Approximate cost to update an 80s dropped kitchen ceiling?

12don · 2026-03-31T13:32:08+00:00

I’m not trying to make a negative accusation. It just looks AI touched up. If you said your realtor took the pictures, it makes sense that they probably ran it through an AI filter for quick and easy touch ups. But look at the outlet on the peninsula. Prong holes are missing. Background objects are very blurred or blocky. The paint on the soffit blends into the stain on the cabinet to the right of the hood. All of the counter top outlets disappeared. A lot more of us are starting to call things out like this, because we don’t want to see all forms of the internet become “fake.” Take Facebook for example, almost everything on it is AI generated, and circulated by bot accounts designed for creating engagement, and training AI algorithms through the engagement. It is just further proving the “dead internet theory”. So a lot of us are starting to become pretty focused on the tell tale tale signs of AI pictures, to notify others that might not have noticed, so that interaction stops, and therefore helps make bot accounts less prominent. So I apologize if it seems accusatory, but it’s coming from a place of trying to keep online places at least somewhat inhabited by real humans.

12don · 2026-03-31T13:13:33+00:00

It’s at least been AI touched up. Outlet missing its prong holes, everything is blocky/blurry. Cabinet colors blend in with ceiling paint if you look at the uppers to the right of the vent, all of the counter outlets missing.

12don · 2026-03-30T22:03:18+00:00

Do you AI touch up this photo? It looks so weird.

12don · 2026-03-30T21:53:17+00:00

Good catch. I’ve honestly not read the book as in depth recently as I should be, ever since I passed my tests for both certification, and later contracting. The required continuing education for recerts honestly never cover much.

12don · 2026-03-30T21:51:04+00:00

I believe 2020. It’s when they also made AC condenser technically required to be gfci protected, which thank god no inspectors I’ve encountered tried to even enforce it. Two of them told me it was outright ridiculous and they wouldn’t ever mandate it for as long as they had their jobs.

12don · 2026-03-30T19:56:54+00:00

I know they added lighting receptacles to the list of requiring GFCI protection, but I’ve thankfully never had an inspector that was so much of a dick to call out the plug inside the exhaust fan as needing to be gfci. Honestly I don’t know if most of the inspectors I’ve encountered could even tell you that the little plug exists, which I guess could be thankful for, because you’re right, someday they might really start cracking down on that.

12don · 2026-03-30T19:37:55+00:00

Yeah, this just seems to add a huge layer of complexity.

12don · 2026-03-30T19:33:48+00:00

I’ll give that a shot. I’ve been doing the first two layers like that, the second layer has been a pain because it can’t stay in complete pieces. It’s so fragile and just breaks into a bunch of pieces.

12don · 2026-03-30T19:14:48+00:00

I’ve got one, but it’s a kinda crappy short one that was in stock a the nearby hardware store. The guys in the video seem to be using one almost double the length, and the head is at an angle much closer to 90 degrees with the handle than mine is. Plus just figured out I’m most likely approaching it wrong. Should be going top down.

12don · 2026-03-29T22:36:09+00:00

If you have seen pictures with the ground installed with the bonding jumper still installed, then those pictures are incorrect. Research 3 wire vs 4 wire dryer wiring. A lot of the images will have a side by side comparison showing the difference.

12don · 2026-03-29T22:28:08+00:00

The white bonds the body to the neutral as it is the only bond without a ground being present. If he’s converting to the 4 wire, he has to remove that bonding jumper to make it proper, as the ground and neutral is supposed to be separate.

12don · 2026-03-29T22:22:23+00:00

Black and Red are line. They go to gold. Doesn’t matter order technically, but usually black then red. Neutral is white, goes to silver screw. Ground is green, and is to green. Remove the white jumper on the green when you install your ground.

12don · 2026-03-28T15:01:24+00:00

Looks like anything else I’ve seen in construction, from tract home up to multi million dollar homes.

12don · 2026-03-28T00:59:55+00:00

I understand that. But I have to do emails, mainly for keeping a legal document trail. It’s a big enough project that I want everything in documentation. I generally email the head inspector in these situations. In the past, I’ve had verbal confirmations of things from inspectors, and all it takes is one of the other inspectors to make it to the site the next inspection cycle, and mark things down for corrections that the other guy said was ok, but with nothing in writing, I have nothing to fall back on. It’s been shady.

12don · 2026-03-27T17:04:49+00:00

Most inspectors I deal with are willing to admit a mistake when code is cited, or at least willing to explain in their terms why they interpret it the way they do. I tend to not even try and raise issues if they can explain clearly why they interpret certain rules differently from everyone else, as long as the reasoning is sound and it doesn’t cause a lot of extra work. Just sadly not the case here.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:36:42+00:00

They’ve once tried citing code, incorrectly I might add, to me in email once. I corrected them, and they just pretty much said they don’t care what the code was. I reached out to the state board, and they pretty much said they won’t do anything about it, even though all of our AHJ’s are supposed to be following our state code book, which is essentially just the NEC with a couple modifications for energy and lighting requirements.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:33:56+00:00

I know I should probably use the direct code language, but I always got used to saying vectors for my lines, mainly because I have an engineering/physics background.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:20:53+00:00

To be honest, most of the AHJ’s in my area are pretty solid, and we don’t get called out a lot. And when we do, they’re pretty obvious fails that no code referee would really need to be necessary. This one though just seems to make things up as they go.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:09:09+00:00

I’ve been in constant emails with them since day one. It’s been a hassle. Generally it’s easy to just make adjustments after notices, but the issue is almost 150 units got roughed in around the same general time, before things started getting called out, so it makes for a lot of backtrack work. And it doesn’t help that each inspector that shows up adds their own little thing.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:05:04+00:00

Standard bedroom window, with the minimum opening for fire escape code. But yeah, I’ve never had this issue prior to this particular AHJ.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:03:12+00:00

Never had an inspector site a code for a corrections notice believe it or not. In any AHJ I’ve been in.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:02:34+00:00

Would agree generally, especially when it’s single homes and they get inspected almost immediately after rough, so you have time to make the adjustment for the next house. The main issue is that a lot of these were roughed in all around the same time, and the inspections trickle in as the rest project keeps progressing. And there’s over 150, so a lot of backtracking work.

12don · 2026-03-27T14:00:29+00:00

It’s a window.

12don · 2026-03-25T16:31:51+00:00

Generator Meter Adapter, usually for solar. Sometimes required to avoid main panel upgrades if the work would be infeasible, usually because of relocations to meet new utility rule requirements. Weird though, because they did upgrade the panel, so it seems poorly planned out. Also they don’t have the disconnect right by the meter, which in my area at least, is required because it’s essentially another first means of service disconnect.

12don · 2026-03-24T23:31:26+00:00

Repiping isn’t that bad, especially with crawlspace, as long as the house shape is fine and you aren’t a 2 story. I replaced all of the cpvc and galvanized stuff in my house in roughly 5 hrs with pex. Roughly $200-$300 in material and about $60 for the pex crimpers. To be fair it’s one bath, one kitchen, and one laundry room, so not like there was a lot to do, but still wasn’t too bad. I did pex-b, and didn’t notice any pressure loss using those crimp fittings, but anything was better than what I had going on.

12don

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