Home Improvement Thread

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:22 pm

Found another winged ant (aka termite) on my patio this morning. Concern growing. Call Terminix now? We've had no signs of a true infestation so they could just be randos, but not exactly something I want to put off.

AuthorTony
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Postby AuthorTony » Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:24 pm

Found another winged ant (aka termite) on my patio this morning. Concern growing. Call Terminix now?
Not sure if you literally meant Terminix, but if you did, I'd highly recommend a locally owned pest control business over Terminix, Orkin, etc. Those chains are notorious for making things sound way worse than they are and setting up unnecessary repeated visits.

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:31 pm

Found another winged ant (aka termite) on my patio this morning. Concern growing. Call Terminix now?
Not sure if you literally meant Terminix, but if you did, I'd highly recommend a locally owned pest control business over Terminix, Orkin, etc. Those chains are notorious for making things sound way worse than they are and setting up unnecessary repeated visits.
Good call...thanks.

I've had the same issue using TruGreen for our lawn. Need to find someone local.

AuthorTony
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Postby AuthorTony » Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:12 pm

A couple years ago I had ants in my house. They came in with a cord of firewood (last time I ever kept that in my basement) and were everywhere. I called Orkin and they said they'd have to make multiple visits, how important it was to kill the queen, etc. The first treatment was something like $800 and they said I'd need to repeat that every other month for at least a year to ensure success.

I thought that sounded ridiculous and called a local guy. He came out, sprayed the house inside and outside with a pet safe insecticide, and charged me around $250. Within 2 days all the ants were dead.

Shyster
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Postby Shyster » Thu Jul 15, 2021 5:50 pm

I'd like to give thanks to the folks who upload YouTube "fix it" videos. My GE dishwasher was acting like the "drain" cycle never shut off. As soon as it would start to add water to wash, the water would drain right back out. I found a YouTube video showing the part involved and how to replace it. There's a solenoid that pulls down on a metal rod that connects to the valve that opens the drain valve; a spring pulls the valve back shut after the solenoid shuts off. The rod had rusted and become stuck in the solenoid housing. Thanks to the video I knew how everything worked. I used a grinder wheel to take off the rust, and after some cleaning and lubrication, the rod moved freely, and the dishwasher is now functioning perfectly.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:01 pm

I'd like to give thanks to the folks who upload YouTube "fix it" videos. My GE dishwasher was acting like the "drain" cycle never shut off. As soon as it would start to add water to wash, the water would drain right back out. I found a YouTube video showing the part involved and how to replace it. There's a solenoid that pulls down on a metal rod that connects to the valve that opens the drain valve; a spring pulls the valve back shut after the solenoid shuts off. The rod had rusted and become stuck in the solenoid housing. Thanks to the video I knew how everything worked. I used a grinder wheel to take off the rust, and after some cleaning and lubrication, the rod moved freely, and the dishwasher is now functioning perfectly.
AppliancePartsPros.com has a ton of videos for a lot of their parts, all of which are really useful.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Fri Jul 16, 2021 12:43 pm

My mom's dishwasher wasn't draining, so I pulled it apart and cleaned it. It drained a few times then acted up again. It must be something electrical because it drains once you hit cancel on the board.

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Postby NTP66 » Sun Jul 18, 2021 7:05 am

The flowers/pollen from my dwarf chestnut tree fell down while I was on vacation, and it apparently stormed all week. This resulted in the decaying material effectively staining my patio somehow. I spent an hour yesterday trying to pressure wash everything off to no avail. Today, I’m trying both TSP and outdoor bleach (separately).

Image

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:29 am

I am having a guy come out to check around the house for signs of termites.

I found this scene right in front of my fireplace in the family room this morning. There was an ant crawling out of the crack carrying something. We have had sugar ants...can I assume that this is likely just ants doing their thing (piling stuff up)? I vacuumed it up but took photos for the guy to look at.

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mikey
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Postby mikey » Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:19 pm

First time in this thread, but it feels like the place to ask this...

My girl broke her dresser, the bottom board came out...the dresser isn't anything special, so I have some leeway with it...but I was thinking just putting in a couple of wood slats on the bottom side to support the bottom and secure them with a couple of small brackets...the installation of it seems easy enough, but what about acquiring the wood...? Do I actually have to ask it to be custom cut and how much is that? Or can I just buy an uncut piece and hacksaw it myself...? I'm just trying to gauge the price difference vs convenience factor...would anyone even bother cutting a few of these for me...? I've only ever gotten mass quantities cut down before for jobs with my old man, not for a tiddly-winks little home project...

As I type it out, I should just probably just buy a 1x2 or whatever piece and go home, hey?

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:21 pm

First time in this thread, but it feels like the place to ask this...

My girl broke her dresser, the bottom board came out...the dresser isn't anything special, so I have some leeway with it...but I was thinking just putting in a couple of wood slats on the bottom side to support the bottom and secure them with a couple of small brackets...the installation of it seems easy enough, but what about acquiring the wood...? Do I actually have to ask it to be custom cut and how much is that? Or can I just buy an uncut piece and hacksaw it myself...? I'm just trying to gauge the price difference vs convenience factor...would anyone even bother cutting a few of these for me...? I've only ever gotten mass quantities cut down before for jobs with my old man, not for a tiddly-winks little home project...

As I type it out, I should just probably just buy a 1x2 or whatever piece and go home, hey?
If you figure out how large the piece of support wood needs to be, you can go to Home Depot and grab some wood - square trim may work for you - and just cut it yourself on their benches. I do it all the time for something quick and easy.

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mikey
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Postby mikey » Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:22 pm

Oh, they let you use their **** there...? Cool. Maybe I'll just do that instead of hacksawing wood in my weird tube apartment haha

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:24 pm

I've seen people trying to cut metal tubing on those things. :lol:

mikey
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Postby mikey » Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:26 pm

Haha I figure it's a major liability, so it didn't even cross my mind that that would be a choice...I also can't imagine there's much of a line to get to the lumber cutting table in Manhattan...maybe the only thing I won't have to wait in line for here...thanks for the tip :thumb:

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:01 pm

Wait you can cut your own wood at home depot?

I knew they cut sheets of plywood but had no idea you could cut dimensional lumber there

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:22 am

Yep, you can cut damn near anything at HD. The only thing they don't do, as far as I can tell, is cut glass. Lowe's will cut glass for you, though.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:23 am

Oh, an update on my patio. It took a mixture of TSP and outdoor bleach, with a hell of a lot of manual scrubbing, and those pollen/leaf stains are now gone.

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Postby Sam's Drunk Dog » Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:26 am

HD won't cut foam insulation panels, at least my local one wouldn't.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:27 am

HD won't cut foam insulation panels, at least my local one wouldn't.
No, but they'll let you cut your own in the aisle if you bring a utility knife (which I've done a few times).

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Postby dodint » Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:23 am

...and those pollen/leaf stains are now gone.
For now.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:24 am

Until next year, for sure. This was the first year that they sat on my patio for a period of time. Gonna make sure that it doesn't happen again. I actually went to use my blower on them before leaving for vacation, but that wouldn't start, and my lazy ass refused to just do it with a broom. Lesson learned. Also fixed the blower.

robbiestoupe
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Postby robbiestoupe » Wed Jul 21, 2021 11:53 am

Kitchen upgrade is halfway done. The cabinets are in, waiting on the countertops. In the fall we'll have new flooring, and the kitchen expanded slightly by removing the half wall.

Before pics
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Demo
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After
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Update with countertops installed. In a couple months we hope to have the walls and ceiling painted, backsplash installed, and new floors
Image

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Jul 21, 2021 11:55 am

Looking good, robbie. That's one of the few light colored countertops that I actually like. :thumb:

robbiestoupe
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Postby robbiestoupe » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:01 pm

I thought we were going with a more solid, light gray color, but liked this one. It has some brown undertones that will go well with the flooring. Thinking of a mocha color paint for the walls too.

Selecting colors has to be one of the toughest jobs for home improvement. It's impossible to envision without actually applying it.

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Postby DigitalGypsy66 » Wed Jul 21, 2021 12:42 pm

Garage door repaired. The two springs should last 25 years, which is good. $530 for the springs, new hinge, replaced weatherseal. All good in the hood.

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