All Forum Posts by: Matt R.

I agree, and would also add, "don't buy cheap grinding wheels".  Buying wheels from Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace, True Value, etc isn't the cheapest, but it's a pretty safe bet.  Sometimes the welding-gas store (like Airgas or Praxair) will carry good grinding wheels for reasonable money.  Harbor Freight wheels... not so great.  If you happen to know somebody that does steel fabrication or repair work for commercial construction, big boats, oil and gas, etc, ask them what wheels they like and where they get them.

The best thing a cheap wheel can do is wear down too fast; the worst thing it can do is shatter and send pieces everywhere, including into you.

Also, before you start, check the max RPM of your grinder (it is written on the grinder) and compare that to the max RPM of the wheel (written on the wheel).  Usually this isn't a problem but occasionally you get a surprise.

I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned.

Disclaimers: I am not a professional electrician.  I am not affiliated with any companies or sites mentioned.

I've never had to swap one out in a house, but I've read about the Federal Pacific Electric problems before.  Basically, the breakers don't trip, no matter what amount of overload is going through them.  This site has lots of info about it...

http://inspectapedia.com/fpe/FPE_Stab_Lok_Hazards....

At least according to that site, some other makes to watch out for are Bulldog Pushmatic and Zinsco:

http://inspectapedia.com/electric/Pushmatic.php

http://inspectapedia.com/electric/Zinsco_Electrica...

Houses I have lived in before have had GE, Square D, and Cutler-Hammer breaker panels.  I could (and have, for two GE panels) walk into any hardware store and buy reasonably-priced breakers, made by the panel manufacturer, that would fit and work in a 30, 40, or 50 year old panel.  It's harder to do that with some of the other brands.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional plumber.

If it's an electric water heater, this doesn't apply.

If it's a gas water heater... do you have a sufficient supply of combustion air to the closet you made?

The water heater manual will say something like "if the heater is installed in a room of X cubic feet or more, you don't have to do anything else; if it's smaller than that, you need vent openings of Y square inches each".  Sometimes you can bring a vent pipe in from the attic.  Otherwise, you can install a couple of sets of louvers in the walls or door to the water heater room - one down low, one up high.  Or, use a louvered door. Louvers or louvered doors, bought new, will say how many square inches of open area they provide.

It is best to get the manual for the exact heater you have from the manufacturer, but if you can't, look at a current similar water heater at the hardware store (size in gallons, fuel, efficiency level) and get the manual for that one.

I used to live in a house where the water heater was in a closet behind the laundry room.  It had the normal double-wall metal vent pipe going up out of the top of the heater, through the attic, and through the roof to the outside.  But there was also a piece of single-wall vent pipe that went from the attic down to within about a foot of the floor in the water heater closet.  This second vent pipe provided air to burn with the gas.  Without it, the water heater could conceivably use up all the air in the closet, and either go out, or burn incompletely, creating carbon monoxide.

In my current house, the water heater is in the laundry room in the basement, and if I shut the door to the laundry room, the room is "too small" according to the specs.  My short-term workaround is to not close the door to the laundry room.  Long term, I plan to install a couple of air grilles (like a return grill for a furnace or A/C) on both sides of the wall next to the door, and make up a 4" long sheet metal "duct" to join the grilles.

If you can somehow convince the city to show you the monthly water bills, you can probably figure out exactly when it went in. :) Or, at least, compare the meter reading now to the one from the last time you paid the bill, and then judge that against "normal" usage for however many people live there.

If you're on really good terms with the local fire department, and maybe if this house has a garage in the basement, they may be able to help you pump that pool out.  Fire departments that operate out in the sticks, beyond the reach of hydrants, almost always have the equipment for this - it's basically a hard hose that hooks up to the input side of their fire engine pump.  That hose tends to not be very long, though... like 20 feet max.

(If they get a fire out in the country, they set up a porta-pond next to the fire engine, which is basically a rubberized canvas swimming pool.  The hard hose goes from the pond to the fire engine, and tanker trucks from the fire station dump water into the pond and then go back for more water.)

If the tree is on the south side of the house, it is saving you some money on the electric bill in the summer, because the shade means the air conditioning doesn't have to run as hard.

Maybe a tenant with kids would like the tree, because the kids can climb it.  (Or maybe you don't want to get sued when kids fall out of the tree...)

It might be worth taking the photos you posted to a local garden center... not the one that pops up on the side of Wal-Mart or Home Depot in the summer, but a locally-owned place that has plants, seed, etc year round.  They might be able to suggest a type of grass that will grow better in the shade.

I've never bought property at an auction.  I have looked at some properties near where I live (or used to live) that had "auction on the 25th" signs pop up on them, just out of curiosity.

Usually, the auction company will have all the details for the property on their Web site.  This includes how they want to get paid - all cash at the end of the live auction, or so many percent down and the rest within a week, or whatever.  This can vary for different kinds of properties (commercial, residential) and also for what they think the property will sell for - they might ask for all cash for something that sells for around $10K but give you a little time to come up with $200K.  If there are back taxes owed, you might have to pay the taxes to the city/county and the purchase price for the property to the auctioneer... stuff like that.

I get the impression that they mostly don't care whether you had the cash in your pocket already, or got it from a loan, or whatever.  They usually do ask for some kind of certified funds, like a cashier's check.

If it's a live auction, there is usually some time on the day of the auction where you can look at the property, ask questions, etc before the actual bidding begins (the part with the auctioneer talking real fast).  At least one of the auction flyers I've read encouraged people to visit the auction even if they didn't plan to bid, just so they could see how it works - probably angling for future customers.  :)

My suggestion would be to make a note of the next two or three "real estate auction" signs you see around your city, look them up online, and maybe visit one on auction day to see how it works.

I don't have any direct experience yet; I've only lived in my own single-family home so far.

The thing that sticks out to me in your post is that the idea of changing a starter outside in Connecticut in January sounds like about four different kinds of no fun whatsoever.  :)  If there is some workaround for this - like the numbers are so right that you can take the car to a shop instead, or your buddy across town is willing to let you use his garage if you refill his beer fridge - then you might be more able to live with the "no garage" compromise.

For fun, put in a time range in your spreadsheet that includes the end of February 2016, and then calculate the bill for that time range by hand and check that against the spreadsheet.

If you have found the Fountain of Youth, also repeat that exercise for the end of February 2100.  Leap years are hard.  :)

(If you're using built-in time and date functions in Excel or equal, both of these scenarios should probably work correctly for you.  If you have a table somewhere that says 31, 28, 31, 30, 31, 30... , then you're doing it wrong.)

Good to hear that they are standing behind it.  I think that deal is pretty normal... if the heater had failed within 6 or 12 months of being brand new, they would pay the labor as well, but for most of the warranty they just provide parts.

That drain pan is required by building code, for exactly this reason - water heaters eventually leak.  You might put it on your "spring cleaning" list to check both ends of that drain tube (in the pan and on the outside of your house) for bugs, spider webs, etc.  If you have a Shop-Vac or equal vacuum that can stand having water in it, you might apply it to the outside end of the drain a couple of times a year, just to get rid of possible crud in the drain pipe.  If you're really feeling exuberant, send the kid up into the attic while you vacuum the drain on the outside to make sure there is suction up at the drain pan end - if not, figure out where the clog is and unclog it.

Thanks for posting back with the results!

Matt R.

Thanks for the welcome!

I joined MAREI and will be at their meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, 13 October) at the Overland Park Holiday Inn.  Maybe I will see some of you there!

Matt R.