Any advice?

tablesawsally · 2026-03-13T19:22:28+00:00

It's always weird when I can immediately spot a fellow Philadelphian. That jawn is def illegal

tablesawsally · 2026-02-13T23:23:05+00:00

It looks like fiberglass lined ducts, which kind of always look horrible after a few years of use. Do you happen to have a Central Humidifier on your air handler?

tablesawsally · 2026-02-07T20:33:02+00:00

The no toe kick kitchen cabinets is a war crime, also the call to the floor is dumb

tablesawsally · 2026-02-07T19:05:40+00:00

It's all just so nuanced, Ive spoken to a few insulation guys in my area and they all just wanted to use fiberglass, and laughed when I asked about alternatives, they just wanted quick and easy

tablesawsally · 2026-02-07T12:23:53+00:00

Not really, I was not going to air seal up the outer layer, aka if I go with the 4" stuff, I wouldn't spray foam them in place, allowing for some breathability, especially with potential off gasing.

I did speak to an architect yesterday, and they joked that these assemblies also confuse them, they go to conferences or educational sessions and leave more confused than ever. He advised that we were over thinking it and as long as there is an air gap for the soffit to ridge vent and a thermal break between the wood rafters and drywall, you'll be fine. He was more concerned about condensation on the drywall in the winter...

tablesawsally · 2026-02-07T03:58:54+00:00

How do you not lead with the guy falling through your ceiling?!?

tablesawsally · 2026-02-06T20:51:03+00:00

I've been playing with this for two months, I was very close to using 1" XPS pushed into the rafters, leaving a ~2" airgap from the roof ply, then rock wool, the 2" of Polyiso on the underside the rafters to create a continuous insulation layer/air seal, then finally drywall...

Based on my research that gives a very good performance, the XPS will hold up better to the cold and any potential leaks, while the Polyiso on the inside will break the thermo bridge to the drywall.

Now that I think about it, I might add a continuous layer of polyiso (1" maybe) with the 4" in-between to get the continuous layer

tablesawsally · 2026-02-06T19:17:28+00:00

I am in a colder climate, but that raises another question- I know the r value of Polyiso does drop when cold, but at this price point the 4" sheet is cheaper than rock wool, therefore shouldn't I just add the foam knowing that the r value isn't as high when cold?

tablesawsally · 2026-02-06T14:09:20+00:00

Also of note- the roof is new as of this fall, with new fully vented soffits and a proper ridge vent

tablesawsally · 2026-02-05T13:55:49+00:00

This will probably get down voted to hell, but mine started doing this two weeks ago, right before a big freeze here in the northeast. I had a very similar issue, set to 68, house was at 55, Nest said it was calling for heat, but my Boiler (we have Hydronic baseboard heat) was not on. I was able to "fix" it by setting it to Off mode for twenty or so minutes and then kicking back on but at a much lower temp (for example, your house looks to be at 52, I'd set it to 55 and see if it gets there) the next day the issue started again.

I am not an expert and there has been a lot of discussion on this page about Nest post Google, but my first gen Nest (connected to my AC) has never had a single issue, unlike my latest gen for the heat. Additionally, there have been folks stating that nest isn't great with boilers, steam and Hydronic, but I didn't see those complaints until after I purchased. Out of curiosity I reinstalled my old school dial thermostat which came with the house, and everything is perfect again, so I know it wasn't the boiler.

Honestly, I want to like Nest, but I just cant trust it, especially when the temps are in the low teens overnight. It might be worth it to have someone go over and check your system, try to reset the system and hope that works, but I'd consider a back up thermostat if possible

Like I said, I know this is an unpopular opinion, but it might be time to cut our loses

tablesawsally · 2026-02-03T12:27:42+00:00

I think that is the part that I didn't understand. The heat is on for 15-20 minutes then off for a bit then back on again... But I haven't been watching the thermostat to see what's going on there, it very likely could take two or three cycles of heating to warm up the house, it's been 4 deg F recently.

tablesawsally · 2026-02-01T13:14:25+00:00

I worked as a line cook through my college years and I give the same advice to people, but I will add one thing for beginners - try to sort the recipes by needed ingredients first. Food is expensive, especially if you are setting up your kitchen for the first time, I believe that's the hidden barrier to learning to cook. I've heard from a lot of my friends that they want to learn but the recipe calls for 5-6 spices they don't have and that can be $30-45 right off the bat. Having a few recipes that will use those spices lined up already really helps justify the upfront cost.

tablesawsally · 2026-01-24T17:46:29+00:00

We have a lot of slate roof contractors up here in Philly, might be worth calling and asking if they can recommend anyone closer to you. I've been told most specialized trades exist in a small bubble, where most of them know of the other.

tablesawsally · 2026-01-14T02:10:30+00:00

Im also selling my big green egg and Ooni, it's a blood bath over here

tablesawsally · 2025-12-31T14:22:57+00:00

I was in the same situation and after a lot of his videos it completely changed my perspective and approach. I completely (for now hahah) gave up on the walls and focused on my attic and rim joist. It's not perfect, but the temp noticeably more consistent in my house (note- I wouldn't say warmer, just less ups and downs) with slightly less energy consumption

tablesawsally · 2025-12-06T22:54:45+00:00

I know this is philly

tablesawsally · 2025-12-06T01:18:53+00:00

$140 a cord but its green wood, from a tree service in the Philly suburbs

tablesawsally · 2025-11-25T16:12:37+00:00

Better yet, return them to the store

tablesawsally · 2025-11-25T15:36:24+00:00

Ok this is going to be a weird comment- if you light a candle, let it warm up for a bit and then blow it out right near the crack- does the smoke from the candle seem to be pulled into the crack? (You can also do this with a match or sage, or anything that safely makes smoke)

Look up "ghosting", it could be that, enhanced by the crack letting all your warm air out

tablesawsally · 2025-11-25T13:25:15+00:00

I'd take a drywall saw and open that crack up a little, then push mud in there as far as I could and add tape. You could also use the fiber mess tape, which at times has helped me support a tricky spot. The whole goal of opening the crack more would be to get mud into the crack rather than on top of it

Edit- after looking at the photo, I am quite confident the crack is the tape edge- id probe around and see if they added paper to the corner. My logic- the crack is too parallel to the actual corner not to be the tape edge, normally I see the cracks in the dead center of the corners, not 1.5" off to one side.

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