The DeLorean's are available. Didn't a 2p2er build one?

Been in my house a month and am in demo mode with a bathroom remodel mixed in.

A week from now a concrete contractor comes out to take out about a third of my walk out slab to reinforce the exterior foundation as it's bowing out a bit and lay a footer for the new support pole. I think I posted the picture of the post that's in the middle of the master bathroom. We're moving it into the wall so we need a new footer to support it.

I have lots of pics if anyone is interested.

I forgot, the lower level needs about 28 can lights. In the kitchen in my old house I put these in:

https://www.build.com/product/summar...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

and they're awesome because when you dim they actually get warm like an incandescent but I'm open to other options. My youngest wants the fancy version:

https://www.build.com/product/summar...17?uid=4089621

because you can do any color you want with the app. Seems expensive!

This is the correct answer. Cant remember offhand what I set them to but I used these:

https://www.amazon.com/Lithonia-Ligh...7MN5N8H5&psc=1

Came home from vacation to an 80 degree house. Outside compressor was running wild and doing his best but absolutely no air coming from the vents. Tried just setting the fan to ON and nothing.

Off to the HVAC supply. Bought a 5mfd cap for $4.32 hoping against all hope it would jump start the fan but no joy. Opened up the cabinet (2007 Trane XL80) and pulled out a filthy, original 1/3hp motor that was frozen solid. Back to the supply house, $127.55 and 90 mins later cool air is flowing again!

I don't know bro, seems easier to just let Dale from AAAirconditioning take a couple weeks to sort things out.

I find her quiet time and I ACT.

Edit: And apparently you would be next!

I've got some water damage/deterioration on my chimney. In the past couple of weeks I've contacted about 15 masonry contractors who do chimney restoration. I've heard back from five of them. A couple said they'd get back to me with quotes based on pics (see below) but never did. A couple looked at pics and asked for my address so they could give me a quote, but then I never heard back from them. One gave me a quote and then when I asked him if he had liability insurance, he said he'd get something from his provider and send it to me ASAP. That was a few days ago.

Not sure what to do at this stage. Do I just keep googling masons in the area and contacting them? I'm down to random names with a phone number that show up in a directory.

Should I see if the guy who seems like he doesn't have insurance will still do it? Or keep cycling through my list of masons who look a little more legit? I assume the job is too small and they've got enough work, but maybe things slow down enough that eventually one of them will do it.


Do I just wait until the damage gets bad enough that it's worth someone's time?

Have you contacted your insurance company? Maybe there's a path for you to pay the mason, and them to reimburse you. If that's affordable, of course.

Sorry, I meant I asked the mason if he had liability insurance, and he said sure, I'll send you something from my insurance company, and then he ghosted me.

Where are you located Greg? You appear to have some spalling near the top and on one side of the chimney. It doesn’t look all that bad. If you tackle it now you could probably get away with just a new cap and some patching.

It could of course be worse than what my non mason eyes see in the photo though. The chimney will deteriorate faster if you live in a climate with hard freezes.

Your state/city should have a “masonry institute” that can probably point you in the direction of competent contractors. (They will at the very least be licensed/insured/dues paying members)

That's basically what the mason who initially agreed to do the work said. "I am seeing spalling brick due to water damage from the cap. The cap will need to be replaced with proper drip edges to help water run off. It also appears the top few courses of brick need to be replaced."

I am in Ontario Canada, so yes we get hard freezes. There is an Ontario Masonry Contractors’ Association, but they only have 12 members. But my problem isn't finding masons as much as finding any mason who will take a job this small.

Well my next recommendation would be to call your local brickyard and ask if they have any recommendations. Or if you just show up to one, contractors usually leave business cards. Most of these guys that do small chimneys like this stay busy with just word of mouth and don’t have need for advertising or websites. Lots of old timers (in my experience).

If you look up Brampton brick dealers you’ll find something near you that MAY be able to help. That’s the only Canadian brick company I know so there may be more places.

Also you can try following up with the guys that you’ve talked to. Folks with small jobs need to stay on co tractors asses these days or they get forgotten about.

Thanks, there is a brick and masonry supplier in town so maybe I'll check that out.

volunteer to become a student project with licensed instructor oversight
https://ontariomasonrytrainingcentre.com/

He might actually get it done if he does.

It's really a weird time, there's plenty of work, yet no one wants to pay for it.

Then contractors will cut each others bids to get the job yet they all have enough for several months to come.

I remember my dad mentioned a similar time in the late 60s, early 70s.

He said all it accomplished was everyone getting plenty of work, nobody made any money.

One of the guys got back to me last night and came this morning to have a look and I'm going to go with him, so problem solved in under a day after posting here.

Glad we could help.

I wish I had a fire place...

I wish I didn't.

Those masons always say tons of crap is wrong.

The ones I've talked to more recently say to get a cover than covers the whole thing.

discovered grandparents chimney was a tomb for squirrel mummies when we converted it to an insert to heat the house

This chimney just vents the water heater

Whew! We may not be smart, but we are fast and efficient!

Got rid of mine--or at least the chimney--when we replaced shingles with a metal roof. The chimney was the source of endless hard to trace leaks, and nobody seemed to be able to flash it properly. We had never lit it in 20+ years of living here. IMO it had been opened to the wrong room--on a wall with a den (open to the kitchen) and the living room on the other side of the wall. I can understand it being there before an addition was built, but not now. We might have been able to open it to the living room, but with as little use as it would get in the SE US, we just knocked the chimney off and my wife has a hearth, fireplace, and mantle to decorate how she wants. Win/win!

I've come to believe, at least where we live, a fireplace is a big waste of space. Since we've lived here (4 years) I think it's been on twice - with the first time being turning it on to make sure it works. The outdoor fire pit, though, is awesome.

I had a fireplace in my condo +10 years ago, never used, except with candles for ambiance. If I had stayed there, I would have done everything I could to minimize it's footprint in my living room. Took up a yuge amount of space, in a strategic corner location, basically eliminating two walls from usefulness. I'd seen some remo's in the same complex that severely limited the impact of the fireplace, and would have gone that route if it were still mine.

But I also suspect the wood-burning fireplace might have been a selling point.

Gas fireplace here, with built-in shelves around it, in the family room (I guess you'd call it). It was kind of nice before I had the basement finished, as that was the TV room. If I was up late on a weekend, could pop on the fireplace to warm up just that area after the furnace went down for the night.

Now, the TV is in the basement, and I can't stay up that late any more. Turned off the pilot and valve in the fireplace ~15 years ago. No idea if it would spark if I opened it back up.

bunch of fire donks itt, smdh