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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

I wonder about my property lines sometimes but no one has a fenced yard around me and everyone keeps their yards mowed. When I first bought the place, I just waited a while to mow to see where my neighbors did and figured that was my property. What I think is my yard may actually be a little bigger than what I actually own.
 
I wonder about my property lines sometimes but no one has a fenced yard around me and everyone keeps their yards mowed. When I first bought the place, I just waited a while to mow to see where my neighbors did and figured that was my property. What I think is my yard may actually be a little bigger than what I actually own.

Review of the official (county/city) legal description of your lot may give you a clue as to whether that is the case. At least you may be able to figure out if things are way out of line. May not be very important until something like a driveway or shed or fence is involved.
 
I wonder about my property lines sometimes but no one has a fenced yard around me and everyone keeps their yards mowed. When I first bought the place, I just waited a while to mow to see where my neighbors did and figured that was my property. What I think is my yard may actually be a little bigger than what I actually own.

Check with your mortgage broker or appraiser to see if a survey was done when you purchased the house. You might be able to find an old plat online or at the courthouse fairly easily as well.

City of Roanoke and Roanoke County both have decent GIS sites but the property lines on those aren't exact. You'll have to go to the Register of Deeds office to get a copy of the plat as Virginia governments are a pain in the ass WRT offering that information online for free.

Links to your local GIS sites:

http://taxview.roanokecountyva.gov/TaxView/

https://gisre.roanokeva.gov/js/
 
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Check with your mortgage broker or appraiser to see if a survey was done when you purchased the house. You might be able to find an old plat online or at the courthouse fairly easily as well.

City of Roanoke and Roanoke County both have decent GIS sites but the property lines on those aren't exact. You'll have to go to the Register of Deeds office to get a copy of the plat as Virginia governments are a pain in the ass WRT offering that information online for free.

Links to your local GIS sites:

http://taxview.roanokecountyva.gov/TaxView/

https://gisre.roanokeva.gov/js/

Thanks. I actually work for and live in Roanoke County. I know the GIS maps are just for reference and not totally accurate but they give me an idea. My buddy actually built our GIS site.

My property is kind of an odd shaped pentagon with four neighbors. I'm sure of the line between myself and two neighbors. The very back of my yard has a drainage ditch so I'm pretty sure on that one too. There are electric, phone, and cable boxes at one corner of my yard and I think the boundary extends from there to either the ditch fence or the corner of another neighbors fence. The neighborhood was built between 1997 and 2003 with curbs, driveways, and everything set. We also have an HOA that will review things like sheds so I'm not worried. I have a copy of my recorded deed of trust somewhere so I could probably figure it out.
 
Deed will probably only have a metes and bounds description with a reference to a prior survey or recorded plat. If you're actually concerned about the property line or the exact location of the setback lines per zoning standards, having a survey or come out and locate the boundaries is the only way to be certain if you want to cover your ass. A good fence contractor is going to want a survey to work off of. Are these vagaries about your property lines keeping you up at night ?
 
Anyone tried haggling with a concrete contractor (e.g. for a driveway expansion)? Or is the price pretty much set in stone (HEY OH)?

Price for the actual concrete may be pretty firm, depending on whether or not there are two or more concrete providers within a reasonable distance of your house. One supplier usually equals very firm price. Two or more and there is competition and hence some wiggle room there.

The labor for doing the excavation, forming the work area, installing reinforcing mesh, finishing the concrete etc. is where there can be more room for negotiation. However, make sure you are getting quality workmanship for the project, because any mistakes will be very literally cast in concrete.

This is the beginning of good concrete season. Cool, humid air is best. Concrete sets by chemically incorporating water into its structure. It doesn't "dry" by having the water evaporate.
 
Deed will probably only have a metes and bounds description with a reference to a prior survey or recorded plat. If you're actually concerned about the property line or the exact location of the setback lines per zoning standards, having a survey or come out and locate the boundaries is the only way to be certain if you want to cover your ass. A good fence contractor is going to want a survey to work off of. Are these vagaries about your property lines keeping you up at night ?

No. Just throwing it out there in the conversation with ITC's issue. I'm not concerned about them. The way the backyards come together, the neighborhood kids have a decent sized area to play and I don't mind them using my backyard to have a bigger field. I don't really want to pay to fence it either since my property is 1/3 acre.
 
How much should we expect to pay for this?

Design/Plans, entire house – measure & CAD existing plan + hand-drawn preliminary feasibility concept plans to achieve 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, future kitchen changes. Does not include finish plans (elevations, electrical plans, etc.)
 
How much should we expect to pay for this?

Design/Plans, entire house – measure & CAD existing plan + hand-drawn preliminary feasibility concept plans to achieve 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, future kitchen changes. Does not include finish plans (elevations, electrical plans, etc.)

floorplanner.com

have fun
 
How much should we expect to pay for this?

Design/Plans, entire house – measure & CAD existing plan + hand-drawn preliminary feasibility concept plans to achieve 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, future kitchen changes. Does not include finish plans (elevations, electrical plans, etc.)

When you plan electric outlets, put in more than you think you ever might need. Then add some. Otherwise, about three days after you move in, you will find yourself trying to plug in something and an outlet will not be in reach.

This is one of the corrallaries to Murphys Law: When you really need to plug in something, the nearest outlet will be six inches from the reach of the cord, or already full.
 
When you plan electric outlets, put in more than you think you ever might need. Then add some. Otherwise, about three days after you move in, you will find yourself trying to plug in something and an outlet will not be in reach.

This is one of the corrallaries to Murphys Law: When you really need to plug in something, the nearest outlet will be six inches from the reach of the cord, or already full.

Right, on board with that line of thinking... but how much should that design/plan cost, in your estimation?
 
Wife and I are demoing a house to build a new one. First rule of cutting down trees: Park your truck far away from the trees (this is one of the tree-cutting guy's trucks).

h-3nNEdI6SdQirOUImzt_g2vQzwen9OvSUhc_1m9IpGQWsapkOXDTjB7XNZinRB5j-gG9KsPXxVY3ph0sovvlMysVu9D16kdGuT4khILG6zFBl4t3N74dMphBYPqYNyiWMXfptrkPJwaxijXfFI-w0GtmmBUC6ewcoy3HH7yRQHIy9WquqI7_GmVbeCBNJeOe-mHl8aO-GIxCWuTefs1uF1sgeUPuMPgxpLONs8Gxf9162BA9fJ_VCma-vwYYIV7ObnpcW9nA6B6__0YbQPSR7yypHBDCHfba_DMU8UOv-IY7aC0EWdx6T8Ynomh2C3fMrCyo_kxOmkNsOwfNdP4BhFvY_6akW-tUdg3e0X_lsT88N4ajpePpugNNVqCXxRqKD4lnxvdkCD8KDGhLFsBTOgc3_NXbOCu4dgr5GAr5mtScIQKqFjMFgHQ31aYIqEkWKZo13cxbkVJlbbKhKFPY-SaKvRhu10ML-czPICm7P972GoKh7iSQQnFgvjvoi1S6YtM-cwK3X5jJjvs4LjRQoXUmd6sJIt1Nblv2hunlpkEgk98jheYMQEnT5rJluH4yldwm9A8F_SMV29qeazU45Qz2KUHIdmiBRav1Y0DOafA6Nm7XdL8HToEB6KVfZIHq98Goh2jafUfzRaFYDu3PdcWrkCzvq9nHOZl2bvbYIhFUh8e3OSt5C_L7_SAO618HIE_ruylhaGSCTPyNg=w492-h655-no
 
Tankless Water Heaters

Looking to replace a 15 year old, 50 gal electric hot water heater with a Navien NPE-240A tankless (propane) water heater in a second home. Interested to hear who has tankless and thoughts on tankless in general and Navien in particular.
 
Tankless Water Heaters

Looking to replace a 15 year old, 50 gal electric hot water heater with a Navien NPE-240A tankless (propane) water heater in a second home. Interested to hear who has tankless and thoughts on tankless in general and Navien in particular.

I'd be interested as well as I am doing the same thing soon. Does a tankless give better resale value in addition to unlimited hot water?
 
Tankless Water Heaters

Looking to replace a 15 year old, 50 gal electric hot water heater with a Navien NPE-240A tankless (propane) water heater in a second home. Interested to hear who has tankless and thoughts on tankless in general and Navien in particular.

Our last house had a tankless heater and we loved it. It was especially great when we had guests over and everyone could shower in the morning as they pleased without concern of having to wait for hot water. That said, we don't have a tankless heater in our current house and don't really miss it. I would say if you're building new or need to replace it's a nice thing to have, but I'm not sure I'd rip out a perfectly good water heater to replace with tankless.
 
Tankless Water Heaters

Looking to replace a 15 year old, 50 gal electric hot water heater with a Navien NPE-240A tankless (propane) water heater in a second home. Interested to hear who has tankless and thoughts on tankless in general and Navien in particular.

I looked at them last year but the price with installation was about 3 times the price of a regular natural gas 40 gallon tank. Also, the plumber I used said with the hard water in my area, they scale up pretty badly and do not last any longer than a regular water heater. I went with a 40 gallon natural gas for about $1,600. The tankless would have been around $4,500 installed.
 
when we replaced the tank for our office we asked about a tankless and they said they're great if you're heavy users of hot water but they cost more to install and are way more to maintain.
 
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