Glad I hired a pro...

[random]

Well saga part 2 - I decided to just hire a plumber to fix it instead of messing with it myself any more.

Well, here's what I got from that

I have since followed the advice received here and uses a Union, got it working. This was SUPPOSED to save me time and aggaravation.

I'm getting more distrustful of "professionals" lately. Another example - I did a major remodel on my garage and discovered that ALL my windows are installed like this

Note how the house wrap is just cut away? And the blue is the aluminum frame - there is NO flashing at all. All my windows are rotting out because of this.

Just venting, I guess. Just seems that the more I deal with "pros" the more true "if you want it done right, do it yourself" seems...

 

[RCW]

Well saga part 2 - I decided to just hire a plumber to fix it instead of messing with it myself any more.

Well, here's what I got from that

View attachment 70517

I have since followed the advice received here and uses a Union, got it working. This was SUPPOSED to save me time and aggaravation.

I'm getting more distrustful of "professionals" lately. Another example - I did a major remodel on my garage and discovered that ALL my windows are installed like this
View attachment 70518

Note how the house wrap is just cut away? And the blue is the aluminum frame - there is NO flashing at all. All my windows are rotting out because of this.

Just venting, I guess. Just seems that the more I deal with "pros" the more true "if you want it done right, do it yourself" seems...

Oh geez....so sorry to see that. Plumbing job is a mess. He used enough pipe dope of some sort....reminds me of my welding/ grinding skills...

I think it was Tughill Tom that said you're not supposed to do that....now we see why.......

The "blue" is the nailer fin for the window? Did they install them as new construction?

Oh geez....

 

[Henro]

Thank the Lord I am still healthy and active enough to do everything for myself.

I feel your pain and will add you to the long list of others who have experienced similar issues when hiring someone to do something...Not that everyone does shoddy work. Just difficult to find the good ones I think. Perhaps because they are few and far between?

In the future I plan to hire my son in law to do things for me that I am no longer comfortable doing. (he does not know this yet LOL). At least that way the money stays in the family and I know where to go to complain if necessary...ROFL

Edit: I will say that I reached the point of hiring someone in January of this year. I had a large white pine tree (36" at the base, a couple feet up) and I got a guy to cut it, and drop the pieces on the ground, with me doing the cleanup. It was about 25 feet from the house I am renovating on the property next door that I bought a while back.

If anyone is in the Pittsburgh area and need a tree taken down, PM me and I will give you the guy's contact info. Anyway, NO WAY I could have done it myself, and since all he had to do was drop the pieces on the ground, I got a great deal on price. Best money I spent in a long time...

Normally I would use chains to control the fall, and use my tractor to add some pull in the direction I want a tree to fall, but in this case it was too risky so I had no good options except to hire a pro. AND lucked out and found one!

 

[mcfarmall]

That, my friends, is why I don't hire people to do things for me.

 

[GSD-Keegan]

Add me to the list. Had a house built 20 yrs ago by reputable builder and so called quality window supplier. Issued started with ants around the house….which led me to suspect some rotten or wet wood. Found a window frame (plastic) of some sort…leaking at a factory plastic welded joint all across the bottom of the sash. Water seaped into the wall but never made its way inside due to the vapour barrier. Resulted in rotten 2x4 framing below the window. Of course “lifetime” window warranty did not cover structural support. pro window supplier and installer offered zero support for structural issues. Fixed it myself.

 

[Jchonline]

Same here folks, I have been doing MOST of my own stuff this year. Things I would usually contract out I have been doing myself. Basement window well 6x6 replacements, painting exterior of house, decking, re-grouting shower, faucet and cooktop replacements….the list goes on. I do all of the outside stuff myself already because I love it.

Impossible to find anyone do do the work, and even harder to find someone to do a good job for a decent price. Mostly worthless.

 

[fried1765]

Same here folks, I have been doing MOST of my own stuff this year. Things I would usually contract out I have been doing myself. Basement window well 6x6 replacements, painting exterior of house, decking, re-grouting shower, faucet and cooktop replacements….the list goes on. I do all of the outside stuff myself already because I love it.

Impossible to find anyone do do the work, and even harder to find someone to do a good job for a decent price. Mostly worthless.

It gets a bit tougher to do everything in your 80's though.
I still do my own basic electrical, plumbing, & carpentry repairs , and misc. stuff, but anything major, I now pay my contractor son to do for me.

 

[NCL4701]

It gets a bit tougher to do everything in your 80's though.
I still do my own basic electrical, plumbing, & carpentry repairs , and misc. stuff, but anything major, I now pay my contractor son to do for me.

My Dad is in his 80’s so I do that stuff for him, too. Seems he thinks he pre-paid some time ago. Thinking back on things, he might be right.

And it is irritating even when I would prefer to spend the money to have someone else do whatever, if doing it myself is an option seems like most of the time it’s easier to just do it myself.

 

[RCW]

It’s all well and good to say you do everything yourself. I commend you and do what I can also.

I don’t know random’s circumstances, but there’s many things I can’t do anymore.

I just have no time, and what I can accomplish in the time I do have has decreased.

That said, my work is much better. Just less of it…

We’d like to re-do bathrooms. There’s no way I could take that on, and I know how to do most of it.

I had a hard enough time keeping up with the lawn this year.

 

[orange crusher]

Frustrating when your head has no problem planning a job but your body just can not accommodate the production. Now I use my knowledge and networking to find the proper people to "Git er' done". They are out there, you just have kiss a lot of frogs before you find the prince.

 

[fried1765]

My Dad is in his 80’s so I do that stuff for him, too. Seems he thinks he pre-paid some time ago. Thinking back on things, he might be right.

And it is irritating even when I would prefer to spend the money to have someone else do whatever, if doing it myself is an option seems like most of the time it’s easier to just do it myself.

I thought I "pre-paid" also,....... but the deductible is quite high.

 

[random]

Oh geez....so sorry to see that. Plumbing job is a mess. He used enough pipe dope of some sort....reminds me of my welding/ grinding skills...

I think it was Tughill Tom that said you're not supposed to do that....now we see why.......

The "blue" is the nailer fin for the window? Did they install them as new construction?

Oh geez....

Don't fault him for the putty, that was my original messed up attempt to deal with a leak (although it actually DID work so I'm leaving it alone)

I specifically mentioned using female PVC on brass and he said it's not a problem. And told me that my original leak was because I didn't tighten it enough...

Far as I know that was all new construction. Looks to me like they cut an opening in the wrap and didn't bother to flash or finish anything. So I'm going through a couple windows at a time fixing them. At least 5 don't work at all now because the frames are rotted.

Trying to be sure I'm getting it right:

 

[random]

It’s all well and good to say you do everything yourself. I commend you and do what I can also.

I don’t know random’s circumstances, but there’s many things I can’t do anymore.

I just have no time, and what I can accomplish in the time I do have has decreased.

That said, my work is much better. Just less of it…

We’d like to re-do bathrooms. There’s no way I could take that on, and I know how to do most of it.

I had a hard enough time keeping up with the lawn this year.

In this case it was more a matter of frustration. I've "fixed" that piping 3-4 times already and couldn't get it working without a leak. And with the weather getting cold and windy, I thought "let's get a pro and get it done right". Yeah, well...

I got it almost there, there is a very slight leak now - but I can live with it until we have a warmer spell and I'm freezing while I'm working on it. Just need to adjust the union some but looks like I'll have to separate it again to finish.

 

[Henro]

Don't fault him for the putty, that was my original messed up attempt to deal with a leak (although it actually DID work so I'm leaving it alone)

I specifically mentioned using female PVC on brass and he said it's not a problem. And told me that my original leak was because I didn't tighten it enough...

Far as I know that was all new construction. Looks to me like they cut an opening in the wrap and didn't bother to flash or finish anything. So I'm going through a couple windows at a time fixing them. At least 5 don't work at all now because the frames are rotted.

Trying to be sure I'm getting it right:
View attachment 70618

Remember how water flows due to the pull of gravity. You may have enough overhang to prevent water from getting onto the horizontal surface above the window, but it would be best to install flashing in a way that IF water gets there, it moves to the front of the window and not down behind it.

Same with flashing on the sides. However you need to apply the flashing in a way that prevents water flow downward from getting behind the siding. So the flashing at the bottom of the window needs to cover the siding below the window, and the flashing on the sides of the window needs to cover the flashing at the bottom of the window, and the flashing at the top of the window needs to cover everything that is below it, to keep water on the outside surface, and not flowing behind the flashing and the siding.

As far as the sides of the window goes, it may be possible to use a good silicone calking and not worry about flashing on the window sides. Don't know for sure. Think it out. I did something like that when replacing windows in the house I am renovating next door. Seems to work fine. BUT I did not replace the siding. I might have done something differently if I was installing new siding.

Not that hard to do, but worth taking the time to figure out, at least in the long term. Most contractors do not think in the long term. Take the money and run mentality.

 

[random]

I did a LOT of research on how to install the flashing before starting! Sources like Fine Homebuilding and This Old House, for example. The bottom has a couple layers guiding water out from under the sill, and each succeeding step is layered over the previous so there's nowhere to catch any water and direct it inside.

you know something rather amazing? Those windows actually come with instructions and diagrams on how to install them and properly flash them!

 

[Henro]

I did a LOT of research on how to install the flashing before starting! Sources like Fine Homebuilding and This Old House, for example. The bottom has a couple layers guiding water out from under the sill, and each succeeding step is layered over the previous so there's nowhere to catch any water and direct it inside.

you know something rather amazing? Those windows actually come with instructions and diagrams on how to install them and properly flash them!

That's good. Sounds like you are on the right track.

Was not apparent from the picture you posted...

 

[random]

Was not apparent from the picture you posted...

Fair 'nuff

 

[GreensvilleJay]

from what I've seen here in 3 new house builds, a 'professional' is someone that gets paid to make mistakes.... An amature is someone who doesn't KNOW he's doing something wrong
the 'pros' on one job... set/pourd concrete foundation 6" out of squarein 22' (used a hiteck laser BTW...),MIAN supporting beam for house is NOT on soild blocking on a soild post,12x40 deck(12' above grade) already has dips and valleys in the 3/4"plywood cause the 2by12s are 'kinda' bolted to 4 6by6 posts, kinda, sorta,.
Should make for an interesting Spring thaw...... oh yeah EVERY corner of the gutters LEAKS.... mechanical room(center of basement) is 6 by 9, furnace, water softner,HRV,water heater,electrical panel, next to it... a 12by24 spare room(on outside wall). COULD have had a FREE 'cold cellar' under the front porch...8by16x10 high...nope, the 'pros' said ..'no, you don't need that', filled the hole with $$$$ special gravel.... same 'pros