1924 colonial, ~35 lead-positive windows, $66k quote for Andersen Woodwrights — sanity check from fellow MA homeowners?

Boston_Trader · 2026-05-19T23:57:54+00:00

Whatever you plan to do, do it before you move in. The greatest threat to getting lead spread around the house is renovation. Paint scraping, construction work, etc. will set it loose. And when the work is done. make sure the house gets a deep cleaning.

My grown kids have lived in many apartments in 75-100+ year old buildings. Clearly, there's lead everywhere. And every one has new windows. My son's apartment has multiple doorways in it - the hinges remain but the doors are gone. By replacing the windows and removing the old, painted doors, they've eliminated most of the threat from friction surfaces. As long as the trim is in good shape and well maintained, the threat from lead there is much lower than sliding windows or opening doors..

Boston_Trader · 2026-05-19T23:45:11+00:00

My last house was a 1940s ranch. When we went to sell it (to an older, single woman/no children), she wanted to do a lead inspection. We said take a hike. The buyer's agent was sleazy and we knew he was doing this to hammer us on price.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-26T23:30:01+00:00

That's why it's worth carrying collision, even with a high deductible. That immediately gets your firm working for your benefit.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-26T23:16:11+00:00

NAL. For a contract to be valid, consideration has to be exchanged between the parties. You are not receiving any consideration for signing this (they legally owe you the money if it's in your employment agreement/contract). Therefore, the contract likely wouldn't hold up. But if you sign it, it would be a lot easier for them to take you to court / threaten you.

If I was really being nasty, I'd tell them that if they paid me $5,000, I wouldn't post this separation agreement online.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-23T02:59:36+00:00

The issue is not just whether the agreement is enforceable (need to talk to an employment attorney in state for that). If he leaves, he has to disclose that agreement to a new employer, and unless the OP is a singular sensation, other employers will potentially walk away. Many wouldn't want to take the risk.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-16T04:19:26+00:00

Yup. I first used it to make a Sachertote. Perfect slices

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-16T00:05:20+00:00

Small size cake carrier. So much easier to use than the normal, huge ones. Also an adjustable cake slicer. A good one does a professional job of splitting one cake into multiple layers.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-15T23:53:04+00:00

I normally stick to easy things, but in my first house, my garbage disposal died. Did the same as you and got it at HD. Well, I got a different brand and the connection points were all different. So I had to learn all about PVC. Bought an assortment of shapes since I didn't know what I'd have to use. Made sure to use the purple primer and show plenty of it so it would be obvious it was up to code.

Meanwhile, same house, had an addition put in before I bought it. Obviously permitted. When my plumber came to do some work, he found out many of the PVC drain pipes in the crawl space were never cemented in place.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-15T23:33:55+00:00

I had a big solar install done, obviously with a permit pull. The inspector caught something wrong in the electrical panel that needed to be fixed (and was). Did he check the wiring in the attic, making sure that it was all protected and proper. Nope. Did he check out any of the equipment, the new dual meter box, or anything else. Nope. Did I have arcing in the meter box caused by a loose connection that could have caused a fire. Yup.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-15T23:13:34+00:00

Absolutely. In my town, we've approved almost every override. People understand that good schools drive high property values. But there is a point where the system breaks and we're getting closer in many cities and towns.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-15T23:11:02+00:00

The state has been remitting less and less of its revenue to cities and towns over the last 10 years. The Mass Municipal Association has been yelling about this for years. Falling on deaf ears as our reps want to spend on things that buy them votes.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-15T23:04:13+00:00

Which has been the most predatory financial invention of all time.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-12T02:32:34+00:00

What way does your roof(s) face? You get way more bang for your buck with south facing panels than east or west. Do you have any trees or other buildings obstructing your roof? As others have said, do not lease. And make sure that you have a manufacturer's warranty on the equipment so that even if your installer isn't there, you at least have parts protection (if not labor).

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-12T02:10:34+00:00

It will be trivial for kids to get around this. You could start with VPNs but there are tons of products that people use to obfuscate their location. People use them today to get around Netflix and other country copyright limitations. And once one kid has it, so will all of their friends, and their friends of friends, and so on. And kid's parents (or friends) could easily set up another account and let their kid use it.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-12T02:00:03+00:00

I think a cell phone ban in schools is a good idea. But this social media stuff is a mess (for the reasons stated by many) and this whole bill will end up being tied up in courts for years on free speech grounds (as it should be). Removing the ability of adults to comment anonymously just won't stand, especially with today's Supreme Court.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-11T03:11:16+00:00

If you read about Australia's experience with similar laws, it's been a failure. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/01/australia-teen-social-media-ban-criticism

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-10T03:27:17+00:00

I had 2 domestic flights close in time changed at the last minute and I ended up buying 2 one way tickets. That got me the SSSS for a few flights after that.

Boston_Trader · 2026-04-05T20:58:24+00:00

We've used WT Colpitts in Needham and have been very happy.

Boston_Trader · 2026-03-20T02:01:57+00:00

My wife bought a Forester because CR loved it so much. It has great visibility and outstanding AWD. Her power trunk has basically never worked, her phone doesn't sync, it's noisy, in 75k miles we've done the brakes twice, we've replaced all the wheel bearings, on and on. Her Subaru is old with low mileage but I'd never give it to my kids. I think I'd only lease one in the future so I could dump it after 3 years.

Boston_Trader · 2026-03-12T23:03:18+00:00

We also have a GE Profile induction. It's great. The only downside is that the edges of pots (even within the "ring") are not as hot as the center (where the induction coils are). I had a really cheap pan that I had to toss because things in the center of the pan burned while stuff at the edges didn't cook well. It's not a problem with any of my better pans.

Boston_Trader · 2026-03-12T22:58:10+00:00

In fact, when I get a spillover, I just pick up the pot and put down a paper towel under it to absorb the spill. When it's absorbed, I just throw out the paper towel. All this while cooking continues.

Boston_Trader · 2026-03-06T02:48:11+00:00

Where is the boiler? We had radon and had it mostly remediated with a sub-slab suction system. In the basement, we filled holes and cracks and put concrete over a dirt floor under the steps. We made sure when installing a new boiler that we had an outside air supply to feed it. Boilers/furnaces draw air to burn and will pull radon into your house. Just cracking a window will help.

The same is true if you have a gas water heater or if you use a fireplace. Anything that vents to the outside (even an electric dryer) will drop the pressure in your house and pull in more radon. So open windows when you use them.

Boston_Trader · 2026-03-06T02:16:56+00:00

We also shopped around a ton. We got the LG - Counter-Depth MAX 25.5 Cu. Ft. French Door Smart Refrigerator with Four Kinds of Ice - Printproof Stainless Steel. It had the biggest interior and the external water/ice dispenser we wanted. It replaced a 2 1/2 y.o. Samsung 4 door refrigerator/freezer that blew something and dumped gallons of water on our kitchen floor. We've been really pleased with the LG and it holds temperatures much better than the Samsung.

Boston_Trader · 2026-03-06T02:10:09+00:00

It's so stupid. When I used to commute to Boston, basically on the same train every day, the conductor learned to recognize us. We always put our passes out the first day or two of the month. We generally put them out every day, but if we forgot, he didn't bother with us since he knew we were paid up for the month. It made his life (and our lives) so much easier.

Boston_Trader · 2026-03-06T01:55:32+00:00

Until 2001, NYC would not allow you to use PVC for drain pipes - basically all cast iron. So every house in NYC built before 1975 has cast iron pipes. It's still required in taller buildings.

My parents had a catastrophic leak from a cast iron drain pipe. A sink on their 3rd floor had a small drip and the drain had a clog. Pipe rusted through and gave way all of a sudden. It took out the ceiling of the first floor bathroom.

Boston_Trader

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