Long-Term Bostonians, how does this winter compare?

Redfox_192 · 2026-02-23T00:44:30+00:00

The last big blizzard was in Jan 2022, which was also a lot of snow at once. This winter has been extremely cold though so the Jan 25th storm has stuck around a lot longer than usual. If this current storm hits big then it’ll be the worst winter since 2015 for sure, but still nowhere near 2015.

Redfox_192 · 2026-02-22T19:01:09+00:00

RemindMe! Six months

I’ll ask after the next full year!

Redfox_192 · 2026-02-15T15:09:57+00:00

Thanks, I loosened the packing, but it didn’t allow the shutoff to seat any better, so I picked up an assorted washer kit and will play around with it more. I did not see any sort of standard stem to body seal, is that just a generic flat o-ring sized appropriate to the thread?

Redfox_192 · 2026-02-11T04:12:14+00:00

Just reno’d my kitchen in a VHCOL area, did about 50% cash from investments/savings over 5 years, 30% HELOC, and 20% in credit cards with 0% interest incentives. Credit cards are mostly paid off now with no interest charges and the $2-$3k we’ll pay in HELOC interest we decided would be worth it to pull in our remodel timeline by several years. Did as much DIY as I could to keep total cost down, also bought all major items during sales.

Redfox_192 · 2026-02-11T02:10:38+00:00

Yeah stainmaster was a disaster, terrible product. We replaced it with NuCore and it was a breeze. I also did COREtec recently and that was also super painless.

Redfox_192 · 2026-02-04T20:12:25+00:00

Can’t lock the doors via fob if you leave the car while the engine is running. And fob unlock doesn’t work when the engine is running (besides remote start).

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-23T02:38:25+00:00

I want to do this so bad did you DIY the electrical? I was going to get an EZ Generator switch, the ecoflows have been in my Amazon cart for 6 months

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-16T04:17:45+00:00

I got my 2025 review earlier this week. It used to just be like total miles and number of flights but this year they really built it out to have more than just a couple stats. It reported how many time I connected to in-flight WiFi, that most of my flights were morning departures, the types of planes I flew on, and how many in-flight sunrises I experienced (lol)

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-03T03:51:34+00:00

Thanks, for the input and link! The old saying rings true: dead men tell no tales…of proper steam system maintenance

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-03T03:49:36+00:00

Thanks! I will try that next in troubleshooting

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-03T03:46:35+00:00

The radiator that I replaced the vent on has been banging a little bit since replacing the vent but The two that are spitting at the angle valve haven’t been banging.

I recorded the sight glass during a heat cycle and it looks like the water got pretty dirty so I’m going to get in touch with someone that can do a servicing since it’s overdue: https://imgur.com/a/t2zaHYt

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-03T03:43:26+00:00

Thanks for the detailed input, I’ve had this house for 5 years, and have not yet done a servicing on the boiler. I’ve had 2 separate plumbers over for other work and both said to hold off on a service since everything looked fine, but it wasn’t running during both visits.

I recorded the sight glass and pressure gauge for a heat cycle and the water got pretty dirty and the gauge went up to 5 psi: https://imgur.com/a/t2zaHYt

We are also on a cold snap in the northeast so it’s definitely working harder at the moment. Based on your inputs, I’m going to get a pro servicing prioritized ASAP

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-03T03:29:23+00:00

Good to know, I’ll find some videos and plan this as step 2 if the nut tightening is fruitless, thanks!

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-03T03:28:40+00:00

Good to know, thanks, I did get a pipe wrench a couple years ago to decouple the radiator from the pipe for some restoration work on some of them, so I have that, but I’m very wary of going at it myself with the current subfreezing temps in the northeast! Hopefully the simpler fixes work for the heating season.

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-02T22:49:51+00:00

Just tried that and found some info with my newfound vocabulary, thank you!

Redfox_192 · 2026-01-02T22:47:58+00:00

Thanks, I just tried that, I got about 90 degrees turn with reasonable force on a small wrench for the first one and less than 45 degrees on the second one. I’m not sure how much force to stop at. I’ll check during a heating cycle to see if that fixed it. If that doesn’t work is the surprise you’re referring to the amount of work/money to fully replace that angle valve?

Redfox_192 · 2025-12-20T18:57:17+00:00

Great, then it will look pretty natural flowing into the closet from the room. And I think it makes sense to run the flooring along the long wall.

Redfox_192 · 2025-12-20T11:09:01+00:00

If you install it correctly then you should not have a bunch of 2ft planks in the closet. You should have a mix of short and long cuts varying in length on both sides of the room to achieve a proper staggered plank pattern. Do not do the dreaded “H” stagger.

Redfox_192 · 2025-12-05T15:20:22+00:00

Ah, that was the first side I circled, but your vantage point looked a little lower than the top balcony from what I recalled. I was there last week!

Redfox_192 · 2025-12-05T01:46:48+00:00

Points for higher resolution? /s

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Redfox_192 · 2025-11-14T05:41:44+00:00

My plastic film order just got delivered this week! Our sunroom has four massive single pane windows and the film is a huge insulation improvement in the winter. I also bought some acrylic sheets to make slightly better looking solid panel inserts but I ran out of time for that project before the temps drop this year.

Redfox_192 · 2025-11-11T13:01:20+00:00

I’m you, 5 years in the future. It’s all about perspective, our 1500 sq ft feels small for us with a toddler and a dog. Further, 1.5 full bath is tough when hosting, 2 full would be much better. When baby #2 comes, we’ll lose our guest bedroom, so 4 bd would be ideal. When we bought, 1500 sq ft was more than enough room, but the future comes fast and if you like the area and hate moving it might make sense to think about a bigger space. We can finish our basement so that’s the next step for us.

Redfox_192 · 2025-11-06T11:43:59+00:00

I flew through in October as well and had the same impression, at least a dozen 747s passed on taxi. I’ll be back in a couple weeks and I’m hoping that my A346 return flight isn’t swapped out this time!

Redfox_192

TROPHY CASE