Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

I don't actually stay home whenever maintenance comes over.

Ah, sorry.  I guess I got the details of your water leak ordeal mixed up.

[kphoger]

Mistiming will generally cause a flashing check engine light.

I would hope that those serious timing issues would generate a flashing amber or solid red.

I've personally had a timing chain get one tooth off from TDC while the mechanic was putting things back together, and the resultant check engine light was solid rather than flashing.

In the next vehicle we owned, it threw a code for slack in the chain, and that light was solid rather than flashing as well.  (Several months after having the timing kit replaced—including a trip to Mexico and back—the new timing chain actually broke without warning.  It was an interference engine but, because I was parked at the time, it did no damage to the engine and the chain was able to be re-replaced.)

The only times I recall having a flashing engine light have been random misfires caused by a plugged-up catalytic converter.  Those would flash if the misfiring went on longer than a certain threshold, then eventually just go solid, and then ultimately turn off if it detected no other misfires within a certain amount of time.

[wxfree]

I've personally had a timing chain get one tooth off from TDC while the mechanic was putting things back together, and the resultant check engine light was solid rather than flashing.

That can happen.  The purpose of the check engine light is to warn of a problem that could compromise emissions controls.  It is not a general warning and is not intended to warn of mechanical problems, unless those problems increase pollution output.  There are other codes for all kinds of things, but those vary based on the manufacturer.

When there's a misfire, there's a loss of power and engine speed for a fraction of a second.  The computer can detect that based on the crankshaft position sensor.  A misaligned timing chain may not cause a misfire severe enough to set a code.  Ignition timing on most vehicles is set by crankshaft position.  Valve timing is mechanical, so all cylinders are equally mistimed when there's a chain problem.  There isn't a regular drop in engine speed, but an overall drop in efficiency.  Some vehicles have camshaft positions sensors, and that should detect when the timing chain is misaligned or stretched, but I don't know of a universal code for a mistimed cam.  If it isn't universal, then there may or may not be a code for it on a particular vehicle.

I'm not trying to argue, but there's a lot of misunderstanding about what the light means.  This is especially true because it varies by make and model year.  I'm primarily familiar with the universal codes that are mandated.  I'm not too thoroughly familiar, but mostly know the codes I've dealt with.  The light may warn you of a timing chain problem, but it is not intended to.  If it does, what it's actually warning you about is a pollution reduction system failure.  The lack of a check engine light, or how it illuminates, should not be taken to indicate anything about the mechanical condition of the engine or other system.  The light is based on sensor inputs, and is not based on the condition of any parts.  What I said earlier about the light is meant to be interpreted with that understanding.  I did not mean to suggest that the lack of a flashing light meant that there were no severe problems with the vehicle.  There's a limit to the problems the light can warn you about.

[kphoger]

That can happen.  The purpose of the check engine light is to warn of a problem that could compromise emissions controls.  It is not a general warning and is not intended to warn of mechanical problems, unless those problems increase pollution output.

I'm not trying to argue, but there's a lot of misunderstanding about what the light means.

I just thought it was misleading to say...

The check engine light really isn't related to the engine, but the emissions control systems ... a solid check engine light is something that you can repair at your convenience, or when needed to pass an inspection, and is not likely to make the car stop going.

... because sometimes the emission control system is being affected because of a major mechanical issue that really could spell disaster for the engine.  Emissions and engine function are not independent of each other, after all.

[kphoger]

Liar!

If I were 100% there, then I wouldn't be reading this stupid message, now, would I?

[wxfree]

Liar!

If I were 100% there, then I wouldn't be reading this stupid message, now, would I?

I had a similar complaint a while back.  It was explained to me that the computer can't estimate whether the time required for the function will be closer to 10 seconds or to 4 hours, and that anything even resembling a simulation of imagining what a ballpark containing anything similar or dissimilar to an accurate time estimate might look like is simply impossible.

(My silly excessive description is a reflection of the very generous flexibility I was willing to give for an estimate to be accurate enough, and no matter how generous and flexible I was, I was told that it's absolutely impossible.  I still have that complaint, but I was told to hold no hope for anything better.)

[Scott5114]

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

[Scott5114]

If I were 100% there, then I wouldn't be reading this stupid message, now, would I?

One thing that is really nice about the flavor of Linux I use is that most system utilities have an option to list out what they're doing as they're doing it (so the system update utility will list out each component it's updating, for example). This is helpful even if you have no clue what it's talking about, because if it gets stuck you can look up the last thing it was doing and see what might have caused it to get stuck there. Or, at the very least, you know that when it reaches a certain part of the process you have about five minutes to go, or whatever.

Windows assumes that any technical details like this must be censored, lest the user be driven to madness by seeing phrases like "kernel module" and "repository" and "system library".

[Max Rockatansky]

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

I spend a lot of time looking up how to do minor repairs at home so I don't have to pay people to do them.  I fixed most of the light fixtures over the last couple years and replaced a toilet.  I'm not exactly the handiest of people but a lot of household repairs can be done with some patience.  I wanted to try a roof repair myself but my wife put her foot down with that one.

[wxfree]

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

I spend a lot of time looking up how to do minor repairs at home so I don't have to pay people to do them.  I fixed most of the light fixtures over the last couple years and replaced a toilet.  I'm not exactly the handiest of people but a lot of household repairs can be done with some patience.  I wanted to try a roof repair myself but my wife put her foot down with that one.

That's a foot well placed.

[Max Rockatansky]

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

I spend a lot of time looking up how to do minor repairs at home so I don't have to pay people to do them.  I fixed most of the light fixtures over the last couple years and replaced a toilet.  I'm not exactly the handiest of people but a lot of household repairs can be done with some patience.  I wanted to try a roof repair myself but my wife put her foot down with that one.

That's a foot well placed.

To be fair it would be pretty easy to lose my footing on that tile roof.  The angle is pretty damn steep.

[kphoger]

I had a similar complaint a while back.  It was explained to me that the computer can't estimate whether the time required for the function will be closer to 10 seconds or to 4 hours, and that anything even resembling a simulation of imagining what a ballpark containing anything similar or dissimilar to an accurate time estimate might look like is simply impossible.

(My silly excessive description is a reflection of the very generous flexibility I was willing to give for an estimate to be accurate enough, and no matter how generous and flexible I was, I was told that it's absolutely impossible.  I still have that complaint, but I was told to hold no hope for anything better.)

Then just show me that I'm 99% there.  But 100% is a step too far.

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

We neither live in an apartment nor own our own home.  We rent a house.  We don't pay for the repairs, but our landlords—who now live in Utah—still expect the job to be done right by whomever they hire to do the work.

Our latest fun is that we finally gave up trying to get the dishwasher to limp along.  We did the shopping, the landlords did the paying, and now we're in the middle of an installation fiasco.  The Home Depot delivery guy took the old one, but he wouldn't install the new one because our house isn't exactly plug-and-play.  Then, when a plumber came out, it turned out that the new appliance had a big dent in the front.  He forgot to cap off at the garbage disposal, so, after my wife hand-washed the dishes a couple of hours later and drained the sink, all the dirty dishwater went all over the floor.  A week later, today, we got the replacement dishwasher delivered, and it's dented in the front too.  So we've got a gaping hole under the kitchen counter (covered in cardboard because we have a home daycare), and have for a week now.  We've kept the breaker off, which means we can't run the garbage disposal.  As frustrating as it has been for my wife, at least we're not the ones paying for any of it.

During the 16 years we've lived in the house, we've had the driveway repaved, the roof replaced, the water heater replaced (twice?), the fence in the back yard replaced, the refrigerator replaced, the oven replaced, the basement carpet ripped out, one of the toilets replaced, and a water leak or two fixed.  None of that came out of our pocket.

[gonealookin]

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

On average I have service people in the house about three times a year.  Two are for annual maintenance of the furnace and the gas fireplace; those are the two things where a malfunction could burn the place down, and if something does go wrong I want to be able to show the insurance company that I've been diligent about having those things professionally maintained.

There's something else almost every year, involving something like plumbing, another appliance, or something that needs rare maintenance (professional cleaning of the dryer vent).  Last year the 25-year-old refrigerator wasn't staying cold anymore so that one departed and a new one is in its place.  All these service calls have appointments in windows that are usually 4 hours long, so we're talking three or at most four half-days each year.

[Scott5114]

We rent a house.  We don't pay for the repairs, but our landlords—who now live in Utah—still expect the job to be done right by whomever they hire to do the work.

You're lucky to have a diligent landlord. I've mentioned this before, but the one house that I rented in Oklahoma was managed by a company on behalf of owners who lived in Georgia. Everyone involved seemed well meaning enough (they didn't, like, outright ignore repairs or anything like that) but the owners were penny pinchers, so any time repairs were needed that the management company's handyman couldn't resolve, it usually took a month or two while the management company and the owners negotiated to find a cheap enough solution. This included some things which I personally would have expedited to avoid further damage to the structure (e.g. a termite infestation).

(professional cleaning of the dryer vent)

This is something that I probably need to have done. (In Oklahoma my dryer vent was a straight shot through the wall behind the dryer so I've never hired anyone for it before.) About how much does that normally run you?

[gonealookin]

(professional cleaning of the dryer vent)

This is something that I probably need to have done. (In Oklahoma my dryer vent was a straight shot through the wall behind the dryer so I've never hired anyone for it before.) About how much does that normally run you?

It's something I have done about every 5 to 7 years, so there's some crud in there.  Plus the service person is coming from Reno, and if they don't have another call in my area that's quite a bit of travel.  So it's about $300 per call.  In Vegas you wouldn't have to pay for the extra travel so I'd expect it to be less costly.

[formulanone]

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

I spend a lot of time looking up how to do minor repairs at home so I don't have to pay people to do them.  I fixed most of the light fixtures over the last couple years and replaced a toilet.  I'm not exactly the handiest of people but a lot of household repairs can be done with some patience.  I wanted to try a roof repair myself but my wife put her foot down with that one.

That's a foot well placed.

To be fair it would be pretty easy to lose my footing on that tile roof.  The angle is pretty damn steep.

YouTube is an awesome source of help with home repairs if you don't have know-how and experience (in my case, 95% of anything around the house), plus there's some other specialized repair tips as well. Watch a few and if there's some consistency in their warnings and suggestions, you probably won't die.

I had no problems with my nearly flat roof in Florida; the slope was about 2-3° and it had a flat section to lean the ladder and get your bearings. I'd go up there once a year to trim the trees that draped over the roof to prevent bugs and cleanup fallen branches, and enjoy a view from above for a few moments. Not so with the last two homes, the roof angle is a much greater slope and I won't go further than reaching into the gutters.

[kphoger]

You're lucky to have a diligent landlord.

Yes, and it's day and night compared to the first house we rented here.  Not many landlords want to rent to someone who plans to open a home daycare, but without that home daycare we didn't make enough money to meet most landlords' income requirements either.  We found one who told us, "I don't care what you do in the house, as long as you pay your rent."  The house had been a crack house under the previous tenant, who never paid a dime of rent before being evicted.  In that amount of time, though, she had thoroughly trashed the house, including ripping a light fixture out of the ceiling.  We did a lot of the cleanup in exchange for not having to pay a security deposit.  The landlord, we found out, had several businesses going at once and couldn't really manage juggling them.  When the oven stopped working, he ignored our communications.  We found out from a nosy neighbor that he had filed for bankruptcy.  So we did our due diligence in sending notice to him via certified mail that, because he had violated his end of the lease, we would no longer be paying him rent.  By the time the bank called to tell us we'd paying them instead of him, I could safely tell them, "We're actually no longer paying rent at all."  We never did hear back from him.

Our current landlords are Mormons who hit it off with us immediately when we saw the house the first time.  They only ever raise the rent if their own expenses on the house go up enough to warrant it.  They're trying to get out of the rental market, especially now that they've moved out of state, yet they don't want to sell either our house or the other one out from under us long-term renters.  Eventually, they probably will, but it hasn't happened yet.  And they never let any issue go unfixed.  Our rent is probably $200 below what it should be, and they treat us better than most landlords.

[Max Rockatansky]

It's honestly one of the things that makes me wonder how people put up with owning a house or condo.

Most homeowners maintain the home well enough that there is no reason to have repair people at the house regularly. After all, if you're sinking X hundred thousand dollars into something, you want to protect that investment.

I have lived in this house for fifteen months and have had service people over twice in that time. One was because I thought I knew what I was doing adding something to my plumbing and I didn't. The other was for a voluntary upgrade of the pool. So I could have gone that whole time not having anyone come out if I really wanted to. And if I worked from somewhere other than home, I could have scheduled the pool thing to happen when I had vacation time to use.

It is worth noting that a service call made by a homeowner is paid by the homeowner. That means if they do a shit job then the homeowner can insist they do it correctly, or else not pay and/or take it to court. And also word will spread that contractor does bad work, so they won't get hired in the future. So that means that the service people who work on owner-occupied homes have an incentive to do better repairs than apartment maintenance staff, who get paid no matter what; if a shitty repair they made breaks, oh well, just go out there again and do another shitty repair.

I spend a lot of time looking up how to do minor repairs at home so I don't have to pay people to do them.  I fixed most of the light fixtures over the last couple years and replaced a toilet.  I'm not exactly the handiest of people but a lot of household repairs can be done with some patience.  I wanted to try a roof repair myself but my wife put her foot down with that one.

That's a foot well placed.

To be fair it would be pretty easy to lose my footing on that tile roof.  The angle is pretty damn steep.

YouTube is an awesome source of help with home repairs if you don't have know-how and experience (in my case, 95% of anything around the house), plus there's some other specialized repair tips as well. Watch a few and if there's some consistency in their warnings and suggestions, you probably won't die.

I had no problems with my nearly flat roof in Florida; the slope was about 2-3° and it had a flat section to lean the ladder and get your bearings. I'd go up there once a year to trim the trees that draped over the roof to prevent bugs and cleanup fallen branches, and enjoy a view from above for a few moments. Not so with the last two homes, the roof angle is a much greater slope and I won't go further than reaching into the gutters.

I usually watch YouTube tutorials.  The incline I'm speaking of on our roof is pretty steep.  My wife was worried about me falling off and nobody being around to respond to it. 

[Beltway]

To be fair it would be pretty easy to lose my footing on that tile roof.  The angle is pretty damn steep.

People my age are warned to stay off of ladders and off of roofs. Balance isn't what used to be.

[Max Rockatansky]

To be fair it would be pretty easy to lose my footing on that tile roof.  The angle is pretty damn steep.

People my age are warned to stay off of ladders and off of roofs. Balance isn't what used to be.

FWIW, I'm on ladders and elevated platforms frequently at work.  I finished up disassembling a CCTV system over the weekend which required a couple hours of going up and down ladders.  I do clear the gutters biannually at home which I do from the edge of the roof.

[gonealookin]

To be fair it would be pretty easy to lose my footing on that tile roof.  The angle is pretty damn steep.

People my age are warned to stay off of ladders and off of roofs. Balance isn't what used to be.

My roof is something like 20°-25°, as you'd expect in a place that gets copious snow.  I don't think I'd die after a fall, but there are some boulders around the house, and there would be a serious question about ability to walk again.

I've never been up there.

[kkt]

I'm reasonably steady on my feet but I don't even have a great ladder other than the stepladder for indoors.
Let the young people do it.

[Beltway]

FWIW, I'm on ladders and elevated platforms frequently at work.  I finished up disassembling a CCTV system over the weekend which required a couple hours of going up and down ladders.  I do clear the gutters biannually at home which I do from the edge of the roof.

15 years ago I painted all the trim on my brick rancher. That included using a 40 foot extension ladder to reach the the peak point of the roof. That was then ..

[TheCatalyst31]

I'm not that old (I tell myself), but I'm accident-prone enough on the ground, and roofing is pretty dangerous even for the people who do it for a living. There's no way I'm getting on a roof unless it's flat and has some kind of fence around the edge.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm pretty sure footed from distance running so much, I usually only trip every couple years.  I'm fairly confident that I would be fine on the top part of the arch of the roof with my hiking shoes on.  The slope isn't any less gentle from the edge when I clean the gutters.

To that end, my wife is weird sometimes about the risk of things I go do.  She's perfectly fine with me going out for a thirteen-mile run before sunrise every Monday but gets worried if I want to take my mountain bike on a Forest Road.  I don't really see the roof thing as being all that different than the heights I'm at when I work on cameras.

Then again, it isn't like tiles on the roof need to be replaced all that often.  Who really knows when it will become an issue again?