Home Improvement/Repair Questions

[mudpuppy]

We have a permanently mounted propane heater in the garage.  It hangs from the ceiling, with a chimney going straight up through the roof.  Whoever installed it was a moron because they didn't flash the chimney, and it leaked.  But I flashed it myself after I bought the house.

I'm thinking about putting a wood stove in the barn, since I have more wood than I know what to do with.  The barn is about 150 yards from the propane tank and I'm not going to run a line that far.  Not sure on what the codes require though, so thinking about just hiring someone to install to be legit.  But if it's not code I suppose I could just pull it out if I decide the sell the house.

 

[Road Guy]

man i need a barn!

So I went back to Jax and someone bought the heater I was going to get  you snooze you lose!   

Wife not down with the wood stove in garage - I'm going to hit up some other places this weekend for the large propane heater.  The previous owner had the garage insulated and sheetrocked so it will hold some heat - but its a 12 ft ceiling and it takes a while to heat up.

 

[Master slacker]

I'm thinking about putting a wood stove in the barn, since I have more wood than I know what to do with.

 

[jeb6294]

So the bandaid on our sewer lateral finally gave out.  The place that TV-ed the line came up with an estimate of $5,500 but they're talking about replacing 24-ft.  That seems like a lot of overkill based on what I'm looking at.  From my math our lateral is at ~6% slope (2'-4" and 2'-10" depths are what their equipment showed, the approximate lengths are what I measured).  My thought is to run the existing lateral out to the edge of the patio staying at 6% and put in a cleanout, new pipe at a straight shot over to another cleanout where the pipe's at 2'-10" deep.  I'm coming up with a slope of 3% which is well above the 2% minimum.  For safety sake, I'm also assuming the pipe is offset by a full 4" under the patio although last time I opened the cleanout in the basement, it was probably half that.

Before I call a couple more places for estimates, am I missing/overlooking anything?

 

[Road Guy]

That does seem high for what is basically some pipe!  

 

[MA_PE]

Don’t tell me K/I means cast-iron <smh>.
tunneling under the porch will add cost and if they’ve got to bring in equipment it’s probably $2500 to mobilize.  I’ve interested in your other estimates.  I’m looking at doing something similar near Boston.   A few years ago they threw out a number of ~$4k

 

[jeb6294]

A while ago we had someone come out to clear the line.  They gave us an estimate of $4,200 at the time to put a cleanout in outside the house, but they were also talking about cutting the line inside the basement and boring a new hole through the wall.  I called them but had to leave a message and haven't heard back yet.  They're a small company and, coincidentally, the dad and son both live right across the street from our neighborhood.  When they were out last time, they just drove their mini-excavator over.

Someone from the insurance is supposed to be by Friday afternoon, although I'm not sure why since they already said it wouldn't be covered.  Supposed to be someone else coming Friday afternoon to give us an estimate too.

 

[Road Guy]

I was talking to my dad, who had his line redone a few years back, ( from the house to the street) I dont know the distance but he is in Tampa and said it was around $5 grand (if that helps).  He also had to have a medium sized tree removed and he didnt recall if that was part of it or not. (old people)

I have been wanting to make a propane fire pit on the backdeck for a while, I was going to make the base out of small landscape blocks, fill it with "lava" rocks and add one of these things to it:  https://www.bbqguys.com/lakeview-outdoor-designs/30-inch-linear-drop-in-pan-w-24-inch-propane-t-burner-connection-kit?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=1757301804&utm_content=341652417329&utm_term=3054192&species=shopping-ad-smart&campaignid=1757301804&adgroupid=67470556263&creative=341652417329&targetid=pla-815888636606&network=u&device=c&adtype=&productchannel=online&productid=3054192&productpartitionid=815888636606&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2a-a3__v5wIVxICfCh2-Og5uEAYYAiABEgKlA_D_BwE

Seems rather straightforward?

 

[jeb6294]

Assuming all my math is right, it should only be 10-12 feet of new pipe and two cleanouts and nothing too complicated...I don't know that I would call it 'tunneling' when the lateral is only 2 feet deep and ~2-3 feet from the edge of the patio.

I took another look at the $5,500 estimate I got previously and one other thing I didn't see was any mention of the sidewalk.  If they were planning on replacing 24 feet of pipe they were definitely going beyond the sidewalk so I wonder if that included costs for ripping out and replacing a section of the sidewalk?

Apparently one of the places I called is on the ball though because when I got home yesterday there were a bunch of flags marking the gas and electric lines.

 

[Road Guy]

Wonder how bad it would be to just do yourself? Other than the "shit work" aspect of it.  You can probably rent a mini mini ex from Home Deport for a few hundred bucks?

 

[jeb6294]

I actually posted that same question here before when we got the bandaid put on.  We'll see what the guys coming this afternoon have to say...one of them is the guy who did the bandaid and he was pretty reasonable.

 

[jeb6294]

So, one guy came in at $3,900 and the other $3,300.  The first guy wants to take out a 3-ft section of the patio and replace the pipe from the break.  The cheaper guy wants to cut out around the pipe, pull it out and go with new PVC from the cleanout in the basement.  That would require taking out some of the walls in the finished basement, but those should probably be taken out anyway to clean up whatever creeping crud is now growing back there.  Still waiting to hear from the insurance guy.  Not holding my breath that they'll pay for the fix, but if they'll pay for the aftermath then maybe we can get the wall demo/replacement and new flooring aid for.

 

[Road Guy]

This was a good reminder for me to make sure I had  added on my policy to take care of the sewer line from the house to the City Connection (which I just verified)  cause ours is pretty deep- 8 ft below ground.

Hope you get some insurance relief!

 

[jeb6294]

We are not.

Insurance guy just called.  Even thought the water in the basement is from the broken pipe, once it leaves the perimeter of the house, they call it 'groundwater'.

Now I just have to decide which way I want to go.  Like going with new PVC from the basement, but not sure I like cutting/patching a hole in the foundation wall.  Not crazy about removing/replacing a chunk of the patio because 1)it'll never match, and 2)connecting PVC to the spot where it came apart still means there will be a potential breaking point under the concrete patio again.

 

[Supe]

I would go with the new PVC pipe.  Cutting a hole in the foundation wall is easy.  Core drill, slide in your PVC, expanding foam in the hole, sealant around the outside.  If its close to the ground, I've seen them flashed like roof vents.  Like you said, sectioning out a portion of the patio will probably look like shit.  

 

[Road Guy]

I think our 12 year old gas stove died. the stove top still works, trying to decide if I want to trouble shoot all weekend and change parts or just "uppgrade"...

 

[Master slacker]

The stove top works but the oven does not?  I guarantee (not valid in lower 48 states) that it's the bi-metal gas valve.  I've replaced one (easy) and the oven lasted for years.  Finally replaced the oven entirely since it wouldn't get up to or hold temperature and I wanted something that wasn't made in 1990.

 

[Road Guy]

that is what my internet research suggested also but the wife is all looking at new stoves like this:

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

that is what my internet research suggested also but the wife is all looking at new stoves like this:

^that was me when our oven died LOL 

shame it wasn't possible to replace with a gas version lol 

 

[leggo PE]

New stoves are crap, from what I can tell. My apartment has an original 1950s Wedgewood gas stove and it is amazing!