Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house? | Page 129 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

GreyGhost said:
Sadly he was probably correct. The ikea kitchen would probably turn off many buyers however, it probably wouldnt matter whether there was an IKEA kitchen or well done custom kitchen, new owners at that level like to throw out the existing kitchens and start again.
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I believe it was @nobbie48 that mentioned builders of high end condos are just roughing in everything and letting new owners do the rest.

Apparently this is very common in Poland. Some cousins bought units last month (I would too if I had 100k lying around) and you get the walls, plumbing, and electrical. All the finishes are supplied by the new owner and installed by whoever they want once possession is taken. Not a bad idea.
 
High end builders have often had the customer option of just tell us what you want. There was a point when a Downsview or Barzotti or Seimatic kitchen was a bragging point and people would accept no other. So let them .

Two yrs ago I sold a million dollar house I had put an Ikea kitchen in, new owners gutted the basement, changed all hardwood floors and took out all popcorn ceilings. Kept the Ikea kitchen. They are really nice and I fab'd Corian tops that looked pretty good.

Right now the condo kitchens are Big name company, nice applied finish, same 5/8 white melamine interiors.....
 
Bleeping bleep bleep rodents. Figured out where the critters were getting into the attic. They tore down some soffit off the 2nd floor in a place that is only accessible from a 10/12 pitch roof. If I build a house, it will have ~4/12. 10/12 looks nice but is terrible to move on.
 
mimico_polak said:
EDIT: looks like culprit was the laser printer. Ran out of toner and it kept trying to fire up. Every time it turns on and prints there’s a flicker….apparently normal for laser printers.
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Hopefully not a wiring problem if it's only the lights in that room that flicker. Maybe just too many devices on the same circuit which is probably only 15 amps. Looking around my own room, I have a laser printer, computer, monitor, powered speakers, phone charger, external HDD, clock, lighting, etc... When my printer warms up from sleep, it trips the UPS.
 
mimico_polak said:
Of course there’s a new issue in the house….lights started flickering…not a good sign and I think this would need an electrician to troubleshoot.
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Trouble shooting needs a blank cheque. A loose neutral is sometimes the culprit. There's only a few hundred in the house. :(
 
nobbie48 said:
Trouble shooting needs a blank cheque. A loose neutral is sometimes the culprit. There's only a few hundred in the house. :(
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In a previous life, there were two pieces of equipment acting strangely. Turn on either a or b and neither works, turn on a and b and both work. Open neutral was the cause.
 
I rented the top floor of a house 30 years ago that had knob and tube wiring. Got a buzz when i touched the kitchen faucet once. Moved out quickly.
 
Wingboy said:
I rented the top floor of a house 30 years ago that had knob and tube wiring. Got a buzz when i touched the kitchen faucet once. Moved out quickly.
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My aunt and uncle had an old fridge in the basement at their cottage for many years. The rule was you had to wear shoes when opening it as it tingled or worse when you grabbed the handle. A few people got put on their ass by it. They had money, I'm not sure why they never replaced it.
 
GreyGhost said:
My aunt and uncle had an old fridge in the basement at their cottage for many years. The rule was you had to wear shoes when opening it as it tingled or worse when you grabbed the handle. A few people got put on their ass by it. They had money, I'm not sure why they never replaced it.
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for the sporting factor of course
 
Sorry, long post, but worth the read on cordless tool deals!

There have been some good deals lately on cordless tools. The deals usually revolve around bare tools but if you buy one they throw in a free battery or even a free battery and charger....

I picked up the Bosch 18v cordless (Bosch is my cordless eco system) sawzall for $100 at Lowes on Saturday (already on sale, down from the usual $149 for the tool), it came with a FREE 4Ah Core battery and charger starter kit (which are usually around $149). Buy them together as a set kit and that combination is ~$280, I paid $100 plus tax for everything. Same deal for some other Bosch bare tools. The Lowes one is not well advertised in store IMO but there is info online (I did online sale and pick-up). In a separate deal (now done) I got the Bosch 18v hammer drill, freak impact, two 4Ah batteries and a charger for $100.

Home Depot has been doing a similar things but even more so. My buddy does Dewalt, in their combo deals you get a free battery with the bare tool but the battery has a return value of ~50% of the full cost of the battery noted on the receipt. He buys the tool, gets the free battery, walks right back in and returns the battery only (as valued on the receipt, totally legit) and it works out the bare tool is now costing him $25 to $50, depending on the tool. As an example, $100 bare tool comes with a free $150 battery, battery is free but has a return value of $75 on the receipt, returns the battery now he has a $25 tool! I have seen this at HD for other brands as well and the reverse buy the battery and get the tool...

Also all a good deal if you need a new battery, you can swing another tool (you did not know you needed :) ) as part of the deal....

My guess is it is a few things. HD announced they will be switching to selling tools that get "activated" at checkout to counter theft (stolen tools will not get activate and will not work). Another aspect, some of the tools are brush motors and they are going brushless, brushless has a little more power, should last longer (no brush wear) and use a little less battery but none of that is a big factor for the typical DIYer buying the better brands. In other cases the new brushless tool is part of the deal... I am sure there is something else a foot. My guess is all this is a way to clear out old inventory in the supply chain....

For the Sawzall....
Look at the BOGO Bosch promotion for the free battery and charger. It does not get added automatically BTW.
 
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Home builder did a terrible job sealing basement window below grade. Was installed after interior drywall done so had to be sealed from outside only. Visible open areas around it outside and Tarion inspection said unless there’s visible water damage inside they won’t do anything.
I’ve seen mice crawl down window well and enter house through there.
Sealed it up myself. Tarion is the most useless company ever I’m finding. Dragging their feet, not doing anything. Obviously not on the home owners side.
Luckily we have a cat as he catches a mouse pretty much every week.
 
backmarkerducati said:
Sorry, long post, but worth the read on cordless tool deals!

There have been some good deals lately on cordless tools. The deals usually revolve around bare tools but if you buy one they throw in a free battery or even a free battery and charger....

I picked up the Bosch 18v cordless (Bosch is my cordless eco system) sawzall for $100 at Lowes on Saturday (already on sale, down from the usual $149 for the tool), it came with a FREE 4Ah Core battery and charger starter kit (which are usually around $149). Buy them together as a set kit and that combination is ~$280, I paid $100 plus tax for everything. Same deal for some other Bosch bare tools. The Lowes one is not well advertised in store IMO but there is info online (I did online sale and pick-up). In a separate deal (now done) I got the Bosch 18v hammer drill, freak impact, two 4Ah batteries and a charger for $100.

Home Depot has been doing a similar things but even more so. My buddy does Dewalt, in their combo deals you get a free battery with the bare tool but the battery has a return value of ~50% of the full cost of the battery noted on the receipt. He buys the tool, gets the free battery, walks right back in and returns the battery only (as valued on the receipt, totally legit) and it works out the bare tool is now costing him $25 to $50, depending on the tool. As an example, $100 bare tool comes with a free $150 battery, battery is free but has a return value of $75 on the receipt, returns the battery now he has a $25 tool! I have seen this at HD for other brands as well and the reverse buy the battery and get the tool...

Also all a good deal if you need a new battery, you can swing another tool (you did not know you needed :) ) as part of the deal....

My guess is it is a few things. HD announced they will be switching to selling tools that get "activated" at checkout to counter theft (stolen tools will not get activate and will not work). Another aspect, some of the tools are brush motors and they are going brushless, brushless has a little more power, should last longer (no brush wear) and use a little less battery but none of that is a big factor for the typical DIYer buying the better brands. In other cases the new brushless tool is part of the deal... I am sure there is something else a foot. My guess is all this is a way to clear out old inventory in the supply chain....

For the Sawzall....
Look at the BOGO Bosch promotion for the free battery and charger. It does not get added automatically BTW.
Click to expand...

Home Depot’s Rigid line gets these deals pretty often too. They are a step below Milwaukee (same company) and a step above Ryobi. The most attractive thing about Rigid is the lifetime warranty, even on batteries. I now have 5-6 tools and they have all been faultless. My favourite, and one that has made me shelf my annoying compressor, is a cordless trim nailer. I can put corner round down on a new floor in minutes.
 
L
jc100 said:
Home Depot’s Rigid line gets these deals pretty often too. They are a step below Milwaukee (same company) and a step above Ryobi. The most attractive thing about Rigid is the lifetime warranty, even on batteries. I now have 5-6 tools and they have all been faultless. My favourite, and one that has made me shelf my annoying compressor, is a cordless trim nailer. I can put corner round down on a new floor in minutes.
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Love my RIDGID tools. Will keep an eye out for batteries but currently have 4 at the ready.
 
mimico_polak said:
L

Love my RIDGID tools. Will keep an eye out for batteries but currently have 4 at the ready.
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I loaned some milwaukee tools to a friend. They lost one of the batteries. Unfortunately for them, it was a 4.0 ah. I told them to keep an eye out for bare tool sales as that may get them some tools for the price of the battery.
 
GreyGhost said:
I loaned some milwaukee tools to a friend. They lost one of the batteries. Unfortunately for them, it was a 4.0 ah. I told them to keep an eye out for bare tool sales as that may get them some tools for the price of the battery.
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My dad refuses to lend tools to anyone except me. He’s been burned a few times so at least with me he knows I’ll repay him.

I lend tools to friends that I know can use them…which isn’t a lot.
 
jc100 said:
Home Depot’s Rigid line gets these deals pretty often too. They are a step below Milwaukee (same company) and a step above Ryobi. The most attractive thing about Rigid is the lifetime warranty, even on batteries. I now have 5-6 tools and they have all been faultless. My favourite, and one that has made me shelf my annoying compressor, is a cordless trim nailer. I can put corner round down on a new floor in minutes.
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my dad has put a couple rigid tools in my name as in hopes i should live longer lol. they are great with the battery returns as well. he had a 15 year old battery they replaced no questions. I had a corded rigid sawzall blow up on me when I was cutting a hot tub in half, called them and they told me to bring it to some small motor repair guy and it was fixed in a week or so (they mailed him a rebuild kit) though the motor repair guy said he wouldn't do it again as it was very tedious with many small parts and gears etc. Don't think he made much money on it.
 
mimico_polak said:
My dad refuses to lend tools to anyone except me. He’s been burned a few times so at least with me he knows I’ll repay him.

I lend tools to friends that I know can use them…which isn’t a lot.
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It was too painful watching them try to build things without proper tools. Most of the stuff has made its way back as they stock up on their own. They still have an impact and a few other things but I appreciate that they owned up to the missing battery and offered to make it right. If I told them to go buy one tomorrow, they probably would but I don't need that battery right away and this may help them get a "free" tool.

EDIT:

In Florida, a friend of my parents borrowed a sliding compound miter saw from another friend. He proceeded to be a moron and run over his hand (sounds like the saw started taking too big a bite and ran forward). Cut friend refused to return the saw to loaning friend as he wanted to sue the saw manufacturer for making a dangerous product. Loaning friend called the cops who showed up and threatened to charge cut friend with theft unless he returned the saw. Moron.
 
GreyGhost said:
It was too painful watching them try to build things without proper tools. Most of the stuff has made its way back as they stock up on their own. They still have an impact and a few other things but I appreciate that they owned up to the missing battery and offered to make it right. If I told them to go buy one tomorrow, they probably would but I don't need that battery right away and this may help them get a "free" tool.

EDIT:

In Florida, a friend of my parents borrowed a sliding compound miter saw from another friend. He proceeded to be a moron and run over his hand (sounds like the saw started taking too big a bite and ran forward). Cut friend refused to return the saw to loaning friend as he wanted to sue the saw manufacturer for making a dangerous product. Loaning friend called the cops who showed up and threatened to charge cut friend with theft unless he returned the saw. Moron.
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I was very happy when my buddy returned my sliding 12" saw...although was hoping he'd leave the new blade he bought (but never used) on it! Cheap bastard gave it back to HD!
 
I have a short list of people I will lend tools to. One buddy (same guy that is Dewalt cordless) we swap the expensive stuff and less so all the time. Examples, he has a Bosch (corded) SDS+ drill, I bought most of the bits for it. I have a right angle Milwaukee, same deal... tonnes of other examples.

Now for cordless (Dewalt vs Bosch), we have a solution there as well. In the middle of electrical I needed lights, here is his Dewalt light running on my Bosch battery.... BTW 18v and 20v are the same thing, 20v is the no-load and 18v is with load---all marketing.

Dewalt-Bosch.jpg
 
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