Projects from around my house!

[Ralphie]

http://www.njcleanenergy.com/residen...mfort-partners


Comfort Partners.

Omg you have oil?

Fuck that lol.

Not sure if they have this in your area Accord Problems, but they have it throughout NJ.

On the site lists the income cutoffs.

Only my wife was working at the time, and we were a household of two.

They offered us the HEAP program which we used to reduce our bill. Then we got paperwork about this Program and I investigated and applied. I kind of thought it wouldn't work out.

Now Im working but they came a few weeks ago to assess the house since we are still under the HEAP program.

I showed them the bill and all was good. The dude inspected my house, hooked up an air pressure system to document leaks, did some quick insulation in the garage and found a leak that I was aware of but had not fixed yet(under the MBR).

They sent a plumber out who fixed the leak and reseated and caulked the toilet...all free.

Now they are just waiting to setup a day for the guys to come out and apply insulation to my attic, crawlspace, and to do some other things here and there.

Im really excited because not only is it good for my wallet, and the enviorment, but during the summer , it gets pretty warm in the house and my ac unit has trouble keeping up. The unit is old, but I don't have a G to spend on a new unit.

When they come back Im also going to ask them about my foyer in the front. In the summer its not so noticeable, but in the winter, it is FREEZING in there....so there is a leak somewhere.

[Ralphie]

I really appreciate the interest and motivation from all you guys, btw!

As far as projects go-

Nothing really good yet.

Sunday im sanding/respraying my stove burner grates....

and brush collection starts monday the 15th, so Ill also be removing a bunch of dead branches and some last minute pruning and making a neat pile at the curb.

After that, at some point, I still need to paint two doors in my house and then have the tree removal peeps come and clean out my front yard and the electrcian come do his thing.

I also have a island of rocks and bushes in front of my steps out front.....when it rains bad, it floods because water canno't get around, or tru the island of rocks.

Obv my driveway on the other side of it is a lower point, as the water makes it's way all the way around the pile and down the driveway.

My goal is to bury a PVC pipe under the rocks but canted to drain excess water from my steps area in bad rains.

That will be forthcoming as well.

[lucifer1]

I am not trying to discredit the source, its just that wattage has just as much to do with gauge as distance. So how can they blindly say less than 80' to use 16 gauge wiring, if they have no idea how much power your stereo supplies?



12g for me was cheap enough, and is for sure, no two ways about it going to work for whatever I may want to run. Thats why i did it, not saying its the only way.

My surround system is over 1000 watts.


No beuno on 16g wire.



For under the house stuff, do you know if there is an existing vapor barrier? If so, thats a PITA to work around. If not, grade idea for another MOD while you are under there.


6mm plastic, staple gun, Tuck tape for seams and go to fucking town sealing shit up. Basically, vapor barrier creates trapped air between the plastic and your subfloor and that trapped air offers a buffer zone and helps insulate the house dramatically. I didn't realize you have no basement. Shitty. I love my basement. Its basically like free square footage of house.

That chart is pretty spot on. Surround receviers are low power with short distance speaker runs. Unless you are playing at full volume you won't tell a diference. Your bigger problem is if the wire is some cca Chinese sized crap that is two sizes smaller than it is suppposed to be.

When high end systems with higher power amps and quality speakers are used, you won't use standard speaker wire plus you would typcally bi-wire. So in that instance the chart wouldn't be useful.

[Tippey764]

http://www.njcleanenergy.com/residen...mfort-partners


Comfort Partners.

Omg you have oil?

Fuck that lol.

Not sure if they have this in your area Accord Problems, but they have it throughout NJ.

We have stuff like that in maryland

You know how i know?

I'm the guy who does it

I go around to peoples homes and install light bulbs and low flow showerheads / faucet aerators


The general goal is to get them to actually do work to their home such as air sealing and adding insulation though.

[toycar]

I really appreciate the interest and motivation from all you guys, btw!

As far as projects go-

Nothing really good yet.

Sunday im sanding/respraying my stove burner grates....

and brush collection starts monday the 15th, so Ill also be removing a bunch of dead branches and some last minute pruning and making a neat pile at the curb.

After that, at some point, I still need to paint two doors in my house and then have the tree removal peeps come and clean out my front yard and the electrcian come do his thing.

I also have a island of rocks and bushes in front of my steps out front.....when it rains bad, it floods because water canno't get around, or tru the island of rocks.

Obv my driveway on the other side of it is a lower point, as the water makes it's way all the way around the pile and down the driveway.

My goal is to bury a PVC pipe under the rocks but canted to drain excess water from my steps area in bad rains.

That will be forthcoming as well.

Check out a French drain for dealing with that water. Totally a great concept for what you are dealing with.

You should get an infrared temp gun for checking temps in the house for leaks and shit. You can also use it to balance your hvac system, which makes a huge difference if your system is out of whack.

[Ralphie]

That chart is pretty spot on. Surround receviers are low power with short distance speaker runs. Unless you are playing at full volume you won't tell a diference. Your bigger problem is if the wire is some cca Chinese sized crap that is two sizes smaller than it is suppposed to be.

When high end systems with higher power amps and quality speakers are used, you won't use standard speaker wire plus you would typcally bi-wire. So in that instance the chart wouldn't be useful.

Ya that is what I was thinking.

I read reviews on the upgraded speaker wire and people were saying to stay away from it because it was clad aluminum.

My system is a Denon 5.1 with Boston Acoustic speakers....It's entry level for both companies but I wouldn't consider it junk either...

Luckily it came with wiring for all the speakers(wasn't sure if they would include for the rears) and it looks like it should be long enough for my situation but I haven't actually done a test run yet, so It might not be.

I guess i'll see.

We have stuff like that in maryland

You know how i know?

I'm the guy who does it

I go around to peoples homes and install light bulbs and low flow showerheads / faucet aerators


The general goal is to get them to actually do work to their home such as air sealing and adding insulation though.

You mean you try to "sell" them sealing and insulation or just motivate them to do it?

The way it was explained to me, when the guy came, he was looking to do easy stuff like shower heads/bulbs but I already bought low flow heads and CFL/LED for most lights in my house. He only wanted to see lights that are on for extended periods(like kitchen etc)

He was actually impressed at the steps I had already taken. When we moved in I went to Home Depot and bought a box of CFL lol.

Im all about saving a few bucks!

Check out a French drain for dealing with that water. Totally a great concept for what you are dealing with.

You should get an infrared temp gun for checking temps in the house for leaks and shit. You can also use it to balance your hvac system, which makes a huge difference if your system is out of whack.

Ill have to look into that.

And I have checked out those temp guns, but they're not cheap and I can't justify that expense now.

Hopefully this company will come and shure up my house and I won't have to worry about it for a bit.

[Accord problems]

so Ralphie any idea when you're going to start on the fence ? and how would you recommend replacing a counter top ?

[Ralphie]

so Ralphie any idea when you're going to start on the fence ? and how would you recommend replacing a counter top ?

The fence out front for the mailbox im assuming is what you're referring too?

No date as of yet.

I want to get a quote from the landscaper to see if it will be expensive and if not, i'll just let him do it lol.

If it's cheaper, then i'll do it and ill post about it here.


As far as counter top, it depends on what type you have now and what you're looking at doing....

Just the countertop? No cabinet work?

Will you be doing a backsplash?

[Ralphie]

Well yesterday was a total fucking loss. The tree removal company came to remove two small trees, overgrown shrubbery and a pine tree that I added on at the last minute.

I guess because I mistakenly said weeping willow, they ended up removing two trees we really like and wanted to keep.

Because the wife and I both work, we couldn't take off, no one was home.

He had come to give a quote, and I marked the trees needed for removal, but I guess he mistook what tree I mean't.

So to say the least, my wife was devestated as was I since now only half the property has trees and the other half is barren. It looks like complete shit.

So after spending a few hours arguing with the company, the guy basically said that If I pay for the pine removal(which I was going to have to do anyway), he will plant two new trees in their place.

I really was hoping he'd eat the cost of the pine removal, but at the end of the day, I called and priced installation of two trees, and they were not cheap, so getting two new trees(in place of two old trees that were pretty beat up) is not horrible, but it was traumatic to say the least.

The two trees accidently removed were a weeping willow and a bradford pear tree.

The bradford pear tree is one of two, which are equidistant and line my drivway, kind of like silent guards on opposite sides.

They were my favorite because you drive passed them when you pull into the drivway and because they both survived the hurricane we had and took significant damage but bloomed this year and even though people told me to cut them down, I was going to nurse them back and was excited to see them grow again.

The weeping willow was far left on my property, if looking at my house. She was a pita since she dropped twings and branches all year long which make mowing a pita.

She happened to be my wifes favorite tree which I didn't realize until yesterday.

I wasn't too upset about that tree going but I did kind of like it.

Either way, he is planting another bradford pear, and a weeping cherry tree which is bright pink and white and will probably grow to be a quite a beautiful tree.

Lesson learned: always be home when work is being done. I knew I should have been, but it's hard to take time off from my job and my wife def can't take time off. This company was hundreds less then other ones in the area and they don't work weekends or make appts during the week so we couldn't even work our schedules around theirs.

Live and learn.

[toycar]

Well yesterday was a total fucking loss. The tree removal company came to remove two small trees, overgrown shrubbery and a pine tree that I added on at the last minute.

I guess because I mistakenly said weeping willow, they ended up removing two trees we really like and wanted to keep.

Because the wife and I both work, we couldn't take off, no one was home.

He had come to give a quote, and I marked the trees needed for removal, but I guess he mistook what tree I mean't.

So to say the least, my wife was devestated as was I since now only half the property has trees and the other half is barren. It looks like complete shit.

So after spending a few hours arguing with the company, the guy basically said that If I pay for the pine removal(which I was going to have to do anyway), he will plant two new trees in their place.

I really was hoping he'd eat the cost of the pine removal, but at the end of the day, I called and priced installation of two trees, and they were not cheap, so getting two new trees(in place of two old trees that were pretty beat up) is not horrible, but it was traumatic to say the least.

The two trees accidently removed were a weeping willow and a bradford pear tree.

The bradford pear tree is one of two, which are equidistant and line my drivway, kind of like silent guards on opposite sides.

They were my favorite because you drive passed them when you pull into the drivway and because they both survived the hurricane we had and took significant damage but bloomed this year and even though people told me to cut them down, I was going to nurse them back and was excited to see them grow again.

The weeping willow was far left on my property, if looking at my house. She was a pita since she dropped twings and branches all year long which make mowing a pita.

She happened to be my wifes favorite tree which I didn't realize until yesterday.

I wasn't too upset about that tree going but I did kind of like it.

Either way, he is planting another bradford pear, and a weeping cherry tree which is bright pink and white and will probably grow to be a quite a beautiful tree.

Lesson learned: always be home when work is being done. I knew I should have been, but it's hard to take time off from my job and my wife def can't take time off. This company was hundreds less then other ones in the area and they don't work weekends or make appts during the week so we couldn't even work our schedules around theirs.

Live and learn.

I have always left a diagram very clearly illustrating what I needed done. Why? I lost a walnut tree in 2003 to the exact fucking same thing. But the tree company I hired was like,"Fuck you, you want the tree back? I'll bring it over right away and leave your walnut tree in your yard. Thats fine!" and hung up on me.


I was pissed. Nothing ever happened over it, and they blamed me. So now I make instructions that a 5 year old would understand.

lesson learned.

[Ralphie]

I have always left a diagram very clearly illustrating what I needed done. Why? I lost a walnut tree in 2003 to the exact fucking same thing. But the tree company I hired was like,"Fuck you, you want the tree back? I'll bring it over right away and leave your walnut tree in your yard. Thats fine!" and hung up on me.


I was pissed. Nothing ever happened over it, and they blamed me. So now I make instructions that a 5 year old would understand.

lesson learned.

Ya that would have helped as well.

Im the kind of guy that likes to be "available" for these things.

I don't go hovering over everyone, but I like to be there to offer assistance. Ill move my vehicles around or supply water or whatever if its hot out.

But really this company should make it a point to come out and survey the scene with the owner before doing work.

They just need you to mark trees and then they randomly show up and qoute you.

So how he missed bright ass yellow police tape, is beyond me.

It's really fucked up......even the quote says "where removing trees, remove overgrown shrubs"

There is NO shrubs by the trees they removed, so should't that throw a red flag?!?!?!

Idk, im still pissed, but I know digging out the stumps/planting/mulching is a lot more then the $200 for the pine tree, so ill eat it and take the brand new trees.

[Accord problems]

dam that suck's i hope you don't have any more fuck up's .

any more up grades other then what's posted ?

[Ralphie]

dam that suck's i hope you don't have any more fuck up's .

any more up grades other then what's posted ?

At the moment no.

I did, however, paint my backyard aluminum door and the door to go into my garage, which is also aluminum.

I have to seal my backyard hand railing and mow the grass lol.

As far as projects, once the tree stuff is done, then we are having the electrcian come to do some work around the house.

At some point ill be getting the bedrooms ready for kids lol.

We need a landscaper to come and refresh the front yard, maybe put in the fence, and line the drivway with flagstone.

Idk what else really.

At this point nothing that I can personally do. Hopefully there will be some stuff along the way that I can do.

I also need to replace the windows in the attic with gable's. May do that myself not sure yet.

I also need to install ceiling fans in both bathrooms but since proper ventilation requires exhaust through the roof, I can't do that one myself so idk yet.



OH yea, forgot.

We're redoing the laundry room in a few months. New slop sink, tile floor, and cabinets!

Ill add that here, as im doing that one solo except for my buddy who is doing the plumbing.

[Accord problems]

you have inspired me to do work around my rental . good job man.


stupid landlord is to cheap to fix stuff . ( me )





hay relphie i just thought about this it might help you save some cash it did me . it's not a big savings but its a noticeable 20 30 a month for me . then again any thing will help with my house lol.

http://recs.richrelevance.com/rrserv...ingMethod%3Drr

[Ralphie]

^^^^^^^^^
Yea the company that is suppose to come out and make my home energy efficient may do this, so until they come out, i'll hold off. Thanks!








IN other news I told the tree removal company to suck my dick and keep it moving. I told them im not paying the $200 for the tree they removed and to never set foot on my property again.

Haven't heard a peep from them LOL.

What a fucking crock of shit.

So I decided to just do all the removal on my own. Bought a 14'' chainsaw and already started the other day.

Ill post pictures when I get a minute.