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Proper post holes are a bell shape so the post is harder to pull out and is more lean resistant. You will probably not encounter these ever unless you are yanking out a commercial swing set.
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Oct 26, 2017 14:15
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One house we looked at during our search had a a laundry line attached to a pole that was embedded in a concrete post block located more or less in the middle of the yard. Guess they were really worried about their laundry line falling over.
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Oct 26, 2017 14:45
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novamute posted:Any way to remove an old standalone newspaper box that is easier than trying to dig the drat metal post out? Looks like it goes pretty deep. Nobody gets a paper anymore and even if they did it'd just get dumped in the driveway anyway. I could just angle grind it off I guess but I'd rather get the metal out of the ground if I can. It has holes through it, if I found some rebar or something small enough there might be a chance I could just get a car jack under it. If you happen to have access to a truck/chain and have an old wheel, you can but the wheel up to the post, run the chain as close to ground as possible and hook to post, then other end to truck. Then pull it out with the truck. The wheel makes sure the pulling force goes up instead of to the side.
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Oct 26, 2017 15:16
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z0331 posted:One house we looked at during our search had a a laundry line attached to a pole that was embedded in a concrete post block located more or less in the middle of the yard. Guess they were really worried about their laundry line falling over. This reminds me of one we had as a kid. It was a rural house so they build the post out of what they had on hand, in this case two 6 inch ibeams with a bar welded to the top. Now these beams are a pain to cut and these were pretty long so you just use the back hoe to dig a deeper hole. Anyway fast forward 15 years into the future and some unfortunate bread truck driver hits some ice falls asleep whatever happened and runs off the road right into one of the poles. Luckily he was not going too fast and didn't die but he totaled his truck. We had bread all over the yard.
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Oct 26, 2017 15:28
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Elephanthead posted:Proper post holes are a bell shape so the post is harder to pull out and is more lean resistant. You will probably not encounter these ever unless you are yanking out a commercial swing set. Also as the ground goes through freeze/thaw cycles the expansion of the ground will actively lock the anchoring in place (pushing it down from the top part of the bell) rather than possibly working it upwards/outwards.
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Oct 26, 2017 19:16
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Our neighbors helped us pull a couple of those with a post puller that worked like a car jack. They got one out, and the other one sheared off at ground level. If I were to do again, I would dig first.
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Oct 26, 2017 21:22
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QuarkJets posted:Posts about posts https://www.strongtie.com/fences_decksandfences/ezproducts_productgroup_wcc/p/e-z-base.-e-z-mender.e-z-spike I'd also consider whacking one of the concrete bases with a sledge and see if the 2 foot part isn't just a few inches deep, if it is full depth it seems a waste not to just use these existing oversized bases.
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Oct 27, 2017 23:55
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Bibendum posted:There are some products that are made to fix just this issue. My bullshit posts aren't 4x4s. They're about a quarter inch smaller (aka 3.25" instead of 3.5"). So these things would be too big, and looking around other people have posts like mine and complained that these things don't come in the size they need
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Oct 28, 2017 11:06
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Noticed that irrigation timer didn't have power, so I ran to Home Depot for a new transformer, which didn't work, so I went back for a new irrigation timer. And then I noticed that one of my automatic valves was leaking, so I ran to Home Depot again for a new one of those (none of the hardware stores here sell just the parts for them). Have blown my whole saturday just replacing irrigation poo poo homeownership!
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Oct 29, 2017 03:49
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QuarkJets posted:Noticed that irrigation timer didn't have power, so I ran to Home Depot for a new transformer, which didn't work, so I went back for a new irrigation timer. And then I noticed that one of my automatic valves was leaking, so I ran to Home Depot again for a new one of those (none of the hardware stores here sell just the parts for them). Have blown my whole saturday just replacing irrigation poo poo Planning a project, going to Home Depot, getting home, and completing the project without forgetting anything, and with no unexpected problems causing you to have to return to Home Depot makes you feel like a loving god.
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Oct 29, 2017 13:26
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Home depot will take things back. I usually cut my loses and plan two trips, one I buy the entire inventory of parts for whatever I am fixing, then the second trip I return what I didn't use.
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Oct 29, 2017 14:15
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Elephanthead posted:Home depot will take things back. I usually cut my loses and plan two trips, one I buy the entire inventory of parts for whatever I am fixing, then the second trip I return what I didn't use. And buy that washer you dropped down the drain forever.
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Oct 29, 2017 14:58
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Squirrels kept trying to dig up the flowers my wife planted, so I bought some repellent and sprayed it, and this kind of feels like a situation where the cure is worse than the disease because now I am assailed by an awful smell every time I use the front door.
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Oct 29, 2017 17:02
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Feed the squirrels so they stop vandalizing your flower bed.
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Oct 29, 2017 20:07
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I put some static cling window tinting film on my front door - it's the only window in the house that didn't already have film professionally installed on it. The instructions say to leave a 1/16th gap around the film to leave room for thermal expansion of the film, so it looks pretty good but there is a noticeable strip of brightness at the bottom of the window. Does anyone happen to know if it would be OK to put a thin bead of caulk/silicone over the edge of the film to the wood trim of the window? Or would that screw up the film's ability to expand in the heat? I would probably only do the bottom edge because the top and sides don't really have the same bright line - must be the way the light reflects through the glass. Here is the product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HE57JS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Oct 30, 2017 01:07
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QuarkJets posted:Noticed that irrigation timer didn't have power, so I ran to Home Depot for a new transformer, which didn't work, so I went back for a new irrigation timer. And then I noticed that one of my automatic valves was leaking, so I ran to Home Depot again for a new one of those (none of the hardware stores here sell just the parts for them). Have blown my whole saturday just replacing irrigation poo poo The real trick is buying a house that's only a few minutes away from a hardware store!
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Oct 30, 2017 01:50
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devicenull posted:The real trick is buying a house that's only a few minutes away from a hardware store! Ace is down the road but carried neither the transformer I needed nor 6-station irrigation timers
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Oct 30, 2017 01:52
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QuarkJets posted:Ace is down the road but carried neither the transformer I needed nor 6-station irrigation timers Considering every Ace Hardware I have ever been in seemed to have at least half of its shelves empty with the rest being seasonal crap that they put by the door at a Home Depot or Lowes that does not shock me.
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Oct 30, 2017 02:21
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QuarkJets posted:Ace is down the road but carried neither the transformer I needed nor 6-station irrigation timers Sprinklerwarehouse.com has reasonable prices and a good selection, I’ve found.
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Oct 30, 2017 15:37
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Elephanthead posted:Feed the squirrels so they stop vandalizing your flower bed. Does this really work? My mother-in-law is constantly complaining to me about the squirrels digging up her planters and the best solution I can come up with is to get her a pellet gun.
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Oct 30, 2017 17:24
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Economic Sinkhole posted:Does this really work? My mother-in-law is constantly complaining to me about the squirrels digging up her planters and the best solution I can come up with is to get her a pellet gun. I'm hoping it was a joke because squirrels can pack away ungodly amounts of seed if you have it freely available. They are tree rats, and unless you have a healthy raptor population there are probably too many if them for your neighborhood anyway. Same goes for white tail deer anywhere on the east coast.
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Oct 30, 2017 17:44
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Economic Sinkhole posted:Does this really work? My mother-in-law is constantly complaining to me about the squirrels digging up her planters and the best solution I can come up with is to get her a pellet gun. Take up falconry. Edit: f;b
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Oct 30, 2017 17:45
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LogisticEarth posted:I'm hoping it was a joke because squirrels can pack away ungodly amounts of seed if you have it freely available. They are tree rats, and unless you have a healthy raptor population there are probably too many if them for your neighborhood anyway. The other thing I've read is that this has the opposite of the desired effect by encouraging squirrels to think of your home as a place to look for food On the plus side the repellent stinks a lot less after a day but I don't know if it works yet.
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Oct 30, 2017 18:19
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I have no idea how to stop squirrels from doing squirrel things please don't expect success listening to me. Killing them all would probably be effective. Maybe feed them in the neighbors yard.
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Oct 30, 2017 19:17
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Science Friday was talking about a new laser repellent system for blueberry growers, basically the lasers mimic some peripheral sense of a predator coming down, and it really works amazingly well over a long period for birds. ... It's only about ten thousand dollars per unit... In some thread a goon was talking about DIYing a small cheap electric fence from tractor supply... Maybe something worth looking into?
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Oct 30, 2017 19:27
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Elephanthead posted:I have no idea how to stop squirrels from doing squirrel things please don't expect success listening to me. Killing them all would probably be effective. Maybe feed them in the neighbors yard. You kill them, and then more come back. Squirrels are a nightmare here (Colorado with big trees) and my policy is to trap and kill anytime they are caught in garden or chicken feed.
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Oct 30, 2017 20:58
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Anyone have a through the wall combined air conditioner/heater? I'm finally realizing the cold room I have with a horrible draft is due to this idiotic thing. I think I can seal the outside while it's on heater mode without an issue but am going to try to research more, and then also cover the whole interior when it's not running. What a pain in the rear end
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Oct 31, 2017 15:34
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mastershakeman posted:Anyone have a through the wall combined air conditioner/heater? I'm finally realizing the cold room I have with a horrible draft is due to this idiotic thing. I think I can seal the outside while it's on heater mode without an issue but am going to try to research more, and then also cover the whole interior when it's not running. What a pain in the rear end I think the current deal is to do a mini split where the only hole is for a refrigerant pipe to pass through instead of a window AC type hole. You need a spot on the ground for a mini split though.
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Oct 31, 2017 16:28
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Anyone have any experience with single versus two stage heating and cooling? We're looking to replace our two complete HVAC units, and after going over some options we're trying to decide between single stage or multi stage systems. Specifically we're looking at either a Lennox 14ACX + EL180E for single stage heating/cooling or a Lennox XC16 + SL280V for two stage heating/cooling. However both my wife and I have only ever lived in houses with single stage heating/cooling so we have no idea what we're actually missing by not having the two stage system. Another option is to split these up and get 2 stage heat + single stage air, or single stage heat + 2 stage air. Looking online it's hard to find much information other than the two stage provides for more comfort, but thats really hard to quantify. If you had upgraded from a single to a two stage system, did you notice a big difference? The cost difference (for this, our first quote) is about $5000 combined for both units.
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Nov 1, 2017 23:21
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The only thing I do not like about my single stage AC unit is the single stage units are cheaper and louder. If I did it again I would wire a more expense AC to run in single stage. (My house is dumb and full blast is the only effective cooling for an open upstairs area).
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Nov 2, 2017 00:09
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Steampunk Hitler posted:Anyone have any experience with single versus two stage heating and cooling? We're looking to replace our two complete HVAC units, and after going over some options we're trying to decide between single stage or multi stage systems. Looking online this looks like the kind of thing heat pump systems do with variable blower and heat/cool rates and it is indeed glorious if your home holds its temperature. The system runs for much longer periods of time but at whisper quiet levels. You would want to ensure your home is correctly air sealed, have insulation in your walls and attic, double paned windows, etc. It really helps prevent "oh god I am freezing my hands off directly under this air vent while everyone else is comfortable" and "turn up the TV the A/C just kicked on." You pay handsomely for this. If you don't care or haven't noticed your current system just get a modern equivalent.
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Nov 2, 2017 01:25
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H110Hawk posted:Looking online this looks like the kind of thing heat pump systems do with variable blower and heat/cool rates and it is indeed glorious if your home holds its temperature. The system runs for much longer periods of time but at whisper quiet levels. You would want to ensure your home is correctly air sealed, have insulation in your walls and attic, double paned windows, etc. It really helps prevent "oh god I am freezing my hands off directly under this air vent while everyone else is comfortable" and "turn up the TV the A/C just kicked on." I *assume* we have all of those things since our house was built in 2003, but you never know... I guess I'll need to decide if having less blasting cold/hot air coming directly out of the vents and a quieter runtime is worth the $5k. Thanks!
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Nov 2, 2017 03:06
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This is a terrible assumption.
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Nov 2, 2017 04:27
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Steampunk Hitler posted:I *assume* we have all of those things since our house was built in 2003, but you never know... I guess I'll need to decide if having less blasting cold/hot air coming directly out of the vents and a quieter runtime is worth the $5k. Thanks! Do not assume. Get an energy audit. Odds are you've got decent enough insulation almost everywhere it needs to be, and a couple of missed spots that make it all worthless. Because houses are great.
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Nov 2, 2017 07:01
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Taking a look at an older home from the 1940s. It's cute and has excellent room sizes on the downstairs, but the upstairs leaves a lot to be desired. The staircase is narrow and steep (not much of a deal breaker imo except moving in will suck) but the two 'real' bedrooms have extreme sloped ceilings and the third bedroom (listed as loft space because it does not have a built-in closet) uses prefab walls instead of drywall on studs. Am I right in assuming it would potentially be impossible to replace those prefab walls with real walls because of weight issues? The prefab walls look cheap and trashy and I'm having horrible flashbacks to summer vacations to my grandparents' mobile home. We'll get a contractor to look at it as well but the more insight the better. I'd post pictures but imgur is not cooperating.
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Nov 2, 2017 19:12
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just another posted:Taking a look at an older home from the 1940s. It's cute and has excellent room sizes on the downstairs, but the upstairs leaves a lot to be desired. The staircase is narrow and steep (not much of a deal breaker imo except moving in will suck) but the two 'real' bedrooms have extreme sloped ceilings and the third bedroom (listed as loft space because it does not have a built-in closet) uses prefab walls instead of drywall on studs. Sounds like a typical Cape Cod. It's kind of hard to figure out remotely if the home has any structural issues, but if a framed wall is enough to stress the structure, there is something hilariously wrong with the house. Most likely it was a lazy/cheap renovation, or they were trying to save space (a framed wall is usually around 5-6" wide).
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Nov 2, 2017 19:20
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Steampunk Hitler posted:Anyone have any experience with single versus two stage heating and cooling? We're looking to replace our two complete HVAC units, and after going over some options we're trying to decide between single stage or multi stage systems. An update to this, the HVAC contractor I had out just emailed me with another set of options, both two stage cooling/heating but 80% vs 96% efficient. This time instead of Lennox he was using Goodman brand (saying that while they've been a Lennox Premiere Dealer for awhile, they've just recently become a Goodman Premiere Dealer and started selling Goodman as well). From what I can tell online, it appears like Goodman is a decent brand (and it has a better warranty, 10 years parts and labor vs 10 year parts) that gets a bad reputation because they'll sell to practically anyone and installation matters more than the actual brand name. Is that a pretty accurate estimate? The prices for the Goodman install is about $6000 less than the Lennox 2 stage (and is cheaper than the Lennox single stage as well) so unless there's a reason to prefer Lennox over Goodman when installed by the same person, it seems like a no brainer to me. If it matters, the model numbers on the Goodman units are GMVC80+DSXC16 or GMVC96+DSCX16.
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Nov 2, 2017 20:55
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Your research on Goodman is correct. They are a middle of the road brand with middle of the road features/quality that are absolutely comparable to other middle of the road units. I have one in my bar that I've been abusing for many years now (it's installed in an unconditioned space which is totally wrong but keeps on trucking anyway). Install and support really is what matters. Goodman gets their rep because lovely plumbers and general laborers buy them and slap them in place with no knowledge of HVAC with the expected results.
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Nov 2, 2017 21:51
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A good install is more important then brand. I think you should get at least quotes from 5 different companies though, (5 that you would hire not 5 at random).
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Nov 3, 2017 02:36
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So those fire extinguishers you probably have? Turns out they may not actually work: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2017/kidde-recalls-fire-extinguishers-with-plastic-handles-due-to-failure-to-discharge-and
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Nov 3, 2017 23:40
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