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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

I'm needing to replace my roof. Would really like to do a metal roof but will certainly get quotes for metal and shingles. Any recommendations for triad area roofers?
 
Any opinions on tankless gas water heaters versus traditional gas water heaters? Mine is original to my house and 18 years old right now. I noticed the hot water ran out pretty quickly the other morning when I was in the shower and there is a small leak coming from the pressure release valve so it's probably time to replace it. I may just do another tank heater but was wondering if anyone had tankless or had done one recently and have any information about costs. Thanks.
 
My Rinnai is nearly 10 years old and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Endless hit water at a much cheaper rate than a traditional tank hot water heater.
 
My Rinnai is nearly 10 years old and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Endless hit water at a much cheaper rate than a traditional tank hot water heater.

I'm not sure that's true.
We recently built a house and I did some online research (i.e. Consumer Reports) that seemed to argue tanked gas was still the right answer. The kicker is the upfront cost of the tankless unit. Anyway, the price point on the units may have changed and altered that equation.
 
Any concerns with hanging storage racks from the rafters in the garage (2x10, as far as I️ can tell)? Looking at maybe 2 racks that are 4x8 each. A couple hundred pounds total - just typical garage crap like decorations, kids clothes, outdoor gear, etc.

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I wouldn't worry about a couple hundred pounds. You easily have that weight in snow during the winter.

While he should be fine, there is a difference in the loads/stresses between snow sitting on a roof, and weight hanging from the rafters.
 
I wouldn't worry about a couple hundred pounds. You easily have that weight in snow during the winter.

Not designed for it, but like tsy said, you'll be fine.

While he should be fine, there is a difference in the loads/stresses between snow sitting on a roof, and weight hanging from the rafters.

Thanks, y'all. I think I'm going with a couple of racks and will make plans to reinforce with cross beams down the road. Not overly concerned about snow weight - it comes and goes pretty fast in Denver.
 
I'm not sure that's true.
We recently built a house and I did some online research (i.e. Consumer Reports) that seemed to argue tanked gas was still the right answer. The kicker is the upfront cost of the tankless unit. Anyway, the price point on the units may have changed and altered that equation.

Talked to some other plumbers in the Roanoke area and they don't recommend the tankless units here because we have pretty hard water and there are issues with scaling which affects the useful life of the unit. I'll probably end up going with a new gas tank heater but go for one with a longer warranty. I'm off tomorrow and getting a couple estimates. Hope it's not too expensive.
 
Thanks, y'all. I think I'm going with a couple of racks and will make plans to reinforce with cross beams down the road. Not overly concerned about snow weight - it comes and goes pretty fast in Denver.

It took me a few minutes to realize that your garage doesn't have horizontal joists connecting the bottom ends of the roof rafters, to make the roof rafter structure into triangles. But if it passed inspection, I guess the builders and building inspectors know what is sufficient for snow load etc. in your area.
 
You might be thinking of something like a truss. He's got a ridge board that connects the rafters. The rafters carry load to the walls. Pretty common in small storage buildings and detached garages.
 
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Our hot water heater should be able to keep water hot for back to back showers, right? It’s electric from 2010 so from a quick google search shouldn’t need to be replaced yet.
 
Our hot water heater should be able to keep water hot for back to back showers, right? It’s electric from 2010 so from a quick google search shouldn’t need to be replaced yet.

we were feeling like ours wasn't up to snuff, either - ended up buying a water heater blanket for it, and it's helped. Maybe give this a thought, especially if it's in the attic/garage/some other place in the house that's not insulated/temp controlled.


also, I <3 physdeac's asshole response.
 
It’s in the basement - the previous owners actually had it wrapped but our inspector said that doesn’t really do anything and suggested they remove it. Wish we had left it if it actually helps!
 
It’s in the basement - the previous owners actually had it wrapped but our inspector said that doesn’t really do anything and suggested they remove it. Wish we had left it if it actually helps!

our issue was more like we felt that the water itself was not as hot (and running out quickly) - after some reading/sleuthing, learned the water heater can work just as hard to maintain water that's 3-5* colder if the water heater is not in a conditioned space. because the hot water itself is actually hotter now, we can dilute it with more cold.

could you set the temp limit on your hot water higher? if you're currently having to run 80% hot 20% cold to get the right temp water, if you increase the max temp you could use less hot water to get to the same 'right' temp.
 
our issue was more like we felt that the water itself was not as hot (and running out quickly) - after some reading/sleuthing, learned the water heater can work just as hard to maintain water that's 3-5* colder if the water heater is not in a conditioned space. because the hot water itself is actually hotter now, we can dilute it with more cold.

could you set the temp limit on your hot water higher? if you're currently having to run 80% hot 20% cold to get the right temp water, if you increase the max temp you could use less hot water to get to the same 'right' temp.

That’s what I was thinking we should try first. My dads coming over today so I have a list of stuff to ask him to help us adult and do. Kind of feels like our house is falling apart which is NEAT.
 
Another possibility is that the bottom element is burned out. That would reduce the effective capacity by about half. Having only one working element also increases recovery time.
 
That’s what I was thinking we should try first. My dads coming over today so I have a list of stuff to ask him to help us adult and do. Kind of feels like our house is falling apart which is NEAT.

I was going to suggest checking the elements in the electric water heater. A water heater blanket could help and you could try insulating the pipes with some cheap foam pipe insulation.
 
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