There is 0% they rip that up.

I need a wider shot for context, but there's no way that much curve was a mistake. You sound excessively triggered because NOT A STRAIGHT LINE. Somebody made that decision with intent.

Isn't he talking about the sidewalk beyond the foreground curve?

I wasn't sure where his issue was but if you are correct there is even less chance they rip up close to 300' of sidewalk because it's 'not straight'. It's really crazy to want or think they would.

Sure, of course it's somewhere between doubtful to wishful thinking.

But anyway, I read his post again and he's clearly not talking about the foreground curve. He's specifically talking about the section after the foreground curve, which I have to admit looks bendy for no real reason.

Re the sidewalk

I don't freak out.

I don't mind the legit curve right where you took the picture, but the general meandering down the sidewalk looks bad. It wouldn't bother me though.

It appears to me as if the old sidewalk was along the line of the section that was ripped out to the right of the new sidewalk in the picture.

I agree there is 0% chance they redo it. I would be ok with it as I am not obsessed about straight lines, but it isn't my street.

One of the burdens of having been in trades is a better eye for this stuff. I probably would not have noticed the sidewalk or cared much, but I see every flaw in trim work in my own house and every other building and it tilts me.

Absolutely.

The City can do whatever they want on City property... well, within reason. Configuration of a sidewalk is definitely within the City's purview.

I hate painting more than I hate vinyl siding.

I'd be more accepting of vinyl siding if they stopped trying to make it look like wood. It doesn't. It's plastic. It looks like plastic. Just embrace that and go with it.

+1 to hating vinyl siding. I'd go with almost any alternative and there are other finishes that don't need painting. Cost is certainly a factor, but I'd be pretty loathe to put up vinyl regardless. If I had a house with vinyl siding already on it though I wouldn't change it.

Guess the consensus is that I'm off base. Fair enough. And no, of course I wasn't talking about the intentional curve in the foreground.

The city is the customer here, it's the contractor that messed it up. I'm positive that what was built was not to the specs the city laid out. I'm just tilted by the needless incompetence.

I think you got a pretty nice side walk. Compare it with this:

So may AC has been out for a week or so and I've had 2 guys (both of which were recommended to me) come out and take a look at it.

The first guy came out and the outside unit sounded like it was trying to come on, but couldn't and the fan wasn't moving. He said I either needed coolant or it was something else (I forgot now what he said I needed but he said it would be $380 where the coolant would only be $80). So being a cheap ass I said let's try the coolant and if that doesn't work I'll call you back - so he fills it up with coolant.

I go out of town and get back to turn on the AC and it doesn't work. So I call him back and ask what was the other thing that needed to be replaced if it wasn't the coolant and how much is it (I was trying to make sure he wouldn't try to increase the price after he put it in). He said he didn't remember and didn't take notes which I thought was odd. So I said screw that guy and move on to the next AC guy.

The next guy came today and couldn't find anything wrong. The fan on the outside unit was working as everything else seemed to be. However, I spoke with this guy 24 hrs before he came and he said to leave the AC off so I did. What I've noticed these past few days is if I turn my AC off for a few hours then turn it back on it works for an hour or so.

So I went out there after he left with a buddy that knows about random **** but not necessarily AC units. He thinks the fan motor needs to be replaced because the fan isn't running and the motor is hot enough to cook a steak on.

Also, when the 2nd AC guy was out here he was feeling the vents around the house and in one of my basement vents he opened it and a bunch of leaves and other **** that comes from trees came out. We opened up the vent and found two solid handfuls of this stuff.

Questions:
1. Does it seem reasonable to think it is just a bad fan motor?

2. The first guy sent me a bill for $80 for coming out and another $80 to fill the coolant. Does that seem fair/ should I fight it?

3. How the hell do leaves get into the AC ducts? An animal?

1. Sounds like a bad capacitor. The motor may be bad now, if it's been trying to start, and overheating repeatedly.

2. Depending on what kind of refrigerant it uses, 80 bucks is cheap. In theory, you should never need to add any. It's a sealed system. In reality, stuff wears out, leaks may develop. You should never add any just to add it. Just as it won't cool if it's undercharged, it won't cool right if it's over charged.

3. I've never seen leaves or anything like that in the actual ducts, so I can't comment on that. I have seen leaves and debris in higher efficiency furnaces that get pulled in through the intake pipe.

Maybe time to hire an actual HVAC tech.

Sounds like a cap/motor

you can always make responsible choices...if you choose to not make them because they cost a little bit more that's a YOU problem.
in the PNW it's very easy to get your power from hydro, wind or solar.
if you happen to have fallen into the diamond trap, there are still multiple options to buy ones that don't come from places of conflict.

as for your football comment...if you don't see the difference between consciously choosing to play a sport with the potential to make millions of dollars and having no financial choice but to live in the general area of a plant the manufactures PVC and suffering the associated health effects.....then i just don't know what to say. that's such a horrible analogy.

to be clear this isn't just about vinyl siding....it also includes vinyl windows and VCT (vinyl composition tile) flooring

i totally recognize i'm coming across as very preachy, but vinyl is not good folks. please avoid it if you can.

Hmm, so we got a quote for a new 2-car detached garage (28ft by 20ft, 14ft ceiling) @ 64K. Is this still reasonable? I'm wondering if contractors are just assuming we're rich because of the neighborhood (which we are not) and marking prices up accordingly or expects to use more expensive material, etc. The contractor did imply that some of the things he would do in cheaper neighborhoods wouldn't be appropriate here (as part of a general conversation, not specifically related to the garage in particular, since his company does home-building) without going into details.

I'm aware professional football players get paid considerably more than a pvc manufacturer. At the end of the day though, you're paying for a product that shortens people's lives. When you consider all that money they make you aren't considering all the high school and college players with aspirations to make all that money who end up with nothing but a high chance of CTE.

You can always make responsible choices, if you choose not to make them it's a YOU problem.

But for real, my point wasnt one of dismissing the dangers of pvc. It was that almost all of our purchases have consequences and we need to deal with them on a case by case basis. I had no idea pvc production was dangerous to employees. I appreciate that you brought it to my attention. After cursory research I'm also surprised by how much stuff is made with pvc.

At this rate, this has to be a lot higher right? I'm guessing something like this now:

Finish basement = 50K
Kitchen reno = 50K
Add new bathroom = 20K
Reno existing bathroom = 11K
Backyard enhancements = 20K
New garage = 64K
Remove existing garage = 5K

= ~220K

Plus

Heating / AC ~ 37K (lowest estimate)
Siding / Windows ~ 35K (lower estimate, only replacing badly damaged windows)
Misc interior ~ 30K (most of it already spent)
Various other fixes 10K (about half it already spent)

= ~112K

Which comes to about 332K.

Is this really just how things are these days? I don't think believe we're getting high-end anything from any of the above. How do normal people live? I'm finding it difficult to understand the economics of all this, given that most Americans live in single family house, and most Americans don't make much money. Is the very act of undertaking significant renovation without doing most things yourself and hiring legitimate, licensed contractors some kind of luxury consumption? At least where we are, the economics sort of make sense because our purchase price + 332K still doesn't buy anything out of the ordinary around here. But how do things work in areas where houses sell for around 300-400K? Do people just do the absolute minimum and buy the cheapest everything? Is renovation an instant money loser in those areas?

Thanks you and deezy for the responses.

Your thought that the fan motor overheated due to it trying start so often seems logical.

I never heard anything about a refrigerant or any other kind of leak so I thought it was a little odd, but since he said it was a chance that was the problem and it was cheaper I went that route.

When the AC guy saw debris he thought an animal somehow made its way in there. Not sure how that would happen though, but considering how odd it is I guess that could be a reasonable conclusion. However, the debris found isn't what I usually associate with a bird nest (there wasn't straw, grass or any light debris besides leafs and those little things that helicopter when they fall from trees) and no idea why a squirrel would drag that type of stuff in either.

**** adds up fast but a couple things from California....

I'm like 40 miles outside LA and your avg 1500 sq' home is $400k and it might be updated for resale but low quality stuff. Most homes don't need HVAC, they have attached garages, the exterior is decent shape and it's more wood siding or stucco. Also, don't have basements. So most everything you need done isn't on home owners list.

A lot of homeowners want the cheapest fastest thing, few want custom cabinets and would rather just get chinese pre-fabricated cabinets. Some don't care or know the difference in quality and look. Also, most people don't want to pay $30sq'-$40 for a good tile setter for their shower.

Does the East Coast not have heating and air units? Here you can get a HVAC unit with ducting and vents for like $15k maybe $20k if it's 2 story.

Yeah, seriously, and the house would still be nowhere near fully renovated to our liking after all that - attic would remain unfinished, a bunch of doors need to be replaced eventually, some walls need to be ideally knocked down and living/dining rooms reconfigured, 50K covers in-place kitchen renovation, but not extension of what's a relatively small kitchen, ideally we'd want to extend the house, etc.

This must be forced hot air? The quote we had (37K) was for AC + hydronic forced air (with 2 zones), where the the heat comes from water boiler, but distributed throughout the house using the same duct system as the AC. It's appealing to us because no matter how nice the covers, baseboard heaters look ridiculous and get in the way of everything.

Got a quote of ~33K for a slightly larger garage (28x24) from an Amish prefab garage builder (for end-to-end work including site preparation and foundation, or at least so they claim) - should we expect a significant difference in quality between prefab and stick-built for a garage? I think the builder's quote from earlier is significantly influenced by the fact that they have lots of other profitable opportunities in the area and don't really want to take on a relatively small job due to opportunity cost. A little nervous about not using a local contractor for something that requires all kinds of approvals though.

Also, anyone have experience with getting a variance? Apparently the zoning code doesn't allow us to build a garage where we want to

Really appreciate all the help btw guys!