c/atlanta-home-maintenance

My gutters overflowed into the crawlspace after that Tuesday storm

Last week's downpour backed up my gutters and dumped water right down the foundation wall, and now the crawlspace has that damp musty smell I can't get rid of. I checked the downspouts and they're clear, so I'm guessing the slope is off near the back corner. Anyone in Decatur dealt with this and found a good gutter company that actually levels things properly?

Drove by a Decatur flip last weekend, the gutters tell you everything

I was checking out a house on Oakview Road that just got sold and relisted in 3 months. The paint looked fresh from the street but the gutters were full of pine straw and the downspout was disconnected. That's a $30 fix if you catch it early, but water already washed out a chunk of the foundation soil. I walked around back and the grading slopes right toward the slab, which is basically asking for a wet crawlspace. How many of you actually check the gutters and slope before putting in an offer in this heat?

That $400 crawl space vapor barrier finally made sense after the smell showed up

Bought a house in Decatur back in 2017 and the crawl space always had that damp, musty thing going on. Kept putting off doing anything about it. Then last August the humidity got so bad I could smell it from the living room. Paid a local crew $400 to lay down a proper 20 mil vapor barrier and seal the vents. Night and day difference, no more smell, and my electric bill dropped about $30 a month over the summer. Wish I had done it the first year instead of wasting time with those little dehumidifier packs. Has anyone else tried the vent sealing route? Worth it or did you have issues with moisture building up inside?

Switched from a standard drill to an impact driver for deck screws, total game changer

I used to burn through drill bits every spring redoing the boards on my back deck near Decatur, stripping out maybe 3 or 4 screw heads per session. Last month my neighbor handed me his old impact driver and said "try this for the pilot holes," so I gave it a shot on a 12 foot section. Now I'm wondering if I should just buy my own or if there's a downside to using impact drivers on softer pine that I haven't hit yet?

That $400 "waterproof" deck stain peeled off in 3 months

Went with the expensive stuff from the big box store on my Decatur deck last spring, followed the directions to the letter, and it's flaking already. Anyone else had luck with a specific brand that actually holds up to our humidity and afternoon thunderstorms?

Drainage ditch near the Kroger on Ponce is backing up into yards

Saw it after that rain Friday and the water was sitting 3 inches deep against my neighbor's foundation, has anyone else around Decatur had issues with storm runoff from that culvert?

My plumber neighbor set me straight on water heaters in less than a minute

I was about to flush my tank for the first time in 6 years, no joke. My neighbor Rick who does plumbing for a living saw me with the hose and just shook his head. He said flushing a tank that old can actually dislodge sediment and clog the drain valve. Told me to just replace it and that most people kill their tanks by trying to maintain them too late. That hit different because I'd been reading forums all week about doing it myself. He quoted me $350 for a swap but said I could do it for $180 if I watched his video. Has anyone else found that doing nothing is sometimes the better call? I'm still torn on whether to attempt it or just pay him.

Water heater went from fine to rusty mess in 2 weeks, who's fault is it really?

Our 12 year old tank on Dekalb Ave was running great, hot water every morning, no noise. Then all of a sudden last month the pressure relief valve started dripping, and by the end of two weeks the bottom was corroded enough that it leaked all over the utility room floor. Plumber says it's just age, but I'm wondering if the city's new high chlorine treatment in the summer is what pushed it over the edge. Anyone else seen a sudden tank failure right after those big water main flushes they do around the neighborhood? Or do I just need to accept that 12 years is the max and stop blaming the water quality?

Downspout nightmare on Highland Ave, 4th time calling a roofer

My gutters back up every damn time it rains hard. Last Tuesday's storm was the worst. Water poured over the side, right down the foundation. Called three different guys. Two said I need all new gutters, $2,800. The third took 5 minutes, saw the downspout was pinched at the bottom, and cleared a leaf jam with a hose. Cost me $60. The other two never even looked. How many people in this city are getting ripped off like that? Anybody else have a quick fix that a big company missed?

That roofer who pointed at my gutters changed my whole routine

Last spring a roofer was fixing a shingle on my place in Decatur and he pointed at the gutters, said the back slope was catching leaves because the pitch was too shallow. I spent $80 on a ladder stabilizer and now I clean them every 6 weeks instead of waiting until they overflow. Has anyone else had a pro spot something you walked past for years?

I finally stopped paying for a $50 moisture meter that never told me anything useful

That rain barrel setup I rolled my eyes at for years

My neighbor put in a rain barrel system back in 2017 and I thought it was just another yuppie suburban thing. Then last summer I had three straight 95 degree weeks where my water bill hit $180. So I rigged up a 50 gallon barrel under my downspout last October and it actually cut my usage enough to notice by March. Has anyone else had luck with those bigger 100 gallon ones or is that overkill for Atlanta storms?

Rented a pressure washer and nearly washed my deck off its foundation

I rented a 4 GPM pressure washer from Home Depot in Buckhead last Saturday and I swear it was like holding a fire hose. I aimed at a dirty spot on my back deck and it gouged a 3 inch long groove right into the wood. I had to switch to a wider tip and stand way back, but even then I messed up two boards. Anyone else here had their deck wrecked by a rental unit with too much power?

HVAC guy told me annual tune-ups were a scam... he had a point

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?

My neighbor told me I was pressure washing my fence wrong and I'm still stewing about it

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?

Heard a plumber say something about Atlanta water that stopped me cold

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?

Noticed too many people using the wrong caulk around Atlanta windows

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?

The debate on pressure washing vs soft washing for roofs in Atlanta

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?

Three years of changing furnace filters wrong

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?

Paid $250 for a foundation repair quote that was just a sales pitch

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?

Why does nobody mention checking your gutters after a heavy rain?

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?

Learned the hard way that my HVAC filter needs changing more than every 3 months

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?

Found that a cheap dehumidifier fixed my musty basement smell in 2 days

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?

That 50th gutter cleaning finally convinced me to install screens

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?

Showerthought: Misting my houseplants vs bottom watering them... night and day difference

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?