An imbecile is loose in the world

[dad911]

^^^ Wow. There is so much more wrong than just the obvious.

[aigel]

You have to admit, the US standard residential door hinge is a crock. Non adjustable, can't just unhinge the door etc. Everything in this country is built for 20 years tops, nobody thinks about the next generation or builds it for their offspring. Craftsmen here are hard to find. You go to Europe and you have people that live in a house that someone 7 generations prior built. Everything still stands ... (Edit: if it hasn't been bombed).

[craigster59]

What's the problem, just flip it over. No wait, turn it around. No wait, just install some of those cool Hippie beaded curtains like Greg Brady did when he moved into the attic.

Was the previous owner a Fireman? Not to bag on Fireman but my P.O. was and he and his buddies had too much time on their hands, no need to hire a contractor for anything...

[mattdavis11]

I must live in Glens old home now. I put in the central HVAC. Prior to that, too many space heaters going would blow breakers, so I had to run extension cords from other parts of the house to keep us warm.

Things are better now, but still not up to snuff. We still have extension cords running things in the garage, and I'm not talking about from an outlet, it substitutes for romex.

In this same town, 15 years ago, a former boss was building a $200K guest house. He hired a company that does many different types of structures, including government buildings. One day his foreman, my brother, pointed out to the builder that they had installed the front door with the hinges on the outside and it opens the wrong way! LOL.

[sammyg2]

Could have been worse .....

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Hah! a hundred years ago when I was a painter on the tracts I went into a closet to paint the backside of a pocket door and found that the carpenter who installed the shelf and pole nailed the sucker open using some bodacious long nails

Sorry, I didn’t make myself clear. It’s worse than that, it’s literally just a rod hanging on a nail. I took a closer look and it’s not even a 16 penny nail. It’s a square twisted nail...
Given that the rod is a two piece, collapsible rod, it doesn’t take much to knock this thing completely onto the floor.

The entire closet shelf/rod design just makes you scratch your head.

[craigster59]

Are you "rehabbing" this place or is it your main residence?

On another note, a "friend of a friend" who lived up in the sticks where it got pretty warm in the summer decided to put in a mister system on the front porch to cool things down a bit. He couldn't figure out why he was still sweating like a pig in summer.

You guessed it, he hooked it up to the hot water line....

[aigel]

Originally Posted by craigster59

was the previous owner a fireman? Not to bag on fireman but my p.o. Was and he and his buddies had too much time on their hands, no need to hire a contractor for anything...

lol!!!

[aigel]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Are you "rehabbing" this place or is it your main residence?

On another note, a "friend of a friend" who lived up in the sticks where it got pretty warm in the summer decided to put in a mister system on the front porch to cool things down a bit. He couldn't figure out why he was still sweating like a pig in summer.

You guessed it, he hooked it up to the hot water line....

I moved to a new house and bought a new fridge which had a broken ice maker rigth out of the box. Couple fridge repairs under warranty didn't fix it. Until I figured I'll have a look: Same thing - the ice maker was hooked up to the hot water line. A few feet from the hot water heater to boot! The line was in there from the previous owner / tenant.

G

[javadog]

Originally Posted by craigster59

Are you "rehabbing" this place or is it your main residence?

On another note, a "friend of a friend" who lived up in the sticks where it got pretty warm in the summer decided to put in a mister system on the front porch to cool things down a bit. He couldn't figure out why he was still sweating like a pig in summer.

You guessed it, he hooked it up to the hot water line....

I sold my house and moved last month to a new state. I’m only going to be here for a few years, so I’m not wanting to buy another house right now. This is a rental and I am going to fix a bunch of things, because I can’t stand living in the house of this kind of quality.

[sammyg2]

[Bugsinrugs]

I was doing a flooring install and all the doors needed to be cut. Homeowner decided to do it himself. First door, carried it outside and cut it. Brought it in and when he was hanging it he realized he cut the top. Holy s..t he screams. Takes it back outside and proceeds to cut the top AGAIN! Laughed all the way home.

[stevej37]

If counting anyone who can't install a door hinge properly....there are more than one imbeciles in the world...including me.
Thanks

[john70t]

Originally Posted by javadog

The entire closet shelf/rod design just makes you scratch your head.

I think the mounting bracket is supposed to slide outwards over the ends after separating the rods.
Take the whole thing off and re-mount it. Easy 10 min fix.
Someone had some missing synapses there.

They put on that extension after realizing they needed more wall clearance, because they didn't measure when designing it.

It could be covered up with a couple pieces of wood and made a little more attractive.
Paint it different. Stick on design trim. Light on top or underneath. Whatever.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by aigel

You have to admit, the US standard residential door hinge is a crock. Non adjustable, can't just unhinge the door etc. Everything in this country is built for 20 years tops, nobody thinks about the next generation or builds it for their offspring. Craftsmen here are hard to find. You go to Europe and you have people that live in a house that someone 7 generations prior built. Everything still stands ... (Edit: if it hasn't been bombed).

George, we have some fine examples of old home here in the US. Its the later production homes that are build with just enough to stand up for a little over 100 years. It they don't deteriorate in 150 years, the termites will get to it. We build homes out of wood, they buil.d them out of stone, bit difference. Hey, what part of Europe are you from? I have seen some really cool building there in Both France and Germany and Switzerland

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

I was doing a flooring install and all the doors needed to be cut. Homeowner decided to do it himself. First door, carried it outside and cut it. Brought it in and when he was hanging it he realized he cut the top. Holy s..t he screams. Takes it back outside and proceeds to cut the top AGAIN! Laughed all the way home.

hahahahaha. I can't stop laughing.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by look 171

George, we have some fine examples of old home here in the US. Its the later production homes that are build with just enough to stand up for a little over 100 years. It they don't deteriorate in 150 years, the termites will get to it. We build homes out of wood, they buil.d them out of stone, bit difference. Hey, what part of Europe are you from? I have seen some really cool building there in Both France and Germany and Switzerland

I ask coworkers all the time where our homes will be in 50-100 years, when in Europe and other places, homes are hundreds of years old.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

I ask coworkers all the time where our homes will be in 50-100 years, when in Europe and other places, homes are hundreds of years old.

Look at the same home built, say 100 years ago. The typical European homes, not the mansions or castles, are basically 4 walls all built with stone. Typical masonry construction. Exterior plumbing and electrical. Basically no maintenance. I restored a Greene and Greene built in 1908. That house was in great shape. Out here many "old" house were build in the 1910 to 1920s. By then, they had in wall wiring and plumbing. Termite will have eaten 50% of the house by now but they dislike rock. You can't compare Masonry build homes with slate roofs to a stick frame built home with shingles. The question is, which method would you like to pay to have built so you can live in it for 50 years years? I don't know how many houses are passed on down more then two generations here? I am not talking about the wealthy, but the common American? I like to know what or how do their wooden windows last so long in those old homes? do they change them our every 50-90 years? A piece of wood is still a piece of wood no matter how you look t it or how the window's build. Over time, it will rot eventually. Maybe huge overhangs to keep them dry?

[RSBob]

Owned a townhome in Seattle which I later turned into a rental. The single car garage had a conventional garage door and a standard house door leading to the backyard on the opposite end. One day I noticed the standard door going outside had the hinges mounted on the outside. All the neighbors had the same flawed doors. It would be quite easy to get into the house with a screwdriver and a hammer. Unbelievable. Luckily no one ever attempted to break in. Bet it would never occurred to them to look.

Sold the place so didn’t bother reversing them.

[ben parrish]

Was the door out swinging? If so, hopefully they were security hinges with “pinned” hinge pins that cannot be removed or have a set screw on the inside face that can only be accessed with the door opened.