This is for a rental unit, so I’m trying to keep the cost low, while also sealing it away from silverfish. I have very fine steel wool on hand as well as a tube of DAP ultra clear flexible all purpose sealant.

  • Belgdore@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    62
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    1 year ago

    You are a landlord, treat it like the business expense it is and hire a contractor.

    • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Sealing a basic hole is a straightforward job that doesn’t require $100 - $400 for a contractor to do. His business sounds like it has one employee (himself) and sending that employee to complete basic jobs is quite logical. While a contractor could certainly get the job done, I have seen my fair share of contractors that are actively bad at their jobs and will produce a worse result than researching the issue and solving it in-house.

      • Hello_there@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        “this is for a rental unit so I’m trying to keep cost low”

        This sounds like the kind of BS that gives you apartments that are infested by bugs and still somehow charge 4k a month.
        He says there are bugs already. Just lucky it’s silverfish and not cockroaches. Do the job correctly and it will save money in long term.

          • Hello_there@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Imo, duct tape the shit out of that. I had a similar hole in my apt, and I just did maybe paper over it and then long strips down, layering them a bit, and then over, and it all gets a bit fucked in the middle, but point being you can get a seal. Cost is a half a roll of duct tape

      • Belgdore@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        If he messes it up based on internet research and burns the building down, or causes some other harm to a tenant then he’s going to have a lot harder time dealing with the insurance claim than if he hired someone whose job it is to do that kind of thing.

        As a business expense the contractor price is tax deductible as well.

          • Belgdore@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Wrong foam insulation resulting in overheating or toxic/ flammable off-gassing, wrong amount of foam, attaching something conductive to the copper pipes, accidentally nicking a wire in the wall, I don’t know about a billion things could go wrong, and you don’t want it to be your fault if it does.