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The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

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St. Clown said:
I figure that a walkout would allow at least one direction for the water to move rather than all being stuck the “bowl” created when the land is excavated for the foundation. According to the guy who was here, if you dig up clay and put it back in place, even under a house foundation, it takes about 25,000 years for the disturbed ground to become as hard as it had once been. So I’m thinking that the water movement, if it had at least one direction of escape, would help to somehow mitigate water issues. I might be way off on that idea.
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Hell, it takes about 2.5 days at my house in the summer to turn to a hardness that jumping on a spade won't penetrate it. :-)
(I don't doubt that it's a long time. Holds water so well. But once it's gone...)

You might be right though. I haven' tseen much in the way of water issues with my place. I'll definitely be looking for less clay when we move eventually.
 
Two quotes received, and they vary wildly. First quote was about $14,500. Today’s quote was for $25,200-$50,100, depending upon if we wanted them to go into our garage. And this second quote didn’t include replacing the concrete on the driveway.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
Can I ask what your background is? You're super knowledgeable about home and repairs. You know your way around contracts too.
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I've been in and around the construction business most of my adult life. Mostly small commercial stuff and my business is electrical contracting. I've seen hundreds of yards of concrete placed and I can tell you that concrete poured on lousy soils, improper compaction etc will lead to failure every time. I added my 2 cents to Clowns issue because what he has going on ain't no joke. I hope he can get it fixed correctly for a reasonable price. My Dad picked where my house is built, Professor of Plant and Soils Sciences :).
 
We decided to install an in-line water filter system at home? Any advices?
Also if you have a reliable plumber, please let me know. So far these guys seem to have good reputation. Did someone work with the m in the past?
 
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Bought an Ecobee today from Xcel. They were on deep discount (seemingly) and I've been wanting to get one for a while. Should be able to get another discount if I sign up for one of the two energy programs. I'm guessing electricity and gas are going to be effing expensive for the next 12-24 months so probably a good thing to look at.
 
Deutsche Gopher Fan said:
I love my Nest. Keep house around 65 all winter. That and adding insulation has been key
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Was thinking about this too. My house used to be insanely energy efficient, even without the massive tree growth I've had over the last decade. 100 degree day, the temp never got about like 76. Now, not so much. Which is why I'd like to look at a couple things. Energy audit (walls, ceilings, and attic), add insulation to the attic. I'll also be looking to replace the hot water heater, but not sure that's going to save much.

Not sure what else I can do.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
Was thinking about this too. My house used to be insanely energy efficient, even without the massive tree growth I've had over the last decade. 100 degree day, the temp never got about like 76. Now, not so much. Which is why I'd like to look at a couple things. Energy audit (walls, ceilings, and attic), add insulation to the attic. I'll also be looking to replace the hot water heater, but not sure that's going to save much.

Not sure what else I can do.
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I used home energy squad in both homes I’ve owned. Really helpful. They told me to recondition my original windows vs replacing which made me happy. The ROI is tough with how much windows cost and so much of my leakage was fixed when I added insulation and sealed stuff up
 
Deutsche Gopher Fan said:
I used home energy squad in both homes I’ve owned. Really helpful. They told me to recondition my original windows vs replacing which made me happy. The ROI is tough with how much windows cost and so much of my leakage was fixed when I added insulation and sealed stuff up
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We threw on some window plastic this year on the two oldest and it made a massive difference. Best $5 i've spent.
 
alicestevens said:
We decided to install an in-line water filter system at home? Any advices?
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My dad has a gigantic water de-ionizer. It's ridiculous. His town water is a bit on the hard side but not bad, and while it improves the scaling a bit, it's expensive and requires maintenance.


The question is... why are you installing anything and what level of filtration are you looking at? If you've already decided I'm sure you've worked this out already, but if you're asking for advice, a little more info might be helpful.


(no snark here!)
 
Swansong said:
My dad has a gigantic water de-ionizer. It's ridiculous. His town water is a bit on the hard side but not bad, and while it improves the scaling a bit, it's expensive and requires maintenance.


The question is... why are you installing anything and what level of filtration are you looking at? If you've already decided I'm sure you've worked this out already, but if you're asking for advice, a little more info might be helpful.


(no snark here!)
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Gonna be hard to install if she doesn't have opposable thumbs
 
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