Home Improvements

[Diomedes]

Good value.  My plumber's rate is $100 per hour, which is very reasonable.  He doesn't charge me a minimum.  I'd have gotten the same bill basically, and been happy to pay it.

When giving customers an estimate on plumbing costs, we often tell them to be prepared for $125 per hour (for a plumber with helper).

[SD]

I figure the spout/plumbers pliers/caulk would run me $50 so I was happy to pay the $200 to have it done by a professional. He told me a few things to look for in the future, like the pipe was installed with a shark bite and not soldered meaning don't yank the spout because the shark bite isn't as strong as the soldered pipe.

[Diomedes]

Not mentioned...did all this fix the problem?  That is, your diverter was fouled and now that you've replaced it, all is well?

[Tomahawk]

I wonder if pb blast or something similar would have allowed you to get it off

[Diomedes]

I my experience, pb blast is great but you need time to let it work

[SD]

Not mentioned...did all this fix the problem?  That is, your diverter was fouled and now that you've replaced it, all is well?

Yeah works great. Even when the shower head was working water was still coming out of the spout, now it's all being rerouted to the shower head.

[SD]

Ditched building a deck out back with something bigger in mind. Looking at adding a patio enclosure to the back of my house. I have a concrete slab so the foundation is there. My buddy said we could do it in the $5-7k range.

[Diomedes]

Concrete slab and foundation are not the same thing.

Slab is probably just 4" concete on compacted CR6.

Foundation is a footer of concrete reinforced with steel, set below frost depth, and built up to grade with block. 

Building on just a slab is asking for trouble.

[SD]

Even if it's just a basic patio enclosure? Im not looking to build anything extravagant, just 3 walls with windows and a roof. Probably throw vinyl matting on the floor. I see a lot of them in my neighborhood...same unit type.

[hbionic]

Even if it is a simple enclosure, you still has a load to bear (like T-Hawk's mom). Common mistake I see is people putting simple enclosures on their 'slabs' (see Sarge's mom). Things settle, and over time, plus weight of rain & snow, that slab will crack and settle and you'll have to lay a proper foundation for it anyway.

Dio, am I close to being right?

[Diomedes]

Yeah, I wouldn't build even a lightweight enclosed porch directly on just a simple at-grade slab.  4 inches of non-reinforced concrete is insufficient o bear the load of a roof system, walls and windows, with a snow load/wind load, etc.  What's more, you've got frost to worry about.  Freezing and thawing moves that slab.  If you put a structure on it, the frost don't care, it will still move the whole thing, (which if I take your "3 walls" comment correctly, will be attached to your house,).  Now you've got a slab with a load on it from above, and effectively a counter-veiling lift from the frost heave.  That's not good.   I think what's likely to happen is that you'll have a broken slab and uneven settling,  doors and windows hitching up or not closing, roof leaks,  etc.  At that point, there's no fixing the doors and windows so they work well..the whole thing is tweaked. 

If you want an enclosed porch, support it properly.  Dig and pour a footer, or piers and beams, etc.

[SD]

Thanks for the advice 👍

He's away this weekend at a wedding but we're going to the same BBQ tomorrow. He has a jackhammer and everything needed to lay a solid foundation. I'm assuming he factored that into the cost. He only mentioned structural costs so I assumed the concrete patio was sufficient.

[Diomedes]

If the slab is heavier, or if it's got steel in it, that's better.  I still wouldn't feel good about it until I had the structure supported by something that goes below frost.   Then I'd at least know that it's not going be be lifted (and dropped) by the freeze cycle.

[smeags]

Even if it's just a basic patio enclosure? Im not looking to build anything extravagant, just 3 walls with windows and a roof. Probably throw vinyl matting on the floor. I see a lot of them in my neighborhood...same unit type.

check the township for the slab plans. It may have had footers put in. if not, you probably do need to put them in to be in code.

[smeags]

re-did my lil guys bedroom over the weekend. new paint with wainscoting and installed a new rug.

now onto taking out the bay window. original to the house its long overdue to be replaced. this thing is huge, so while i'm still up in the air on what I am putting back in, no matter what, it will be smaller.