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The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

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FadeToBlack&Gold said:
The doofus who previously owned my home, probably. We discover shoddy DIY work he did between 1991-2020 about every 2-3 months.

Dear auto mechanics - you are not plumbers or electricians, no matter how much you think you are.
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My dad was a EE and he rewired our entire house in the 1970s. I love my dad and he was a self-made man and incredibly smart and talented but here's the thing -- a EE is NOT an electrician!
 
FadeToBlack&Gold said:
The doofus who previously owned my home, probably. We discover shoddy DIY work he did between 1991-2020 about every 2-3 months.

Dear auto mechanics - you are not plumbers or electricians, no matter how much you think you are.
Click to expand...

nothing shoddy about using number 10 wire on a light circuit. It exceeds code, assuming it’s not a 30 amp circuit. NEC is the minimum one most do, exceeding it is fine.
 
We had a large fraction of our attic wiring still knob and tube, along with a bunch of Romex just scattered about where it could be stepped on, and no shortage of open-air splices between the two. Had to get the whole attic re-wired essentially. It feels like whoever lived in the house the previous 60 years just added new wiring on top of old wiring without doing the whole thing in one coherent manner.
 
walrus said:
nothing shoddy about using number 10 wire on a light circuit. It exceeds code, assuming it’s not a 30 amp circuit. NEC is the minimum one most do, exceeding it is fine.
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Yeah, it's just really annoying. The light I was installing has one of the european style connectors instead of using nuts. It says you should use 18ga but 14 worked fine. 10 wasn't going to fit.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
Yeah, it's just really annoying. The light I was installing has one of the european style connectors instead of using nuts. It says you should use 18ga but 14 worked fine. 10 wasn't going to fit.
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Real wagos(brand name)are ok for splices, other than that you are taking a chance on the so called European splices. Might be better than those cheesy orange wire nuts that are usually with lights.
 
French Rage said:
We had a large fraction of our attic wiring still knob and tube, along with a bunch of Romex just scattered about where it could be stepped on, and no shortage of open-air splices between the two. Had to get the whole attic re-wired essentially. It feels like whoever lived in the house the previous 60 years just added new wiring on top of old wiring without doing the whole thing in one coherent manner.
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Thats pretty much the way electrical is in any home, store, office etc. Keeps getting added onto until it’s maxed out. Every electrician does things differently. Some are easy to follow, some are not.
 
walrus said:
Real wagos(brand name)are ok for splices, other than that you are taking a chance on the so called European splices. Might be better than those cheesy orange wire nuts that are usually with lights.
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It's a Philips hue fixture that has several ETL certs. Supposedly these splice connectors offer better connections than nuts. But I'm less of a fan of the permanent one-time use. If you screw up and need to rewire, you basically have to cut it off and start over
 
Loving the idea of sharing home improvement stories, both the wins and the not-so-successful moments. It's all part of the journey, right? By the way, if you're on the lookout for top-notch furniture and decor to elevate your spaces, checking out Furniture and Decor reviews here could be a game-changer. Let's keep the conversation going and inspire each other with our home improvement adventures!
 
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My ac unit outside sometimes gets really loud like when a Fridge compressor gets loud. But it’s not consistent

had a reputable company come out. Guy spent a long time looking at things inside and outside of house. He said that the install notes were lacking, and the refrigerant seemed a tad heavy but no signs of unit being overcharged- so he thinks some contaminant got in during install. Lo and behold, previous owners didn’t pull a permit like they should have, so likely some handyman or owners themselves messed up install. With our temps and my upcoming guests, I agreed to replace refrigerant for $1500. Was fine for a few weeks

last week during winds the power flickered and the noise started again. Last night, I came home after Oppenheimer and turned on ac and it made the noise again.

giy warned me that the evaporator coil could be bad- he wasn’t even sure if the indoor component was replaced when the outdoor unit was in 2018. I found email from realtor during inspection that confirmed both inside and outside parts replaced at same time.

so now I gotta call company back and tell them the fix didn’t fix the issue. And I’m terrified that evaporator coil or something else could be another 1500-2k fix and pretty soon I’ll have paid equivalent for a new ac unit

and I’m getting laid off this week gaaah
 
Yeah I’ve already got a message out to different company. I’d called this one originally and other company had already come over and done the work by the time first one called back. I’d told him what happened below and he didn’t think it sounded crazy…but now I need multiple opinions
 
Kepler said:
I need to meet the... person?... who did this.
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I would like the small slab table from the blue room pics, the one with the single flower vase on it. Everything else in that house looks expensive to correct the current owner’s misdeeds.
 
Our local Pervert's Guide ranked our 8 most invasive species:

1. Barberry. Isn't this a store in Reston Town Center that sells overpriced raincoats? Actually, it's worse: it's an OUTLET in Loudoun County. Verdict: The factory seconds bin for them.

2. English Ivy. Let this climb the walls of an older Reston townhouse and you soften the Brutalist feel with some Ye Old Timey vibes. But do you think across the pond in Olde Blighty, the folks in Milton Keynes, or whatever they call their New Towns, get worked up over "Reston ivy?" Verdict: A full English breakfast.

3. Bamboo. Often used along property lines. Virtually indestructible. Verdict: Replace them with bollards.

4. Chinese and Japanese wisteria. Pretty enough, but Wisteria Lane was the name of a street in another plastic fantastic planned community—the one on Desperate Housewives. Verdict: Too much drama.

5. Oriental bittersweet. We'll tell you what's bittersweet—driving by the spot where the Macaroni Grill once stood. Verdict: No endless breadsticks for you.

6. Flowering pear tree species. Flowers are fine. Pears are fine—tasty, even. But together? Verdict: That ain't right.

7. Burning bush. Usually these are portents of unpleasant journeys, like having to wander in the desert for 40 years or drive to Tysons. Verdict: A fistful of pennies to pay the tolls.

8. Nonnative Bush honeysuckles. According to something we Googled on Bing dot com, their fruits are considered "junk food" for many animal species. Verdict: Let them grow around the McTacoNoLongerAHut and nowhere else, the end.
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