The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[ScottyB]

Come on man, you cant let your bush get unruly.

i'd better run it by the HOA at the next meeting just to be sure

[Steve85]

Nobody likes an HOA until someone does this in a neighborhood of 60s red brick ranchers.

[RawrImAMonster]

A little over the top, but who cares?

Being in a HOA was a 100% deal breaker for me when I was looking at houses. Not that there are any in downtown Harrisonburg.

[Ken]

No HOA but we've definitely sent letters to our neighbors who left up temporary orange fencing for their yard for over a year and let their lawn grow to 2 feet in length. I mean, c'mon.

[.RJ]

I used to hate HOA's, but I really dont mind them, and I'm on my HOA board... but we're pretty simple, just 30 townhouses.

[JPolen01]

HOAs are a double edged sword. Without them the neighborhood can go to shit real quick. Working with them can make your life hell though. If houses are more spread out and rural I am all for no HOA. Where I live they are needed to keep the neighborhoods nice.

[WRXtranceformed]

HOA is a necessary evil if you don't want traffic cones, big rigs and busted piles sitting around in people's driveways, or landscaping to look terrible. They can help to preserve your property values. Having just sat on an HOA board, it's the property management company that makes a huge difference in the quality of a neighborhood.

[ScottyB]

they absolutely have their place, its all about what you want out of your neighborhood and how physically close you are to your neighbors.

i bitch about minor stuff like bushes but the honest truth is that i'm glad we have an HOA, our neighborhood looks great, i don't have to put up with other people's sloppy bullshit and when we sell our place the property value stays even. take the good with the bad i guess.

it also pays to get involved in the meetings so you can be a part of the decisions made, but ain't nobody got time fo dat.

[Apoc]

My experience suggests HOAs are stupid. I joined the board of ours in Leesburg because the neighbor across the street was parking on his lawn (in a townhouse) and was told they were powerless to do anything. I now live in a neighborhood, 10' from my neighbors, with no HOA, and have absolutely zero problems. I get that socioeconomic status has a lot to do with it, but I've never had an HOA benefit me.

[.RJ]

If the HOA is powerless, re-write the by-laws to change it. It aint hard.

[Apoc]

Tried that. They said there was no mechanism for changing the bylaws. I think they just liked feeling important by being on the board and not actually doing anything. The president was my next door neighbor, who called the cops during our fireworks fiasco, so... there's that.

[JPolen01]

That sounds like you just had some lazy fucks running yours. The HOA in my parents neighborhood has threatened to put liens on houses for not following the codes.

[CaptainHenreh]

HOA's are anti-american.

edit: also racist.

[.RJ]

HOA's are anti-american.

edit: also racist.

No, people are racist. Not HOA's.

[Apoc]

Do HOAs exist in non-white America? Honest question.

Seems like they're a result of white folk wanting to live near the city, but not wanting the downsides of doing so.

[Sully]

Got those LED floods today. They are bright as hell. One was definitely openned and used at some point but it worked fine so may just let it slide especially cause I've already complained to Amazon about a $140 growler this week and got a free one that is also cosmetically imperfect so may complain again but anyways. They light up the yard nicely but they are a little extreme when you're trying to walk back towards the house. May be able to aim them a little better or something. We'll see. I'll add a picture when it gets a little darker.

I know camera pick up the light more but it's not that much different when you're just trying to walk towards the house lol


The sky is actually darker than it looks.



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[CaptainHenreh]

but how's your router?

[davej]

Can we talk water softeners? Any experiences with whole house ones?
Moved into the house 4ish years ago and replaced the elements in the electric hot water tanks, they were a solid bar of calcium or something. Day before Christmas one of the lower elements failed in such a way it leaked water out. The bottom of the tank was so full of crap, right up to where the element was, that it took over 24hrs to drain it. Rigged up a hose to the shop vac and cleaned it out the best I could, but don't want to invest in replacing the tanks until we can get a softener system going. I'm sure it'll waste a lot of treated water in the toliets, but having it for the appliances will hopefully extend their life.

[WRXtranceformed]

Wow man that is crazy.. I looked into it but a test shows our water is fine. I used to drain a few gallons out of the bottom of my hot water heater ever year in the old place to prevent any sediment build up, but I don't know that it helps when your water is that hard that it's actually crystallizing on the element

[Ryan T]

I replaced my hot water heater a couple years ago and my neighbors behind me a couple weeks ago. Both were so full of sediment in the bottom that the water wouldn't drain. Had to muscle both of the out of the garage still full of water and completely remove the drain valve to get the water out.

As for a system, my neighbors have a WaterBoss 950 and seem to be pretty happy with it.