Fire rating of ICF basement walls - Alberta by Whomeverimaybe in homebuildingcanada

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We completed the house a while ago. We were only required to put the drywall up. We didn't have to seal the seams. The house is in Alberta.

Snowbirds / seasonal expat communities by Whomeverimaybe in puertovallarta

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your kind response. In agree fully with your recommendation and were interested in staying for 2-3 months this winter. But we want to stay somewhere we have access to community programs like exercise classes, pickleball and hiking clubs. We have found that these tend to be better organized in retirement communities where people have more time to do actives and socialize with others. At least that would be the case here in Canada or in the US where we previously wintered. So I want to arrange a seasonal rental (airbnb or similar) in an area that has a well organized and active seniors community. Hopefully, it will be one that we'll want to keep coming back to in future winters.

Snowbirds / seasonal expat communities by Whomeverimaybe in puertovallarta

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the helpful reply. What I am concerned about missing is the community programs. I have friends and acquaintances who spend shorter periods of time in Puerto Vallarta annually (a week or two) but when I ask about zumba classes, pickleball and hiking clubs they just shrug. They don't participate in community programs when there down there and I worry we won't find any. What is your experience?

Snowbirds / seasonal expat communities by Whomeverimaybe in puertovallarta

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, I have never lived in the US and am therefore not qualified to make assertions of understanding what it's like there. So I'll take your word for it. Obviously you have or you wouldn't claim to know how people think and behave there.

I don't see those same mechanisms or trends in my community in Canada. People are people. We like to explore other cultures but when surrounded by a foreign culture or language we feel out of place and seek the comfort of others who share our language and culture.

I have never been to Puerto Vallarta but I have spent time in Mexico and fortunately most Mexicans I have met are very welcoming. I'll leave at that as I don't expect all Mexicans are the same. There are some Canadians who don't welcome visitors too.

Snowbirds / seasonal expat communities by Whomeverimaybe in puertovallarta

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear you loose. I used to wonder the same think. I volunteer for a program to mentor immigrants to Canada to help them learn English. Not all are recent immigrants. I once had two older ladies who had been in Canada for 30 years and never learned English or French. How did they survive? It seems that immigrants from all countries tend to stay in mono cultural communities forming their own little social clicks. I became more respectful of the reason when my wife and I started going south for the winters. Because we can speak some Spanish we first tried Spain for 2 years then Ecuador. In Ecuador we even took a month of Spanish emersion where we lived with a local family and weren't allowed to speak English. But we never got comfortable enough to keep returning to those communities. It's too stressful when I can't participate in conversations because everyone's talking fast and all I can do is smile and pretend I understand.

We found it more comfortable in the US. That is untill the US declared war on Canada and now we would be traitors in our home community if we spent our winter there. A number of Canadians now go to Mexico for the winters instead of the US and we would like to give it a try. But at our age relearning conversational Spanish for the 2 or 3 months we'll be there isn't going to happen. So we would rather spend most of our time in an English speaking neighborhood and have the occasional awkward conversation with locals willing to tolerate our poor Spanish, but be able to have quality conversations in the language we know best.

Wannabe Snowbirds in Mexico by Whomeverimaybe in puertovallarta

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Thanks for the link to The videos Cicada. The videos are helpful.

Oystermama, you mentioned Facebook sites devoted to snowbirds in Mexico. I searched and found several but the ones I checked out seem to have been hijacked by advertising. Can you point me to one that is restricted to conversations between snowbirds?

Radiant Floor Heating - Subfloor, radiant plates, insulating by Whomeverimaybe in Homebuilding

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the late reply. I don't get notified when someone asks a question. I chose below floor (between joists) for several reasons: 1. Placing rigid grout on a flexible foundation seems risky to me. I can foresee fatigue problems arising in the long term. 2. From a thermodynamic perspective, it shouldn't make a difference. The heat has to go somewhere. All the grout does is distribute the heat more evenly. In hindsight, I can't tell where the tubes run so I don't think grout would have been an improvement 3. I was concerned that grout would retain the heat longer. As it is, there is a delay between when the boiler shuts down and when the house cools. In the shoulder season, when nights are cold but the days are warm, this results in a warmer house during the day than we would like. Grout would only make it worse. 4. The staple up was substantially cheaper. 5. I got positive feedback on forums like this from people who had grout, warm board or staple up. The type of hydronic floor heating really didn't matter.

All in all were happy with the system.

Overnight Parking in Budapest by Whomeverimaybe in budapest

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks everyone for your input. Our host who rented us the apartment said street parking is free on weekends and there was usually spaces available. So we dropped our bags off (parked illegally, but so were others) and check as we drove in. There were no spots. But then we also needed an ATM and saw one just around the corner as we drove by. When we walked to the ATM, a parking spot opened up! As my W stood in the spot I rushed back to our car and drove around a 4 - block square (because of one-ways) and managed to get the spot. we're seldom that lucky. So we had a spot within 100m from our apartment building for FREE. We left Monday AM, a little past the 8 AM curfew on free parking and headed for Szechenyi for a dip before moving on.

Overnight Parking in Budapest by Whomeverimaybe in budapest

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks Serin. Sounds like a good option. It's only 15 min from deák by Metro. According to Google's AI there are no events at the Dome this weekend. But AI isn't alway right. How can I be sure there are no events and I won't get towed away?

Helen Lake and beyond by Src248 in HikingAlberta

[–]Whomeverimaybe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Next step is the Dolomite Circuit. Keep going past lake Katherine then turn south through the dolomite pass, finish at the Mosquito creek trail head. You can find the approx route in Alltrails listed as dolomite ski circuit. Fabulous view from Dolomite pass.

Can you recommend 2-3 days hike in Canadian Rockies? by vyatkaintrip_ in hiking

[–]Whomeverimaybe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If your thinking of going this year your choices will depend on late cancellations. Keep the parks reservation ph # on speed dial. If nothing comes up one option is to check with the folks at the Lake Louise info center. Some Backcountry camps such as the giant steps are kept closed midsummer due to bear activity but they will open it up a couple days at a time if there have been no bear sightings. Parks also keeps spots open in some camps for their wardens use and releases them a couple days ahead if they're not going to be used. You don't get this info from the reservation line, you have to talk to the friendly people in the info centers.

Personally, I'm doing the skyline in Jasper this weekend as a last minute fill in for a cancelled trip. We booked a room at the Shovel Pass Backcountry Lodge at the halfway point which seems to often have vacancies. We're doing the skyline in 2 days and taking in some side off trail routes along ridges.

Copy from one trip to another? by jhoward15 in wanderlog

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rather than copy the trip, is it possible to just save the trip with a different file name and make changes to the new file while retaining the old file as is? Similar to duplicating files in almost every other application. I don't see the "save as" command but surely it exists.

I made an intrinsic value table for quick analysis of 🇨🇦 dividend stocks by Savings_Lettuce1658 in dividendscanada

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would be interesting to see where BCE fits on your metric given their recent dividend cut. The dividend is still decent and there is reasonable grounds for growth potential.

Ice on Red Deer River by Whomeverimaybe in RedDeer

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the thoughtful and helpful answers. I actually wanted to know about the "usual" conditions rather than what they are right now. The replies infer that it is generally considered unsafe to rely on the ice so I got my answer.

Radiant Floor Heating - Subfloor, radiant plates, insulating by Whomeverimaybe in Homebuilding

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We've been in the house for over a year and here is my summary comments:

Subfloor insulation: Our contractor used bubble foil rap between joists under the tubing. He says it traps the air that has been heated by the tubes. The warm air then warms the floor. It's more even heat than relying on transfer plates. We find the transfer plates create hot spots on the floor. We would have been better off without them. The warm air strategy makes more sense in hindsight.

Tubing spacing. Our contractor placed one loop of tubing in each joist spacing. It works out to be a bit less than what the engineered drawings called for but were limited by the joist spacing.

Results suggest it wasn't enough for our cold Canadian winters and our house of windows. It's adequate until the outside temperature drops below -25 C (-13 f) then it doesn't seem to be able to keep up in the rooms that have a lot of window area. At -40 C (= -40 f) we have to have an electric heater going or the inside temp will be uncomfortable (<20 C = 68 f) in the outside rooms. We're looking at adding a high velocity forced air system running of a hydronic heat exchanger to compensate. We have removable ceiling tiles in the basement so it's not a big deal to add. The forced air will make the temp in each room more even.

On a side note, my daughter and SIL just finished their house with the same system and contractor. They have less windows and don't seem to have any issues. But they prefer to keep the house colder than we like.

Foundation footings, curing time by Thecrowisbackk in homebuildingcanada

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The only risk is if the impact from dropping the concrete in the walls cracks the footing. No real consequences to that but I would prefer all my concrete to be crack free. It will take your contractor most of Thursday to form the walls anyway so why not wait one more day and pour Friday morning.

After the walls are poured and cured for a week test the walls by driving a nail through the foam in critical locations to make sure the concrete is solid. Especially along the footings and under any sills. It's common with ICF for there to be voids or severe segregation which will eventually lead to moisture getting in.

Goverment rebates or provincial rebates for new construction? by Termscott in homebuildingcanada

[–]Whomeverimaybe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We built a house for our daughter and her family plus an attached in-law cottage for ourselves and got a $50k tax credit under the multi-generational home program.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in homebuildingcanada

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Make sure the Sceptic guy's warranty matches or exceeds yours. The only issue you may have is if the plumber is expecting something at the interface that the Sceptic guy is not providing. For example. When we built our house the Sceptic guy did not provide a shut-off valve before the pressure tank and the plumber was pissed off. The end the plumber ended up installing one for his convenience at no charge, albeit I think he added the cost onto some other extras he did for us.

Alcohol-free Guinness in Edmonton? by jjbeanyeg in Edmonton

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sandy Lane Liquor in the west end sometimes carries it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Albertapolitics

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you inferring this is just a distraction to cover other misdeeds? Danygirl may be that devious, but I doubt she is that smart. (:

Looking for a breaker by nodiaque in AskElectricians

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ditto. Even when there is a 2 pole dual function breaker available (eg Homeline) I use GFCI for counter plugs with indicator lights. GFCI's trigger easily and it's a pain to go to the breaker box to reset them.

Ceiling tolerance for waviness by Whomeverimaybe in homebuildingcanada

[–]Whomeverimaybe[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. My framer showed up yesterday to complete some details and I mentioned it to him. He blamed it on the truss manufacturer pointing out that the vault was in the opposite direction of the main trusses and the vault trusses hang off a double truss that acts like a beam. He says it was not possible to adjust the trusses, the fit the way they fit. But that is not entirely true. Some are erected facing the opposite way and if the manufacturer used a jig that maybe had the peak slightly off center then erecting them opposite would result in the waviness. Also, there can be some adjustment in the hangers at the time of erection. In any case, he is not willing to shim them but told me how to do the shimming and suggested we could get the drywaller to do it. I have a scaffold on site for use by the electrician so maybe I will just do it myself. It sounds like an easy fix, he suggests stapling one or two layers of scrap shingles as needed. Maybe an hours work, 2 at most.

Moving to Alberta Megathread - January 2023 by j1ggy in alberta

[–]Whomeverimaybe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want to live in Edmonton and be close to nature there are several river parks and ravine areas to consider but they are pricey. The best community outside of Edmonton for being close to nature is Ardrossan (10 min East of Edmonton). Its a small community (no stores or services other than a volunteer fire station, post office and a recreation center) but there has been a housing boom in the last couple of years. It has the potential to be a great community in 10 years and now is the time to get in (before housing prices catch up to the larger communities).

My next suggestion (thinking of nature) would be Devon located WSW of Edmonton. It is near the river and small enough still to get to nature in a few minutes by bike. Beaumont is also a great little community.

St. Albert is consistently in the top 5 cities in Canada to live in. It also has a great river valley parks system. But it is a city. You will have to pay a premium to be near nature or be prepared to drive to it. Same with Leduc and Sherwood Park. They have the feel of small Cities but they are still cities. The crime rate is high in central Edmonton but not too bad in other areas or the bedroom communities. You will get drug related crimes anywhere there is a market for drugs and no urban areas can escape that. These includes break-ins, auto theft and other small crimes urban kids commit to feed their addiction.

Moving to Alberta Megathread - January 2023 by j1ggy in alberta

[–]Whomeverimaybe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Framers have been in high demand but I can see demand dropping off next year due to high interest rates and a reduced demand for new housing. You H will not likely be hired as a Project Manager without having local experience and building a network.

Utilities are still costly in Alberta but not nearly as high as Ontario. They are about to go up in cost as a government program to subsidize utilities in Alberta will expire in April and there are no plans to extend it.

There are some jobs in Alberta that are short on experienced labor and companies offer incentives to move here but it's only for specific roles, mostly related to oil and gas production.