The Official Status Thread
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That would be impressive considering how long ago he started there.
We know he does not act IRL like he does on forums, but if he did...he would not even have lasted this long.
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We have to wait until spring for a new water heater because the exhaust will have to exit the house underground and through a basement wall, which will not be a fun hole to dig with frozen ground...
Don't you have an existing hole?
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Not any one in any house I've ever lived in. Usually the best you get is the spring releases and it's "easier" to slide it to the off position, but since I only touch the breakers once a year or so, I don't know how to judge what "easier" means.
Find a breaker that isn't covering something you are using right at the moment. Flip it off and on a couple of times, and try to get a feel for the throw. A tripped breaker will be different, and you can learn to distinguish the two. If you're afraid you'll forget by the next time you trip one, put a note on the box to remind you to flip one that you know is on first, so you can do it before you flip the tripped one back on.
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Don't you have an existing hole?
Negative. There is one for the furnace, but it cannot be shared with a water heater. Current water heater is electric.
Also:
That's what she said?
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: I cannot tell if that is a horrible picture, or a horribly photoshopped horrible picture.
It's both. :) Since it's not intended to be a hoax, you can tell by the edge that they 'shopped the switch into "tripped" position, probably because whoever made it didn't feel like shorting the breaker.
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probably because whoever made it didn't feel like shorting the breaker.
'Effing slackers. Just jam a screwdriver in there. Do things properly.
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the tankless ones are much more expensive
Don't forget the up-front cost is supposed to be balanced by the fact that you're no longer actively heating water 24/7.
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I'm not even sure where you'd attach a wall-mounted appliance without having to drill holes in it.
Theoretically that's not too difficult with the right tools. I suppose if you were feeling ambitious you could build some kind of stand, although that seems fairly silly (but then you could post pictures to There I Fixed It if the cheezburger assholes hadn't killed the site).
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I'm not saying it's difficult, I'm saying that "how to" says you can skip that step if you're installing in the same place as a tank water heater, and that doesn't make any fucking sense.
Instructions are frequently bad. If the piping was close enough to the wall, it would probably be true as written. It sounds like in the case of your house you would need to assume the existence of some words that weren't in the instructions you saw (e.g., "if you're installing in the same place as the tank and the existing piping is close enough to the wall that you could mount the new heater to the wall, or if you are willing to run some additional pipe.") (Note I didn't bother clicking the link, so skip your rant if this doesn't apply.)
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That one drives me crazy also. That little "tip" has not made any appreciable difference since XP and single-cores.
Most people don't adjust stuff they've learned like that until forced to.
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I bought a house last summer and know very little about how-to stuff like you guys are talking about.
You can probably get a lot of useful stuff from books available at your library or Home Depot and the like.
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Between orientation day, installing software day, and this damned Stash bug... I've worked here maybe 3 full days at this point. I've been physically in the building for 10.
If they don't have me fixed by Thurs, they wont have to fire me, ill leave them.
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Oil change places are so fast and cheap that it's really not worthwhile to do it yourself unless you get a huge high out of it
What! Don't you know that you should never go to an oil change place because they're all idiots?
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They said the brake pads needed replaced, they had over 50% life in them. Shit like that.
Heh. Remember when you could tell an unscrupulous mechanic, because they'd tell you you had a rear main seal leak?
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So another worry about that job in particular is if I screw something up and have to call someone to fix it, I don't have water until then.
Seems like it would be a good idea to preemptively call a plumber to plumb in a few valves, unless having him come out would cause you to find you're not up to code and you have to do a whole bunch of work.
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I had a guy charge me for checking the OBD II code when I already told him the code as I checked-in the car, that kind of pissed me off. But I think it's more "their book hasn't been updated since cars have had a OBD II code readout on the dash" than malice. That's the worst experience I've ever had with car guys.
That's a flat-out rip-off, anyway, given that auto parts stores will do it for free.
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The real experts are the people who can do the entire project and only need to go to the hardware store once.
That's just because they already have all the stuff they didn't buy left over from other projects.
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We could give him the benefit of the doubt and assume they're the wired-in kind like in the last house I lived in, rather than just screwed into the wall and you have to replace the battery every so often.
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Heh. Remember when you could tell an unscrupulous mechanic, because they'd tell you you had a rear main seal leak?
Which reminds me, that was another one on the list. The problem was that they were just morons and it was actually a leak in the seal on the front differential. That took me less than an hour to fix, and probably less than $50 (LSD called for some special, expensive lubricant). The gear lube would spray up on the back of the oil pan on the highway, which meant there was some oil around the rear main seal area. If they had stuck their fingers in it, they would have realized that either:
- it was gear lube and not motor oil, so not a rear main seal, or...
- there was 90w in the engine and then you have some very strange problems....
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We could give him the benefit of the doubt and assume they're the wired-in kind like in the last house I lived in, rather than just screwed into the wall and you have to replace the battery every so often.
Even then, those are easy. I replace those for my in-laws (because they are physically incapable, not mentally) about a year ago. Took me an hour to replace 20 units.
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That's just because they already have all the stuff they didn't buy left over from other projects.
That would be me! Bins full of the stuff that I did not return because I might need it some day...
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You say "replace" though. Was the house already wired for them in your case?
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You say "replace" though. Was the house already wired for them in your case?
Yeah. But they were changing brands, so the plugs were different. Had to strip out the plugs for the old ones, wire in the new plugs, and hook up the new alarms.
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We could give him the benefit of the doubt and assume they're the wired-in kind like in the last house I lived in
Nope. They were:
just screwed into the wall and you have to replace the battery every so often.
He has a handyman do everything for him. He even had him hang some pictures, etc. A few years ago he gave me some tools that were given to him as a wedding present from his father (who presumably knew his son was not exactly the handy type) that were approximately 40 years old. They were still in like-new condition. The guy can barely change a light bulb...
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Took me an hour to replace 20 units.
Jesus fuck, how big is your in-laws place?? 20 smoke detectors?? I have a pretty big house, not a mansion by any stretch, but a good sized home...and we have maybe 6 smoke detectors...
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Jesus fuck, how big is your in-laws place?? 20 smoke detectors?? I have a pretty big house, not a mansion by any stretch, but a good sized home...and we have maybe 6 smoke detectors...
The original homeowner was a contractor and added to it when he felt like it. There are 5 bedrooms, three living rooms, 4.5 bathrooms ...
You get the idea. Counting smoke detectors:
- 1 per bedroom - 5 smoke detectors
- 1 in each living room - 3 smoke detectors
- 1 additional in the largest living room - 1 smoke detector
- 1 in home office - 1 smoke detector
- 1 in each main hallway - 2 smoke detector
- 1 in dining room - 1 smoke detector
Hmmm ... seems there are only 13. Guess I misremembered. In all, I do remember thinking that they overdid the coverage a little. Probably because the original owners remodeled a few times and the existing spaces don't currently serve the same purposes they once did. It could also have something to do with the original owner building with leftovers from other jobs and thinking, "What the hell, you can never have too many smoke detectors!"
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Hmmm ... seems there are only 13.
That is still a lot of smoke detectors...
We have two in the hallway (long hallway) that covers all of the bedrooms except one, one in the kitchen, two in the basement and one in the garage.
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@ben_lubar, how old are you?
He's 20. I remember this because he's the same age as my daughter, within a few days IIRC. Fortunately, there are about 2000 miles between them, though I'd be even happier if that number had a few more zeros at the end.
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Even then, those are easy. I replace those for my in-laws (because they are physically incapable, not mentally) about a year ago. Took me an hour to replace 20 units.
Perhaps. But in places I've lived that had them, I was renting, so it became the landlord's job.
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We have two in the hallway (long hallway) that covers all of the bedrooms except one,...
A lot of places that wouldn't meet code. For example, my city requires that you have enough to meet each of these requirements (from memory; I could be wrong a little):- One inside each bedroom
- One outside of any bedroom but in each "sleeping area"; (I think this means within 6' of each bedroom; so if you had, say, two bedrooms on opposite sides of the house, this and the previous rule would require four)
- One on each floor
So you'd be missing the first. (On the other hand, you'd have an "extra" one in the basement, don't need the one in the garage, and don't need most or perhaps all of the living room ones from a code standpoint.) I need one in the basement, two on the ground floor (one inside and one outside the master bedroom), and three on the second floor (each of two bedrooms and the hallway/landing); or at least that's my interpretation.
My city is unusually strict with the smoke alarm ordinance (I think a bit too strict, but that's neither here nor there), but I think mostly in terms of what alarms you can use rather than location, and many places have similar requirements even imposed on old buildings. (In my city, only hard-wired alarms or alarms with lifetime, tamper-resistant detectors satisfy the requirements above. I am ignoring that requirement for one of my alarms, but otherwise I'm up to code.)
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A lot of places that wouldn't meet code.
Meh, I am not worried about code. I have no plans to have a code enforcement officer over for dinner. ;)
I should go take a look at the home inspection report from when we bought the house. The guy who did the inspection was very thorough. (had be been a proctologist, he would have been able to check your tonsils...) I would imagine that would be in there.
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I'm saying that "how to" says you can skip that step if you're installing in the same place as a tank water heater, and that doesn't make any fucking sense.
If I've followed this correctly, you wouldn't be installing it in the same place as a tank water heater; you'd be installing it a couple of feet (or whatever) from where the tank water heater was, so you'd need to modify the piping accordingly. BTW, IME having a tank water heater against, or at least near, a wall has been the norm; I've never seen one installed a couple of feet away, but I've never had a house with a basement — that could be normal in that situation. I'm just pointing out that installing a wall-mounted tankless water heater in the same location as a tank isn't necessarily going to encounter the same problems your seeing.
However, the issue seems to be moot anyway, based on @Polygeekery's comment:
If you have no gas, I would stick with an electric tank water heater.
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Meh, I am not worried about code. I have no plans to have a code enforcement officer over for dinner.
Sure; like I said, I'm not quite up to code either. I'm just saying it can be relatively easy to wind up needing more to meet it, and there are a variety of reasons why doing so would be a decent idea.(Though to be honest, I think having alarms only outside of, and not in, bedrooms that are regularly used is "dangerous" and, if you're talking about more than yourself, irresponsible. What if the fire starts in the bedroom? Your hallway alarm won't catch it for a long time. And if it's a smoldering fire and someone is asleep, they might not wake up to the fire. The one detector I have that doesn't meet code? That's actually in my bedroom. It doesn't meet code because it's an ionization/photoelectric dual-detector alarm and you can't get one of those with a lifetime battery -- and if there is one room where I want the best guarantee of detection, it is inside my bedroom.)
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I ran new black pipe to upgrade the gas feed to my new cooktop. I would wager a guess that is something that most DIYers should not tackle on their own.
I'm a pretty good home handyman, and I could probably do it successfully, but it's not worth the risk. I'd connect the cooktop to the black pipe, but I'd get a pro to do the pipe, itself.
As an aside, my landlord is not as good a handyman as he thinks he is. I noticed a corroded water pipe, going to the clothes washer, that was starting to leak. He repaired it while I was out of town for Christmas — using black pipe. I think I know why that section of pipe corroded in the first place.
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However, the issue seems to be moot anyway, based on @Polygeekery's comment:
Allow me to expand on that:
Electric tankless water heaters such as: (chosen at random from the Home Depot website)
...require:
A minimum of 200 amp total service to the residence is necessary, with 2 separate 60 amp breakers and 6 gauge copper wiring for the Tempra 24
...and can provide...
hot water for 1 or 2 bathrooms in warm climates, or 1 bathroom in cool climates.
What it does not tell you is that water would be roughly 105-110F. It basically heats just enough for a shower. That will give you shitty performance when washing dishes, especially so if you have any fat or oil on plastic dishes or storage containers. These require very hot water to break the bonds of fat with plastic, as chemically they are somewhat similar and therefore attractive to each other.
But, the bigger problem with electric tankless models is this:
Flow Rate @ 45 F Rise (gallons/min) 3.64 gal (US)/min
In my climate, in winter time, that would not even make for a comfortable shower. I just checked and our water straight from the tap is 43F. 88F is not a comfortable shower. I would also be using 120A of our 200A service. I would probably be OK, but it could cause problems.
As I said earlier, YMMV and those in warmer climates could quite possibly be fine.
Edit: I realized our double wall ovens have a 40A service, so I would definitely not be fine with an electric tankless. That would not leave much left over to run the rest of the house...
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My Dad and I attempted to repair a busted pipe between the city water supply and his house. After about 2 hours of dicking around, we came to the conclusion that it was beyond us-- not because it really was, but because we could spent 8 hours at it and maybe solve it, or hire a guy to spend an hour and have it done right.
Been there; done that. The shut-off valve at the meter didn't shut off completely, and the pipe kept filling up with water. Trying to solder a copper pipe full of water is never going to work. But I found out how he solved the problem, and the next time I hit the pipe with a shovel, I fixed it myself.
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Trying to solder a copper pipe full of water is never going to work.
The client that is an HVAC contractor has a neat tool for that. It is a peltier cooler that clamps tightly around the pipe (partly to keep it from bursting) and then freezes the water in the line, plugging it off and allowing you to do repairs where there is no valve. Pretty cool little piece of kit.
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Doesn't exist. Every DIY project will bite you 2/3rds of the way through. And then it'll bite you again 2/3rds of the way through the last 1/3rd.
I've said it here before: Any non-trivial DIY project requires a minimum of three trips to Home Depot.
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Status: still 100% locked-out of source control. Going to try and solve some bugs anyway, even though it's goddamned hopeless. (This one, for example, has a lot of unit tests already written that I have no access to.)
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though I'd be even happier if that number had a few more zeros at the end.
As a father of three girls, I can understand that feeling. All males should be kept as far from my girls as possible.
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It's Git, dumbshit.
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It's Git, dumbshit.
So, you're not 100% locked out, then? This isn't pedantic dickweedery, but you've been talking about how you absolutely can't do anything. But you could clearly do some stuff and just not check it in until you have access to the central repo (or however you guys work).
This isn't any different than doing stuff remotely. You can still branch and commit and etc. without having to have access to the stuff you apparently don't have access to.
IOW: You're doing it wrong. NB: not Doing It Wrong.
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My 3DS - which I still consider a very disappointing console - is that weird turquoisey color that most old Mazda 323Fs seem to have where I live.
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As a father of three girls, I can understand that feeling. All males should be kept as far from my girls as possible.
I hope all of my children are male, not because I am a misogynist, but because I would be much the same way. Double standards and all that, so be it. I know me and how I was as a young male and would not handle well a female offspring of mine having to go through that...
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My 3DS - which I still consider a very disappointing console - is that weird turquoisey color that most old Mazda 323Fs seem to have where I live.
You are so 8 hours ago...
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So, you're not 100% locked out, then? This isn't pedantic dickweedery, but you've been talking about how you absolutely can't do anything.
No, not 100%. I have about 3 tickets I can't complete because I can't access their pull request comments. I have one ticket (the one I'm working on now) which I can in theory complete, but it also has a pull request full of helpful info I have no access to, so I have to spend like 2 days redoing it from scratch. I had another ticket I could look into; it turned out to be a front-end problem (not my department.)
I'm pretty goddamned blocked.
