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She gets hot and even when it's -40°, she opens it about 1" at night. Crazy kid.
The windows don't leak noticably when entirely closed. The part that goes around to open and close is broken on most of them. So I stand outside with my hands on the frame and push and a kid on the inside pulls the latches down. Then they are closed. Really closed. So it's do we replace the hardware or the entire window? The 1986 windows have to be replaced because the hardware can't be. (Approx $6000 for the two, well, four because they won't replace just two, and they won't match the trim and look at me like I'm crazy and say that's impossible. See picture. The bottom window is the formerly operable that needs replaced.) The 1958 windows can be repaired. One of them has a crack in the interior of the two panes, and that one pane needs replaced.
Something needs to be done because we are desert climate and rely on opening windows at night for cooling in the summer. If we had AC we could just leave them locked.
Do the test on a cold, windy day. If you allow smoking indoors, use a cigarette, or use a lit incense stick to make a thin stream of smoke.Hold the smoking object near the window edges ... if the smoke is blown about, the window is leaking. [You can also hold a wet hand near the window and you'll feel a breeze, but the smoke is more sensitive.]
New hardware can help, but usually the problems are things like warped frames/walls, too much paint on trim, loose glass, or old construction methods. None of these are solved by tight locks.
Enneagram 5w4. I'm researching what that means, before designing t-shirt art about it.
"I feel no shame in making lavish use of the strongest muscles, namely male ones (but my own strongest muscle is dedicated to the service of men - noblesse oblige). I don't begrudge men one whit of their natural advantages as long as they respect mine. I am not an unhappy pseudomale; I am female and like it that way." RAH
It looks like I'm going to be staying in my current apartment for a while longer, possibly 3 years more. When I thought we'd be moving out quickly, I could tolerate 100 years of age ... now I want to fix it up. It is a rental, on a year to year lease.
The apartment is a quirky old 2 1/2 bedroom, 1 bath, on 2 floors of an old building, with part of the basement and attic. [The third bedroom is very, very small, but will make a nice home office for me.] There are plenty of nice old details: complex window trim, bronze door hardware, plaster walls, built-ins ... all covered by layers and layers of poorly applied paint. [Don't get me started on the bath and kitchen; those are for another post.]
Does anyone know of a good way to get rid of the paint on the woodwork? I don't need to get to bare wood, just get rid of all the gobs and globs so a new coat of paint will show off the pretty details.
I've used paint stripper before, years ago, on furniture I could take outside. The stripper was too toxic to use indoors. I also tried the "safe" strippers, they were useless. Are they more effective now? I don't want to use heat or abrasion, the paint almost certainly contains lead.
Any suggestions from our resident experts?
[The Ensign and I found that one wall of one of the stairwells has a layer of latex paint applied over a dirty wall. It's coming up with fingernails and a damp rag.]
Enneagram 5w4. I'm researching what that means, before designing t-shirt art about it.
"I feel no shame in making lavish use of the strongest muscles, namely male ones (but my own strongest muscle is dedicated to the service of men - noblesse oblige). I don't begrudge men one whit of their natural advantages as long as they respect mine. I am not an unhappy pseudomale; I am female and like it that way." RAH
Answer:
1. What are a landlord's legal responsibilities to new tenants regarding lead in rental property?
Because of the health problems caused by lead poisoning, the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act was enacted in 1992. This law is commonly known as Title X (Ten). Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations implementing Title X apply to rental property built before 1978.
Under Title X, before signing or renewing a lease or rental agreement, a landlord must disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards on the property. Both the landlord and tenant must sign an EPA-approved disclosure form to prove that the landlord told the tenants about any known lead on the premises. Property owners must keep this disclosure form as part of their records for three years from the date that the tenancy begins.
The landlord must also give every tenant the EPA pamphlet, "Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home," or a state-approved version of this pamphlet.
A landlord who fails to comply with EPA regulations faces penalties of up to $16,000 for each violation. And a landlord who is found liable for tenant injuries from lead may have to pay three times what the tenant suffered in damages.
More Information on Lead Hazard Resources
Information on the evaluation and control of lead dust and copies of "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" may be obtained by calling the National Lead Information Center at 800-424-LEAD or from the EPA's website at www.epa.gov/lead. In addition, state housing departments have information on state laws and regulations governing the evaluation and control of lead hazards.
There's also a cleaner called Awesome available at most dollar stores- that stuff chews through just about anything, so if you have some stubborn dirt it's worth the $1 investment. Wear gloves!
Besides, I *like* doing renovation work. I want to do this myself. I will take all reasonable safety precautions, which is why I want to use a "safe" chemical stripper. Scraping and heat release lead, traditional strippers are highly toxic. I've done both, and won't do them on things I can't take outdoors, like window trim.
I've been reading, and it sounds like some of the "safe" strippers are effective, if you give them enough time. They discolor the wood ... not a problem, as I plan to remove 1/2" of gloppy white paint and replace it with one layer of new white paint.
Enneagram 5w4. I'm researching what that means, before designing t-shirt art about it.
"I feel no shame in making lavish use of the strongest muscles, namely male ones (but my own strongest muscle is dedicated to the service of men - noblesse oblige). I don't begrudge men one whit of their natural advantages as long as they respect mine. I am not an unhappy pseudomale; I am female and like it that way." RAH
I went to Home Despot and bought a contractor's pack of "direct replacement" 4' LED T8 bulbs. I started swapping them, and none of them work.
So, if I assume the LED bulbs are not defective, that means the old fixtures have an issue that prevents the LEDs from firing up.
That said, I can either work on each fixture by tossing out the ballast and rewiring each end in order to power the LEDs, or replace each fixture with ones designed to hold the bulbs I bought.
Can anyone point me in the right direction? I plan on going back to Home Despot to find a set of fixtures to replace the ones I have, but rewiring would be cheaper (but more time-consuming).
The amount of work seems almost equal either way. You'll either have to take the existing fixtures apart to convert, or pull the whole thing down and reconnect the new ones.
If you get new fixtures at least you know they will work without fuss and they should last a long time, and maybe they will have a little more style than the builder cheapos.
My my electric bills are outrageous running an electric construction heater.
It was his first d-i-y project ... and he enjoyed it very much. He especially liked using my brace and screwdriver bit to drive the screws. [I prefer hand tools, only using power when absolutely necessary.]
Another parenting goal met.
Enneagram 5w4. I'm researching what that means, before designing t-shirt art about it.
"I feel no shame in making lavish use of the strongest muscles, namely male ones (but my own strongest muscle is dedicated to the service of men - noblesse oblige). I don't begrudge men one whit of their natural advantages as long as they respect mine. I am not an unhappy pseudomale; I am female and like it that way." RAH
They're supposed to look like candelabras or something. To me, they're garbage that hasn't yet made it into the trash bin. Trying to figure out what will look good there. Some sort of indirect lighting will be much, much nicer.
We're also repainting the whole house white. The whole house was repainted some weird flesh-esque brown/tan/yellow/whatever in the weeks before I finalized the purchase. I wish I had a wayback machine so I could nut punch the painters to distract them while I swapped out their paint for basic white.
OMG, white walls with the new lights makes a YUUUUGE difference. The garage was already white, so I ain't sweating that.
After painting select rooms and replacing a slew of light fixtures, we need to focus on replacing large portions of our back fence. That's going to be big bucks, but it's falling apart now, so it's gotta get done.
One project at a time.