Here's an example bulb to compare to:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-65W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-BR30-Dimmable-LED-Flood-Light-Bulb-BBR30-06527FLF-12DE26-1U100/204366182

The retrofit I previously posted has better color rendering and probably is more dimmable. As I said before, I think it likely is a better complete system than a bulb plus your existing trim. I'd be curious to hear your results if you do a head to head comparison.

2/28/2015 11:49:05 AM

Are only certain people allowed to post in this thread?!

3/2/2015 12:12:48 AM

Yes, I had to ask the moderator to give me permission to post in Old School

3/2/2015 5:43:38 PM

anybody have experience with wells and septic tanks? e.g. suggested locations, minimum well depth to avoid contamination, dealing with contamination issues and capping old/collapsed/contaminated wells.

3/3/2015 3:29:56 PM

It's all set by the local (town/county/etc) government. There's no use in trying to guess where things will go. You need perk testing, location of potential groundwater contamination (e.g. spetic tanks & fields), etc. Minimum well & septic separation is 100' for wake county.

http://www.wakegov.com/water/wells/pages/default.aspx
http://www.wakegov.com/water/wastewater/pages/default.aspx
http://www.wakegov.com/water/wells/Pages/wellabandonment.aspx

For decommissioning a well, at work we spec for there to be coarse aggregate from the bottom of the well to 15' below grade; then a 10' grout or bentonite zone, then 5 feet of fill to finished grade. We also require the well casing to be removed. There's a bunch of testing stuff as well, but I doubt that's needed for residential. But I'm sure each governing body has their own standards (wake county link added).

[Edited on March 3, 2015 at 3:54 PM. Reason : .]

3/3/2015 3:39:06 PM

^specifically, I'm looking at a house that had a previous well test positive for fecal bacterial contamination in 07. Apparently that well has since collapsed and was capped. Another well was drilled, but is that not just tapping into the same (potentially) contaminated water table? Is there a preferred depth of a residential well to avoid contamination from the septic leech field? and is your well depth not sort of just pre-determined by the depth of the water table under the property?

3/3/2015 3:56:33 PM

It's possible that the aquifer is contaminated, but that would mean all wells in that aquifer are probably contaminated too, unless your well is withdrawing enough water to keep the contamination plume from migrating - do the neighbors have issues?

Groundwater and well contamination is a complex subject. It could be contamination in just the well/lines itself; or contaminated soils on that property that are somehow leaching into your well, but haven't migrated to the aquifer/other wells.

The basic regulations for wells don't consider depth to avoid contamination; depth is set by well yield (flowrate). It would take a study/investigation to figure out what & where, e.g. where and how deep to drill a well for clean water, if the aquifer is contaminated. But then you risk causing the contamination plume to migrate due to the new well's withdrawal, thus back to the same issue.

Or it could be as simple as a dog taking a shit right beside the well; having poor compacted soils around the well, allowing the shit-contaminated water to migrate easily along the well and eventually into it.

This can get complex and expensive in a hurry. Short story: avoid this mess.



[Edited on March 3, 2015 at 4:16 PM. Reason : /]

3/3/2015 4:09:00 PM

Thx...I assumed it was way over my head, but it sounds even moreso than I though.

So, in a nutshell, would you say if a well on a property tests for contamination, walk away?

3/3/2015 4:18:13 PM

Yes, but that's just me. Unless you can point to the problem and there is a viable solution that is affordable. Wells do get contaminated and it be a one time thing; there is a process for disinfecting wells and it's also by the local government. It works, but it does't show you the source of the problem, thus you don't know if it will occur again because there is a chronic issue as opposed to a one time problem.

Obviously, if you own a house and the well gets contaminated, you go through this process and time will tell. However, if you're looking a purchasing a home, time is not something you have a lot of, typically. You can ask that the current owner get it disinfected; but you likely won't have enough time to know if the problem is still present (or you might if it's a major issue).

I'm risk adverse and have had enough experience/education with groundwater, wells, and groundwater contamination to be scared when such an issue pops up. I would be more likely to overreact based on this knowledge and knowing that groundwater remediation/studies/etc. are time consuming, complex, and expensive. But then again, a 1 time disinfection may solve it and it be no real issue. From where you currently stand, it's a gamble and my opinion is that it's a risky one.

It may be advantageous to you to talk to the governing body and well contractors to see what they say. I'm not in that particular industry, but touch on it occasionally. It's always good to hear from multiple sides/view points. Hopefully someone else on here can chime in if they have experience with wells. Someone may completely disagree with me.

[Edited on March 3, 2015 at 4:30 PM. Reason : .]

3/3/2015 4:22:39 PM

**********

So I'm sure this has been asked before... recommendations on exterior wood stains?

I need to do my front porch (approx 16x6). I was thinking about doing dark/brown on horizontals and white (paint I guess) on verticals

I need to do 700'+ of fencing... about 200' of which is 6' privacy and about 500' is 3-board field fencing. I need to take a few measurements to get quantity estimates, but it's a big job. I think I'd prefer to keep a natural wood color, but seeing has how transparent stains are subject to needing refreshing every year or so, I think I'll go with semi-transparent. No clue on color though. Certainly don't want yellow/orange/red.

I'm dreading powerwashing the fence... and trying to stain near the bottom where the grass/ground is at the fence level.


I've read good things about behr. I figured a paint store would have good products, but I've read a lot of negative things about sherwin williams. I can't figure out if TWP is good or not.

[Edited on March 5, 2015 at 12:05 PM. Reason : .]

3/5/2015 12:03:56 PM

I'd recommend a brush/pad with a groove in the middle for getting between deck boards. I didn't have this the last time I stained a deck and it was a giant pain in the ass.

3/7/2015 10:48:57 AM

Sikkens Rubbol® Solid Stain

It isn't the cheapest, but I was impressed with our well it worked. I used this to cover a poorly painted deck. If you need a solid color that is the way to go. If you are looking for something transparent, Sikkens has those products too. I assume they would work just as well.

I was not a fan of a painted deck, but this swayed me. It made my deck look much better than those stained after a year in the weather.

Weather you use this product or another, prep is going to be the key.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 12:22 AM. Reason : asdf]

3/8/2015 12:18:44 AM

Well just replaced all my recessed lighting with LED like the kind Patman recommended (the full retrofit) and it was real easy and looks/works fantastic. Wasn't cheap, we have 21 lights in our living rooms and kitchen, but as much as we use them they will pay for themselves in less than two years according to a calculator I found and they look a lot nicer.

3/8/2015 4:55:06 PM

Awesome! Glad you like it. We love ours. If you haven't already, put in a dimmer. They dim great. I use the Lutron Maestro CL.

3/8/2015 10:07:53 PM

I definitely need to look into that, these suckers are bright. I need to do some research first though because we have multiple light switches so I'm not totally sure how all that stuff works, still learning a lot about electrical work. Thanks for the prior advice, I am so glad I just dove in and did it.

3/8/2015 10:16:39 PM

It's not too difficult, you just need to make sure you have a ground wire available in the box. The Lutron Maestro I used supports 3-way switching. You can either get their companion dimmers or use a conventional switch.

3/9/2015 8:10:23 AM

damn, those LED BR30s are 9.97?

i'm gonna have to get me some.

3/9/2015 2:13:30 PM

I had the insurance adjuster come out to my house to take a look at my roof where the tree hit it. When she only saw the picture of the tree leaning against the house last week she thought there wasn't enough damage to justify a claim. However after coming out and seeing the size of the tree and the pock-marks on the roof from the branches, she agreed to replace the front half of the roof and the hip shingles. She is only covering 20-year shingles (because she said that is likely what was on the house), and she said I should go ahead and replace the entire roof (it is 26 years old). I also got $750 of credit towards the deductible because I took the tree off the house and cleared the debris.

I knew I was playing with borrowed time with the roof, so I'll take paying the remainder of the deductible ($250) and whatever money I can get for the rest of the repairs. I guess I am happy with what the adjuster said, seems like she was fair.





===============================

On another note, I spent 4 hours painting my bathroom yesterday only to find out that the color was too pink (from wife). Looks like I'll be repainting it again this week.

My new dishwasher arrives tomorrow, look for another post on how I messed up installing that.

3/9/2015 2:50:39 PM

Solar panels are up. I think for front facing panels, this is about as attractive as it can get. Total system size is 5.75 kW. 22 panels total. House currently getting repainted a different color with some additional exterior enhancements. Will post new pics as I get them.

3/10/2015 10:21:44 AM

Quote :

"look for another post on how I messed up installing that."

Hey If I can do it anyone can!

^ looks great dude. are there any batteries involved, so you can truly be charging your car overnight with solar power?

3/10/2015 11:22:07 AM

No batteries. That would have added over 10k to the pricetag. Just wasn't willing to do it. But what happens is that I send energy out to Duke during the day, then I get credited back for it in the evening (when the solar array isn't producing).

3/10/2015 2:04:34 PM

^and some in the state government want to make that illegal... i.e. power companies want it banned. Because it might "damage" the industry

3/13/2015 1:30:14 PM

^ Fire departments want it gone as well. If you have a battery/self fed solar system, your house is never really "de-energized" if the power is cut. Big risk if FD has to visit for any reason.

3/13/2015 3:17:07 PM

Are there not main switches on those systems? Just like normal power feeds? Seems like that issue could be easily fixed via electrical codes stating that there must be an accessible switch.

3/13/2015 3:27:14 PM

7 inches of ice on the roof which led to drywall and insulation being ripped out as I type.

3/13/2015 5:02:30 PM

The finished exterior with panels. The panels appear gray because they are reflecting the overcast sky... They are black without the reflection.

3/17/2015 4:41:22 PM

I'd be more worried about those stairs and driveway being an icy deathtrap :p. I have similar problems with my front stairs in the winter. Then again, I live in Wisconsin.

3/17/2015 5:37:17 PM

Anybody have any experience with home environment monitoring systems like WallyHome, LaCrosse Alerts, AcuLink, or others? I'm looking for something to chart humidity in my crawl space and alert to the risk of pipes freezing in my crawlspace and garage.

I could just get a cheapy thermometer from Acu-rite or Ambient Weather, but I'd like to be able to graph the humidity over time and compare to ambient conditions.

3/17/2015 6:33:11 PM

seems like a perfect use case for an arduino or raspberry pi

3/18/2015 12:39:46 AM

Holy fuck water heaters have gotten expensive.

3/19/2015 6:24:14 PM

Is it the new efficiency rules going into effect in April?

3/20/2015 7:44:36 AM

The prices are up across the board compared to a few years ago. I don't get it. It's not like they're being built much different.

3/20/2015 11:16:31 AM

Welp, started a project to re-screen my porch, and found a shitload of rotting wood.

Mostly fascia board around the porch and deck, but one post that looks to be load bearing, and a couple of stair risers on the deck.

Then did a walkaround of the house and found more rotting fascia, window sills, etc.

so now the question becomes whether it's just due to age (house is 23 years old), or if i have a new moisture problem...

3/24/2015 11:31:54 AM

that sucks man, hopefully it is a contained issue

So I got some moneys from the insurance, but since the check is made out to me and my lender, I now have to send the check to the lender in California so they can endorse and then they will send it back to me. Why not send it directly to the lender in the first place!

I messed up too, I tried to endorse the check and submit it to my bank, they declined the check because it didn't have the right endorsement. I thought I could fix it like I had to fix all the checks for my wedding (everyone made checks to me AND my wife and we didn't have a joint account), so I just printed the banks name. No surprise that didn't work either. I have a feeling that I am going to have to get the insurance to issue another check.

3/24/2015 3:57:38 PM

Anyone redone their roof lately that is cool with sharing the ballpark of their house size and how much it cost?

I'm looking at redoing mine...got a quote from Otto (who has been recommended on here several times) for the nice dimensional shingles, ~8500 on a 1500 sq ft house + 1 car garage. I was gonna get a quote from Baker roofing too...but their estimator can't even come out until the 7th of April. Otto showed up like the next business day.

3/27/2015 5:31:26 PM

You might check with Roofwerks for another quote.

3/27/2015 9:51:42 PM

Our house isn't anywhere near as energy efficient as those of our peers. I've checked all the seals, our windows are good. I don't know what else to check. It isn't like we keep our house super hot in the winter and super cold in the summer. I think it might have something to do with the placement of the thermostat.

3/27/2015 9:58:33 PM

If you're looking to spend money to improve efficiency, this might be of interest:

http://www.duke-energy.com/north-carolina/savings/smart-saver.asp
https://www.progress-energy.com/carolinas/home/save-energy-money/rebates-incentives/heip.page?

Also, I've seen AngiesDeals for an energy audit and blower door test and FLIR imaging for $99.

When you say it isn't efficient, what do you mean? Is it that your HVAC is running all the time? Maybe you have a refrigerant leak?

[Edited on March 28, 2015 at 2:47 PM. Reason : ?]

3/28/2015 2:45:03 PM

Anybody ever relocated a hot water heater? Any idea how much it would add to the cost vs. replacement?

I wouldn't have ever seriously considered it, except it would enable me to get a $350 incentive, possible a $300 tax credit and would save $400/year in energy costs. My existing tank is in my crawlspace, so I would need to move it to accommodate a high efficiency water heater. With the incentives and energy savings, the tank itself would payoff in a year.

3/29/2015 9:24:27 AM

Not that hard to do; especially if you have electricity available at the new location; it's just replumbing the branches in/out of the water heater. That part can be more work depending on the current plumbing materials.

I want to do the same thing. I have PEX pipes and my WH is in the crawlspace (after I told them to put it in the garage). Pretty sure one of my elements is broken (easy fix) or the diptube is (not so easy to fix with no headspace above the unit). I'm hoping it's an element, though the unit is only 2.5 years old. Eventually I hope to relocate it to my garage, next to the pressure tank.

In my experience, plumbers think highly of themselves and charge accordingly. If you have PEX then DIY. Otherwise, IDK.

[Edited on March 30, 2015 at 9:03 AM. Reason : .]

3/30/2015 9:02:37 AM

^^ I moved my water heater location from the attic to my garage. Switched from a gas 55gal tank heater to a gas tankless. It did add quite a bit to the cost because they had to run a new gas line to the garage location. I think the total was $3grandish but i don't know how much extra the new run was on top of the tankless since keeping the water heater in the attic was not gonna be an option for me.

3/30/2015 3:28:20 PM

I have pex piping and an electric panel a few feet away. I'm very tempted to DIY this, especially if I can't find a contractor who doesn't do "book pricing". I'm staying electric to avoid the extra cost of running a gas pipe and b/c I don't want to bring gas into my shop.

Dumb question: Currently, cold water comes in next to my water heater and a 3/4 pex cold and hot pipe run the length of the house with 1/2 pex branching off for each fixture. The new water heater location would put it near the middle of the 3/4 pipes. Can I simply T it into there or do I need to run it to one end or the other. I mean if I draw cold water in the middle of the run or supply hot water in the middle of the run, would that be a problem?

3/30/2015 4:04:41 PM

Quote :

"Anyone redone their roof lately that is cool with sharing the ballpark of their house size and how much it cost? I'm looking at redoing mine...got a quote from Otto (who has been recommended on here several times) for the nice dimensional shingles, ~8500 on a 1500 sq ft house + 1 car garage. I was gonna get a quote from Baker roofing too...but their estimator can't even come out until the 7th of April. Otto showed up like the next business day."

Tallage: Call Cole Roofing and Construction if you are in the Raleigh area. Cost me $5700 for 2500 sq feet of roofing on my house with Landmark TL Architectural. Those numbers you are quoting are too high. And the $5700 should have been $4700, but I added metal roofing to part of my house.

3/30/2015 4:39:06 PM

^^Using a T connector would be fine; your proposed situation is obviously more efficient in terms of distribution of hot water (shorter runs for part of the system). The old end would make a great connection point to an outdoor hot spigot, or some other hot water tap if you so desire

Seriously; my parent's old house had a hot water spigot outside and it was great (useful when grilling and hot water is needed, washing dogs/cars/etc when it's chilly, mixing chemicals, etc). Wish I had one now.

**************
**************

So my cheapass builder grade thermostat isn't going to cut it. This 30-75* daily weather + separate heat and cool modes makes for a really cold house or a really hot house. I've seen the Nest and heard of Honewell's competing product. Are these really must haves at this point? I don't care to spend a ton on this, but I do see the value in having a thermostat with a bit more flexibility and me not having to push buttons a million times to program it.

[Edited on March 31, 2015 at 9:32 AM. Reason : .]

3/31/2015 9:26:08 AM

^ Just get a thermostat that will auto switch between AC and heat. If you want to get fancy, you can get a programmable for not a lot of money. No one has yet to convince me that the learning thermostats are anything but a gimmick.

3/31/2015 6:51:23 PM

Quote :

"The old end would make a great connection point to an outdoor hot spigot, or some other hot water tap if you so desire "

That's brilliant! Although in this case, that side of the house is the utility side, so I'm not sure that hot water would be helpful there. But while I'm playing plumber I may add a spigot where I need one. I have one on each end of the house, but not the back. Makes watering the garden a PitA.

3/31/2015 7:12:41 PM

That's a good idea. I am planning to add a laundry sink in my garage for washing up before coming in the house, outdoor cooking, etc. It will be easy because my water heater is right there in a little storage room off the garage. My laundry room is on the other side of the wall, so I have a drain pipe nearby as well. I think I will add a hose bib under the sink on the hot pipe. Thanks!

4/2/2015 10:32:59 PM

That's a good idea. I am planning to add a laundry sink in my garage for washing up before coming in the house, outdoor cooking, etc. It will be easy because my water heater is right there in a little storage room off the garage. My laundry room is on the other side of the wall, so I have a drain pipe nearby as well. I think I will add a hose bib under the sink on the hot pipe. Thanks!

4/2/2015 10:32:59 PM

Any recommendations for crawl space repairs/preventative maintenance in Raleigh area? Have 4 town homes all in the same neighborhood that need some attention with regards to insulation and moisture issues.

4/5/2015 8:25:17 PM

Just got several bids to redo my roof:

1600 sqft single story house.

Otto - 5378 for 25 year architectural shingles, 6068 for 50 year shingles, no ridge vent (plus $450 each to replace two skylights)
Scro's - 8000 for CertainTeed Landmark Architectural Shingle (dude didn't even come to the house, used GPS to determine the size of my roof), no ridge vent
Housetop Roofing - 5800 for 30 year architectural shingles, and install ridge vent (plus $350 each to replace two skylights)

I am going ahead with Housetop Roofing, although Otto was cool too (it would just be nice to have the ridge vent in addition to my other ventilation).

4/5/2015 8:36:32 PM