Home Improvement Thread

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Thu May 14, 2020 2:16 pm

New HVAC unit getting installed today. Here's a selfie of ya boy meow right now

Did they put it in gently?

Postby **dodint** » Thu May 14, 2020 2:18 pm

Postby **meow** » Thu May 14, 2020 2:19 pm

I don't remember much. It was all a blur

Postby **NTP66** » Sun May 17, 2020 11:11 am

I have the Ryobi 40v edger and trimmer. You messed up not getting the trimmer

Confirmed. There are a number of things I don’t like about the B&D I bought, but for $66, I may just call it a loss and keep it for backup. Gonna buy the Ryobi the next time it goes on sale.

Postby **NTP66** » Sun May 17, 2020 11:12 am

@meow, do you have the regular 40v model or the brushless? The regular model is actually on sale right now.

Postby **Beveridge** » Sun May 17, 2020 12:47 pm

A chicken coop painted in Pitt colors and an H2P on the side.....so the coop will be about 1/3 full the entire time?

Yeah, but tons of eggs will be laid.

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Sun May 17, 2020 1:58 pm

Beveridge gets it.

Postby **meow** » Sun May 17, 2020 3:00 pm

@meow, do you have the regular 40v model or the brushless? The regular model is actually on sale right now.

I actually don't know. I'm assuming the regular model

Postby **Morkle** » Sun May 17, 2020 3:38 pm

I don't remember much. It was all a blur

We're living this life soon I think, we're waiting for the day that our AC goes down, and we're replacing everything, heater/AC all at once. That day will be a sad and pocket-brutalizing day.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Mon May 18, 2020 7:40 am

I’m surprised we haven’t had our ant infestation yet. Usually happens in late April.
I look forward to your post in a few weeks confirming the infestation.

You were way off. Only took a few days.

Figured it was the warm weather and the open doors/windows. Off to amazon to order my ant traps

Postby **NTP66** » Mon May 18, 2020 8:29 am

Postby **nocera** » Mon May 18, 2020 8:59 am

I haven't seen an ant since I slaughtered that ant hill. I wish I would've spotted that before I ordered the bait traps. I'm sure I'll need them eventually.

Postby **mac5155** » Mon May 18, 2020 11:54 pm

@LITT and everyone else in on the shop Vac talk

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-12-G ... t3ME3gI2k0

Postby **mac5155** » Mon May 18, 2020 11:56 pm

Anyone have any experience with Keystone Water Well Drilling? mac?

Looking to add a filtration system to the house in Latrobe. We consider the water to be non-potable as-is. I wonder if I have to have the water analyzed first and then build a system for those impurities or what.

Despite being country AF I have had city water all my life.

I have a friend who put in a culligan system. Is that all you need, or do you want a new well drilled? I have plenty of friends I can ask.

Postby **dodint** » Tue May 19, 2020 12:31 am

The neighbors also recommended a culligan system. Said it needed spats of maintenance here and there but it works. I am looking for a whole home system that handles iron and other fracking impurities. My brother installed his own but he is way more handy than I am.

I called Keystone last week but didn't get a callback. Meanwhile I got multiple pavers out to the place in less than 48 hours.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue May 19, 2020 7:47 am

Going to embark on a pita project next week. Anyone on how to strip, sand and repaint some badly worn baseboard trim.

I watched a video where the first step was to like shine a light to find the rough patches, if the whole thing is in bad shape would i skip that? I guess I’m a little unsure about when to caulk and how to apply the putty.

Postby **meow** » Tue May 19, 2020 8:06 am

The issue I typically have with painting baseboards is after I sand, making sure the old paint is smooth if there is a spot that goes down to the wood. So if there is a circle of wood showing, the edge of the paint around it can be a pain in the butt to sand smooth because high gloss paint wants to peel rather than sand.

Postby **mac5155** » Tue May 19, 2020 8:15 am

Is ripping and replacing not an option? Trim is super cheap.

Postby **Troy Loney** » Tue May 19, 2020 8:22 am

@mac5155

I imagine I would need a circle saw and some woodworking competencies. So no.

@meow

Would that be a spot you would need to fill in with the wood putty? Again, this is new to me, I am mostly confused about whether or not the old paint has to be scrapped off vs sanded down.

Postby **mac5155** » Tue May 19, 2020 8:29 am

The neighbors also recommended a culligan system. Said it needed spats of maintenance here and there but it works. I am looking for a whole home system that handles iron and other fracking impurities. My brother installed his own but he is way more handy than I am.

I called Keystone last week but didn't get a callback. Meanwhile I got multiple pavers out to the place in less than 48 hours.

Just asked my buddy. This is who put his in. Looks like they are close to you.

http://www.specialtywater.net/

Postby **meow** » Tue May 19, 2020 9:16 am

@mac5155

I imagine I would need a circle saw and some woodworking competencies. So no.

@meow

Would that be a spot you would need to fill in with the wood putty? Again, this is new to me, I am mostly confused about whether or not the old paint has to be scrapped off vs sanded down.

Nah. Putty is for filling nail holes or deep scratches. Everything else should be sanded. I'm assuming the old paint is high gloss. Painting over high gloss can be challenging, but it's only baseboards. Think of this like you are painting a barn, not a Rembrandt.

Postby **nocera** » Tue May 19, 2020 4:37 pm

Well, the ants are back in full force. This time they've invaded the kitchen. I've deployed the Terro baits. I also saw a couple stragglers in the office and in the bathroom. I'm assuming they got turned around when they were out with the group.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue May 19, 2020 4:47 pm

If you’re using the clear ant bait, remember that they have to feed, bring it back to the nest, and feed the others. Then it’ll start killing them off.

Postby **nocera** » Tue May 19, 2020 4:55 pm

If you’re using the clear ant bait, remember that they have to feed, bring it back to the nest, and feed the others. Then it’ll start killing them off.

Yeah it's the clear stuff. We couldn't help ourselves and we took care of the ants that we saw, then placed the traps. It's going to be difficult to not kill them when I see them roaming around. It's super annoying to see one walking in the opposite direction of the bait.

Postby **nocera** » Wed May 20, 2020 9:23 am

If you’re using the clear ant bait, remember that they have to feed, bring it back to the nest, and feed the others. Then it’ll start killing them off.

Do you happen to remember how long it took? Woke up this morning to a **** ton of ants going to town on the baits. Wondering when I can expect the numbers to dwindle.