Home Improvement Thread 2: Electric Redo the Loo

Popped out the screen on the window where the main problem is, and I really can't see where any water would be getting in. Seems really sturdy right on the other side of the pretty sizable hole. Guess it's good im getting it inspected regardless. Just waiting for an email back from the owner to see if his tone about me going and hiring a second opinion.

Now if this becomes an issue in getting my deposit back, that's another story.
 
DJSJ said:
So I live on the second of three floors in a hundred year old apartment building. A while back I noticed a section of the wall underneath a window (in which the other side is outside) felt malleable. Like you could apply some force with one hand and the there was some "give" to it. I let my building super know and went on with my life.

We just went through a couple weeks of pretty rainy weather, and today I noticed the paint around that section of the wall was ballooning. As I went to give it a little force, the same amount as before, my fingers just pushed right through and made a hole. I also noticed this malleability starting to occur below another window on the other side of the apartment.

I let the Super know and he insists it's a paint issue; that the last time that wall was painted it wasn't primed properly and some moisture got in (being an old building I assume its not well insulated). He said a painters going to come next week and that's that. I was fine with believing that untill I saw this starting to occur much further down the wall around a different window.


So basicly I want to poll the group to see if my anxiety is warranted or not, as I know very little about this sort of stuff. Should I believe my super and just wait for a new paint job, or should I hire an outside structural inspector to look for for moisture damage?

Cheers
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There's lots of ways the water could be getting in around the window, particularly if they're older and the frame is in contact with the stone of the building. If the mortar around the stone is lime based and the paint is trapping the water and keeping it in contact with the stone the mortar would degrade and eventually collapse. Rain water is slightly acidic.
 
jaycee said:
There's lots of ways the water could be getting in around the window, particularly if they're older and the frame is in contact with the stone of the building. If the mortar around the stone is lime based and the paint is trapping the water and keeping it in contact with the stone the mortar would degrade and eventually collapse. Rain water is slightly acidic.
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Good to know, thanks.


For the record, the effected area on both windows is right around and below the left corner. Don't know what that means. Just gonna try and put it out of my mind until Monday.
 
DJSJ said:
Popped out the screen on the window where the main problem is, and I really can't see where any water would be getting in. Seems really sturdy right on the other side of the pretty sizable hole. Guess it's good im getting it inspected regardless. Just waiting for an email back from the owner to see if his tone about me going and hiring a second opinion.

Now if this becomes an issue in getting my deposit back, that's another story.
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The super wants this to be a "paint" problem because fixing the stone and mortar is way more expensive. My guess is they've been just painting over the underlying problems for a long time
 
DJSJ said:
Good to know, thanks.


For the record, the effected area on both windows is right around and below the left corner. Don't know what that means. Just gonna try and put it out of my mind until Monday.
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y - nothing you can do. just wait to hear what they say and go from there. if the building owner refuses to fix it you can probably withhold payment until they do.
 
Mather said:
Yeah it's hard to know sometimes. Like with water, if it's coming from outside the house, call waterproofing foundation person, of it's inside the house, plumber. If you don't know? Ugh... You've got s 50/50 shot... Good contractors won't change you for an estimate but these days SO many people are renovating instead of buying due to prices (up here at least) that they are really expensive and picky with their jobs now... and they're more likely to charge to for showing up unlike before...
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The handyman we have is nice and comes over to give estimates for free. You’re right about people being pickier though lately. I called someone about taking some large trees down in our yard that are old and dangerous. One guy was a 10 min drive away and said “sorry—too far away for me and my crew” haha.

I also talked to a foundation guy yesterday because I thought that may be why water was coming into the basement. He was super nice—asked for pictures and helped to try to diagnose the issue over the phone since he was really busy with site visits. He said he has to disconnect his business phone number because people call him and berate him for being too busy to help them out with repairs right now. People are truly awful.
 
Got a surprisingly understanding response from the owner. He's coming over on Monday to see it for himself and he's willing to make any repairs that are needed. Was a genuinely long written email, I'm suprised.


Thanks for the help everyone in working with me through my renters anxiety
 
DJSJ said:
Got a surprisingly understanding response from the owner. He's coming over on Monday to see it for himself and he's willing to make any repairs that are needed. Was a genuinely long written email, I'm suprised.


Thanks for the help everyone in working me through my renters anxiety
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A good owner would realize that this is an issue thats better to pay for now/diagnose it properly rather than let it fester. Just painting it now is likely the wrong move. Also smart landlords realize that being good to your tenants matters. My last two landlords were awesome and like that. They would send the super over to try to fix anything and if it wasn’t easily fixable they would hire somebody or buy something to replace it. It was one of the main reasons why we stayed in those two apartments as long as we did. And it’s a headache to constantly have to find new tenants.

Hope it gets fixed! They sound like a pretty decent landlord so far.
 
MikeH said:
we found a really good handyman, electrician and plumber so far which are the heavy hitters, but for some other things I know nothing about who to even call to fix something. we had a leak in our basement in the corner and it was dripping down one of the rafters but couldn't for the life of us figure out where the water was coming from. there was no water above it and no pipe above it either. but was a steady drip. no leak on the floor above either. wondered if there was a leak in the foundation or something because we just had a bad storm but didn't make sense why it would still be leaking so steadily...called a foundation/waterproofing guy and he said it didn't look like a leak in the foundation but had no clue what it could be.

luckily my dad lives about 20 minutes away and is pretty good at fixing stuff. took us a few hours but finally found a pipe that had a tiny pinhole leak in it that was spraying a mist of water up and over onto the beam above. but up until that point, had no clue really who to call to properly figure out what was wrong...it's a bit frustrating as a new homeowner to figure some of this stuff out.

our neighbors are great at recommending people so far but every once in awhile we'll have an issue and just have no clue who to call to fix it. i guess a lot is live and learn....buying a house from 1870 as a first time homeowner might not have been the best idea....but we love everything about the house except for the seemingly constant work we need to do on it. we get a little worried every time there's a bad rain storm/wind storm...
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We just had this exact problem and it was a J channel on the roof. We had to replace a window and part of an exterior wall and shore up the foundation. We noticed some black mold around a window and ants. Apparently ants love rotten wood. Walk around your house when it’s really raining a and watch your gutters and where the water goes.
 
I'm way overdue on posting this update, as I did this back in late September. But I owe @Mather closure.

After spending a lot of time hemming and hawing over projectors, screens, and placement, I went with the BenQ HT2050A. Based on the angle and placement, I picked a 100" screen, motorized so I didn't have to pull it up and down every day, possibly yanking it out of the ceiling. Since the screen was in the corner, I was able to find studs to drill into, thankfully.

The projector is short-throw, so I have to prop its back feet to square the image on the screen, but it works great. Here's where the projector lives. Big plus with the new shelf; my records used to be on a low shelf beside/behind the couch and it was nigh-impossible to select a record on the lower shelf:
IMG_9344.jpegIMG_9346.jpeg

And here's the corner where the screen is, before and after it drops. The bar from the screen is visible and not too obtrusive...just obtrusive enough to notice:
IMG_9648.jpg
IMG_9345.jpeg

I took this pic late afternoon from the other side of the kitchen counter while cooking; I conveniently picked a bright image, as dark colors/blacks don't show up great unless it's night and that light in the corner is out. It still looks quite good with ambient light:
IMG_9352.jpeg

Thanks for all the input and abiding the hemming and hawing; two months into having basically a private theater I can say it's worked out quite all right.
 
Bull Shannon said:
I'm way overdue on posting this update, as I did this back in late September. But I owe @Mather closure.

After spending a lot of time hemming and hawing over projectors, screens, and placement, I went with the BenQ HT2050A. Based on the angle and placement, I picked a 100" screen, motorized so I didn't have to pull it up and down every day, possibly yanking it out of the ceiling. Since the screen was in the corner, I was able to find studs to drill into, thankfully.

The projector is short-throw, so I have to prop its back feet to square the image on the screen, but it works great. Here's where the projector lives. Big plus with the new shelf; my records used to be on a low shelf beside/behind the couch and it was nigh-impossible to select a record on the lower shelf:
View attachment 117159View attachment 117160

And here's the corner where the screen is, before and after it drops. The bar from the screen is visible and not too obtrusive...just obtrusive enough to notice:
View attachment 117162
View attachment 117161

I took this pic late afternoon from the other side of the kitchen counter while cooking; I conveniently picked a bright image, as dark colors/blacks don't show up great unless it's night and that light in the corner is out. It still looks quite good with ambient light:
View attachment 117163

Thanks for all the input and abiding the hemming and hawing; two months into having basically a private theater I can say it's worked out quite all right.
Click to expand...
AWESOME! You picked an excellent projector, I had a 2050 for years and that thing is a workhorse, puts out a great image. Fantastic job! Looks really good man, that is a challenging space to say the least!
 
Bull Shannon said:
I'm way overdue on posting this update, as I did this back in late September. But I owe @Mather closure.

After spending a lot of time hemming and hawing over projectors, screens, and placement, I went with the BenQ HT2050A. Based on the angle and placement, I picked a 100" screen, motorized so I didn't have to pull it up and down every day, possibly yanking it out of the ceiling. Since the screen was in the corner, I was able to find studs to drill into, thankfully.

The projector is short-throw, so I have to prop its back feet to square the image on the screen, but it works great. Here's where the projector lives. Big plus with the new shelf; my records used to be on a low shelf beside/behind the couch and it was nigh-impossible to select a record on the lower shelf:
View attachment 117159View attachment 117160

And here's the corner where the screen is, before and after it drops. The bar from the screen is visible and not too obtrusive...just obtrusive enough to notice:
View attachment 117162
View attachment 117161

I took this pic late afternoon from the other side of the kitchen counter while cooking; I conveniently picked a bright image, as dark colors/blacks don't show up great unless it's night and that light in the corner is out. It still looks quite good with ambient light:
View attachment 117163

Thanks for all the input and abiding the hemming and hawing; two months into having basically a private theater I can say it's worked out quite all right.
Click to expand...
Manhunter? Nice.
 
Bull Shannon said:
I'm way overdue on posting this update, as I did this back in late September. But I owe @Mather closure.

After spending a lot of time hemming and hawing over projectors, screens, and placement, I went with the BenQ HT2050A. Based on the angle and placement, I picked a 100" screen, motorized so I didn't have to pull it up and down every day, possibly yanking it out of the ceiling. Since the screen was in the corner, I was able to find studs to drill into, thankfully.

The projector is short-throw, so I have to prop its back feet to square the image on the screen, but it works great. Here's where the projector lives. Big plus with the new shelf; my records used to be on a low shelf beside/behind the couch and it was nigh-impossible to select a record on the lower shelf:
View attachment 117159View attachment 117160

And here's the corner where the screen is, before and after it drops. The bar from the screen is visible and not too obtrusive...just obtrusive enough to notice:
View attachment 117162
View attachment 117161

I took this pic late afternoon from the other side of the kitchen counter while cooking; I conveniently picked a bright image, as dark colors/blacks don't show up great unless it's night and that light in the corner is out. It still looks quite good with ambient light:
View attachment 117163

Thanks for all the input and abiding the hemming and hawing; two months into having basically a private theater I can say it's worked out quite all right.
Click to expand...
That looks pretty neat. Short of recessing the screen (which would be A Major Project) I think you’ve done a solid job keeping it relatively unobtrusive given how tough that position is.
 
Mather said:
AWESOME! You picked an excellent projector, I had a 2050 for years and that thing is a workhorse, puts out a great image. Fantastic job! Looks really good man, that is a challenging space to say the least!
Click to expand...
Corycm said:
That looks pretty neat. Short of recessing the screen (which would be A Major Project) I think you’ve done a solid job keeping it relatively unobtrusive given how tough that position is.
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Thanks! it definitely felt like something 99% likely to go wrong, or to at least result in some issue of image or sound that'd be ultimately dissatisfying and pointless. It's absurd how well this panned out.

Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Manhunter? Nice.
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It was going off Criterion at the end of the month; I'm not made of stone!
 
8D1BD27A-3624-4698-97B0-F06176721CDD.jpegSo a bit of a cross post from the gardening thread. I recently made a dry stream bed. It’s supposed to catch the water from the roof and put it into the lawn. Im a little worried though. I haven’t redirected the gutter yet. Usually you have to do the calculations to see if it won’t overflow. Well I didn’t. My wife didn’t want it to be intrusive into the lawn. Anyway, my house sits on a concrete slab no basement. Keep in mind this Southern Ca. So not much rain. What type of damage is possible?
 
Quick somebody tell me how to fix a scratch in a wood floor before my wife notices and I have to listen to a ten minute monologue!
 
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