Home Improvement/Repair Questions

[jeb6294]

We broke down and got a window A/C last night.  House has central air, but being 2-stories, the 2nd floor always feels hot.  Went in our bedroom, but we got an 8,000 btu so it has enough oomph to help cool more of the upstairs since our door is almost always open.

Did have to do a little DIY.  The side window in our bedroom is normal width (~30") but short.  Raising the lower sash, the opening is only 10".  Take the lower out all together and it's almost 14".  Since you're supposed to lower the window to hold the A/C in, I threw together a small wood beam to span the window.  We have vinyl windows and I also didn't like the full weight of the A/C resting on the one vinyl ridge along the window sill so I cut down another piece of wood to fit on the flat of the sill so the A/C has something solid to sit on.

 

[Supe]

Wife called this morning, water dripping from the ceiling.  Condensate pan in the attic was overflowing, and the float switch is apparently bad since it didn't kick off the unit.  FML...

 

[Road Guy]

let it run for at least a day so you can maximize $$ out of the insurance claim!

 

[Supe]

If we nip it now, I can probably get away with just some paint touch-up around the smoke alarm.  I'm in no mood to pay out a $1000 deductible and another hike in homeowner's insurance!

 

[snickerd3]

ac unit in the attic just sounds crazy to me.  they drip water and when they go, they go badly.  utility room on the lowest level preferably with floor drain present

 

[Supe]

ac unit in the attic just sounds crazy to me.  they drip water and when they go, they go badly.  utility room on the lowest level preferably with floor drain present

Two zones.  One unit is in the crawlspace under the house, the upstairs one is in the attic because there is no upstairs utility room/closet.  Because we have a garage bonus room, the ducting would be a PITA if it were anywhere else because of the fire break.

 

[Road Guy]

we had a toilet explode above our kitchen and also caught it early, but afterwards I was like, Fuck- I could have had a new kitchen!

 

[Supe]

This is the third ceiling leak I've had now.  One from junior completely flooding our bathroom (which resulted in a new kitchen ceiling, kitchen light fixtures, bathroom shower and floor), another from junior partially flooding her bathroom (showered with curtain outside the tub) that resulted in paint damage to the crown molding and header in the kitchen, and now this one!  State Farm damn near dropped me after the first tub incident, because I had a hail damage claim for a new roof just prior.

 

[Road Guy]

well you do sound like a habitual offender

We have state farm but have never had a house claim, but we had like softball size hail this week so maybe its time.

 

[Supe]

State Farm pissed me off on the first claim.  The hail damage happened AFTER my home inspection, but before I closed on the house.  State Farm didn't fight it with the other insurance company, so I got stuck eating it.  They claimed there was a second storm, even though it didn't reach that area, and therefore the time of damage was inconclusive.  

 

[Road Guy]

I have always heard state farm was one the hardest to get a free roof out of, one storm I think everyone on our street got a new roof but us - (back in GA)

 

[Supe]

They weren't a problem up front, but long story short, I missed the window to modify the claim by the time I actually had the roof replaced.  Consequently, I ate about a grand due to them shorting the square footage and not covering a SHITLOAD of rot in the underlying plywood that was found when the roof was stripped.  Builder never caulked the toe board holes.  Roofers commented it was the second worse roof they'd ever done - the first worst their guy actually fell through when he stepped on it.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Wife called this morning, water dripping from the ceiling.  Condensate pan in the attic was overflowing, and the float switch is apparently bad since it didn't kick off the unit.  FML...

I bet it's not.  Check it with a multimeter.  I get those condensate pan float switches in my lab all the time, and 90% of the time, they still work.  It may just be mis-wired to the AC.

 

[matt267 PE]

we had a toilet explode

Taco Bell? 

 

[Road Guy]

Lol -no but seriously the guts on the inside of the toilet are only good for like 5 years - defin worth replacing ever so often

 

[Supe]

I bet it's not.  Check it with a multimeter.  I get those condensate pan float switches in my lab all the time, and 90% of the time, they still work.  It may just be mis-wired to the AC.

I'm inclined to agree after learning that there is not one, but two float switches in the system.  

 

[mudpuppy]

We broke down and got a window A/C last night.  House has central air, but being 2-stories, the 2nd floor always feels hot.  Went in our bedroom, but we got an 8,000 btu so it has enough oomph to help cool more of the upstairs since our door is almost always open.

Did have to do a little DIY.  The side window in our bedroom is normal width (~30") but short.  Raising the lower sash, the opening is only 10".  Take the lower out all together and it's almost 14".  Since you're supposed to lower the window to hold the A/C in, I threw together a small wood beam to span the window.  We have vinyl windows and I also didn't like the full weight of the A/C resting on the one vinyl ridge along the window sill so I cut down another piece of wood to fit on the flat of the sill so the A/C has something solid to sit on.

We did the same thing for the same reason a few weeks ago.  But our windows are sliders and I didn't want to mess with figuring out how to support a window unit so I went with a portable AC unit.

This is the third ceiling leak I've had now.  One from junior completely flooding our bathroom (which resulted in a new kitchen ceiling, kitchen light fixtures, bathroom shower and floor), another from junior partially flooding her bathroom (showered with curtain outside the tub) that resulted in paint damage to the crown molding and header in the kitchen, and now this one!  State Farm damn near dropped me after the first tub incident, because I had a hail damage claim for a new roof just prior.

If you already have two claims, I'd be really hesitant to make a third.  My dad had two claims on his insurance several years ago, and when he sold and bought a different house he had a really hard time finding new insurance.

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

Not a home repair, but damn Safelight comes through again to fix my windshield.  There process for booking etc. is off the charts easy.

 

[snickerd3]

I need a new windshield...i have lots of stars in mine.  thankfully they are all on the passenger side and haven't spread.  Hence I haven't fixed or replaced.  I saw each rock coming too, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it.    I have a glassguy, not safelight, there was a time a couple years ago I had fixed or replaced 3 windshields in less than a yr. 

 

[Master slacker]

Wife called this morning, water dripping from the ceiling.  Condensate pan in the attic was overflowing, and the float switch is apparently bad since it didn't kick off the unit.  FML...

At least it was caught.  Last year I had the condensate drain pipe clog up completely, but the switch saved our ass.  Replaced all the PVC and it looked like it was filled with peanut butter.  No wonder my bleach cleanings didn't go through that easily.