Home Projects (upkeep/repair/mods/cool sh*t/advice/question)

[Carpet_pissr]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I had done some reading before and decided to skip the fabric. The fact that weeds can just root right into it was the deciding factor.

Yeah, this is also why I chose at the time to remove it from most of my existing beds, but I really think that was a mistake.

Yes, some top level weeds will root, but they are MUCH easier to deal with than ground with no fabric. The beds in general are I would say 50% at least, easier to maintain than non-fabric beds. Big pain putting it in, but the longer term benefit is worth it IMO.

[Carpet_pissr]

OK, here's a tip for those of you with mysterious lawn problems.

I consider myself a pretty decent yardsman, but have been stumped by my weak front yard that I inherited.

Brief history/details:

Previous owners had sodded (!) front and back yard with Empire zoysia, which loves our hot and humid weather. Also installed an irrigation system to water said sod.

Apparently after moving out, they didn't water, and the front yard died out...so they (I assume) overseeded with centpede, which I am generally not a fan of for multiple reasons (lazy man's grass my butt!).

Anyhoo, fast fwd three years. I fixed all irrigation issues, repositioning some heads, replacing others...but the front still looks TERRIBLE, even with my Milorganite treatments, pre-emergent 2x year (the good stuff too, not the cheap-o, which DOES make a difference), hand weeding, the works. Even brought some Empire Zoysia sod from my old house and put it out in a few places.

Yard looks terrible, full of weeds, seems to look tired and beat even after watering.

After all this time...the answer it took me forever to come up with is THATCH. @#%$@%#$

Relatively easy problem to fix, but I have put a LOT of water on that grass trying to get it to perk up. But thatch prevents not only water from getting to the grass roots, but everything else too - including pre-emergent (thus the weeds), fertilizer, iron, etc. NOTHING gets through this very thick barrier.

Some things I learned - maybe will help someone else:
1. if you have more than say 1/4 acre to de-thatch, do NOT try buying a de-thatching rake...you will kill yourself. Either rent a power dethatcher, or buy a $115 corded version (Greenworks)
2. Not all grass types need dethatching, but if your grass types spreads vigorously (centipede, zoysia, bermuda, et al) you will likely get thatch buildup after a while
3. Grass clippings (if you don't bag, which I don't) are not the cause of thatch
4. If you have a grass type that builds up thatch, you should only need to de-thatch every 4-5 years

I should take a before and after of my front to see how much of an improvement this will make, but I have high expectations!

Thought I would throw this out there for anyone who can't seem to get their grass looking good, or feels like they are working too hard for too little results - might be time to de-thatch.

[Z-Corn]

I have a pretty severe thatch problem in one spot of my front lawn. I bought a thatch rake last year and did almost kill myself using it.

Do you own the GreenWorks dethatcher? I need to get something...

[Carpet_pissr]

I have a pretty severe thatch problem in one spot of my front lawn. I bought a thatch rake last year and did almost kill myself using it.

Do you own the GreenWorks dethatcher? I need to get something...

No, but I was sorely tempted after reading some reviews about it, by people who had tried to do it with a rake. Saying things like "worth every penny", etc. I decided against it primarily because I didn't want yet another wheeled object to store that I would/should) only have to use (in theory) every 4-5 years.

So I went to Lowe's, looked at the recommended de-thatching rake (and I will admit, I almost bought it, because it just looked badass), and my back starting hurting just imagining using that in my entire front and back yard. NOPE.

However, if I had just one patch in my yard, I would likely opt for the $30 rake - mine is all over.

Compromise purchase - lots of reviews saying it's still quite the workout, but not the back breaker that a wheeless rake is...I also opted for the curved aluminum handle, which is supposed to help the kind of motion this will be doing:

http://www.amazon.com/Gardena-Combisyst ... B0001E3W8M

[Isgrimnur]

Wife broke the wooden handle shovel by using it as a prybar to remove the first of several yucca-type plants near the corner of the front yard. Going to spring for a Fiskars metal handle shovel to try and prevent that issue from happening again.

Up next is going to be an electric tiller purchase to mangle manage the flower beds. We're trying to find someone to come edge the yards with a bladed edger, as the battery-powered weed whacker isn't quite up to the task.

[Carpet_pissr]

Wife broke the wooden handle shovel by using it as a prybar to remove the first of several yucca-type plants near the corner of the front yard. Going to spring for a Fiskars metal handle shovel to try and prevent that issue from happening again.

Up next is going to be an electric tiller purchase to mangle manage the flower beds. We're trying to find someone to come edge the yards with a bladed edger, as the battery-powered weed whacker isn't quite up to the task.

I bet there is a tool out there (Mantis maybe, or Black and Decker, Ryobi...) that has attachments so you don't have to buy two separate tools. If you have a Li_ion based system, should be able to do edging as well. Probably all three - converts from string trimmer, to edger, to tiller.

[Kraken]

That brings back memories...my parents bought one of those wheel-less thatch rakes, the kind with crescent-shaped blades all in a row, and assigned me to operate it, because that's what teenage sons are for. Mercifully, I only had to de-thatch the sodded front lawn and not the much larger seeded back lawn. I remember tedium more than exertion because teenage boys are tireless.

So yeah, I wouldn't recommend buying a thatch rake unless it comes with a teenager.

[Z-Corn]

I have a pretty severe thatch problem in one spot of my front lawn. I bought a thatch rake last year and did almost kill myself using it.

Do you own the GreenWorks dethatcher? I need to get something...

No, but I was sorely tempted after reading some reviews about it, by people who had tried to do it with a rake. Saying things like "worth every penny", etc. I decided against it primarily because I didn't want yet another wheeled object to store that I would/should) only have to use (in theory) every 4-5 years.

Yeah, I read those reviews too and they convinced me to pull the trigger. It will be delivered tomorrow. I'll post my thoughts after I use it...

I have a pull-behind-the-riding-lawn-mower dethatcher that works great in an open expanse of lawn but this patch I have is a more narrow section of front lawn that boarders the neighbor's lawn. So it seems like this will be perfect.

[Carpet_pissr]

Nice! Looking forward to the AAR!

[Carpet_pissr]

Wow....I am REALLY wishing I had spent the extra $60 for the electric dethatcher. WOW is that strenuous work...I'm not even sure my 20 year old self would have been able to do that for more than a couple hours at a time.

I can't even imagine doing it with just a manual rake where you have to pick it up each time...mine has wheels and it completely wipes me out when I do a little section.

[Carpet_pissr]

Next topic:

Philips Hue lights...anyone have them?

I have experimented with various knockoff versions, looking specifically for ones that 1. are bright "enough", and 2. sync the light flashing ACCURATELY with music.

Looking for some feedback on actual Philips owners, since a control would be nice.

The knockoffs I have bought are about 1/2 the price of the Hue bulbs, and do not need a hub. Come in wifi and BT versions (I've tried both, and while wifi is more convenient, the BT bulbs are MUCH more responsive if you care at all about music syncing)

[Smoove_B]

So...when we purchased the house 7 years ago the home inspector noted there was rust in the bottom of the breaker box that houses the electrical service. He didn't see any evidence of an existing problem and wrote it off as a problem that existed at one point but did not currently exist.

Turns out he was way off.

We had some crazy wind and rain last week and sure enough I came downstairs to find about a cup of rain water pooled in my basement under the breaker box. Electrician came over today to check it all out and not only is the service entrance cable rotting but he thinks when the house was re-sided (2 years before we purchased it) the company that did the work didn't connect the service cable to the house and protect it from rain infiltration. So pretty much over the last decade water has slowly been dripping through the entire system, corroding and rotting it from the inside out. It was only with this last storm that we apparently reached the tipping point and the small drips are now a torrent when the rain and wind combine in the right way.

Hello emergency replacement of service and breaker box.

Once again, screwed by the previous home owner and her bullshit.

[Carpet_pissr]

Ouch. That sounds spendy. Hopefully it won't require new wiring to be run? I thought copper was anti-corrosive?

Unless your house was built in the 60's or 70's when they switched to aluminum (which also seems to be an anti-corrosive metal).

[Isgrimnur]

I thought copper was anti-corrosive?

[Carpet_pissr]

touché!

[Smoove_B]

Ouch. That sounds spendy. Hopefully it won't require new wiring to be run? I thought copper was anti-corrosive?

When the permit fees are added in, I think it will be around $4k -- but owning a home TOTALLY adds to my net worth (which incidentally just dropped by $4K). Everything from the main coming in at the roof line through and including the breaker box will be replaced. I saw the corrosion inside and it's a mess. There's all kinds of other minor upgrades they are doing inside and out to bring everything up to code (house was built in 1987) and at this point why the hell not.

Still cheaper than a fence - but not by much.

EDIT: He said there's a chance it might be covered by home owner's insurance, though I don't know yet. That would be amazing.

[stessier]

This weekend I repaired my windshield wiper transmission (not a home thing, but I did it while at home so I'm counting it). I was very proud of this as the parts were only $30 and it took me 3 hours (including 45 minute trip to the store for another plastic rivet), but it really wasn't that hard and is the first real car thing I've ever done.

Building on this great success, today I replaced the front blower motor in my 2008 Town and Country. Over the weekend, it just quit. I used the car in the morning and it was fine. I used it in the afternoon and there was nothing coming out of the front vents. The rear vents worked, the heater and AC worked, it was just no air out of the front.

Some youtube searching later said it was either the resistor or the motor. If it was the resistor, it was likely to only not work on one of the H/M/L settings. In my case, it was dead across the board. If it was the motor, they suggested that tapping it with a screwdriver might start it up again. It is covered by some sound proofing, however. That was really the trickiest part of the whole thing - I don't have the proper tool to pop the cosmetic rivets they use, but a little elbow grease and the proper application of a screwdriver as a lever and I got them off. The rest was just a few inconveniently placed screws and a pop on connector. Turns out tapping it did indeed get it started. Seeing as we are heading into the teeth of summer, I just decided to replace it since I already had it out and all. It was a $100 part and took about 10 minutes to install and seal back up.

All together, it took about 3 hours including searching youtube for the solution and hemming and hawing over actually doing it. The only bummer is I used an aftermarket part from Autozone and it has a noticeable hum that was absent from the OEM version. I'm pretty sure my wife is going to be mighty unpleased. Next year I'll agree to replace with OEM if it's really bugging her - but she has to make it a year.

[Kelric]

Ants. They're invading. My lawn is covered in ant hills that are killing off the grass and not-grass I have growing and some of them are making their way into the house (I'm killing half a dozen or so of them a day). The little ones seemed to mostly disappear with the bait traps but the big ones aren't falling for them. The wife is freaking out (she's overreacting, but I do want them out of the house as much as I can) and I'm annoyed that half of my front lawn and part of my back lawn are turning into dustbowls.

I can buy chemicals / stuff for inside, but anyone have any thoughts on the lawn?

[Carpet_pissr]

You want to use bait, not mound/spot treatments. What kind of ants are you dealing with?

Unless you are talking about fire ants, which are the only kind I care about controlling in my yard, check these out:

https://www.amazon.com/Raid-Outdoor-Ant ... nt+bait%22

Personally I would go this broadcast route if your lawn is infested: https://www.amazon.com/Advance-Granular ... nt+bait%22

Those are non-fire ant solutions of course... if you are talking about fire ants...AMDRO bait in the shaker bag works very well.

[Chaz]

My lawn's super patchy, and has a lot of bare dirt in the back where the dogs make the situation worse. We have really sandy soil that probably doesn't hold much moisture. The only lawns that are green on my street are the ones that have irrigation systems running constantly. The rest are thin and brownish like mine. It's kind of annoying, but if the real solution is "pay $50-100 per month to run sprinklers", then I don't care so much.

Kind of thinking about calling a landscape guy to come take a look and get a professional opinion about what it'd take to get it in shape, but probably won't. A green lawn is way down the priority list, and I'd be happy letting it run wild if I could get away with it.

[msteelers]

The wife and I bought our first home, closing right at the end of 2015. We haven't had too many major projects since we move in. At some point we will have to tackle the yard, but I'm waiting until we get gutters up on the house first.

Some of my to-do list:

-Fix the grout in my master bathroom. It's falling out between the tiles near the ceiling in the shower.

-Fix the door frame that my dog has chewed up, and find a way to get him to stop. I've had my dog for 8 years, and he never chewed a door like that.

-Rescreen my patio. The screen is loose, allowing bugs to easily get into my patio, which kind of defeats the purpose of a screen.

[Carpet_pissr]

My lawn's super patchy, and has a lot of bare dirt in the back where the dogs make the situation worse. We have really sandy soil that probably doesn't hold much moisture. The only lawns that are green on my street are the ones that have irrigation systems running constantly. The rest are thin and brownish like mine. It's kind of annoying, but if the real solution is "pay $50-100 per month to run sprinklers", then I don't care so much.

Kind of thinking about calling a landscape guy to come take a look and get a professional opinion about what it'd take to get it in shape, but probably won't. A green lawn is way down the priority list, and I'd be happy letting it run wild if I could get away with it.

I also am repairing a very sandy, very poor soil front yard. It takes time, unless you want to sod, but like most things there are options, depending on how much you want to spend, and/or work:

Fastest, easiest (in terms of upkeep, not initial labor), best, but extremely expensive: sod (If I was going to sod an entire yard, I would definitely also put in irrigation at the time...not as easy to do post-sod)
Not fast, but cheap, could be all you need: make your soil better - top dress with a layer of top soil mixed with mushroom compost. Hard rake it into the existing ground to break up - maybe it's compacted, or like mine, just very poor soil quality. Depending on your existing grass type, throw out some grass seed in the areas where you put the new soil.

[Chaz]

Yeah, I think doing some kind of top soil is the next option. I'm mostly being lazy and not wanting to put the time, effort, and money into getting the grass green. If there was a cheap and easy fix, I'd be all over that. With a baby due in a month, and a list of other things that need doing, making the lawn green is low priority.

I think what's likely to happen short-term is that I lay pavers in the back yard to fill in the dirt patch at the bottom of the steps. With the dogs in and out constantly, that's never going to be grass anyway, and I can do a 10x10 or slightly bigger block of pavers for a few hundred and an afternoon of sweating.

[Kraken]

My lawn's super patchy, and has a lot of bare dirt in the back where the dogs make the situation worse. We have really sandy soil that probably doesn't hold much moisture. The only lawns that are green on my street are the ones that have irrigation systems running constantly. The rest are thin and brownish like mine. It's kind of annoying, but if the real solution is "pay $50-100 per month to run sprinklers", then I don't care so much.

Kind of thinking about calling a landscape guy to come take a look and get a professional opinion about what it'd take to get it in shape, but probably won't. A green lawn is way down the priority list, and I'd be happy letting it run wild if I could get away with it.

Can you landscape with native plants? If so you'll wind up with a better looking yard for the same or less money as imposing a lawn where one does not want to be...and it will require a lot less maintenance. That's the logical way to go unless your neighborhood is full of lawn nazis.

[Carpet_pissr]

People see me working like mad in my front yard, and think it's because I am so anal about it, which I am slightly, but what they don't see/understand, is that I'm playing the long game (like I did with my previous house's yard, which took time, but eventually did get to 'maintenance' levels).

It's not that I'm crazy about putting so much work into my crappy front yard, it's that I don't want to continue to have to do it. And I know based on experience, that once you get your lawn to a certain level of health, it pretty much takes care of itself. MUCH less work, much less time spent on it, costs (of additives, etc). That's where I am trying to get with my front. The back is already there, and I basically just cut it and occasionally throw out some Milorganite. I'm not a green freak, so the color itself is not a goal for me, but I do want a healthy lawn (which usually means that yes, it's at least a nice shade of green).

Once I repair the front's poor soil situation, it will be MUCH easier to maintain. Right now, I have three kinds of grass, tons of weeds, and lots of bare spaces. Irrigation doesn't do much because the soil is so poor (very sandy/silty, so water goes right through). It's already much much better than last year, and I predict by the end of this summer, start of next summer, it will be in great shape. OTOH, it has taken me 3 years to get to that point, but it really was in dire straits, and I chose not to sod (in hindsight, I probably should have).

[Scuzz]

So I have recently removed and replanted a bermuda back lawn. It has come in well except for one spot that seems to correspond to where my sprinklers don't overlap. Kinda strange, you would think I had done something to the ground but I haven't. I just think it was an area not getting enough water as even the local weeds aren't loving it.

Meanwhile my front lawn is mostly dead. Because of the drought here I allowed my back lawn to die last year and let 99% of my front lawn die. The wife and I differed on what to do with the front lawn so nothing has been done there yet.

Unlike most of you my soil is clay hardpan, really hard. The front yard (mounded by landscapers as part of the original home purchase 21 years ago) is like concrete. In putting in a new, smaller lawn in the back I roto tilled and soil amended like crazy.

[Kelric]

You want to use bait, not mound/spot treatments. What kind of ants are you dealing with?

Unless you are talking about fire ants, which are the only kind I care about controlling in my yard, check these out:

https://www.amazon.com/Raid-Outdoor-Ant ... nt+bait%22

Personally I would go this broadcast route if your lawn is infested: https://www.amazon.com/Advance-Granular ... nt+bait%22

Those are non-fire ant solutions of course... if you are talking about fire ants...AMDRO bait in the shaker bag works very well.

The ant kind? Certainly not fire ants. I'd nuke those bastards from orbit. Unfortunately, the ants I do have are so well established (the previous owners were probably half gone the summer before I bought this place and I did absolutely no lawn work last year with a newborn baby around) that my yard really is turning into a thatched dust bowl. Grass is dying everywhere since they keep uprooting it when they build their hills.

Can you landscape with native plants? If so you'll wind up with a better looking yard for the same or less money as imposing a lawn where one does not want to be...and it will require a lot less maintenance. That's the logical way to go unless your neighborhood is full of lawn nazis.

I would love to do that, but don't have the time to research doing it properly, nor the time nor back strength to do it myself. What I would REALLY love is putting a raised bed garden in half of the front lawn and then doing native plants in the other half in/around the existing tree and the two bushes I know are native. That still leaves the entire back yard that I want to keep as a yard for my offspring to play in, though, and that will require a war on ants and weeds.

[Kraken]

Can you landscape with native plants? If so you'll wind up with a better looking yard for the same or less money as imposing a lawn where one does not want to be...and it will require a lot less maintenance. That's the logical way to go unless your neighborhood is full of lawn nazis.

I would love to do that, but don't have the time to research doing it properly, nor the time nor back strength to do it myself. What I would REALLY love is putting a raised bed garden in half of the front lawn and then doing native plants in the other half in/around the existing tree and the two bushes I know are native. That still leaves the entire back yard that I want to keep as a yard for my offspring to play in, though, and that will require a war on ants and weeds.

I meant hiring someone, guessing that you'll need to hire someone anyway if you want to restore your lawn to grassy glory. Probably wouldn't cost much more to do some perennial beds with grassy paths, and the beds won't just die back again after a few years, unlike a lawn that never wanted to be there in the first place. Put down fresh mulch every spring and that's it for maintenance.

That's what I'd do with my side lawn if I could afford to. The yard that faces the street is a dry patchy expanse of dirt and weeds with a few vestigial islets of grass hanging on for some reason. Reviving it would require complete soil replacement and replanting. If I were going to reclaim that patch of desolation, I wouldn't waste money on some stupid grass.

Actually, I moved a couple plugs of zoysia from the front lawn that does reasonably well to the desert side lawn a few years ago, and it's spreading a few feet every year. Bully for it. If I wait another 20 years it will probably turn into a lawn all by itself. Poor soil? Competing weeds? Zoysia don't give a shit.

[Kelric]

Can you landscape with native plants? If so you'll wind up with a better looking yard for the same or less money as imposing a lawn where one does not want to be...and it will require a lot less maintenance. That's the logical way to go unless your neighborhood is full of lawn nazis.

I would love to do that, but don't have the time to research doing it properly, nor the time nor back strength to do it myself. What I would REALLY love is putting a raised bed garden in half of the front lawn and then doing native plants in the other half in/around the existing tree and the two bushes I know are native. That still leaves the entire back yard that I want to keep as a yard for my offspring to play in, though, and that will require a war on ants and weeds.

I meant hiring someone, guessing that you'll need to hire someone anyway if you want to restore your lawn to grassy glory. Probably wouldn't cost much more to do some perennial beds with grassy paths, and the beds won't just die back again after a few years, unlike a lawn that never wanted to be there in the first place. Put down fresh mulch every spring and that's it for maintenance.

That's what I'd do with my side lawn if I could afford to. The yard that faces the street is a dry patchy expanse of dirt and weeds with a few vestigial islets of grass hanging on for some reason. Reviving it would require complete soil replacement and replanting. If I were going to reclaim that patch of desolation, I wouldn't waste money on some stupid grass.

Actually, I moved a couple plugs of zoysia from the front lawn that does reasonably well to the desert side lawn a few years ago, and it's spreading a few feet every year. Bully for it. If I wait another 20 years it will probably turn into a lawn all by itself. Poor soil? Competing weeds? Zoysia don't give a shit.

If I could afford to is the key. I did finally cave on my no-chemical stance to buy some ant killing agents this week (and of course it has rained a little the last three days so I can't put any down) since the front lawn is becoming pock-marked thanks to the ant colonies digging up so much of it. Everything under the shade of the tree looks good but the rest of it is becoming a desert. I hope to nuke the ants, re-seed and fertilize the grass in the fall, and see hit it with weed and ant killer again in the spring.

In the back I am going to double the size of the garden, put down some gravel around the shed to eliminate weed growth there, then try to revitalize the lawn as best I can. If the front doesn't start to improve then I may look into landscapers, but I'll wage the war in the back myself since the neighbors can't see my failures.

[stessier]

We have a Breville toaster oven that we really like. The only problem is that this is the second one in 3 years that just up and died one day. Plugged it in to heat up and it turned on fine, but 10 minutes later I came over and it was dead. It wasn't the outlet or a blown house fuse. Checking online, it looks like toaster ovens in general are notorious for blowing a thermal fuse and that the Breville's, in particular, like to do this.

I tried to take apart the first one 18 months ago to see what was going on but after a ton of screws, I couldn't figure out how to get it apart. Today I was more committed and finally got it open. Had to remove 47 screws. Then I had to find the thermal fuse - which was surprisingly difficult. Once found, I had to strip off a bit of insulation and then I was able to test it...and it was open. So, $13 worth of butt connectors and new fuses will be here on Tuesday. That is 5 fuses and enough connectors to replace 10, but that was the smallest quantity offered. Now I just have to borrow a crimping tool and hopefully I'll have a $250 toaster oven back in service. Fingers crossed.

[Carpet_pissr]

Nice! I had one of those do the same thing, and immediately replaced it (the big Breville toaster, right? I see now they have a smaller model out). Didn't think to try and repair since I have almost zero knowledge in the small appliance repair space. I can do the basics like rewiring a plug (from hardwire to plug or vice versa), but beyond that...

[The Meal]

Had to remove 47 screws.

How on earth can they manufacture this economically!?!

[edit:] C_p, I've had a Hue system in place here in our home for more than a year. Hit me up with any Q's. It was expensive (less-so once I started going with refurb and scratch-and-dent parts from Amazon), but very enjoyable.

[Zarathud]

Somewhere on the way to 47 screws, you have to ask yourself if they make it difficult to access just so you don't try to repair it and burn down the house.

[Daehawk]

Had 2 or 3 toaster overs. This last one is a Black & Decker and its lasted a long time so far. I don't use it a lot so maybe it will keep going.

[Chaz]

I hung fans! Replaced two that were slightly mis-matched (looked the same, but were actually different brands, and spun at different speeds). Problem is the new ones (wife picked them out) can't be wired to have the light and fan on separate switches like our current ones, and have to be controlled via remote. So now I need to get a blank switch, replace the now-useless fan switch, and some velcro to attach the remote at the switches. Yes, "use velcro" is the official solution from the manufacturer.

Getting them hung and wired was surprisingly easy. So easy that I also pulled down the moon-shaped light that was in the guest room and replaced it with the better-working fan from the other room.

[Punisher]

Funny Ceiling Fan story
Back in 1990 I bought my first house. Kitchen had an light it and wife did not want it, so it was up to me to take it down and put in a ceiling fan. I have always been the go to guy for the family to fix/build stuff and I worked in a Home Improvement store at the time, so I didn't anticipate any issues.
So I take down the old light and I notice a 1 inch capped lead pipe coming out of the ceiling where the light used to be. The old light had enough space to accommodate this pipe and it was only sticking out about 2 inches from the ceiling. Unfortunately the new ceiling fan wouldn't fit with it. I tried unscrewing the pipe, but it wouldn't budge, so we decide to just cut it flush with the ceiling. This works fine, so I put up the new ceiling fan and turn everything on. Works great!
About an hour or so later we go into the kitchen and have a smell of gas. Do the normal stuff. open windows, check pilot lights, etc.. everything looks fine. Call PSE&G (Our gas and electric provider). They tell us to open the windows, which we had already done and that they would send someone right away. A few minutes later we hear sirens and the fire department pulls up..Turns out that PSE&G calls them automatically for something like this. They check and can't find anything, but have us wait outside to be safe, even though smell has dissipated thanks to the open windows/doors.
PSE&G guy shows up about 15 minutes later and brings out a gas sniffing tool. He waves it around and as I'm sure you have guessed by now, it points to the ceiling fan. He then goes and shuts off the gas at my main and after I explain what I did, he tells me what happened. He has been on the job for a long time, so he figured that the pipe I got was a gas pipe and that the reason it went into my electric light fixture before was because the house was old enough to have had gas lighting at once time! When it was replaced with electric, they never bothered to completely remove the pipeing. Had to call a plumber in to knock done a decent chunk of my ceiling and remove the vertical pipe and reroute the rest of it around and away from the electrical box for the fan..

TLDR: I almost blew up my house when installing a new fan.

[stessier]

We have a Breville toaster oven that we really like. The only problem is that this is the second one in 3 years that just up and died one day. Plugged it in to heat up and it turned on fine, but 10 minutes later I came over and it was dead. It wasn't the outlet or a blown house fuse. Checking online, it looks like toaster ovens in general are notorious for blowing a thermal fuse and that the Breville's, in particular, like to do this.

I tried to take apart the first one 18 months ago to see what was going on but after a ton of screws, I couldn't figure out how to get it apart. Today I was more committed and finally got it open. Had to remove 47 screws. Then I had to find the thermal fuse - which was surprisingly difficult. Once found, I had to strip off a bit of insulation and then I was able to test it...and it was open. So, $13 worth of butt connectors and new fuses will be here on Tuesday. That is 5 fuses and enough connectors to replace 10, but that was the smallest quantity offered. Now I just have to borrow a crimping tool and hopefully I'll have a $250 toaster oven back in service. Fingers crossed.

Success! I think I did it right. The crimping seems to have held the wires and the thing powers up. My only concern is that the space the fuse sits in requires folding the wire in a certain way. That was no longer possible with the butt connectors, but I think I have it well out of the way of stuff and in moving it in, I believe the crimping held.

Anyway, it survived the first heat and cooking at 425F. For now I'm counting it as a win.

Nice! I had one of those do the same thing, and immediately replaced it (the big Breville toaster, right? I see now they have a smaller model out). Didn't think to try and repair since I have almost zero knowledge in the small appliance repair space. I can do the basics like rewiring a plug (from hardwire to plug or vice versa), but beyond that...

FWIW, I don't know anything either - Youtube is my friend! While they didn't have my exact model, they validated my thought it was a fuse and watching other people breakdown their ovens gave me a general feel for where the fuse was and what it looked like. The rest was just not being afraid to poke around - which is easy when the thing is already so broken that it is junk if I did nothing anyway.

Had to remove 47 screws.

How on earth can they manufacture this economically!?!

I'm guessing China as the source. It took me 45 minutes to put it all back together, but I was only moderately comfortable I was doing it right and kept checking a lot of things. I'd imagine it only takes about 20 minutes when you know what you're doing. Considering it retails for $250-300 these days, there is undoubtedly room for manual assembly.

[Kraken]

Does fixing cars count? I replaced the Fit's headlight bulbs yesterday and now Wife thinks I'm a master mechanic.

[Kelric]

The ants have invaded the interior in greater numbers than ever before, and I have no idea if the ant killing chemicals killed any ants.

[Carpet_pissr]

The ants have invaded the interior in greater numbers than ever before, and I have no idea if the ant killing chemicals killed any ants.

What did you end up using?