All Forum Posts by: Rich Riesmeyer

Just a follow up.   It was the control board on the air handler, it was replaced by a controller.   Everything back to normal...   The bright side is, the system is 12 years old and I was thinking of replacing it next year.   The tech that came out looked it all over and said its working perfectly still, so no need to replace.

Thanks for the reply...   The system was off when the blower started, and yes it does still run when the thermostat is disconnected.    I replaced the thermostat last night, no change.   So today I'm calling a pro and hoping its something simple like a contactor.    Hope I can get someone soon, we are expecting out first cold snap tonight...

Nope, just your basic heat pump.    I'm thinking it must be the thermostat, that seems to be the only thing that would control the fan....

Sitting in my primary residence last night, and heard the blower come on for the central A/C. But it wasn't supposed to, it just came on out of the blue.   I turned the system off at the thermostat and the blower kept running.   I had to shut off the breakers for the system to get the blower to quit.   Can anyone give me a starting point to troubleshoot this?   I will probably have to call in a pro., but wanted to see if there is anything I can do myself..TIA

If you are going to install a dehumidifier, why would you ventilate the space?

Bought my first rental about 4 years ago.    When we had our initial termite inspection, they recommended we install gravel and drains in the crawlspace along with a sump pump.    That helped, but, this being South Carolina, it is still to moist.   RH in the crawlspace was 94%, outside is 77%.  He also said moisture readings in some joists were in the 20-30% range.

 So now I am looking at encapsulating and a dehumidifier.   Been looking on crawlspacedepot.com, and I think we can handle the job.   Question, is it important to insulate the foundation walls?   It rarely gets below freezing here and we are talking about 18-24 inches of wall, and have to leave 3" for termite inspection.   Any tips or things to watch out for is appreciated.   Thanks in advance...

Rich

Hi all.   I am installing a fiberglass shower pan with ceramic tile on the walls.    The tub and drywall are gone, the drain is installed.   My plan is to install the cement board directly to the studs.  Should there be anything between the cement board and the studs?      The pan has about a 1/4" thick flange around the walls.   Should the cement board sandwich the flange to the wall, or should it just sit on top of the flange?    We have Mapei AquaDefense to use on the joints.   Should we paint the AquaDefense all over the cement board?   Will tile cement stick to it?   While I have installed tile in the past, this is my first shower, any other tips or things to watch out for?    Thanks in advance...... 

The recent 1000 year flood we had in SC last month has sent 1 or 2 inches of water flowing through my sons garage.   The garage originally had wood paneling, and it shows that it has been flooded at some time in the past also.      Given the topography, I don't think it could ever flood any deeper.  Looking for suggestions on what to replace the wood paneling with.    I was thinking cement board for the bottom 2 ft and drywall the rest.   Any suggestions for a better permanent solution would be appreciated.

TIA,

Rich

Thanks for the reply Dmitriy. What you say is true, but if I read the rules correctly, you can't self manage the property under a self directed ira. Am I reading that right? It does seem that management fees would be less of a hit than the tax.

If we did go this route, what entity would the property be titled to, Richards IRA? And would that leave the ira exposed to liability from owning the property?

Off to read up on self directed ira's............

I plan to retire some time next year and need some advice. I have a 401k invested in stock funds, and would like to avoid the ups and downs of the market. My goal is stable passive income, so leaving the money in a stock fund would worry me. Same with an annuity.

My thought was to buy rental property, paying cash from the 401k. The 401k money would be considered income in the year it is withdrawn, so there will be a large tax bill. We have one sfr now, so I know that what I'm considering amounts to a part time job, that's OK. I do realize we could finance and buy a bunch of property, but that would be full time work, not really in keeping with the goal, retirement..... Are there any big points I'm missing, or is this a reasonable plan?