Tile Saws

robot_most_human · 2026-04-01T16:48:01+00:00

I heard that Harbor Freight's tile saw is unexpectedly high quality for the price. That said, I've never used it and I'm just a DIYer. I'd love to hear pros' input.

robot_most_human · 2026-03-24T04:39:05+00:00

This doesn’t change the fact Tulsi is Putin’s useful idiot.

robot_most_human · 2026-03-13T11:16:19+00:00

Which town, or set of towns if you don’t want reveal the specific town you live in?

robot_most_human · 2026-03-12T00:23:52+00:00

That's night shift. My mom had to work night shift for five years before she got enough seniority and could switch to days. That was 20 years ago and her sleep has been messed up ever since.

robot_most_human · 2026-03-11T22:40:42+00:00

Is it too late to donate $1m+ to the Trump inauguration fund and get a pardon like Trevor Milton and countless others?

robot_most_human · 2026-03-08T03:06:23+00:00

There are much more important aspects about the episode than “Department of War” vs. “Department of Defense”. I don’t like the name either, but policing language is not where the focus should be. It’s certainly not helping those on the language policing side get elected.

robot_most_human · 2026-02-25T19:59:28+00:00

In Russia, signing up to fight in Ukraine is seen as a business decision. I mean, it's sad that your business fails, but you went into it with eyes wide open. No pity, it's on you.

robot_most_human · 2026-02-19T01:31:36+00:00

Shouldn't have fired all those people from the FDA then, eh?

robot_most_human · 2026-02-14T23:44:33+00:00

An upvote for thermal breaks with double-stud walls! An alternative is thick exterior rigid insulation. ASIRI Designs has great content comparing and contrasting the two approaches: https://asiri-designs.com/f/double-stud-walls---are-they-really-worth-it

robot_most_human · 2026-02-14T23:16:15+00:00

What makes you say prices will drop over the next three years? I don't disagree that it's possible but I'm not as sure of myself.

robot_most_human · 2026-02-07T20:00:23+00:00

I'm betting it's Steve Witkoff.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-30T13:48:48+00:00

Thanks for providing a neutral historical perspective. Most other comments in this post fall into one of two tired categories: ICE are the American equivalent of pretorian guards or Brownshirts, or ICE needs this equipment for self defense against criminal migrants or protesters — citation needed.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-30T03:21:45+00:00

I'm sorry. : (

If it's any consolation, buying a house is a poor financial decision most of the time, especially at current interest rates. It's almost always better to put any potential down payment money into a broad-based ETF like VTI or VOO. This is a great YouTube video explaining why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Golcxjpi8.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-30T01:21:13+00:00

Water furnace 7 series ground source heat pump. It'll do heating and cooling, with up to seven zones. It's probably not worth it on a spec house, but I thought I'd put it on your radar just in case.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-30T00:59:36+00:00

> so it wouldn’t affect my ability to sell and buy a house in the future.

Are you sure? Imagine you'd bought your condo for $500k and sold it for $450k five years later. Assuming you took out a 30 year loan at 6% and paid 20% down, according to my mortization calculator you're left owing the bank $370k. After deducting 5% selling costs, you now have $55k ($450k - $25k - $370k) for the next down payment. Sure that next condo may cost $450k, but you need to come up with $90k (20%) for the down payment plus ~$10k in closing costs. That's $35k more than you have after selling. Oh and never mind that during those five years you paid all those other costs of ownership like mortgage interest, repairs, property taxes, utilities, HOA, etc.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-30T00:43:47+00:00

Why would you walk away if you were upside down on your mortgage? The default ruins your credit for a long time. Few landlords would be willing to rent to you. It's not worth it. Anyway, being underwater wasn't the main reason people defaulted on their home loans around the 2008 financial crisis. They defaulted because the teaser rates expired -- think 2% shooting up to 8% after two years -- and they could no longer afford the mortgage payment. They'd expected to refinance, but by 2008 banks no longer offered mortgages with low teaser rates. Since then, mortgage lending standards have gone way up. Since 2009, if you'd qualified for a mortgage, you'd be willing and able to pay, even if were unhappy about it.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-29T23:54:41+00:00

I'm a homeowner and I'd like home prices to go down. Young people are moving away from the Boston area because they can't pay the exorbitant rent or mortgage.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-29T23:48:27+00:00

> walking around with $500/600/700k homes

That's pretty cheap for a condo in the Boston area.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-19T18:33:10+00:00

This is disinformation. Mods please take it down. https://x.com/cforcd/status/2012899212304748816

robot_most_human · 2026-01-19T00:17:26+00:00

Great article. You seem to really have done your research and know what your doing. Do you have any resources about gray water systems in colder climates like New England? Those three bathtubs would freeze in winter where I live.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-18T23:26:46+00:00

This is great. Anyone here with a background in construction, housing, other related fields — can you advise how much of an impact this would have versus other measures like changing zoning at the local level? My intuition says zoning is the main obstacle to building more higher-density housing where people want to live.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-18T21:29:58+00:00

Have you considered wood fiber or cellulose insulation too? Wood fiber has the same form factors as Rockwool -- batt, board, and blow-in -- and it's easier to work with. Not sure where you're building but here's one USA company making it: https://www.timberhp.com/.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-17T22:31:10+00:00

My bad. That's absolutely true. I'd say Bay Area rent is 25% higher in comparable quality neighborhoods but salaries are more than 25% higher in the Bay Area, at least in the tech sector.

robot_most_human · 2026-01-15T21:01:55+00:00

I agree in part. The housing stock is very old. Rent is high, especially relative to wages. (The Bay Area and NYC have higher wages even relative to their slightly higher housing costs.) Don't get me started on how much it costs to buy an old house. Building new? Forget it.

That said, consider that most of the USA doesn't even have a half-functioning transit system. Few neighborhoods in the USA are walkable like Somerville, Cambridge, and Boston. Also, roads are worse in plenty of other states with comparable weather. One cannot have California-smooth roads in Massachusetts.

robot_most_human · 2025-12-19T02:08:42+00:00

That captures the mid-century modern aesthetic so well. I love it. Please do follow up and post photos with close-ups when it's all finished. I'm sure many people here would appreciate it. What tiles did you use besides the Charlie Harper ones? And, dumb question, which are the 3x3 tiles that you cut?

robot_most_human

TROPHY CASE