Been paying $150 a year for AC tune-ups since 2019, coil cleaning and all that. Last summer I skipped it, just changed the filter myself and sprayed the outdoor unit with a hose. Unit ran the same, electric bill was within $5 of previous years. My neighbor swears by his maintenance plan at Cool Breeze Services in Decatur, but I'm starting to think most of it is just peace of mind. Anyone else drop their service contract and see no difference?
She said I was holding the nozzle at an angle that was driving water up under the boards instead of blasting the dirt off, so I tried it her way and it actually stripped the wood way faster. Has anyone else gotten unsolicited advice from a neighbor that turned out to be right despite being annoying?
I was at a hardware store in Decatur last Saturday and overheard this old school plumber telling a guy that Atlanta's water is basically acidic enough to eat through copper pipes in under 15 years. He said most homes built before 2000 around here are ticking time bombs with their original plumbing. I got home and checked my own pipes from 1998 and sure enough, there's green crust forming on the joints. Anyone else's house around here have pinhole leaks starting to show up?
I drove by a house in Decatur last week where someone clearly used indoor silicone caulk on exterior brick windows. That stuff will crack in one summer heat cycle down here. I've been redoing window seals for 8 years at my brother's handyman business on weekends, and you gotta use a polyurethane or hybrid sealant for exterior work here. Have y'all run into this mistake around town?
I tried pressure washing my roof last spring because it's cheaper and faster, but I ended up damaging some shingles and now I'm getting leaks. A neighbor told me soft washing is better for the clay tiles we have here since it's gentler. Has anyone else had problems with pressure washing on Atlanta roofs, or am I just being too rough with it?
I only realized last week that I've been putting my furnace filter in backwards since I bought this house in Decatur. The arrow was pointing toward the unit instead of away from it, and my AC guy laughed for a solid minute before showing me the dust buildup on the wrong side. Has anyone else made this dumb mistake?
Last month a company came out to look at my crawlspace in Decatur, spent 10 minutes under the house, then tried to sell me a $12,000 drainage system without any evidence. Has anyone else had better luck with a smaller local crew in the area who actually inspects first?
I was at my neighbor's house last week helping him move some boxes (he's got a ton of them from his garage cleanout) and we noticed water dripping from his attic vent. He called a buddy who does roofing and turns out his gutters were so clogged with leaves and gunk that water backed up and seeped under the shingles. We spent three hours pulling out this thick sludge from just one section of the gutter. Has anyone else had surprise water damage from something as simple as clogged gutters after a big storm?
I live in Decatur and after 4 years in this house I figured I had it all figured out with the filter changes. Well last month the AC started making this weird humming noise and the air felt weak. Called a guy out and he pulled the filter and it was completely clogged. He said in Atlanta with all the pollen and dust I should really change it every 6 weeks during spring and summer. Cost me $75 for the service call just to learn that. Now I set a reminder on my phone and it made a huge difference. Anyone else get tripped up by stuff like this after living somewhere for years?
I tried bleach, fans, everything for that damp smell in my Decatur basement. Picked up a basic 30-pint unit at Home Depot for $80 and it's been pulling out a gallon of water daily. Anyone else have luck with a specific brand for Atlanta humidity?
I bought my house in Decatur back in 2010 and have cleaned the gutters myself every spring and fall without fail. Hit 50 total cleanings last month and realized I've spent roughly 100 hours on a ladder doing something that could be automated. Has anyone here had good luck with a particular brand of gutter guards in the Atlanta area that can handle all these pine needles?
For like 2 years I was just misting my ferns and calatheas every morning. They looked okay but always had crispy tips. Then I read something about how misting barely raises humidity and doesn't actually water the roots. So I switched to bottom watering about 3 months ago - just sitting the pots in a tray of water for 20 minutes. Now those same plants have put out like 6 new fronds each and the tips stopped browning. Has anyone else had better luck with one method over the other for Atlanta humidity levels?
I went to replace a $8 flapper in a 1990s Toto toilet last Saturday and somehow ended up fighting with a seized supply line for 45 minutes. The shutoff valve under the tank stripped out and started spraying water everywhere, so I had to run to Ace Hardware on Memorial Drive for a new one. $12 and a second trip later, the whole job took 3 hours for something that should have been 15 minutes. Has anyone else dealt with those old brass valves that just crumble when you touch them?
Ngl, last July was brutal. My AC went out on a Saturday when it hit 98 degrees. I called three different HVAC guys and they all wanted $400 just to come look at it. Finally found a local guy who fixed a blown capacitor for $150, but I was sweating for two days straight. Has anyone else dealt with surprise AC failures in the middle of a heatwave?
Last month my AC went out on a Sunday with temps hitting 98 degrees. I called three different repair places in Atlanta and they all wanted $150 just to come look at it. Turned out the capacitor blew and parts cost me $25 but labor was $200. I learned after that I should have Googled how to check the capacitor myself. Has anyone else had luck fixing their own HVAC issues or is that asking for trouble?
Woke up to a dripping sound from the kitchen cabinet last night. Pulled everything out and saw the insulation wrap was soaking wet and moldy around a joint. Anyone had luck with foam vs rubber pipe wrap in Atlanta's humidity?
Had a 50 gallon Rheem give out at my place near Decatur around 9 PM on a Sunday. Tank was leaking all over the concrete floor so I had to shut the water off and drain it myself with a garden hose. Anyone else keep a backup water heater or just call a plumber the next day?
I was at the Ace Hardware on Ponce last Saturday picking up furnace filters and this plumber was telling the clerk how 90% of the clogged drains he gets called for are just gunk buildup you can clear with a shop vac from the outdoor unit. He said the vinegar flush every spring is the real trick. I spent 10 bucks on a bottle of white vinegar instead of calling someone out. Has anyone else tried this instead of the annual service?
Called a guy off Google last month to clean my chimney before winter hits. Paid $400 cash upfront because he said he needed it for materials or some nonsense. He showed up late, ran a brush through once in like 10 minutes, took a blurry photo of the inside, and left. Next time I used the fireplace, smoke was pouring back into the living room. Had a different sweep come out and he showed me the whole thing was still caked in creosote. First guy basically took my money and ran a broom through it. Anyone else get burned by one of those pop-up chimney services around Atlanta?
I noticed it this morning when I was trying to close my bedroom window. The frame is all swollen and sticky from the moisture. Back in 2018 when I bought this house, the windows moved smooth as butter. Now after five summers of this humid air, I'm looking at having to sand and repaint all four of them. Anyone else deal with this every year around July?
I bought a 50-pint Frigidaire dehumidifier for my basement back in May and it's run nonstop since then. The gauge says the humidity dropped from 68% to 45% steady now, and I haven't had to empty the bucket once because it drains into the floor sink. Has anyone else had one of these things run that long without any hiccups?
I was about to buy a cheap fiberglass filter for my HVAC last week, but the older guy behind the counter at Kennesaw Ace Hardware stopped me. He explained how those 1-inch fiberglass ones let too much dust through and wreck your blower motor over time. He pointed me to a MERV 8 pleated filter instead for $12, and after a week my air handler is running way quieter.
I woke up at 3 am to water creeping across my basement floor. My sump pump had just stopped working after 7 years of no issues. Turns out the float switch got stuck on a piece of gravel that had worked its way into the pit. I grabbed a shop vac from the garage and spent an hour and a half sucking out water while my neighbor loaned me his backup pump. After I replaced the switch myself for $12, I also put a mesh screen over the pit inlet to keep debris out. Has anyone else had their pump fail from something this simple?
Was up on Bouldercrest last week getting a quote for a small leak near my chimney. Guy climbed up, looked around for 10 minutes, and told me I just needed $40 worth of silicone caulk around the flashing. Has anyone else noticed these young roof crews pushing for full replacements way more than the older guys do?
I was in the middle of washing dishes and heard this weird gurgling sound from the basement. Next thing I know, there's a puddle spreading across the concrete floor near the Rheem unit we inherited when we bought the house back in 2003. Called up Peachtree Plumbing the next morning and they quoted me $1,200 for a new install. Has anyone else had to deal with an old unit failing like that and did you go with a tankless or stick with the traditional?