aaronburro can you post a link to the insulation you used?

[Edited on February 14, 2023 at 12:46 PM. Reason : 138]

2/14/2023 12:45:55 PM

The self-sealing foam tubes at Lowe's, hah! $3ish for a 6ft piece. Where they get you is the custom corners and T pieces, which are about 3bux a pop. You can probably do without them and not even notice it, honestly.

They make rubber tubes, too, which are about twice the price. I wouldn't bother with them unless you are trying to protect pipes from freezing.

They come in different interior sizes (.5", .75", 1"), so see what you got and plan accordingly

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frost-King-0-75-in-x-6-ft-Foam-Plumbing-Tubular-Pipe-Insulation/1001277278

2/16/2023 12:13:59 AM

finally some more progress. passed framing and now we can do insulation! siding has started and hopefully this shit gets wrapped up in the next few weeks.

2/24/2023 2:15:01 PM

we're onto drywall / mudding / sanding. it's dusty as hell! problem is....opening the windows just replaces the dust with pollen.

3/8/2023 6:03:08 PM

I'm finally getting a new roof in 2 weeks.

5/1/2023 7:00:01 PM

Finally got floors and a couch! This shits finally coming together!!!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/hHSHvCzjg6XB7xmU9

5/10/2023 12:25:37 AM

Looking good!

5/15/2023 11:06:45 PM

Roof installed. Surprisingly smooth process.

5/17/2023 10:46:36 AM

what kinda roof you get?

5/23/2023 9:52:12 AM

New. The house kind.

Atlas Pinnacle Pristine I think.

5/25/2023 8:14:09 AM

sounds baller af

5/26/2023 11:36:09 AM

For those of you that have bought land and built a house, what would be your top 3-5 recommendations/must-do's aside from the obvious perc test, well test, utilities and infrastructure?

6/26/2023 12:13:57 PM

Get a geotechnical engineer out there.

6/29/2023 4:46:30 PM

modern refrigerators suck

7/13/2023 6:27:18 PM

^^ a good GC is a must. Being your own is doable, but is a shit ton of work.
It sucks, but double check everything. Get it all in writing.

7/18/2023 10:43:18 PM

Anyone have any ideas on how to deter and aggressive cardinal from constantly attacking my windows? He is seeing his own reflection and thinks it is a different male cardinal imposing on his territory. This little dumbass has literally been flying into the window/attacking it every 5 seconds for weeks now. It depends on the light conditions outside as they have be bright enough to create a reflection.

He used to attack just one window. I tried a few things to get him to stop and ultimately had success with hanging a bag of water in front of it. That worked for that window. He just moved onto a different window though. I have 12 other windows on that side of the house though and I can't do that to every window. It didn't even stop him when my cat sat behind the window and swatted at him when he flew into the window.

This fucker even attacks car side mirrors when guests are parked in my driveway. He left blood on my friends car, lol. I'm pretty sure it is always the same one as he's lost his mohawk from I assume repeatedly bashing his head into the glass.

So far I've put fake owls outside, printed out pictures of owls and cats and posted them facing out from the window, and attached some small mirrors on the outside of the house in hopes that he'd just attack those instead. The only thing that seems to work is if I go out there and shake the tree. Then he just comes back 30 seconds later. It's illegal to kill a cardinal here so anyone have any ideas or experience with idiots like this?

7/26/2023 10:14:10 AM

try a male cardinal statue nearby. he might attack that instead of the reflection. fight cardinal with cardinal.

7/26/2023 3:42:09 PM

^^He will likely die before you do.

I have a small roof leak at a plumbing vent pipe boot. Creeping water stain on the ceiling.

7/26/2023 4:45:23 PM

That cardinal story is one of the funniest things I've read in a while. Sorry you're dealing with that but it's still funny.

It's time for us to replace windows and damn, that's an expensive thing to have to do. Also HVAC is going to go out any day, they're both over 20 years old.

7/27/2023 9:22:07 AM

^^I tried googling it before posting here for ideas and people have reported that they've had the same cardinal attacking their windows for years. Maybe not as aggressive as mine, but hearing how loudly it bangs into the windows I don't see how it can't have permanent brain damage by now. Maybe it does and that is why it won't stop.


^You are correct, it feels like something out of Arrested Development. I never expected that a small bird would become my nemesis.

7/27/2023 10:08:55 AM

https://a.co/d/er3ppVJ

We had a bird (not a cardinal) persistently attacking our window earlier this spring. These are kinda tacky but worked.

But if you’ve already printed out pictures and put on your window then I doubt these would work any better.

7/29/2023 12:04:56 PM

Wraith, if it makes you feel any better, we experienced the same thing with a male cardinal for several years at a basement window growing up. Exactly the same behavior. I have a short video of it I might be able to upload. Eventually he died!

I have also had a male bluebird repeatedly attack my car mirrors and consequently shit all over the side of the car below. Even turning the mirrors inward didn't deter him once he thought he knew there was another male bluebird infringing his territory.

8/2/2023 7:16:30 AM

Update, I think the mirrors ended up working. It may have just taken some time for him to see them. In the mornings I sometimes hear him smack against the window once or twice but then he clearly sees himself in the mirrors I attached next to the window. Went out there yesterday to see him going to town on the mirrors. He can knock himself out all he wants (metaphorically and literally) as I can't hear it when I'm inside, lol.

8/14/2023 1:58:45 PM

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/29/economy/why-boomers-are-not-moving-out-of-their-big-homes/index.html

Has anyone here encountered this or have parents who are going through a similar experience?

My mom's issue isn't due to capital gains tax; she just refuses to move out of her house.

Sadly, she lives in a house with no bedrooms or full bathrooms on the first floor, but she insists on staying in her home and walking up and down a flight of stairs every day.

1/31/2024 10:15:05 AM

my parents are still in my childhood home. 3BR, 2.5 bath, +/- 2,400 sqft.

they probably won't sell until one, or both, of them are in declining health. They have a vacation home that they could move to full time if they wanted, but they are both happy in their routines and patterns of my hometown. They very rarely go upstairs. Every now and then they'll go up there to watch a movie and lay on a different couch. ¯\_ _/¯

2/5/2024 2:02:03 PM

I'm about to spend $7,000 on increased structural support under my house as I have some settling and joist that have bowed.
Adding footings, Steel I-beams, and screw jacks, to get the floor back level and stop the popping and sag.

The house was built in 2016, and is on a crawl space.

2/9/2024 12:45:50 PM

that's unfortunate. did they find the cause? ground water?

2/12/2024 8:14:04 AM

Were up to 20 properties, now have an offer in on another. Some days though I wonder what if I just sold them all off, paid off my house, and relaxed. Tax laws don't really encourage that though.

2/12/2024 1:22:30 PM

^^ One section is because I decided to fill an 800lb safe full of guns.
Mostly its just shitty engineering based on the drywall cracks and finish carpentry gaps that have shown up.

The structural guy said I had one of the nicest prepared crawls he had been in. The builder should have just had more piers to support the joist spans, which are multiple 20' sections.

Ryan Homes: where most the houses they built in my neighborhood have settling problems.

2/16/2024 2:22:58 PM

I actually got lucky with the gun safe. I was just talking with my builder during construction, and I mentioned that I was bringing a gun safe. He suddenly started drilling me on what room and where.

Long story short, he made that area of the closet stronger. If you go in the crawl space, its obvious

3/1/2024 7:59:58 PM

^ that is a good builder. A lot of these deadebeats these days would say you voided the warranty for the entire house by using the house to live in.

3/2/2024 11:12:46 AM

The office people for my builder were absolute shitbags, tried all kinds of shady shit to get more money.

The on site crew chief though, was absolutely awesome. When I have needed anything done after the initial, I just called him and he came out and generally got paid in cash.

3/2/2024 7:34:50 PM

Similar experience when we built ours with Ryan Homes.
Agent and office was horrible.
Site Super was pretty cool, but still had some issues.

Agent said we could change a bunch of things, and once we signed all of those promises magically disappeared.

3/12/2024 8:46:57 AM

any septic service companies in the raleigh area yall recommend?

my tank alarm is going off. 99% sure its the pump failing.

3/12/2024 2:45:57 PM

^^ my builder made several promises, that were also in writing.

When they tried to pull them back after we signed, we told them the contract was null and void and to get our deposit RIGHT NOW or the police would be called for theft.

They backed down pretty quickly, but they tried a few more shitty things.

My last conversation was me telling them to come get the brick foundation off my property since they violated the contract again, basically saying that the price went up because cost of materials went up. I reminded them that initialed that clause out and they signed it. ( probably without reading it)

They probably would have just cancelled on me if this hadn't been during the 09 recession and they were desperate for business.

But on the other hand, they guy on site doing the job was great, he even helped me with some small improvements later (not under his company, and he was paid in cash)

3/13/2024 7:59:35 PM

Man, these new refrigerators stink.

I have a 2017 LG that I have had to replace the linear compressor, replace the Assembly 3 times, replace the fan for the freezer, and refill with coolant... All within a year of moving into this house.

3/17/2024 4:23:10 PM

We had a 10 year old Samsung spring a leak, so last year we started looking for a replacement. Everyone we talked to said to avoid Samsung, so we got an LG. We put a couple of thermometers inside and it wouldn’t maintain anything below 42 degrees anywhere. Had it sent back and got a second of the same model…same damn thing.

So Samsung is out, LG is out…who’s next? Bosch got good reviews, but they were all several hundred dollars more for far less features. Ended up with the Bosch. I hate it. It does what it’s supposed to do but it’s just so boring.

3/19/2024 9:06:50 AM

Personally I want my fridge to be boring. Keep shit cold and make ice. That’s all I want from it.

3/19/2024 11:05:40 AM

We avoided Samsung and LG stuff about 3 years ago when we moved and got all new appliances. Had also heard some not great reviews. We have a fairly basic Frigidaire. Only about 3 years old but 0 complaints.

3/24/2024 5:46:50 AM

Just closed on my first home and starting to move in tomorrow. Cant wait to read through this thread!

3/30/2024 1:27:10 AM

how much?

3/30/2024 1:55:13 AM

715 cuz im in Denver and its expensive as fuck and im basically buying in a peak sellers market. but fuck it, i can afford it so it is what it is. 35 year old house that has been decently renovated

3/30/2024 1:58:19 AM

damn, how much square footage

3/30/2024 2:00:37 AM

2300. 3 bed, 1 finished basement, 1 office space, 1 full bath, 2 3/4 baths, 1 1/2 bath.

Pretty nice backyard

3/30/2024 2:02:54 AM

wow that's a lot, I'm glad I got a house 15 years ago

3/30/2024 2:20:48 AM

Yea its crazy

3/30/2024 2:23:31 AM

Our rate is 3.75 on a 209k mortgage for 2300 sq ft. We bought in 2012 when home prices were at their lowest. So thankful and lucky we got in when we did….I couldn’t imagine being a homebuyer right now.

4/1/2024 12:44:02 PM