So about a week ago I found "evidence" of a mouse in my house. I was able to trap the little bastard and since I have two infants, I called an exterminator to see if anything was up and if Mickey had any friends hanging around. Long story short, the exterminator pulled my dishwasher out and found a hole. While the dishwasher was being moved, we saw a large FLASH and the dishwasher no longer worked. He never shut the circuit off before moving it.
Fine.
Call an electrician (a friend of mine) and ask him to come over and look. Remember, this was all a few days ago.
He couldn't come over until tonight.
Today, not long after I get to work, my wife calls me and tells me my basement flooded. FUCK!
I rush home and find shit, SHIT, in my washing machine! The god damn septic backed up and sent SHIT back into the house and it came out my washer drain pipe.
For the last 4 hours, I have had hazmat here doing clean up. Half my finished basement is torn up and in my yard along with a lot of nice kids Christmas presents they just got. As for me, I lost a vintage sanyo pachinko machine that was used in a casino or bar or something. It was pretty heavy duty with an ash tray built in.
Anyway, I don't care much about what I lost, but I'm pissed I already have to replace the 6 month old washer after all the insurance red tape.
Either way, home ownership sucks sometimes, and it never fucking ends.
First world problems.
PS, no turbob was harmed as a result of these events.
I wouldn't actually call it first world problems, you had shit back up into your home. I'd say that's about a legit a complaint as anything.
Man, that sucks. I just hope your insurance covers everything lost, though you'll never recover the hoop jumping and headaches.
Now that's a shitty bad situation! I hope things work out cheaply to get everything fixed and cleaned up. Sorry to hear about the bad luck.
I've had my house for a little over two years now and luckily I haven't had any issues at all. Knock on wood. I guess the issues will eventually come in time though. I'm really looking forward to having something major happen like the A/C going out.
Damn glam, ya it always seems to come in 3's as well so you are all good now. Hope things get back to normal soon for ya, hell of a start to a new year :(
Quote from: guest on 01/03/2013, 07:19 PMPro tip: start mold abatement now if you haven't already, and pick up some heavy duty dehumidifiers asap. And then never buy a house with a basement again. Lol
Yes, hazmat was literally here all day and left two industrial dehumidifiers for the weekend and took care of mold control. They were great.
FUCK. That sucks. Shit in yer washing machine is no good.
Damn that sucks Galam. You need to write your exterminator a bill for the dishwasher. That falls on him not you.
Electrician was free. That wasnt a problem. And to be honest, if the dishwasher didnt break, this would have happened sooner. I would rather deal with this over a weekend. Im trying to find any silver linings here.
Ah maaan :(
Quote from: galam on 01/04/2013, 11:43 AMElectrician was free. That wasnt a problem. And to be honest, if the dishwasher didnt break, this would have happened sooner. I would rather deal with this over a weekend. Im trying to find any silver linings here.
Hang in there, man! It doesn't sound like much of a "pleasant weekend project", but at least you still have your house. How's that for a silver lining? :)
Been cleaning out the basement all day and found boxes that I haven't opened in 10 years. Uncovered some stuff from my childhood.
Pics later...
Should have bought a cat problem solved naw jk :wink:
Sorry to hear, that sucks! Mice aren't that difficult to deal with, I would never have called a pro for that... The secret I found is actually peanut butter, not cheese or anything. Snap traps (the better ones or else the bait will get eaten with a chance of no snapping) or even glue traps (though after collecting dust a while, they'll need replacing) with a chunk of peanut butter on them will get the job done... The final option is those blue poison pellets. I would put a few into the peanut butter so even if the mouse ate the bait without a snap, the poison would still get the job done. Minor problem with this is the mouse will die in some tucked away spot and you won't know about it till the smell of decomposition gets going... ;)
Anyway, glad I don't have a septic system... I've seen the trouble firsthand with them at my dad's house though. I helped with a sump pump reinstallation that handled draining water from the washer and bathtubs/sinks, not the toilets thankfully (they were routed differently); was still pretty disgusting though. Well, I feel for ya... Good luck!
Dam bro sorry bout your luck... Wishing you good vibes.
Getting Fed up with all the unplanned weekend fix jobs . . .
Went to fix the caulking around the tub on Friday. 15-minute job... But of course, it tore up the floor, which was brittle and revealed some water damage around the tub. Sooo I've spent all weekend removing the toilet (the only one in the house) and vanity, tearing up the old floor, fixing the subfloor, reinstalling said vinyl floor, and reconnecting the toilet and vanity. Along the way, I found out the that the seals on my shut off valves are no longer working. Lucky I was able to contain the small flood. So now I have a pan underneath the sink collecting the dripping water until I can replace them when the floor completely dries. 100-year-old houses suck. On the upside, I was then able to fix the caulking.
All the odd jobs on the house are what kill me too. When I buy my next home, I plan to make sure it is much closer to totally finished than my current one, I'd rather have my weekends back and not be working on shit all the time.
FUCK. I wish I had a house. With house problems.
Highest real estate market in the country. A shitty 2BR rat-shack is $650k.
Quote from: blueraven on 11/12/2017, 11:31 PMFUCK. I wish I had a house. With house problems.
Highest real estate market in the country. A shitty 2BR rat-shack is $650k.
I feel your pain man. Damn I didn't realize it the market was that high up there. there are many an area around here like that. :(
Also I understand that these are problems others would love to have, but it's my mom's house not even mine, and it's like eating me that every weekend there is another little nugget, for house that needs so much work it isn't worth fixing to sell. But it made me think of this thread from idk how fucking long ago and I said well at least I don't have literal shit in my house.
Quote from: blueraven on 11/12/2017, 11:31 PMFUCK. I wish I had a house. With house problems.
Me too. I wouldn't want an old house, though, as they have too many problems and usually aren't very efficient (little insulation, leaky windows, no air barrier, etc.). Apartment living is kinda nice in that nothing is my problem, but the extra space, accruing asset value, and not having noisy neighbors in a house would be worth the trade off.
Quote from: blueraven on 11/12/2017, 11:31 PMHighest real estate market in the country. A shitty 2BR rat-shack is $650k.
Man, fork that. Unless my pay was proportionally higher to compensate, I'd be moving.
I lucked out with buying my house in 2009 during the bottom. It's worth twice what I paid for it and is easy to maintain. I put a new roof over it and just keep at it. Excellent learning experience.
Yeah, I bought my current home at a reasonable price for the time too and it's worth much more. We are planning on moving to another home for a better school district.
So now my current predicament is whether to sell the home outright and use the funds toward a new home, or use it as a rental property. I've got about 50% equity in the home now and would have it fully paid off in about 10 years so it could be interesting to go the rental route.
i cant believe my thread is back. reading my OP just "flooded" me with memories.
Quote from: bob on 11/15/2017, 03:29 PMi cant believe my thread is back. reading my OP just "flooded" me with memories.
You are welcome. Thanks for the Turbob, arrived safe and sound.
"flooded" hahahahahahahaha
in other news 2 weeks out from closing on my new house! Now I'll have 2 homes to take care of!
Quote from: turboswimbz on 11/15/2017, 06:20 PMQuote from: bob on 11/15/2017, 03:29 PMi cant believe my thread is back. reading my OP just "flooded" me with memories.
You are welcome. Thanks for the Turbob, arrived safe and sound.
"flooded" hahahahahahahaha
in other news 2 weeks out from closing on my new house! Now I'll have 2 homes to take care of!
Goddamn!
So... damn!
I didn't have the energy to fix the backdoor of my garage, so I stopped using the door years ago.
Like...10 years ago.
That's how I manage things.
Quote from: blueraven on 11/12/2017, 11:31 PMFUCK. I wish I had a house. With house problems.
Highest real estate market in the country. A shitty 2BR rat-shack is $650k.
Glad im not the only one. while the market isnt that bad where im at a nice crack house will run you a cool $250000. If you want to have a house you can raise a family in your looking close to $400000 and thats not for a large house. Just a somewhat modern house in a neighborhood thats kind of ok for kids. Im waiting for the next home market collapse since i dont see how this can continue.
Once North Korea finally manages to get a nuke to the west coast prices there will drop since it'll all be radioactive. Or it will hit the fault line and fall into the ocean and then we will turn the rest of the state into a maximum security prison that's only for the really bad dudes, prostitutes, a couple smart guys, and a classy as fuck cab driver.
I've recently done quite a bit of maintenance to my place.
Repainted the exterior walls of the house incl window frames and doors, fascia boards, gutters and downpipes, and all the boundary walls.
Refitted new 10 strand perimeter electric fence and new energizer unit with new back-up battery, to power the whole thing.
The main problem I have now is with a slightly sagging corner of one of the roofs. This is a relatively new issue that has cropped up. If there's a heavy downpour, sometimes some of the water drips inside that room. And we have had unseasonal torrential weather here the last couple weeks.
Other than that, need to replace and redo a few loose floor tiles, and wall tiles in the downstairs bathroom and shower.
Bloufo... forgive me, but you sound like you have a ranch of some sort (electric fence). At first, I thought you might be referring to a "dog containment system" with collar zappers...but then I realized what "10 strand" probably referred to...
My prior home developed a leak in the roof...patching that bastard with new shingles was annoying but well worth it (I was selling the home and didn't want to invest in a new roof). However, the roof wasn't sagging (no structural issues).
MY BORING STATUS:
The grossest bathroom you have ever imagined will remain untouched for another year. I don't use it anymore. My kids use it and it needs to be gutted completely. It needed to be updated 11 years ago. At this point, I don't see the point in touching it until my kids are older and less likely to trash it further.
I finally painted my garage this autumn...the goal was to get it done before the first frost. Mission accomplished. Note: It needed to be painted 10 years ago.
Ha! We haven't even discussed landscaping that needs to be done. Every winter, a new, random bush (or two) will die...it was easy to ignore the first few casualties... but now, 11 years of attrition have made it obvious that the few token replacements I've planted are inadequate.
Also, my entire backyard needs to be re-seeded, since the weeds are winning the battle against the grass...
Seal the driveway...
Power wash everything...
Fix the outdoor electrical receptacles...
Re-point the brick chimney (no, I am not doing this myself)...
Install new garage door...
Quote from: esteban on 12/12/2017, 06:54 AMBloufo... forgive me, but you sound like you have a ranch of some sort (electric fence). At first, I thought you might be referring to a "dog containment system" with collar zappers...but then I realized what "10 strand" probably referred to...
Not a ranch. lol
It's for security reasons. No matter how high your perimeter walls are in this neck of the woods, if you don't have the added protection of an additional deterrent such as electric fencing, the chances of you becoming a crime statistic are increased substantially.
When I get back from work later I may take a pic for reference.
How high you gotta go on the bzzt bzzt to keep out humans and/or how dumb are the criminals? I've been zapped by farm fences plenty of times (I grab my parent's moo-moo and donkey fence to see if it's still working or needs some help) and they'd be super easy to ground intentionally if you wanted to get through 'em.
Quote from: guest on 12/12/2017, 09:19 AMHow high you gotta go on the bzzt bzzt to keep out humans and/or how dumb are the criminals? I've been zapped by farm fences plenty of times (I grab my parent's moo-moo and donkey fence to see if it's still working or needs some help) and they'd be super easy to ground intentionally if you wanted to get through 'em.
10,000 volts runs through it.
What they do these days is toss a long heavy rubber mat over the fence and try to get over that way.
My fence is though is linked to a security company which operates less than a mile away from my premises. So upon the fence alarm activation, the response time is pretty quick.
Quote from: esteban on 12/12/2017, 06:54 AMBloufo... forgive me, but you sound like you have a ranch of some sort (electric fence). At first, I thought you might be referring to a "dog containment system" with collar zappers...but then I realized what "10 strand" probably referred to...
My prior home developed a leak in the roof...patching that bastard with new shingles was annoying but well worth it (I was selling the home and didn't want to invest in a new roof). However, the roof wasn't sagging (no structural issues).
MY BORING STATUS:
The grossest bathroom you have ever imagined will remain untouched for another year. I don't use it anymore. My kids use it and it needs to be gutted completely. It needed to be updated 11 years ago. At this point, I don't see the point in touching it until my kids are older and less likely to trash it further.
I finally painted my garage this autumn...the goal was to get it done before the first frost. Mission accomplished. Note: It needed to be painted 10 years ago.
Ha! We haven't even discussed landscaping that needs to be done. Every winter, a new, random bush (or two) will die...it was easy to ignore the first few casualties... but now, 11 years of attrition have made it obvious that the few token replacements I've planted are inadequate.
Also, my entire backyard needs to be re-seeded, since the weeds are winning the battle against the grass...
Seal the driveway...
Power wash everything...
Fix the outdoor electrical receptacles...
Re-point the brick chimney (no, I am not doing this myself)...
Install new garage door...
You sound just like me when it comes to home maintenance. They always say if you don't know who the bad neighbor on your block is, it's probably you :P
I've actually picked up the slack on my house maintenance recently, main bathroom is refinished and will probably be addressing my windows with condensation in January. Also need to do some touch ups in general since we're considering selling/moving before the oldest starts school to get in a better district.
Quote from: Bloufo on 12/12/2017, 07:12 AMQuote from: esteban on 12/12/2017, 06:54 AMBloufo... forgive me, but you sound like you have a ranch of some sort (electric fence). At first, I thought you might be referring to a "dog containment system" with collar zappers...but then I realized what "10 strand" probably referred to...
Not a ranch. lol
It's for security reasons. No matter how high your perimeter walls are in this neck of the woods, if you don't have the added protection of an additional deterrent such as electric fencing, the chances of you becoming a crime statistic are increased substantially.
When I get back from work later I may take a pic for reference.
In High School I had a friend from your neck of the woods originally, and we thought he was kidding about these things. Later I found out he was quite serious. It seems that things have not gotten better . . .
Quote from: turboswimbz on 12/12/2017, 02:39 PMIn High School I had a friend from your neck of the woods originally, and we thought he was kidding about these things. Later I found out he was quite serious. It seems that things have not gotten better . .
I can comment as I've experienced it for about the last 20 years. Before that I was born and raised in Greece, before we moved here in my early teens.
The crime situation has most definitely gotten worse. In particular, increase in violent related crimes. Black on White.
Hijackings (what do you term it over there- carjackings?) are way up as well. Here in Joburg we are actually made aware and there are regular updates of "hotspots" of areas to avoid and the most likely times hits are made in those places.
As well, you factor in the unreported crimes. The police force here has a bad rep for incompetence, corruption, negligence. Some folks think it a complete waste of time to even bother reporting certain crimes.
Apologies if thread is being derailed. As you were.
Don't worry.
Although there are some thoughts popping up in my mind about that electrical fence... You do not happen to inhibit some small island near Costa Rica, do you?
Sorry, joking aside I really hope your counter measurements will help you in defending your home against unwanted guests.
Electrified fence ... that bad huh ? I don't think that's legal here, can't kill a baddie trying to sneak in.
Quote from: NightWolve on 12/15/2017, 12:29 AMElectrified fence ... that bad huh ? I don't think that's legal here, can't kill a baddie trying to sneak in.
This may have been a nice solution to the graffiti problem though :)
Feel your pain man...
Wife an I bought the house we are in 3.5 years ago. Since then...
Garage fire. 74K damage to the house and garage (garage is attached). Thankfully insurance covered it.
One bathroom remodel due to water leaking into the lower level. 10K
Main sewer line to the street got clogged with tree roots. 6K for a whole new line from house to street.
And something else that I cant remember at the moment...
Wow! How did the garage fire start ?
Quote from: Flare65 on 12/19/2017, 09:51 AMGarage fire. 74K damage to the house and garage (garage is attached). Thankfully insurance covered it.
One bathroom remodel due to water leaking into the lower level. 10K
Main sewer line to the street got clogged with tree roots. 6K for a whole new line from house to...
Damn.
That is a crazy amount of damage.
I am worried about my sewer line, myself.
Quote from: Flare65 on 12/19/2017, 09:51 AMOne bathroom remodel due to water leaking into the lower level. 10K
This happened to me the night before my wedding in May. I cleared out all of the lower level before finishing my vowes and speaches lol. Got back from honey moon and started slowly rebuilding everything. just got lower level all fixed up, and about 30% done with the remodel in the bathroom. We are not professionals, DIY Home Depot job, but hopefully functions alright when we're done
Quote from: esteban on 12/19/2017, 05:25 PMQuote from: Flare65 on 12/19/2017, 09:51 AMGarage fire. 74K damage to the house and garage (garage is attached). Thankfully insurance covered it.
One bathroom remodel due to water leaking into the lower level. 10K
Main sewer line to the street got clogged with tree roots. 6K for a whole new line from house to...
Damn.
That is a crazy amount of damage.
I am worried about my sewer line, myself.
Have em scope it with a camera, you should find someone to do this fairly cheaply. (your town sewer company may even do this for free from the road to the house -> well not free you pay them a bill and taxes) They can tell you if you got any issues.
for the record, I do a lot of subsurface work up there and rarely see issues with the city sewer systems and connections out to them. (note for other NJ people this does not necessarily apply to Hudson and Bergen counties along the rivers, their systems are much older and prone to backups during storms due to also handling storm water)
Quote from: turboswimbz on 12/20/2017, 09:54 AMQuote from: esteban on 12/19/2017, 05:25 PMQuote from: Flare65 on 12/19/2017, 09:51 AMGarage fire. 74K damage to the house and garage (garage is attached). Thankfully insurance covered it.
One bathroom remodel due to water leaking into the lower level. 10K
Main sewer line to the street got clogged with tree roots. 6K for a whole new line from house to...
Damn.
That is a crazy amount of damage.
I am worried about my sewer line, myself.
Have em scope it with a camera, you should find someone to do this fairly cheaply. (your town sewer company may even do this for free from the road to the house -> well not free you pay them a bill and taxes) They can tell you if you got any issues.
for the record, I do a lot of subsurface work up there and rarely see issues with the city sewer systems and connections out to them. (note for other NJ people this does not necessarily apply to Hudson and Bergen counties along the rivers, their systems are much older and prone to backups during storms due to also handling storm water)
swimbz!
Yeah, I am worried about tree roots that might have grown into my sewer line.
Thanks for the info, I feel more empowered now to "scope it".
I think I'll send a mini-drone into the sewer line.
:)
The sewer line backup happened when I took a shower at night when my wife was downstairs emptying the dryer. Water started coming up out of the floor drain in the furnace rooms so we got lucky that the water didn't get into finished section of the lower level. Thankfully she was right there when it happened as it could have been much...much worse if we kept using water upstairs without even knowing what was going on. Calling a plumber out at 9:00pm on a Saturday night for two hours work was $600 and change...
He was able to clear the drain, but he pulled back a lot of tree roots in the process. He highly recommend that he came back with a camera to check the drain. Which he did for another $400.00 as he ran it form the sewer line in the street and form the house to the sewer. With the new cameras they have, they even give you the video on a USB drive. There were a lot of tree roots in the line. They do sell some kind of chemical that you can put down your drain to kill the roots, but we had so many of them he didn't think it would work. Its more of a preventative maintenance kind of thing that needs to happen yearly rather than a one time fix.
Quote from: turboswimbz on 12/20/2017, 09:54 AMQuote from: esteban on 12/19/2017, 05:25 PMQuote from: Flare65 on 12/19/2017, 09:51 AMGarage fire. 74K damage to the house and garage (garage is attached). Thankfully insurance covered it.
One bathroom remodel due to water leaking into the lower level. 10K
Main sewer line to the street got clogged with tree roots. 6K for a whole new line from house to...
Damn.
That is a crazy amount of damage.
I am worried about my sewer line, myself.
Have em scope it with a camera, you should find someone to do this fairly cheaply. (your town sewer company may even do this for free from the road to the house -> well not free you pay them a bill and taxes) They can tell you if you got any issues.
for the record, I do a lot of subsurface work up there and rarely see issues with the city sewer systems and connections out to them. (note for other NJ people this does not necessarily apply to Hudson and Bergen counties along the rivers, their systems are much older and prone to backups during storms due to also handling storm water)
I wish it was done for free! In the city I live in, the home owner is 100% responsible for the drain to the street. No assistance from them at all.
Quote from: NightWolve on 12/19/2017, 11:47 AMWow! How did the garage fire start ?
So ... didn't want to answer ??
Quote from: NightWolve on 12/19/2017, 11:47 AMWow! How did the garage fire start ?
Long story, but it was some ashes from the fireplace that were dumped in the garbage can in the garage, which smoldered and melted the can, and the recycling bin next to it that was full of paper and card board.
Next to that, were two Rubbermaid containers. One was full of EGM, Gamepro and Famitsu magazines from the 90s. All my 80's Transformers toys were in the other container. :( I had just dug them out of my parents attic the weekend prior.
And next to THAT was a gas can full of gas, a few quarts of M.E.K (Methyl Ethyl Ketone - extremely flammable), and various aresols of starting fluid, carburetor cleaner, brake cleaner, WD-40 etc, varnish, etc...
My wife's Trek mountain bike turned into a pool of melted aluminum on the floor, except for the chain and sprockets.
Quote from: Flare65 on 12/20/2017, 07:52 PMQuote from: NightWolve on 12/19/2017, 11:47 AMWow! How did the garage fire start ?
Long story, but it was some ashes from the fireplace that were dumped in the garbage can in the garage, which smoldered and melted the can, and the recycling bin next to it that was full of paper and card board.
Next to that, were two Rubbermaid containers. One was full of EGM, Gamepro and Famitsu magazines from the 90s. All my 80's Transformers toys were in the other container. :( I had just dug them out of my parents attic the weekend prior.
And next to THAT was a gas can full of gas, a few quarts of M.E.K (Methyl Ethyl Ketone - extremely flammable), and various aresols of starting fluid, carburetor cleaner, brake cleaner, WD-40 etc, varnish, etc...
My wife's Trek mountain bike turned into a pool of melted aluminum on the floor, except for the chain and sprockets.
Wow, a really what not to do.
Wow that sounds Awful. I'm glad to hear about the insurance footing the bill though.
Quote from: Flare65 on 12/20/2017, 07:02 PMI wish it was done for free! In the city I live in, the home owner is 100% responsible for the drain to the street. No assistance from them at all.
Yeah, I suppose I should also mention that water and sewer vary greatly. I wouldn't expect to find a town in the midwest, south or west where this would be the case. in the northeast, it is a possibility based on the age of infrastructure. In my town, they just installed a clean out for free and will scope for free through the clean out in the immediate vicinity. however, any damage or replacement is %100 on the homeowner as well as maintaining the cleanout. if it's not visible they won't find it.
That suck though. so much so fast.
On an unrelated note MEK for models? or as a solvent?
Quote from: turboswimbz on 12/20/2017, 10:29 PMOn an unrelated note MEK for models? or as a solvent?
I'm a field technician who works in the coding and marking industry, which is a fancy way of saying I work on printers that put expiration dates on products. If you pick up any can of soda and look at the bottom of it for the expiration date, that's the kind of printers I work on. I'm in and out of production plants like Coca-Cola Milwaukee, Kraft Foods, etc.... Ketchup bottles, orange juice bottles, hair care products, anything that has a date code done with ink. 90% of the printers I work on have an ink type that uses MEK as a solvent. We do have some acetone and alcohol based inks that our printers use, but MEK is by far the most popular.
I usually keep a bottle of it to clean my tools. Always wear latex gloves when handling MEK as there are a lot of health related issues the stuff can cause if you handle it with your bare hands. It will even eat and melt certain plastics if it gets them wet. It will absolutely destroy the plastic of HuCard games. Found this out the hard way when I tried cleaning up a copy of JJ & Jeff.
I also work on laser printers as well. You usually see date codes with lasers on P.E.T. plastics like 16oz. coke and pepsi bottles or cardboard boxes like Cheezits. Kraft foods uses them to put expiration dates on their salad dressing bottles.
Quote from: seieienbu on 12/20/2017, 09:38 PMWow that sounds Awful. I'm glad to hear about the insurance footing the bill though.
It was, but we were very lucky. None of the smoke or fire entered into the house. It was all contained within the garage. The fire dept. had the water, gas, and electric shut off to the house due to some electrical damage. We were stuck living in a hotel for two weeks until the restoration company started work.
This happened in March of 2016 and we had a whole summer of contractors running in and out of our home during the whole rebuild process. Drove my wife a bit crazy as she is a teacher and was off all summer dealing with them. My biggest fear was a lingering smoke smell after everything was fixed, but the restoration company we chose for the rebuild did a terrific job. You cant smell smoke anywhere and you'd never know we had fire damage.
I think a home owners two biggest enemies are fire and water.
Sorry to elaborate on my story a bit, I feel like I'm hijacking the thread and I apologize for that.
Thanks for sharing your stories.
I had issues with water ingress in two apartments I used to live in. One when the roof got damaged slightly during a storm, the other one when a waste water pipe broke, luckily there was only the neighbor's washing machine from several levels upstairs attached to it.
Quote from: Flare65 on 12/20/2017, 11:19 PMQuote from: turboswimbz on 12/20/2017, 10:29 PMOn an unrelated note MEK for models? or as a solvent?
I'm a field technician who works in the coding and marking industry . . ..
I usually keep a bottle of it to clean my tools. Always wear latex gloves when handling MEK as there are a lot of health related issues the stuff can cause
Cool, I was just wondering as it's something we clean up as a remediation firm, it's quite a mess in water. Most people don't know what it is. I bet that stuff works wonders on taking ink off tools though!. And yeah it melts plastics, that's why it's sometimes used to "fuse" plastic models together. Man also Thank goodness It didn't have a violent reaction when it burned.
Aaaaaand the washing machine is dead after six years of service in a two-person household. According to the service technician, repairing it would be expensive enough to make just buying a replacement more reasonable. The electronics are to blame, but he said the mechanical parts aren't that far from the end of their life, too.
He would have gladly get paid for a full repair, but was honest enough to reveal that it would be done at my own risk, so after talking to my better half we declined and just paid him for diagnostic inspection.
With wet eyes, I remember my first washing machine that I bought second hand in 2003 and gave me nine years of reliable service until the drum refused to spin. At that time, it must have been already around 15 to 20 years old, although the store I got it from might have serviced the machine before I bought it from them.
Let's see what a new machine can offer me. I'd rather pay extra for a long life thanks to robust parts, than for a plethora of unnecessary functions at the cost of reliability.
Quote from: guest on 01/26/2018, 06:08 AMAaaaaand the washing machine is dead after six years of service in a two-person household. According to the service technician, repairing it would be expensive enough to make just buying a replacement more reasonable. The electronics are to blame, but he said the mechanical parts aren't that far from the end of their life, too.
He would have gladly get paid for a full repair, but was honest enough to reveal that it would be done at my own risk, so after talking to my better half we declined and just paid him for diagnostic inspection.
With wet eyes, I remember my first washing machine that I bought second hand in 2003 and gave me nine years of reliable service until the drum refused to spin. At that time, it must have been already around 15 to 20 years old, although the store I got it from might have serviced the machine before I bought it from them.
Let's see what a new machine can offer me. I'd rather pay extra for a long life thanks to robust parts, than for a plethora of unnecessary functions at the cost of reliability.
Yeah, I don't know if dryers have a shorter lifecycle than washing machines....but the washing machine in my last home was 80's era... I used it for 5 years and sold the house with it. Same went for the dryer (early 90's) as well as the dishwasher (80's).
I sold in 2006... so all of the appliances were at least 20+ years at that point.
CURRENTLY: I had to replace a mid-90's era washing machine a few years ago...but my mid-90's dryer is going strong (it's gotta be at least 20 years old now)....
...my dryer was even featured in a
LeDoodle episode (I use a pair of pliers to set the drying cycle, due to the cheap plastic dial cracking years ago).
That sucks, clod, but at least you're not in the US and looking at paying extra for Trump's tariff.
I think the most reliable units are the ones with simple clockwork mechanisms and no fancy electronics bullshit. Even if they don't last any longer, at least they're cheap.
Indeed, the old one had a mechanical program select wheel, I don't know if there was a motor or clockwork involved for further automatically turning the wheel once the program got started. The new one's program selection wheel is a simple rotary selector, no motors involved, just to mimic the old wheels, with LEDs showing the current status. It could have used simple push buttons for every program instead, with next to none electronic difference.
Quote from: guest on 01/26/2018, 10:22 AMIndeed, the old one had a mechanical program select wheel, I don't know if there was a motor or clockwork involved for further automatically turning the wheel once the program got started. The new one's program selection wheel is a simple rotary selector, no motors involved, just to mimic the old wheels, with LEDs showing the current status. It could have used simple push buttons for every program instead, with next to none electronic difference.
I had a discussion like this on another forum recently, and came to the conclusion those older washing machines can pretty much last forever if they're taken care of. Mine started going out several months ago (it was making a clicking during the spin cycle) and I was able to diagnose it as the motor coupling. Took me a couple hours and like $8 in parts but it's working good as new now.
Same thing with my dryer, I've fixed a couple different things on it (gas valve, heat element, thermal fuse) and have probably not put more than $40 in it over all. Both of these were made in like 2002 according to the serial numbers as well.
All the fancy electronics just add more to get screwed up and are expensive to replace. Makes sense why companies put them in now though, instead of being able to repair something now you have to buy a BRAND NEW one from them to replace it.
We have an older washer and dryer (late 90s/early 00s, I think) that were here when we moved in. The solenoid failed on the washer. I was able to look up the part# and took a gamble on a used $15 one from eBay (vs $100 new) and it's worked fine since.
The dryer belt also snapped but I was able to replace that and it's worked perfectly otherwise. Hoping to get many more years out of them.
Quote from: guest on 01/26/2018, 11:26 AMQuote from: guest on 01/26/2018, 10:22 AMIndeed, the old one had a mechanical program select wheel, I don't know if there was a motor or clockwork involved for further automatically turning the wheel once the program got started. The new one's program selection wheel is a simple rotary selector, no motors involved, just to mimic the old wheels, with LEDs showing the current status. It could have used simple push buttons for every program instead, with next to none electronic difference.
I had a discussion like this on another forum recently, and came to the conclusion those older washing machines can pretty much last forever if they're taken care of. Mine started going out several months ago (it was making a clicking during the spin cycle) and I was able to diagnose it as the motor coupling. Took me a couple hours and like $8 in parts but it's working good as new now.
Same thing with my dryer, I've fixed a couple different things on it (gas valve, heat element, thermal fuse) and have probably not put more than $40 in it over all. Both of these were made in like 2002 according to the serial numbers as well.
All the fancy electronics just add more to get screwed up and are expensive to replace. Makes sense why companies put them in now though, instead of being able to repair something now you have to buy a BRAND NEW one from them to replace it.
we threw out the 1957 dryer in 2014. only because we could no longer get the correct parts for it. the parts guy said this: "We found these in a barn in Indiana, there are literally no more left in our systems, our competitor systems or any know parts yard" next time it breaks you'll have to buy a new one. "
^ damn!
Quote from: turboswimbz on 01/26/2018, 04:08 PMQuote from: guest on 01/26/2018, 11:26 AMQuote from: guest on 01/26/2018, 10:22 AMIndeed, the old one had a mechanical program select wheel, I don't know if there was a motor or clockwork involved for further automatically turning the wheel once the program got started. The new one's program selection wheel is a simple rotary selector, no motors involved, just to mimic the old wheels, with LEDs showing the current status. It could have used simple push buttons for every program instead, with next to none electronic difference.
I had a discussion like this on another forum recently, and came to the conclusion those older washing machines can pretty much last forever if they're taken care of. Mine started going out several months ago (it was making a clicking during the spin cycle) and I was able to diagnose it as the motor coupling. Took me a couple hours and like $8 in parts but it's working good as new now.
Same thing with my dryer, I've fixed a couple different things on it (gas valve, heat element, thermal fuse) and have probably not put more than $40 in it over all. Both of these were made in like 2002 according to the serial numbers as well.
All the fancy electronics just add more to get screwed up and are expensive to replace. Makes sense why companies put them in now though, instead of being able to repair something now you have to buy a BRAND NEW one from them to replace it.
we threw out the 1957 dryer in 2014. only because we could no longer get the correct parts for it. the parts guy said this: "We found these in a barn in Indiana, there are literally no more left in our systems, our competitor systems or any know parts yard" next time it breaks you'll have to buy a new one. "
Oooor, machine the part yourself! My father in law is a super smart dude and makes replacement parts for stuff all the time. It's not OEM, but heck if it works who cares.
Oh I hear this. I've got a dryer my cousin gave me from the 90s. Still going strong. All I've done is put a new door catch and hinge on. As for the other appliances in 11 years been through
2 x dishwashers
2x refrigerators
3 x washing machines (4 if you count one that leaked on delivery)
3 x electric ovens.
I concede these all get high use in our bustling house hold but still takes the piss a bit. I find being extravagant or stingy with purchase makes no difference to longevity.
Quote from: guest on 01/27/2018, 08:37 AMOooor, machine the part yourself! My father in law is a super smart dude and makes replacement parts for stuff all the time. It's not OEM, but heck if it works who cares.
Yeah, it turned out to be a good thing though, our Electric bill dropped almost 25% after the swap to a newer model.
Quote from: wildfruit on 01/29/2018, 04:33 PMOh I hear this. I've got a dryer my cousin gave me from the 90s. Still going strong. All I've done is put a new door catch and hinge on. As for the other appliances in 11 years been through
2 x dishwashers
2x refrigerators
3 x washing machines (4 if you count one that leaked on delivery)
3 x electric ovens.
I concede these all get high use in our bustling house hold but still takes the piss a bit. I find being extravagant or stingy with purchase makes no difference to longevity.
Damn even in the UK things aren't built to last anymore.
Quote from: turboswimbz on 01/29/2018, 04:49 PMQuote from: wildfruit on 01/29/2018, 04:33 PMOh I hear this. I've got a dryer my cousin gave me from the 90s. Still going strong. All I've done is put a new door catch and hinge on. As for the other appliances in 11 years been through
2 x dishwashers
2x refrigerators
3 x washing machines (4 if you count one that leaked on delivery)
3 x electric ovens.
I concede these all get high use in our bustling house hold but still takes the piss a bit. I find being extravagant or stingy with purchase makes no difference to longevity.
Damn even in the UK things aren't built to last anymore.
Most large appliances here are made in Italy or Poland. Strangely the tumble drier is made in uk.
Quote from: wildfruit on 01/29/2018, 05:19 PMQuote from: turboswimbz on 01/29/2018, 04:49 PMQuote from: wildfruit on 01/29/2018, 04:33 PMOh I hear this. I've got a dryer my cousin gave me from the 90s. Still going strong. All I've done is put a new door catch and hinge on. As for the other appliances in 11 years been through
2 x dishwashers
2x refrigerators
3 x washing machines (4 if you count one that leaked on delivery)
3 x electric ovens.
I concede these all get high use in our bustling house hold but still takes the piss a bit. I find being extravagant or stingy with purchase makes no difference to longevity.
Damn even in the UK things aren't built to last anymore.
Most large appliances here are made in Italy or Poland. Strangely the tumble drier is made in uk.
That explains a little something.
Cue the "how many polacks does it take to build a dryer" jokes.
Quote from: NecroPhile on 01/30/2018, 09:45 AMCue the "how many polacks does it take to build a dryer" jokes.
I never thought I'd be able to watch this twice in one week:
http://youtu.be/YGtPPkmvW_0&t=28