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

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Jul 09, 2022 10:17 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Sat Jul 09, 2022 9:53 pm I'm going to politely suggest that Daehawk is not at the same level of the Professor from Gilligan's Island.

I also dont have access to CBS Studios back lot for parts or the occasional prop engineer.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sat Jul 09, 2022 11:51 pm

A crew of 2-3 people spent nearly 12 hours today framing in our new porch, and got 'er done before sundown. Most impressive. Attaching the stringers was the last step, and because the ground under the front steps isn't quite level, each one needs to be a slightly different size. I know this because when I replaced the stringers about 15 years ago I had to use the old ones as a template and cut my own -- I couldn't just use standard Home Depot stringers. Since I have level 1 carpentry skills I didn't get them exact and the stairs were a wee bit wobbly. (I left the original stringers in service and added mine to each side because I needed nailing surface for the flooring.)

I was amused today when I saw the workers fish the old stringers out of the dumpster and start measuring them. Took them a long time to cut new ones -- especially since the building code says those stairs get 5 stringers now instead of 3. They had to use math, I assume.

This porch will be able to survive a direct nuclear strike.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 12:02 pm

God I hate uneven and lopsided building measurements. They are my bane. I never get them right even with much planning and trying. I usually end up giving up and either just dealing with it or putting some kind of patch on one side or under one end.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:30 pm

Warren inspects the new stringers.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:48 pm

Kraken wrote: Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:30 pm Warren inspects the new stringers.

We walk our cat with a leash. He loves it.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:04 pm

Warren didn't get his walks yesterday because scary men with loud power tools. He was NOT happy.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:31 pm

Oh, that's what 'stringers' are. I was wondering why you were keeping fish under your porch.

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:46 pm

Put up a shade sail thing over my deck. Actually was not that hard, had the kids and wife help, and took us about an hour or so. Looks pretty good for our first time.

There are things I would do differently next time, but all in all, I am happy with it.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:49 pm

Stringers risers and treads. I just go with steps

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:30 pm

That newfangled fancy plastic wood bows with only three stringers so I get why they increased it to five.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:26 pm

Ok I drove to my power company today. Its also the water company. I was quoted $1,063.00 to simply dig a hole and install a water meter at the road for me. There is no payment plan or installments and its all due up front. Then I have to hire my own plumber to come down and run it the rest of the way and hook it all in. Which I have no idea the cost of plumbers for that.

They gave me some number of local help agencies but they knew of no help in a situation like this. Same as last time. I called them all but all of them had me leave a voice msg and they will get back to me in a couple days.

So it seems cheaper to find a pump somewhere for the same price and get it installed...though in the end it may be the exact same cost involved in the end...plus the new monthly bill if I go the city water route.....or breakdown worry if I go the other......if I can go any route.

As for a shower, all the places I thought of..ymca and the nearby truck stop dont seem like uhhh safe places or clean places to take a shower. My best bet is to rent a motel room for a night just for the shower. Those were like $30 in the 80s..Im sure they aren't super expensive...right?? lol

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 7:55 pm

Ok do any of you OO'ers know where I might get a well pump on the cheap? Ive checked FB Market and Ebay. Some places are sketchy and I dont want to give them money only to have them no ship.

Ill give all the info I can on it.

model - SSJE
Vertical deep well jet pump

Sta-Rite seems to make them now. They are like $800 online. Ugh. If you guys know a cheaper route let me know PLEASE! A good used one would also be in the running if I had to.

It looks like this.......it doesn't go in the well. It sits under my front porch. The pipes tie into it there. Its 1 HP

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 7:59 pm

Daehawk wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 7:55 pm Ok do any of you OO'ers know where I might get a well pump on the cheap? Ive checked FB Market and Ebay. Some places are sketchy and I dont want to give them money only to have them no ship.

Ill give all the info I can on it.

model - SSJE
Vertical deep well jet pump

Sta-Rite seems to make them now. They are like $800 online. Ugh. If you guys know a cheaper route let me know PLEASE! A good used one would also be in the running if I had to.

It looks like this.......it doesn't go in the well. It sits under my front porch. The pipes tie into it there. Its 1 HP

Do you have Harbour Freights around you? They have tons of things, I would guess they have well pumps as well. But man, do you really want to skimp on that? Buy a cheap pump and you will be buying a new one in a few years...

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:27 pm

ya no. We have a HF but they dont have that pump. And no I'd rather have a new one if possible.

They seem to run $800- $1000...some jackasses want even more. I wouldn't deal with them.

I dont get it. Its a a pump made of metal. It should be $300 in my book.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:49 pm

Do you need a deep well pump, or would a shallow one work?

Harbor Freight:

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jul 11, 2022 9:27 pm

My well is 200' deep. So deep well.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 12:48 am

As I recall when my father in law had this one installed it was $500 then and he had to make payments for years to pay for it. In fact I think he died and me and my wife made the final payment to pay to off. Im thinking it was put in around 2002. So it had a good run.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 1:27 am

I see on amazon that they make pumps that do duty as a shallow or deep well pump depending on how they're plumbed and they are cheaper at $200. You should find the guy that fixed your pump last time and see if he thinks he can install one of those. It looks like the surface of
the water in the well has to be down 80 feet or less though. the 80 foot is for their 3/4 hp pump so their 1 hp pump might draw from deeper. edit says 90 feet well depth on the 1 hp, but not sure if that means down to the pickup or down to the surface of the water in the well or what the difference might mean. I'm not fond of the pumps that go down in the hole, in my recent experience those don't last very long.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SZFHQ3N/re ... NrPXRydWU=

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 1:54 am

Disregard the above post as it's probably too complicated and will end up costing as much by the time the pump guy is done, The cheaper brand of the same basic kind as you have might be your best bet, Flotec brand with specs at pentair and priced $560 at Walmart
https://www.pentair.com/en-us/products/ ... -1-hp.html
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Flotec-FP443 ... lsrc=aw.ds

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 10:44 am

Check with public agencies that handle utilities. Someone is likely to be able to help, and if the first place can't, they'll know who to call. Water is one of the few utilities you can't live without.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 10:48 am

Here. Try calling them. The second one looks like the best bet (although there are others if you scroll.) The worst that can happen is that they say no. The best is that you get a new pump (or better yet - water hookup) for free.

There are ways to solve these problems. They're uncomfortable, but they can be solved if you choose to.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 11:05 am

Daehawk wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 12:48 am As I recall when my father in law had this one installed it was $500 then and he had to make payments for years to pay for it. In fact I think he died and me and my wife made the final payment to pay to off. Im thinking it was put in around 2002. So it had a good run.

Is the label on the old pump still visible/available? If you got the part number on the existing pump you possibly could use that to size a replacement.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 11:54 am

BH - That bccs place is the one I deal with for a bag of food every few months. I went by there yesterday and they had no help for this. They gave me some numbers and no one has called back yet but Im doubting a church or salvation army can help either. These places were all tried in 2017 when it broke before.

Mal - wrote down all the info the plate has on it. Been using it to call around local checking stuff all morning.

The latest info Ive got after a morning of calling is locally that pump is $2000 at one place and $940 at another. They will match online but it must include shipping costs to match. So I might get it for the same cost as online but be a safe bet getting local. They gave me another model with the same spec from a different brand and it would save a little at $796. He said the pipe fitting size really doesn't matter as a plumber who installs it can put a fitting on it to fit and it wont hurt the pump or its performance. So thats good news . He then gave me another place to call and Im waiting on a price call back from them.

Im surprised at how helpful every place has been to try and help me . They have all given me other companies numbers to call and try to help me. So friendly. that one place that was $2000 she kept apologizing for their pricing and gave me someone else to try and help as well.

Im now going to call the plumber I hired for some leaks a year or so ago to see if he even installs these things. I 'might' be able to do it but 100% certain Id break another thing trying to. Every time it has happened to me.

Also the guy who put this in is dead and no one in my town wants to fool with it. Guess they are so rich off scamming their customers they dont need a job.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 11:56 am

Daehawk wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:26 pm As for a shower, all the places I thought of..ymca and the nearby truck stop dont seem like uhhh safe places or clean places to take a shower. My best bet is to rent a motel room for a night just for the shower. Those were like $30 in the 80s..Im sure they aren't super expensive...right?? lol

A community swimming pool would likely be a cheaper alternative. You'd have to pay a small amount for entry to the pool, but most halfway-decent pools provide showers you can use for no additional cost.

Most towns and cities also have fitness centres with access to premium showering facilities (e.g. Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym -- check the relevant sites to see what you have available in your locale). While the showers are free, membership is usually required. But plenty of those facilities do offer some type of free trial period (typically around 7 days), day passes, and some locations may allow you to use the shower for a small fee.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 3:18 pm

Some jobs are shit work with people who may not pay and won’t value the work. The plumbers are probably not the scammer here.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Tue Jul 12, 2022 11:02 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote: Tue Jul 12, 2022 11:56 am
Daehawk wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:26 pm As for a shower, all the places I thought of..ymca and the nearby truck stop dont seem like uhhh safe places or clean places to take a shower. My best bet is to rent a motel room for a night just for the shower. Those were like $30 in the 80s..Im sure they aren't super expensive...right?? lol
A community swimming pool would likely be a cheaper alternative. You'd have to pay a small amount for entry to the pool, but most halfway-decent pools provide showers you can use for no additional cost.

Most towns and cities also have fitness centres with access to premium showering facilities (e.g. Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym -- check the relevant sites to see what you have available in your locale). While the showers are free, membership is usually required. But plenty of those facilities do offer some type of free trial period (typically around 7 days), day passes, and some locations may allow you to use the shower for a small fee.

Planet Fitness can be $15 per month or less.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 4:48 pm

Ive about killed myself hauling up water buckets from the well and dragging in 5 gal buckets of it flush my toilet and eash my dishes. Im only half done too as I need two more so I can wash myself off and try to wash my hair in the kitchen sink somehow. I cant get a breath,

All these so called 'help' oganizations dont do much helping. The ywont even speak on their damn phones. You have to leave a f'n voice mail and they may or may not get back to you right at the end of their day so you miss that call and cant try until tomorrow to start the cycle of no talking to a person all over again. I fucking hate phones. These places dont help shit..all they want to see you at it tyhe holiday putting change in their little red buckets then goodbye to you. Its been a WEEK. Im sitting right where I was. because I cant even speak to anyone to havbe them to point. I cant afford gas to run over town trying to talk to them in person.

Ita ALL DUe to this mortgage..without it I could fix this. but nooooo . 11.6% interest...f me

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 5:14 pm

everyone has a phone but wont talk on the damn thing. its silly

on another note about joining a gym to take a shower...Ive called our golds gym 3 days now and got nothing but a busy signal...either its busted, they have it off the hook somehow, or the idiot employee sits and talks all day on the business phone.
'
"Oh Steph your leg warmers are adorable!"
" ohhh I knooow right!? I just got them on sale!"

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:52 pm

We scored a major victory last night against the HOA.

We've been fighting the HOA for MONTHS on taking responsibility for repairing the fountains in the ponds in the neighborhood which have been broken for nearly a year. They gave us every excuse in the book - no money for them, they weren't necessary, etc. There were passionate arguments on both sides.

I was staunchly pro-fountain, as we chose our lot specifically because it backed up to a large scenic pond with a beautiful fountain. A pond slowly getting choked with algae and mosquitos. But not only that, I felt that the HOA was shirking responsibility - any reasonable homeowner would think "pond maintenance," as outlined in the bylaws - and which included fountain inspection and maintenance - would mean they'd also have to replace said fountain if it should break.

The president of the HOA was staunchly anti-fountain, and made it abundantly clear he didn't give a shit about our fountain and if we didn't like it we could vote him out when his term was up 3 years from now. At one point he literally came to our house to discuss the issue, and implied that because we were in the back of the neighborhood in a fairly non-visible area, our pond issues didn't matter. So we (my immediate neighbors and I) went into battle mode.

First we got enough signatures to petition the HOA to call a vote on replacing the fountains. The prez was NOT HAPPY with this, but his hands were tied. He can't stop a vote. However, he still had a trick up his sleeve. At the vote, he planned to bring in the pond ecologist that services our ponds to explain why a fountain wasn't necessary.

A plan which backfired SPECTACULARLY. The pond ecologist (who has no skin in the game, he doesn't sell fountains) gets up there and proceeds to extoll all the virtues of having moving water in a pond while the HOA prez turns redder and redder. He then directly contradicts the HOA president's claims that the fountains only last 3 years, telling us that the broken fountains we had were older models that are obsolete and have since been replaced by more modern, durable models that can last 10 years or more. There was not a dry eye in the house after this beautiful speech (OK, maybe that was just me).

Vote is called, and it's not even close. All fountains to be replaced immediately. President of the HOA is livid but has no choice. Game, set, match.

Moral of this story is: don't fuck with our cul-de-sac. After the victory, our neighbor next door was out in the middle of the road blasting music and handing out frozen margaritas.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 4:56 pm

Do you not have mosquito control laws in your state? When they have those types of ponds anywhere here (retention ponds) there needs to be mosquito control. The President really must be an idiot if he thought an ecologist was going to support him in having a pond of stagnant water.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:01 pm

Congratulations on the win.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:42 pm

Bravo!

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:04 pm

Who voted that idjit into office?

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:38 pm

Thanks for the reminder to never live anyplace that has a HOA.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Fri Jul 15, 2022 3:02 pm

I'm highly skeptical when somebody tells me a new pump is going to last longer than the old technology. I had a 3000 gal or so pond a few years back and keeping the filter box clean so water could flow and the pump wouldn't burn up was a monthly swim in the pond to fish out the filter and clean it out.

I'm really afraid my HOA is going to double next year because of the hail storm that hit my community. I've already got a new ac out of it. My unit was so old 1980's that they had to replace the inside unit too. They've got roof work, windows, carports, skylights to do so I'm betting the insurance is going up considerably. I bet my new ac doesn't last 40 years.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Jul 15, 2022 3:24 pm

Mine came with a 10y parts warranty. And I'll make sure labor is included next time.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Wed Jul 20, 2022 10:25 pm

Just replaced my disposal. They had a 3/4 HP with double the warranty on sale for $10 more, but I went with the same size 1/2 HP that I already had because those disposals with the bigger diameter are just that much harder to work with upside down and under the sink. This way I wouldn't have to cut the pipe headed to the other sink shorter either. It was tempting the get more HP, but in the end lazy won out. The best thing is now my disposal is actually grounded under the grounding screw.

Whoever did it before just left the ground cable fly free hoping it would ground itself against the housing I guess. LOL My back is a wee bit sore, I hate contorting under a sink.

Tomorrow, the hot water heater

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:06 am

Our dryer stopped spinning when there are towels in it. Empty, it apparently spins very slowly, reluctantly. I'll have to take a look at it tonight. I replaced the belt in the last year, so that's not it. I'm thinking either the tension pulley or the motor. A new motor is right around $80. I was wondering when it was time to just buy a new dryer (this one is 15 years old), but a new one of comparable quality is ~$800 at Home Depot, so fixing this one it is!!

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jul 21, 2022 10:27 pm

stessier wrote: Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:06 am Our dryer stopped spinning when there are towels in it. Empty, it apparently spins very slowly, reluctantly. I'll have to take a look at it tonight. I replaced the belt in the last year, so that's not it. I'm thinking either the tension pulley or the motor. A new motor is right around $80. I was wondering when it was time to just buy a new dryer (this one is 15 years old), but a new one of comparable quality is ~$800 at Home Depot, so fixing this one it is!!

And to make you feel better, it’s not like drying tech has changed any in 15 years, or that they are any better (unlike washers).

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Sat Jul 23, 2022 3:34 pm

Re-educated myself to something I know all to well. Never trust the labelling in your power panel. Tricked me because I hadn't heard my water heater run ever since I turned off the breaker, but that was because the water heater had totally died not because I turned off what turned out to be the dryer breaker. Zapow, it's a good thing they put breakers in.

I removed my water heater and I'm running a dehumidifier in there for awhile to get the closet nice and dry. Turns out you can't just cap the cold water line, the faucets must let some cold water into the hot water lines if the hot isn't pressurized. So have to put a shark bite cap on the hot too. Those caps are pretty nice, but you have to do prep work. Have to make the copper pipe all shiny for about an inch and you have to deburr the cut end. Still better than sweating pipes with solder and flux. ...and way better than paying plumber's wages.