The Super Official Homeowners Thread

[ScottyB]

I never realized how much water was a problem until I became a home owner... 

for real.  just generally speaking i'll never look at a home site without being 100% aware of the elevation around the house and/or drains appropriately.  you don't F with water.

[JPolen01]

Are you sure the water didnt get into the framing,  drywall, or trim?
Id be worried about that over carpet

Yeah all that is fine. I found the water within 2 hours of when the washer drained. Right behind the washer the water got up the drywall about an inch and half but was dry this morning when I checked on it. Luckily (?) most of the water fanned out into the center of the room and away from the walls.

[Apoc]

There's a decent chance the backside of the drywall is still wet. You might consider cutting out everything that got wet and putting new in to prevent mold growth. At the least, I would check what you cannot physically see to ensure it's not moist.

[Evan]

Yeah you need to cut that drywall out. There is framing behind it, and that needs to dry out too.

[JPolen01]

Thanks. I'll look at it tonight. It's not really a finished area behind the washer/dryer so I can just cut off the bottom of the drywall and no one will even know!

[WRXtranceformed]

Yeah if it's not finished back there just cut a square out where it was wet with a drywall saw or whatever, let it dry out and then you can screw it back in with drywall screws and not worry about refinishing it.

[Apoc]

I can just cut off the bottom of the drywall and no one will even know!

Our rental in Seattle had a sump pump go bad. This is exactly what the landlord did to the bottom foot of drywall.

[JPolen01]

Pulled back the carpet in two spots. Pad is soaked like a sponge. We were going to replace the carpet anyway since it doesn’t match the stairs leading to the basement. Guess we’ll be doing that this weekend. Going to cut out a couple spots of drywall as well. Glad the water didn’t travel too far up the walls.

[WRXtranceformed]

Pulled back the carpet in two spots. Pad is soaked like a sponge. We were going to replace the carpet anyway since it doesn’t match the stairs leading to the basement. Guess we’ll be doing that this weekend. Going to cut out a couple spots of drywall as well. Glad the water didn’t travel too far up the walls.

Good call!  Glad you got to it when you did!  I am sure you can dry out carpet padding with enough time but it holds water so long that the mold risk is real.  It's easier to just cut that piece out and patch in a new one.

[JPolen01]

Yeah it's been a couple years since I have done any carpet removal and I forgot how disgusting carpet pads are. The dust from the carpet fibers is so disgusting.

[Evan]

Pulled back the carpet in two spots. Pad is soaked like a sponge. We were going to replace the carpet anyway since it doesn’t match the stairs leading to the basement. Guess we’ll be doing that this weekend. Going to cut out a couple spots of drywall as well. Glad the water didn’t travel too far up the walls.

No need to rush. Nothing wrong with leaving it concrete for a few weeks / months while you get your plan together.

[JustinG]

Yeah it's your basement. Maybe you can yank the carpet, wait a couple of months and throw down tile.

[JPolen01]

I laid the carpet back down so it's functional for now. Got a couple quotes for $800 - $900 which isn't bad at all for a 20x20 room plus 5 stairs and a landing. I can't let it sit half torn up and all ripped. It will drive me nuts. Not gonna rush to buy anything this weekend, but no need to wait months.

[Apoc]

I took these pictures about a week ago, but just getting around to posting them. 

Still in the process of trying to recover our front yard from the damage it suffered when it was laid three years ago. Aeration, seeding, topfill, and a ton of water in the city with the most expensive municipal water in the country. It's doing okay where the water is abundant, but it's been struggling because water coverage in my tiny ass yard is somehow a challenge. We had our hottest May on record and we've had less than a half inch of rain in the last eight weeks, so I'm not too put of by results. 







The back yard is doing much better, especially after we eradicated the moss. The first picture is a week of growth with regular watering; the mowed part is #3 (I usually mow on #2). My kid is 3' tall, for reference. Second picture shows were the water wasn't reaching vs. was. 








On the topic of battery mowers, I'd mistakenly watered the grass about two hours before mowing (timer). Apparently there is some overdrive that kicks in when the mower detects the blade slowing down. I could hear it lose rpm and then jump up higher than normal rpm until I got back to a previously mowed section of grass. My guess is this whores the charge, but my yard is small so I had ~50% battery left after doing front and back. I doubt it would make it through a half acre of tall/wet grass on one charge.








Finished product, after the first mow. I'm probably going to take it back down to a #2 this weekend for optimal walking height. Really please with these results.

[Sully]

I laid the carpet back down so it's functional for now. Got a couple quotes for $800 - $900 which isn't bad at all for a 20x20 room plus 5 stairs and a landing. I can't let it sit half torn up and all ripped. It will drive me nuts. Not gonna rush to buy anything this weekend, but no need to wait months.

The box stores were doing free install with carpet that cost a $1 or more a sqft or something like that for the longest time. Idr remember the room size min but I'm sure if they aren't still, they'll do something similar soon. My dad just had most of his carpet replaced for selling. He did one room with $0.80 a square carpet and didn't know about deal. Couple weeks later, decided to do 3 more rooms in the same carpet. Apparently the price of the carpet had gone up over a $1 this time and he saved like $300 over paying for install and $0.80 a square.

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[ScottyB]

blowed up the self propel system on my 22in husqvarna mower real good yesterday.  all 3 idler pulleys seized tight as a drum.  4 years of wet grass + cheap bearings will do that i guess.  this was a "big box" ~ $300 mower so i can't say i'm particularly mad or anything.

the drive belt isn't toasted so 3 new pulleys should do the trick.  i should have stopped when i smelled rubber but the smoke show was worth it.

somethin's missin!

[JPolen01]

^Nice work! Speaking of self-propelled, I need to rotate the wheels on my mower front to back. The drive wheels are nearly bald, but the fronts have plenty of tread left.

[ScottyB]

^Nice work! Speaking of self-propelled, I need to rotate the wheels on my mower front to back. The drive wheels are nearly bald, but the fronts have plenty of tread left.

been there as well, don't worry its pretty straightforward and be sure you hit the gears with a little silicone lube while you're in there.  i get 2 years out of a rear set so all 4 of my wheels need replaced at this point.

[JPolen01]

I have a can of wd40 silicone laying around. That should work?

[ScottyB]

I have a can of wd40 silicone laying around. That should work?

can't hurt.  won't add any lubrication but it'll help keep the gears from getting any corrosion