Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Djongo Unchained]

^^^^
A lot of times I can clear unseen debris with a shop vac with a larger diameter hose. Or at least remove enough dirt to get the larger blockages out.

[skialpy]

I’ll try the shop vac but not terribly hopeful I can get 50 years of impacted dirt. Then I’ll still need to attach pvc to concrete pipe.

[RootSkier]

How deep is it and would digging it up present problems with structures, trees you want to keep, sidewalks, etc? If so, there are specialized trenchless contractors that can fix basically any kind of pipe without trenching the entire thing. It ain't cheap, though.

[Rideski]

I have a downspout that went into a 100 year old concrete pipe to a concrete elbow to another concrete pipe that goes to the municipal sewer. Pipe is broken on the sewer side of the elbow and the elbow is demolished. The pipe is packed with dirt farther than I can dig it out. Little hesitant to start douching with the garden hose and filling the hole I dug next to the foundation with water. Thinking I’ll let the pros handle this one. What kind of contractor can clear the pipe (hydrojet?) cut it and connect it to some pvc? Am I looking for a plumber, sewer repair, or some kind of specialist?

Connect the downspout (raise bottom cutoff if necessary) to above ground metal and or plastic down spout and pipe to direct water away from foundation and lower ground if possible, and call that good till there are signs of us actually making it to 2021?

[skialpy]

It’s about 20” deep and runs underneath a concrete walkway. So yes digging it up would be a major ordeal. Hoping to use the pipe if it’s can be cleared and is still intact.

[RootSkier]

Rideski's not wrong. If it hasn't been draining to the sewer for a long time, does it really need to?

[nickwm21]

I have a downspout that went into a 100 year old concrete pipe to a concrete elbow to another concrete pipe that goes to the municipal sewer. Pipe is broken on the sewer side of the elbow and the elbow is demolished. The pipe is packed with dirt farther than I can dig it out. Little hesitant to start douching with the garden hose and filling the hole I dug next to the foundation with water. Thinking I’ll let the pros handle this one. What kind of contractor can clear the pipe (hydrojet?) cut it and connect it to some pvc? Am I looking for a plumber, sewer repair, or some kind of specialist?

Pipe jetting / hydro jetting. Roto-rooter can do it, but you can probably find a better local vendor with a quick google search. Anyone that advertises “trenchless sewer repair” - is basically doing a jetting service.

Think of a pressure washer at the end of a stiff hose they fish through the pipe towards the blockage. I believe the jetter sprays backwards so they need to run the hose from the street towards the house...


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[nickwm21]

I just noticed your username. The Seattle guys I’ve used plenty of times before are Flohawk.


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[skialpy]

Rideski's not wrong. If it hasn't been draining to the sewer for a long time, does it really need to?

Ya water gets in the garage each winter. I want it fixed. Nowhere to divert it either.

[Garbowski]

My ducts are leaking due to somebody using duct tape, go figure. It' real duct tape, not the asbestos stuff. Pressing the tape down helps a bit, but it's leaky and there's a 2" section made entirely of old tape. My plan is to take all the tape off, clean the residue and use the foil backed stuff, adding screws where there are none joining two pieces. For the gap, I have a drawband ring I was going to use. Most of it is coming right off the main furnace trunk, so while I was messing around with the ducts- I figured I should do whatever I can that is in a furnace inspection. I've never actually had one, the unit is pretty new and it had been getting them fairly regularly until I bought the place. I just have been changing the filter. Is there anything worth doing myself? Should I just call a pro to take a look since it's been a few years?

[bagtagley]

Need to put up a fence for the MIL, preferably a picket fence. Am I an idiot for thinking I should do this myself vs hiring someone who can do it better in a fraction of the time? Appreciate any insight, suggestions, and horror stories.

[RootSkier]

Need to put up a fence for the MIL, preferably a picket fence. Am I an idiot for thinking I should do this myself vs hiring someone who can do it better in a fraction of the time? Appreciate any insight, suggestions, and horror stories.

Fences are not hard to build but digging holes sucks ass. Depending on how many there are and the type of soil/digging you expect to encounter, I would seriously consider seeing if you can find someone who will handle the digging for you, either with an auger attachment on a skid steer, or with a hand-held power auger. You could also rent them if you are willing to do it yourself, and depending how many holes you need.

[ötzi]

hand-held augers aren't too bad if the soil isn't full of rocks and roots. They suck if it is though. Me and 2 guys built over 2 miles of 3-board horse fence in New Hampshire in "soil" that was all rocks and roots. Man did that suck.

[oftpiste]

Dig a foot deep hole for each post and drop a tube form in it, fill with concrete and post (or post bracket), repeat.

[old goat]

Easy enough DIY job if you don't mind lugging bags of concrete and digging holes. (I do which is why we hired someone to build the last one, after doing it ourselves several times over the years). Consider using z-posts. They'll last longer than would posts in concrete and sturdier than wood in post bases. You can box them in to look like solid wood posts.

[dan_pdx]

There's a pretty good chance that we'll be moving in the next 6-9 months, and a pretty good chance that if we do move, we'll sell this house instead of becoming landlords. I think Portland property will do well in the long term and I wanted to hold on to it, but the current state of affairs is a pretty compelling argument for hell naw.

So, I'm thinking of a couple of potential projects with an eye towards resale value. One is seismic retrofit, which I think I had quoted at around $5k, but that was several years ago. What do folks think - is that going to make a meaningful difference in resale? I guess the other thing would be to replace the carpet in a back room, which is past its prime. I would probably DIY that, should just be a few hundred dollars in flooring. That's probably worth it, right?

[old goat]

I believe the general advice is that no repairs or maintenance increase the value as much as the cost of the work. Obviously you can't have peeling paint and a carpet that smells of cat piss if you want anyone to buy it but beyond that I don't think there's a benefit.

I suppose if there's an upgrade required by code at the time of sale that isn't a matter of personal taste you could make an argument for dealing with it, since the money will have to be spent either before or after the sale and a lot of people want a house they can move into right away.

[Buster Highmen]

^^^^
A lot of times I can clear unseen debris with a shop vac with a larger diameter hose. Or at least remove enough dirt to get the larger blockages out.

"A gypsy mutant industrial vacuum cleaner dances about a mysterious night time camp fire. Festoons. Dozens of imported castanets, clutched by the horrible suction of its heavy duty hose, waving with marginal erotic abondon in the midnight autumn air." -

[Timberridge]

hand-held augers aren't too bad if the soil isn't full of rocks and roots. They suck if it is though. Me and 2 guys built over 2 miles of 3-board horse fence in New Hampshire in "soil" that was all rocks and roots. Man did that suck.

And augers go through electrical lines and gas lines faster than just a regular post hole digger.

[bagtagley]

Thanks. Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be hand digging the post holes. It would be for a dog. Trying to convince the wife an MIL that a proximity fence is a better option.

[dan_pdx]

I believe the general advice is that no repairs or maintenance increase the value as much as the cost of the work. Obviously you can't have peeling paint and a carpet that smells of cat piss if you want anyone to buy it but beyond that I don't think there's a benefit.

I suppose if there's an upgrade required by code at the time of sale that isn't a matter of personal taste you could make an argument for dealing with it, since the money will have to be spent either before or after the sale and a lot of people want a house they can move into right away.

Thanks - seismic reinforcement is not required by code, but it got pretty trendy here several years ago after the New Yorker wrote an article about how Portland is fucked in an earthquake. Old bungalows like mine apparently are not well secured to the foundation, so the whole house will move and then fall into the basement, which admittedly would suck. It's not a huge project, but would require opening up sheetrock walls in the basement, so it's not a high priority unless we think it would make a big difference in sale price.

The carpet replacement I'll do just so we can be shut of the carpet for the rest of our time here. No smells or anything, but it's looking worn.

[fatnslow]

There's a pretty good chance that we'll be moving in the next 6-9 months, and a pretty good chance that if we do move, we'll sell this house instead of becoming landlords. I think Portland property will do well in the long term and I wanted to hold on to it, but the current state of affairs is a pretty compelling argument for hell naw.

So, I'm thinking of a couple of potential projects with an eye towards resale value. One is seismic retrofit, which I think I had quoted at around $5k, but that was several years ago. What do folks think - is that going to make a meaningful difference in resale? I guess the other thing would be to replace the carpet in a back room, which is past its prime. I would probably DIY that, should just be a few hundred dollars in flooring. That's probably worth it, right?

If you live in a older home in inner PDX I would spend a $100 to get your sewer line scoped so you know what's up getting ready to sell. If you can lay carpet and make it look pro than it's not a bad way to spend a few hundred but I would probably pass on the seismic upgrade. If you're really serious about moving consider listing your house ASAP and sell it while the market is still hot.

[skaredshtles]

I believe the general advice is that no repairs or maintenance increase the value as much as the cost of the work.

This. If you're going to do work on your house, do it for yourself, not for some buyer.

But replace that fucking cat-pee carpet, ferkrissakes.

[old goat]

This. If you're going to do work on your house, do it for yourself, not for some buyer.

But replace that fucking cat-pee carpet, ferkrissakes.

Also ferret pee. IME.

[bagtagley]

We’re under contract on a fixer upper, so apologies in advance for the coming activity.

Owners were major smokers. Paint and carpet made a massive difference but can still smell it when the HVAC blows. The inspector said Duct Medic can help with supply lines but the trunk line is fiber board and they can’t do anything for that. Any thoughts? Is it worth trying an ozone machine before we start pricing trunk line replacement?