Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with homerepair Questions tagged with 'homerepair' at Ask MetaFilter. Fri, 24 Jan 2014 10:39:03 -0800 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 10:39:03 -0800 en-us 60 Summer is coming -- help me fix my swamp cooler? I have a weird, vexing problem with my swamp cooler. Electricity is involved. Short version: when I turn it on, it blows the circuit breaker. Details below. Last year, we refurbished our ancient swamp cooler, and installed a new motor and a new pump. Initially, everything seemed to work fine. But shortly after the installation, we found that when we turned the switch (standard five settings -- high/low cool and high/low fan and pump only), it would trip the circuit breaker. I'm not sure why it worked fine initially, then developed this issue.<br> <br> My online research into this problem suggested that it could be a worn out switch box (possible, since it was very old), a wiring issue inside the box, or maybe something worn out in the plug. So I replaced the switch box, redid the wiring in the box, and took off the old plug and installed a new one. <br> <br> Afterwards, everything worked -- mostly. If I turned the switch on clockwise one click, to pump only, it would trip the circuit breaker. But if we turned the knob the other way, to the high/low fan settings, it would NOT trip the circuit breaker, even if the switch was then turned all the way through high cool to low cool. (This was not consistent -- sometimes, we could turn it to pump only from off, and it would just work.) When it would trip, we were able to reset the breaker and turn the cooler on again.<br> <br> We were willing to live with this, so everything was OK for a while, but one day I wasn't thinking and turned the switch to low cool, once again tripping the circuit breaker. This time, though, resetting the circuit breaker didn't work. If I turn it on at all, either direction, it trips the breaker. Thinking maybe something had come loose in the switch box or plug, I opened it all up and redid everything to make sure everything was connected right, but it didn't help.<br> <br> I'm at a loss as to what the problem is. My wife thinks the pump is the culprit, that it might be too powerful and drawing too much juice. I suppose that's possible -- the cooler is on the same circuit as our TV and computers, and if I plug in something power-sucking like a space heater or portable air conditioner, it will trip the breaker. But it seems like if that were the case we wouldn't have been able to run it for weeks without issues. Or not? I'm also puzzled by the erratic nature of the problem (up to the point where it completely failed). Any thoughts on what's happening here?,2014:site.255879 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 10:39:03 -0800 electricalrepair evaporativecooler homerepair swampcooler Mo' Money Moe Bandy Is Serious Furnace Cleaning Necessary? I have an old style furnace that has been cleaned (by vacuuming) on a mostly annual basis for about 20 years. Should I pay the big bucks to get it scraped out by a professional? Our furnace was installed in the early 90's (not sure when exactly, but it's about 20-25 years old) and is not a modern high efficiency type. Most years we got a furnace cleaning company to come and vacuum out the ducts, but this hasn't been done for at least 4 years. The furnace is definitely showing its age, and parts are beginning to fail. (The humidifier rusted off and is long gone, and two years ago I had to replace a burned out thermocouple.) But new furnaces are $100 000+, which is way out of my price range. So I want to keep this one running as long as possible.<br> <br> A guy from a local furnace cleaning company (Sears) gave the furnace a free inspection today, and tried to sell me on his company's services. He said that vacuuming doesn't remove all the dust, so it builds up over the years. His company does an extremely thorough job because they actually cut into the main duct, get in there and scrape out the dust inside. (Heart surgery for the furnace, basically.) Then they'd have to weld the access plate back in place, in a much more complicated and expensive process than anything we've done before.<br> <br> I'm not sure what to do. One one hand I'd rather not pay $500+ and have someone welding in the basement, but on the other hand I <em>really</em> don't want a furnace that's approaching the end of it's life to fail and stick me with the cost of buying a new one. That would be orders of magnitude more expensive.<br> <br> Does this kind of furnace surgery sound like a good idea? Or can I just call the guys with the vacuum again?,2014:site.255724 Tue, 21 Jan 2014 13:49:24 -0800 cleaning furnace furnacecleaning heating homerepair HVAC maintenance repair Kevin Street Cleaning a furnace flame sensor. My furnace is cycling on and off continuously. I'm pretty sure I know why and think I can handle the repair (cleaning the flame sensor), but I want to be sure I'm doing it properly. I've got a Goodman gas furnace that's approx a year and a half old. It recently began a process of firing up, then immediately the burners shut off. It does this steady. Based on online research, I'm 98% certain it's caused by a dirty flame sensor. Here's my plan:<br> <br> 1. Shut the power to the furnace.<br> 2. Open it, locate the flame sensor, dismount it and clean it.<br> 3. Close the furnace up, put the power back on and hope I've solved the problem.<br> <br> One thing I'm a bit worried about is the gas - is it necessary to shut it off beforehand, then open it after the repair? Online guides aren't mentioning this. I'm concerned that shutting the gas off will cause a further problem and I'd rather not shut it off.<br> <br> Is my plan correct?,2014:site.255577 Sun, 19 Jan 2014 08:47:07 -0800 furnace homerepair davebush Real-time plumbing question There is a handyman in my home right now who is in his 3rd hour of installing a new kitchen sink and faucet. Part of that time was devoted to running out to the hardware store to get the right parts to replace the water shut off valve, which apparently was stripped. That took about a half hour (which was reasonable given the distance). He told me originally that he thought the sink replacement would take about an hour, so minus the hardware store run, it's taken 2 and a half times longer than he estimated. Is the amount of time he's spent so far excessive? My plan was to have him also fix a leaky shower, but now I'm not sure whether to have him do so or to send him on his way after the sink is done. He did not scope out the shower before doing the hardware store run, so I'm thinking perhaps he'll need parts for that too. I've never used him before. He was recommended by someone I do not know well. Quick answers would be appreciated.,2013:site.251677 Sun, 10 Nov 2013 14:18:58 -0800 handyman homerepair kitchen plumbing resolved sink Wordwoman Got that sinking feeling Our underhung kitchen sink detached itself from the countertop this afternoon - can I repair this myself? How? I put a heavy pot in the sink and a few minutes later the whole thing dropped out from under the counters. None of the plumbing is damaged and the counter is fine, but several of the brackets that held it in place have popped out of their holes (in fact, I think that part happened before we moved in - I found a bunch of them in the under-sink cabinet and didn't know what they were at the time).<br> <br> It seems like it should be fairly straightforward to fix this but most of the resources I found online warn that only a professional should attempt to install an underhung sink. Considering the hole is already cut in the counter and everything is sized properly, can I do this on my own? What do I have to do? The brackets that have come out have some sort of hard resin on the end that goes in to the underside of the counter - what is that material? Do I need to buy new bolts and whatever epoxy or adhesive that might be?<br> <br> Assume a general level of competence and an overabundance of tools.,2013:site.251655 Sat, 09 Nov 2013 20:22:08 -0800 diy homerepair kitchen sink backseatpilot My window jamb... is... crumbling! How do I fix it? My mother's house has these recessed casement windows, and the <a href="">mystery material the jamb (or maybe jamb extension?) is made of has started to crumble</a>. Whole chunks come out when I put the air conditioners in each spring and take them out every fall, and forget about keeping the window shade hung -- I have yet to find an anchor that won't get pulled out. I'm going to take a stab at fixing it while I'm home for Thanksgiving, so I need help devising a plan of attack that can definitely be completed over a four-day weekend, even if that means it's just a stop-gap band-aid-type repair. <a href="">Here are some more pictures</a>. Sorry they're not clearer -- my sister took them because I'm on the other side of the country. <br> <br> I'm honestly not one-hundred percent sure what the material is, or what's underneath it. Over the years we've discovered that the builders have used some... let's call it "idiosyncratic" techniques. It seems like there's a really thick layer of gray plaster over everything. On the top jamb of the window, around six inches deep, is either some sort of seriously hard wood, or possibly brick? My cordless drill can barely bore into it, and the dust that comes out when I try is reddish. On the sides... I'm not quite sure what's going on. (The red color there is an old layer of paint.) It seems like there's a layer of something that's pulling away from the wall <em>en masse</em>. <br> <br> So, yeah... does anybody have any guesses as to what's going on here? Ideally, I'm looking for help coming up with a plan for a quick stop-gap repair, but even just being told what the right terms are for the type of construction so as to make for easier googling would be helpful.,2013:site.251253 Sat, 02 Nov 2013 13:46:16 -0800 DIY home homerepair house houserepair plaster windowjamb patnasty Help me build a basic apartment tool set! I am at the stage of life when I need to move from a random collection of tools to an organized tool set that equips me for basic home/apartment maintenance. What do I need? Budget: just-finished-grad-school poor. I have collected a bunch of tools over the years, but there's no rhyme or reason to the set. Screwdrivers? I've got about 6 Philips, of various sizes, and one flathead. The rest of the collection is equally disorganized. So, if I were to try and round out the collection, what should I aim to have?<br> <br> The kind of tasks I have in mind are basic home/apartment maintenance stuff. If I want to install new faceplates for outlets, assemble furniture, etc.: what do I need to have? I'm not looking for every single tool, but the 20% of the set that will take care of 80% of my needs. I'm also not looking to do construction projects, so no table saws are necessary.,2013:site.247393 Mon, 26 Aug 2013 19:59:40 -0800 homerepair maintenance tools philosophygeek The AC, she just can't take it, Jim. Is there more consumer protection if I use a credit card to pay for a major purchase like an air conditioning unit? I noticed water spotting on my ceiling, and while at first we thought we'd just have to replace the air conditioner drip pan, it looks like the entire condenser coil, and a bunch of the surrounding cabinet has rusted through. The AC unit is 14 years old, was builder grade economy junk, and can't be repaired for much less than it would cost to buy a new, more efficient, more environmentally sound unit. <br> <br> That said; I'm in serious sticker shock. As happens when presented with estimates that have two numbers in front of the comma. <br> <br> The contractor that I'll probably use was recommended by people I trust, has an A+ BBB rating, and good reviews on your standard review sites. He gave me a 3-tiered estimate; 10k if it's a check from a local bank, 10,5 if it's a long distance check; (USAA, which has no branches near us, so he's looking at a 10+day hold for turnaround), or 10,740 if I use a credit card. <br> <br> I can get a signature loan from USAA, and transfer the funds into my local bank, at rates around 5%, my credit card rates are also 5%. It seems a significant discount to pay with a local check, but am I shorting myself some level of consumer protection by foregoing the Visa card?,2013:site.246534 Mon, 12 Aug 2013 23:24:29 -0800 airconditioner bigprojects consumerprotection contractors homerepair dejah420 Can you identify this mysterious building material? Somebody left a piece of building material on our front porch this morning. We immediately assumed it had fallen off of our house somewhere but I can't see anything missing. Can AskMe identify what it is and where I should look? We're new homeowners and I'm growing paranoid that some critical piece of the weatherproofing has come off and I won't realize it until disaster strikes. A couple of pictures of the material: <a href="">1</a> and <a href="">2</a>. I think it's fibreglass, and the colour matches our siding but also that of half the houses on our street (none of which, that I have noticed, are visibly missing anything). Logically it must have come from the front or the side of the house, as I don't expect somebody would have spotted it and moved it here otherwise. It's not new--there is what seems to be some leftover caulking or something on a bit of it. I suppose it is possible it is random debris that somebody mistakenly assumed was from our home, but it hasn't been particularly windy or anything today--just a bit breezy. <br> <br> Can anyone confirm what this is, and where I should look on our house to get some peace of mind?,2013:site.245895 Fri, 02 Aug 2013 11:32:10 -0800 debris fibreglass homerepair resolved siding weatherproofing synecdoche One part Bob Vila, two parts clueless I'm looking to develop a good maintenance schedule for my new old home. It was built in 1930, radiator heat, newish boiler and water heater. Beyond the standard cleaning, what kinds of monthly, yearly, semi-yearly things should I be doing to make sure it doesn't fall apart?,2013:site.245185 Mon, 22 Jul 2013 13:05:08 -0800 home homerepair house resolved thisoldhouse Think_Long who do I hire to replace damaged roof support beams Outdoor beams supporting the roof have issues, but who should I call to replace them? Our house has 3 beams in the front outside which hold up the roof, which sticks out about 3 feet in this section. Those beams have a combination of wood rot and carpenter bees in them, and need to be replaced. Who do I call for this? I know for the roof I call a roofer, and for pipes I call a plumber, but who does beam replacements? Should the new beams be treated lumber?<br> <br> In addition to the beams, there is also wood rot in the fascia boards around the entire house (the house has built in gutters which clog very easily, and water seeps over the edge throughout a lot of the winter here in Seattle). Is this something that I would have the same person repair, or is this something a roofing company would do, since it's all along the edge of the gutters? Is there any structural importance to the fascia boards, and if we didn't replace them right away would that be a problem?,2013:site.244498 Wed, 10 Jul 2013 23:36:38 -0800 beamreplacement homerepair markblasco Old storm window lock.. what is this called? Does anyone know what this old storm window thumb screw lock is called? My house has old storm windows with thumb screw locks, and several of them need to be replaced. I have no idea what they're called and cannot find them anywhere, so I was hoping someone here could tell me.<br> <br> <a href="">Image of the lock</a>.<br> <br> Thanks!,2013:site.243657 Wed, 26 Jun 2013 14:42:21 -0800 homerepair stormwindow windowlocks Circumstands Washing machine - vibration vs. levelness New LG washing machine vibrates more than desirable. It is level in both directions to within a degree of horizontal. How sensitive is vibration to levelness? Specifically, is it worth leveling it more precisely, say to within +/- .2 degrees? This is a project I would prefer to avoid if it will make no difference. One of the "feet" with the leveling screws is hard to get at. Thanks.,2013:site.241630 Fri, 24 May 2013 20:02:15 -0800 appliance homerepair resolved vibration washingmachine Kevin S Help me fix a broken cabinet door/hinge An unnamed member of my family leaned on an Ikea-type kitchen cabinet door and the screws in the top hinge ripped out a bit of the particle board. I tried to glue it back with what I had on hand (Goop) but it wasn't strong enough to hold the weight of the door. It would be easy enough to move the hinge higher or lower to match different holes that are not damaged if it weren't for the fact that the hinge is inset into the door and I'd like to avoid trying to router out a new space for it.<br> <br> <a href="">Image gallery of shame here</a>. The forth image shows the bottom (unbroken) hinge for reference.<br> <br> What would be the best way to get the door reattached properly?,2013:site.240955 Tue, 14 May 2013 11:19:26 -0800 cabinet door hinge homerepair gwint Our Old House What are your recommendations for resources (online or in print) that specialize in repair and maintenance of older homes? Our home is about a hundred years old and is mostly original as far as I can tell. Previous owners redid the kitchen, but all of the non-plumbed rooms have original wood flooring, horsehair plaster walls, solid wood doors, and original hardware. We love the aesthetic and want to keep it this way as much as possible, but we do need to do some minor repair work here and there - typical old home stuff like doors not quite closing, plaster needing touching up, and layers and layers of paint that need to be removed from wood surfaces.<br> <br> What are some good resources that address common repair and maintenance issues that are particular to older homes? I want to know how to repair the doors without replacing them with cheap new ones, how to take care of the floors, how to repair old plaster, stuff like that. I don't really need to know how to replace old plumbing and wiring (thankfully that's all modern and up to code as far as we can tell). Books are fine, websites are fine. If there are resources on modernizing vintage homes, I'd be interested in that, too (I'm thinking specifically about, say, adding power outlets to walls with plaster and lath instead of drywall).<br> <br> Thanks!,2013:site.240442 Mon, 06 May 2013 07:10:25 -0800 homeimprovement homerepair oldhome backseatpilot Neighbor rebuilding shared fence--do I have any responsibility? My neighbor has expressed a desire to rebuild the wooden fence between our houses. We share one side of the fence with her, and it's definitely in need of repair--warped boards, aging, etc. Should she be fully responsible for paying for the fence, since it was her idea to fix it? Or should we contribute some money since we share one side of the fence? I want to maintain a kind, neighborly relationship with my neighbor, as we are both likely to live there for a while, but we are by no means chums. I also do not care if we have the "ugly" side of the fence.<br> <br> Has anyone had experience dealing with shared structures between neighbors? Whose responsibility is the fence? Should the person who wants the "pretty" side of the fence pay for it?,2013:site.238385 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:17:52 -0800 building fence home homeimprovement homerepair house neighbor repair starkraven Fix my mug Extreme long-shot filter: The lid on my favorite travel mug partially melted in the dishwasher. Help me find a replacement? The lid on my (snowflake alert) very favorite travel mug now has a melted hole just big enough to make drinking sort of impossible, and making me worried about swallowing particulates. But the mug is at least ten years old, and I haven't seen a model like this in ages. Is there any place I might find a suitable replacement lid, or is there another solution that can restore this mug to its travel-friendly state? I've Googled every keyword I can think of, but can't find a lid quite like this one.<br> <br> The lid is a flexible plastic that just squeezes snugly into the mug. Pictures <a href="">here</a> and <a href="">here</a>.<br> <br> Any ideas for replacing it - or safely repairing the current one?,2013:site.238222 Sat, 30 Mar 2013 09:28:59 -0800 homerepair household mug shopping travelmug Ms. Toad How do I unbend a towel rack? I have a cylindrical towel rack that is bent. I need to unbend it. How can I do this without damaging it further? My son was hanging on his towel rack (because we can't have nice things*) and not only pulled it off the wall, but bent it. Our weekend project is to fix it together. This will involve re-mounting it on the wall and also unbending the rack part.<br> <br> The rack is a metal cylinder, basically a chrome pipe. It's about two feet long and is now bent about two inches along it's length. It appears to be a clean bend, maintaining its roundness, not a kink.<br> <br> I need to unbend it but I don't want to damage it further in my attempt. The best I can think of is to clamp it down and just try to bend it by hand. Since I assume the metal is already weakened I'm afraid if I do this I will just bend it in half like a soda straw.<br> <br> I also don't want to damage the chrome so hitting it with a hammer or heating it with a torch is probably a bad idea.<br> <br> Ideas? Assume I have a large collection of normal tools but no special pipe-bending tools. I'd rather not go and buy or rent anything.<br> <br> It's a pretty nice towel rack from Restoration Hardware or one of those places so I don't want to just replace it if I can fix it.<br> <br> <small><small>*I already gave him the big speech about what could have happened had he fallen back and hit his head on the toilet. I have become my mom and I hate myself for it.</small></small>,2013:site.236704 Thu, 07 Mar 2013 07:05:12 -0800 bathroom homerepair pipe project repair resolved theregoesyourcollegefund towel towelrack bondcliff Please help me unclog my toilet of shame Please help me unclog my toilet of shame (anonymous because I am so embarrassed)<br> <br> Backstory: For a week or two, my toilet would often run after I flushed it. I'd just reach in, pull up the float, then watch until the tank was refilled, then all was well, and I was fine with that solution because I just had no capacity to deal with a more permanent fix (something with the flapper, maybe?).<br> <br> Then, at some point xx days ago, I flushed, walked away, and went back into the living room. Only after a little while did I realize that the "running" sound was different... and I walked back to the toilet to see that there was TP clogged in it and the water was overflowing the bowl onto the floor. I turned off the water supply at the valve thing that connects the toilet to the wall (go me!), then... went to work. When I got home, there was still TP clogged in the bottom, but the water had all drained away.<br> <br> At this point, a smart sane responsible person would have figured out how to solve the problem. I am none of those things right now, and just kind of procrastinated. I peed in the shower, or at the office, or in the bowl went I went into the bathroom half-asleep before I remembered. <br> <br> But then I had to poop. So I did. On top of this (now larger) wad of TP in a non-working toilet. Then I up and went out of town for a three-day wedding. <br> <br> When I get home from work tonight, it is going to be so very far past the ideal time to face the music. I can't bear the thought of asking a plumber or friend to help.<br> <br> Please, metafilter, please, WHAT DO I DO?,2013:site.234599 Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:38:57 -0800 clog fuckingidiot homerepair idiot plumbing toilet toiletscientist Anonymous Shower faucet stiil drips, despite new washers, stems, etc: We have a shower where both the faucets drip. We have replaced internal washers, and replaced stems. Replacing either one helps, but not perfectly (usually there's still a slow drip after fixing). The drip gets worse over a period of weeks until it's nearly a trickle, at which point we take the faucets apart and do it all over again. It's gotten a little bit boring. We've bought new stems a couple of times. They are the closest we can find (Kohler 6N-2 for any experts out there), but they are not EXACTLY the same size as the original (sub millimeter differences in a couple of places). I believe this is in fact the same model as the original, and the differences are not supposed to be important--but maybe they are.<br> <br> The new stems come with O rings. The O ring always has to be removed to get the new stem to fit into the housing. If it is left on, either we can't thread it at all, or it threads, but then the stem has too much friction to turn. This seems wrong. Still, removing the O ring works far better than leaving it on.<br> <br> If you're not a plumbing expert, you might still have new ideas on where I can get help with this. Here's where we might go next:<br> <br> 1) Call a plumber. If it would actually fix the problem permanently, I'm happy to call in an professional. However, I'm not convinced a random plumber will do any better than put in a new stem, fiddle with it until it stops dripping for the day, and four weeks later we're back where we are now.<br> [Or, don't call a plumber, but call a general contractor or a ??? instead.]<br> <br> 2) Take examples of stems and washers to a specialty plumbing store and hope we can find someone who can tell us what the underlying problem is and how to fix it.<br> <br> 3) Something else.<br> <br> Thanks for advices.,2013:site.232990 Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:55:44 -0800 homerepair plumbing resolved mattu How can I eliminate a draft under my front door? Getting a draft despite having weather stripping and a door sweep. How can I fix this? In an effort to better insulate our home and keep our heating costs down, I've been installing weather stripping around the doors.<br> <br> The front door already has fairly new weather stripping that is in good shape. It's also got a door sweep to prevent drafts from the bottom. Despite this, I am still getting a noticeable draft when I put my hand near the bottom corner of the door (on the side opposite the hinges).<br> <br> Why might this be happening, despite already having two stop gaps in place to prevent it and what else can I do to eliminate the draft?,2013:site.232237 Tue, 01 Jan 2013 15:12:37 -0800 doorsweep draft heating home homerepair house weatherstripping winter winterize asnider The Watercourse Way Should we tell our landlord we're smelling wood rot after a leak he already knows about? Early this fall our kitchen hose underneath the sink sprung a leak and the water ran moderately fast for somewhere between fifteen and thirty minutes. It took three thirsty bath towels to mop up the water on the cupboard floor and we wondered how much had drained through the hole to whatever is below it. Now, in very cold weather, we're catching a faint smell of rotting wood in that area of the kitchen and especially underneath the sink. <br> <br> We're renting, and we sense that cash flow is an issue for our landlord. If we try to live with it for his sake is it likely to do any structural damage or otherwise harm his investment? He was involved in the repair and knows about it. Basically, we don't want to bother him unless it's necessary, for his sake or for ours.,2012:site.229922 Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:41:20 -0800 homerepair leak resolved woodrot Mertonian Am I going to nee dto move this ground wire? I have a question about my house's ground wire, and may need recommendations for an electrician in Minneapolis. I'm having the very, very ugly back steps of my house knocked off and replaced. KICK ASS! But there's a problem: for some damned reason, the house's main breaker box is located right next to the back door, and the ground wire comes down from it along the exterior wall into a PVC pipe that sticks up out of the dirt right next to the steps that are due for demolition (actually, the pipe is kind of embedded in the stucco of the house).<br> <br> I'm worried that the location of this wire's going to be a problem with the demolition of the existing steps and the pouring of new ones, especially since the contractor wants to widen the steps (and might even be required to because of housing codes; that conversation was a while ago, and I can't remember for sure).<br> <br> So, my questions: is this likely to be a problem? If it is, is moving the ground wire over a few feet something that I or a sufficiently motivated concrete contractor could do? <br> <br> If it's a problem but needs to be handled by a professional, I'd love to hear recommendations for an electrician who'd work in south Minneapolis on short notice.,2012:site.226552 Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:45:10 -0800 electricity groundwire homerepair resolved COBRA! Recommend an arborist in south Minneapolis? I'm looking for recommendations for arborists in south Minneapolis. I don't like the way one of the trees in my backyard is looking; to my untrained eyes, it appears to be setting itself up to drop itself onto my house. <br> <br> I'd like to get someone who actually knows what they're talking about to look at the tree (and, if necessary, do something about it). I've uncovered lots of contact info for arborists in south M, but their websites don't really tell me anything about them (except that most of them need better websites). <strong>I'm hoping that some Mpls MeFites have worked with local aborists and have recommendations.<br> </strong><br> So: what've you got?,2012:site.223745 Tue, 04 Sep 2012 13:20:24 -0800 arborist arborists homeowning homerepair minneapolis tree treecare trees COBRA! Waterproofing: What to Expect Waterproofing: we just got an estimate for our basement. What's best for us, and is this a good estimate? We've had water problems in our basement since we moved in (this past February). There is a makeshift French drain that runs through the basement and gets clogged with mud, so water doesn't make it to our sump pump well. There is a crack in the foundation by the furnace, and water comes in from there. We have a 167 linear foot house, which is how they calculate price apparently. It's usually very damp down there and we have 2 dehumidifiers going at all time. It is a fieldstone foundation, and the house is over 100 years old. <br> <br> The gutters are in good shape. The downspouts are old but aren't dribbling water on the ground. There is no plant life near the house and concrete angled away on all sides. We are at higher altitude than normal and not in risk of flooding. We've noticed that the water problems are worse after sudden, heavy rains.<br> <br> We had a waterproof company representative come out today to give us an estimate, which ended up being around $25,000. This included a lifetime warranty free of any water problems. The estimate included: digging around the house perimeter to below the frost line, repairing exterior cracks, then applying waterproofing and a plastic barrier to the excavated foundation, placing exterior drainage pipe and gravel to cover it, placing an interior drainage system under the basement floor around the house perimeter, repairing interior cracks and sealing the walls with a custom plastic, adding two sump pumps with backups, and a dehumidifier/air filtration system.<br> <br> The company (EverDry) has been around for about 30 years and are pretty established in the area. Is this a reasonable price for what we are receiving? I know nothing of home structure and waterproofing. What were your experiences? What should we look out for? <br> <br> Homeowners of Metafilter, please share your advice! Thanks in advance.,2012:site.221345 Wed, 01 Aug 2012 18:46:21 -0800 basement homerepair waterproofing amicamentis