Home Improvement Thread 2: Electric Redo the Loo

Mather said:
Is the ceiling open in the basement? Guessing you can't see any water marks on the walls or ceiling?

Did you have heavy rain in the past few days?
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I took down the crappy ceiling tiles a few years ago and installed foam panels with accessible screws, so I'll probably be taking a couple panels down to see up there. But there wasn't any water marks or wetness when I inspected last night.

No heavy rain the past few days. I am starting to think maybe this is actually a plumbing issue even though no lines or drains are near there, because water finds a way as they say.
 
ranbalam said:
I took down the crappy ceiling tiles a few years ago and installed foam panels with accessible screws, so I'll probably be taking a couple panels down to see up there. But there wasn't any water marks or wetness when I inspected last night.

No heavy rain the past few days. I am starting to think maybe this is actually a plumbing issue even though no lines or drains are near there, because water finds a way as they say.
Click to expand...
Yeah I gotta say, the likelihood that for the first time ever you'd get water in your basement immediately after a kitchen reno finished and it WASN'T related to the reno is... a longshot. Like you said, water can travel a good distance looking for places to escape...
 
ranbalam said:
I know I'm not alone - owning a home means you are in a constant state of repairing or upgrading.
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Very quickly learning this myself hah. Our house is from 1870 and some aspects of it were updated in the past 15 years or so. Bought the house about 6 months ago. We have a glass sunroom off of our kitchen which is our favorite room in the house, but it just started leaking when there is heavy rain. When there was one of the hurricanes back in August, water was pouring into our basement over the main power shut off, so we had to get an electrician in to replace it/move it and rewire it. Lots of unexpected costs but luckily we are catching things early on so far. Stuff like the electric is in good shape, but even things that I think should be small updates end up being big to-dos.

Our kitchen appliances are from the 90s. For the oven and cook top, it's not a big deal. The previous owner NEVER cooked. Like ever. So they are pretty much brand new. The dishwasher stopped working the other week so we decided to order a new one. Had to get an electrician in to convert the hardwire going into the dishwasher into an outlet under the sink for easy unplugging. He converted the hard-wire to a switch and it still wasn't working. Ended up having to replace the switch in the breaker box too. After two delivery no-shows for the dishwasher and two cancelled orders, we finally got it last weekend.

The installers went to hook it up to the hot water under the sink and the valve was the wrong size since it the last dishwasher was so old. So had to get a plumber in to cut off the old valve and install a new one. Between having to get an electrician in and a plumber in, it quickly became the most expensive dishwasher ever.

Also finding it's hard to find reliable and trust-worthy plumbers, electricians and handymen. One plumber we used in the past said it would cost $300-500 to update the valve under the sink. I just laughed.

I'm pretty handy around the house, but don't really trust myself with plumbing and electricity on a house that is 150+ years old. My dad and I have been doing a lot of little things around the house to improve or renovate parts of the house.

Since it's such an old house, half of the rooms don't have built-in overhead light fixtures. I've gone down the route of using Lutron Caseta switches and dimmers and they are pretty awesome. The remotes for the lamp dimmers can be affixed to the wall and really look like hard-wired switches. It's been a useful little upgrade since I can't imagine what it would cost to hardwire new overhead fixtures where there currently aren't any in multiple rooms. I'm not a fan of recessed lighting either.

Anyway....house ownership AMMIRITE??
 
MikeH said:
Very quickly learning this myself hah. Our house is from 1870 and some aspects of it were updated in the past 15 years or so. Bought the house about 6 months ago. We have a glass sunroom off of our kitchen which is our favorite room in the house, but it just started leaking when there is heavy rain. When there was one of the hurricanes back in August, water was pouring into our basement over the main power shut off, so we had to get an electrician in to replace it/move it and rewire it. Lots of unexpected costs but luckily we are catching things early on so far. Stuff like the electric is in good shape, but even things that I think should be small updates end up being big to-dos.

Our kitchen appliances are from the 90s. For the oven and cook top, it's not a big deal. The previous owner NEVER cooked. Like ever. So they are pretty much brand new. The dishwasher stopped working the other week so we decided to order a new one. Had to get an electrician in to convert the hardwire going into the dishwasher into an outlet under the sink for easy unplugging. He converted the hard-wire to a switch and it still wasn't working. Ended up having to replace the switch in the breaker box too. After two delivery no-shows for the dishwasher and two cancelled orders, we finally got it last weekend.

The installers went to hook it up to the hot water under the sink and the valve was the wrong size since it the last dishwasher was so old. So had to get a plumber in to cut off the old valve and install a new one. Between having to get an electrician in and a plumber in, it quickly became the most expensive dishwasher ever.

Also finding it's hard to find reliable and trust-worthy plumbers, electricians and handymen. One plumber we used in the past said it would cost $300-500 to update the valve under the sink. I just laughed.

I'm pretty handy around the house, but don't really trust myself with plumbing and electricity on a house that is 150+ years old. My dad and I have been doing a lot of little things around the house to improve or renovate parts of the house.

Since it's such an old house, half of the rooms don't have built-in overhead light fixtures. I've gone down the route of using Lutron Caseta switches and dimmers and they are pretty awesome. The remotes for the lamp dimmers can be affixed to the wall and really look like hard-wired switches. It's been a useful little upgrade since I can't imagine what it would cost to hardwire new overhead fixtures where there currently aren't any in multiple rooms. I'm not a fan of recessed lighting either.

Anyway....house ownership AMMIRITE??
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Damn skippy to all of this.
 
Dtknuckles said:
The cast iron drain pipes from the 60’s are giving way in my house. We’ve had two insurance claims because of it. It’s no fun.
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This is why I'm glad I got out from under my old house before the sewer drain pipes completely went. That was bound to be an expensive fix.
 
Mather said:
Yeah I gotta say, the likelihood that for the first time ever you'd get water in your basement immediately after a kitchen reno finished and it WASN'T related to the reno is... a longshot. Like you said, water can travel a good distance looking for places to escape...
Click to expand...
Well, I got to the bottom of it. Literally. The water is seeping up through the basement floor. Unbelievable, but yet I watched it happen. So, my contractor (and luckily he's a lifelong friend of mine so I thoroughly trust him ) came by and was just as puzzled. We're going to re-do the seal along where the driveway meets the house. The thought is that it is getting down through there and under the house then finding a way in. It's bizarre and almost seems implausible but we're stumped on what else could be happening. So I emptied the studio :cry: and have a dehumidifier going. I'll wait a couple weeks and see what happens. The rug is salvageable, the pad is not. Could be worse... didn't lose any equipment.
MikeH said:
Our house is from 1870
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Wow, ours is 1944 and feels ancient at times.
MikeH said:
Anyway....house ownership AMMIRITE??
Click to expand...
Word
 
folsom_lives said:
This is why I'm glad I got out from under my old house before the sewer drain pipes completely went. That was bound to be an expensive fix.
Click to expand...

I mean we are getting some money out of it. The floor is continuous through two levels so the insurance company has to pay for everything even though we aren’t getting it all replaced. The rest of the money will just go to other stuff we want to do in the house.
 
Going into the showroom tonight for what I hope is our last consultation for the master and hall bathrooms.

Currently scheduled out through March but plenty of things to plan in the meantime. Which leads me into...

Anybody have experience with closet design systems? Looked at IKEA and they seem fine, but the pre-fab means I lose a lot of potential from dead space.
 
ranbalam said:
Well, I got to the bottom of it. Literally. The water is seeping up through the basement floor. Unbelievable, but yet I watched it happen. So, my contractor (and luckily he's a lifelong friend of mine so I thoroughly trust him ) came by and was just as puzzled. We're going to re-do the seal along where the driveway meets the house. The thought is that it is getting down through there and under the house then finding a way in. It's bizarre and almost seems implausible but we're stumped on what else could be happening. So I emptied the studio :cry: and have a dehumidifier going. I'll wait a couple weeks and see what happens. The rug is salvageable, the pad is not. Could be worse... didn't lose any equipment.

Wow, ours is 1944 and feels ancient at times.

Word
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Do you have a sump pit? The other thing to have them check is the drain tile under the foundation. A jam under there can back up water too. But running a crack does feel like a likely culprit.
 
Corycm said:
Do you have a sump pit? The other thing to have them check is the drain tile under the foundation. A jam under there can back up water too. But running a crack does feel like a likely culprit.
Click to expand...
No sump pit, no sump pump. I'm not sure how I could have the area under my basement checked without going through the actual basement floor.
So I put some backer-rod and then Sikaflex right where the foundation and driveway meet. So far so good, there hasn't been any water for a week. But I still don't know the cause, so I'll just keep my eye on it daily like I have been. Maybe it was a one-off?
 
Backfilling day for the new patio. 4 cubic yards of dirt. The more feathered area is going to be the entrance step. The rest will be landscaped. The side of the house will also be landscaped, but also going to eventually put a small path between the house and the small boulder/well cap.

My back and arms are shot.

PXL_20211015_211933445.jpgPXL_20211015_211947396.jpg
 
folsom_lives said:
Going into the showroom tonight for what I hope is our last consultation for the master and hall bathrooms.

Currently scheduled out through March but plenty of things to plan in the meantime. Which leads me into...

Anybody have experience with closet design systems? Looked at IKEA and they seem fine, but the pre-fab means I lose a lot of potential from dead space.
Click to expand...
Have you looked at the elfa systems at the Container Store?

Closet - The Container Store

Closet
www.containerstore.com www.containerstore.com
 
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