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mattfl posted:Update! This post is peak deed restricted central? Florida: Clear blue skies, bright green grass in December, incompetent construction story, subdvision house.
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Dec 20, 2020 18:12
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I almost feel silly asking this but... I have a cute prob ~20 yr old wood shed that came with the house and while painted, the OSB+cedar(I think) doors are definitely rotting. Like, can't hold a #8 screw at all the screw drills right through kind of rotting. Is there an option lazier than making new doors for it? I feel like if I take the doors off the hinges it will pretty quickly end up where I have a bare slab and a metal shed on order that's bigger than the slab because I am totes gonna pour a little extra concrete. EDIT: Yea metal sheds are less than a thousand bucks. This thing is nice but I will definitely demo it and put up a metal one ...and add insulation ...and paint it to match the house ...and I wish it had better lighting better plan to rewire it its an airbnb now CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Jan 2, 2021 |
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Jan 2, 2021 23:34
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Grumpwagon posted:Plumbing question: No idea but there’s a lot of cast iron pipe lawsuits that start out this way. https://www.forthepeople.com/insurance-attorney/cast-iron-pipes-lawsuit/
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Jan 18, 2021 00:24
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Guhhh the missus got me a Ring doorbell for Christmas and has been annoyed that I haven't taken it out of the box yet. I'm just barely handy enough to plug in a lamp so this is rocket science to me. The chime box has no labels on any of the wiring, and the wires are all white cables with no markings. And there's only 2 terminals instead of the REAR FRONT TRANS I see in the guide IIRC the voltage range on the ring is pretty wide. Is yours fine? The wiring for most doorbells is 28V AC so it’s literally as simple as charge, follow the set up from the App/QR code, be done. Extremely easy 5 minute thing. I quite like our ring and two cameras on max privacy settings. The idea that it won’t be good enough to trivially identify the perp is missing the point of “I/my wife know there’s a perp before I get home”
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Jan 24, 2021 14:01
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Fallom posted:Yeah it worked just fine on my doorbell wiring. No idea why that guy is talking about running Romex to power a tiny camera. They use your current chime. That’s the whole appeal they just bolt on and work. (And allow police warrant less surveillance on an opt out basis)
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Jan 24, 2021 14:22
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Comfortador posted:So I moved in to a new house in November, now that the weather is nice I want to get this basketball hoop "up and running". Do I need to replace the rim too and get a combo? Or can I buy just a backboard? Is the mount standard? Sorry I know jack and poo poo about stuff like that ha FWIW IDk poo poo about basketball but it seems to me that so long as your rim is round and perpendicular, looks like you just need a backboard. Here are the dimensions of a backboard https://www.dimensions.com/element/basketball-backboards I'd imagine you can cut one out of plywood and paint it and itll be good enough for general fun purposes. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 01:27 on May 17, 2021 |
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May 17, 2021 01:09
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Is this an okay corner to cut? I have a septic pump in my front yard. When the float gets to "turn on pump" levels during/shortly after a heavy rainstorm, it will trip the GFCI it is wired to. The GFCI and electrical box is new as I just replaced it hoping to get lucky as the previous one was >20 years old and badly corroded. This happens maybe once per month. I'd guess based on the circumstances that the wire sheathing is tired and water intrusion is allowing some leakage to ground. What I'd like to do is put in a standard outlet and some sort of efuse in case a real current leak happens. I plan to live here >10 years and this area is generally pretty lax on regulations. Any advice on cutting this corner? (It's perfectly okay to so no, gently caress you, take the septic lid off and leak test the wires and dig that poo poo up if it fails. I really REALLY don't want to as hiring people around here sucks and takes me away from running my biz or eats my weekend.)
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May 17, 2021 01:15
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Motronic posted:Lets' start with why ground water is infiltrating your septic system. That's not okay. Idk that it is, I’m assuming the rainwater is getting to the wiring not that the water is getting in the septic. No idea if that’s also true but it seems like a separate issue. tater_salad posted:NO full stop; fix your wiring it is unsafe. The breaker has never flipped and the difference in trips in a breaker vs GFCI is OOM in current. It seems to be 100% correlated with heavy rain. The pump runs normally without tripping the GFCI if it hasn’t rained for a month. Anyway you’re probably still correct with the answer. So how can I got about testing this? My though is to find some current limited AC output test device for dielectric breakdown and make sure the pump is off and power is off/disconnected. Then test leakage while the ground is dry. Wet it with a hose, if the load increases then there’s ground leakage. I used something similar once called a megger for some 440v motors, same thing here?
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May 17, 2021 02:22
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:If it’s 100% during heavy rain, it’s clearly a intrusion issue somewhere.  are you saying how I described it isn’t how it’d be done?And I don’t want to fix it myself, it’s sitting in several inches of my poo poo. I’d like to have a clear idea of the problem. Whatevs I’ll stick a multimeter between hot and ground when dry and see if it’s a real short. Spray the area down and try again. I know that won’t rule out breakdown but it may reveal a severe problem. I figure someone here might have a better method that is more specific than this and can be done at home.
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May 17, 2021 03:24
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Motronic posted:The common trade-sourced one for your area. Not one from a big box store. I know nothing about them, why not one from the Lowes Depot?
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May 24, 2021 02:23
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Motronic posted:it's gonna suck to not have anyone who knows how to service something and/or nobody's got the parts so it's 3+ days before you can have hot water, heat, AC, a working well, a working toilet, a working shower, etc again. Yea I never really thought about this, its a good point.
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May 24, 2021 02:35
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I want to put up this deer fence for a garden: https://www.2thesunnyside.com/deer-fence-for-the-garden/ The dims are 45 feet x 13 feet. One side is fenced already, so I would only need to put up two 13' sections and one 45' section. Is a fence contractor the right choice? Do they routinely do custom jobs like this or are they mostly about off the shelf installs of chain link and similar? How about if I would also like them to pour down some rock, should I hire a landscaper to do that separately of the fence job? CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Jul 25, 2021 |
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Jul 25, 2021 00:28
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Motronic posted:That looks really nice. But yeah.....that's more "carpenter" and less "fence contractor". Spring Heeled Jack posted:I bet if you showed that to a local fence company they could do it for you. Some 4x4s with 2x4 stretchers and the wire just looks like it’s sandwiched between 1x2s. Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a look at both, and get some quotes. Is getting a request for quote with pictures and a statement of work from a homeowner weird? I'm including some rough powerpoint drawings laid over photos of the property but should I require they prepare actual drawings?
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Jul 25, 2021 04:23
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Nybble posted:Is a belt drive garage opener worth replacing for an older chain opener? I can't comment but why not just insulate the door? I put (IIRC) 1/2" polystyrene panels on my metal door and it made it way way way better. Adhered it with Loctite PL 300 Foamboard Adhesive. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Jul 28, 2021 |
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Jul 28, 2021 03:30
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PSA: This YouTube channel is pretty great for learning to fix your own AC. Around here AC issues in the summer start at $250, are next day during business hours and <50% chance the tech is sober. Because of that I've slowly taught myself how to diagnose and fix issues and have become my friends and families AC tech. Here's an example of a video where I learned a new thing (how to test an in circuit capacitor) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OloCzaSPWE
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Jul 29, 2021 14:29
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Inner Light posted:My AC unit is on the roof of my condo. Do roof mounted units get dirty coils like ground based ones? Are you responsible for this kind of maintenance? No idea how well they work but there are no-rinse cleaner coil sprays. That said, for an outdoor unit I'd want some kind of mechanical removal of the dirt and wouldn't trust the foam to carry it away. Haven't tried it but maybe a backpack/pump sprayer?
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Jul 29, 2021 14:53
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Fallom posted:Could you please post a picture? Did you have any issue with the joints between the door panels binding up? Not mine:  I have not had issues with binding, maybe because I only bonded them with 4 big dollops of the Loctite Foamboad in the corners of the foam and one in the middle. Searching for pictures though I found this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Insulfoam-...lation/50244957 Which is the same idea but maybe even better.
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Jul 30, 2021 12:08
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Head Bee Guy posted:How much should a replacement flowcenter in a geothermal system cost? This geothermal company is asking 7 large to: Idk but def get a few quotes for that amount of money
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Aug 4, 2021 04:35
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TheWevel posted:Oh yeah there's no doubt that happened but the whole point of using a closing attorney is that that money is supposed to go into escrow so all the parties get their money. I talked to my real estate agent and over the past year they fired this particular closing group so I guess I'm not the only closing they bungled. Thanks for reinforcing that I'm not crazy at least. IANAL but drat this seems like what malpractice insurance is for
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Aug 5, 2021 01:14
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Today I persevered over my own idiocy and mowed my lawn again! When my grandma passed in April, I inherited my grandparents ~2007 john deere lawn tractor which has been sitting (outside) at my cousins mower shop for prob 2 years. I used to mow my grandparents lawn with it a lot in college and was really happy to get it. I finally got my cousin to bring it to me after replacing some broken stuff, including the carb at some point, and paid them for the work. I have ~0.75 acres of lawn so I needed to not be push mowing badly. I started it up and it ran great. Next day, on my first time out... ...I hit a stump that was hidden under the now very tall grass that I had forgotten about, bending the deck at the spindle mount enough to cause the blades to hit each other. ...then when I removed the blade spindle, every bolt head sheared off ...rather than wait for my new spindles to arrive I decided to drill a new bolt pattern in the aluminum spindle housing. I held the spindle shaft in a vise and held the aluminum body with my left hand, drilling with a cordless drill with my right. In the process of doing this the drill bit bound and the drill bit's chip flute managed to dig into my left thumb. You can easily see the fat in my thumb. Luckily, no tendon issues, just required a steristrip by my lovely wife. I get a tetanus shot next day. So my thumb heals quite quickly. My new spindles, blades and a pulley get in from amazon and I get the deck back together. I level the blades with a combo of hammering the deck and a couple washers as shims. There some rust patches and holes, I give them some wire wheeling and a coat of anti-rust primer. I go to start the mower to drive it on ramps to put my newly refurbished deck on and... ...gas is shooting out of the carburetor vent hole... ...disassemble my brand new carb and theres a nice ultra sticky layer of varnish, causing the float to stick. Also the fuel shut off solenoid is clearly sticking. ...clean them up put it all back together and... ...the choke return spring wont snap the choke closed anymore. ...I bend the little wire that pushes it open to decrease the friction and... It finally works and runs! Mower deck went in and the yard has been mowed once again!
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Aug 15, 2021 04:27
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B-Nasty posted:Owning a lawn tractor is like owning a motorcycle: you better get good at little repairs, or you better have a fat wallet to bring it to the shop when it needs it. The B&S engine I've got is the same way. I had a thin wrench but if you didn't I bet you could unscrew the solenoid by hand. Be aware the carb bowl comes with it on mine. But yea I'm seeing that. I've always said I'd only ever own electric but decent electric ride on mower start at 10X what I have in this thing even with the repairs. Luckily I can fix just about anything. EDIT: Also it is now surging sometimes at about half throttle. But not every time, it will sometimes start and run perfectly. Seems to be more of an issue when cold. Idles well. Ugh.
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Aug 15, 2021 22:56
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please knock Mom! posted:Ripped out the old floor today and found a bunch of damp concrete. The culprit: a leaking boiler siphon, which the POs left leaking for ~1 year and the inspector didn’t notice I know it doesnt help you now but a FLIR that plugs into a phone is $250 and this would stick out like a sore thumb even on a low res device like that. Also useful for looking at electronics and for heating/cooling issues as long as the temp differential is big between outside and inside.
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Aug 16, 2021 00:50
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please knock Mom! posted:Oh yeah I’m an unprepared and stupid newbie to this all, and it’s pretty minor stuff, just annoyed by the previous owners who lived there for literal years and just hating the PO is a right of passage
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Aug 16, 2021 00:56
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please knock Mom! posted:
I just went through removing 30yo wallpaper and refinishing the walls. Is this something you're planning to DIY? If so, want me to write some notes on it? It is not a fun job. Kinda wish I had hired it out.
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Aug 16, 2021 14:30
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please knock Mom! posted:Nah dude, this poo poo is nasty. I bet I’ll accidentally gently caress up the plaster behind it if I do it myself, I’m way clumsy. I’m having it done currently by a handywoman recommended to me. She already did one wall perfectly. This is the right choice.
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Aug 17, 2021 02:54
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bird with big dick posted:Your house gon burn down This phallic pheasant may be correct
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Aug 19, 2021 12:25
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Inner Light posted:re: AC electricity chat -- Got it, I appreciate all that feedback and will deal with this. Sorry to monopolize the thread but hopefully it was good content. Have learned a ton here! So you also had an upstream higher rated break flip before a lower rated one, yea? Sounds like you may have a bad breaker. A/C should have its own breaker that doesn’t render your house inop. If that didn’t flip before the house you got a problem.
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Aug 20, 2021 03:29
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Verman posted:My buddy just had his offer accepted on a house. A tree fell on it the next day. The sellers dragged their feet on singing their end of the contract so nothing is official yet. I'd def walk from this, holy poo poo. A seller that DGAF and new, major damage that likely includes water damage? Count me the gently caress out. Also shout out to Zillow: My mom just sold her house to Zillow for above market after fees and that poo poo was done in 30 days from "I want to list" to "cash in the bank". The smoothest transaction I've ever seen from myself and several friends buying houses.
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Aug 21, 2021 00:42
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Inner Light posted:It was probably due to me being dumb, meaning.... the thermostat was commanding the A/C to run, blower motor was on, and that's when I reset the A/C breaker from tripped -> off -> on. My finger holding it to 'on' for a fraction of a second likely did not allow it to trip in time, and that's probably when the 100A breaker tripped. That's my guess which means the breaker didn't malfunction. Might wanna get it replaced or looked at if an electrician is coming out. But yea holding a breaker on is really...something...ya know...decision making wise. So totally unrelated but, thread, Motronic, I have historically gotten frustrated with this threads attitude that THE ELECTRON PIXIES WILL FIND A WAY TO YOUR DEATH. I get it now. They will. If you don't know the pixies already, we won't help you learn is a justified attitude. I will no longer advice people on this subject.
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Aug 21, 2021 03:24
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I once made an impromptu pump out of a shop vac, soda can and duct tape. Why? It was all we had, we were in BFE california and there was 1/2" of standing water in my wife's grandmas house. Instructions: -Arrange shop vac so the hose sucks from the deepest water spossible, but the basket/receptical is outside. -Cut a flapper valve out of the coke cane by making a straight piece of aluminum to be covered completely (with room to spare) by the next steps hole pattern -Drill 5 1/4" holes in a square hole pattern with one hole at the center. -Apply duct tape (or screw it in if you have screws) such that the aluminum can acts as a flapper valve. -If possible, use a timer to turn the shop vac off after 5 minutes of sucking for 20 minutes to allow the water to flow toward the deepest part -If possible, turn on as many fans as possible + the A/C. How it works: The weight of the water will cause the flapper valve to leak. Once the water is insufficient to cause a leak, the valve will seal. Outcome: This made it so only a few foot patch under the flooded tile had standing water under it. Drywall was BAD but not completely destroyed. They had BAD water infiltration of their lowest floor (house on a hill) and this got by in a pinch to minimize water damage. Lesson learned: gently caress the bay area, CA. This house, that probably still has this problem, is currently valued at $1.2M. It is >45 minutes from SV and 2 hrs from SF. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Sep 3, 2021 |
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Sep 3, 2021 19:04
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Helping a friend in the southwest fix up their 1940s era home. They have a garage that was built later but still several years ago and the quality is well… What is the sheet metal behind the drywall in this pic 
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Sep 6, 2021 15:10
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Motronic posted:Be aware that electric chainsaws, while great for some things, are not stopped by chainsaw chaps. I wouldn't be doing anything like climbing or out of position sawing with one. I suspect based on the design schematic that the power control board to my M18 chain saw has a current limit that will inhibit the motor if stall torque is the input. I don't know the speed of this inhibition but it is likely a few ms. This is needed for safety for this reason and also to not put a massive load on the batteries, potentially damaging them.
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Sep 11, 2021 17:37
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EPICAC posted:Does anyone here use a mechanical reel mower? Are they a pain to use? The yard at our new place is too small to justify anything else. Are you already on a battery system that has a mower? I have a big yard and getting the $230 Ryobi 40V was a mistake but for a small yard it'd prob be great and is nice if you also already compost.
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Sep 11, 2021 22:41
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I just decided to put in 90 feet of fencing myself for exactly this reason. Sent out for 5 quotes, got three calls, one showed up to eval the property then ghosted.
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Oct 1, 2021 03:47
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Hadlock posted:https://www.amazon.com/Aukora-100-Watt-Equivalent-Activated-Security/dp/B07DXMF23S/ Have you used these particular lights? I've been thinking about buying them but feel like Amazons ratings of off brand poo poo arent trustworthy at all. EDIT: Yea NVM the recent reviews are like 35% 1 star ratings saying they didnt last. CarForumPoster fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Oct 2, 2021 |
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Oct 2, 2021 04:26
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Hadlock posted:No, I'm a 100% Philips hue house, I've never had an issue with their stuff, that's the better long term play. When you're getting off the couch you just say "ok Google, turn on basement lights" and then they're on by the time you get over there. Then at the end of the night you just say "turn off all lights" Nah, I'm good. I'm mostly worried that Philips probably doesnt have enough skin in the game to keep every model of base station and accessory updated in perpetuity. They probably arent willing to dedicate a few million/year in potential profits to a strong security team and test org.
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Oct 2, 2021 16:46
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King Hong Kong posted:Going back to old house asbestos chat, there is a potential future small job that if I do I will want a HEPA vacuum for (in addition to PPE) as a precaution but was wondering if there was a recommendation for a decent one that is not extremely expensive. skybolt_1 posted:I did this but technically it doesn't qualify as a HEPA vac unless the drum is sealed. So I bought some 3/8" black rubber weatherstripping and laid a gasket around the drum. Takes more effort to latch but it's close enough to the certified $350 version for me. This is my suggestion as well, except I've used the thick A/C duct tape. Not sure which is better tho. Also, if theres a window for it I use a fan to exhaust particles outside. Also I'm not a doctor and know nothing about the actual risks of aesbestos, just kinda doing what I can.
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Oct 2, 2021 20:44
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Whoreson Welles posted:Keep up the chatter and hopefully we can all avoid being the next Grover. If only I should be so lucky as to have that many outlets.
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Oct 3, 2021 02:52
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Glumwheels posted:I want to clean ours dryer vent as well as our hvac ducts. We just moved in and I want to start fresh, we have so much dust every day. Need to also upgrade the furnace filters too. I'm happy with my Ring's relative lack of nuisance triggering compared tot he harbor freight kit I had previously. I like that the only big security stuff theyve had was people using lovely passwords and not having 2FA on by default. That said they've also been pretty okay with law enforcement historically, now they give you more options tho.
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Oct 4, 2021 00:45
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Glumwheels posted:We’ve had a lot of false alarms due to our own errors, one leading to the cops being called because it triggered the silent alarm and we didn’t know it. I had to take that “class” as my first strike to prevent losing the license. Is ring pretty good at calling you right away and recognizing it was a false alarm if you disarm it quickly? My one complaint is the door/window sensor seem large but that’s the case if you don’t hardwire the system. I only use the cameras. We have some very mild security threats due to occupation and live where there are basically no home invasions. We have sufficient cameras and lighting that someone breaking in would have to be pretty blasé about getting caught. Hard to imagine needing a system that auto dials the police, that’s rough.
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Oct 5, 2021 04:19
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