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Writing documentation for your house

luke.hsiao.dev

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Re: Writing documentation for your house

#251

Post by paulgerhardt »

When I built my house, I took a Matterport scan before the drywall was put in, and again after. Best decision I ever made. It's like X-ray vision for walls.

It's handy to know where wiring runs are, how many studs are between windows when mounting tv's, and a dozen other electrical, ac, or plumbing issues. I used it once a week initially and probably once every two months now that we're settled.

Also recommend a Dymo Rhino 5200 cable label maker with heat shrink tubing. I print the label on some heat shrink, attach it to a wire, and never wonder where anything goes again. Great for vehicle wiring harnesses too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LcUQeTzIo4&t=66s But I'd recommend the 5200: https://www.amazon.com/DYMO-Industrial-RHINO-Label-1755749/d... - non-affiliate link.

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#252

Post by justinlloyd »

supportengineer wrote: post #13
justinlloyd wrote: post #7

I own an RV. The RV came with two thick manuals, one for the RV chassis, and one for all of the appliances that were factory installed. I am not the first owner of the RV. My brother, a meticulous military man kept the documentation for every appliance and gadget he installed in that RV. And since I took ownership of it, and have I been ever grateful that he documented it, I have done the same too, for the WiFi, for…

Business idea - House Documentation as-a-service. You fill in the blanks online and it generates the PDF for you.

It'll be a cold day in Hell before I put that much information into a venture-backed SaaS that is driven by the desire to monetize my life by any means necessary. It also over complicates what is a simple requirement by throwing unnecessary technology at the problem. The only tech I need with my three ringer binder solution to figure out how to restart a furnish when the power and internet are out across the county on a freezing winter night is a flashlight.

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#253

Post by jeremiahbuckley »

wyldfire wrote: post #248
rpearl wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I put in a bunch of Caseta smart switches. They are indistinguishable from normal light switches without any smarts, but if I want to, I can also control them via local network. It's nice to go to bed and turn off the entire house with one button. Lights turn off automatically when we all leave. The thermostat is an ecobee, which is a pretty polished IoT device but I'm frustrated i couldn't get something _more_ local…

> They are indistinguishable from normal light switches without any smarts Except that most normal light switches (that I've encountered) are a toggle and not a momentary.

The kind of switches described are rocker switches with a small led to indicate state. In-person they provide every feature of a toggle switch, while also having a remote state change capability.

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#254

Post by rpearl »

wyldfire wrote: post #248
rpearl wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I put in a bunch of Caseta smart switches. They are indistinguishable from normal light switches without any smarts, but if I want to, I can also control them via local network. It's nice to go to bed and turn off the entire house with one button. Lights turn off automatically when we all leave. The thermostat is an ecobee, which is a pretty polished IoT device but I'm frustrated i couldn't get something _more_ local…

> They are indistinguishable from normal light switches without any smarts Except that most normal light switches (that I've encountered) are a toggle and not a momentary.

The new(ish) Caseta paddle switches are pretty indistinguishable visually from normal paddle switches, and operating them is natural even though they don't stay toggled up and down. If that's the sum total of my concession to "these switches are smart", I can't say I care.

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#255

Post by j45 »

jakupovic wrote: post #165
j45 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. At the same time any home automation needs to be able to be cloud and vendor independent. It begins with registering the property an independent email address for any accounts used during setups before taking them offline. Easy to manage for future tenant or sale. Gear is more able to be cloud independent or be made cloud independent, leaving a greater chance to leave at most a local wifi network and local ap…

You have a wishlist not something that you can buy. What's available now is a mix of random open and closed source hardware and software that requires a lot of time and HA to tie it all together

I don’t disagree.

With each iteration and replacement I’m discovering there’s more out there.

For example instead of using a random computer or pi, installing a home assistant yellow presents to a future home owner as more of an appliance.

https://www.home-assistant.io/yellow/

This is a nice gateway for non technical but “I can find someone to help me with this system”.

Same goes for particular groups of hardware.

You’re night it’s a mix but the fact you can run most things on one platform fairly easily is pretty useful.

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#256

Post by graton »

paulgerhardt wrote: post #251

When I built my house, I took a Matterport scan before the drywall was put in, and again after. Best decision I ever made. It's like X-ray vision for walls. It's handy to know where wiring runs are, how many studs are between windows when mounting tv's, and a dozen other electrical, ac, or plumbing issues. I used it once a week initially and probably once every two months now that we're settled. Also recommend a Dymo…

When you post an affiliate link it would be nice if you stated so.

This has the affiliate tag of: pmg097-20

Without any affiliate link it is: https://www.amazon.com/DYMO-Authentic-Industrial-RhinoPro-18...

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#257

Post by VoodooJuJu »

efitz wrote: post #17

For my last house, I had spent years on smart home automation, I had a binder that contained clear instructions I wrote for everything, and receipts for every upgrade I ever made on the home, warranty docs, QR codes to download smart home apps to control the devices, plot maps, floor plans, a 1-page list of repairmen for everything- you name it. I made short YouTube videos for everything like turning the water on/off…

She did herself and the next owners a favor by ripping out the smarthome crap.

It's like shag carpet: faddy, kitsch, and high maintenance. Smarthome stuff in particular is just so overkill. I don't want to overengineer my home. I don't want apps and QR codes and documentation just to water my garden or operate the lights. I'm not a nerd who enjoys tinkering with this stuff. I have shit to do. I want my hose to work like a hose, my washing machine like a washing machine, etc. And that's the case for most people.

Playing with smarthome gadgets is a fun niche hobby, but it's not a hobby most people want.

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#258

Post by paulgerhardt »

graton wrote: post #256
paulgerhardt wrote: post #251

When I built my house, I took a Matterport scan before the drywall was put in, and again after. Best decision I ever made. It's like X-ray vision for walls. It's handy to know where wiring runs are, how many studs are between windows when mounting tv's, and a dozen other electrical, ac, or plumbing issues. I used it once a week initially and probably once every two months now that we're settled. Also recommend a Dymo…

When you post an affiliate link it would be nice if you stated so. This has the affiliate tag of: pmg097-20 Without any affiliate link it is: https://www.amazon.com/DYMO-Authentic-Industrial-RhinoPro-18...

Sorry, here's the source on the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LcUQeTzIo4

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#259

Post by Mtinie »

ff317 wrote: post #249
t0mas88 wrote: post #236

Many stories from people creating documentation only for it to get thrown away. Let me share an opposite one: I bought a house that was empty after divorce, both had moved out some months before. We mostly dealt with the agent, only saw one of the previous owners for a very short time at the signing meeting with the notary. Then in the house we found a "congratulations on your new place" card, a bottle of sparkling w…

I bought a new-construction place, and I was around during the process. After they were done with all the plumbing/wiring/etc, but before they filled in the insulation and sheetrock, I walked the whole house and took cellphone pictures of every bare wall to show where all the pipes and wires are run, and then labelled it all up by room. I plan to hand those off if I ever sell the place! I don't know why builders don'…

I agree it’s very handy. To provide one answer to the question in your final sentence:

“Closed walls hide many sins.”

Re: Writing documentation for your house

#260

Post by AtlasBarfed »

bombcar wrote: post #231
chimprich wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What was the model of this shit? Oh it has NOTHING on the front because serial numbers are gauche. I'd really like some kind of standard for model IDs. Maybe something like a domain name and a model number. It would also be good if devices came with a QR code printed on them that linked to the manual.

If it has an FCC ID you can search in that. Can be hard to find.

But ... you might have to tear open a wall. Climb a ladder. Unscrew a plate cover and hope you can see it. Oh crap, now you have to remove it from the wall. Might as well tear out everything.

And this is on the hardware side. Software? Did the former owner have passwords and everything tied to HIS ACCOUNT? Does he hand over some account? What personal info is in that former account. NOPE, big nope.

The problem with smart home is this:

- if the company wants to make money on the software, it will go with lock-in or fake open, which is what it is today. And that is a miserable failure

- if the company wants to make money on the hardware, the software is a cost so it sucks.

The solution is PROBABLY that the hardware vendors can only implement protocols, but CANNOT implement middleware. It can basically only provide information and take commands.

The a software company makes the hub. It cannot have any interest in any particular devices, it cannot "partner" with a hardware firm.

But of course that's only one part of the problem, with security and the central account. The software hub would need to provide some way to "move" an account with transparency on historical data reset.

But the industry is so effing far from this. Maybe SmartThings was close, but they got acquired by Samsung and now push Samsung products and basically discontinued everything pre-Samsung. They highlight that there's no good money in pure middleware.

The device vendors have to come together and do some sort of independent software company that they all can't meddle in. But then there's still soft pressure to only support devices in the "in group", so that still doesn't work.

Really, this is an operating system + driver problem. The central core is the OS, and the devices are "drivers". A consumer OS can be priced at about $50 tops, and it needs about 10 million people a year buying it. THen it gets the critical mass.

The other option is that some group close to the core of Linux take this on as the next big project. This could have important implications for Linux desktop, because it would create a Linux-aligned group that all the device manufacturers have to prioritize, and that provides the outreach to them also supporting device drivers for the Linux OS.

I mean, that is a BIG undertaking. It would take someone like Torvalds with talent, hard work, and some form of charisma (not necessarily Torvalds' brand)

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