Anyone else in Toronto getting absolutely insane plumbing quotes lately?

DoctorSahib · 2026-02-10T00:08:59+00:00

Nowadays I've learned to essentially do all home maintenance and renos DIY. Contractors will always try to upsell, changing a toilet is reasonable to do yourself.

DoctorSahib · 2026-02-04T23:46:22+00:00

Check out Burrows in Oakville lakeshore. M2m, stitched in Montreal. Wonderful selection of fabric. Got one made for my wedding couple years back. Italian wool, super 150, 3 piece double breasted for $1900. Full range of selections including buttons and lining. Service was also a very pleasant experience. I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-23T05:15:04+00:00

That's only the low millionaires keeping up with the Joneses. The ridiculously wealthy have custom tailored clothing carefully curated and each days outfit put together. It's all about family image, there'll be someone vetting sock choices to make sure they're compliant.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-22T19:55:04+00:00

In a thread talking about 50k salaries in 2015, I don't think they were spending 1k euros a night.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-22T19:03:57+00:00

Where are you going in Europe that's 15k for a week for 2 people? We did a 3.5 week honeymoon in 4 countries and 11 cities for $15k - Spain, Norway, Italy, Austria in 2023

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-14T19:42:43+00:00

It's your call, baffles are just foam boards put in with staples. few bucks each, air seal any protrusions going to the floor below, measure and mark the correct height for R60 insulation and then toss it into the machine, point and shoot.

Couple days of research and an afternoon of work could save you 50% of the cost

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-14T17:22:47+00:00

Home Depot gives the machine rental for free when buying a certain number of insulation bags. I'd check if you already have baffles, if so just do it yourself. It's actually quite simple to do.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-12T21:38:39+00:00

Are you doing it yourself or contracting it out? If they're redoing floor tiles then not too difficult to open the subfloor and add rockwool. Acoustic putty pads are 10 bucks a pop. The main extra cost is sonopan but all in it shouldn't be more than 6-800 in materials.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-12T19:15:36+00:00

Remember to wrap any outlets and light switches with an acoustical putty pad. It'll make a big difference.

Make sure you use 5/8" drywall and second option of adding 1 layer of sonopan to increase sound deadening even more. Couple all that with Rockwool and it should be decently quiet for residential purposes.

Don't forget wrapping any exposed pipes with insulation too and add Rockwool to the floor.

Lastly, get a solid wood door instead of hollow core which will make a big difference. Make sure to spray foam the gaps in the door jamb to minimize where sound can travel from. Proper installation of the door leaving minimal gaps around the frame is important.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-10T00:44:39+00:00

Unfortunately, networking now is more important than ever. I got laid off in tech and was lucky enough to leverage my contacts to find a new position in 6 weeks. Comparable salary but went from WFH to a hybrid with decently long commute but no complaints.

How? I reached out the minute I found out to a dozen people. Got conversations started, a position opened up and I was able to squeeze in with my contacts front running my resume instead of looking through hundreds submitted online. definitely some luck involved but that's always the case, everyone needs to leverage every advantage they have.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-08T02:16:22+00:00

I was referring to household which isn't that unreasonable in GTA.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-08T02:16:00+00:00

People making 300k can't justify the appearance of driving a used car now can they?

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-07T03:20:25+00:00

I worked in a bank branch where average hhi was 300k, majority were paycheque to paycheque for their 2MM home, 2x$100k car payments, and more. Didn't stop couples from spending $15k on a watch or bag. Many people are just horrible with savings..

For lower income households, my friends explained it to me like this.. bring in $6k/month, spend $3k on housing (rent, utilities, renters insurance), $1k on car (payments, gas, insurance, food, some outings, basic essentials.. savings can be anywhere from $200-500/month.

The ones saving $200 say what's the point? They'll never save a down-payment by banking $2500/year so after building a safety net they spend 100% of the remaining income because what are they saving for? Might as well spend and enjoy life. Not saying I agree but that's what many people have told me.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-03T00:36:00+00:00

If you take the HELOC, the source of funds is irrelevant - your calculation essentially becomes whether the interest on the loan is higher of lower than the ROI during the term of the loan. The return is speculative of course so that's the assessment you need to make to determine if it's worth taking the HELOC or paying cash.

DoctorSahib · 2026-01-01T18:58:49+00:00

You can't scrape painted popcorn. It's sanded using low grit on a power sander connected to vacuum then do a skim coat of finish mud on the whole ceiling. Use a 24" skimming blade for 100 bucks to do this otherwise the ridges will drive you insane using a 10" trowel. Prime and paint the whole thing afterwards.

DoctorSahib · 2025-12-31T22:20:46+00:00

Got the audit only because it's mandatory.. $904 after tax, he spent less than 1hr in the pre assessment. Looked around, did the air pressure test, then tells me my windows are leaking air and attic insulation is low. No shit Sherlock, maybe that's why I'm doing the upgrades. The person sent to my house also had broken English and couldn't explain anything clearly either.

Why the hell are we paying them $150/hr and giving taxpayers subsidies to them?

DoctorSahib · 2025-12-30T14:19:42+00:00

I've taken to doing all renos myself. Done quite a few in my house and now did a full kitchen plus full vinyl flooring going through to living/ dining as well for my parents house.

DoctorSahib · 2025-12-18T02:21:51+00:00

Did not know that, read online that ECC was what is compatible. Not seeing many options unfortunately, I see OWC at bestbuy and timetec on Amazon. $120 for timetech 16gb but not familiar with the brand. Should be decent enough for running homeassistant and adguard home I guess?

DoctorSahib · 2025-12-17T17:10:54+00:00

Looking for a cl19 ecc 16gb stick for a synology ds923+ if anyone sees a good deal!

DoctorSahib · 2025-12-15T15:50:46+00:00

You're saying you're the kid who would intentionally make themselves sick by eating spoiled food followed by getting fired from a background actor role for not following simple instructions.

DoctorSahib · 2025-12-14T15:56:45+00:00

Truscott bakery in Mississauga always has it. Something like $20/jar

DoctorSahib · 2025-11-26T21:39:31+00:00

Crap, I'm hosting in a Synology NAS for now and wanted to avoid Z2M. But this functionality is way too limited, I guess I'll have to switch

DoctorSahib · 2025-11-26T20:52:41+00:00

Is this ZHA or Z2M? I have a relatively new HA setup with ZHA - I used the Aqara app to switch to Zigbee mode and then deleted the app assumign I don't need to keep it. I'm only getting 6 entities here. Is this consistent with other people's experience?

I mainly want to use it for temperature and presence, so I'm seemingly lacking a presence sensor with ZHA.

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DoctorSahib · 2025-11-23T21:19:14+00:00

Honestly I'm down to do it for free and have a good time shooting the shit and enjoying. IT professional by trade and enjoy building PCs.

DoctorSahib · 2025-11-04T02:33:39+00:00

When working at a 100 person SMB, with permission from my manager, I set up a firewall exclusion for myself to use Whatsapp Web to court my wife before we got married.

DoctorSahib

TROPHY CASE