Aluminum is nearly 3x the cost of vinyl but vinyl isn't fire proof. Has anyone found a place that does fire resistant wood?
I've also heard that some people do 5 feet of aluminum then outside of zone zero do vinyl or wood but the look won't be the same throughout.
Looking for ideas
Bought a dishwasher from Costco, they won't install unless it's on a GFCI with a dedicated circuit. This is a new construction accessory dwelling unit.
Appliance Installer came, said the outlet behind the dishwasher is on its own circuit but not on a GFCI when testing with the little pointer meter we couldn't cut power when resetting the GFCI.
The electrician showed me with a plug in meter that it is in fact on a GFCI linked to another outlet above the counter top when he reset.
Neither seems to be "correct" based on what the installer is telling me because it's not on a dedicated circuit regardless even if it is on a GFCI like the electrician says if is.
What happens in existing constructions where a dedicated dishwasher line is not possible?
I'm also not clear why the two testing meters were producing different results
How does the actual cooling performance compare?
I have an Ecobee currently as I read the usability of the proprietary thermostat was not great and had poor wireless functionality at the time of my install.
Have things improved, and is it worth making the switch? I am most interested in getting better cooling rather than pure energy efficiency. No issues with heating.
Just got bee stat... I have a Mitsubishi ducted heat pump, one year old. Socal weather about 80-85 today. New R38 blow-in insulation in attic but likely 1950s insulation in walls.
From reading on the HVAC sub reddit it sounds like the ecobee doesn't get the full performance out of the heat pump.
If I switched to the Mitsubishi thermostat should I see that cooling performance 2x?
Any idea what this is about?
My wife and I filed separately for student loan purposes. We both received identity verification letters. I called and was told 9 weeks to received my refund, but it came direct deposit in a week.
My wife called a bit later and verified her identity which they said was already fine and was told 9 weeks for the refund. Now 9 weeks later she received another letter that they need another 60 days to send a complete response.
Not sure what the response is about as the first letter only asked for identity verification.
Is this just an automated letter and they are sitting on the refund or what could be going on?
Want to make sure they aren't doing an H pattern layout.
Also is there enough expansion on the one side?
Thx.
I have a slab on grade foundation with clay soil and just did a perimeter french drain, dimple board/mat and gravel back fill.
I'm lowering the grade and grading the yard and have exposed dimple board now. I can seal the top with a termination bar but how do I cover the exposed dimple mat so it looks nice and isn't exposed to sun? It's about 2-4 inches depending on the area.
Thank you.
I have a garage being converted to an accessory dwelling unit. Was looking at Ardex VB100 to seal and Ardex 1200 to self level but need to see if its available locally
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Are there any other products that work well together for these purposes?
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It's a slab on grade.
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Thanks.
My Ecobee says it's in Stage 2 cooling but doesn't seem to be drawing max power only pulling 5 amps. It's taking a while to get the house to cool down and I'm wondering if it's because the blower speed is set low. From reading online it seems like the ecobee has limitations on the variable speeds of the Mitsubishi unit.
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These have good reviews online, curious about anyone's experience here. Looking to do about 400 square feet of pavers for a walkway and patio in a terracotta/orange color. For example, Techo-bloc is nice but its $10 a square foot for materials vs ~3.50$ a square foot for these. Is it worth getting more expensive pavers?
I had a perimeter French drain installed around the back house (not pictured) trenched all the way to the street to get the water out. I want to put a path from the front to the back but it would go directly over the gravel trench.
Is it better to do it with concrete or pavers? One concern I had was that concrete may settle more over time if it's not compacted well but the price seems to be half the cost of doing pavers.
Located in Southern California. Soil is clay.
Thanks.
Any model recommendations for a 500 square foot ADU apartment? Looking for a fridge, stove, stackable washer/dryer or all in one, microwave. All electric.
Kitchen is pretty small so open to considering an 18 inch dishwasher and a 24 inch stove to save space.
Thanks.
I have two brokerage accounts, each was holding a different mutual fund of fully state tax exempt Treasury Bills.
I made about 1.5-2k of interest so it would be 100-200 back in state tax.
In 2024 the accountant missed it completely. In 2025 I caught the error after realizing they misread the statement in 1 of 2 brokerages but don't think the other was captured.
I don't want to pay for an amendment as the price will likely exceed the cost of the additional refund so curious if it's worth pursuing and asking the CPA to cover or just let it slide and make sure it's addressed next year.
Thank you.