c/cleveland-homeowners

That $40 gutter scoop from a roofing supply place actually held up

I got tired of cleaning gutters with wet hands and a flimsy trowel every spring. Tried a cheap plastic scoop from the big box store and it snapped after two runs. Finally grabbed the heavy duty metal one at Rinaldi Supply on St. Clair for around 40 bucks, and it got me through 4 seasons of maple seed mess. Has anyone else found better tools at contractor supply spots instead of the usual stores?

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theagibson•2d ago

That $8k roof quote from a door knocker made me check my own attic

Some guy came by yesterday with a clipboard saying I had missing shingles, but when I climbed up there myself I found zero damage and a 6 year old roof. These storm chasers are getting bold, has anyone else had one try to scare them into a new roof they didn't need?

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shanelee•2d ago

Old furnace vs new heat pump, picked the heat pump after 3 brutal winters

Back in 2022 my 1987 Lennox finally gave up mid-January and I had to decide between dropping $9k on a similar gas unit or going with a heat pump for about $11.5k after rebates. The installer from Parma really pushed the pump since my house in Old Brooklyn has decent insulation, and honestly the electric bills have been way lower than I expected. It got down to 8 degrees last month and it kept up fine, just slower to warm the back bedrooms. Anyone else make the switch and notice their summer AC bills drop too?

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the_spencer•3d ago

My roof guy called me out at a neighborhood BBQ and I'm glad he did

Last month at a cookout on W 54th, my roofer pointed at my gutters and said 'you're killing your siding with those downspouts'. Turns out water was pooling against the foundation for like 2 years, I never noticed. I had him reroute the downspouts away from the house and add extensions, cost me about $400 but the basement smells a lot better now. Has anyone else had a contractor spot something obvious that you totally missed?

2 comments

taylorellis•3d ago

Water heater died at 6am, took me 3 tries to find a plumber who would actually show up

Last Tuesday the pilot light went out on my 12 year old water heater in the Ohio City area, but the real issue was the rusted drain valve leaking all over the basement floor. I called four places, two never returned my calls, and one quoted me $900 just to come out and look. Third guy finally showed up same day, said the tank was toast and I needed a full replacement. He had it swapped by 4pm for $1,650 including parts and hauling the old one away. Has anyone else dealt with plumbers flaking out around here, or did I just get unlucky with the first two?

1 comments

val_williams•6d ago

Overheard a neighbor rant about his downspout extension and it clicked for me

I was out front last Saturday pulling weeds when my neighbor two doors down starts yelling at his downspout. He was going on about how water was pooling right against his foundation after every rain. I got curious and walked over, he showed me how his extension was too short and just dumped water two feet from the house. I went home and checked mine, sure enough same problem. Picked up a 10 foot corrugated tube for like 12 bucks from the hardware store and rerouted it out to the alley. First big storm last night and I went out to look, bone dry along the foundation. Anyone else find cheap fixes like that actually work better than the fancy stuff?

2 comments

joel_martinez•7d ago

Rant: Spent 5 years painting our old house in Lakewood wrong

Every spring I would scrape and repaint the trim on our 1920s bungalow in Lakewood. By the next year it was always peeling again. I figured it was just the Ohio weather. Then last August a neighbor who used to do historic home restoration walked by while I was working. He asked what primer I was using and I showed him the can. He just shook his head. Said I was using latex primer on old wood that was sealed with oil based paint from the 50s. The two layers never bond right. He told me to strip it all down to bare wood and start with an oil based primer. I did that on one window last fall and it held through the whole winter without a single crack. Now I have 14 more windows and all the eaves to redo. Has anyone else dealt with old paint layers fighting each other on a prewar house?

3 comments

wendysanchez•11d ago

I finally saw what 8 years of lake effect snow did to my neighbor's roof

My neighbor on West 112th just replaced his original 2010 asphalt shingles and the difference is wild. The south side of his roof looked almost new but the north side was completely bald with exposed felt, all from wind and ice dams off Lake Erie. He paid $9,200 for a full tear off with ice and water shield on the whole thing. Has anyone else noticed their roof aging way faster on one side than the other in Cleveland?

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wells.olivia•12d ago

My neighbor showed me why I should never ignore the humidity in my basement

After I got 2 inches of water last spring, this old guy named Frank walked over and told me to get a dehumidifier running before the mold sets in. He was right, my drywall woulda rotted without it. Has anyone else had a neighbor save you from a costly mistake like that?

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wendysanchez•13d ago

Vent: My basement sump pump quit during that big storm last Tuesday

I always thought having a backup pump was overkill, just extra money for nothing. Then we got that 3 inch downpour last Tuesday night and I woke up to 2 inches of standing water in my basement. I went down there at 2am with a shop vac trying to keep up but it was hopeless. My neighbor came over with a submersible pump he had in his garage and we got most of it out by morning. But I still had to rip out wet drywall and toss a rug that cost me $350. Now I got a second pump with a battery backup installed. It cost me about $600 but compared to the mess it would save me it feels worth it. Anyone else have a sump pump fail at the worst possible time and regret not prepping better?

2 comments

susan_wright34•14d ago

My neighbor's basement waterproofing tip cost me $600

My neighbor Bill, who's lived in his Cleveland house since the 70s, told me I just needed to paint on that Drylok sealer to fix my damp basement wall. I spent a whole weekend doing it, two coats, the whole nine yards. After the first heavy rain, the paint started bubbling up and peeling off in sheets. Turns out I had a cracked foundation that needed a real waterproofing system, and my handyman charged me $600 to fix Bill's mess. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a well-meaning neighbor?

2 comments

olivia398•15d ago

Caught my basement drain backing up during a heavy rain last month and realized I'd been ignoring my sump pump maintenance for years

The water started creeping in around 2 AM and I had to bail it out by hand because the pump was clogged with gravel I should've cleaned out last fall... anyone else forget to check theirs until it's too late?

2 comments

phoenix_grant34•16d ago

Putting $700 into a French drain last spring - best decision or total waste?

My neighbor swears it saved his basement after that big July storm, but I'm still getting puddles near the foundation even after the install. Anyone else in Cleveland deal with drainage projects that didn't fix everything?

2 comments

the_diana•18d ago

Here's why I almost replaced a perfectly good furnace last week

My neighbor Bob who's been fixing HVAC for 20 years told me my furnace was making a 'dead compressor sound' and I about panicked. He said it would cost me at least $2,800 for a new unit plus install. I was already getting quotes from three companies in Cleveland when my uncle who used to work for a parts supplier stopped by. He listened to it for maybe 30 seconds and said that noise was just a loose blower wheel scraping the housing. I took the panel off myself, tightened one screw, and the noise went away completely. Cost me nothing and maybe 10 minutes of my time. Has anyone else had a quick fix like this that saved you a ton of cash?

3 comments

lunag30•19d ago

Finally switched from paying for lawn service to doing it myself after 7 years

I used to pay a crew $150 a month to mow and edge my yard in Cleveland Heights. They came every week rain or shine but I noticed they were rushing through the job after a while. Last spring I caught them scalping my lawn so bad it took months to recover. I decided to buy a decent self-propelled mower for $400 and started doing it myself. Now I actually enjoy being outside and I can control the cut height and pattern. I figure I saved about $1,800 in 8 months. Has anyone else made the switch from hired help to DIY yard work?

3 comments

drewgonzalez•20d ago

My basement flooded during that big storm last April and I found out my sump pump was 12 years old

Honestly I never even thought about checking the sump pump until water started creeping up through the floor drains. It was around midnight and I had to grab buckets and a shop vac from my dad's garage just to keep up. The next morning a plumber told me the pump was ancient and the float switch had just given out. Cost me $450 for a new one and installation. Anyone else put off maintenance like this until something breaks?

3 comments

robert_bell•24d ago

The old furnace in my Lakewood house vs the new one I put in last winter

I had that old 1950s beast in my basement for 10 years, just chugging along. Gas bill was $320 in January and it still left cold spots in the back bedroom. Swapped it out for a 96% efficiency unit last fall and my bills dropped to $180 even with the polar vortex. Anyone else see that kind of difference after upgrading?

2 comments

nancycooper•28d ago

Rant: wasted $600 on a gutter guard company that did nothing

Hired a crew from Parma last spring to install those mesh gutter guards and heavy rain last week proved they didn't do jack. All that money and I still had to climb up and scoop out leaves with my hands. Anybody else get burned by a gutter service around here?

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elliot_patel•1mo ago

Furnace died in the middle of January in Parma

Woke up to 48 degrees inside my house on a Monday morning. Furnace just quit, no warning. Had to call Mullins Heating and they charged me $380 for a new blower motor. Anyone else dealt with sudden furnace failure in the dead of winter here?

2 comments

eva_thompson•1mo ago

PSA: DIY window replacement vs hiring it out is no contest after my Ohio City house

I tried replacing three windows myself last spring thinking I'd save maybe $400 per window. Big mistake lol. The drafts were worse than before and two seals failed within 6 months. Just paid $2,100 to have Cleveland Window Pro guys do the whole front bay and it's actually tight now. Has anyone else learned this the hard way or was it just me?

2 comments

ericj45•1mo ago

Spent $180 on a radon mitigation system and it actually dropped my levels by 80%

Honestly I was skeptical because my neighbor said his didn't do much. But after testing showed 7.8 pCi/L I called a guy from Parma who installed a sub-slab depressurization system. Cost me $180 for the fan and piping plus his labor. Levels went down to 1.2 after three days. Anyone else had good luck with these or did I just get lucky with my crawlspace layout?

2 comments

the_william•1mo ago

Vent: My neighbor's contractor parked on my lawn for a week

Last month a guy remodeling the house next door parked his truck on my front yard for 5 days straight, crushed my grass and left tire ruts. I called the city but nothing happened until I threatened to tow it myself. Has anyone else had to deal with rude contractors like this in Cleveland?

3 comments

wells.olivia•1mo ago

Had a talk with my neighbor that made me rethink my whole approach to basement waterproofing

So last week my neighbor across the street stopped me while I was unloading drywall. He told me he spent $8,000 on a French drain system two years ago and now his sump pump still runs every time it rains hard. Said the crew just dug a trench and threw in some pipe without checking the grading on his lot. It hit different because I was about to call the same company for a quote. Now I'm wondering if I should just rent an excavator and do it myself or if that's a terrible idea. Has anyone here actually had good luck with those waterproofing companies around Parma?

3 comments

river_allen•1mo ago

Used to just caulk everything myself until a pro showed me the difference

I bought my house in Cleveland seven years ago and for the first few years I'd just grab a tube of cheap caulk from the hardware store and go to town on every gap around windows and baseboards. Looked fine to me at first but after a winter I noticed peeling and cracking in like three places. My neighbor who's been a contractor for 20 years finally saw me doing it and stopped me... he said I was using the wrong type for the trim work. Switched over to a paintable silicone blend and actually took the time to smooth it with a wet finger instead of just smearing it on. Now five months later and it's still holding up tight with no cracks. Anyone else had to learn the hard way about caulk types around here?

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miles_garcia•1mo ago

Just discovered my basement drain pipe has been slowly clogging for 6 months before it finally backed up last Sunday

I spent 4 hours with a snake before realizing the problem was 40 feet of tree roots that had grown through a crack in the old clay pipe, anyone else deal with root intrusion in their Cleveland neighborhood?

3 comments