The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[JustinG]

Saw these recommended somewhere on here....

GE Lighting 89992 LED 18-watt (90-watt replacement), 1300-Lumen PAR38 Outdoor Floodlight, Bright White, 1-Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LT0O2N6/ref...lzbSC9TAWE

A+ would recommend. Popped up for $11 per.



But, why I really came here.

A ladder is a must for a homeowner.

If you haven't, buy one of these...

Werner MT-22 300-Pound Duty Rating Telescoping Multi-Ladder, 22-Foot
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000VYDHU/ref...lzb85BWA0G

[JPolen01]

Those ladders are great. I borrowed my neighbors once and it was awesome. A little heavy for a ladder but understandable with its configurations.

[WRXtranceformed]

Saw these recommended somewhere on here....

GE Lighting 89992 LED 18-watt (90-watt replacement), 1300-Lumen PAR38 Outdoor Floodlight, Bright White, 1-Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LT0O2N6/ref...lzbSC9TAWE

A+ would recommend. Popped up for $11 per.



But, why I really came here.

A ladder is a must for a homeowner.

If you haven't, buy one of these...

Werner MT-22 300-Pound Duty Rating Telescoping Multi-Ladder, 22-Foot
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000VYDHU/ref...lzb85BWA0G

Yerp! Those are the ones I got, big fan.

I need to get a long ladder like that, one of the halogen bulbs is out on our flood light that's on the second story...ain't no way I can get to that without a big ole ladder

[JustinG]

Snagged mine for $149 at Home Depot. Cheapest place I have found, and they never pop up on sale that I have seen.

[Ryan T]

Snagged mine for $149 at Home Depot. Cheapest place I have found, and they never pop up on sale that I have seen.

I got one of those on a pallet I bought because it was dinged up. That ladder is awesome!

[davej]

Snagged mine for $149 at Home Depot. Cheapest place I have found, and they never pop up on sale that I have seen.

got mine from a sketchy craigslist deal for $50. It still felt warm... It's been invaluable but I still can't reach the ceiling fan bulbs in the living room with it, and forgettabout the flood lamps in the vaulted ceiling. I'll have to grab some photos and see if anyone has some suggestions on how to replace.

[Ken]

Snagged mine for $149 at Home Depot. Cheapest place I have found, and they never pop up on sale that I have seen.

got mine from a sketchy craigslist deal for $50. It still felt warm... It's been invaluable but I still can't reach the ceiling fan bulbs in the living room with it, and forgettabout the flood lamps in the vaulted ceiling. I'll have to grab some photos and see if anyone has some suggestions on how to replace.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bayco-11-ft-P.../100354521

[davej]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bayco-11-ft-P.../100354521

"Limit 35/order" :lol:

that suction cup one might work, they are recessed cans and no room around the edges to get around the bulbs.

[WRXtranceformed]

$150 for a ladder? What is it made out of, ground up baby dragon bones?

[JustinG]

$150 for a ladder? What is it made out of, ground up baby dragon bones?

For what you get, well worth the money vs owning the same number of ladders this essentially replaces.

[Apoc]

We've had a Little Giant, which was the OG of that type, for about 10 years. It's nice when you need unusual configurations, but it's heavy and unnecessarily cumbersome to set up for most jobs. We use a small step ladder or rickety wooden ladder the previous owner left for most everything. I would not consider it the only ladder you'll ever need, unless you feel like lugging it all over... which we do not.

[ScottyB]

$150 for a ladder? What is it made out of, ground up baby dragon bones?

dude that's not a bad price for a decent alum ladder. those things are worth it. and they outlawed dragon ingredients years ago, you have to settle for pureed lemur now...and not even the good kind, just the surly inbred ones.

We've had a Little Giant, which was the OG of that type, for about 10 years.

that's what we have...my dad got it at a home show back in the 90's. its so heavy compared to the modern stuff but its just about indestructible.

[Apoc]

Got the chainsaw out today to back it off the master bedroom window. :thumbup:

[Ryan T]

So we've been getting our house ready to go on the market for the past few weeks and we've been looking at homes for close to a year. We haven't found anything that really checks all of our boxes so we have been looking at building. We have a lot picked out that already has a driveway, power hookup, water hookup and a septic system (previous home there burned down). It's just over an acre, flat, and in a cul-de-sac. We've talked to two contractors and it seems to be between $115-$125 a sq/ft to build. Any advice on unexpected costs/things to consider/etc?

[WRXtranceformed]

Got the chainsaw out today to back it off the master bedroom window. :thumbup:

Nice, nothing makes you feel like a man more than 1. blowing stuff up or 2. cutting stuff down with a chainsaw

I would be surprised if that sound didn't raise some eyes in that sleepy neighborhood of yours :lol:

So we've been getting our house ready to go on the market for the past few weeks and we've been looking at homes for close to a year. We haven't found anything that really checks all of our boxes so we have been looking at building. We have a lot picked out that already has a driveway, power hookup, water hookup and a septic system (previous home there burned down). It's just over an acre, flat, and in a cul-de-sac. We've talked to two contractors and it seems to be between $115-$125 a sq/ft to build. Any advice on unexpected costs/things to consider/etc?

Those are some of the big check marks so that's good. You will obviously need to look into the foundation / building pad underneath that if there was one. If the footprint of your newly designed home is different from the old one you may want to consider having your contractor bring an engineer in to take a look at it. Other than that it's going to be the usual stuff, put your money into the big bump outs, rooms and extensions you want that are harder to do after the fact. IMO also invest in good HVAC, insulation and windows. Stuff you can rip out later or replace yourself you can save your coin on. My brother and sister in law are under construction on a home they are having built on a big plot of land they bought. I don't think they fully realized what they were getting into though; 9 acres and more than half of it had to be completely bulldozed and graded (it was all forest), driveway put in, all utilities run, etc. etc. I told him even after his house is built he is going to have major projects ongoing on that property for probably a couple of years. Yours sounds ideal in that it's already in an established development.

I finally found what I hope will be a good solution for the lighting I wanted in the front of the house. Home Depot just got some new stuff in from Hampton Bay that looks great and gives me the flexibility to move the solar panel to a place where more sunlights hits it during the day. I scooped one of these for the front yard tree:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Solar-Bronze-Metal-Spot-Light-S8187/206094514">http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay- ... /206094514</a><!-- m -->
And two packs of these for the column lighting:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Solar-Powered-Black-Outdoor-Integrated-LED-3000K-Warm-White-landscape-Spot-Light-Kit-with-Remote-Panel-3-Pack-84203/207056150">http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay- ... /207056150</a><!-- m -->

I needed one more for the final light and fortunately Hampton Bay's rep answered a question on their site that was the same one I had: Could I wire up a 4th light in the series and would it still work? The answer is yes...nice! So now I've got one more solar panel and two more lights I need to figure out what to do with. Color temps all match too :thumbup:




The solar panel is hidden behind a holly bush on the right but it should see sunlight most of the day and into the sun set so I think this set will be fine...we'll see what kind of exposure it gets during the winter though (which was the problem I had last time

[Apoc]

$125/sqft seems low to me, but I live in a booming city. You can pretty much guarantee you're gonna go over your budget, so I think $150 is more reasonable for the inevitable overruns. We're paying $200-$250 in Seattle.

[ScottyB]

septic system

sorry, does this mean public water or septic field? if its the latter definitely have someone assess the condition of the tanks and drainage. its amazing the amount of havoc water can do when its not going where its supposed to

[Ryan T]

septic system

sorry, does this mean public water or septic field? if its the latter definitely have someone assess the condition of the tanks and drainage. its amazing the amount of havoc water can do when its not going where its supposed to

Septic tank and fill lines, no sewer. That will be contingent in our offer, should we make one. Make sure all the hookups are still in good condition and make sure the septic tank and lines are still usable.

[ScottyB]

got it. the house i grew up in as well as my grandparents' old place were septic tank homes and i still remember the nightmare of the pipes in the basement of my grandparents' place flooding water out of their seams when the tank backed up because it hadn't been checked and emptied. not the system's fault, just something i neeeeever forgot.

#sewagetriggered :lol:

[HAULN-SS]

I think that I have heard, and it is probably true, it will take you longer to get out of the hole on a new-build than buying existing home. Might be something to consider your all-in costs, and could you sell it if you had to, if you get wild and need to move in a few years for some reason.