Projects/Home Improvement Thread

[Bubbles]

Mine is coming along....

On a related note; has anyone ever built a backyard brick oven/grill?

 

[Irish Insanity]

Mine is coming along....

On a related note; has anyone ever built a backyard brick oven/grill?

IIRC Acamp has

 

[koonja]

Install consultant came out and the estimate was basically $700 a window for everything. They talked forever about their superior product. Which I believe, but this is a rental and doesn't need the fanciest of double hung windows. It is a local, MN business.

I said no and scheduled home depot to come out for an estimate next week. Also made an inquiry to Sears which hasn't been scheduled.

If anyone knows any other companies that do installs, I'd appreciate it. Looking for functional not fancy.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Install consultant came out and the estimate was basically $700 a window for everything. They talked forever about their superior product. Which I believe, but this is a rental and doesn't need the fanciest of double hung windows. It is a local, MN business.

I said no and scheduled home depot to come out for an estimate next week. Also made an inquiry to Sears which hasn't been scheduled.

If anyone knows any other companies that do installs, I'd appreciate it. Looking for functional not fancy.

$700 a window is beyond absurd. Unless they are massive windows.

 

[koonja]

$700 a window is beyond absurd. Unless they are massive windows.

Standard, double hung windows that you'd put a window AC unit in.

 

[Rack Em]

Standard, double hung windows that you'd put a window AC unit in.

I'm double hung, just not standard.

 

[RDU Irish]

I hope that was some non-vinyl premium type of window quote? Fiberglass or wood can get that pricey pretty quick but vinyl is in no way worth that.

 

[koonja]

10 windows came back with estimates of $8,000 and $9,000 for two different companies. All of the windows are the same size, so this seemed ridiculous. Doing a final measurement myself tonight, and taking the info into Home Depot to order through them. That will cost me $2,400 for the 10 windows. From there, giving a friend who does windows for a living (I knew he did construction, but didn't know he did windows as well) $1,500 to put them all in, and I'll be helping him do them. So cuts my cost in about half, helps a friend out, and I actually might learn something. Win, win, win.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Sounds like a pretty good deal in the end.
Stick around during the install, you could learn something.

 

[koonja]

Advice for establishing a residential electrician and plumber to go to when ish goes down? I don't want to be scrambling at the last second. Just call a business, or angie's list?

 

[Irish Insanity]

Advice for establishing a residential electrician and plumber to go to when ish goes down? I don't want to be scrambling at the last second. Just call a business, or angie's list?

Friend or neighbor reference. If you're in an area with a bunch of older home, it's likely your neighbors have one on a short list.

 

[Irish#1]

10 windows came back with estimates of $8,000 and $9,000 for two different companies. All of the windows are the same size, so this seemed ridiculous. Doing a final measurement myself tonight, and taking the info into Home Depot to order through them. That will cost me $2,400 for the 10 windows. From there, giving a friend who does windows for a living (I knew he did construction, but didn't know he did windows as well) $1,500 to put them all in, and I'll be helping him do them. So cuts my cost in about half, helps a friend out, and I actually might learn something. Win, win, win.

Smart move.

 

[koonja]

Waiting for the windows to arrive, so next project is winterizing my pipes. Anyone have any experience with this? I live in Minnesota, so it's necessary to avoid freezing and/or cracking pipes.

If so, did you hire someone? What did you do? How did you identify exactly what pipes need to be addressed? Is it just the open-sight pipes, or do you go behind the walls somehow?

 

[Irish Insanity]

Waiting for the windows to arrive, so next project is winterizing my pipes. Anyone have any experience with this? I live in Minnesota, so it's necessary to avoid freezing and/or cracking pipes.

If so, did you hire someone? What did you do? How did you identify exactly what pipes need to be addressed? Is it just the open-sight pipes, or do you go behind the walls somehow?

Do you have a basement?
Do your pipes run thru the exterior walls?

For all external spigots you should have a shutoff inside the house. Shut that off and then open the spigot as if you were turning it on. It's simple and should prevent any freezing.

 

[koonja]

Do you have a basement?
Do your pipes run thru the exterior walls?

For all external spigots you should have a shutoff inside the house. Shut that off and then open the spigot as if you were turning it on. It's simple and should prevent any freezing.

Yes I have a basement. IDK how to explain it, it's like a college party basement, although marginally nicer. Not finished and we have laundry down there. It has a crawl space which I'm not excited to go into, but I will.

I do not know if my pipes run through my exterior walls. To be frank, IDK shit about plumbing and will have to have someone come out for any issues I have, but if I can somehow figure out what and how to wrap the pipes, I'd do this job myself.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Yes I have a basement. IDK how to explain it, it's like a college party basement, although marginally nicer. Not finished and we have laundry down there. It has a crawl space which I'm not excited to go into, but I will.

I do not know if my pipes run through my exterior walls. To be frank, IDK shit about plumbing and will have to have someone come out for any issues I have, but if I can somehow figure out what and how to wrap the pipes, I'd do this job myself.

You can literally buy pipe insulation for really cheap at any big box hardware store. You just need to know if it's 3/4 or 1/2. It's helpful to wrap at least your hot water pipes in an open basement just to keep them from losing all the heat when the water isn't flowing. I have a basement, painted walls and floor, with laundry, and 1 finished room. In a similar climate we don't need to winterize anything outside of the spigots as all the plumbing coming up from the basement to the main level does so directly thru the floor in to whatever cabinet is holding the sink. Since none run on outside walls, and the basement never gets colder than 60, there is no risk to freeze. Any home I've ever lived in, or owned, in this colder climate are has never been at risk for freezing pipes as they've all had basements and none had pipes in the walls.

 

[koonja]

You can literally buy pipe insulation for really cheap at any big box hardware store. You just need to know if it's 3/4 or 1/2. It's helpful to wrap at least your hot water pipes in an open basement just to keep them from losing all the heat when the water isn't flowing. I have a basement, painted walls and floor, with laundry, and 1 finished room. In a similar climate we don't need to winterize anything outside of the spigots as all the plumbing coming up from the basement to the main level does so directly thru the floor in to whatever cabinet is holding the sink. Since none run on outside walls, and the basement never gets colder than 60, there is no risk to freeze. Any home I've ever lived in, or owned, in this colder climate are has never been at risk for freezing pipes as they've all had basements and none had pipes in the walls.

So here's a dumb question, how do I know if plumbing pipes run on the outside walls? I have one bathroom upstairs where it's the last room on the floor, and the vanity is against the last wall. So I assume I have pluming there on the outside wall.

 

[Irish Insanity]

So here's a dumb question, how do I know if plumbing pipes run on the outside walls? I have one bathroom upstairs where it's the last room on the floor, and the vanity is against the last wall. So I assume I have pluming there on the outside wall.

Open the cabinet below the sink. You should see 2 water lines that come thru the floor all the way up to the bottom of the faucet. If so then they run thru the floor not the wall. However, that doesn't mean they don't run thru the exterior wall to get to that level. If you go in to your basement you can see where your water meter is. That's your incoming water. Follow the pipes. If they don't run to the 4 exterior walls, then they don't go up the walls.

 

[NDBoiler]

Mine is coming along....

On a related note; has anyone ever built a backyard brick oven/grill?

All kinds of OSHA violations in that picture BTW

 

[dshans]

How old is your house? You live in the Uptown area, no? I assume that it's been around for a while, so I wouldn't worry. As has been said put insulation on the hot water pipes in the basement and shut off and drain any spigots on the exterior.

I lived for 32 years in Mpls in a house built in 1913. As long as your house (including the basement) remains above freezing all should be fine. If for some reason you expect interior temps below freezing open all faucets to allow water to dribble. Water in motion is less likely to freeze.

Trust the folks who built the place. They were well aware of the temperature extremes and acted accordingly.

 

[koonja]

How old is your house? You live in the Uptown area, no? I assume that it's been around for a while, so I wouldn't worry. As has been said put insulation on the hot water pipes in the basement and shut off and drain any spigots on the exterior.

I lived for 32 years in Mpls in a house built in 1913. As long as your house (including the basement) remains above freezing all should be fine. If for some reason you expect interior temps below freezing open all faucets to allow water to dribble. Water in motion is less likely to freeze.

Trust the folks who built the place. They were well aware of the temperature extremes and acted accordingly.

There's the resident expert. Built in 1908, and the previous owner said the pipes froze once in the past 7 years so not to worry, but I really don't ever want to deal with that, or worse and they break. I'm going to try to find every exposed pipe I can this weekend. Yes its about .5 miles from uptown, technically in Lyn Lake.

 

[Irish#1]

Open the cabinet below the sink. You should see 2 water lines that come thru the floor all the way up to the bottom of the faucet. If so then they run thru the floor not the wall. However, that doesn't mean they don't run thru the exterior wall to get to that level. If you go in to your basement you can see where your water meter is. That's your incoming water. Follow the pipes. If they don't run to the 4 exterior walls, then they don't go up the walls.

You need to follow the hot water line coming out of the water heater. Since you have a vanity on an outside wall you more than likely have a cold and hot water line coming up the exterior wall. The only way to insulate water lines on outside walls is to open up the wall which can be expensive unless you feel like doing a lot of drywall work yourself.

Welcome to the world of homeowners!

 

[wizards8507]

So here's a dumb question, how do I know if plumbing pipes run on the outside walls? I have one bathroom upstairs where it's the last room on the floor, and the vanity is against the last wall. So I assume I have pluming there on the outside wall.

Don't forget heating pipes. If you have radiators or hydronic baseboard heaters, those can freeze too. I need to keep my house at 55 overnight or when I travel in the winter to keep my heating pipes from freezing.

 

[dshans]

Additional thoughts: your mention of a crawl space got me wondering. Is the crawl space under a bump-out or addition? Does the space above the crawl space have a sink, shower/bath or commode?

Some of the houses near mine had extra space added in the back that acted as an entry and pantry for the kitchen. The space was not part of the original footprint and were above a crawl space, not a basement. They were not plumbed. Until, that is, one neighbor decided to use the pantry space to wedge in a quarter bath. The pipes froze (but did not burst) the first winter. I wish I remembered her solution. It might have been additional insulation on the pipes, heat tape on the pipes, a small fan to draw warmer basement air into the space or some combination of the three.

Good luck.

 

[koonja]

Dshans - The crawl space is directly below a master bedroom on the 1st floor, so there is a shower/vanity/toilet above the crawl space.

 

[Irish Insanity]

You need to follow the hot water line coming out of the water heater. Since you have a vanity on an outside wall you more than likely have a cold and hot water line coming up the exterior wall. The only way to insulate water lines on outside walls is to open up the wall which can be expensive unless you feel like doing a lot of drywall work yourself.

Welcome to the world of homeowners!

For his sake, hopefully the lines to that bathroom run thru interior walls to the 2nd level than thru the floor to the vanity.

Dshans - The crawl space is directly below a master bedroom on the 1st floor, so there is a shower/vanity/toilet above the crawl space.

The question is how is the crawl space linked to the basement. Is it linked in a way to expect it to have the same temp as the basement? Or is it completely closed off minus a small entry hole. Is it dirt floor or concrete?

 

[Irish#1]

Dshans - The crawl space is directly below a master bedroom on the 1st floor, so there is a shower/vanity/toilet above the crawl space.

You need to man up, get inside that crawl space and take a good look. Take some pics and share. That way we know what you're up against.

 

[koonja]

For his sake, hopefully the lines to that bathroom run thru interior walls to the 2nd level than thru the floor to the vanity.

The question is how is the crawl space linked to the basement. Is it linked in a way to expect it to have the same temp as the basement? Or is it completely closed off minus a small entry hole. Is it dirt floor or concrete?

So there's the basement, then a white door that I don't want to enter. It's a normal sized door, and that leads to the crawl space. The door doesn't even shut all of the way, it has about 2" of opening when 'closed'. Just mentioning to give an idea of how 'connected' it is to the normal basement.

Going in that crawl space is scary. IDK if I can do it. I'm very jumpy and afraid to death of rats/spiders/snakes(even though I know they're not in there).

 

[Irish Insanity]

So there's the basement, then a white door that I don't want to enter. It's a normal sized door, and that leads to the crawl space. The door doesn't even shut all of the way, it has about 2" of opening when 'closed'. Just mentioning to give an idea of how 'connected' it is to the normal basement.

Going in that crawl space is scary. IDK if I can do it. I'm very jumpy and afraid to death of rats/spiders/snakes(even though I know they're not in there).

Your home is like 115 years old. Pretend your treasure hunting. There may be some good shit in there. Or decayed bodies.

 

[GowerND11]

Your home is like 115 years old. Pretend your treasure hunting. There may be some good shit in there like decayed bodies.

FIFY