Shit that annoys you

[Core Shot]

$22k is a big nut most don’t have.
Can the association get a mortgage to spread the payments out?

[evdog]

Yes. They have arranged a loan with a bank that deals with HOAs. It's essentially an individual loan for each homeowner who opts for it. Not great terms, something like 10 years and 6.5% interest and if there is any change to the title the balance is payable immediately. It's basically a car loan. Those who have owned for awhile could also take out some equity. Our units have doubled in value over the last 10 years. And for those who say they are getting screwed, we also got a free $30k upgrade of dual pane windows and doors and HVAC/heating as part of an airport upgrade project about 10 years ago (we are under the airport flight path and expansion resulted in increased air traffic overhead). Very few places in our neighborhood have heating or AC.

[gravitylover]

Contractors are annoying

I need to replace a few sq feet of the bathroom floor around the toilet and can't even get anyone to come quote it because the job is too small. I've had 4 tell me it's at least $5k because they don't take jobs smaller than that anymore. I guess I'm buying some tools and learning how to do it. Waddaya think the chances are the toilet doesn't fall thru the floor after I'm done...

[riser4]

You're gonna have to pull the wax ring.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Sucks ^ but I wouldn't get out of bed for a job like that.

[gravitylover]

You're gonna have to pull the wax ring.

It's way more than that. The 5" pipe started rotting away 25+ years ago and the floor around it is gone. I rigged it a few times but it seems that this time it really needs to be fixed and I have no idea how to do it.

[spanky]

It's way more than that. The 5" pipe started rotting away 25+ years ago and the floor around it is gone. I rigged it a few times but it seems that this time it really needs to be fixed and I have no idea how to do it.

And this is your only toilet in the house. Talk about shit that annoys you! /s

[riser4]

Hopefully you have another toilet in the house.

[jm2e]

Zippers that get stuck sideways. Why am I cursed with so many of these in my life?


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[neufox47]

Contractors are annoying

I need to replace a few sq feet of the bathroom floor around the toilet and can't even get anyone to come quote it because the job is too small. I've had 4 tell me it's at least $5k because they don't take jobs smaller than that anymore. I guess I'm buying some tools and learning how to do it. Waddaya think the chances are the toilet doesn't fall thru the floor after I'm done...

Try looking for a “handyman” not a contractor?


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[gravitylover]

Licensed and insured or not - Contractor or handyman.

Yup it's the only toilet

[Core Shot]

It's way more than that. The 5" pipe started rotting away 25+ years ago and the floor around it is gone. I rigged it a few times but it seems that this time it really needs to be fixed and I have no idea how to do it.

Plywood is plywood. I’m guessing you got cast iron. Get underneath and use a fernco to convert to pvc to the toilet. You got this.

[nickwm21]

HOA board held a townhall meeting last night to provide info about a massive repair project coming up and how much we're going to have to shell out for a special assessment. $6M project, 270 homeowners. $22k each. The HOA had kept assessments artificially low for decades so our reserves are only funded to about 10% of what they should be. The development is now 45 years old with the same stucco as when built. No surprise, we were starting to get water intrusion in many units. The special assessment is annoying and a big hit, but people's reaction to it is even more annoying. How fucking stupid are these people? Do they think we don't have to do any maintenance, that everything will last forever? They are outraged. Who is responsible for this??? Why are we doing this when we can't afford it??? Why didn't anyone tell us??? Um, they did. But no one bothered to read emails or go to board meetings. But sure, don't address the problem. Instead of paying $6M to fix it for the next 20-30 years we'll pay thousands each time to address individual leaks, rot and mold. The cost so far in 2023 with the wet winter and hurricane is $600k. We'll pay way more piecemeal and the development will get a shitty reputation. Morons.

Be careful. There is an entire economy of sleazeballs whose sole purpose is the HOA special assessment game. One of the more common rackets is to point at a few leaks and inform the uninformed that the entire exterior needs to be replaced…. Get multiple opinions.


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[Vt-Freeheel]

That Gravity job is what I would expect if I looked for work on Angie's List, like some of the crap on the local Front Page Forum

[riser4]

Licensed and insured or not - Contractor or handyman.

Yup it's the only toilet

I have no idea how your house is set up. You're not looking for a whole bathroom remodel. Its a two part job. Floor and plumbing. Fix the floor yourself, hire a plumber. This assumes a lot about your house, the state of the joists and that you can go without the toilet for a while. Get the plumber to see it before you do anything so you can ask code questions. And make sure you don't put anything in his way for where the hole needs to go. Also see if he can cap off the pipe somewhere out of your way before you start, depending on how much plumbing needs replacing. I'm also going to guess that you are going to have to replace or repair some joists. Hopefully you don't. I'm not at all a carpenter or plumber. I did a floor repair under my washer, what I thought was a hack job. When I paid someone to remodel, they said my subfloor patch was as good as they would do and they left it. Take pictures and measurements before you remove things. Toilets are made with either a 12" or 10" distance to center of the pipe from the wall. Figure out what you have (measure to the bolts) and plan for that. If you can take apart and put back together a car, you can do this given enough time. You do have a second shitter in the house, right?

[Supermoon]

Licensed and insured or not - Contractor or handyman.

Yup it's the only toilet

Ugh. Vibes. Plumbing is like legos where all the parts are called the same thing but nothing ever fits. In theory something like this could be a two hour job but if you’re anything like me you’ll need fifteen trips to Home Depot and four hours of YouTube videos to get it sorted.

[Foggy_Goggles]

It's way more than that. The 5" pipe started rotting away 25+ years ago and the floor around it is gone. I rigged it a few times but it seems that this time it really needs to be fixed and I have no idea how to do it.

Go in the remodel thread, post pictures, and we'll tell you how to do it. Most likely, you are pulling the shitter, removing the flooring and figuring out what is next with will likely including subfloor replacement and other water damage mitigation.

I've been getting back into the smaller jobs. They can be really profitable because the "I won't get outta bed" crowd has kinda normalized the high price. I've got a pretty good sub network and I tell my customers, "this is what it's gonna take to get it done" and then I just fund the project with my "working capital" outta the gun safe. People have been really happy. Its kinda my side hustle that pays for toys and vacations that are not really budgeted.

[Foggy_Goggles]

fernco to convert to pvc to the toilet. You got this.

Yeah...no. Don't do this. Concealed fernco on the sewer side? That's a shit sandwich waiting to happen.

[old goat]

HOA board held a townhall meeting last night to provide info about a massive repair project coming up and how much we're going to have to shell out for a special assessment. $6M project, 270 homeowners. $22k each. The HOA had kept assessments artificially low for decades so our reserves are only funded to about 10% of what they should be. The development is now 45 years old with the same stucco as when built. No surprise, we were starting to get water intrusion in many units. The special assessment is annoying and a big hit, but people's reaction to it is even more annoying. How fucking stupid are these people? Do they think we don't have to do any maintenance, that everything will last forever? They are outraged. Who is responsible for this??? Why are we doing this when we can't afford it??? Why didn't anyone tell us??? Um, they did. But no one bothered to read emails or go to board meetings. But sure, don't address the problem. Instead of paying $6M to fix it for the next 20-30 years we'll pay thousands each time to address individual leaks, rot and mold. The cost so far in 2023 with the wet winter and hurricane is $600k. We'll pay way more piecemeal and the development will get a shitty reputation. Morons.

That's the kind of thinking that led to that florida condo tower collapse--people unwilling to pay what it takes to maintain their house.

It's way more than that. The 5" pipe started rotting away 25+ years ago and the floor around it is gone. I rigged it a few times but it seems that this time it really needs to be fixed and I have no idea how to do it.

You tube. If you just do what it says nothing can go wrong. After all the only difference between you and a plumber is the plumber has all the parts on their truck and you have to do HD.

Zippers that get stuck sideways. Why am I cursed with so many of these in my life?



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At least your dick is not stuck in it. Now THAT is annoying.

[Elkhound Odin]

HOA board held a townhall meeting last night to provide info about a massive repair project coming up and how much we're going to have to shell out for a special assessment. $6M project, 270 homeowners. $22k each. The HOA had kept assessments artificially low for decades so our reserves are only funded to about 10% of what they should be. The development is now 45 years old with the same stucco as when built. No surprise, we were starting to get water intrusion in many units. The special assessment is annoying and a big hit, but people's reaction to it is even more annoying. How fucking stupid are these people? Do they think we don't have to do any maintenance, that everything will last forever? They are outraged. Who is responsible for this??? Why are we doing this when we can't afford it??? Why didn't anyone tell us??? Um, they did. But no one bothered to read emails or go to board meetings. But sure, don't address the problem. Instead of paying $6M to fix it for the next 20-30 years we'll pay thousands each time to address individual leaks, rot and mold. The cost so far in 2023 with the wet winter and hurricane is $600k. We'll pay way more piecemeal and the development will get a shitty reputation. Morons.

Many homeowner insurance plans include special assessment coverage. You have to ask your insurance provider for it, but those who have it, with sufficient coverage should not be out of pocket $20k.
As prez of my condo HOA. I send out yearly notice to owners to make sure they have at least $20k coverage. I do my best to make sure our reserves are over 75% funded. Better to have people grumbling about monthly dues increases than $k’s of special assessment.


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[Foggy_Goggles]

Oh...HOAs. In Colorado you don't even have to account for the unfunded liabilities. For example we have a private road that people think will last indefinitely. When I was president, I just presented a simple spreadsheet with some cost estimates crack sealing, overlays and eventual replacement.

Those that read the board packet and came to annual meeting thought that just the existence of the document cost them money and was reducing their property values. They couldn't understand that it was a maintenance responsibility of the HOA.

It has been very eye opening to the involved in neighborhood politics and seem now low down the list understanding is. Outrage, denial and fingerpointing seem to be the specialties.

[teleee]

Yeah...no. Don't do this. Concealed fernco on the sewer side? That's a shit sandwich waiting to happen.

LITERALLY!


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[jackstraw]

Speaking of plumbing. My sink is this new-ish fancy huge deep rectangle thing with virtually no slope to the drain. Trying to get little food scraps down is annoying af. Who designs this shit! Fucking morans

[Foggy_Goggles]

The new deep, generally "apron" or "farmhouse" sinks are stupid. Why would I want to unnecessarily bend over to do the dishes? And fuck you on the no apron/trimless style fireclay POSs with no template to cut the cabinets. Its a classic example of "looks cool, I want that". No thought to how it actually will work.

[Core Shot]

Yeah...no. Don't do this. Concealed fernco on the sewer side? That's a shit sandwich waiting to happen.

I was assuming it’s unfinished basement or crawl space.

Going from iron to pvc is the suck. So is iron to iron.

I wonder if it’s really a pipe leak or just a flange ass gasket.