What have you done to your house today

08StangGT_CS said:

What's snow?

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Ha ha! Exactly!

Gabe said:

Yesterday morning, after another 11-12" of white stuff ... I snow-blowed the driveway and did some shoveling:

Also made a nice path for oil/propane access, and went by the generator with it, cleared it out so the air intake and exhaust are clear

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Wow! That is nuts! Ha ha I love your portable mail box.

Shaggy said:

Wow! That is nuts! Ha ha I love your portable mail box.

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Lol yup, left over from the previous owner, it's been great to be able to move it away from the speeding dump truck plowing the street.

And it's supposed to start snowing this evening again, possibly another foot of snow coming tonight.

HVAC zone controller board died and local HVAC place quoted me $980 to replace. Spent the week learning about zone controllers, then ordered and installed one the following weekend. Board cost me $170.

Wow. That's quite a difference. I had to replace my microwave panel the other week - GE Replacement panel was $200 and I found one on eBay for $30. Lol.

Getting up at the crack of dawn to vacate for the new owners to do their home inspection. Crossing fingers this goes off without an issue.

Just 85 days left in this house and I want them to be as smooth as possible

GallopingFord said:

Wow. That's quite a difference. I had to replace my microwave panel the other week - GE Replacement panel was $200 and I found one on eBay for $30. Lol.

Getting up at the crack of dawn to vacate for the new owners to do their home inspection. Crossing fingers this goes off without an issue.

Just 85 days left in this house and I want them to be as smooth as possible

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Good luck!

my garage reno, re-organizing is progressing well.

Got a new tool chest, and built a work bench in the remaining space (it still needs some bracing and shelves).

my favourite part is the removable vice mounted to a trailer hitch 2" tubing system.

That's a really good idea.

Thenorm said:

my garage reno, re-organizing is progressing well.



Got a new tool chest, and built a work bench in the remaining space (it still needs some bracing and shelves).



my favourite part is the removable vice mounted to a trailer hitch 2" tubing system.

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That's genius. I'd love more info on the setup.

i am ryan said:

That's genius. I'd love more info on the setup.

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simple. buy this hitch or similar, or make your own mount using hitch receiver tubing. bolt to your bench, or a post, or the wall or whatever.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3500-lb-capacity-step-bumper-receiver-67159.html

buy this vice plate, or make your own with 2x2 square tubing.
http://www.harborfreight.com/hitch-mount-vise-plate-66260.html

I drilled and tapped a hole in the hitch so I can snug the 2x2 tubing in the hitch with a bolt so it doesnt move/rattle around.

since i live in Canada, i got my hitch from Princess Auto (we don't have HF), and I made the vice plate from scrap metal at work.

Thenorm said:

simple. buy this hitch or similar, or make your own mount using hitch receiver tubing. bolt to your bench, or a post, or the wall or whatever.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3500-lb-capacity-step-bumper-receiver-67159.html

buy this vice plate, or make your own with 2x2 square tubing.
http://www.harborfreight.com/hitch-mount-vise-plate-66260.html

I drilled and tapped a hole in the hitch so I can snug the 2x2 tubing in the hitch with a bolt so it doesnt move/rattle around.

since i live in Canada, i got my hitch from Princess Auto (we don't have HF), and I made the vice plate from scrap metal at work.

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Cool how about the Princes Auto links for other Canadians? Thanks!

Scott said:

Cool how about the Princes Auto links for other Canadians? Thanks!

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you could get this one. Its a surplus item, so might not have in store, but can get it shipped.
http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/step-bumper-receiver-tube/A-p8710550e

might be better to buy just the receiver tube and weld a plate to it.
http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/class-ii-6-x-2-in-hitch-receiver-tube/A-p8649188e

couldnt find the vice plate, so some fab work is involved anyways.

here is where i mounted the second hitch, to store the vice out of the way.

Thenorm said:

you could get this one but its more expensive that i think it should be. (i got mine for $15 on surplus clearance)
http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/class-ii-hitch-receiver-bumper-step/A-p8648578e

might be better to buy just the receiver tube and weld a plate to it.
http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/class-ii-6-x-2-in-hitch-receiver-tube/A-p8649188e

couldnt find the vice plate, so some fab work is involved anyways.

here is where i mounted the second hitch, to store the vice out of the way.

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Thank you Sir!

Dealing with the aftermath of the buyers home inspection...

GallopingFord said:

Dealing with the aftermath of the buyers home inspection...

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What did they find??
Or what do they want??

Well, to start with the house is above the federal limits for Radon, so I had to get a Radon mitigation system installed ASAP. Got it done today and didn't like spending one bit of the $1000 it cost.

2 windows that have lost their seal
GFCI outlets that aren't working in the kitchen
Not enough GFCI outlets on the backside of the bar part of the kitchen
3 interior doors aren't latching 100% (they just need a good shove)
Driveway cracks need to be repaired
Exterior trim around windows is cracking
Garbage disposal shows signs of corrosion and needs to be replaced.
+More

Today is last day of negotiations for this stuff so we're negotiating the subsidy instead of me fixing everything. There is literally a list of 20+ things that are just nickel and dime pieces.

GallopingFord said:

Well, to start with the house is above the federal limits for Radon, so I had to get a Radon mitigation system installed ASAP. Got it done today and didn't like spending one bit of the $1000 it cost.

2 windows that have lost their seal
GFCI outlets that aren't working in the kitchen
Not enough GFCI outlets on the backside of the bar part of the kitchen
3 interior doors aren't latching 100% (they just need a good shove)
Driveway cracks need to be repaired
Exterior trim around windows is cracking
Garbage disposal shows signs of corrosion and needs to be replaced.
+More

Today is last day of negotiations for this stuff so we're negotiating the subsidy instead of me fixing everything. There is literally a list of 20+ things that are just nickel and dime pieces.

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So that was air radon that you needed to mitigate for, right?
Water radon mitigation costs a lot more, mine cost $4k when I had it done.
And yeah, some of the things on that list they can go shove up their ass.
Just cuz it's on the buyer's list doesn't mean you have to do anything about it.
Remind them there were multiple offers on the house if they bitch.

And isn't exterior stuff covered by the HOA?

Gabe said:

So that was air radon that you needed to mitigate for, right?
Water radon mitigation costs a lot more, mine cost $4k when I had it done.
And yeah, some of the things on that list they can go shove up their ass.
Just cuz it's on the buyer's list doesn't mean you have to do anything about it.
Remind them there were multiple offers on the house if they bitch.

And isn't exterior stuff covered by the HOA?

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Yeah - Radon air mitigation. The guy came by today and had it installed with piping that mocked my existing down spout. 2 hours later he was on his way. In a week I'm going to have it retested.

Yeah - I offered them what I thought was a fair amount of money. It's a 10 year old town home - it's going to need some little things here and there.

HOA doesn't cover any of it - that is my responsibility. Only thing they may do is send me a letter to fix my shit. Lol

Granted it was the best offer I got because they were the only people not ballsy enough to ask for a $10-12K subsidy for a fucking deck, but I'm not going to negotiate money off my house because of normal wear and tear stuff. We are about $1000 away when I last talked to my realtor so they can either take what I'm offering or they can walk.

I was worried about the cracks in my driveway and honestly haven't thought about them since I moved in. I think it was Skwerl who said it...there's concrete that's cracked, and concrete that's gonna crack

Settled on the subsidy today. I didn't move and they took it. Now what's left is they want to test the Radon levels to confirm the amount has been lowered. That should be the last hurdle.