BG Homeowner and DIY Thread - Out of the Basement Edition

[archibaldcrane]

Really nice job Kirin.

[Fondue]

on a 0-10 scale whats the difficulty of removing carpet from a basement and doing some kind of epoxy seal on the concrete?

[archibaldcrane]

Removing carpet+pad is very easy. There might be pad residue/chunks stuck to the floor underneath which is annoying to scrape off but not the end of the world.

No idea about concrete floor sealing.

[Jaybar]

Epoxy seal is not terrible, but requires a lot of prep work. Any grease, oil, or glue residue from the carpet will inhibit the epoxy seal from adhering to the concrete and you will find spots peeling away within a year.

You should check the condition of the concrete in a non conspicuous area to see the finish of the surface (just peel back the carpet from the wall). If it looks really rough then you might need a light topping to smooth the surface (usually 2" concrete toppings are placed over foundation slabs for this reason). But if it looks really smooth then you should be good.

Overall rank: 7/10 [or 3/10 if you don't give a fuck.]

[Byrthnoth]

My neighbor has poison ivy and thus I have poison ivy. Specifically, there is a tree between our properties that is on either his land or another neighbor's and has inch-thick poison ivy growing up it. The setup is weird, but it is only accessible from my land. I have been talking to him about it for a while and decided to take matters into my own hands this Sunday partially as a birthday present to my wife who cares even more and partially because I can see it is moving towards making berries.

I have now confirmed beyond all doubt that it was poison ivy, as I have about a square inch of poison ivy rash on my arm. I know I was already on legally unstable ground going and removing it from a tree that I don't own, but does anyone have a suggestion for how I can tactfully ask the neighbors to let me eradicate it from their properties?

[Tokitoki]

"Yo you got a bunch of poison ivy and I'm worried its going to keep spreading. Can I just get rid of it for you?"

If someone offered to remove the poison ivy from my yard I wouldn't stop them unless that meant they cut down everything it was attached to.

[archibaldcrane]

Yeah just ask, they'll probably be happy to let you deal with that nightmare

[Kirin]

Also, now that its starting to get cooler be aware of the hairy vines without leaves. Thats still poison ivy and the bark of the vines has as much if not more of the oil than the leaves/stems.

[Byrthnoth]

Yeah okay they agreed quite easily.

I have dealt with poison ivy before and know about its vines, not to burn it, etc. However, I did not realize before now that it's leaves could reach 6 inches long. I am used to its crawling on the ground size. Its water requirements also seem to be more substantial than English ivy, because I cut the vines for both of them and the poison ivy has wilted way faster than English. I guess it makes sense with how waxy the English leaves are.

[Fondue]

house has an unfinished basement and the ceiling is all loose fiberglass insulation
I'm planning on using the basement more than the previous owners apparently and I would like to at the least cover that up with something

but I've also read you can just remove the insulation from the ceiling without too much loss too? I honestly dont particularly care about losing heat down to the basement from the house because I dont want it to be as cold as possible

not sure what to do with this- my brother has some rolls of some kind of fabric you can staple up to the floor joists to contain the insulation

[Jaybar]

If it has exposed floor joists you can just hang drywall to it, or if you want some better acoustics place resilient channels across the joists and attach the drywall to that. If you remove the insulation you'll probably have a lot of acoustical issues more than heat loss issues.

There are also energy conservation codes in effect that require a minimum amount of insulation between floors depending on your climate region. This only applies to districts that have adopted them and whether you apply for a building permit in the future.

If you just want to contain the insulation without installing a finished ceiling get any vapor permeable sheeting and staple it to the joists like you mentioned.

[Tyche]

If it gets really cold, you're going to essentially get radiant floor cooling from the basement. Cold floors suck in the winter.

[Tokitoki]

What do you gain by removing the insulation?

[Fondue]

its basically 1 open room + a 2 car garage separated only by a stairwell, I'm just going to have my weight bench and exercise equipment down there

I mainly dont want insulation raining down on me and I don't think I want to put up drywall right now- looking for a simple fix

[Jaybar]

Just contain it, don't remove it. Putting up burlap or something is easier than having to reinstall insulation. You won't lose heat to the basement, you'll just allow cooler air to flow easier to your finished floor areas. I.e. heat rises.

[Fondue]

easy enough, trying to get that done asap and then clean up after closing so we can just dump most of our stuff in the basement moving

[Buffy]

3 roof leaks: $1200 fix. Annoying.

[Jaybar]

Roofs are the worst. My father moved into a new townhome that got re-roofed before they moved in. There was a leak after the first rainstorm. The roofers never installed a flashing boot around a vent stack so water was just flowing down that penetration. Cheap contractors produce cheap results. Thankfully he didn't have to spend a dime because it was faulty work.

[Roranora]

3 roof leaks: $1200 fix. Annoying.

we were just quoted $1500 for the bitumen patching we need

we'll see this spring if it's a good job

[Buffy]

Anyone tried running a repair like this through their homeowners insurance? Is $1200 worth jumping through the hoops or just eat the cost and move on with your life?