Home Projects (upkeep/repair/mods/cool sh*t/advice/question)

[RMC]

We had that happen. We just used it very carefully until we eventually got a replacement dishwasher. Depending on the age, it may not be worth repairing it.

We are on that plan with our current fridge, which I have hated since the day I bought it. It's not that old, so too soon to replace outright without guilt, but I am just hoping for the day it dies completely. I think I have gone through 5 fridges, in the past 22 years or so. Have never been happy with one of them, and I switch brands every time out of spite and frustration.

I think they must be like HVAC units, the definitely don't make them like they used to, so just buy cheap and plan to replace in X years, where X is a lot sooner than it used to be and far earlier than you would hope.

Not a fan of contemporary appliances as I hear consistently they 5-10 years life expectancy across the board and my brain says this stuff is basically supposed to last until you remodel, which may mean forever. 5 years? For that kind of money. I just can't cope. When my last fridge died from too much flakey power in my area, I went out and got another old workhorse for basically free at a recycle charity center. It does have the double of edge of not being so much energy star complaint as electricity gets more and more expensive. I know even if my furnace doesn't last forever, it's paying for itself in how much electricity it doesn't suck down. I'm about to the point where i really need to take that in to consider for replacing my AC as well. AC is costing me over $100 in the summer months and charging it was close to $1000 last time. Next time it needs a charge, it's likely to go, even as it works as fine as it can under the circumstance.

I'll have to find the article, but they are changing the coolent used in AC units, so not sure how much longer you will be able to charge the old ones. It's still possible, but I think this is the last year that they are making them with the current coolent. So you might want to factor that into it as well.

[LordMortis]

The coolant for my system is already on the retired list. The unit has been in this house much longer than I have and I've been here over 20 years. That's why it cost $900 to charge last time. It might cost a lot more next time and yep the cost of coolant that hasn't been made since ???? will likely be the deciding factor. It's not illegal buy and sell the stuff, only produce it. If they come back and tell me $3000 to charge the system but they can put in modern poor quality but energy efficient system and flush the old line for $2500, it's no brainer.

[Daehawk]

I need to start painting part of my outside of my home. But I cant figure out or find the paint I need. ive checked walmart, lowes, and home depot. Nothing seems to fit and its all high priced. I think I need flat white latex exterior in a gal or two. But finding it just like that is tough.

I cant find the old gal can we kept when it was painted in like 2012.

[TheMix]

With a lot of places, you can bring in a paint chip and they can match it. You just pick the kind you want as the base, and they mix up the color.

[Kraken]

Good paint is crazy expensive. Even cheap paint like Behr isn't cheap, and it won't last as long as the premium brands. But they all use pure white as their base, so if it's plain white you want, any base will do. You just need to decide what gloss level you want.

[Daehawk]

Flat matte.

you can bring in a paint chip and they can match it.

No car.Was just going to order online.

We always used Behr and Valspar before . Also I 'think' I prefer latex. I see acrylic latex but not sure thats the same thing.

[Isgrimnur]

From a response to one of my top reddit posts about Valspar's Madison White color:

Valspar makes a very poor quality paint. I’m not saying everything you buy from a dedicated paint store (Sherwin Williams, Paint Spot, PPG, etc) is good paint. Valspar, though, even the top of the line is shit paint. If you’re going to buy Box Store paint, and not from a manufacturer like the ones I named above, buy Behr. ... [T]he mid-high tier Behr paints are top notch. Great coverage, and reasonably durable. (Well, as durable as a latex based paint can be.)

[Daehawk]

Good to know thnx. It appeared stuff I really need this month..like paint so i can paint and get home ins...is a wait until need month...bills took more this month. I also thought I paid my car ins but it was late so thats a surprise deduction from bank when I thought Id paid it. Actually I had to use my credit card.

[Isgrimnur]

In the event that you end up with an occasional late or overdraft fee, you can always ask to have it removed as a courtesy. The worst that can happen is they decline.

[em2nought]

Good to know thnx. It appeared stuff I really need this month..like paint so i can paint and get home ins...is a wait until need month...bills took more this month. I also thought I paid my car ins but it was late so thats a surprise deduction from bank when I thought Id paid it. Actually I had to use my credit card.

My cousin has a subaru that's been sitting for ten years. She uses it as a shed, but she doesn't keep it tagged or insured. I think it only needed a tune up & clutch, but she chose to let it sit instead. Who knows what it needs now.

[disarm]

We built our house 10 years ago and rely on a well for water, which other than requiring a hefty filter to make it clean has been very reliable. This morning, we woke up to find that the water wasn't working at all. My first thought was to check the breaker for the well pump, and sure enough, something tripped it overnight...something which has never happened before. When I tried to reset the breaker, it would immediately trip again. This was not a good sign as there really aren't that many components to the system that can go bad... pretty much just a pump in a very deep hole (407ft to be exact). Fortunately, the local company that installed the system is excellent and has a 24-hour number...called them at 5:30am , told them the issue, and they promised to be out in the early afternoon to take a look (fine with us because we were leaving for work). The crew showed up around 2pm and it wasn't good news...

Our 10yo well pump failed early, likely due to working hard to pull water up 400 feet every day for ten years, as well as pumping water that looks like rusty sludge before it's filtered. They spent two hours pulling the old pump, installing a new one, refreshing some wiring and flushing the system/well. We have running water again less than 12 hours after we called, but I really didn't expect to spend $2800 on home repair today...

[Daehawk]

Good to know thnx. It appeared stuff I really need this month..like paint so i can paint and get home ins...is a wait until need month...bills took more this month. I also thought I paid my car ins but it was late so thats a surprise deduction from bank when I thought Id paid it. Actually I had to use my credit card.

My cousin has a subaru that's been sitting for ten years. She uses it as a shed, but she doesn't keep it tagged or insured. I think it only needed a tune up & clutch, but she chose to let it sit instead. Who knows what it needs now.

I would but Im too afraid ill lose the price I get now. its from the time when it was based on my wife. He record plus being female got it low. Like for her full coverage was $53..it stayed the same for me. Part covered was $25. Its up to $37 these days. Not my fault. Just prices. So Im afraid i might lose it. She had hers since she was young and started with her dad on it too. Its not something id care to lose.

As for well pumps dont EVEN get me started.

[Punisher]

Where are you getting prices that low?

Our insurance is full for my wifes car, a 2014 Kia Soul and my car, a 2005 Ford crown vic, has partial.
We are using NJ Manufacturers along with our house insurance in a bundle and we are paying over 2500 a year. Yours is looks to be around 600 or 700 per year.
I'm assuming the prices you gave are monthly.

[Daehawk]

Ya. When my wife died I got to keep her prices. I was on the insurance with her. And she'd had it since she was young with her dad on it. She had a great driving record and being female as well it was low.

[Daehawk]

Why are there so many F'n colors of white paint!!?? I just want Behr exterior flat white paint for wood and siding...wtf. White damn you. not fur white not seal white....whisper white?? oh come on!!

[Punisher]

Why are there so many F'n colors of white paint!!?? I just want Behr exterior flat white paint for wood and siding...wtf. White damn you. not fur white not seal white....whisper white?? oh come on!!

What? No love for Eggshell White?

[Kraken]

Why are there so many F'n colors of white paint!!?? I just want Behr exterior flat white paint for wood and siding...wtf. White damn you. not fur white not seal white....whisper white?? oh come on!!

What? No love for Eggshell White?

Behr's base paint -- the one to which they add pigments to make all their colors -- is called Ultra Pure White. Or it was the last time I used Behr.

I like to pick colors with easy names to remember, such as Navy Blue and Burgundy. Wife picked the downstairs colors for our new house and agonized over the subtleties of "Fun Yellow" and "Icy Lemonade." Me, I picked "Grayish" and "Real Gray" for the upstairs.

[RMC]

Back when my parents owned rental property, we used to just have 5 gallon buckets of "Harvest Wheat". All our houses were painted with white trim and Harvest Wheat. It was so easy to clean and repaint the rental houses. I mean don't get me wrong I hated it, but it was easy. Just bring the 5 gallon bucket and slap it up on the walls, and then trim and ceilings were white. Easy Peasy.

[Blackhawk]

I envy you all. Since I've been a lifelong renter, every interior wall has been some variant of 'off white' since I was a child. I'd love to be able to have colored walls!

[RMC]

I envy you all. Since I've been a lifelong renter, every interior wall has been some variant of 'off white' since I was a child. I'd love to be able to have colored walls!

My wife loves color, some of our walls are very bright. They always end up looking nice. But I would have never choosen any of the colors she uses.

[Blackhawk]

I'd still settle for that over off-white, eggshell, pale beige, warm white, and all that other variants of the same bland color.

[Kraken]

This is the first time I've ever chosen all the colors (well, half-chosen, Wife gets an equal say) in a house. We're going to have a green bedroom, a blue room, and a purple room, and all of them get one accent wall in a bold complementary color. The public areas will be more neutral shades of yellow, beige, and gray.

The painters I hired are two young guys who are really excited about being able to paint an empty house with walls in good condition, and they're racing the calendar to get it all done before we move in. They're texting me daily updates with photos of their progress. It's kind of fun.

[Jeff V]

The other day, we had a brief power outage that seems to have fried my garage door opener. Good riddance, it's the root cause of my busted arm but...they are coming Friday to replace it and tomorrow is garbage day. Usually this wouldn't a huge issue, pull on the release cord and open the door manually.

Except for some reason that is not working. I pulled so hard on the braided cord that it actually snapped 2 inches from the plastic handle. The catch just won't release and I can't open the door more than 8".

Any ideas how to get this unfucked? I don't want to have to drag the garbage through the house.

[TheMix]

So you need a manual release option for the manual release? Yikes. Sorry, I have no idea. It should be pretty straightforward, pull the cord and it unhooks the door from the opener, allowing you to open it manually. If the cord isn't releasing it... It looks like mine also has a cotter pin. That looks like it would also work to detach.

[stessier]

Sledgehammer or chainsaw.

[Jeff V]

So you need a manual release option for the manual release? Yikes. Sorry, I have no idea. It should be pretty straightforward, pull the cord and it unhooks the door from the opener, allowing you to open it manually. If the cord isn't releasing it... It looks like mine also has a cotter pin. That looks like it would also work to detach.

You are a genius sir! I didn't recognize it as such because instead of an easy to remove cotter pin, it had one of those infuriating round keychains as a stopper going through the hole. Now I suppose there's enough time to take the lawn mower out and give the front weeds possibly their final trimming of year (who knows, it was 80's last week, 20's and frost this morning, 70's this coming weekend).

[Carpet_pissr]

The other day, we had a brief power outage that seems to have fried my garage door opener. Good riddance, it's the root cause of my busted arm but...they are coming Friday to replace it and tomorrow is garbage day. Usually this wouldn't a huge issue, pull on the release cord and open the door manually.

Except for some reason that is not working. I pulled so hard on the braided cord that it actually snapped 2 inches from the plastic handle. The catch just won't release and I can't open the door more than 8".

Any ideas how to get this unfucked? I don't want to have to drag the garbage through the house.

Hope you got a belt driven one vs chain? I installed mine a few years ago and it’s about 10x quieter.

[Jeff V]

The other day, we had a brief power outage that seems to have fried my garage door opener. Good riddance, it's the root cause of my busted arm but...they are coming Friday to replace it and tomorrow is garbage day. Usually this wouldn't a huge issue, pull on the release cord and open the door manually.

Except for some reason that is not working. I pulled so hard on the braided cord that it actually snapped 2 inches from the plastic handle. The catch just won't release and I can't open the door more than 8".

Any ideas how to get this unfucked? I don't want to have to drag the garbage through the house.

Hope you got a belt driven one vs chain? I installed mine a few years ago and it’s about 10x quieter.

That would have been $100 more. The defective one was belt-driven. Went with the chain, which isn't too loud, can use the same lube I use for my bike chains (because it's an actual bike chain).

[Daehawk]

Septic tank. Looks like right as my mortgage company has worked out new payments my septic tank need pumping. Its not clogged but when I flush it fill way up first and has a weak flush. No amount of plungering helps. I seem to recall the last time was when one or both in laws were alive so over 15 years ago. I was hoping with it mostly being me and the wife it would last longer but wishing hasn't helped with much anuthing lately.

No idea the costs of this as they always hadled it. And the people they knew hence lower rates is dead. I gotta call a place monday and see. I think they said last time the drain field was ruined. But we couldn't afford fixing it and I still cant. Hoping to get it pumped and died before it needs it again. Plans always fail though.

[Smoove_B]

I seem to recall the last time was when one or both in laws were alive so over 15 years ago.

So...uh...yeah. They're supposed to be pumped every ~3-5 years, max. No idea what the cost would be in your state but if it's similar to here (and not knowing the size - guessing 1000 gallons), it should be around $600.

[Daehawk]

Dont know..its old..a big 2 chamber contrete thing...like two large eggs in the ground somehow connected. I think the cost years ago was $300 - $400.

Just another expense I was in no way prepared for or have the money far. And one I am embarrassed to talk about. Just seems weird. Would rather talk about the roof or well pump.

I do recall the old place called his truck the 'Honey Wagon' and had a honey bee on the side of it...eww lol.

[Smoove_B]

As someone that has been to other people's homes to talk about their raw sewage running from their lawn into the street or a neighbors yard, I can assure you that you're not the only one that doesn't like to talk about it. It's one of those things that can go from bad to worse rather quickly; it's not something you can put off if you're already seeing slow draining in your house so hopefully you get quick resolution with a call tomorrow. Regardless, it's all part of the never ending chaos that is home ownership; your house wants to slide into chaos. Money must constantly be spent to stop it.

[Daehawk]

Im almost to the point of "Kill it! Kill it with fire!!!" ....well not really. But the old movie trope does come to mind haha

[Blackhawk]

Do not kill your septic tank with fire.

[Daehawk]

Got an appt for tomorrow. $275 unless he has to dig it up to pump it...which i did but now has some dirt on and around it again so $305.

[Daehawk]

I went to start new payments on my mortgage modification only to figure out I cant until I go get the new paper notarized. I had plans today but luckily those plans actually provide me wit ha ride to the bank for the notary there to do it free. I cant go tomorrow and do all this due to it being voting day and the septic pumper comes tomorrow..

Busy busy. I also ordered my gal of paint for the house so I can paint that side and see about getting my own home insurance.

I was thinking of letting the loan place handle the taxes and home ins but after looking I think I can pay both cheaper myself and lower my monthly payment even more..so win win yay yay.

[Daehawk]

Septic tank pumped and done. $275. Not bad.

[RMC]

Sigh... Got a letter in the mail Sunday, Water department thinks I have a leak. Umm.. The chart you sent says two weeks ago I started using my entire monthly usage in a day. Got the letter Saturday, and didn't open it until Sunday night.

Went outside by my water main at the curb(I live in the country, so really just by the road, no curb). And there is Lake RMC forming there. Call a zillion plumbers, after the Water company is rude and tells me it is my problem.

So ~ 80/day of water filling up my front yard for over 10 days, and the plumber promises he will be here Thursday to fix it. Plumber told me that the water compnay recently turned up the water pressure and that is most likely what did it. Also, that if I have "leak prevention", I have to file some paperwork, and it should help cover anything I used for water over my normal usage.. So instead of an 60-80 water bill, I am calculating about 1k for a water bill, and a 5k plumbing bill. So yeah.. Happy 4th quarter. F^%%&*%

[EvilHomer3k]

That sucks. It's crazy how fast water adds up. We had a leaky toilet in our basement and our normal $100 per month bill (water and trash) went to almost $500. And that's water going through a 1/4" tube. Can't imagine how much water went out your main feed.

[LordMortis]

I'm beginning to wonder. I don't see water anywhere or erosion but in the last year my usage went from 1000 to 2000 gallons in a two month span to 3000 to 4000 gallons in a two month span and I know my increased cleaning and weaker aging bladder do not account for a 35 gallon a day every day increase to around 70 gallons of usage every single day?!? I've been thinking about calling to have someone check the through put on my meter. I have no idea how that would work or who in the city to begin with.