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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Need some help friends. That box is the automatic feedwater valve that tops up your boiler as it loses water out the vents. You can continue running the boiler but it will eventually get low enough to trigger the low water shutoff sensor which will lock out your burner and stop it from dry-firing the unit. I'd say you probably have 24-48 hours of runtime depending on a bunch of different factors.
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Mar 4, 2023 14:57
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Leperflesh posted:Make sure your raised bed is made of something that won't leach anything into the soil you're growing food in. For example, most pressure-treated wood is not suitable for growing food. So is most paint, a lot of different wood stains, etc. If you're just growing flowers then w/e of course. Leperflesh posted:Raised beds, man. Just plop some raised beds down anywhere, put good gardening soil in them, and grow your veggies in them. They're way nicer anyway, you don't have to get on your knees on the ground to weed or pull out carrots or whatever, you can move them around if you want, you can run irrigation to them without too much issue using just a long hose or something, you can put wire over your seedlings if you need to keep them safe from critters, and you can leave your multi-layered landscaping foundation stuff alone. any more raised bed tips? about to install some I think.
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Mar 4, 2023 15:09
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RisqueBarber posted:any more raised bed tips? about to install some I think. Corrugated steel is very popular right now. Birdies are the premium brand, but there are others online if you look. However, modern ACQ pressure treated wood is widely considered food safe and is what I’ve used for my raised beds. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/ask-expert/featured/raised-bed-lumber-pressure-treated-safe I’ve built several of these by now and they’re not too difficult. In the past I’ve lightly tilled the areas I’ve put the beds to remove grass, but this year I’m just going to put them in place, lay down cardboard on the inside, and level them out with cardboard shims if necessary. Then I’ll dump pieces of my Christmas tree in the bottom before filling with soil. You don’t really need to be picky about what goes in the bottom so long as it’s organic matter. The top 8” or so are where you want to use a high-quality potting mix with some compost mixed in. Honestly, putting the beds together is the least important part. Just don’t skip preparing a very good upper layer of soil to plant in and you’ll be in good shape. 
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Mar 4, 2023 15:25
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We did cardboard, some old rotting logs, fill dirt and the several inches of high quality dirt Ours is made of mortared brick but that was a design choice
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Mar 4, 2023 15:51
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skybolt_1 posted:That box is the automatic feedwater valve that tops up your boiler as it loses water out the vents. You can continue running the boiler but it will eventually get low enough to trigger the low water shutoff sensor which will lock out your burner and stop it from dry-firing the unit. Thanks, exactly what I needed. Now to find a plumber who won’t just throw the cheapest piece of poo poo from Home Depot into my basement. Edit: Speaking of which, any recs for water heaters? Currently have a 50 gal natural gas from AO Smith Pilfered Pallbearers fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Mar 4, 2023 |
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Mar 4, 2023 16:13
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One thing I forgot to mention is to add outwardly downsloping drainage holes to the bottoms of the walls every couple of feet to help weep away excess water into the surrounding soil. If you use masonry that’s porous you probably don’t need to do this.
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Mar 4, 2023 16:56
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I've used 2x12 in the past but today I'd probably use 1x5" either 1 or 2 high. Grab one or two 8' long 1x1" or you can upgrade to 2x4 if you're feeling ambitious as corner posts. 4x4 is absolute overkill unless your raised beds are like 3+ feet tall. You can get treated wood but untreated wood should last you 5+ years. Minwax sells some exterior grade oil stain for like $6 a can if you really want to get fancy, I recommend "barn red". Screw it together with some leftover deck screws, or even drywall screws (which cost half as much) will be fine Like the other guy said the box is the least important part. The pressure on the sides of the box is almost zero so quality of materials and construction isn't super important. The first set I made were 4x8 foot. You can make them as long as you want but I don't recommend making them wider than about 3'. Yes you can stretch 2' to the middle of the 4' wide box to do weeding but it's hard to inspect plants in the center and do weeding regularly. That last 6" is just a bridge too far even if you're 6' tall Hadlock fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Mar 4, 2023 |
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Mar 4, 2023 17:51
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Pilfered Pallbearers posted:Thanks, exactly what I needed. "Not tankless" is really the sum total of my recommendation. They are really only indicated for specific limited scenarios yet people love to install them then have extremely predictable complaints ("it takes too long to get hot / its so noisy / it failed after 6 years because of my water chemistry"). The best way IMO to find out what the best one is would be to call your local Franklin / Ferguson / FW Webb supply house on like a Wednesday afternoon when they aren't busy and ask the counter guys which brands / models they see the fewest warranty claims on since they will be handling those claims on behalf of the manufacturer (taking the dud units back and exchanging for new).
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Mar 4, 2023 19:50
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Hadlock posted:I've used 2x12 in the past but today I'd probably use 1x5" either 1 or 2 high. Grab one or two 8' long 1x1" or you can upgrade to 2x4 if you're feeling ambitious as corner posts. 4x4 is absolute overkill unless your raised beds are like 3+ feet tall. You can get treated wood but untreated wood should last you 5+ years. Minwax sells some exterior grade oil stain for like $6 a can if you really want to get fancy, I recommend "barn red". Screw it together with some leftover deck screws, or even drywall screws (which cost half as much) will be fine I have used two-high 2x8’s for most things, wanted to make one slightly shorter for my son to reach easily and am going with a single 2x12 for that one. I’m betting I’m going to like it just as well and will do it that way in the future. The 4x4’s at the corners are absolutely overkill, yeah, they’re what I’ve had around in useless-sized scraps most of the time.
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Mar 4, 2023 21:56
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Interior paint question. Painted the living room semigloss and want to redo it in satin/eggshell. Semigloss is way too shiny. I’ve seen we need to sand the semigloss paint to rough it up, but a lot of sites say you need to prime it as well. Is priming necessary if we’re using the same exact color, just an eggshell finish?
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Mar 5, 2023 12:15
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nwin posted:Interior paint question. You can probably avoid sanding by doing a pre-wash with trisodium phosphate (tsp) or a phosphate free substitute which will degloss the surface and give the new paint something to grab onto. I have done this in two houses worth of painting jobs and never had an adhesion failure. I don't think you need to worry about a primer.
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Mar 5, 2023 13:30
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There's also liquid deglosser/ liquid sandpaper that you can wipe that wall down with to give the wall a bit of tack for the new paint to adhere to. You just have to paint within a certain time frame after you wipe the walls with it.
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Mar 5, 2023 13:52
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Thanks! Seems like this should work for my needs…that’s way better than sanding and priming. I’ve got tomorrow off work so I planned to paint it then anyways. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jasco-32-oz-Indoor-Outdoor-Paint-Preparation-Cleaner/50298105
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Mar 5, 2023 14:34
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nwin posted:Thanks! Seems like this should work for my needs…that’s way better than sanding and priming. I’ve got tomorrow off work so I planned to paint it then anyways. Ideally you want something that will degrease as well as degloss, i.e. one of these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/TSP-Deck-Cleaner/3014065 https://www.lowes.com/pd/TSP-PF-16-oz-Deck-Cleaner/3033736 Dont ask me why they are calling this "deck cleaner" but it's the stuff I've always used. Edit: this goes 110% for kitchens and adjacent rooms because of all the airborne cooking grease particles.
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Mar 5, 2023 14:38
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skybolt_1 posted:Ideally you want something that will degrease as well as degloss, i.e. one of these: Hmm, we just painted it a week ago and it was prepped well before then. Think the degreaser is really necessary?
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Mar 5, 2023 15:04
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nwin posted:Hmm, we just painted it a week ago and it was prepped well before then. Think the degreaser is really necessary? Nah wouldn't be any need unless you've been spraying your walls down with Pam since you painted. Your week old paint also isn't fully cured yet which works in your favor adhesion-wise to paint over it soon.
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Mar 5, 2023 15:30
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nwin posted:Hmm, we just painted it a week ago and it was prepped well before then. Think the degreaser is really necessary? My bad - missed the fact it was only painted a week ago. You're good with the deglosser.
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Mar 5, 2023 15:57
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I noticed one of the bathrooms has pretty bad cracks in the grout. Am I a total trash person if I seal it with clear RTV? Basically I’ve never dealt with grout and I’m trying to figure out if now is the time I have to learn, or if there’s an easier answer.
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Mar 9, 2023 02:50
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Uhh I wouldn’t use RTV. They make clear silicone caulk if you want to go that direction. They also make a sanded ceramic tile caulking that works fairly well for repairs like this. You might be able to find one somewhat close to that color. This is what they sell at my local Home Depot https://www.homedepot.com/p/Custom-Building-Products-Polyblend-380-Haystack-10-5-oz-Sanded-Ceramic-Tile-Caulk-PC38010S/100678064
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Mar 9, 2023 03:42
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God, digging that sanded caulk out of a seam to reseal a tub was the worst. I wore two multitool scrapers and several other blades away to nothing.
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Mar 9, 2023 04:32
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Maybe this is a question for the interior design thread, but where do you find good light fixtures? Like, decent quality, not fugly, but decent price. Not luxury/high end stuff, but something better than the junk at LowesDepot. I have a couple fixtures I need to swap out, both of them are 4' CFL tubes... one builder grade fixture in the kitchen, and another basic-rear end exposed tube in a closet. The main drive here is that for some reason I cannot find a good 4' LED tube replacement. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like everything I find is like half the lumens of the CFLs I have, so I figure at this point the best move is just to swap the entire fixture out.
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Mar 9, 2023 15:10
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A lighting store. Like, a dedicated one. Sometimes included as the front side of an electrical supply house. They will have samples/examples of things and be able to order a whole lot of variations of all of it out of their catalogs.
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Mar 9, 2023 15:30
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I found some decent light fixtures at Globe Lighting here in Portland, having a show room you can go to is nice since some fixtures look great in the catalog but in reality they are cheaply made. https://www.globelighting.com/
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Mar 9, 2023 19:30
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DaveSauce posted:Raleigh has like a bajillion jobs, and the area is otherwise fairly desirable to live in and USED to be an average-ish COL area, so the area has gone totally ape poo poo. Wake County has been like top 10 nationally in population growth I think for the past several years. Lots of tech, lots of pharma, and lots of manufacturing outside the city... something for everyone. All my CA friends who have entertained the thought of a move across the country are all looking at either Raleigh or Nashville or have already moved to one of the two. Atlanta was almost always considered but everyone was turned off by the size and traffic, plus the COL there is also getting worse. Everyone’s more scared of snow than chuds so the Midwest is still right out.
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Mar 10, 2023 03:28
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ProperGanderPusher posted:All my CA friends who have entertained the thought of a move across the country are all looking at either Raleigh or Nashville or have already moved to one of the two. Atlanta was almost always considered but everyone was turned off by the size and traffic, plus the COL there is also getting worse. Most of the midwest loving sucks. Here's the part of the conversation where we debate for pages and pages what constitutes "midwest" vs "plains" and all get a well-deserved pummeling by mods for it.  Obvious answer: All of it sucks regardless of designation except for maybe parts of Minnesota, and even then you have to love snow, mosquitos, and snowsquitos.
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Mar 10, 2023 04:00
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Sundae posted:Most of the midwest loving sucks. Here's the part of the conversation where we debate for pages and pages what constitutes "midwest" vs "plains" and all get a well-deserved pummeling by mods for it. Please keep this narrative alive so no one comes here and fucks up what's great.
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Mar 10, 2023 04:30
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I fuckin love snow, I don't really notice any mosquitoes where I am, and Minnesota state law requires me to deny the existence of snowquitoes.
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Mar 10, 2023 04:30
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Sundae posted:Most of the midwest loving sucks. Here's the part of the conversation where we debate for pages and pages what constitutes "midwest" vs "plains" and all get a well-deserved pummeling by mods for it. I keep hearing Michigan is one of the country’s best kept secrets in terms of natural beauty but everyone assumes it’s just another rust belt shithole because they saw a documentary on Detroit twenty years ago. Not sure about the Great Plains-Midwest dichotomy. My Kansan grandparents thought of themselves as midwestern. ProperGanderPusher fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Mar 10, 2023 |
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Mar 10, 2023 04:34
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ProperGanderPusher posted:I keep hearing Michigan is one of the country’s best kept secrets in terms of natural beauty but everyone assumes it’s just another rust belt shithole because they saw a documentary on Detroit twenty years ago. Michigan’s pretty but it’s also flat and gray a lot of the time.
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Mar 10, 2023 04:36
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I was very alarmed to find out that the east coast (east of I-95) is one giant swamp and the political phrase "drain the swamp" wasn't invented in a vacuum. I've seen some mosquitoes in the bay area but it wasn't like, apocalypse level like it is here in coastal NC California has earthquakes and the whole lack of water thing, but also, no mosquitoes, no recognizable pollen season, no hurricanes. It also rarely freezes for more than 48 hours (as long as you don't go to the mountains) NC is like, Feb/March/April: apocalyptic pollen season; may June July: apocalyptic mosquito and crushing humidity, August Sept Oct Nov: hurricane and tropical storm. In January the Chinese spy balloons invade Yeah you better keep a tight lid on those snowsquitoes I just crossed MN off my list forever
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Mar 10, 2023 04:56
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Hadlock posted:I was very alarmed to find out that the east coast (east of I-95) is one giant swamp and the political phrase "drain the swamp" wasn't invented in a vacuum. I've seen some mosquitoes in the bay area but it wasn't like, apocalypse level like it is here in coastal NC There’s your mistake. When people say east coast, no one means the south east. Down there loving sucks. As long as you can tolerate winters, north east is what east coast USA is all about.
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Mar 10, 2023 05:26
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ProperGanderPusher posted:I keep hearing Michigan is one of the country’s best kept secrets in terms of natural beauty but everyone assumes it’s just another rust belt shithole because they saw a documentary on Detroit twenty years ago. My brother has lived in Michigan (East Lansing specifically) for like six years. He loving hates that state, at least on a political and "would like to not have to drive everywhere" level. The plains-Midwest dichotomy was made clear to me by people in Kansas, of all things. I referred to it as the midwest when I lived there and MANY people corrected me and were very offended. They weren't in the midwest, they were in the plains. I lived in western KS at the time of that unforgiveable offense and the eastern KS ppl didn't say anything when I lived there, so maybe that's a west-KS thing.
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Mar 10, 2023 05:42
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Hadlock posted:I was very alarmed to find out that the east coast (east of I-95) is one giant swamp and the political phrase "drain the swamp" wasn't invented in a vacuum. I've seen some mosquitoes in the bay area but it wasn't like, apocalypse level like it is here in coastal NC The cheap water here in Georgia is pretty nice. I’ll give it that. What’s not so nice is, as you said, the crushing humidity that causes my house to need moss removal and power washing semi-regularly. Pollen season is made worse by the fact the nearby military base chooses this time of year to burn thousands of acres of underbrush. It’s like I never left the Bay Area! And the bugs. I’ve never dealt with so many wasp infestations. At least there’s plenty of anoles and corn spiders on my property to eat the other stuff. The move was still worth it. Bay Area rent can take a long walk off a short pier.
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Mar 10, 2023 05:53
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As someone from Western Michigan, parts of the state are incredibly beautiful and there are a lot of outdoor opportunities, it's just very flat. No good skiing. No big mountains. Winter is brutal and lasts 6 months. Summer can be brutal and lasts about 3. Spring is just winter lite, fall is an incredible time in Michigan but now it only seems to last about a week or two. The mosquitos are awful and so is the humidity. The roads are always under construction. Job prospects vary significantly depending on the city. Much of the state is agricultural. Lots of farms and forests. The great lakes are incredibly beautiful. I enjoyed growing up there but I'm glad I moved out but I still enjoy visiting. So I said gently caress it, what is money anyway, and moved to Seattle.
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Mar 10, 2023 11:36
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The UP is surprisingly fantastic if you want to go stargazing
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Mar 10, 2023 16:15
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Plumber thinks I should get a new toilet due to something stuck in the one I have. Have literally never bought a toilet - any recommendations on what to get?
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Mar 10, 2023 17:06
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Medullah posted:Plumber thinks I should get a new toilet due to something stuck in the one I have. Have literally never bought a toilet - any recommendations on what to get? I bought a Toto and it's the best toilet I've ever used.
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Mar 10, 2023 17:14
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Hadlock posted:California has ... no recognizable pollen season ... except for in the SF Bay Area where in the spring literally everything gets caked with half an inch of yellow dust.
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Mar 10, 2023 17:16
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SpartanIvy posted:I bought a Toto and it's the best toilet I've ever used. Which model?
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Mar 10, 2023 17:51
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Medullah posted:Plumber thinks I should get a new toilet due to something stuck in the one I have. Have literally never bought a toilet - any recommendations on what to get? I believe there was a recent southpark that addressed this issue directly
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Mar 10, 2023 19:35
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