Zillow Advice RSS: Question-Discussion-Guide,Home Improvement,

Can I get a government grant for home improvement?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:23:00 GMT

2 replies

Is there anyway to stop a backwash cycle for a whole house water softener?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:20:00 GMT

It's supposed to happen at 2am, but always seems to happen when we have guests over.

0 replies

Estimate for hardwood floor installation...is it reasonable?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:16:00 GMT

I received an estimate for the labor of installing a hardwood floor in my 307sq. ft. livingroom. I have hardwood in some other rooms and want to match the existing floor, so laminate is not an option. This is the quote I got: $150 for the removal/disposal of the existing carpet, $2.50 per sq. ft for the installation of the floor for a total of $767.00, $3.00 per sq. ft for the sanding, staining, etc. for a total of $921.00 plus a small fee for installation of the baseboards. The labor total is about $1,900.00. Along with the actual purchase of the hardwood I am looking at about $3,500 for the one room. The contractor comes recommended from the place where I usually purchase flooring from. I live in Sherman Oaks, CA. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

0 replies

Major sewage pipe problems. Any ideas?

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:38:00 GMT

I would love any feed back or suggestions as I think I have covered off on everything.

About 6 months ago we noticed that there was sewage backing up into our sink in the basement. A call to the local plumber and they sent over a guy to snake out the main line out to the street. He didn't find any stops in the pipe out about 75 feet, almost middle of the street in front of the house. Sewage keep coming back in so the plumber installed a stop valve to stop any sewage from coming back into the house. We called the town, they checked their lines and everything was clear on thier end. The problem now is that I can't run my wahsing machine becasue the pressure on the stop valvue backs it up onto the basement floor. I called another snake guy to come and jet wash the pipe as thatr was the next step. They jetted it, snaked it 125-30 feet and ran into a blockage, something that scraped the metal off the end of the snake. They jetting resulted in a ton of sewage coming back into the house. We marked the blockage across the street on the side walk in front of our neighbors home.

My next step is to get a contractor in to dig up the pipe and fix it or dig up on my side and connect it to a closer sewage line that the one across the busy street I live on. Both involve diggign up the side walk either infornt of my house or in dront of my nieghbors across the street. None of this falls under the towns ownership unfortunately as they have come out multiple times.

Is there anything else I can do or am I doomed to have to pay to have my yard dug up and re-piped? Any help or thoughts or well wishes would be great.

Thanks!

13 replies

How does tubing compare to regular piping for a sink? A good choice?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:22:00 GMT

The tubing appears to be a heavy plastic or vinyl (synthetic). I have never seen this before, and I'm wondering if it's recommended or not.

3 replies

when i turn the water on to the tub it pulses non-stop how can i make it stop?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:51:00 GMT

3 replies

no hot water in kitchen in kitchen faucet

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT

the cold water runs fine. hot water throughout the house. not sure if the dishwasher has hot water.

0 replies

Is Semi-Gloos paint still best for the bathroom?

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:34:00 GMT

What is the popular paint sheen choice for bathroom these days? Egg shell/Satin seem to be used more and more. What is your opinion?

3 replies

Are raised vessel sinks going to go out of style?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:19:00 GMT

My husband and I will be gutting a half bath on our main floor. It's a huge room and we'll probably put in double sinks with a cabinet base that looks like furniture and a nice toilet with possible storage somewhere (there's a pedestal sink so no storage; at the moment I have a 3 drawer small cabinet to keep accessories in).

I love the vessel sinks and even know the colors I want. My concern is that in 20 years that will date the house, which is why we are also staying away from glass tiles. We want something that will stand the test of time and not look like it came from a certain era.

Any opinions? I want to use granite as the countertop, raised vessel sinks and beautiful faucets (I've considered the overflowing type sink top also, that looks kind of like a mini eternity pool). We'll be putting down slate floors (large size), pulling down the wall paper and painting the room in a pale shade of green. We used the green in our kids' bathroom and it's beautiful and calming. I want the vessel sinks to have a tint of green but still be see through. I just don't want to put a lot of money into something that will instantly date our house when we get old and decide to sell and move to something smaller.

thanks!

16 replies

New 2009 - 2010 property tax bill is $2306.06

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:01:00 GMT

My new property tax for 2009 - 2010 is $2306.06. there is a substantial change in my property value. can you please update all the information thru the county assessor's ooffice?

1 reply

Any ceiling fans made in the US?

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:36:00 GMT

We are looking for ceiling fans for our new house and have been unable to find any made in this country. Hunter Fans really annoyed me with printing on their boxes how they “Make’Em Like They Used To”. They then give you a history of them in New York State giving you the impression that they still are made in the US. Look closely and they are made in China!

Sorry about the rant. Anyway, is there a company who makes ceiling fans in the US?

25 replies

What is the approximate cost to re-tile and grout a bathroom?

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:39:00 GMT

Our master bath has a large jaccuzzi tub and a shower stall I want to tile the floor which currently has carpet and would like to update the shower and bath backsplash as well. Approx. floor space is 65sq. ft. plus the shower stall and bath, what can I expect to spend on tile plus labor?

3 replies

Gutting the kitchen and having a designer redo it should add value to our 1982 house, right?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:10:00 GMT

7 replies

Looking for properties that can be converted to ADA requirments

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:57:00 GMT

3 bedroom 3 bathrooms, living room, family room, kitchen

1 reply

I did not get any quotes on my loan request (ZR-SJJYSXW). Can someone help me figure out why?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:25:00 GMT

inherited house in good neighborhood that needs update throughout. professional estimate $50000. "as is" appraisal is $90,000. No mortgage

2 replies

I contacted 1 of the recommended contractors and he never show-up .How do I let you know to remove

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:52:00 GMT

I called and e-mailed one of the contractors you recommended on your site. He never called or show-up . He took all my personal information and then never again responded. I am not very comfortable about this

0 replies

Hardwood Flooring Suggestions

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:50:00 GMT

I have hardwood floors on my first floor and as part of a total remodel I would like to add some type of hardwood flooring to the second floor of my home which has 3 bedrooms, hallway and a bath. The total square footage on would be about 700 sq ft. I would like flooring that looks great, wears well is pet friendly but I'm open to some of the engineered flooring that is available as I would like to save a bit and not invest in real hardwood flooring if I can find an alternate flooring that will look good.

Any suggestions for flooring that would work well?

2 replies

What is the average FHA 203k loan rates right now

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:42:00 GMT

1 reply

Staging Your Home for Sale

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:34:00 GMT

Did you know that 94% of staged homes are selling in 34 days or less? Are you preparing your home for sale to make it look it's best and stand out from the competition? Did you know that 90% of potential buyers are viewing your property for the first time on the internet? How does your home look?
The conversation is: Pricing will get you in the game and staging will get you the offers!

5 replies

Master Bathroom

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:33:00 GMT

I just had my bathroom remodeled. I made the room bigger by 2' by 8'. Here is a picture get the idea of what was done. Because the shower is installed on a half wall, I had my guy run the plumbing to through the half wall so you dont have to run out the shower.

The room was gutted to studs. He had to do the following work:

framing
electrical
Plumbing
tile(walls/floors)
Floorpan for shower

The house is on a slab.

Can someone give me an idea how much this should cost? The total he wants is $4500 in just labor and I buy all the supplies. All opinions would help.

12 replies