|
Budget Dracula posted:Any housegoons have any good tips/articles for bringing a yard back to life? Our backyard is looking pretty patchy and I want to try to salvage it before it completely turns to mud. Budget Dracula posted:Yes I live in VA so all the research I have done says to wait til the fall, I messed around with hand aerator I bought and put a bit of seed down but it sounds like I shouldn't go full hog until the Fall. Hello, fellow Virginian lawncare goon! Since I am also now trying to rehabilitate the well-meaning-but-patchy mess of a lawn I purchased three years ago, I'll share my own battle-plan. It's a little after the fact in some cases, but I'll list it all just for reference: Late August 1) Pulling up mature crab-grass wherever I find it, as it seems pretty resistant to selective herbicides 2) Zone weed with a broad-leaf herbicide (2,4-D) - Wait until peak daytime temps are < 90'F (ideally more like 80-85'F) and you've got at least 48 hours of no predicted rainfall - Don't have to/want to hose down the whole yard, just cover anywhere with non-grass weeds - Use a pump sprayer and add some surfactant if you can, as it'll make it way more effective - You want to do this as early as is feasible, since you will want to wait at least 3-4 weeks before overseeding September 1) Aerate - I also bought a hand-aerator, and it woks fine/is necessary for some awkward strips, but you can rent a machine for probably $50 and knock it out in an afternoon, which is definitely going to be better. There's no way I would have been able to do my whole yard by hand, at least not to the 8-12 holes/sqft standard you want to achieve - Make sure whatever you are using is a plug aerator (hollow tube that leaves little cylinders along the ground). Spike aerators don't achieve much in actually compacted soil, and can actually make things worse since they will compress the soil around where the spike goes in - If you've got a mulching mower, just go over the lawn and chop up the plugs afterwards. They'll break down with a few good rains 2) Dethatch - Not strictly necessary if you've got something like fescue/bluegrass, but can still be important if you've got a lot of matted grass in your bare spots because your seed isn't going to take nearly as well without good seed-soil contact - In my case I had a lot of grass that was cut way too long and so didn't break down well over time, meaning I had a thick layer of matting that was both preventing seed soil contact and causing my existing grass to kind of grow out into a tangled mess. After dethatching even part of it, it already looks way healthier and happier. - In this case I am being dumb and doing it all by hand using a thatching rake. It's a lot of work, but probably for the best since it's letting me deal with the uneven ground left by some bare spots better than I could with a machine. It's definitely better than trying to use a regular gravel rake. If you are smart/lazy though you can probably rent a power rake for another $50. 3) Level/Fill Holes - I'm just using general top-soil to fill some depressions, but they also make stuff specifically for lawns. I don't know if it's much better. - I put down a little bit at a time and go over the area lightly with a rake to both spread out the soil and pull the buried grass back up so it grows/anchors the soil October 1) Lime and Fertilize - I picked up a $15 soil testing kit and hit a few patches around my lawn to get an idea of what my pH and nutrient levels were. I then applied lime and fertilizer accordingly. - Since I am seeding a LOT of bare patches, I'm going to put down some "starter" fertilizer. - Personally I'd avoid any "Weed-n-Feed" products. You don't really need the pre-emergent, it may mess with your grass germination, and you can put it down sepately in the winter later on. - You probably want to water/let a light rain wash this into the soil a little bit, at least a few days before you seed. No reason you can't push this up to September if you want 2) Seed! - You can seed before now, but I've pushed it off this long because I wanted to give the herbicide time to break down, and because temps have still been too hot anyways. - Fescue seems to do best when daytime temps are below 80'F and night time gets down below 60'F - Ideally you also want to do this at least 40 days before first frost, but it's all a trade-off - Mow the lawn down to about 1-1/2" to 2" before seeding to give the best chance of getting the seed into bare spots. Bag the grass to keep it off the ground - I'm doing a general broad-cast seeding, then going and sprinkling more by hand around the bare patches November 1) Mulch leaves - I don't want to disturb the new grass by raking too aggressively, and apparently leaf mulch is good for young grass anyways so the first light leaf-fall I'm going to just mulch in (making sure it doesn't get to the point where it's outright smothering the grass) 2) Apply Milorganite - From what I've read, this is a great thing to apply in addition to regular fertilizer because it helps improve soil ecology and add iron. I'll be doing this periodically throughout the year Late Feb/Early March 1) Pre-emergent herbicide - Basically, try and target this about a week before night time temps are above freezing, as that's when crabgrass seeds germinate 2) Starter Fertilizer - Apply to the whole lawn once low temps are above 45'F or so 3) Milorganite April 1) Spot-seed remaining bare patches - Wait about a month after you apply the pre-emergent May 1) Zone-Apply Herbicide - selectively spray more 2,4-D as before. Hopefully you need a lot less. This will kill most new weed growth, and any young crab-grass that managed to germiniate 2) Nitrogen Rich Fertilizer June 1) Milorganite 2) Grub Treatment (if needed) July 1) DON'T fertilize - As I understand it, this will encourage Fescue to continue growing aggressively instead of going dormant, meaning you'll get dead patches instead of just dormant grass 2) Raise cutting height to 3.5" - Help the lawn retain moisture and deal with heat better August 1) Aerate - Get on this a little earlier, hopefully... - Once the lawn is established and soil is in better shape, I should only need to do this every 2 years or so By then things should be in a much healthier place, and the remaining work will be more maitainence and less rehab. e: my god, what have I become 
Hubis fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Sep 22, 2016 |
#
¿
Sep 22, 2016 17:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 08:48 |
|
|
Lawn update: gently caress grubs
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2016 19:09
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:Edit: The new panasonic bathroom exhaust fan they installed is magic. Our old one was LOUD, moved very little air, and exhausted into the attic. This is none of those things. +1 for the Panasonic exhaust fans. I installed two of them, and they're awesome.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2016 17:15
|
|
|
Is your house on top of an Indian burial mound? This is always important to check, and often overlooked by inspectors.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2017 16:56
|
|
|
baquerd posted:It's a parenting analogy! This. I had a kid, and now I am suddenly obsessed with lawn care and wood-working.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2017 16:17
|
|
|
Safety Dance posted:Kids are a few years out for us, but I'm approaching 30 and drat I want a lawn and a nice little shed with a table saw and some chisels and...  Alereon posted:I'm planning to overseed with it this coming planting season, hopefully it lives up to all the hype! From the little hard information I could gather it seems to work, it just isn't popular yet because the trends seem to be going toward either non-grass lawns, OR high maintenance "lawn dominator" lawns, and it seems like an interesting middle-ground that looks good but doesn't require a lot of work or chemical inputs. I'll probably go this route as well once I finish my regime of selective herbicides to clear out the weeds that have already become established because of under-maintenance.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2017 15:54
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:Our irrigation system is getting unfucked AS I TYPE. The dude confirmed we have Augustine grass in most of our yard so we're going to fill in the dead spots with sod. He seems to think we only need to put in around 50% coverage of sod and it will fill in the rest. Does that sound sane? They've done good work for us to date including tree trimming. We have a happy bushy tree now that there has been plenty of rain instead of a scraggly monster in desperate need of trimming. St Augustine will spread as I understand it (I've got a cool season grass lawn so no first-hand experience). I'll pimp the Lawn Care Nut on Youtube again here -- he's moved to Florida so he does a lot more warm season stuff that isn't applicable to me, but he's generally pretty informative. He did a series on planting a new St. Augustine lawn using plugs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNFiuJLq8JM e: Here's a video where he makes the plugs himself from sod, which might be of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDnf2Q5_ei0 Hubis fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Feb 24, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2017 18:11
|
|
|
H110Hawk posted:Thanks, I'll watch these soon. .... and I just found a guide to starting your own plugs for cool season grasses from a small amount of seed. It's essentially as easy as doing seed starters for an herb/vegetable garden. This way lies madness...
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2017 20:52
|
|
|
null_pointer posted:Oh, good, we're doing lawn care chat! You can rent the aerator for something like $40-100 per day. If you do, make sure you get a "core aerator" and not a spike one (which are usually cheaper) since the latter won't really do anything useful. It's completely doable, provided you've got a truck/vehicle capable of hauling it from the rental shop. Depending on the size of your yard the actual work is only a couple of hours, so you could possibly get away with a half-day rental. Or do what I did and do the full day rental, then split the cost with a nearby friend/neighbor and do a couple yards at once. It's also fairly hard work -- the aerator is weighted to help make sure the spoons punch into the turf, and while you CAN steer it, the spoons make it quite hard to adjust without pushing it down and levering it up. Going back and forth across your lawn a few dozen times becomes a lot of heavy lifting. Pro Tips: - Water the lawn thoroughly 24-48 hours before. This will make the turf soft enough to pull cores easily, but not too muddy, and make sure the grass is happy before you go ripping into it's root system - Plan to go back over your lawn twice, with the second pass at a 90' angle to the first. This helps avoid any gaps in coverage and gives you the desired 14 plugs/sqft - Get steel-toed boots. It's pretty hard for you to run over yourself with one, but you don't want to be in flip flops when you do - Wear work gloves! It looks and feels like a heavy duty lawnmower, but the amount of vibration and lifting you do will shred your delicate, manicured white-collar suburban hands (at least it did mine) - Aerate just before the "growing" season for your grass type -- early fall (or very late winter) for Cool Season grasses, late spring/early summer for warm season - The foot aerator H110Hawk mentioned is nice to have as a backup to pull plugs in areas where it would be awkward to get the machine - Aerating is great for trees! Compacted soil is even worse for them than grass because their roots often run deeper, so they get robbed of even more oxygen, nutrients, and moisture; however, be cautious about running over very shallow roots running close to the surface, as hitting those with a spoon will definitely do more harm than good. null_pointer posted:In addition, is there such a thing as eco-friendly lawn fertilizer that isn't just manure? I've got two dogs and can't have them tromping around in feces, and my desire to have a great lawn is lower than my desire to not hasten the death of the ecosystem. You can get Milorganite ( http://www.milorganite.com ) from your local home store. This is basically the sanitized sewer sludge Alereon mentioned, but it really is great stuff. Not only is it a great organic fertilizer (which means it breaks down slowly over a longer period so you have to add less, and it contributes useful microbes to your soil ecology) it's also a good supply of iron which is great for cool-season grasses if you want that nice dark blue-green color. There's a distinctive but (in my opinion) unoffensive, faint, and short-lived odor to it given it's source, but that fades pretty quickly after the first rain/watering. If you don't want to put poop on your lawn, another option is Ringer ( http://www.saferbrand.com/store/organic-lawn-care/lawn-fertilizer ). This is also organic, but has less in the way of iron. It's another very good fertilizer, and even if you are happy using Milorganite it's worth considering adding it to your schedule, because being a different organic source means its microbiome is different. Using both over the course of a year will help maintain even more soil biome diversity. I'm doing a 3x/year Milorganite schedule (4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving) with 1xRinger in the Spring (with some additional starter fertilizer when I over-seed).
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2017 01:46
|
|
|
Raised by Hamsters posted:I worked on a golf course in high school, and I remember aerating as one of the worst jobs. That said, what made it so awful was disposing of the ejected plugs. We had a machine to pulverize them after ejection, for areas that could be the equivalent of residential lawn. None of you are mentioning anything like that though, is the pulverizer built into the small units you can rent? Or are you just skipping it and letting them break down/ get eaten by the mower? Yeah, you just let them break down naturally (so it's a kind of lazy-mans topdressing as well). Going over it with a mulching mower can help speed up the process.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2017 14:56
|
|
|
null_pointer posted:Ayup, I think that hiring someone to schlep the core aerator around is worth the money. The descriptions in the various replies are only reinforcing my theory that shoving a portable hernia around my lawn is better left to a professional. It's honestly not that bad, but it definitely depends on your square footage/willingness to spend a day pushing around equipment. Still, if you've got a large yard or something that would be at all awkward (hills, trees, curvy beds, pavers) then just paying someone to do it for you is totally reasonable.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2017 20:13
|
|
|
Raised by Hamsters posted:Is there a correct way to use a thatch rake on more than, say, 10 square feet of lawn that does NOT result in you angrily throwing the thatch rake in the trash? It's going to be a good bit of work for any reasonably large area, but if you get the angle adjusted so you can push/pull it comfortably and so the edge isn't digging into the ground it's not too bad.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2017 00:43
|
|
|
null_pointer posted:Lawn care chat: it can take up to 2 weeks for you to see some sprouts. Mowing is def. not ideal, but life happens -- sent the mower a little higher than usual and hope for the best.I don't think you will pull that much up. If you can wet down the patches you overseeded (or ideally not mow the patches at all depending on how big/patchy they are) that would help.
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2017 02:43
|
|
|
Squashy Nipples posted:How is measuring the PH different from measuring the alkalinity? pH is the acid-base balance, Total Alkalinity is the quantity (in ppm) of dissolved alkaline substances. This difference matters because if you have a balanced pH but a low TA then a small shift in chemistry (from chlorine, gross sweaty goon bodies, etc) can cause a big pH shift. Buffer chemistry can get kind of complicated, but basically you want to make sure your TA is at a level that will give you a stable pH, then balance the pH itself. http://orendatech.com/total-alkalinity-role-water-chemistry/ Also, skip the strips and get yourself a Taylor kit: https://www.amazon.com/TAYLOR-TECHNOLOGIES-INC-K-2006-CHLORINE/dp/B004BGF7TI Hubis fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Jun 3, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2017 02:06
|
|
|
High Lord Elbow posted:Strips or kit is a matter of preference, in my opinion. Kits are more accurate, but a time consuming pain in the rear end. I'm content to dip a strip, dump some poo poo in the water, and enjoy the summer. I probably use more chemicals, but the water is fine. Some people prefer to play mad scientist poolside and get it exactly right. Up to you! Absolutely -- the best test kit is the one you're going to actually use regularly and correctly. Strips are super simple, but in my experience they were hard to read and highly variable in their results/limited in range. In my case I was dealing with a hot tub, however, where the smaller total volume of water means small additions one way or another make for much bigger swings; for a swimming pool where you can afford to be a bit less precise it's maybe less of an issue. The Taylor kit was like a 10m/week ritual for me so it never really seemed like a big deal, but if your pool is fairly stable such that you don't need to do regular adjustments and just want to do a quick dip to test then that might definitely be a better fit. Squashy Nipples posted:Holy crap, the full kit is $56? The one we ordered was $18. I don't throw mine, although testing once a week I found I'd go through some chemicals by then (although you can buy individual refills). I threw that out as an example but I make no assertion as to whether it's the best price. One nice thing about the Taylor kit I got was that it came with a very detailed guide not just on how to do the tests but water chemistry basics and how to use the tests to adjust more indirect things. It definitely is much more for the "chemistry set" type owner who enjoys maintaining the pool as a hobby ( ) but I really feel like I learned a ton starting from zero when we bought the place. Just in time for the spa to develop a terminal leak  The Taylor Kit also comes with a big set of tables in a waterproof book that lets you index test results to what you need to add for a given pool size, as well as a pocket calculator that accounts for temperature, pH, alkalinity, and Calcium Hardness to help you figure out your TDS level. In general it feels like it really helps you do proper corrections as well as get accurate test results. Squashy Nipples posted:Where do you guys buy pool supplies? Wherever. Big box stores are as good as anything else -- you can find giant bags of baking soda that's great for pH balancing, as well as bulk epsom salt at places like Costco, which is what I did. For the other chemicals I never quite got to the point of buying often enough that shopping around was worth the effort so I just ordered from Amazon. I don't know if it was the cheapest, but it was affordable at the rates I was using it. A lot of the pool/spa stuff is available through Amazon's "Subscribe and Save" program where you get things delivered at regular intervals (1-6 months, your choice) and get a discount if you get enough delivered all at once (I think it's 5% off base, 15% off if you have 5 or more items scheduled that month). Squashy Nipples posted:Ah ok, that helps a little. I have an engineering degree, but chemistry was always my worst topic.  Like I said above I was working with a hot tub so I was dealing with Bromine chemistry so I'm not as familiar with the ins and outs, but from memory: Free Chlorine (FC): Unbonded Chlorine dissolved in the water that is available to do sanitization work Combined Chlorine (CC): Chlorine bound in compounds produced as a byproduct of Free Chlorine reacting with nitrogen compounds like ammonia. Smelly and irritating to eyes (ex: chloramine) Total Chlorine (TC): All Chlorine dissolved in the water, including both Free and Combined forms -- TC = FC + CC Basically you can test for "Total Chlorine" and "Free Chlorine" and then the difference is how much "Combined Chlorine" you have. If CC is >= 0.2 ppm you want to break it down by doing what is called Super-chlorination (AKA breakpoint chlorination or "shocking"): 1) Measure your CC level 2) Wait until after sundown (sunlight breaks down FC quickly which would prevent this reaction from working) 3) Add enough new chlorine to raise the FC level to 10x the measured CC levels (you need to make sure you hit or exceed this level, otherwise you could end up with just increasing your CC level) 4) Wait until sunlight reduces FC levels to normal the next day, or add a chlorine neutralizer like sodium bisulfate/sodium sulfite to drop it if you can't wait This super-charges the pool with enough chlorine to completely blow apart and oxidize the compounds the Combined Chlorine is bound to. You are essentially chemically scouring the pool. Note that all of this is different from Chlorine stabilization, which is where you add Cyanuric acid in varying amounts to help the chlorine stabilize in the sunlight. Squashy Nipples posted:We cleaned it out, added in 6 pounds of DE, and shocked it with two bottles of bleach. After running over night, the water is nice and clear, and tests as follows: In theory that's correct; in practice, you'll probably have to do a few passes as you zero in on a balance since all those adjustments will affect the other factors. So get your Alkalinity/pH/Chlorine into the ballpark, then re-test again to do some fine adjustments. After replacing a lot of water you may have to do 3 or 4 rounds before it all balances out. Make sure you give the water time to circulate and fully mix after additions before trying to continue adjustment. There's also a maximum limit to how much you want to adjust the Alkalinity/pH before correcting for the other: If you need to add a lot to correct your alkalinity, you are better off cutting the amount in half and then adding it and correcting the pH before adding the rest. Unfortunately as I understand it there's not really a whole lot you can do to reduce hardness aside from using a water softener when you fill. On the plus side the hardness isn't inherently a problem in itself -- the big issue with hardness is the buildup of scale, which you can avoid if you keep the pH properly balanced. High pH = Scale Build-up, Low pH = Corrosion.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 6, 2017 18:03
|
|
|
Squashy Nipples posted:Great stuff, thanks! Hmm, that's above my head. I guess you'd want to turn off the skimmer intake temporarily so that you could remove/clean it without sucking down any debris?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2017 17:41
|
|
|
Crotch Fruit posted:Unless the top beam is cut, both products can support the weight of a bath tub. Was waiting for this.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2017 03:25
|
|
|
His Divine Shadow posted:I'll just add another port if I want one, but our house isn't that big so we basically only needed one. Bigger houses and houses with more than one floor have multiple ports Thing I just considered: Could I use this as an excuse to buy myself a really nice dust extraction system for my workshop, then just tie it into a few ports upstairs?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 31, 2017 18:15
|
|
|
QuarkJets posted:Our fence looks like it was made with 4x4 posts (or 3.5" x 3.5") but when we went and measured they're all actually 3.25" x 3.25" "Nominal 4x4" is 3.5"x3.5". It accounts for shrinkage during drying and flattening.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 27, 2017 13:05
|
|
|
People seem to be conflating "having the right to enter property you own and are renting to a tenant" with "having the ability to enter property you own should an emergency arise" -- there is a difference. Under most circumstances there is no reason or a landlord to enter a an apartment unannounced / without the tenant present, and doing so should be discouraged/subject to penalty. However, there are absolutely circumstances where it is important that the landlord, who is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the property, be able to access it. If you're fine with them drilling your locks in the case of an emergency then you should be fine with them not having to drill them as well. Obviously the renter has a perverse incentive towards the former because they are not responsible for the property damage that is done. I lived in a 6-story condo for almost a decade. We had our own keys, but we also had to leave a key on file in the main office. This was right and good because there are lots of circumstances where an issue within one unit can suddenly become an issue for the entire building. Pipes may leak... actually most examples I can think of are plumbing-related. In fact, here's one concrete case: One day they shut off the water to the building to do some water main supply work. People would forget, turn on their faucets, and then say "oh right, they turned off the water" and then go about their business. Well one tenant did this, neglected to turn the faucet back off, then left town for the weekend. Apparently when they turned the water back on, her kitchen sink started filling. Whatever dishes she was going to wash must have covered the drain, causing the water to overflow the sink, then the counters, and begin filling the entire condo. This was eventually noticed when water began dripping down the light fixtures in the main lobby.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 29, 2017 15:39
|
|
|
Anne Whateley posted:I'm not fine with my keys being stored in an unlocked, untended cabinet in a public area where anyone passing by can help themselves anytime for any reason. Neither am I? 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 29, 2017 18:25
|
|
|
Steve French posted:I have a mostly unfinished basement with asbestos tile flooring. For the most part it is intact, but there are a few places with cracks and gaps between the tile, and in one particular area some more severe cracking. Short answer, as I understand it: yes, sealing it under some epoxy paint is a safe and viable abatement strategy. The important thing is to make sure it maintains structural integrity and doesn't kick dust up into the air. Sealing it under anything is good, especially something like epoxy. Putting floating vinyl tile over it is also often viable, but I'm not sure about when it starts to crumble like that. Of course, someone some day May curse your name when they do demo on that floor and discover a bunch of embedded ABM that can't be removed with just some water and a prybar.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2017 02:35
|
|
|
life is killing me posted:So our master tub shifts a lot. Noticed this when I saw the caulk line was like 2 inches from the tub. The problem is 1) no idea why the tub is shifting (other than getting in and out) because I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be doing that, 2) how to fix it so it doesn't slide/shift, and 3) the front of the tub is so close to the wall I am not sure how I'll get caulk in there without shifting it backward. Given where the caulk is, I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be shifted backward, and at the same time, I'm also pretty sure the front lip of the tub shouldn't be that close to the wall. You should make sure the previous owner did not fatally diminish the structural integrity of your house to install an ultimately ill-conceived "boutique" bathroom upgrade.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 12, 2017 18:18
|
|
|
Crazyweasel posted:Hello so I bought a house last year with a brand new irrigation system. I had it winterized (ie air blown through) last year but can't remember exactly when. This really seems like something you should be able to do yourself, but I guess not everyone has a compressor lying around for it... Crazyweasel posted:e: Google tells me lines are usually 8 to 12 inches down, so probably enough ground insulation... Not in New England. It's enough to give you some time, certainly, but the frost line will go below that by mid-winter. You also have to worry just as much (if not more so) about water trapped in the actual heads, which will be closer to/at the surface and are probably more subject to freeze damage. Some heads won't hold water, but newer "rotor" style heads can retain enough to be a problem.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2017 20:06
|
|
|
Ghostnuke posted:You have to have a gently caress off huge compressor though, like one of those trailer mounted ones you see at construction sites Right, upon further reading it sounds like you generally need a lot more air volume than most home compressors can deliver.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2017 22:46
|
|
|
Inspector 34 posted:That all makes sense, and to clarify I would never try and do a major job without the appropriate permits and inspections. I was more just thinking about things like moving a power outlet or other minor things like that. Obviously there are codes that must be adhered to, but do you actually need inspections for that kind of project? I guess there are probably guidelines for what projects require permits and which ones don't and I assume that anything that requires a permit will need to be inspected. As a homeowner in roughly the same boat, I will say that I think one thing worth stating is that it's not always obvious to the DIYer what is/isn't a "major" job. I suspect some of the most egregious cases that get floated around the internet are situations where the homeowner said "just connect the copper to each end, done!" without understanding all the secondary things (appropriate wire gauge, appropriate wire protection/securing, box size, clamping, etc.). If you are a DIYer who's willing to read the code (or a very good Cliff's Notes version that I personally recommend) you will probably know 99% of what you need to do the job right, but also you will know enough to recognize when you're a bit out of your depth. Case in point: there were a few open grounds in various outlets in the house I bought. This was curious, since many of the outlets were recently added, and the older ones WERE grounded properly. The first one I opened up, the ground wires for the incoming and two outgoing wires were all just hanging out unbonded in the plastic box (bend back presumably so they wouldn't "get in the way")  The previous owner knew enough to cut a hole in his wall, slip the New Work box in, and then connect the wires to the right screws (though this turned out to just be a happy accident since I found some others wired backwards later on) but he had no clue what that weird bare copper was for so he just ignored it. I guess I'm lucky he didn't just clip it off at the base (for "cleanliness").
|
|
#
¿
Dec 5, 2017 16:31
|
|
|
Jaded Burnout posted:Yes. Also the RH numbers go UP as temperature goes DOWN so if anything you'd want a higher RH as measured at a lower temperature to get you something comfortable at room temperature. This never occurred to me (although obviously that would be the 'relative' part). So is "RH %" in terms of saturation at a given temperature?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2017 18:27
|
|
|
Qwijib0 posted:3 stories that close? that's unfortunate. [ASK] me about living in a neighborhood zoned and allocated for one-story ranch homes and being surrounded by new 3-story "craftsmen" built up to the easement One of them even ended up rebuilding the privacy fence they knocked down 6" onto our side of the property line 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 8, 2018 20:36
|
|
|
Jaded Burnout posted:This gave me a full on heart flutter from the adrenaline stress reaction. Well this happened on the PO's watch -- the lawyer just pointed it out to us at closing -- so we are just kind of living with it. Based on their comments at the time, though, the POs definitely had a similar reaction as you. The neighboring lot is lower, and there's a retaining wall along the property line that the fence is built on top of. Apparently at some point it began sinking/collapsing due to the grading they were doing (or something) and they had to fight with the contractor to pay for rebuilding it and the fence, with this as the result.  It does mean that I have absolutely zero compunction about leaning ladders up against/nailing things to the fence, however. I am honestly more annoyed at the flood lights they have on their 2nd story that lights up not only their postage-stamp yard but also the backside of our house whenever a squirrel wanders through the lot. Jaded Burnout posted:You mean on your loose-packed earthen wall? Just dig a moat around your house -- then you will be in international waters and can declare yourself sovereign and unencumbered by petty zoning restrictions owned, libs 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 9, 2018 22:37
|
|
|
Dear Homespergin' Thread: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6evRox3F_XY sperg harder.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2018 14:50
|
|
|
Jaded Burnout posted:So he reinvented underfloor heating? Yeah, except hardened against freezing (glycol solution), and over a ridiculously massive area. This kind of system is (as I understand it) used to heat swimming pools and clear runways. Anyways, imagine if you were doing a home walkthrough and ran into this in the garage.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2018 15:31
|
|
|
Hieronymous Alloy posted:Update: Bad seal/mechanical connection around the drain?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2018 21:04
|
|
|
IncredibleIgloo posted:Here is a picture of the neighbor's house, which is the same model/floorplan as mine. It looks like the damage goes right to the edge of where it might get covered up. I feel like getting the energy to write a post about this whole house build project. So far the framers forgot 4 windows, fully framed in the master closet while giving me a bonus door to the laundry room, framed out one bedroom into a super bedroom that ate its own closet and a neighboring linen closet. Those have all been fixed. Then the HVAC folks got wrong plans from the builder and piped the natural gas stub for the patio to the wrong location. The plumbers either missed, or received wrong plans, and did not plumb in a connection for the laundry room sink. I am worried about what I will find next! loving sever
|
|
#
¿
Feb 19, 2018 03:42
|
|
|
Friend posted:West of Dallas, TX, North of the dump, South of hell. I live in a cul de sac, there's drainage at the end of the street but that's like four houses down. A dry pond isn't the worst idea.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2018 14:56
|
|
|
peanut posted:Zika party! Meh, throw a mosquito dunk in every month or two during the rainy season.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2018 03:35
|
|
|
Jaded Burnout posted:Nice! That sort of blood-red has become one of my favourites over the years. Especially on white IMO
|
|
#
¿
Mar 6, 2018 17:00
|
|
|
Gin_Rummy posted:I’ve been living in my new house for about six months now, and I thought the out dated wood paneled living room would grow on me and start to feel cozy... but ultimately, the room just feels so dark (especially since the only window HAS to be blocked by the TV). The walls have nice wainscot on them, so I’d like to keep the paneling in, but what all would I need if I wanted to repaint over the paneling and wainscot? I’ve been told to use Kilnz (Kilz?) primer and then painting over it from there should be a breeze, but I need to get that verified. Just did this, can confirm. Kilz is good, prepare to do a couple coats rather than a single coat you will be tempted to apply too heavily. If you have nail holes you can fill those with some putty first. You might want to invest in some flow aid/extender to help get a really smooth coat (over the primer).
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2018 18:51
|
|
|
Gin_Rummy posted:Did you do any sanding/roughing of the wood, or just apply the primer directly? with primer you shouldn't need it (at least I didn't). It might vary with the finish, but the whole point of primer is that it adheres really well. Wiping it down with TSP (or at least a damp cloth to remove dust) beforehand would probably be a good idea.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2018 19:09
|
|
|
Ups_rail posted:hey guys i went looking for a "smart house" thread couldnt find one. https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Secur...2R7YWFA47R839GE https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Energ...e+power+monitor This will require a Z-wave hub, but that is the "smart home" answer
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2018 17:14
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 08:48 |
|
|
SouthShoreSamurai posted:This is a feature, not a bug. Tommy and Richard are a delight, and I'll fight anyone that says otherwise!  It really makes me wonder how the old Bob Villa episodes felt by comparison.
|
|
#
¿
May 10, 2018 21:43
|
|