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

[nobbie48]

I pulled a 30 year old thermostat and put in a modern bimetallic. I didnt see it when it was malfunctioning so I dont have an easy way to test what went wrong. Before replacing parts, I turned it on and tried to get it to fail but it worked properly. Location is decent (inside wall, no direct sun). A second in series is interesting but they would prefer a big bill to letting it freeze. No connection to the outside world so an alarm wouldnt help.

I thought cottages had to be checked every five days for potential problems. An alarm would advise the local cottage guardsman.

A new cottage went up next to a friend's but the people didn't hire a local to check on it. They left heat and water on and a waterline broke, spraying water for ages before someone noticed the misted windows. Mold had set in and the cottage was condemned. Insurance wouldn't pay out because the place wasn't checked regularly.

Assuming the primary stat was set at an away setting of 60F the safety one would be set at 65F. Both would call for heat until the primary one cut out and heating would stop. If the primary stat locked on the temp would rise to 65F when the backup stat would cut out.

 

[GreyGhost]

I thought cottages had to be checked every five days for potential problems. An alarm would advise the local cottage guardsman.

A new cottage went up next to a friend's but the people didn't hire a local to check on it. They left heat and water on and a waterline broke, spraying water for ages before someone noticed the misted windows. Mold had set in and the cottage was condemned. Insurance wouldn't pay out because the place wasn't checked regularly.

Assuming the primary stat was set at an away setting of 60F the safety one would be set at 65F. Both would call for heat until the primary one cut out and heating would stop. If the primary stat locked on the temp would rise to 65F when the backup stat would cut out.

Water is off. Chance of a problem building over time is low. It gets checked occasionally.

In your scenario if either thermostat failed open, you lose all heat. You doubled your odds of a problem. Admittedly small as thermostats don't often fail but still doubled.

 

[crankcall]

Our ins is check every 30days , a lot could happen in 30 days .

3 guys I work with have houses in Ellicottville NY for skiing , they couldn't get there for months, good thing they partnered with a local to check the places. Even so last fall the icemaker supply line on the fridge let go, claim is about 35K US . At least they had an email thread with dates it had been checked. 1/4" tube coughs up a lot over a couple days

 

[mimico_polak]

I thought cottages had to be checked every five days for potential problems. An alarm would advise the local cottage guardsman.

A new cottage went up next to a friend's but the people didn't hire a local to check on it. They left heat and water on and a waterline broke, spraying water for ages before someone noticed the misted windows. Mold had set in and the cottage was condemned. Insurance wouldn't pay out because the place wasn't checked regularly.

Assuming the primary stat was set at an away setting of 60F the safety one would be set at 65F. Both would call for heat until the primary one cut out and heating would stop. If the primary stat locked on the temp would rise to 65F when the backup stat would cut out.

We had a flood in our cottage basement when the furnace gave out and line burst open.

Unfinished basement but water was down there and had to be pumped out so minimal actual damage.

Now we set the heat at 10C for the winter, and cut that water at the main valve. Followed by draining the entire system so minimal issue. No flood again in 10 years of doing that.

While I would love a nicer cottage further from the city, I can’t deny the benefit of Wasaga beach. Went on Thursday night to drop some stuff off up there… was home within 4 hours.

 

[timtune]

I thought cottages had to be checked every five days for potential problems. An alarm would advise the local cottage guardsman.

A new cottage went up next to a friend's but the people didn't hire a local to check on it. They left heat and water on and a waterline broke, spraying water for ages before someone noticed the misted windows. Mold had set in and the cottage was condemned. Insurance wouldn't pay out because the place wasn't checked regularly.

Assuming the primary stat was set at an away setting of 60F the safety one would be set at 65F. Both would call for heat until the primary one cut out and heating would stop. If the primary stat locked on the temp would rise to 65F when the backup stat would cut out.

Recently had this chat with my ins co since my son is going north for a year. Oddly they had no requirement that the place be checked on every XX days. That said they admit that doing so makes it easier when you have to make a claim.
Also you can change the policy to "vacant" or "unoccupied" ?? It's cheaper and they don't cover water damage.
Even going away for a few days we now turn off the water.

 

[mimico_polak]

Finally close to the end of buttoning this damn thing up…

 

[sburns]

Hey gang, could use your input on a situation my parents are dealing with.

They had a rental property (a bungalo), which the tenants recently left. They didn't take care of the place to well. They were smokers, they didn't smoke in the house but is still reeks. Also they must have not set the humidity correctly or the windows are just bad so there is mold over all the windows and one wall area (upper floor).

The problem my parents want to downsize and move into the bungalo. They plan to renovate it first. Basically gutting the upstairs.
My concern is the smoke and the mold and if they should fumigate the place first or something. The mold itself seems like surface mold and will be removed when it's gutted and windows replaced. But the smoke reek probably has contaiminated everything (furnace, ducts etc). I'm worried if they do not take some further precuations they might be endangering themselves.

 

[mimico_polak]

Unfortunately at this stage the only way to remove the mold is get rid of all the areas where it's evident. If they're gutting it anyway then it's an easy decision. You'll see the extent of it once you start tearing drywall down (or whoever else does it).

Once all the drywall is down, you can access the duct work and scope out the inside to see what the condition is. If there's no mould in there you should be good to go. Run the furnace for a while and just let it keep airing out.

As for the windows...I assume replacement is the only bet.

If they're not gutting some areas, the only way I found to work when I had smokers in the rental is a 100% wall/ceiling coverage with oil based primer coat twice. Then paint on top of that.

Went from yellowish walls from the smoker, to literal lab white colour (I hated it...but the tenant asked for 100% white).

 

[timtune]

Vinegar on the windows to remove mold.
An intense elbow grease session with whatever the net suggests to scrub the wall with followed by coat of "kilz" paint throughout.
Make for once pick up when the duct cleaning guys call.
I doubt there is serious danger to their health.
Went through most of this recently helping a buddy who's tennent smoked IN the unit.

 

[GreyGhost]

Hey gang, could use your input on a situation my parents are dealing with.

They had a rental property (a bungalo), which the tenants recently left. They didn't take care of the place to well. They were smokers, they didn't smoke in the house but is still reeks. Also they must have not set the humidity correctly or the windows are just bad so there is mold over all the windows and one wall area (upper floor).

The problem my parents want to downsize and move into the bungalo. They plan to renovate it first. Basically gutting the upstairs.
My concern is the smoke and the mold and if they should fumigate the place first or something. The mold itself seems like surface mold and will be removed when it's gutted and windows replaced. But the smoke reek probably has contaiminated everything (furnace, ducts etc). I'm worried if they do not take some further precuations they might be endangering themselves.

Ozone is your friend for smoke. To do a hotel room they throw in an industrial ozone generator for a day. Given the larger square footage it may take you more time but it's simple. See if you can rent one. The bigger the better. Leave the furnace fan on, turn off erv/exhaust fans. Put it on a timer or smart plug. You don't want to be in there with highly elevated ozone levels. Turn it off and wait awhile for ozone to drop before you go in. It won't kill you but it would be very unpleasant.

If they planned on renovations like pulling carpet or curtains, throw them out before you start the ozone. That will get rid of a giant pile of stink that frees up the ozone to attack harder to clean surfaces.

I would pull the moldy drywall before ozone too. Basically use ozone as a polish to clean up after you have manually done what you can.

 

[mimico_polak]

One of the problems with mold on the drywall is you don't know what's underneath...very likely that any type of insulation behind it is also moldy. Also the studs could be moldy....if you're really curious then cut out a 1'x1' or larger square to see.

My vote...pull the walls.

 

[mimico_polak]

So apparently I need a site plan, elevations etc if I want to get anything done by permit at my house...

Are these drawings that someone can do on their own? Or do I need to hire a $$ architect to get these done?

 

[sburns]

Thanks guys @mimico_polak @timtune @GreyGhost

 

[GreyGhost]

So apparently I need a site plan, elevations etc if I want to get anything done by permit at my house...

Are these drawings that someone can do on their own? Or do I need to hire a $$ architect to get these done?

Is the survey that you got when you bought your house legible? If you cam read it, that can make the basis for your site plan.

Most building departments will accept drawings you do or professionally prepared drawings. They don't want drawings made by a friend. Basically they want to point the liability finger at the homeowner or an insured company.

 

[mimico_polak]

Is the survey that you got when you bought your house legible? If you cam read it, that can make the basis for your site plan.

Most building departments will accept drawings you do or professionally prepared drawings. They don't want drawings made by a friend. Basically they want to point the liability finger at the homeowner or an insured company.

I’ll go through the sales docs this week to see…but wouldn’t mind creating a proper and updated plan.

But I might omit Kevin’s fence work

 

[matthew]

Hey gang, could use your input on a situation my parents are dealing with.

They had a rental property (a bungalo), which the tenants recently left. They didn't take care of the place to well. They were smokers, they didn't smoke in the house but is still reeks. Also they must have not set the humidity correctly or the windows are just bad so there is mold over all the windows and one wall area (upper floor).

The problem my parents want to downsize and move into the bungalo. They plan to renovate it first. Basically gutting the upstairs.
My concern is the smoke and the mold and if they should fumigate the place first or something. The mold itself seems like surface mold and will be removed when it's gutted and windows replaced. But the smoke reek probably has contaiminated everything (furnace, ducts etc). I'm worried if they do not take some further precuations they might be endangering themselves.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/zi...ce-primer-sealer-stain-killer-3-7l/1000123343

They may need an ozone generator as well

 

[nobbie48]

Is the survey that you got when you bought your house legible? If you cam read it, that can make the basis for your site plan.

Most building departments will accept drawings you do or professionally prepared drawings. They don't want drawings made by a friend. Basically they want to point the liability finger at the homeowner or an insured company.

I think it goes by municipality but that's what my daughter had to do. The city would accept her sketches for a porch rebuild but not drawings by the contractor. Without her sketches an architect would have added a couple of thou to the job. They also wanted survey for 90 year old house for a rebuild on the same footprint. Another grand or so. Fortunately a neighbour had just done the adjoining property and there was enough info there.

Lazy buck passers.

 

[matthew]

Is the survey that you got when you bought your house legible? If you cam read it, that can make the basis for your site plan.

Most building departments will accept drawings you do or professionally prepared drawings. They don't want drawings made by a friend. Basically they want to point the liability finger at the homeowner or an insured company.

I used to review drawings for residential service (water, sewer, storm) connections for an upper tier municipality in the GTA.

We accepted legible, hand drawn submissions from home owners. Generally, the drawings were very straight forward since we only care about what goes on between the property line and the infrastructure in the road. As long as all the measurements are provided and whatever standards are in place are noted (25mm copper K for water, for example), we would approve that.

Drawings for "internal" upgrades would be at the mercy of the lower tier municipality. Usually those would be from an architect or survey company because the home owners would be demolishing their home, or keeping one wall up which made it an "upgrade" and would require much greater detail than what we required.

 

[GreyGhost]

I used to review drawings for residential service (water, sewer, storm) connections for an upper tier municipality in the GTA.

We accepted legible, hand drawn submissions from home owners. Generally, the drawings were very straight forward since we only care about what goes on between the property line and the infrastructure in the road. As long as all the measurements are provided and whatever standards are in place are noted (25mm copper K for water, for example), we would approve that.

Drawings for "internal" upgrades would be at the mercy of the lower tier municipality. Usually those would be from an architect or survey company because the home owners would be demolishing their home, or keeping one wall up which made it an "upgrade" and would require much greater detail than what we required.

An acquaintance that lives in toronto wants to redo their back deck. They are using a contractor. Contractor requires a permit as it is attached to the house but won't/can't do the drawings. I am going to try to convince them to float the deck to avoid the permit. If that doesn't work, I will spin up a reference drawing for them that they can use to hand draw something for submission. Spending money for official drawings for a small deck 18" off the ground with no significant loading like a hottub is stupid.

 

[matthew]

An acquaintance that lives in toronto wants to redo their back deck. They are using a contractor. Contractor requires a permit as it is attached to the house but won't/can't do the drawings. I am going to try to convince them to float the deck to avoid the permit. If that doesn't work, I will spin up a reference drawing for them that they can use to hand draw something for submission. Spending money for official drawings for a small deck 18" off the ground with no significant loading like a hottub is stupid.

Red tape keeps me employed but I hate it.

Definitely sway them for a floating deck.