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Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 8:28 pm
by shafnutz05
Apparently the yellow jacket nest is back... I was out back with my daughter playing with water balloons. All of a sudden I see our goldendoodle freaking out, and immediately saw them swarming around her, along the wall outside our garage.

I immediately screamed to my daughter to run to the three season room, our goldendoodle following. We got to safety, except for the four or five jackets that came in on her fur. She's still freaking out, I'm trying to kill them while also keeping my daughter safe. Eventually, I killed them all as they went to the windows.

I think she got stung 2 or 3 times on the paw... Honestly, it is by the grace of God that this wasn't a lot worse. Benadryl took care of her reaction although she was not happy. I'm going out there tonight with three cans of wasp spray and ending this sht....

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:07 pm
by blackjack68
Not sure if I mentioned it previously, but my dad lost a dog when he was a kid. Yellow jackets swarmed his dog and got into the dog’s nose and throat.

Kill those things!

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:30 pm
by AuthorTony
I had an underground yellow jacket nest a couple years ago. Found out when my dog got stung. I sprayed wasp killer into the hole one night (an entire can) then covered it with a clear pyrex baking dish which I pushed into the ground so they couldn't escape. For the next several days I'd still see those f'ers flying around under that dish. I bet it took 10 days until I didn't see any alive. I kept it there for the best part of a month, but no problems since then.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 6:55 am
by NTP66
I had an underground yellow jacket nest a couple years ago. Found out when my dog got stung. I sprayed wasp killer into the hole one night (an entire can) then covered it with a clear pyrex baking dish which I pushed into the ground so they couldn't escape. For the next several days I'd still see those f'ers flying around under that dish. I bet it took 10 days until I didn't see any alive. I kept it there for the best part of a month, but no problems since then.
I did the same, but what I bet happened with you was that there was a second hole somewhere near by where a portion of them escaped. There was only one entrance in my yard, and emptying the entire can of wasp killer into the hole at like 9:30pm did the trick.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 6:57 pm
by shafnutz05
Not sure if I mentioned it previously, but my dad lost a dog when he was a kid. Yellow jackets swarmed his dog and got into the dog’s nose and throat.

Kill those things!
Just watched the nest for 15 minutes... Didn't see any activity. Got closer, saw about a dozen carcasses on the ground. Good riddance

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:01 pm
by NTP66
Tomorrow’s post: “Some of the yellow jackets were alive and hiding amongst the dead. I was stung multiple times.”

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:33 pm
by shafnutz05
Tomorrow’s post: “Some of the yellow jackets were alive and hiding amongst the dead. I was stung multiple times.”
:lol:

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 8:47 pm
by mac5155
Someone ran over my mailbox Saturday night. Irks me just having to remount it. The poles a little loose now but otherwise they knocked the "shelf" part off which still had the mailbox attached. So reinforced with some screws and it's no worse for wear. The 2013-17 ram that hit it, and subsequently left a nice piece of their chrome grill behind, probably didn't fare so well.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 9:45 pm
by Shyster
Maybe 20 years ago, people kept blowing up or smashing my mother's mailbox, and it also got whacked by a snow plows at least once in the winter. I replaced something like three or four boxes over a couple years. I eventually got fed up and installed her a Heavybilt mailbox mounted on a mailswing (https://www.mailswing.com) swing-away post that I mounted about 5 feet in the ground using something like four sacks of concrete. The box has acquired a couple of teeny, tiny, shallow dents in the last couple decades, but you have to look hard to see them. I guarantee that anyone might have ever tried to whack it had a Very Bad Time even despite the swing-away mount because the mailbox itself weighs something like 30 lbs, and it doesn't swing too easily.

I just checked, and I don't think the Heavybilt is currently in production. Bummer. That thing is an absolute beast. I ran across the name on a homeowner's forum where people were discussing ways to break the arms of mailbox vandals, and "buy a Heavybilt and mount it in concrete" was common advice.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 8:33 pm
by mac5155
Yay homeownership

My ecobee just sent an email that my AC has been running for 4 hours and is not cooling.

And I have moisture in my basement.

My house is 4 months old. Lol. Warranty...

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 8:56 pm
by blackjack68
They just don’t build em like they used to.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 11:06 pm
by mac5155
They just don’t build em like they used to.
So it seems my outside unit tripped a breaker (the heat pump breaker looked close to tripped). I flipped the whole system off and on. In about 5 min it's back to cooling.

Wonder what could have caused it to trip? Being that I have a warranty I want to report it in case of issues down the road...

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 8:38 am
by robbiestoupe
Source of the post Wonder what could have caused it to trip?
A short in any of the wiring. Something in the fan blades that restricted movement. Undersized breakers. Beyond that it'll be hard to pinpoint.

It is strange that your AC was running but not cooling (i.e. the fans were running, but not the compressor). Perhaps your ecobee cannot distinguish between when your AC should be running vs. when it is actually running.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:22 am
by mac5155
The outside unit would be called the heat pump right? That's how it's labeled in my panel. Then there is another breaker that is labeled furnace. It was a two pole breaker I want to say 60 amps.

The fan was on (its set to auto) but the outside unit wasn't kicking on so I presume it was just circulating the air through the house.

I don't yet understand heat pumps, or electrical systems altogether.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 9:25 am
by NTP66
Yeah, the unit outside is your heat pump (and probably looks like a normal AC condenser).

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 10:57 am
by mac5155
Well, I flipped it back and will monitor. It's the first time it happened, so I will just keep an eye on it.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:03 pm
by skullman80
Bathfitters dude has been here all day working hard redoing the tub/shower area. Feels like it would have been easier if they sent two guys instead of him having to do everything.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:29 pm
by AuthorTony
Mind if I ask how much that's setting you back? I have a blue tub/shower unit from the 70s that I'd love to have replaced.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:42 pm
by skullman80
Mind if I ask how much that's setting you back? I have a blue tub/shower unit from the 70s that I'd love to have replaced.
Shade under 5k. That seems to be their base install. I'll post pics once it's all done. We had a window to work around but that covered tub, walls, ceiling, window cutout and new faucets and drains etc.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:03 pm
by AuthorTony
Thank you very much. I look forward to the pics!

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:04 pm
by NTP66
Be sure to also let us know if they’re the perfect fit.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:11 pm
by dodint
Mind if I ask how much that's setting you back? I have a blue tub/shower unit from the 70s that I'd love to have replaced.
Shade under 5k. That seems to be their base install. I'll post pics once it's all done. We had a window to work around but that covered tub, walls, ceiling, window cutout and new faucets and drains etc.
We're doing the same thing, even down to the blue tub. Have a window we just don't want to move but also want to expand out the tub.

We opened one of the giant boxes the shower wall came in and the wall is cracked/torn. What a pain in the ass thing to have to box back up and return.

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 8:41 pm
by mac5155
I helped a friend haul a 1 piece shower home from home depot.

We couldn't go over like 20 MPH else it would blow violently

Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2018 7:30 am
by skullman80
@AuthorTony @dodint @NTP66

...Overall very happy with it. Mother in Law had same thing done about 10 years ago from Bathfitters and it still holds up. Like I said was a one man crew.. he was here from like 9:30am till about 7:30pm. Did great work. Cleaned up after himself etc. Said takes about 24 hours to fully cure, but could take a shower this afternoon if we wanted and should have no issues.

We did 18 month no interest financing through them and it was right around 5k total. That seems to be their base. You can do additional addons, but everything you see is what is included with no extra cost. They also do tub to shower conversions which take 2 days to do, but we decided against that do to possible resale value down the road since we don't have another shower/tub in the house just a half bath.

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Home Improvement Thread

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2018 7:37 am
by meow
wow that looks great