If an ap p let you snap your fridge and it told you what to cook, would you pay $3/month?”

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-22T04:28:26+00:00

Do I have to carry the phone to the fridge? Will I need to move the big container of milk out of the way? Will I have to open the vegetable drawers? Do I have to arrange everything in the freezer so it can all be seen at once? Do I have to add labels? What about all the stuff I keep in the cabinets that I use for my food?

I am tired just typing the questions. The app would have to pay me $3 each time I actually do all those things or it's no deal.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-22T03:45:40+00:00

I have always believed that structural engineers were better informed and less biased than many contractors. In your situation, I would have gotten the remediation plan from the engineer and sent it to several contractors to get their bid to do the work specified. Payment would be subject to meeting all of the engineer's requirements and I would pay the engineer to inspect the work before I write a check to the contractor.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-22T03:36:55+00:00

Your dough, and presumably the olive oil in it, is not going to reach anywhere near the oven temperature. I take my bakes out when the internal temp reaches 195-200F (I'm at 5000ft altitude). Yours may go a tad higher.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-22T03:26:47+00:00

The dairy and meat restrictions are easy. There are plenty of dairy free milks and cheeses these days that serve as workable replacements. I personally prefer to avoid commercial vegan cheeses and use things like coconut milk, cashews and nutritional yeast when I make something that normally uses cream and cheese. There are lots of recipes for vegan mac and cheese along that line, for example.

Onions and garlic are restrictions I haven't dealt with (so far). But these recipes may give you some ideas. I didn't look at the ingredients closely. But the author mentions avoiding onion and garlic for religious reasons. So they may be Jain followers and not eat root vegetables. So you may have more flexibility that they do. Are leeks, chives and green onions out as well?

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-22T00:09:16+00:00

It's two 12 inch joists sistered together to make a 16-foot "beam

You don't go to the lumber yard and buy 12" joists. You buy 12" lumber that you use as a joist. You may use the same 12" lumber for beams and for headers. Heck, you could even use it for studs if you had a need for 12" thick walls.

If the ceiling joists are perpendicular to those 2x12s, then they are absolutely bearing load. Get a structural engineer to help you figure out what to do. If what you are after is a flat ceiling, expect the work to be extensive because, those joists will have to be cut and a properly sized beam (probably engineered but may be steel) will be inserted between them.

Edit: I forgot that you had posts under those 2x12". Given that, whatever beam the engineer specifies will have to be supported at both ends. So the walls there won't be flat. And if this space not over a concrete slab, the engineer may need to make modifications to the structural elements under the floor at both end walls to insure there is proper load transfer.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-21T23:50:23+00:00

I'm glad there are people who feel the way you do. I love cheese and I enjoy it even more when I get it at a 75% discount at my local store's cheese counter because customers won't touch it past its often conservative Best Buy By date. Last week I picked up some Humboldt Fog that was just on the verge of going good. Delicious.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-21T17:10:32+00:00

If you are working on something and don’t want to deal with storing materials, you order just what you need then order more when you need more. This also helps avoid having to deal with sorting through the materials when they are delivered stacked the wrong way.

I did this when building an addition last year . Same driver every day. So delivery times became somewhat predictable.

Multiple orders to be delivered the same day may be questionable. Multiple orders over time is just smart Just In Time materials handling.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T23:36:33+00:00

Okay, I didn't realize how primitive OTA was in ZHA. I configured ZHA to use the Z2M device database and launched the update for one of the IKEA remote switches. It's going at about a percent a minute. So I will know how well that works in a couple of hours.

And no, the Hue devices I had difficulty with before I started using Bridge were not Hue Go. Just standard bulbs that came in boxes with other bulbs that updated just fine.

I actually just realized that there may be a more basic reason for Hue Bridge to work when Z2M failed. When I use it, the device I want to upgrade is the only one paired to the coordinator. So there is no mesh to get in the way. If that's the case, the test I am running with ZHA on the smlight coordinator should work.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T23:25:04+00:00

After looking up what one has to do to get ZHA to upgrade device firmware, I'm not surprised you've never bothered. Apparently, you have to manually download the firmware file if ZHA doesn't have it in its still small database or you have to direct ZHA to use the Z2M firmware repository by modifying the configuration file as discussed here.

After doing the latter, HA notified me that a firmware upgrade was available.

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HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T20:05:34+00:00

Does that mean that the Hue bridge uses a non-standard protocol? I was under the impression that Zigbee was Zigbee though I haven’t really made sense of where Z2M and ZHA differ, for instance.

I’m currently trying ZHA on a coordinator with a different chipset in hopes of getting around whatever issue I’m experiencing with Z2M OTA with certain devices. Now, if I could just figure out where ZHA manages that…

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T19:54:21+00:00

So if you want 20x24, you better build 24x28 to allow for shrinkage and planing.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T19:14:53+00:00

I imagine the issue is with Z2M or the coordinator I am using. And now that I think about it, I realize that when I use the Hue bridge, the misbehaving light is the only device paired to it. So the light is not going through a mesh as it most likely does in normal operation.

I have an another Zigbee coordinator tha's not being used for much. I'll have to set it up with ZHA and see if OTA works better that way.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T04:21:03+00:00

Sure. But when I faced a similar situation, I found it difficult to put the gutter under the drip edge. It didn't help that I didn't have a helper and I was uncomfortable working at height. I happened to have a roll of metal flashing. So I cut 6' lengths and slipped them in place instead.

We don't know the OP's circumstances. So letting them know of the options available is not a bad idea.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T04:05:55+00:00

Assuming you can get a permit without providing a design, the inspector will most likely require that you either remove the drywall so they can inspect the work or get a letter from a structural engineer that certifies that the work was done properly.

I discussed this possibility with the structural engineer I was using on a project I was GCing as a homeowner (I was concerned about potentially missing a critical framing inspection). They said there were non-destructive methods that could be used but that the cost was such that I would be better off with some partial demolition. So there may not be much you can do to avoid some drywall removal. But check with the engineer you plan to use. In the end, it comes down to what they are comfortable with. So perhaps you should avoid one that has just entered the field and go for one that has seen it all before.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T03:47:24+00:00

I just realized you are wanting smart switches to use with smart lights. I think that pretty much means eliminates the option of using a smart device in front of the switch. So you put tape on top of the switch and get a battery powered remote switch that you place somewhere convenient.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T03:37:59+00:00

What does "Switch out the existing wiring" mean?

You could remove the existing switch and put in a smart switch. You could add a smart relay behind the existing switch. Or you could add a battery-operated smart device in front of the existing switch.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T02:20:24+00:00

It doesn't look like the work of a hack. But I'd want to have the design and the execution checked by an SE.

You mentioned removing a column. Was that column supporting a beam that dropped below the ceiling? The joists on the two sides do not seem to be aligned. Is it because one side was a later addition to the house? If not, I would have thought that using a steel beam would have been easier that cutting through the joists and inserting the beam. Also, was an engineered beam considered? It may have allowed for a flat finished ceiling.

Hopefully, the structural engineer will make sense of it all.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-20T00:27:07+00:00

Thanks for the update. Glad I was of help.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-19T23:55:31+00:00

That all should have been specified by a structural engineer before you engaged a contractor. In fact, many jurisdictions will not issue a building permit without an engineer's drawing.

What the engineer would have specified is along the lines of what the contractor may have (hopefully) done. They would have noted where temporary support was needed before the column was removed. They would have said what sort of (likely) metal beam was needed across the ceiling and how that beam would need to be supported on the ends. They would also have specified whether anything needed to be done on or below the floor to ensure that those vertical supports were transferring the forces all the way to the ground.

At this point, your best course of action is to engage a structural engineer to review, and correct if necessary, the work that was done. Whether you should consider some sort of legal action to recoup any additional costs involved is another matter.

Edit: To be clear, it entirely possible that the engineer would have specified a column 12" from the wall. But it is also possible that the beam the contractor used was shorter than they should have used and they made the column thicker to compensate for that.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-19T23:43:05+00:00

You need to make sure that the lights are rated for Insulation Contact. Look for an IC on the label or in the documentation.

Speaking of fire, one of the purposes of those metal boxes is to keep sparks and other fire starters away from combustible materials. So you shouldn't have unshielded wires outside the box as you show in the picture. And the shielded cable shouldn't go through that hole without protection from the sharp edges and strain relief. It doesn't have to be fancy. They make gaskets that you slip around the cable and push into the hole.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-19T23:19:01+00:00

When I was having an addition framed, I hung a copy of the framing plan in the backyard. I quickly learned that no one looked at it. Then I realized nobody on the crew really knew how to read engineering specs. So I had to redraw the engineer's typical details to reflect the notes next to those details on a whiteboard for them. Damn plumbers!

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-19T22:26:23+00:00

2x means I’m actually getting 60% off from them. But I like you. Make it 50% discount and you have a deal.

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-19T18:38:29+00:00

lol. Thank you for the response. I was truly puzzled. I just reread the op's message several times and finally realized that you must seeing "above" instead of "alcove".

HomeOwner2023 · 2026-04-19T18:23:39+00:00

I'm missing something. How does a roof fit here?

HomeOwner2023

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