r/Home_improvement

Replacing my AC this summer. Found two main options: a national franchise brand that advertises heavily on local radio, and a third-generation local HVAC company that's been operating in this area since the late 1970s. Equipment quotes are within $400 of each other on the same Carrier 3-ton unit.

My question is mostly about what happens post-install, because the install itself is probably fine either way.

Key finding: with a national franchise, the accountability chain runs through a regional franchise owner, a corporate service line, and a manufacturer warranty process. With a local, multigenerational company, the accountability traces to a family whose name has been attached to every install in one geographic community for decades, and whose next call is probably from a neighbor of their last customer. When something fails at month 15, those are fundamentally different conversations.

Curious whether anyone has had a materially different post-sale experience between the two types of operations. Not looking for brand endorsements, just whether franchise vs independent has actually mattered to you after the job was finished.

The previous home owner installed a built-in bar against the wall. I removed a glued plastic decorative piece from the tile backing and would like to hang a 20lb mirror from the ceramic/drywall. Once I drill a hole through the ceramic, I am uncertain if the backing is flush against the drywall, or if there is a gap between (as shown in the photo). Also, if there is a gap, how would I install a drywall anchor to hang the mirror? I'm trying to avoid making a hole if I won't be able to hang the mirror.

https://preview.redd.it/ntogzchuxhah1.jpg?width=1205&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=affa4b2554b159e2e9b5e302a8090538b628060f

I am exhausted by the quiet acceptance that living in a rental apartment means I must suffer through dangerous temperatures whenever the seasons shift. I have spent far too much time navigating the legal grey zones of "habitable housing" while my own health and safety are compromised by the total lack of integrated, professional climate control in my home. I am tired of the industry and policymakers acting as if a healthy indoor temperature is a luxury add-on rather than a non-negotiable requirement for a basic, dignified standard of living.

I have looked into the conventions governing our rights, and it is infuriating how clearly this is addressed while being systematically ignored by landlords and housing authorities. The UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is explicit about the right to an "adequate standard of living," which includes a dwelling that is truly habitable and protects residents from health-threatening heat and cold. I am not asking for a premium feature; I am demanding that the legal definition of a "fit for purpose" home finally catches up to the 21st-century reality of our changing climate.

I am sick of the dismissive argument that I should just buy a noisy, inefficient mobile unit as a stopgap solution. I refuse to be told that it is my personal responsibility to retrofit a rental apartment with temporary, makeshift cooling solutions when it is the landlords and the housing developers who are failing their fundamental legal duties. I am done with the societal expectation that tenants should shoulder the financial and physical burden of creating a livable space in buildings that are structurally incapable of maintaining a healthy temperature.

I have come to the conclusion that this is not a personal failure, but a structural, human rights issue that we have allowed to slide for far too long. I will not continue to be quiet while my right to a healthy, temperature-stable home is treated as secondary to property management profits and outdated building codes. I am pushing for a systemic shift where integrated, sustainable climate control is a default, legally required utility in all rental housing, just like running water or electricity.

I am tired of hearing that this is too difficult or expensive when the actual cost is the systemic degradation of public health for millions of tenants. I will continue to highlight the clear legal and moral obligations that landlords have to provide a safe, habitable environment regardless of whether I own the walls I live within. I am done being a passive tenant in a system that ignores my basic rights, and I will keep forcing this conversation until a stable, healthy indoor climate is recognized as the mandatory standard it always should have been.