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stealie72 posted:Do you have a mulching mower/can you add mulching blades to your mower? Congratulations, you don't have to rake and you've added some natural feed to your lawn for the spring. Your lawn will look like it's got shredded leaves on it, but whatever. I haven't raked since I moved away from my first house with the postage stamp lawn. This works in some places for some density and species of trees. It is not a generally applicable solution. In may situations it just leads to excess thatch up to dead patches of grass from excess coverage, snow mold, etc.
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Oct 23, 2023 15:38
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Poldarn posted:I moved from a place with no trees in the yard to a place with...several trees in the yard. I know I have to rake the leaves in the back before it snows, but do I need to rake the pinecones in the front too? I imagine so, but I've never seen or heard of anyone raking pinecones. Depending on how you feel, and I guess your potential HOA, leaving the leaves is actually helpful for a lot of the insects that help pollinate. So I wouldn't say it is required at all. It's more of a look type of question that depends on your region and trees.
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Oct 23, 2023 15:56
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Motronic posted:This works in some places for some density and species of trees. It is not a generally applicable solution. In may situations it just leads to excess thatch up to dead patches of grass from excess coverage, snow mold, etc. Agreed. My 1.5 acre lot with plenty of oak trees will not allow me to just mulch everything.
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Oct 23, 2023 16:36
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Douche4Sale posted:Depending on how you feel, and I guess your potential HOA, leaving the leaves is actually helpful for a lot of the insects that help pollinate. So I wouldn't say it is required at all. It's more of a look type of question that depends on your region and trees. No HOA and everything is fenced off, except for the pine trees in the front. The big impetus for raking the leaves is the dog tracks them into the house and they like to stick to his big bushy tail.
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Oct 23, 2023 16:54
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Poldarn posted:No HOA and everything is fenced off, except for the pine trees in the front. The big impetus for raking the leaves is the dog tracks them into the house and they like to stick to his big bushy tail. Solution: Rake your dog.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:07
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Leaf chat! Last year I did a two pass approach. Early in the season when there were some but not a ridiculous amount, I mulched them. I did it again later and blew the broken up leaves into flower beds and some went into the grass clibbins pile for composting. The most annoying parts are the pinecones, which I usually just kick into a pile. The squirrels eat them and I'm left with little pine come cobs. The other annoying bits are the locust tree seed pods. Too heavy to blow and when they get broken then I get seedlings popping up. So I get a shoulder workout with the rake.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:12
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Poldarn posted:I moved from a place with no trees in the yard to a place with...several trees in the yard. I know I have to rake the leaves in the back before it snows, but do I need to rake the pinecones in the front too? I imagine so, but I've never seen or heard of anyone raking pinecones. Why do the leaves need to be raked before it snows?
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Oct 23, 2023 17:15
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George H.W. oval office posted:I lived next to Sun City in the 90s and I made the mistake of trying to do a Boy Scout fundraiser there exactly once. Buncha angry rear end olds that won’t help a kid out. gently caress Sun City Yeah these developments are parasitic at best. The developers sell the plans to a small municipality with promises of tax revenue only for the residents vote as a bloc against any spending that doesn't directly benefit them and only them and vote against any taxation whatsoever. The residents are also typically extremely hostile to anyone not in their private club and are skinflints when it comes to spending in local stores. Doing the stack of dollars when eating out, haggling over expired coupons, just the worst kind of customers out there. It was very very funny when Georgetown TX became such a large bedroom community for Austin that the voters in Sun City TX got outvoted and a major school construction bond passed for the first time in forever. Boomer/Silent assholes lost their goddamn minds. Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Oct 23, 2023 |
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Oct 23, 2023 17:16
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I have two acres of leaves he;lp
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Oct 23, 2023 17:18
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My ginkgo tree is fruiting again this year so in addition to cleaning up all its leaves I'll also get to pick up its fruit that's toxic to your skin with a nut inside that is also toxic unless you cook it, and even then if you eat too many of them you will poison yourself. Also when they start to rot or you step on and squish them they smell like dog poo poo, or maybe vomit, depending on who you ask. I say dog poo poo. It's really pretty in the fall tho
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Oct 23, 2023 17:20
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QuarkJets posted:Why do the leaves need to be raked before it snows? You increase the chance of getting gray or pink snow mold, which can lead to a turf kill-off in the spring.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:21
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QuarkJets posted:Why do the leaves need to be raked before it snows? I dunno, everyone else is doing it. Motronic posted:You increase the chance of getting gray or pink snow mold, which can lead to a turf kill-off in the spring. Uhhhh, this.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:29
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nwin posted:Agreed. My 1.5 acre lot with plenty of oak trees will not allow me to just mulch everything. Just mulch twice a day, duh
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Oct 23, 2023 17:30
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If all your grass dies you can plant ecologically useful things though. Leave your leaves, bing bong so simple
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Oct 23, 2023 17:34
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Y'all are making up snow mold, right? Right?Shifty Pony posted:It was very very funny when Georgetown TX became such a large bedroom community for Austin that the voters in Sun City TX got outvoted and a major school construction bond passed for the first time in forever. Boomer/Silent assholes lost their goddamn minds.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:39
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Motronic posted:... pink snow mold.... Y'all are just making poo poo up now
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Oct 23, 2023 17:40
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Y'all are making up snow mold, right? Right? No. https://turfdisease.osu.edu/news/snow-mold-how-much-damage-and-what-can-be-done Since it is a couple different types of fungus it's more prevalent in some areas than others.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:42
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Sirotan posted:My ginkgo tree is fruiting again this year so in addition to cleaning up all its leaves I'll also get to pick up its fruit that's toxic to your skin with a nut inside that is also toxic unless you cook it, and even then if you eat too many of them you will poison yourself. Also when they start to rot or you step on and squish them they smell like dog poo poo, or maybe vomit, depending on who you ask. I say dog poo poo. One of the few good things PO did around the yard was plant a ginkgo. I mean, it's directly over the buried power line feeding the adjacent cul de sac, but that's neither here nor there... Never had fruit until like 3 years ago, but it's never been a big deal. Never noticed a smell, at least. I was prepared for the worst when I first saw fruit hanging from the branches, but so far it hasn't been bad. Only other annoying thing about it is the leaves don't stay long enough. They usually get blown off just before they reach a nice golden/yellow color. Other than that it's a great specimen and seems quite happy where it is. Growing straight, just need to do a bit more pruning to raise the crown so I don't get smacked in the face whenever I mow around it. PO also planted some daffodils around it, but now that it's bigger the daffodil bulbs are like 4" from the trunk so we'll have to move those before they start growing next year... which around here is like late January. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Oct 23, 2023 |
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Oct 23, 2023 17:43
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For my smallish yard with lots of trees, I use a mulching lawn mower with the bag to collect them and toss them in my yard cart. The mulching greatly increases the amount I can fit in my cart each week vs raking. I wish my mower had a bigger bag just for leaves because i have to empty it frequently but it still is way quicker than raking. If I had a bigger yard I might have gotten a billy goat leaf vacuum but they're too expensive for my needs.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:46
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DaveSauce posted:One of the few good things PO did around the yard was plant a ginkgo. Yeah I was laying it on a bit for effect but I have loved ginkgos for forever so when I saw this one in the yard on my initial walk through of the house, it felt like a sign. There's a plaque in the garage indicating the origin of the tree and when it was planted. PO said it was a male, but it fruited my first fall in the house (2019) and is now fruiting again for the second time. I'm not actually sure if that means it has changed genders (which is apparently a thing), or the PO was wrong. I do wish the leaves would stay a bit longer too. It's absolutely gorgeous when it's all golden yellow. This is from last year:  The fruit definitely has a smell to me and cleaning it out of the treads of my boots really sucks. I'll probably be out there later today trying to pick up as many as I can before they rot.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:48
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Why did you plant female ginkos Edit: oh, gotcha, nevermind, sorry
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Oct 23, 2023 17:50
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Is there more to tell? It was mostly confined to the comment sections of local news outlets and such, which the Sun City residents all hung out in because they had nothing better to do than be assholes to everyone else. The comment sections are long gone as pretty much every news site has realized they are cesspools.
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Oct 23, 2023 17:51
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Why did you plant female ginkos Yeah to emphasize: Sirotan posted:I'm not actually sure if that means it has changed genders (which is apparently a thing), or the PO was wrong. We didn't know enough to ask when we bought the house, but when ours started fruiting I looked it up because it had never fruited before so I was confused. Apparently changing sex is a thing they do, but also it's nearly impossible to tell which sex they are until they're mature, which can easily be 15+ years after you've planted it.
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Oct 23, 2023 18:03
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My deck is looking pretty weathered and it's lost whatever varnish it ever had. it's about 22 by 14 feet, and one floor up off the ground. I called some deck place and got a quote, 2600 to varnish the deck. They said 'we have a 5-man crew we'd send over!' I'm now considering doing it myself, but I have a job, kids, and a wife that works a lot during weekends, so I'd rather pay someone. 2600 is a 'gently caress you' price, right?
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Oct 23, 2023 18:23
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redreader posted:My deck is looking pretty weathered and it's lost whatever varnish it ever had. it's about 22 by 14 feet, and one floor up off the ground. I called some deck place and got a quote, 2600 to varnish the deck. They said 'we have a 5-man crew we'd send over!' I'm now considering doing it myself, but I have a job, kids, and a wife that works a lot during weekends, so I'd rather pay someone. 2600 is a 'gently caress you' price, right? I think I could get a deck that size completely replaced for $2600.
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Oct 23, 2023 18:33
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Beef Of Ages posted:I think I could get a deck that size completely replaced for $2600. I don't know about refinishing estimates, but I would expect a brand new deck a foot off the ground in a generally rectangular shape to be between 50 and $100 per square foot Done well/done right that is. Anything under $10k for a 200+ SF deck is going to be 2x4s on a couple bits of concrete that won't last 5 years
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Oct 23, 2023 19:52
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How is what's underneath? Like if you spend the 2600, how long does that extend things anyway. I wonder about this generally as I finish up replacing our deck. Like is surface protectant about longevity, or just for having it look/feel a certain way while its there? Gray boards seem aesthetically fine to me
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Oct 23, 2023 20:06
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The finest 5 guys at the day labor office! $500 in labor $100 in materials, $2000 profit. Not bad pay for picking up the phone and ferrying five guys in a suburban to some guy's house It's probably more cost labor to sand and refinish the deck than replace the planks and put varnish on raw wood. Depending on what type of decking you have, climate and life left in your deck Hadlock fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Oct 23, 2023 |
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Oct 23, 2023 20:15
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I'm in colorado and it would be protection against sun damage, which just warps it, dries it out and makes the wood more 'cracky'. A bunch of the wood is already warped and the deck is partially covered, the covered part looks fine and the uncovered part is not doing great. I don't really care how it looks, I just want to extend its life.
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Oct 23, 2023 23:31
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I have a water pressure question that I *think* has a simple answer, but it's tough to Google and find results that apply to the specifics of my question- I've recently noticed that sometimes our hot water pressure is initially high coming out of our faucets and falls back down to normal within a couple seconds. It is noticeably higher, but not disturbingly so- if you aren't looking for it you might not even notice it. It seems like it happens mostly after taking a shower or otherwise using a lot of hot water, which leads me to believe that it's almost certainly a result of the hot water heater doing its thing and heating up the water that's replacing what I used. A couple more details in case they help: - We had a new water pressure regulator installed for the house a couple years ago because the one that came with the house no longer worked (we were getting like 100psi before it was replaced). When I noticed this hot water issue, I did check the water pressure coming into the house and the regulator was still doing its job (it read ~50psi). So I don't think that's the issue. - The pressure relief valve (or TPR valve or whatever it's called) on the hot water heater definitely works. That's actually what made me realize out water pressure was too high years ago- the valve kept blowing off. That hasn't happened since they replaced the regulator. - There is an expansion tank installed on the hot water heater. - It is 100% possible that it's always been like this and I've never noticed it. It's most noticeable at the bathroom sink, but often times I'm using that sink right after flushing the toilet, which lowers the water pressure at the faucet a bit while it's filling up. This water pressure increase is only noticeable when no other water is running, so like 90% of the time I'm using that sink I wouldn't be able to notice because of the toilet running. So is the initial increase in hot water pressure a normal thing that happens while the water is being heated (or has recently been heated)? Or does that signify a bigger problem? I know I can always call a plumber to check it out, I just don't want to spend 50 bucks to have them come out here and be like "that's totally normal."
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Oct 24, 2023 15:32
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You expansion tank is broken (ruptured air bladder inside the tank), set to the incorrect pressure or least likely it's undersized. Many of these tanks come set to 12 psi, which is correct for most domestic hydronic heating loops, but absolutely wrong when installed on your domestic hot water.
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Oct 24, 2023 15:41
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Motronic posted:You expansion tank is broken (ruptured air bladder inside the tank), set to the incorrect pressure or least likely it's undersized. Thanks for the immediate response! Plumbers will be here tomorrow afternoon- that was enough to make me take the plunge. (And even if there's a way for me to fix this myself, I don't have confidence in myself to do it.)
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Oct 24, 2023 16:00
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Neat  https://www.leviton.com/en/products/t5636-w Looks like $75 online and in stock at Amazon  60w is generally what you need to run your work laptop and do stuff like web browsing, office productivity software, and light programming, without running down the battery, and help top off the battery My wife travels a lot for work and keeps stealing (and probably losing) my 65w wall wart laptop power adapters Would love to get three for the kitchen/dining area; one by the breakfast table, one by the coffee machine, and one by the formal dining room area, plus one at the couch With the iPhone pro switching over to USB-C the last device in the house will finally be on a single standard this is great Looks like it supports at least through USB 3.1 but more importantly it offers the nearly universal"PD" power delivery standard which is what phones and laptops need to request (and get) more than ~15w Looks like there were options previously that could do 60w total, but only 30w/port. This can do a true 60w via a single port like you would want for a laptop charger Today is a good day 60w is sort of the bare minimum for laptops, a lot of Dell laptops want 65w to charge while on. Watching a video right now and his kill-a-watt tester is showing 64 watts and change out of the box. Apple laptops and some others work fine with 60w  Stock number t5636-w from leviton
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Oct 24, 2023 22:13
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Yeah these are awesome. Fwiw there are 100w ones coming out soon too. They are definitely worth it to have in a few places around the house.
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Oct 24, 2023 22:30
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That's pretty cool. Personally, I probably wouldn't put 3 in the same kitchen; outlets with built-in USB charging can get pretty pricey. Google suggests that this 60W version carries a hefty price premium, I installed a handful of built-in USB chargers into strategic areas in our last home, but I haven't done that in our current home. Instead we just have a power strip, one with some built-in USB-A and USB-C ports, on a table that's dedicated for charging stuff. That's worked out pretty well. e: Looks like they have a model that's tamper resistant (TR ) and another that's not. Always go with TR imo QuarkJets fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Oct 24, 2023 |
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Oct 24, 2023 22:41
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My wife goes through about $100 worth of my chargers a year, break even is pretty quick Definitely getting them for the kitchen table and dining room, I use those about half the day depending on where the sun is and temperature of the house
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Oct 24, 2023 23:06
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I bought multiple leviton usb c / usb a outlets for 45 each at home depot in the past year. Multiple outlets for the usb a and usb c have already flaked out. I won't ever buy these again and just rely on power strips or plugs with ports on them moving forward. Be warned.
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Oct 24, 2023 23:19
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Hadlock posted:My wife goes through about $100 worth of my chargers a year, break even is pretty quick But how do you break even? If she's losing portable chargers while traveling then this doesn't change that
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Oct 25, 2023 00:43
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QuarkJets posted:But how do you break even? If she's losing portable chargers while traveling then this doesn't change that This is Home Math.
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Oct 25, 2023 01:05
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I stopped buying them and the chargers no longer come out of my personal budget but I still would like to use my laptop outside of my home office Also yes let me tell you about the $900 in tools I bought to save $200 on a home repair
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Oct 25, 2023 01:15
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