Is it still capped on top? Biggest concern would be squirrel or bird nests or other blockage, its highly unlikely your flue is too dirty to enjoy a small fire. Watch for smoke in places it's not supposed to be; the real value for a chimney sweep is in the inspection, not the actual cleaning

my home has a drywell to handle storm water run off from downspout/gutters. it is concrete and underground in backyard.

the drywell is full of water and not draining. this leads to downspouts getting backed up in periods of heavy rain and soggy back yard.

house is 11 years old but to best of my knowledge prior owner did not do any cleaning and likely limited gutter maintenance.

i've had drain guys come in to hydrojet the pipe that runs to the well, and run a cam and ensure it is not a pipe issue.

does anyone have any thoughts on the issue and likely best outcome? and also, who would you call - have heard suggestions ranging from landscaper to septic pump co.

thanks for your thoughts

How does it drain? Leech field in the yard or??

yes that’s my understanding. gravel pit where the tank is supposed to gradually filter down into the soil.

when this first started I thought it was a gutter issue, then suspected a drain issue and now not certain who to call. I have a landscape design guy coming out on fri but imagine he will pitch me on abandoning the drywell in lieu of some other system.

Personally, I would start by pumping out the drywell and seeing where the issue is. Buy a utility pump from menards or somewhere and pump it out. Have you had a lot of rain lately? Maybe the water table is just that high right now that it can't drain? If you put a pump in there and it stays full, you'll have your answer. If you are able to pump it dry then you should be able to investigate further. If you are going to call someone else to handle it, I would start with a septic company to have them pump it out and find the reason behind it not draining. They will have all the equipment needed. A landscaping company will not help you.

I finally got a Ring doorbell and a Ring floodlight. Pretty cool products. I have to adjust the settings a little but I highly recommend them.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether a frameless door for a bathub is a good idea or not. I think it looks cool, but it seems like it's not often done. Obviously it will cost more, but any other reasons not to do it?

The one I've used a fair amount is nice but it's hard to not get a little water on the floor.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/viwnvqfBne87J8eX9

This is what we did in the remodel i mentioned a few months back, we talked about doing a doorless shower but had concerns about water getting out, 3 feet is too narrow IMO.

(Plus gives me a chance to show off the finished product! )

Everyone mentioned the door as a great compliment to the shower who has seen it.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk

Looks very nice!

Excellent look! Doorless would have been a mistake in that space and you guys did well

Just to clarify, my question was about frameless door on a bathub.

I think frameless door on a shower is great.


Looks great, Eeyorefora

Considering remodeling the second floor of my house from 2 bedrooms, and a very small 1/2 bath into a master suite, with a full bath and some walk in closet space. Never been involved with contractors before so I could use some advice from the thread.

Relevant Facts, House is ~ 70 years old. I bought 2 years ago, plan to own for at least 10 more years. 4 rooms, 1 full bath downstairs and the 1/2 upstairs. Plan would be to take out every interior wall upstairs, move some windows around and add full bathroom and some closet space.

Anything I should be sure to look out for when pitching this to contractors? Any advice on the process. Opinions on losing a bedroom for a master suite? Budget is ~50K. Thanks!

If your real budget is 50k, work with a 30-35k budget when talking with general contractors.

$50k will go a long way in Vietnam, no?

Also, I bet some of those walls upstairs are supporting the roof. That part could be pretty expensive.

This sounds like a more than $50K job to me, even if none of the walls are load-bearing. For reference, I had one non load-bearing wall removed and one built, demoed the old bathroom and the floor of the "hot tub room" that got added to the bathroom, and then had it all rebuilt as a large bathroom and a hallway, and that cost $40K.

And I took the lowest of three bids. The highest was $60K.

Thanks for the input y'all.

I don't believe any of the walls are load bearing. Will be getting it quoted over the next month or so.

+400 kwH for the month of october from my solar system. curious to see what the output will be like during the winter months, but wish i pulled the trigger on this a couple months earlier now..

I helped my neighbor clean out his drywell last year. You wouldn’t believe how much sediment accumulates that gets washed in with the rainwater. We took about 3 feet out. It was actually like really rich, dark compost/soil. You might give that a look.

microbet, can you summarize any rebates you are aware of in regards to battery backups? ca, pg&e

Still considering it and figure I should check things out before years end.

Here is where i'm at so far with the solar...



oh and...

I believe it's the same federal tax credit as for solar - 30% and goes down to 26% next year. I don't think PG&E has any rebate for it now.

Btw, I may have recommended LG Chem batteries before, but heard some bad things* about them a couple days ago and have cooled on them. I may be looking to Pika.

*there was a problem that ruined the batteries. It may have been caused by the battery pack and may have been caused by the inverter, but it was an approved configuration - and LG wouldn't honor the warranty. (Homeowner isn't eating it though, the installer is. It wasn't me, but I will probably end up doing the replacement.)

Update - so after multiple wrangles with my insurer, new roof incoming for 96K, and we're going to sort out the drywall stuff in the spring. Of course, since they screwed around with this since May, start date is Dec. 15 - so if we have any real snow, they'll tarp the skylights and get after it in March or so. So it's gonna be a 12 - 18 month project, at least.

MM MD

Anyone have any experience in selling a house "for sale by owner"? I am leaning towards using one of those flat fee listing companies to get it on the MLS and offering any buyer's agent a 2.5% commission. I see no reason to use a listing agent when the only thing they will do for me is get it on the MLS and handle paperwork during closing. I can use a layer for that and save thousands in commission. Am I missing something?