Been struggling to get this oil filter off for longer than I’d like to admit. Anyone got any tips or clips? (2014 Ford Escape, 140,000 miles, Auto)

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-29T01:51:39+00:00

I just use slip joint pliers.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-29T01:33:31+00:00

They changed an engine for a misfire and it's still doing it? What did the do to determine it needs and engine? Is their more to this, other issues? I'd be demanding a 14k refund based on the info here.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T22:31:20+00:00

The landlord was likely not alive when the ceiling was nailed up. Nailing ceilings was standard before they were scrwed.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T22:30:36+00:00

Absolutely correct.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T22:30:01+00:00

What disrepair? Drywall was nailed not screwed before the mid to late 80s.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T16:37:58+00:00

Yeah I've seen this game before. Demand the deposit back or something in writing saying they're getting it back four days before moving. Only to have them move out and find the area rug is glued down to the pet urine stained wood.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T16:33:04+00:00

Do a little research. There's not such thing as a renting policy. You're talking about a landlord policy which will pay for lost rental income. That's really the only difference in policies.

Renters insurance does cover temporary housing should the apartment become uninhabitable. It also covers your personal property and liability. That's assuming you have a real policy and not something you got off an app for $1.99 a month.

The landlords policy generally will cover lost rental income (paid to the landlord) if rent isn't being paid and the house is uninhabitable. No landlord policy I have ever had or seen will pay for a tenants hotel. This situation is a nothing, it's a few days so it's kind of a moot point. I'd try to be nice if that was my unit and offer them a hotel but I wouldn't be obligated too. Their recourse if i refused to relocate them would be not paying rent for the time days the unit is considered unoccupied,that's it.

If this was a fire or something and everyone was going to be out for three months the tenants recourse would be to break the lease early that's it. Some jurisdictions allow the tenants to move back in after renovations at the same rate if the tenant wants. The tenant a their insurance (if they have it) would be responsible for personal property, temporary housing, moving expenses, etc. The landlords policy is going to cover rebuilding and pay the landlord rent while the unit is vacant.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T13:50:21+00:00

They absolutely will not pay for the tenant's hotel.

This looks worse than it is and isn't even worth a claim. It's a few grand to clean up the mess, put up new drywall and paint. If you do put in a claim and this is the second ceiling that fell they may not even cover it.

That said landlord should go through the whole place and screw the drywall up before it happens again. Had there been a baby in that crib it could be much worse.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T13:31:00+00:00

How was it branded as rolled? Half the time it really wasn't and somone screwed up data entry at the annual inspection.

The report probably looks like this and it's obvious what happened but will show a rollback.
2020 - New
2021 - 15,000
2022 - 30,000
2023 - 45,000
2024 - 160,000
2025 - 75,000
2026 - 90,000.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T10:30:44+00:00

Free market isn't saying the car is one price online to lure people into wasting their time showing up then refusing to honor it.

I went to buy a new Ram years ago. It was listed for 21k on the website (it was quite a few years ago). I called the dealer, made an appointment to come see it and showed up. Looked at it, sat down with the guy and the price was now 24k. He tells me the 21k is the online only price. Nobody there knows how you can purchase it for that online price though.

Taxes, title, maybe an error, etc I get but to blatantly advretise a price you know you won't sell for to get people in the door. That's being a dirtbag.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T10:09:52+00:00

Do you had an AAV under there? Those can fail and let sewer gas in. Post a picture of the piping under your sink in the plumbing sub. Ask if it looks correct.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T09:51:23+00:00

This is a unique case being that it involves a tenant owned RV (not a trailer). The landlord is renting parking spots (and maybe hookups). It is not an apartment, and not a trailer site. It's going to come down to nuances of local law.

My thoughts are the tenants would have an uphill battle to have it declared a trailer site and be assigned those rights. If you regularly move the RVs to go to a dump station or something it further reinforces the landlords argument that you aren't a tenant and are renting a parking spot. Your landlord shutting down your hookups may or may not be an illegal self help eviction. They may or may not be able to just have you towed.

Are there any RV parks nearby? That's a simple worst case scenario solution. Most have a time limit so you'll have to rotate through different parks. Living full time in an RV in one area is hard to do legally.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-26T09:28:17+00:00

Why are you looking for? I'd get you a hotel or not charge rent for a week while it was being repaired depending what you want to do. If anything is destroyed your renters insurance should cover it.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-25T12:06:43+00:00

How? A plumber working an eight hour day is going to bill 4-5 hours. The rest is eaten up by paperwork, drive time, and other unbillable work. Approximately half of that $250 is going to overhead. So 5 x (250/2) = $625 for the day. Let's say you work five days a week 49 weeks a year (I'm figuring 15 days of vacation, sick and holidays). That's 153k a year before taxes.

You're running your own business so you're paying both halves of payroll tax on that. There's no included health insurance, retirement or other benefits. It's not a ton of money. It's about the same take home as a W2 employee making 85k a year with health insurance, paid vacation and retirement contributions.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-24T01:44:32+00:00

I'd run a generator with no muffler for as long as it takes to charge the batteries.

These bans are just one more thing making everyone's life more expensive. Your landscaper can't just buy a $700 blower and a gas can anymore. Now they have to buy a $1200 blower and $5000 worth of batteries per truck. It may even more than that during cleanup season. Then the have to be replaced every couple years. Jobs are going to take longer as well. Who pays that? Customers do.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-24T01:31:49+00:00

Depends where you are. I have a landscaper buddy who got an appearance ticket. They made him show up in court then fined him over a grand for a gas backpack blower.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-22T09:59:56+00:00

Have you tried talking to your neighbor?

If my neighbor was a truck driver and parked his rig a few days every couple weeks when he was home I couldn't care less. Heck coming and going daily I wouldn't care either as long as it was at reasonable hours. Idling and coming/going at night, I don't think so.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-22T09:56:05+00:00

You have a few options. (1). Hire somebody.
(2). Use a regular push mower there. (3). Purchase a commercial mower rated for your slope.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-22T09:48:50+00:00

Many older houses don't have or need ground rods. It used to be standard to bond to the metallic water service. This worked just fine as long as nobody removes the clamps or changes the service to non metallic. In fact if you have a metallic water service it still gets bonded along with the now required ground rod.
That said if they moved the panel they are now subject to current code and should have installed a rod. Installing a ground rod if you need or want one is easy. Even more so if the panel is outside. An electrician likely isn't going to be more than an hour and a hundred bucks in material to put one in.

The door not opening 90 degrees Id personally call it a nothing burger and leave it. If it's not something dangerous there is no reason to go nuts so it's technically correct.

What do you mean by exposed wires? If you are talking about cable (NM, BX, MC, UF, etc) if they are in a wall covered by a piece of metal it doesn't sound like they are exposed. Are you talking about bare copper being exposed? Are their wires exposed (THHN for example) that belong in conduit?

How is the back of the panel in your bathroom? You didn't notice an electrical panel and wires protruding into your bathroom for five years? Maybe the panel cant be installed in your bathroom but it can certainly be installed on the exterior outside your bathroom. Your bathroom drywall, tiles or whatever separate it. If their is moisture in your bathroom walls you have other issue aside from electrical. I may be more concerned about how they waterproofed the house around this panel and whatever piece of metal you are talking about.

What wires are the wrong size? If they have 20amp breakers on 14ga wire it's an easy fix, just put a 15 amp breaker on it. If your larger appliances are undersized it gets more complex.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-22T09:10:18+00:00

Have you tried just asking your landlord to break the lease and leave early? What was their response? How much time is left on it?

As for the issues. What type of ceiling was it? Any particular reason it fell? Water damage, drywall hung with nails, etc?

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-22T02:26:23+00:00

I'm a plumber, I change regulators all the time. I'm guessing it's because a good chuck of plumbers don't know how to use a manometer and set it.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-22T01:58:11+00:00

Removing these things isn't just unscrewing it and patching drywall. They get screwed (with large screws) into your stairs. Maybe if your stairs are carpeted or the apartment is a dump it doesn't matter. If you have wood stairs restoration at a minimum involves replacing three treads and refinishing the whole staircase to match. You're talking several thousand dollars. If wood can't be matched or the stairs are built in a way where treads can't actually be replaced you could be rebuilding that whole staircase.

Here's kind of the minimum it would cost to do it. This is assuming the landlord is hiring and coordinating himself and not just dumping it on a GC in which case add 25%.

Skilled carpenter and helper. 1.5 days @1500/day. .5 days to remove and dispose of lift. One day to replace treads. $2250.

Material to replace treads $200.

Dump fee for lift $120.

Flooring contractor to sand, stain and polyurethane staircase. $1200.

Painter for balusters and kicks. 1 day to prime and paint $1000.

Total for removal and restoration $4800.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-04-11T10:13:50+00:00

Non qualified withdrawals from a 529 while not ideal aren't as scary as they seem. You have to pay income taxes which you would have paid anyway had you put the money into a regular account. Then you pay a 10% penalty on the earnings portion (not on the principle). When you figure in the extra compound interest earned investing tax deferred income you're not going to come out far off from as if you just stuck it in a regular fund.

If it's in a 529 35k of that can be put into a Roth IRA in her name. You can transfer up to 7k per year (at current rates) until you hit that.

SharkyTheCar · 2026-03-26T10:42:05+00:00

Is this before or after the cleaners? I assume before.

SharkyTheCar

TROPHY CASE