c/abq-home-repair

That time a plumber told me my vent pipe was fine when it clearly wasn't

I had a leak in my bathroom wall last summer and called a guy out. He looked at the vent pipe on the roof, said "looks good to me" and left after 10 minutes. A week later I tore the drywall off myself and found a crack in the pvc joint that was dumping water down the studs. He charged me $150 for that look and I still had to fix it myself. Anyone else had a pro brush off something obvious?

That $600 water heater replacement I did myself last year is still running strong

I paid a guy $1,200 to install a water heater back in 2018 and it started leaking after 18 months. Last year I watched a few YouTube videos and did it myself for about $600 in parts and tools. Anyone else find that contractors around here charge way too much for basic installs?

Just realized I spent $87 on rooferooter calls this year for the same damn clog.

Three separate visits at $29 a pop and the guy finally told me it's tree roots in the main line, not the kitchen sink, so now I gotta rent a snake and dig up the yard. Anyone else pay way too much before figuring out the real issue?

TIL I was cleaning my gutters the wrong way for 10 years

I always just sprayed water from my hose up into the gutters to flush out leaves and dirt. Figured that was good enough. Last month I had water leaking into my basement after a big storm and a roofer told me my downspouts were clogged because I was just pushing the debris downstream instead of removing it by hand. He showed me how big clumps form inside the pipes and now I scoop everything out with a trowel before rinsing. Anyone else made this mistake or is it just me?

Took me 3 years to stop hating those battery powered nail guns

I used to be one of those guys who swore by pneumatic nailers for everything. Last month I was up on a roof near the North Valley fixing some loose sheathing and my compressor hose kept snagging on the shingles. My helper had a little 18ga battery finish nailer he'd just bought from Home Depot and I was ready to give him a hard time about it... but he handed it to me to try on a tricky spot near the edge. It sunk that nail perfect and I didn't have to drag the hose around. Then last week I used his framing nailer to put up some furring strips in a tight crawlspace and it never jammed once. I finally broke down and bought my own set on Monday and I gotta admit I was wrong about them. Has anyone else had that moment where you just give in to battery tools after swearing by air for years?

The $12 moisture meter my neighbor swore by saved my drywall job

Old Bob from two streets over told me to grab a cheap pin-style moisture meter before patching a ceiling leak I had last month. I figured he was just being picky, but the meter showed the wood was still at 18% moisture when it felt dry to the touch, so I waited another week and the patch came out perfect. Anyone else had a small tool recommendation from a neighbor that actually worked out?

Serious question, does anyone actually pressure wash their roof or is that a scam?

I was up on my neighbor's roof last week helping him clean his gutters and noticed his shingles looked way cleaner than mine. He told me he paid a company $400 to pressure wash his whole roof last spring. I've always heard that pressure washing a roof can blast off the granules and ruin the shingles, but his roof looks fine after a year. On the other hand, my cousin in ABQ did it and got water inside his attic because the pressure forced water up under the edges. Has anyone here had a roof pressure washed without problems, or is sticking to a soft wash the only safe way to go?

My neighbor's advice about stucco cracks saved me $2,000

Old man Martinez next door told me last spring to stop ignoring the hairline cracks on my back wall, said it'd get worse fast if I didn't seal them before monsoon season. I put it off for two months until a storm blew through and water got behind the stucco, bubbling up a patch big enough to punch through. Has anyone else had a neighbor's simple fix actually prevent a bigger mess down the line?

TIL my AC unit was clogged by a cottonwood seed nest

I live in the North Valley and last Tuesday my AC just stopped blowing cold air. Temp hit 95 inside. Called a local guy out and he pulled a massive chunk of cottonwood fluff and seeds out of the condenser coil. Said it's super common around here this time of year. Cost me $150 for the service call. Now I'm hosing off the outside unit every spring. Anyone else in ABQ deal with this?

Walked through a newer subdivision near the foothills and the drainage work was shocking

I was out looking at a friend's new build off of Tramway last week and walked around the neighborhood. Every single house had the gutters dumping right next to the foundation, not even a splash block in sight. The grading on the lots was so flat that water was pooling in the yards after just a light rain. Am I the only one who thinks this is setting these homeowners up for basement or slab issues down the road?

I finally found out why my 50 year old house has no ground wires

Got tired of my lights flickering whenever I turned on a space heater. Decided to trace the wiring back and found every outlet in my living room is on two wire ungrounded circuits. Looked it up on the city code website and apparently houses built in Albuquerque before 1965 didn't require ground wires at all. Has anyone else had to deal with retrofitting grounds in an older ABQ home?

Unpopular opinion: that 'newer is better' insulation job in my north valley house

I had my attic insulation replaced with spray foam about 18 months ago. Everyone said it was the gold standard and would pay for itself fast. But my winter gas bill actually went up by $20 a month compared to the old fiberglass batts I took out. I think the contractor didn't seal the air gaps around my can lights right, and now the foam is trapping moisture up there. Has anyone else seen worse numbers after a spray foam upgrade?

Found out my 'good enough' outlet was actually a fire hazard waiting to happen

I was rewiring a switch in my laundry room last weekend and finally pulled an old outlet out of the wall from the 70s. Looked it up online and found out it had no grounding path at all (like zero, just two wires and hope). I've been running my dryer and washer off that thing for 3 years without knowing. Has anyone else found something scary like that hidden behind a plate?

My neighbor called me out for using the wrong caulk in my bathroom

So I was finishing up re-caulking my shower last Saturday and my neighbor from two doors down walked by while I was cleaning up. He's this retired contractor who always tinkers with old trucks. He took one look at my tube and said 'you know that's not for wet areas right?' I had just used some basic white caulk from the hardware store because it was cheap like $4 a tube. He explained how silicone based caulk is way better for bathrooms because it flexes more and doesn't mold up as fast. I never really thought about it before just grabbed whatever was on sale. Now I gotta scrape it all out and redo it before it cracks. Has anyone else made this mistake or found a specific brand of silicone caulk that works best for ABQ's dry climate?

That one comment about my mortar mix that stuck with me for years

I was repointing a wall on a 1920s house near Old Town back in 2019, and this older mason walks by and says I'm using too much Portland cement. He told me the old brick needs to breathe, so now I mix at a 3-1-1 ratio with lime. Has anyone else had to adjust their mix for older Albuquerque homes?

Pro tip: That $35 moisture meter saved me from a $4k mold remediation

I ignored a musty smell in my laundry room for like 4 months (figured it was just abq dust or whatever). Bought a cheap pinless moisture meter on a whim after a friend nagged me about it. Poked around the drywall near the washer and got a reading of 22% where it should be like 8-10%. Turns out a pinhole leak in the supply line had been slowly soaking the wall for who knows how long. Caught it early enough that I just had to cut out a 2x2 section of drywall and replace some insulation. Total fix cost me maybe $60 in materials. Has anyone else ever caught a hidden leak with one of these things before it turned into a nightmare?

My neighbor Bob tried to fix his own water heater and flooded the alley

Bob was so sure he could swap out the pressure relief valve himself after watching a 5 minute video. He didn't shut the main line off first and water shot straight through his kitchen wall into the alley behind my fence. Anyone else have a DIY disaster story from a neighbor in the North Valley?

Finally got my bathroom caulk job to actually stick after 4 tries

Honestly, I've been fighting with caulk around my tub for like two months. Every time I'd put it on, it would peel off in a week or just look all lumpy and gross. Then my buddy over at the hardware store said I was cleaning the area wrong. I was just wiping it down with a damp rag and hoping for the best. He told me to hit it with rubbing alcohol and let it dry completely for a couple hours. Ngl, I thought that was overkill but I tried it last Saturday and it's still holding perfect with no gaps. Even the finish looks smooth for once. Anyone else have a simple prep trick that made a huge difference in their projects?

Replaced my old swamp cooler with a refrigerated air unit - was it worth the extra $4k?

My neighbor's 'free fix' for a leaky pipe made it 3x worse

Old guy next door told me to just wrap electrical tape around a pinhole leak in my copper pipe. It burst two days later and flooded my laundry room. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a well-meaning neighbor?

Spent $40 on a spray foam insulation kit for the attic gaps

I dropped $40 on a can of spray foam to seal the gaps around my attic hatch and it cut my gas bill by $25 the next month, has anyone else noticed a difference sealing those weird little air leaks?

Question about replacing a water heater in the Northeast Heights

I spent $1200 on a new 40-gallon gas water heater from Ferguson last fall and it saved me big time. The old one was from 2001 and finally started leaking all over the garage floor. Installation was a bit extra, but having hot water again without worry was worth it. Anyone have a good plumber they used for something similar, or did you go the DIY route?

Vent: My whole approach to stucco changed after a job on a 1940s house near UNM.

The old wire lath was so rusted it just crumbled, and the owner wanted it patched 'like it was before'. Now I always check the substructure first, even if the surface looks okay. Anyone else run into this with our older Albuquerque homes?

Vent: My dad saw my new 'smart' thermostat and just shook his head

He said, 'Kid, I kept that old Honeywell round dial in your grandma's house for 40 years with a screwdriver and a $5 mercury switch.' It hit different because my fancy unit just bricked itself after a power flicker last month. Anyone else have an old-school fix that's more reliable than the new tech?

My plumber friend in Albuquerque said my water heater install was missing a drip pan

He pointed out that my basement floor could get damaged if it ever leaked. I added a 24 inch pan under it the next day. What other small details do you guys check on a water heater job?