Home Improvement Thread

[blackjack68]

Finalized our new kitchen layout with cabinets yesterday.

Only 20 years later than I expected.

[NTP66]

Used the sink in my daughter's bathroom today. Decided to adjust the drain so that it opened a little more when I discovered water underneath. Definitely a leak from the cold side, and hilariously, the water isn't making its way to the wood because of all the **** she stuffed under there. Looks like I'll be buying a new faucet for her later.

[skullman80]

We replaced the faucet in our kitchen this past weekend because the stem of the handle just broke off randomly. Since we went from stainless steel to a maate black faucet that meant we had to also now replace all of our cabinet handles to match in black, and will also be replacing the light in the kitchen to match

[DigitalGypsy66]

Riddle me this: why would two identical toilets with identical supply lines have different tank fill times? The kids' toilet takes almost twice the time our does to fill up. Supply line is wide open on both shitters. Detritus in their supply line?

[NTP66]

Closed both shut off valves on this sink, and both started leaking; had to shut them off at the pex panel. Quarter turn shut off valves, that all have plastic internals, should be banned. New faucet and shut offs are in order now.

[robbiestoupe]

Riddle me this: why would two identical toilets with identical supply lines have different tank fill times? The kids' toilet takes almost twice the time our does to fill up. Supply line is wide open on both shitters. Detritus in their supply line?

If one is further away from the main line to the house, you’ll get more pressure drop. More so if one is on a different level in the house

[DigitalGypsy66]

Single floor home and the slower toilet is closer to the meter. <shrugs>

[robbiestoupe]

Maybe where they branch off the line, they installed smaller ID pipe. Hard to know for sure, could be many things

[Joegap]

I think a flipper bought my neighbors house, and today they just took out half of the yard and paved it. It looks so weird. I live on a very quiet street and there's never a shortage of parking spaces. I just don't understand getting rid of half the yard

[mac5155]

No way a flipper would pay to pave an unnecessary parking area.

[NTP66]

New owner is prepping the lot for their 32’ camper…

[mac5155]

Yes this is definitely something that a camper owner would do lol

[Joegap]

I just checked Allegheny counties property records, and it looks like a property management company bought the house. Maybe they are going to advertise for camper parking lol

[Willie Kool]

Single floor home and the slower toilet is closer to the meter. <shrugs>

It's most likely the fill valve. My basement toilet did the same thing, twice as long to fill as the first floor one. Replaced the fill valve with a Fluidmaster 400H and problem solved.

[DigitalGypsy66]

Yeah, thanks Willie. That was my next guess. I guess the QC on these contractor grade toilets made in late 2021 wasn't great.

Do any of yinz have water heater timers? Our electric co-op is flirting with peak hours price increases, probably starting in the spring. My mother in law has had this with another electric company and they double your rate during peak usage, usually 6-9 am during the winter and 4-7 PM during the summer. After the heat pump which I have on a programmable thermostat, the water heater would be the next biggest energy leech during these periods (although much more so in the winter). I probably would have an electrician come in and install it though.

[NTP66]

This is one that I looked at in the past, but the reviews were hit or miss. Doesn't seem worth it for me on a newer water heater that's energy star rated, and if you've got an older one with an old valve, it may not even be compatible for you.

[mac5155]

An on demand water heater seems like it'd be a more prudent investment maybe?

[DigitalGypsy66]

Eh, if the house wasn't just 2 years old I would look into it, but it's a fairly efficient model. Probably not worth getting a timer installed for it.

[NTP66]

Got our home insurance renewal for next year - going up $400/year. Honestly, this just makes me hate MetLife even more after they randomly dropped us. Our rates barely went up every year, and since moving on from them, this is all we've seen.

[robbiestoupe]

This is true of all insurances right now. Car insurance went up $100/yr after going up $500 over the past 3 years. With that and home insurance, I’m paying something like $2500 more a year compared to 3 years ago. Thanks Biden

[DigitalGypsy66]

Same here. I posted elsewhere about us changing insurance for home and auto, and our payment dropped significantly for both. YMMV.

[NTP66]

We have our agent check rates at renewal every year, and have never been able to find a better rate. We'll see what he says this year.

[dodint]

You've added an extra layer to the process and you're not finding affordable rates? Huh.

[NTP66]

We’ve been with our agency for over a decade, and they always find better rates than I can find myself - even with the same companies. Given that we don’t even pay for their services, and any changes I need to make I just have them do, it’s a no brainer.

[NTP66]

Agent got back to me today and said that he already checked, and Travelers is still the best rate. Higher than some on home, but less than half of most on auto, so it makes sense to stay put.