The Home Improvements Thread (2)

[Fuma]

Anyone with some experience with home building loan form the banks?
I have started construction and the contractor expecting his first payment. I ave submitted the forms and other documents required for the firs progress payment. How long does the bank usually take to process my request? (i.e. after receiving my documents, they send an assessor/inspector and then release the funds to the builder).

I submitted the documents today. I have the loan with Nedbank and their call center is almost useless. I have to talk to 100 people before I get transferred to someone and I get cut EVERYTIME (his has been happening for over a year while busy with the application process and after)

 

[ElixirCoder]

Anyone with some experience with home building loan form the banks?
I have started construction and the contractor expecting his first payment. I ave submitted the forms and other documents required for the firs progress payment. How long does the bank usually take to process my request? (i.e. after receiving my documents, they send an assessor/inspector and then release the funds to the builder).

I submitted the documents today. I have the loan with Nedbank and their call center is almost useless. I have to talk to 100 people before I get transferred to someone and I get cut EVERYTIME (his has been happening for over a year while busy with the application process and after)

Last house I built the bank took about 7 - 14 days to process a payment from the time it was lodged. Could be different now though with Covid, etc

 

[Fuma]

Last house I built the bank took about 7 - 14 days to process a payment from the time it was lodged. Could be different now though with Covid, etc

Thank you. I will try to contact them again next week.

 

[maumau]

I'm looking to have a glass veranda for outside my one sliding door. Maybe my google skills are broken today but I don't seem to find lots of mention of companies doing it locally. Something like this:

Smartglass?

/drool

P.S. clever of you to use glass. Those adjustable aluminium ones can make the house dark, even when theyre open.

 

[ToxicBunny]

I'm looking to have a glass veranda for outside my one sliding door. Maybe my google skills are broken today but I don't seem to find lots of mention of companies doing it locally. Something like this:

I investigated an option like this for my awning and just shelved it... The quotes I got from aluminium places were all retarded as they had to use Armour plated glass or at least they wouldn't do it without that

 

[Steamy Tom]

I'm looking to have a glass veranda for outside my one sliding door. Maybe my google skills are broken today but I don't seem to find lots of mention of companies doing it locally. Something like this:

nice, but kak for practicality

 

[SAguy]

nice, but kak for practicality

How so? Still deciding what to get.
I'm not looking for shade, as I have grass growing underneath where I want the veranda.

 

[WAslayer]

How so? Still deciding what to get.
I'm not looking for shade, as I have grass growing underneath where I want the veranda.

Greenhouse effect is going to be a b!tch under there.. heat from the sun gets in, heats up the surrounding and has a lot more of a difficult time getting out, being blocked by the glass roof..

 

[SAguy]

Greenhouse effect is going to be a b!tch under there.. heat from the sun gets in, heats up the surrounding and has a lot more of a difficult time getting out, being blocked by the glass roof..

To make things worse my external unit of my one aircon would be under there too... Gonna be nice and toasty there on a hot day

 

[WAslayer]

To make things worse my external unit of my one aircon would be under there too... Gonna be nice and toasty there on a hot day

Would be wise to move the heat exchanger then..

At my previous company, heat exchangers lived on the roof.. a leak developed, which they either couldn't fix or was too expensive, don't know the reason.. they ultimately built a secondary, open sided roof over the greater area where the leak exists, also covering the heat exchangers..

Any temperature touching 30+ and our office heated up like nobody's business..those heat exchangers under the roof just couldn't work properly and the Aircons were useless..

Yours likely wouldn't be that bad, but, I imagine it will be working harder than its supposed to and chowing more electricity than usual..

 

[chrisc]

ALDIY did my house and 3 others I referred. Excellent, neat job

 

[smiley-zn]

Honestly, I would first try and find out what the cost would be for the chairs to be sand blasted or shot blasted, as that would get rid of all the rust and give you a nice bare metal surface to work with..

Self etching primer, anti-rust coat and some hammerite and you are good to go..

I can't imagine that getting the chairs blasted would be that expensive..

Thanks, I may look into sand blasting the chair but if its expensive then I will proceed as planned with the Rustoleum products

 

[WAslayer]

Thanks, I may look into sand blasting the chair but if its expensive then I will proceed as planned with the Rustoleum products

If it's too expensive, get a wire brush disc for your angle grinder.. that should help remove a fair bit of rust as well..

 

[maumau]

To make things worse my external unit of my one aircon would be under there too... Gonna be nice and toasty there on a hot day

"Solar Smart Glass​

Solar Control Glass by SmartGlass™ offers unrivalled control of solar glare and has been shown to reduce the thermal transmittance through a glass façade which directly cuts down on associated HVAC costs.

How does it work?​

Solar SmartGlass™ can be manually or automatically “tuned” to precisely control the amount of light, glare and heat passing through a window. While glass is a favoured product for use in building facades; glare, solar heat gain and UV exposure can be problematic. This can often make the use of glass impractical resulting in the need to invest in expensive solar shading devices.

Glass facades using patented SPD light-control technology reduce the need for air conditioning during the summer months and heating during winter in residential properties. Switchable solar glass is therefore a highly energy efficient and cost-effective alternative to regular flat glass. The ability to instantly switch solar smart glass to maximise daylight when it’s really needed and to provide controllable solar shading during peak light conditions is valuable and unique.

Solar SmartGlass™ lends itself not only to residential properties but to commercial offices and studios. Switchable solar glass panels can be automatically dimmed from clear to dark, controlling glare and solar heat gain, while protecting employees from the damaging effects of UV. This feature is especially useful for application in a television studio as it allows for maximum daylight to enter without compromising recording quality. It also controls room temperature which is critical in a T.V. studio environment."

Can be done but HECTICALLY expensive.

......... my dream.

 

[CamiKaze]

How do you guys deal with water meters? I'm busy with construction at the moment, so I have rubble around mine, making it difficult for the water meter reader to read it. This has resulted in the municipality overcharging me for my water usage this month...

Do you provide the information to the municipality each month or do they have access to reading it?

I'm thinking of building it into a wall so that they can read it from the outside of my property but that seems like an impossible task.

 

[Steamy Tom]

How so? Still deciding what to get.
I'm not looking for shade, as I have grass growing underneath where I want the veranda.

Unpleasant to sit there when it is hot, unpleasant when there is heavy ran. Any furniture left there just gets absolutely destroyed by the sun.

We had a glass conservatory room and it was so kak, it was always filthy on top with dust streaks from the rain etc and you just couldn't use it. Couldn't leave anything there either.

On a sunny winter day it was nice I agree, but in honesty I could just move a table and chairs into the sun outside and same effect

 

[RA-ID-FAK]

I'm looking to have a glass veranda for outside my one sliding door. Maybe my google skills are broken today but I don't seem to find lots of mention of companies doing it locally. Something like this:

Something to note

Glass is impervious, the same way that a sheeted carport roof is i.e. rainwater does not get through. Did you account for plan submission (COVERAGE) for this permanent structure?

Have you considered "Retractable Fold arm" awnings?

 

[Priapus]

I’m considering replacing my wooden frame windows with double glazed windows. Same for the back doors.

What are the general costs in this? And are there any reputable companies that do the work?

From a safety point of view; are they that much better than single pane windows / frames? Do I have to have bars on them (I really want to avoid this)

 

[krieg]

I’m considering replacing my wooden frame windows with double glazed windows. Same for the back doors.

What are the general costs in this? And are there any reputable companies that do the work?

From a safety point of view; are they that much better than single pane windows / frames? Do I have to have bars on them (I really want to avoid this)

Double glazed windows are simply two planes of glass with gas in-between, so still need security unfortunately, house will be cooler and quieter though.

 

[kanzen]

I’m considering replacing my wooden frame windows with double glazed windows. Same for the back doors.

What are the general costs in this? And are there any reputable companies that do the work?

From a safety point of view; are they that much better than single pane windows / frames? Do I have to have bars on them (I really want to avoid this)

I just had 6 windows and the front door replaced with double glazed this week. The cost is a 50% premium over regular aluminium windows but so far it's been worth it seeing as I live by a fairly busy road and the sound reduction has been impressive. Total cost for installation, plastering and sealing was R68k vs R43k for the single panes.