ssmallen

Any suggestions for good home builders for single family homes ranging in the low 100Ks to 200Ks?

We've had no problems with Lennar- very attentive to warranty claims (no matter how well your house is built you'll find something that requires a warranty claim that first year). After almost one year in the house I have no problem recommending Lennar to anybody.

Whatever builder you decide to go with, in addition to the pre-move-in inspection(s) don't forget to have another inspection done a couple of weeks before the 1 year portion of the (1-2-10) new home warranty expires.

I'll second the recommendation for Prudencio. He was referred to me by some friends who were happy with his work and I had him replace the carpet on my stairs with wood. Great work, good price and they really kept the mess of installation and sanding to a minimum.

We were talking about that option (hate the carpet on our stairs). How much does something like that run? I have a good idea of what we would pay per sq ft to hardwood our 1st floor, but have no idea about the stairs.

I've used Acme Movers the past 3 times. They charge by the hour and that hourly rate is set by the number of movers you request for your move. The last time we moved I think we only used to guys and I believe it was $75 per hour with a 2 or 3 hour min. We also had them do the packing and they worked quickly because they had another job that afternoon so it did work out good having the first appointment. Total charge for a move from League City to Pearland was about $600- 700 including what I tipped them.

Have you thought of the Pearland area? 375k can get a pretty decent house there.

MidtownCoog i am looking to install gutters soon. How did your experience turn out?

I'm not Midtown Coog, but did just have a gutter install. It was a real pain at first. I had 3 places come out for estimates and it blew my mind. I live in a new construction 2000 sq ft, 2 story that already had gutters across the front. The estimates ranged from $1400-$2900! I almost gave up as I just didn't see paying that much for gutters (these are just regular gutters as there are no trees to cause the gutters to clog up). Then I decided to call my builder and ask who they subbed the gutter work out to...they told me Southwest Gutters (713-263-7449) would take care of it. Called Southwest, and they had a guy here the same day for a estimate. For seamless alum. gutters on both sides and rear of the house he bid $852 which includes tax. He was able to schedule a crew for the next day because they were doing a install on a new construction in my neighborhood. I was very pleased with the work, and I didn't have to pay a arm and leg for all the extra bells and whistles that many of these places are requiring since Ike. The guy with Southwest said that he's heard lots of stories about high bids after Ike because these places are getting so much work they can get a premium for it.

Let me know how it turns out for you, and Merry Christmas to everyone!

What kind of temperature difference do you get in your attic with a radiant barrier such as TechShield? I went to their site and I couldn't find anything that would explain that. If the outside temp is 85 what would the attic be?

I had my attic sprayed at the end of May, they also blew in 6" of insulation free. I measured my attic temps during the week before they came and while the outside temps were ~85, the attic was in the 125-135 range between 2-4pm. I left the digital temp transmitter up there and check it every now and then, since they painted the decking (2-story house, ~3000 sq ft, ~1500 sq ft attic) the hottest my attic has been was 132 and that was on a day that my backyard's outside temp in the shade hit 101. Average has been 110-122, so it seems like it did lower the temp in the attic. We have no shade from trees so there is nothing to really stop the heat. My attic has ridge vents which do a good job of moving the air because my attic will go down to within 5-10 degrees of the outside temp about three hours after sunset.

I was very pleased with the service and the results. We used EAS and it was a special they were running but it only cost $1100 for the RB paint and "free" insulation (brought me up to 18" total).

I have that device. Got it before I moved to Houston area, my old electric provider offered a big rebate for people that wanted them (after rebate it cost me $25-35). I like it, I can see anytime I want the approx per hour cost my electricity usage is setting me back. It's pretty close every month to my actual usage on my bill (within ~1-2%).

I realize that this thread is a bit old, and it pertained to mowers, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents on the new cordless weedeater I just bought. Previously, I had a gas weedeater. In addition to having to mix gas and oil, which necessitated a separate gas can from my lawn mower, it was a bit heavy, hard to start, and died if you turned it sideways to trim. The last straw was that the drive train separated from the head a couple of weeks ago.

Yesterday, I decided to buy a new weedeater. I decided to consider electric to match my electric edger. I found an 18 volt cordless from Black&Decker at Lowes (also at Home Depot). The 2 batteries that come with it match my cordless drill, sawsall and circular saw. It has a swivel head to do edging. Automatic line feed, quiet, lightweight, starts on demand, and decent torque. For city yards, this thing rocks! I've been outside all morning trimming the fence, deck, ditch, sidewalk, and even the grass that has overtaken my shrubbery. The last one is a particular problem for the gas weedeater, as it is less precise, and therefore more prone to rip up the shrubbery.

I have now trimmed everything I could find, and am barely into the 2nd battery. It is so useful, I suspect that my electric edger will soon be a relic of my lawncare past, just like my gas weedeater. For those who are interested, I trimmed 100 feet of fenceline, 30 feet of sidewalk edging, 30 feet of deckline, and a shrubbery bed on a little more than one battery. I suspect that 2 batteries would more than cover the needs of a 7,500 square foot lot.

I also have that weedeater...got it in a set with the cordless blower, hedge trimmer, and 3 batteries. My review is just as glowing. I was kinda worried about the blower since it's so small, but it works fine... takes a little longer than a gas blower but it's much lighter so it evens out.

I want to add that I have a cordless mower that I picked up at Home Depot for ~$300 and it has worked great so far (it replaced a corded electric mower...mowing with the extension cord was just too much work for me). My lot is 7500 sq ft, but our pool/spa, and flower beds make the area that needs to be mowed somewhat smaller. I have never had it run down on me when cutting both front and back yards, the battery indicator still shows green after I'm done. The only drawback is that I notice about 10-15 uncut blades of grass that it has missed each time I cut the front yard (same thing with the back). I don't know if it's because the blade doesn't turn as fast as a gas mower or what. I cut my grass at the highest setting for the mower (3 3/4") and I never let the grass get too high so there is no worries about it bogging down. It has a bagging attachment, a side discharge, and a mulching option (I use the mulch option, seems to do a decent job). I've only had it for a few months but so far i have been very pleased.

Scott we are over here in Wilchester/Yorkshire. We are doing the Gulf and Basco windows with the mullions inbetween the panes in the back. Pella's Dura-last wood, single hung on the front for the curb appeal. I just like the mullions on the exterior of the panes on these old houses. But to do the whole house would be like buying a lung.

We are also having EAS (Efficent Attic SOlutions) spray insulate the house to get us up to 15 inches. Still on the fence about the radiant barrier thing. BUt the windows and insulation alone should make a big difference this summer.

I had EAS do the radiant barrier spray in our attic a couple of weeks ago and they added 6" of insulation (I already had 12" but they had a 6" free special going on). I put a digital thermometer up in the attic for a week before they came and recorded the outside and attic temps. After the radiant barrier spray was put in I looked at the attic temps on days that had the same outside temp and sun, the result...about 20 degrees lower. During a 82 degree sunny day my attic would get as high as 120-125 before the spray, after the spray that same 82 degree day would only get the attic up to 95-105 degrees. I'm pleased with it because they offered a big discount for the whole thing. I have a 3000 sq ft 2 story house and for 5" of blown in insulation and the radiant barrier paint plus new baffles the total cost was $1100. I felt like that was a pretty good deal so I'm happy. The workers for EAS were professional and did a good job...no mess and they were in and out in less than 2.5 hours.

Are there typical fees that are paid by the buyer to the realtor. Coming from the midwest I have not seen this before.

My Realtor has never even asked me to sign anything (before making a offer on a home), much less pay her anything. We've used her for 3 purchases and according to the paperwork after close, she only got 2% for the last one (3% went to the listing agent). She didn't seem upset at all, considering we only looked at 8 houses it was still a decent payday for her and her broker.

I am very leery of moving companies.... Looking for someone that is trustworth..any suggestions??

I've used Acme Movers (http://www.acmemovers.net/) 3 times over the past 6 years, and I have been satisfied every time (twice we had them do all of the packing as well). They also moved my mom from Baton Rouge to League City a few months ago and it was painless. For two of my three moves they sent a third person along for free even though I had requested only two...(they had other jobs after mine needing three movers and they wanted to make sure they were on time). They charge by the hour, which is what I was looking for...I don't like the companies that charge by weight.

I'm looking to find someone who can do something, maybe unique.. maybe not.. I've not seen it yet.

Details: I'm looking to build a deck on the back on my house for late summer/fall this year. I'd like to use composite "boards", to prevent rotting and maintenance issues.. I have a very small backyard, so space efficiency is an utmost requirement..

My basic ideas is a covered built-in "cabana", canvased covered sitting area with a table, and a built in kitchen.. which would be just a built in gas grill and flanking counter tops..

I've not measured it yet, but for reference I've a 5000 sq ft lot, where the house and front yard is about half of that, the garage and driveway is the other 1/4 of it.. So I'm not talking about a huge area.. AND I want to be able to leave some grass in the back yard to throw the kids around in..

Anyway.. the ads I've found so far show huge backyards, brick kitchens and large clumpy furniture.. Nothing really which shows how to use space efficiently..

Anyone have suggestions of a designer/deckbuilder/outdoorkitchen builder who might be able to meet these basic requirements?

Thanks

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. Very small backyard that is made smaller because of a pool and spa. We're looking for a open deck area with one side covered that contains the outdoor kitchen. I'm trying to get all of my ducks in order so I'm looking everywhere for references from people that were pleased with the job their deckbiulder/designer did.

We've used ACME Movers (281-867-0322) twice for our moves from and to houses in the Clear Lake/League City area, and once for my mom who moved from Baton Rouge to Houston. No problems to report...they charge hourly (which we prefer)- $85/hr for a two-man crew and a $45 trip fee for our moves in the Clear Lake/League City area. For my mom's move (which was last week) they charged a total of $1575 which included the trip fees and hourly costs ($85/hr). We have not found anything broken/lost and they have always been very professional and fast (barely even slowing down to drink water during the loading/unloading). I should mention that all three of the times we have used them they did all the packing and supplied all boxes/materials (they stated each time that they would charge us for what was used, but after giving each mover a $20 tip, we never get charged for any of the boxes they used). They even sent 3 men to our first move because they were doing a real big move in the same area that afternoon, they only charged us the 2-man rate (because we only requested 2) so it only cost us one extra tip for a much quicker move.

Passthrough is just what the name implies, it allows the signal to passthrough the cable box with no alterations whatsover...

for users with widescreen sets, this means the picture will automatically get stretched as the TV assumes it is getting a full screen broadcast.

that may be true for some monitors, but none that I have ever dealt with.

Maybe somebody knows... A technician told me on the phone how to do this but that was around two years ago. Somehow you could press around three buttons on your control or maybe hold buttons (i dont remember) and you will have more options for HD and other settings. Does anybody have an answer?????

Is this what you were looking for?

(taken from AVS Forums)

Setup Wizard. UG-3 Instructions for Advanced Setup Wizard to choose TV type and resolutions, done after the box has received it's initial download from your cableco.

• Using Power button on unit (not remote), turn off power, then press both GUIDE/INFO at same time.
  
• Choose Easy or Advanced setup - Easy selects 1080i output only - Advanced provides options for TV type (4x3 or 16x9) and user selected outputs.
  
• Follow instructions on the screen. Read instructions carefully. If screen goes blank, it is trying to display a resolution not supported by TV - disable that resolution and continue until you have gone through all of them.
  

This is for the SA8300HD, but may work for other SA HD cable boxes.

Why not? I use passthrough and watch analog channels.

You're correct, there's really nothing at all wrong with using passthrough. All that does is "pass through" the native resolution of the channel you are watching to your TV set. If you are using a HD TV it will convert the signal to it's own native resolution (either 720p, 1080i, or possibly 1080p).

Bottom line is, compare them all and use the one that gives you the best picture. There is no "right" or "wrong" answer, trust your eyes.

All channels are stretched. But the analog are the worst. I'll try the box. We've tried all settings with the tv, even pulled out the manual. Nothing has helped.

Try pressing the "#" button on your remote to cycle through the zoom options. They have "normal", "stretch", "zoom 1", and "zoom 2". Stretch is for those people that want 4x3 material to be stretched to fill up their 16x9 screen (this does distort the image, causing things to look wider). Zoom 1 is for letterboxed broadcasts on no-hdtv channels...like Mythbusters on Discovery channel, you see the black bars on the side plus black bars on the top and bottom. Zoom 1 will zoom the picture to fill a 16x9 screen without any distortion. Zoom 2 does the same as Zoom 1 except it zooms the picture even more. I'm not sure why somebody would want to use Zoom 2 on a regular basis, we use it sometimes during baseball or football games in HD to get a close up on replays for safe/out or catch/no-catch calls.

Hope that helps, if the "#" button doesn't work you may have to look at your televisions settings as many TVs have similar ways to manipulate the size of the picture.