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Motronic posted:Probably, but that looks like a LOT of pump for descaling. You want something pretty slow (like 1/6 hp, 1400 gph). This is 1/8hp / 450gph. I don't have a 18 horsepower on the 20a outlet there.  The 1/6hp submersible was an empty slot in the shelf-o-pumps and the 1/10 seemed very pitiful. I think next time I will mix 300gr/1.5gal just to make the turbulence a little easier to manage. Or I'll just move.
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Mar 3, 2024 06:59
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ROJO posted:Are there prefab sheds people like? I could just build a shed, but if the price was right, I would be willing to pay someone to have done most of the hard work and just put some footings in myself. I feel like this is something that Costco can do everything for you
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Mar 3, 2024 09:35
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H110Hawk posted:This is 1/8hp / 450gph. I don't have a 18 horsepower on the 20a outlet there. Oh that's in the right range then. "Pitiful" is actually what you want, but that pump looked to be a lot bigger. As long as you aren't rocketing the water through there so it has enough time to make contact. I use this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5P5XFS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and it works really well. If I don't have that I'll use a gallon of white vinegar. Also, remember to flush your pump in clean wter for like 5-10 minutes, and then do it again with another bucket of clean water or eventually you're going to be sad when you go to do this and your pump doesn't work anymore.
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Mar 3, 2024 14:29
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Looks like the solution you use is (if I'm at all remembering how to google ph calculations...) a bit stronger than mine depending on how the SDS translates to reality. It's definitely strong enough to make my skin "slick." Flow-Aid is a "<10% hcl" 32oz solution, plus a gallon of water = 160oz ~= 4.73L of solution. Mine is a mix of Citric Acid (30-60%), Sulfamic Acid (1-5%), and Sulfuric acid, aluminum salt (3:2) (0.5-1.5%, 342.15g/mol) in ~3.785L. Next time I might mix mine a wee bit stronger. Assuming it's working it's cheaper though, $11.67/treatment if you divide it into 300g / 1.5gal. Motronic posted:Oh that's in the right range then. "Pitiful" is actually what you want, but that pump looked to be a lot bigger. As long as you aren't rocketing the water through there so it has enough time to make contact. It wasn't rocketing, but it wasn't anything I would want to wash my hands in either if that makes sense. Next time I might just add a foot of "lift" to the pump to slow it down. And good call out on the cleaning - yes I shot a bunch of fresh water out onto the ground, rinsed and filled the bucket, then used the pump to pump it down onto the ground. This whole process seems like such a pain on an indoor unit if you don't have a sink nearby. Now I just need to remember to go by the plumber and pickup the pre-filter they bought me. Same price as Amazon but the markup goes to them makes it a no brainer.
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Mar 3, 2024 17:08
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ROJO posted:Are there prefab sheds people like? I could just build a shed, but if the price was right, I would be willing to pay someone to have done most of the hard work and just put some footings in myself. Depending on how much you want to spend, I would just look for a local shed/gazebo place. I wanna say I spent around 2k and they handled grading the spot for it, putting down gravel, all that. Dude showed up with one of those remote control skids, pulled it off the truck, and plopped it down.
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Mar 3, 2024 17:38
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Is there a grilling/BBQ thread? My old gas grill is getting, well, old, and instead of putting money into it I'm considering looking at a new one. I haven't been in the market for some time wondering if there is a go-to brand? Natural Gas specifically. Idea;;y something with a good quality side burner so I can use a frying pan outdoors too.
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Mar 3, 2024 17:44
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Weber.
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Mar 3, 2024 18:53
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nwin posted:Weber. I have never bought a Weber. I have had four of them, though, that I have trash-picked; all Genesis models. Every one of them was in good nick, needing new grills and ‘flavorizer’ (heat distribution) bars and a very good cleaning - which is very messy, and probably why the more privileged folks trashed them. I fixed them up and gave them to friends and family. All of the parts for them are available. I have spent up to $300 for parts, including new knobs, wheels, and ignitor sets. Since a new 3-burner Genesis is upwards of $1200, and the refreshing lasts 10-15 years, I have had no desire to replace them with something new. Plus, the heat control is phenomenal. I trash-picked my current grill, which has a very effective side burner, from curbside last summer. It rrplaced the first one I found, back in 1998; that unit soldiers on at a friend's house. Make sure you get a cover; it practically eliminates wear. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Mar 3, 2024 |
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Mar 3, 2024 20:40
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Ugh mine has a shot regulator or something I've been putting off dealing with for <mumble mumble> years. I should really fix it. Part of it is that I really do not want to deal with the spider situation. (Black and brown widows)
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Mar 3, 2024 20:49
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PainterofCrap posted:All of the parts for them are available. This is the key. As opposed to the absolutely zerop parts available for the home depot specials. Webers are quality without being fancy, and yes.....you do pay for it. But it's worthwhile. Trash picking them is a pro move.
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Mar 3, 2024 21:42
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My parents won a top of the line huge Weber grill like twenty years ago. It's still going strong. They had to replace the ignitor once but that's it. We bought a Genesis when we moved eight years ago. Also still going strong with no issues. It lives in a covered deck so it gets sparred the worst of the weather.
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Mar 4, 2024 01:27
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Any recommendations for third party covers? Guess I could make one but yeah. I have a Weber two burner that I also am very pleased with.
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Mar 4, 2024 01:57
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Rat Poisson posted:We have the same issue. It seems to be an issue of your desired temperature at the shower valve leading to a slow enough flow rate of hot water that the heater turns itself off because it drops below the minimum gallons-per-minute flow threshold that the heater needs to remain on. Our extremely dumb solution is to leave the bathroom sink hot water tap slightly open while showering. Then between the sink and the shower we’re using enough hot water volume to keep the heater constantly on and get a stable temperature in the shower. It’s my least favorite aspect of this tankless heater that we inherited with the house. It’s probably exacerbated by having a low-flow shower head in our shower. We ended up just buying the shower controller for our rinnai (bc100v) and then just setting the hot temp at what we wanted then only opening the hot tap. Don't know why we waited so long to do it, perfect shower temp every time, no hot/cold tap fiddling.
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Mar 4, 2024 02:10
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Any of you weirdos have opinions on building a geodesic dome as a greenhouse? My current greenhouse is pretty busted at the moment, and I've been wondering about finding a kit or some other bracket system to smooth over the process
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Mar 4, 2024 02:48
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My dad has had 3 or 4 different greenhouses and our neighbors had one, ive never heard of doing it as a geodesic dome and it doesn't make much sense to do that. I can't imagine how you would configure it to be comparable to just a regular rectangle with either sloped glass or double bubble with an air pocket run by a blower.
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Mar 4, 2024 02:56
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w00tmonger posted:Any of you weirdos have opinions on building a geodesic dome as a greenhouse? What kind of material is your greenhouse going to be made of, and how important is it that it be leak-free? Pretty much the only thing i know about geodesic domes is that they are super prone to leaks because of all the joints, and the fact that a fair number of the joints run relatively parallel to the direction of water flow, which is bad news for keeping water out. If you're looking at metal tubes with plastic sheeting over them? Or if you dgaf that leaks are inevitable? Might be interesting. Otherwise I'd probably stick with a more traditional shape.
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Mar 4, 2024 03:04
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nwin posted:Weber. 100% this. Weber is quality, it lasts, and parts are available for A LONG time. I am weber for life. I have a weber kettle, a probably ~20 yo weber genesis (propane), and a weber smoky mountain. They all are rock solid - although the genesis has been rebuilt. I am have been redo-ing the yard and finally have a nat gas line run for a BBQ, and I will be getting a new weber summit to hookup to it. Thanks for all the shed answers, I will look for something more local to see what my options are.
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Mar 4, 2024 03:09
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A geodesic dome probably has the least amount of space available for plants for the footprint it takes up.
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Mar 4, 2024 03:26
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VelociBacon posted:Any recommendations for third party covers? Guess I could make one but yeah. I have a Weber two burner that I also am very pleased with. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GFU9VZI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I know it's Amazon, but these King Kong covers are heavy af - the way Weber covers used to be. I get about 4-years out of them, constantly out in the weather & sun. Motronic posted:Webers are quality without being fancy, and yes.....you do pay for it. But it's worthwhile. Trash picking them is a pro move. One of the benefits of having a pickup truck is hucking one in the back the moment you see one. They're very distinctive-looking, and I'm amazed at how many I've found. At one point I had three, in various states of refresh. My sister's former in-laws had a house on Long Beach Island (NJ) in Beach Haven; my niece noted that, starting a couple weeks before Labor Day and continuing towards Thanksgiving, folks are curbing their grills. They buy a new one before the next summer season, some every year. I am tempted to head down there this year and see what's out. First thing is to check & see when the island towns schedule their heavy trash /appliance pickuop
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Mar 4, 2024 04:52
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PainterofCrap posted:My sister's former in-laws had a house on Long Beach Island (NJ) in Beach Haven; my niece noted that, starting a couple weeks before Labor Day and continuing towards Thanksgiving, folks are curbing their grills. They buy a new one before the next summer season, some every year. That level of waste is just amazing to me, but it's still totally believable (especially with that specific location). I'm the guy with the $3 can of oven cleaner and a hose that makes mine look like new every year for under an hours worth of work.
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Mar 4, 2024 05:05
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I'd hit up Stone Harbor or Avalon but would probably get arrested for loitering as a dirty hoi-polloi or some such. It is shocking, and more than a little sad that folks can't be bothered to spend the $3 & get filthy dirty for an hour or two.
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Mar 4, 2024 05:10
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Geodesic domes are a very cool concept, but are legendary for leaking. Rest Buckminster Fuller's soul, but if geodesic domes were any good practically they'd be mainstream by now. Solar power used to be a hippie thing. Composting used to be a hippie thing. They went mainstream. Domes didn't. Why? Apart from all the leaks, wasted space. There is a lot of space under a dome that is unusable.
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Mar 4, 2024 05:17
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So dome talk, it would be greenhouse plants, just to extend the season etc. I'm going to 3d print one. I found this design which should end up being extremely cheap to part out https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2483498 Basically just cutting a bunch of 8ft 1x2s to shape, and Im confident some ASA with the right perimeter/infill should be more than strong enough to support things I'll research plastic sheeting and sort out what people recommend. Shouldnt need hard panels which will drive down costs as well Arsenic Lupin posted:Why? Apart from all the leaks, wasted space. There is a lot of space under a dome that is unusable. Space wise, it'll mostly be buckets of tomatoes and maybe some hanging plants. I also think I'll raise the sides up on a short wall which should fix a low roof at the edges Also seems pretty cost effective. Being able to use weaker material to frame it means I can get away with much cheaper wood. Might be wrong in the specifics of this, but the whole project is 32 8ft 1x2s, 2 rolls of filament, and some screws. w00tmonger fucked around with this message at 05:31 on Mar 4, 2024 |
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Mar 4, 2024 05:24
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Qwijib0 posted:We ended up just buying the shower controller for our rinnai (bc100v) and then just setting the hot temp at what we wanted then only opening the hot tap. Don't know why we waited so long to do it, perfect shower temp every time, no hot/cold tap fiddling. I had no idea such a thing existed. But it doesn't seem to exist for our Noritz heater, so that's a pisser.
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Mar 4, 2024 05:56
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w00tmonger posted:So dome talk, it would be greenhouse plants, just to extend the season etc. I'm going to 3d print one. I found this design which should end up being extremely cheap to part out On the other hand, look at how little space the lady in that pic has to actually stand up in. I don't know about you, but when I'm gardening I very much value having some vertical space so that I can stand up and not be hunched over all the time. Not to mention it constrains how high your plants can get. I get trying to go about this as cheap as possible, but you can make a normal green house pretty cheaply. I'm thinking something like a pair of short 2-3 foot basic walls framed in with the crappiest 2x4x home depot sells, then something cheap and flexible looped between them kind of like a quonset hut. Maybe use PVC pipe for that, it's light and cheap. Stretch clear plastic over all that and frame in the most basic door possible on one end with more garbage 2x4s. poo poo thinking about it you might be able to just make the entire thing out of PVC pipe if you just drive a few metal poles in to serve as anchors that the corners slide over. Point being you don't need much in the way of structure to support plastic sheeting. Really the biggest challenge is going to be wind.
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Mar 4, 2024 14:55
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Cyrano4747 posted:On the other hand, look at how little space the lady in that pic has to actually stand up in. I don't know about you, but when I'm gardening I very much value having some vertical space so that I can stand up and not be hunched over all the time. Not to mention it constrains how high your plants can get. Yeah, standard hoop house design is just 3/4" PVC bent ocer into pipes exactly like that, with a 1/3 on each side a foot or 2 above the ground to hold everything together and a 2x4 or so ridge beam. If you want to get real fancy you can make end caps out of plywood with doors and stuff. Or you could just close it with the draped over plastic. My last hoop house was made out of 3/4" EMT (electrical conduit) and could survive being covered in snow without having to clear it off.  Complete with drip irrigation and power 
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Mar 4, 2024 15:07
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Sounds like I'll be looking at Webers! I also have a covered deck so any weathering is pretty minor. I did see one at Lowes Depot (I forget which) and it was electronic and connected to your phone. gently caress that noise, give me something basic. It annoys me that people make things internet/wifi just because they can.
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Mar 4, 2024 15:36
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Curious if any fellow home-owning goons can advise on if I should take up this project myself or pay someone to do it. I have an attached shed/workshop on the back of my house that was clearly an addition, and has had a history of roof leaks. We have already had the shingling replaced with a flat sheet because it's not pitched correctly for actual shingles, but there still some cupping on the roof due to moisture damage of the wood underneath.  Shed  Roof  Moisture damage on ceiling Basically it seems like I'd need to take off the flat shingle and whatever is underneath it, rip out all the bad wood, replace it and redo the roofing. On a scale of 1 to Don't, what's the DIYability of this. Normally I hesitate to even touch roofwork but since this is just an added on shed it's kinda 
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Mar 4, 2024 17:00
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dweepus posted:Basically it seems like I'd need to take off the flat shingle and whatever is underneath it, rip out all the bad wood, replace it and redo the roofing. On a scale of 1 to Don't, what's the DIYability of this. Normally I hesitate to even touch roofwork but since this is just an added on shed it's kinda Based on these words alone you should not be doing any roof work on your home. It doesn't matter if it's an unfinished addition, it's still part of your house.
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Mar 4, 2024 17:03
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Everything about this portion of my deck belongs in the "Crappy Construction" thread, but we're trying to do what we can to limp it along for another 3-5 years. So I pulled all the decking off today. 30 year old pressure treated but otherwise unfinished 2x6's that are in rough shape and sagging because it turns out the supports are ~36" o.c. The posts seem to be in serviceable condition. However, the end near the pool is 2x8's with a 6x4 screwed into them, toe nailed into part of the 4x4's and also the ends of the joists. Needless to say, these are not structurally sound and I've currently propped them up with some scrap wood. There doesn't appear to be on off-the-shelf Simpson product for this type of connection, probably for good reason. Without replacing the posts, what's the best connection I can make here? One challenge is that I have pretty limited clearance in front of the posts to work, maybe 8". 
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Mar 5, 2024 00:12
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I'd say cut some short 2x2 sections, put them into the corner between the two pieces, and screw through them into the boards. It's not an amazing fix, but for "limp along for another few years", it should do OK. I did similar things with a falling-down fence.
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Mar 5, 2024 02:22
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New HVAC install today. Adding a whole house humidifier too, this house has needed one since before we moved in. Now to get the drat patio contractor to respond and get back to work now that it’s warming up…
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Mar 5, 2024 16:18
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brugroffil posted:Everything about this portion of my deck belongs in the "Crappy Construction" thread, but we're trying to do what we can to limp it along for another 3-5 years. I think you're on the right track. That whole area needs the weight transferred to the ground. For a temp fix I personally would put another post in behind with a 4x6 on top of that to take the weight (using a simpson bracket on top of the 4x4 or 4x6 post.) This is a deck, and a pool deck at that. People may jump from exactly this spot, causing a lot of dynamic load. That deck is built very wrong, and I wouldn't trust it a second longer than I had to.
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Mar 5, 2024 16:28
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devmd01 posted:
Concrete guys are so fuckin flakey.. I went through 3 until I found the 4th who was a guy who did it with his son in the summer after he was done teaching the spring semester at a local college.
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Mar 5, 2024 17:58
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tater_salad posted:Concrete guys are so fuckin flakey.. Every concrete guy around here who does resi jobs is either a raging alcoholic or employs pretty much exclusively raging alcoholics. It explains a lot about the scheduling and communications issues.
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Mar 5, 2024 18:02
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SouthShoreSamurai posted:I think you're on the right track. That whole area needs the weight transferred to the ground. For a temp fix I personally would put another post in behind with a 4x6 on top of that to take the weight (using a simpson bracket on top of the 4x4 or 4x6 post.) My growing horror as I popped more and more decking boards off And then when the middle section just collapsed when the last decking board holding that end board up was removed, lol This simple two weekend refresh has expanded quite a bit, but probably for the best!
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Mar 5, 2024 18:06
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Motronic posted:Every concrete guy around here who does resi jobs is either a raging alcoholic or employs pretty much exclusively raging alcoholics. It explains a lot about the scheduling and communications issues. After I got a concrete slab poured in my back yard, I found a large, empty bottle of tequila lying around, as a bonus gift.
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Mar 5, 2024 19:04
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Gotta get rid of the back pain somehow.
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Mar 5, 2024 19:11
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devmd01 posted:New HVAC install today. Adding a whole house humidifier too, this house has needed one since before we moved in. Which one did you get? This is on my list after a few other things solely because I’ve been in houses where you don’t need to run the main AC as much because it’s comfortable without making it 68 or whatever.
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Mar 6, 2024 13:46
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The PO put these swing-out blinds in every single window in the house. I don't like them; they block a lot of light even when the blinds are "open", and if you swing them away from the windows, they take up a ton of wall space around the window. At minimum, I'll be removing them from all of the non-bedroom windows. The inspector said they're expensive and that I might be able to sell them, though I'm not sure where I'd start. It'd help to know what they're called.
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Mar 6, 2024 14:09
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