Author Topic: Home Improvement Projects  (Read 30146 times)

Offline Chris M

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #90 on: November 10, 2009, 04:11 PM »
I'm not sure how "easy" they'd be to find, but my dog was a rescue puppy.  She's a lab/pitt mix and has the best of both personalities, is great with my family, but wary of strangers.  She is super intelligent and very playful.  So, I'm a bit partial to both pitt bulls and labs.
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Offline iFett

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #91 on: November 10, 2009, 04:15 PM »
I'm not sure how "easy" they'd be to find, but my dog was a rescue puppy.  She's a lab/pitt mix and has the best of both personalities, is great with my family, but wary of strangers.  She is super intelligent and very playful.  So, I'm a bit partial to both pitt bulls and labs.

I have a golden lab that was rescued from Katrina.  One of the best dogs I've ever had.  We even got our pick of the litter.   :)
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Offline I Am Sith

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #92 on: November 10, 2009, 05:52 PM »
Just had a run-in with my city's Permit Office about my fireplace installation.  I guess I wasn't supposed to apply for the permit, my fireplace contractor was supposed to, and the fireplace contractor does not have the correct license to do the job.  So when the permit office saw my signature on the permit application and the incorrect license from the contractor, they denied it and sent it to the fireplace contractor to re-do.  Since the contract I signed with them states that the homeowner is responsible for all permits, they sat on the permit and didn't inform me that it had been denied.  It wasn't until I called the permit office (now two weeks after I applied for the permit) that I was informed that it had been denied and sent to the contractor.  I called the contractor to find out what was going on and they said that they were just sitting on the permit because it wasn't their responsibility.  When I pointed out the fact that they hadn't informed me that they received the denial, they had no response.  Needless to say, I'm starting to get a little worried about their integrity/workmanship.

I then called the permit office and talked to a secretary that had no idea what she was talking about other than to repeatedly tell me that they denied the permit because I wasn't supposed to apply for it myself and that the license was incorrect from the contractor.  After about 10 minutes of this I was able to speak to the Head Inspector who actually turned out to be a very nice guy.  He went through the problems with the permit application process but also explained that the current ordinances state that the installers of direct vent fireplaces have to be licensed HVAC contractors (which the fireplace contractor is not).  However, there is a stipulation that if the installers of the fireplace are solely in the business of buying/selling/installing fireplaces, then they can also install the unit (sounds simple, right?!).  When the application was originally reviewed, the reviewer only checked that the contractor had an accurate license (which they did not) and didn't bother to notice that their company name was American Heritage Fireplaces ::)  So to make a long story longer, the Inspector told me that if the contractor filled out the permit application themselves and faxed it over to the permit office, he would personally walk it through the office and have it ready to go by tomorrow.  Thankfully this will be in time for my install which is scheduled for this coming Monday.

It's nice to know that there are nice people in municipal jobs and if you look hard enough you'll eventually find them.  Thanks again Nick!
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #93 on: November 10, 2009, 09:29 PM »
You can always browse the dogs at the pound...  You usually can spot the agressive dogs quite easily.  Diane's dog trained lickity split.  I'd look for one with clear traits of the type of dog you're into most.  Hers has lab in him but he's also got some German Shepherd I can tell, and I think Great Dane as well...  Bad legs for sure are in his future because he's got them now really.  If you find a mostly the breed you want, which you can likely tell by sight, you'll get something good I'm sure.  Look for a mostly lab, I'm sure there's tons of those.
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Offline Chris M

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #94 on: November 10, 2009, 09:40 PM »
I should clarify (had a brain fart earlier) my lab/pitt mix is a pound dog, not a rescue.  But I agree with Jesse on walking through the pound.  My dog looked completely lab and she did until she was about 5 months old an then we started to notice the slightly sloping head and her muscle tone really started to show.
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Offline Matt_Fury

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #95 on: November 10, 2009, 09:54 PM »
Rotties are out, that's a given for us.

How can you not like Rotties?





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Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #96 on: November 11, 2009, 04:29 PM »
They are considered aggressive dogs in my area. Were it to get out and bite, it could be shot to death legally. I don't want to have to face that in any way. Besides the wife and I aren't spring chickens. We don't want to wrestle with a strong dog. I like the look of a Rottie, but that's as far as it goes. The wife is definitely against it. She's partial to Labs, Dobermans and Beagles. I like German Shepards and a smattering of other breeds.
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Offline iFett

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #97 on: November 11, 2009, 04:51 PM »
How can you not like Rotties?



Cute pup Matt!  Hopefully he/she didn't ship in that box.   :-X   ;D
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Offline Matt_Fury

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Re: The Homeowners/Home Improvement thread
« Reply #98 on: November 12, 2009, 11:56 PM »
Ha!  No...she was froma breeder up in denver...we drove her home ourselves.  That cardboard box shipped dividers for our crates so she would have less room in them when she was that tiny.  We use the cardboard to keep her on the main level during the day....otherwise she runs upstairs and bothers the cat (if she's up there) and/or chews up the cat toys.

Sal,

I understand why most people think the way they do about rotties, but it's one breed I would consistently allow around kids...ours have always been so gentle.   :D
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Offline I Am Sith

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Re: Home Improvement Projects
« Reply #99 on: November 16, 2009, 09:16 PM »
So today was the fireplace installation day at our place.  The guys arrived about an hour later than they said they were.  Once they arrived, they measured everything on the frame for clearances and identified that the top studs were low by about 1/4".  They also mentioned that the metal stud over the opening was too high.  Neither of these 'problems' were structural, so they were able to start working right away.  Needless to say, right off the bat I knew this wasn't going to be the best of days...

I pulled all the studs off while they were running the gas line.  They ran the line relatively quickly and then they set the unit in place.  Lastly they installed the vent and connected the gas line.  Once they left I trimmed the overhead studs so that they met the minimum clearance requirements and then put the metal stud back in place and connected it to the unit.

Here are some of the pictures from today:

The unit has arrived:



Final resting place:





I would have taken a picture of the unit while it was on, but there was a problem...  When they went to test the pilot and the unit itself, the gas pressure wasn't high enough.  They tapped into the line that feeds my dryer.  The dryer line is connected to a 1/2" pipe that runs about 40 feet to the main line off the furnace.  The main line is the standard 1" line.  The thought that they have is that the reduction from the 1" to the 1/2" line is not supplying enough gas to the unit to run.  This was evident in the fact that the flame was not more than an inch high while the unit was on and whenever the furnace kicked on, the unit shut off.

So they are going to come back on Thursday and replace the 40 foot 1/2" line with 1" line.  Hopefully that will supply enough gas to keep the unit going.  Hopefully more to come later in the week...
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Offline Chris M

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Re: Home Improvement Projects
« Reply #100 on: November 17, 2009, 09:25 AM »
Good work on your part.

Sucks that the installers appear to be inept.
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Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: Home Improvement Projects
« Reply #101 on: November 17, 2009, 12:39 PM »
So we already had a plumbing problem and have only been in the place a week.

Our 2nd floor bathroom toilet clogged. This happened Sunday night. Thankfully not an overflow, but actually a seeping from under the toilet on to the floor. Again thankfully we had already flushed...

Anyway, we called our insurance to get the plumber out. They deemed it wasn't an emergency and told us to call back in the morning to schedule the plumber to come out. Well in the morning (Monday) my wife takes her shower and as she's about to get out see that the floor has a mini flood of water. yep, from the toilet again. I woke up to her exclamation of "oh sh..". I told her to got to the main floor and see if it leaked. It did!  >:(

So we turn off the water main. place a bucket under the leak and mop up (while having placed another call to insurance for a plumber). This time they take it as an emergency call. This was at 6:30 am. No plumber until 6 hours later. Again, at least we shut the water off. But damn, the room it leaked into is going to be our office. Had we had the computer set up, it would have leaked right onto the computer. You bet I'd have been pissed off on that one.

Damn insurance companies always trying to avoid doing what's right. Had they had the guy come out in the first place, we'd have had no further leakage or damage.  ::)

On a similar but less stressful not, we got cable/net access. However they didn't show up in the 4 hour window they were supposed to and didn't come until 2 hours after that. I got a $20 credit on the account but I'm going for a complete refund on the installation. ($49.95) No only did they not come out as scheduled, they were two hours late and didn't bother to call, ruined the rest of our day, then next evening when they came back out to finish the install.

I'm happy to have a home, but I certainly don't need THIS aggravation, and I'm just getting started...
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Offline I Am Sith

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Re: Home Improvement Projects
« Reply #102 on: November 19, 2009, 09:44 PM »
So they are going to come back on Thursday and replace the 40 foot 1/2" line with 1" line.  Hopefully that will supply enough gas to keep the unit going.  Hopefully more to come later in the week...

So they came back today and replaced the 1/2" line with the 1" line.  The unit is definitely getting enough gas now.  I had the furnace on and the dryer and the fireplace flame didn't even flicker when these both turned on.  However, the flame is still not at the optimum hieght that we saw at the store and in the brochures.  They tried to adjust the restrictor plate and the air intake and they still couldn't get the flame to the optimum height.  Soooo, they are sending out a service rep on Monday to try and make it work properly.  The previous guys were just installers and aren't as adept at the fine adjustments needed to optimize things.

To top it all off, I got into it with the installers today.  I was working from home while these guys were doing the work.  While I was home, my son's school called and asked that I drop by the school to take a look at him (thought he had a rash).  When I asked the installers to step out and give me 20 minutes to go to my son's school, they got offended that I didn't trust them in my house alone.  I may be off base (I don't personally think I am), but I don't leave people I don't know in my home alone when I'm not there.  I don't care if you're Mother Theresa (can I get a moment of silence... thank you very much), you're not in my house when I'm not there.  So anyway, the installers leave the house in a huff without saying anything to me, I go to my son's school, come back and they come back after I'm home.  When they come back I try to have a discussion with one of the installers and he won't talk to me, he says to call the office.  So now I have to talk to their office to find out what's happening five feet away from me.  This afternoon sucked!

So hopefully the guy that comes on Monday will be able to get this thing up and running so I can start on the finish work.  If not, they have to install a new unit...  If they try to send the two installers that were here today, I'm not letting them in the door.

'As The Fireplace Fizzles' will continue with an all new episode next week...
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Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: Home Improvement Projects
« Reply #103 on: November 20, 2009, 12:46 PM »
You are totally on the mark about not letting people in the house when you're not there.

Simply put you don't know them.

I watched the Cable guy like a hawk the other day. I don't really care if they are weirded out by that or not. Would they like it if I came over to their house and prodded around started randomly entering rooms I didn't need to be in? So they shouldn't expect anyone would be so trusting as to give free reign of the house even for 5 minutes, let alone 20 or more.

You did the right thing and that's BS that they wouldn't talk to you after the fact.
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Offline I Am Sith

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Re: Home Improvement Projects
« Reply #104 on: November 23, 2009, 02:34 PM »
So hopefully the guy that comes on Monday will be able to get this thing up and running so I can start on the finish work.

'As The Fireplace Fizzles' will continue with an all new episode next week...

Episode III

The service guy came out and did a complete inspection of the unit.  After about an hour, they figured out that the pan where the flame comes out was incorrect.  The manufacturer had installed a pan for a Propane unit instead of Natural Gas.  So, now they have to order a replacement pan and then come out to install it once it arrives.

I seriously hope this is the last issue we have with the unit...  Next episode hopefully airing next week.
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