Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Core Shot]

Icedams much?

Current code is to insulate the knee wall and the ceiling. Although he needs better insulation on the ceiling joists.

Old code or practice was just to insulate the roof rafters. Which lets heat escape and melt the roof snow which then freezes up and ice dams when the water hits the unheated rafter extension of the eaves.

[Core Shot]

California is pushing towards electric and solar in the residential building code. Gas, tho cheaper in upfront costs, has a higher carbon footprint

Probably more of a climate change thread. But nat gas is abundant. A byproduct of most oil wells. Sending it across the ocean is clearly wasteful. But if you can direct pipe it across land to heat homes and for industry it makes more sense than just flaring it off uselessly.

PS. Peaker plants for electric are all nat gas. Nothing else spools up quickly and works as well.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Current code is to insulate the knee wall and the ceiling. Although he needs better insulation on the ceiling joists.

Old code or practice was just to insulate the roof rafters. Which lets heat escape and melt the roof snow which then freezes up and ice dams when the water hits the unheated rafter extension of the eaves.

how does your ass feel after you pulled that out of it?

[Core Shot]

how does your ass feel after you pulled that out of it?

You can still insulate the roof rafters. But several building code seminars I have attended irl say insulate the ceiling and knee wall.
If you want to insulate the rafters closed cell spray foam is a good option.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

I hope you didn't pay for those "seminars".

You do realize every time you call code on something, it actually isn't?

[El Chupacabra]

Seems like maybe the right place to ask this -

For carrying an extension ladder on a truck bed rack, is 35" apart between the crossbars OK? I have a Thule Xsporter rack that I set up for holding a rocketbox, so I set the crossbars at 35" spread. I'll have plenty of space to hang the ladder over the truck cab and rearward too.

Anyone?

[Vt-Freeheel]

Anyone?

I have carried a 24' extension on my Q5 several times and I don't think the bars are much over 36" apart

[nickwm21]

What brands are people buying plumbing fixture wise?

Minor laundry rooms remodel on a budget… Found a discount wall mount sink. Need a wall mount faucet. Not into spending $900 on a Moen. But also not into buying a budget fixture.

Is there a brand out there that hits high in the “bang-per-buck” meter?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[climberevan]

Just reach out with your left hand and hold the ladder on. All good!

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

What brands are people buying plumbing fixture wise?

Minor laundry rooms remodel on a budget… Found a discount wall mount sink. Need a wall mount faucet. Not into spending $900 on a Moen. But also not into buying a budget fixture.

Is there a brand out there that hits high in the “bang-per-buck” meter?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Go check out a habitat for humanity store. Also a lot of non-chain builders centers have boneyards where they sell returns and scratch and dents cheap.

Other than that, for a laundry room you can probably find something from Delta that won't break your bank.

[nickwm21]

Anyone?

A quality ladder will be fine. You could always lash a 2x4 to it.

Don’t forget to slap it and say “you’re not going anywhere” before you drive off.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[muted reborn]

I thought it was "Yep, that's going nowhere fast". Have I been doing it wrong for years?

[AdironRider]

What brands are people buying plumbing fixture wise?

Minor laundry rooms remodel on a budget… Found a discount wall mount sink. Need a wall mount faucet. Not into spending $900 on a Moen. But also not into buying a budget fixture.

Is there a brand out there that hits high in the “bang-per-buck” meter?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

I just had to replace some seals on a Kohler toilet, and I've had to do the same on a Moen faucet at my last place. They still made the parts, the part numbers were easily identifiable, and were easily replaced in both instances. You aren't going to get that on a less than name brand fixture. Also, for an in wall, I tend to gravitate towards a recognizable name brand as you don't want a flood in your house because of some cheap ass part you can't access easily.

Maybe you just want to flip the place and don't give a fuck, at which point I would say fuck it also, but I think its worth the extra scratch long term in this instance.

[fastfred]

What brands are people buying plumbing fixture wise?

Minor laundry rooms remodel on a budget… Found a discount wall mount sink. Need a wall mount faucet. Not into spending $900 on a Moen. But also not into buying a budget fixture.

Is there a brand out there that hits high in the “bang-per-buck” meter?


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

kohler and delta

I buy at least a 100k in fixtures a year and no I will not buy anything else

the discount will be just that a discount

[El Chupacabra]

I have carried a 24' extension on my Q5 several times and I don't think the bars are much over 36" apart

Thanks. 36" crossbar spread seems like a lot on a Q5 - I'm talking about the distance from the front crossbar to the rear crossbar, not side to side on a single crossbar. But if I it held on a Q5 roof rack, then it should be no issue on a truck bed rack.

Just reach out with your left hand and hold the ladder on. All good!

I want to see you reach out a truck window and hold down a ladder fastened over the bed.

[Supermoon]

I thought it was "Yep, that's going nowhere fast". Have I been doing it wrong for years?

You’ve been playing with fire

[oldnew_guy]

Anyone?

I'm confused at what the issue would be? You could stand on it with it horizontal and with supports at 36" and it probably wouldn't even notice. I'd be more concerned about it slewing side to side.

[oldnew_guy]

A couple of questions for the collective.

First, the supply lines to a bathroom sink are knocking when the sink taps are turned on. Same issue for hot and cold. They're copper pipe inside a lath and plaster wall and I can't see that the wall was ever opened to properly secure the pipes. There is a basement under there, but the pipes go up through holes in the subfloor, so no access without making a big hole in the subfloor. Is there any way to secure those pipes without getting into the wall cavity? Turning the shut off valves down to about 1/3 capacity does seem to stop the knocking, but makes using the sink kind of a PITA.


Second, what's the 411 on natural gas furnace vs. heat pump? This is in Portland, so fairly mild winters. I have a NG furnace that's nearing end of life; a tech measured CO at something like 6 ppm at the register with the furnace on. I didn't think to have him take a reading of the ambient interior CO before running the furnace, but the furnace is 18 years old, so it seems plausible that the heat exchanger has some small cracks and needs to be retired.

So now I'm trying to decide the best strategy for replacement: another NG furnace, a heat pump with a NG furnace as backup, or a heat pump with some radiant heating as backup (seems installers in Portland are very reluctant to install a heat pump without some kind of backup). This is my former primary residence, now rented to my cousin and his wife (and their dog), so while I won't say that cost is no object, I want them to be comfortable. It seems that a heat pump is going to cost substantially more than a new NG furnace and not save that much money (maybe $50/month during heating season), so I'm kind of leaning towards just putting in a new NG furnace. Is that crazy?

Other background: the house is an old Craftsman, but fairly well insulated and weatherized: it has fiberglass batts in the wall, insulated to R30 with foam in the attic, and did pretty well on a blower door test. The current cooling strategy is two window units and a portable, which has been OK other than being a little inconvenient.

I was quoted basically the same price (in the same market as you) for a nat gas/heat pump/ac and variable speed electric Mitsubishi heat pump (ac/heat) and ducted air handler last year by Clawson. Just doing the nat gas furnace replace 1:1 was half the price, but no central air. That was pre-BIL and the tax credits though.

I personally think it's really unlikely you would need back up heat with the new heat pump units that can heat even in sub zero temps.

[El Chupacabra]

I'm confused at what the issue would be? You could stand on it with it horizontal and with supports at 36" and it probably wouldn't even notice. I'd be more concerned about it slewing side to side.

Just wondering if a long ladder put too much leverage on the rack if the crossbars are only 3' apart. A dedicated contractor rack ( like a welded together fixed height truck bed rack) would have the crossbars spread at 6' to 8' apart, which seems more ideal for long loads like a ladder.

Apparently I have nothing to worry about.

I have load stops for my Thule rack - the triangular things that slot into the crossbars. Those will keep the ladder from sliding side to side.

[BCMtnHound]

If it really bothers you, treat it like a canoe on rack with that spacing - secure the fore and aft of the ladder to the front and rear bumpers as back-up. Of course your ladder doesn’t have anywhere near the air catch of a canoe, but if there is any flex in the ladder, this will keep it from bouncing its way off the rack.

[californiagrown]

Anyone?

Just tie it down tight with rope and dont drive like an asshole. Seriously though, just overdue to the tieing it down tight above an beyond what you think is neccessary. Youre not a contractor loading and unloading the thing multiple times per day so go overboard with the knots and amount of rope used.

[El Chupacabra]

I'm shitty with tying knots. Ratchet straps are my go to...

[Dantheman]

I'm shitty with tying knots. Ratchet straps are my go to...

Yes, I was going to suggest proper cam buckle or ratchet tie-down straps. Rope and knots is playing with fire and/or guaranteed to be a PITA to undo the knots. Also, tighten the straps really well, then shake the shit out of that thing up/down/sideways, then re-tighten before driving off.

[adrenalated]

So what I would do is build some sort of turntable and attach it to that. Set it at about a 45 degree angle to the truck, then get going as fast as you can as quickly as you can. Ideally, it will start spinning really fucking fast and you can take off like a helicopter and fly to wherever you're going. Or if not, at least you can trim the trees along the sides of the road.

[skaredshtles]

So what I would do is build some sort of turntable and attach it to that. Set it at about a 45 degree angle to the truck, then get going as fast as you can as quickly as you can. Ideally, it will start spinning really fucking fast and you can take off like a helicopter and fly to wherever you're going. Or if not, at least you can trim the trees along the sides of the road.