Tough step this one. Their are imperfections here and there but poorly accessible and hopefully inconsequential given we will tile over.

The pump

Now is time for some panicky wait time. I’m really hoping I did not forget anything critical. If everything goes to plan we’ll be 4 to man the gigantic pump I requested and reel the cement mix in place. I have some shovels, rakes and I rented a vibrating ruler to help the finish.

weather is back to seasonal normals at around 25 after too many weeks over 30+.

Still I’m pretty sure I’m forgetting something.

I have an asphalt driveway in pretty sad shape, and plan to get it re-paved. However I don’t know what to ask for and contractors had conflicting recommendations when I looked before.

• I live in Massachusetts so get a decent amount of freezing/thawing to worry about
• my existing driveway has ruts where my car parks. I always park in the same place since the car naturally rolls to the low point
• there used to be drainage issues but I believe I fixed it.
• I have an EV so it’s kind of heavy

So there’s clearly inadequate foundation or it got washed away. However contractors have different thicknesses of foundation and of asphalt, and some are even trying to tell me that just replacing the asphalt is sufficient. I have my doubts

I want something where my car won’t create new ruts for as many years as possible. Anyone have recommendations what I need to ask for?

As a nice to have, my driveway is single car wide and it would be nice to make it double wide. However again contractors say different things including lane widths 8’? 10’? And slant. And they don’t want to widen the curb cut. I want two cars wide without banging doors, and to be able to drive straight out. How wide would that be and how can I get them to do the curb cut?

Current model needs to be manually switched from heat to AC, which isn't meshing well with the regional weather swings from really hot to really cold.

I suspect it's just a bare-bones cheapest model on the market.

Searching for an upgrade, I'm seeing lots of 'smart' options that pair with my phone or WiFi, but that's overkill for my taste.

On the other end, I'm seeing lots with terrible reviews / unit craps out after a couple months, or has the same annoying lack of function as my current model. ... Didn't expect this purchase to be such a battle.

All I want:

Set it like 73° with a +/- 5° tolerance. If it hits 68°, heat kicks on. If it hits 78°, AC kicks on.

That's it. No phone connection, no Internet, no AI slop home assistant.

Any of you know a good model that fits the bill?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50098902

The water heater started leaking, the hydrofor started leaking, the pipes had several dead ends, no of it fastened to the walls, and what's not clear in the 1st picture is the complete mess at the pump.

New water heater, new hydropress, pipes mounted to the walls, re-routed electricity. Re-used what I could, but much is new. My pride: I could not get a flens that fitted the pump (yeah, an industrial one of twice the price of a similar jetpump). I found I could remove the flens and fit a coupling I have in a box for over 30 years and survived 3 moves. Removing it was exciting, it had been in place for 40+ years but I managed without damaging the cast irons pump housing.

There is still some 'floating' pipes to fix, but over 95% of the job is done. Man, did that improve the water flow !!!

We inherited my mom's house and started remodeling a year and a half ago. Funding it by selling our house, which meant we had to move in mid reno. 29 foundation piers to stabilize (not fully level), cast iron to PVC, copper to PEX, new electrical panel, new HVAC, all new floors, drywall, doors, windows, cabinets, and bathrooms. The only things that remain are one window and the brick fireplace. I think it would have been cheaper to build a new house. Also working on the outside- new paint, gutters, had to replace all soffits and trim because it was waterlogged mdf. Here's a pic of my husband's new greenhouse - used our old windows and fence boards where we could.

Step by step :)

I now have one last water evacuation to place where the exterior faucet is and the. I can lay the metal wire mesh.

Unsure if the resin is bad or if it needs to be fully replaced.

Tips for a man without a dad appreciated.

Edit:

The same guy came back, apologized and immediately got to work putting the drain back and running the line back where it goes. No fuss about it which was shocking.

I asked about getting a mold test as well as getting us a dehumidifier for down there while the crawl space dries out and he said he'd talk to his boss.

I got a call from the owner shortly after the guy left and they're gonna get us a mold test and cover any remediation, and refunded what they initially charged me to get a dehumidifier.

I was ready for the run around. If I could name the company without doxxing myself I would in a heart beat.

Okay good folks of lemmy, I'm a bit out of my wheel house with HVAC, and I want to see if two things are connected or not.

Long story short, a few months ago I had a plumbing/hvac company come out to just repair an old washer drain that was still be used for our AC/Furnace condensation line. The old pipe was fully cracked. For some reason, and I feel like an idiot now for not questioning it at the time, the guy just capped the old drain pipe where it was cracked and put the condensation line hanging in the crawl space. So we've had water just pouring into the crawlspace in our basement for months.

We just moved into this house a couple weeks before, I was running through electrical and carpentry projects that my wife wanted done as soon as we moved in (and I'm still working on that list) and I just hadn't thought about it, didn't check, it seemed like an easy job and I liked the guy. I just noticed today because I was planning on replacing a run of knob and tube that went through that crawlspace.

I called today and there's apparently a 1 year warranty and they're sending someone out tomorrow to take a look, the entire 20x20 crawl space is soaked, there's puddles in there.

So tonight I went down to clean up a bit since the basement has been pretty much abandoned for months and boxes kept getting piled when I felt a drop of water hit me on the head. Our HVAC ducts are just covered with condensation, pretty much all of them all the way through.

My question: Could the condensation on the ducts be related to the pool of water sitting in the crawl space? Is it like a closed loop circuit where air gets pulled form inside the house, cooled and pushed back, so the humidity from the crawl space is causing the AC air to be extra humid?

This is the first place I've ever lived with central AC or really working heat, so I have no clue how it works. But I'd hate to assume it's unrelated if this a bigger issue caused by something this company did.

I'm not looking to blame these guys for every little thing to do with the the AC, just want to be sure.

We did also just go through that insane heatwave and had the air sitting on 70 for the past 4 days.

Thanks in advance.

After an eternity using a laser and making sure we have a slope of 1cm per meter we now have the base layer done :) If I understand correctly I now need to rent a machine to compact everything tightly before putting the visqueen layer and the armature.

We discovered we have issues with our wastewater lateral and it needs to be replaced. Not to get too into the details but where we expected to find a 4” cast iron lateral that could be cleaned and lined we instead found a 6” terra cotta lateral with multiple issues that mainly stem from extensive root infiltration from the maple tree that was planted about 4 feet away from it.

The photo shows the tree and very close to where the line runs. The plan from our contractor is to dig up either side of the stairs and replace with PVC since lining isn’t possible. The excavation is planned to be only in the mulch beds shown, since the main runs in the grass about three feet away from the end of the bed. The existing terra cotta will be left under the stairs and to the main and lined then connected to the PVC.

Our concern is how close the excavation is to the tree and how it will impact the trees health. Ideally we would use trenchless but that isn’t really an option, and rerouting isn’t really possible due to needing to reuse the existing house and main connections. So what should I be sure our contractor is doing to best protect the tree, and how should we take care of it once everything is complete. We are expecting some die off in the canopy but it’s a really healthy tree so we are hoping that with good care we can save it overall.

I have a general contractor who is constantly fighting me on things. I call him out for crappy work and he hand waves it away saying it’s not a big deal. This bathtub issue is probably the worst of it and I was wondering if maybe you can help me understand it.

We were 1 day away from stucco when I noticed this bathtub issue and took these pictures. In the picture we are looking up to the ceiling above a recessed front door into the floor beneath the bathroom.

If we filled the bathtub up, wouldn’t it just drain into this ceiling area? I think it’s just wide open into the tub and the knockout is on the 4” drain pipe.

I could see up into the drain so I assumed it was not connected and we were about to be in for a world of problems. First he says it’s an alternate drain and it’s done right. Then his plumber comes by and says oh shit this isn’t done and fixes it. Now after the fact he says nothing would have happened because of the knockout cover.

Thank god it’s fixed (hopefully) but I’m trying to get him to acknowledge the monumental failure.

Thanks for your help

This was on my bucket list ; playing with a mini excavator.

Though the actual work was done by my step bro

Next I’ll do the form and order some lill stones to prep the surface, some steel reinforcement and put all in place before getting some concrete.

Hello there,

Family member had a plant in a jar on the windowsill over a longer period of time and over time (i guess while watering) water spillage has made its way under the jar and made quite the damage to the sill. Is there a good way to fix such a damage? Will obviously from now on have something underneath the jars to prevent this in the future.

Appreciate any tips!

Hey all! This is a bit of a follow-up to a post I made a couple months ago regarding our bathroom reno: https://sh.itjust.works/post/56769265

Long story short, the mortar bed subfloor was crumbling away, and I could literally tear up chunks with my bear hands, so we decided to take it all out. I'm going to sister all the joists to re-level the floor, put in blocking for under the clawfoot tub, then 3/4" plywood subfloor, Ditra, and tile. But that's not what this post is about.

This post is about all that copper plumbing. I think the stuff above the tub spout is relatively new, but I think everything below that (tub supplies, toilet supply, sink supplies) is a lot older, maybe original, which would make that close to 70 years old. Some of it looks pretty crusty and corroded to my untrained eye, so my question is, should I redo any of that copper while I've got the wall open? If so, to what extent, and with copper or PEX? I mentioned earlier that we're putting in a clawfoot tub, so we won't need basically anything above the tub spout. I know clawfoots traditionally have supplies coming up through the floor, so I may end up reconfiguring to accommodate that, but I'm also considering taking the easy way out there and using some flex hose coming out of the wall.

I don't have a torch or a PEX crimping tool, so either way I go I'm gonna have to buy a new toy. But which one? How would y'all go about this? Thanks in advance for the input!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/46571903

Original post:

So I'm on my way to the store to pick up a voltage tester b/c our showers have been noticeably room temperature today. We own our place so I'm attempting some basic DIY troubleshooting steps before I call a plumber. Found this 4-minute video guide to resetting an electric water heater. At 2:30 into the video, right after the plumber removes the cover plate and insulation, the white plastic cover in the video has two holes, and the top hole supposedly has a bright red button to reset it.

I’ve already flipped off the circuit breaker and removed the metal cover plate. The problem is, on mine the white plastic covering on the thermostat only has one hole, there is no big red reset button on my thermostat. Any tips on where else to look for the big red reset button? If it makes any difference, I am located in the US, and I believe the brand of my water heater is State Select, model number ES652DORT 210.

Side question - should I take steps to protect myself against the outer insulation wrapped around the overall water heater? I kinda just went in there guns blazing and didn't think about gloves, masks, etc.

Photos:

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!

EDIT: Today I learned there are two thermostats, and the big red reset button is on the top one! Unfortunately, pressing it did not click like I was hoping. This leads me to believe I have a bad heating element as suggested in the comments. My next step is to get a multimeter so I can check continuity, resistance, and amperage. Thanks to those who have weighed in so far.

Photos of the top thermostat:

The house I live in has an existing oil-based boiler for both heat and hot water. The hot water tank (50 gallons) will likely need to be replaced in the next few years as it is more than 10 years old, probably approaching 15. I am on well water without a water softener, and I assume that the previous owners never did any sort of maintenance with the current hot water tank. (A neighbor mentioned that there is some sacrificial part that can be replaced every so often to extend the life of the tank.)

I keep reading that the hybrid heat pump water heaters are incredibly efficient, and I hate having to burn oil during the warmer months just to heat my showers. My plumber tells me that it's a really efficient system and that I should keep it intact as long as I can. He also seems a bit old school in his opinion and preferences, as he scoffs at the idea that I would eventually like to replace the whole boiler and system with a heat pump system instead.

Is there a good place to learn about how my existing system works, and any way to compare to possible savings (or pitfalls) of switching to a new system? Are there other options, such as tankless hot water heaters, that I should consider? I gather that recovery time with a hybrid heat pump water heater will be much slower than the existing system, so should I also calculate for a larger system (65 or 80 gallons)? Two adults live here full time but we frequently host guests and family gatherings, and we sometimes need enough hot water for 10 or so adults to shower. There are three full bathrooms in the house and one day we may add a fourth.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45847204

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45847124

For quite a while I had been longing to measure the waterlevel in my well.

The first attempt with a HC-SR04 failed due to distance (4 meter deep well) and problems of how to mount it in the well. Then I came across the JSN-SR04 sensor. It's all running on an esp2866 (I found it to have better wifi than the esp32). Several parts re-used from old projects. Added small solar panel to keep it all self contained. Data is sent to homeassistant (mqtt) and a bit of log/debug data to syslog.

Due to circumstances had it been lying on my desk quite a while, but finally, today I was able to install it!
I screwed a drainpipe cap to the lid of the well and mounted the sensor in another. A simple pipe connector in between works like a charm.

Removed the plastic and wire guard rail that was put in originally and now I'm unsure what to replace it with. Any ideas?

anybody who is interested in this community would probably be interested in this video

Home inspector and certified builder Tobias Condill joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about house safety maintenance. What are the biggest red flags spotted during a home inspection? What are the dumbest home maintenance DIY fixes? What’s the most common cause of house fires people don’t know about?