

It works pretty well. Not at well as two separate systems but would definitely help distribute the cold air a little better than what you have going on now

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:17 pm

Dampers may be an option for me, as I have good access to the trunk runs in the basement.
Hvac guys would clearly know more, but basically when I did it, you separate the trunk runs. So one trunk for basement and first floor, then another for the upstairs. Then you add a thermostat for the upper floors. And in the main system, a damper is installed that opens and closes based on the thermostats.

It works pretty well. Not at well as two separate systems but would definitely help distribute the cold air a little better than what you have going on now
I'm really only going to consider this if he tells me the unit is properly sized. If it's undersized, that's it, I'm replacing the system.

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Postby Trip McNeely » Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:19 pm

Dampers may be an option for me, as I have good access to the trunk runs in the basement.
Hvac guys would clearly know more, but basically when I did it, you separate the trunk runs. So one trunk for basement and first floor, then another for the upstairs. Then you add a thermostat for the upper floors. And in the main system, a damper is installed that opens and closes based on the thermostats.

It works pretty well. Not at well as two separate systems but would definitely help distribute the cold air a little better than what you have going on now
I'm really only going to consider this if he tells me the unit is properly sized. If it's undersized, that's it, I'm replacing the system.
Yea for sure. Zoning won’t help if the system is too small

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Postby NTP66 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:25 pm

Comparing my ecobee sensor data to a week ago in similar weather conditions, I see no improvement with having my fan run full-time even when the compressor is off. That's a shame.

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