Have a landscaper coming out soon to pull out some old bushes and plant/move some other ones. His pricing was very good -- to the point that I questioned him on it thinking maybe he forgot a few things we had discussed. He assured me the price was correct for the work we discussed.
He came by to do another walkthrough and answer a few more questions I have and when I showed him the brickwork around some of my flowerbeds, he geeked out like a kid on Christmas. I've never seen a grown man get so excited about bricks. He was so pumped that the previous owners did such a good job initially, though the bricks sunk and need to be raised.
Gonna extend our deck and include a drain system with it so our basement stops flooding during heavy rains. We will finally be able to remove our trashy tarps.
Have a landscaper coming out soon to pull out some old bushes and plant/move some other ones. His pricing was very good -- to the point that I questioned him on it thinking maybe he forgot a few things we had discussed. He assured me the price was correct for the work we discussed.
He came by to do another walkthrough and answer a few more questions I have and when I showed him the brickwork around some of my flowerbeds, he geeked out like a kid on Christmas. I've never seen a grown man get so excited about bricks. He was so pumped that the previous owners did such a good job initially, though the bricks sunk and need to be raised.
I think I like this guy.
You find a good contractor and you hold on to them with both hands.
Have a landscaper coming out soon to pull out some old bushes and plant/move some other ones. His pricing was very good -- to the point that I questioned him on it thinking maybe he forgot a few things we had discussed. He assured me the price was correct for the work we discussed.
He came by to do another walkthrough and answer a few more questions I have and when I showed him the brickwork around some of my flowerbeds, he geeked out like a kid on Christmas. I've never seen a grown man get so excited about bricks. He was so pumped that the previous owners did such a good job initially, though the bricks sunk and need to be raised.
I think I like this guy.
You find a good contractor and you hold on to them with both hands.
Yeah. I told him before he left that I had a feeling I was going to keep him busy for years.
I also told him that, since he did the neighbors' yards, he had to step up his game because I wanted the house with the nicest-looking yard.
Electric lawnmower suggestions? We also have a small, steep hill in the front that I would have to do as well.
Fridge suggestions? We might try to go to Lowe's and see what is out there (as much as we don't want to go out). The fridge that came with the house is just...no.
Internet connection suggestions? Right now, Verizon had us set up our own Internet since they weren't allowed to come inside. So the modem and router are in the basement, 2 floors away from my room that I wanted wired. Right now I have a crummy wi-fi dongle that barely works, so I am going to have to work from the basement this coming week and wire in until Thursday, when this is being delivered. I'll try and see if that is any better. We have also been looking at an Eero 3 pack. I just...need to be wired. From Twitch to streaming services to streaming myself to downloading games to playing games...I don't want to go back to wi-fi. I also have the wi-fi dongle for the Switch and wouldn't mind wiring my PS4 since wi-fi on it isn't great.
Any tips on changing 2 prong outlets to 3 prong? There are TONS of 2 prong and barely any 3 prongs in this house. Gonna call an electrician tomorrow to see how we can fix that.
We are slowly settling in here finally. It has been a rough week of moving and there is still plenty to be done. I'm sure I will have a laundry list of questions in the next few days.
Electric lawnmower suggestions? We also have a small, steep hill in the front that I would have to do as well.
Fridge suggestions? We might try to go to Lowe's and see what is out there (as much as we don't want to go out). The fridge that came with the house is just...no.
Internet connection suggestions? Right now, Verizon had us set up our own Internet since they weren't allowed to come inside. So the modem and router are in the basement, 2 floors away from my room that I wanted wired. Right now I have a crummy wi-fi dongle that barely works, so I am going to have to work from the basement this coming week and wire in until Thursday, when this is being delivered. I'll try and see if that is any better. We have also been looking at an Eero 3 pack. I just...need to be wired. From Twitch to streaming services to streaming myself to downloading games to playing games...I don't want to go back to wi-fi. I also have the wi-fi dongle for the Switch and wouldn't mind wiring my PS4 since wi-fi on it isn't great.
Any tips on changing 2 prong outlets to 3 prong? There are TONS of 2 prong and barely any 3 prongs in this house. Gonna call an electrician tomorrow to see how we can fix that.
We are slowly settling in here finally. It has been a rough week of moving and there is still plenty to be done. I'm sure I will have a laundry list of questions in the next few days.
I can only speak to the fridge - based on reviews here and elsewhere, avoid LG like the plauge, and samsung has issues. I opted for a GE (gets delivered tomorrow!), or there's nicer stuff in the upper bounds.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
The Ego line of electric mowers seems to be the go-to right now. Wirecutter reviewed the line trimmer and was quite pleased with it, I imagine the mower would be the same.
There's a lot to unpack for the internet stuff, and a lot of it is specific to your location and house. You may have better luck with the Networking thread.
Today it's raining the hardest I've seen since I've bought my house. Since storms this strong usually happened when I was at work or at night, now was the perfect opportunity to walk around the property to see how well the gutters were holding up. I discovered in one of the 2nd story gutters what appears to be a living plant, causing a backup that's pouring water out of the gutter onto the ground. I also discovered one of the underground pipes the gutters drains into is backing up and causing a puddle around it. So some questions:
1) Any advice on finding a company that'll clean my gutters, including removing whatever plant that is? The gutter in question is 20 feet above uneven ground, so doing it by ladder would require not only a very long ladder but one that could handle being put up on an incline. So doing it by the roof is probably the best and maybe only way it can get done, so I'd need to find gutter cleaners that'd be willing to do that (and accept they'd probably charge appropriately for the risk) if needed.
2) Any advice on how to clear that underground gutter pipe? Since it's still raining out I didn't try to see if I could remove the cap, but assuming I could, would something like a plumbing auger be enough to clear out whatever blockage there is?
You'll have to maybe ask around the neighborhood for a good gutter cleaning company. Conversely, you could try one of those long J-hook pipes that attaches to a hose and see if you can get it. Let me see if I can find a link
Electric lawnmower suggestions? We also have a small, steep hill in the front that I would have to do as well.
I have a corded Sun Joe (uuuuh, Sun Joe MJ403E Mow Joe 17-Inch 13-Amp Electric Lawn Mower/Mulcher) that's been great, but if mulching I gotta empty the bag super regularly.
Today it's raining the hardest I've seen since I've bought my house. Since storms this strong usually happened when I was at work or at night, now was the perfect opportunity to walk around the property to see how well the gutters were holding up. I discovered in one of the 2nd story gutters what appears to be a living plant, causing a backup that's pouring water out of the gutter onto the ground. I also discovered one of the underground pipes the gutters drains into is backing up and causing a puddle around it. So some questions:
1) Any advice on finding a company that'll clean my gutters, including removing whatever plant that is? The gutter in question is 20 feet above uneven ground, so doing it by ladder would require not only a very long ladder but one that could handle being put up on an incline. So doing it by the roof is probably the best and maybe only way it can get done, so I'd need to find gutter cleaners that'd be willing to do that (and accept they'd probably charge appropriately for the risk) if needed.
2) Any advice on how to clear that underground gutter pipe? Since it's still raining out I didn't try to see if I could remove the cap, but assuming I could, would something like a plumbing auger be enough to clear out whatever blockage there is?
I popped open the pipe and it went directly down into a T junction with the underground drain pipe about 12 to 18" below the surface (I closed it back up before I thought to grab a measuring tape to check the actual depth) and there was about an inch of water still in the main pipe. From this I think that it was raining so hard that the underground pipe was full from the the gutter drains further up the chain, so at the point I looked at the water had nowhere to go (especially since all of the pipes are the same size, so if an input pipe is saturated that means the underground pipe is saturated). I think I'll still grab an auger to just make 100% sure there's no blockages.
That's odd. I would have expected a sweep Tee instead of a normal Tee so that the water doesn't slow down when it hits the horizontal pipe. Granted it's a yard drain so they probably grabbed what they had.
Electric lawnmower suggestions? We also have a small, steep hill in the front that I would have to do as well.
I just bought an Atlas to replace an Ego that burned out after two years (I took a shot at fixing it and discovered its "brushless" motor had distressingly short brushes that had worn through and fused what was left to the commutator. Support number said this was an error with a very limited number of units that they would be happy to replace if my warranty didn't end over a year ago. I loved that mower while it lasted but it's soured me to the brand.
The Atlas self propelled with two batteries and a charger came in just under $500 with some coupon shenanigans, shelf price is right around $600 for what I got. There's a cheaper charger option (only get this if you're planning to keep enough batteries on hand to do everything - it takes way longer to charge than you get out of one and you'll basically be stuck waiting for tomorrow if you run out of juice) and a non self-propelled that's like $80 cheaper, but you'll probably want the self propelled for that hill.
Upside: Dual 80v battery slots, I can finish my lawn without needing to stop and switch batteries unless it's wet, a third battery would get me through that but I haven't bought one yet, I just finish the sides after one battery is done.
Downside: Pretty sure all the exposed plastic bits are just ABS, no GFR like you'd expect from a tool of that tier. Everything load or vibration bearing is metal, the piece on the front seems to just be to keep clippings from gumming up the wheel adjustment, but don't drop anything on top of it because I don't trust the motor housing and battery compartment lid.
Ugh, we've had mold growing on the walls of one of our room from heavy rains for a while now. I keep cleaning the surfaces off but am unsure as to what the next step would be.
Ugh, we've had mold growing on the walls of one of our room from heavy rains for a while now. I keep cleaning the surfaces off but am unsure as to what the next step would be.
Vinegar. It accelerates the mold lifecycle which causes it to run out of nutrients and die off. Bleach removes the black but doesn't really kill the spores in the cracks in the walls. Me and Bulgarian girl treated a bunch of problem walls with a wet wipe of vinegar and it more or less permanently killed all the mold.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Is this a place to ask gardening questions? I planted a rosebush about a month ago, and everything seemed fine until today when I checked out the first bloom. Something has been eating the shit out of the leaves, and quite a few have white speckles all over them. There's lots and lots and lots of advice in the interwebs about what this is and how to deal with it, but if anyone has direct rose cultivating advice to offer, I'd appreciate the first hand experience.
If it's sawflies, you can just spray the plants with insecticidal soap to kill off the larvae until you have no adults left. No nasty pesticides that could harm your biome.
Is this a place to ask gardening questions? I planted a rosebush about a month ago, and everything seemed fine until today when I checked out the first bloom. Something has been eating the shit out of the leaves, and quite a few have white speckles all over them. There's lots and lots and lots of advice in the interwebs about what this is and how to deal with it, but if anyone has direct rose cultivating advice to offer, I'd appreciate the first hand experience.
Do you have Japanese Beetles in your area? They love roses and will swarm and destroy them if they aren't controlled. I lost about 6 bushes to them a few years ago.
Luckily, they are easy to control without chemicals, via the use of Milky Spore (link is not meant to be specific, you can find this stuff online everywhere and in a lot of garden stores as well). It infects the grubs and eats them from the inside out and spreads it over your lawn even more. It's basically a permanent solution as well, should last many years before you need to reapply.
EDIT: Should also mention, we have a gardening thread as well: Gardening Thread
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JeanHeartbroken papa bearGatineau, QuébecRegistered Userregular
Hello!
We're currently shopping for a BBQ. I have to be honest, I don't really know what makes a good BBQ. All I know so far comes from watching a couple of Youtube videos.
Just watched a video that spoke very highly about the Weber brand. Is this brand really that good?
"You won't destroy us, You won't destroy our democracy. We are a small but proud nation. No one can bomb us to silence. No one can scare us from being Norway. This evening and tonight, we'll take care of each other. That's what we do best when attacked'' - Jens Stoltenberg
We're currently shopping for a BBQ. I have to be honest, I don't really know what makes a good BBQ. All I know so far comes from watching a couple of Youtube videos.
Just watched a video that spoke very highly about the Weber brand. Is this brand really that good?
Its the Toyota Camry of grills. They are sold everywhere. I'm sure some of them are nice, but the ones my family has purchased fell apart after a couple of years on a covered deck.
Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
We're currently shopping for a BBQ. I have to be honest, I don't really know what makes a good BBQ. All I know so far comes from watching a couple of Youtube videos.
Just watched a video that spoke very highly about the Weber brand. Is this brand really that good?
Its the Toyota Camry of grills. They are sold everywhere. I'm sure some of them are nice, but the ones my family has purchased fell apart after a couple of years on a covered deck.
I don’t think I agree with that.
The Toyota comparison, yes - ubiquitous, relatively inexpensive, but they last forever if you do basic maintenance.
The one I’ve got is about 10 years old, and it’s been outside the whole time. I’ve mostly kept a grill cover on it, but have occasionally forgotten. Use it on average about once a week.
Everything still works perfectly, with the exception of the push-to-start thing which stopped working a couple of years back. So now I just use a long lighter.
We're currently shopping for a BBQ. I have to be honest, I don't really know what makes a good BBQ. All I know so far comes from watching a couple of Youtube videos.
Just watched a video that spoke very highly about the Weber brand. Is this brand really that good?
Its the Toyota Camry of grills. They are sold everywhere. I'm sure some of them are nice, but the ones my family has purchased fell apart after a couple of years on a covered deck.
The Weber Spirit gas grills are considered the best mid priced grills you can get. They are heavy cast aluminium and actual angled steel construction, not just pressed sheet metal. Weber charcoal kettles are iconic for a reason. They are the one to buy.
You can certainly get cheaper, but on the whole they are the ones to beat.
I am human garbage and conduct almost zero maintenance beyond occasionally scraping the grill and emptying the grease trap. It's going in to its fourth year with zero issues.
Edit: It's propane, which I'd recommend if you've never really grilled outside much. I love charcoal but propane is leagues easier to cook with.
Ugh, we've had mold growing on the walls of one of our room from heavy rains for a while now. I keep cleaning the surfaces off but am unsure as to what the next step would be.
Vinegar. It accelerates the mold lifecycle which causes it to run out of nutrients and die off. Bleach removes the black but doesn't really kill the spores in the cracks in the walls. Me and Bulgarian girl treated a bunch of problem walls with a wet wipe of vinegar and it more or less permanently killed all the mold.
Should I be worried about mold in the walls? We had water seep into our house from the outside and I'm worried about what the inside of the walls are like.
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JeanHeartbroken papa bearGatineau, QuébecRegistered Userregular
I can live with the Toyota of grills (it's what I drive, actually). I'm not enough of a grill entusiast to justify spending on say, the Volvo of grills.
I don't want to end up with the Lada of grills, tough
"You won't destroy us, You won't destroy our democracy. We are a small but proud nation. No one can bomb us to silence. No one can scare us from being Norway. This evening and tonight, we'll take care of each other. That's what we do best when attacked'' - Jens Stoltenberg
If possible, try to find one with cast iron grills or get cast iron replacements online.
There aren't very many grill companies anymore that are relatively easy to find and affordable. It's Weber, CharBroil, and...like 2 others?
I have a Ducane that needs replacing now that it's 15 yrs old (the company was bought by Weber), so instead we use a stovetop cast iron grill/griddle from Lodge.
Typical Summers we spend our days at the neighborhood pool, which has its own grills, so I've been hesitant about buying another when it'll basically just rust on the back deck.
Also consider the direction of the burners in the grill. When facing the grill, my burners go parallel to me so what I'd consider horizontal. I would much, much prefer perpendicular to me or vertical. The reason is that the direction I have makes it so difficult to do indirect heat because even if you turn off two burners, the indirect space is still small. With more, shorter vertical burners I'd have more space and more control. It may be hard to find on cheaper grills though.
I've had one of these little Weber Q 1200 grills for 8 or 9 years and I love it, never have done anything to it but clean it and replace the burner once (a very easy and cheap fix.) Not for everyone, depends on your grilling needs but I take it camping and tailgating fairly often because it's easy to move about. Fairly inexpensive too.
I moved to a paddle scraper a couple years back (after the rash of hospitalizations from ingesting grill brush bristles) and I don't think I'd ever go back. Mines a little wonky from using it on two different grills but now that I'm down to one it's nicely rounding back into shape.
We're currently shopping for a BBQ. I have to be honest, I don't really know what makes a good BBQ. All I know so far comes from watching a couple of Youtube videos.
Just watched a video that spoke very highly about the Weber brand. Is this brand really that good?
Its the Toyota Camry of grills. They are sold everywhere. I'm sure some of them are nice, but the ones my family has purchased fell apart after a couple of years on a covered deck.
The Weber Spirit gas grills are considered the best mid priced grills you can get. They are heavy cast aluminium and actual angled steel construction, not just pressed sheet metal. Weber charcoal kettles are iconic for a reason. They are the one to buy.
You can certainly get cheaper, but on the whole they are the ones to beat.
It's quite possible we just got unlucky. The angled steel in the grill used for heat spreading rusted out, and the tank platform did as well. One of the burners would work correctly about 50% of the time.
He has an old charcoal weber somewhere, like 40 years old now, which worked well (I think, I was kid when were camping with it) but the one we got mid 00's was a rickety piece of crap.
Steam - Synthetic Violence | XBOX Live - Cannonfuse | PSN - CastleBravo | Twitch - SoggybiscuitPA
Yep, my genesis silver Weber is turning 20 soon. Have replaced the burners once and gave up on the ignitor a long time ago. Frame for the cart is finally rusting out due to a decade of not being covered.
If they still make them, get the stainless grill grates. They'd look new still if I bothered to clean them seriously.
Electric lawnmower suggestions? We also have a small, steep hill in the front that I would have to do as well.
Fridge suggestions? We might try to go to Lowe's and see what is out there (as much as we don't want to go out). The fridge that came with the house is just...no.
Internet connection suggestions? Right now, Verizon had us set up our own Internet since they weren't allowed to come inside. So the modem and router are in the basement, 2 floors away from my room that I wanted wired. Right now I have a crummy wi-fi dongle that barely works, so I am going to have to work from the basement this coming week and wire in until Thursday, when this is being delivered. I'll try and see if that is any better. We have also been looking at an Eero 3 pack. I just...need to be wired. From Twitch to streaming services to streaming myself to downloading games to playing games...I don't want to go back to wi-fi. I also have the wi-fi dongle for the Switch and wouldn't mind wiring my PS4 since wi-fi on it isn't great.
Any tips on changing 2 prong outlets to 3 prong? There are TONS of 2 prong and barely any 3 prongs in this house. Gonna call an electrician tomorrow to see how we can fix that.
We are slowly settling in here finally. It has been a rough week of moving and there is still plenty to be done. I'm sure I will have a laundry list of questions in the next few days.
Fridge:
Think very carefully if you want an in-door ice/water dispenser. They're prone to leaking, and it basically doubles the number of mechanical parts in a fridge.
2 prong outlets:
The real question is if the wires have a ground. The other real question is if the 3 prong outlets are actually connected to ground. What I suspect is that the original builder just used hot/neutral wires everywhere, then someone replaced some of the 2-prong outlets with 3-prong for "convenience". This is bad/wrong, and should be fixed. (Also, if the electrical is old enough that it doesn't have a ground, I'd be dubious about the state of the wires as well; this needs to be checked.) Was an inspection done? This is the sort of thing that should be on it.
You might be able to run a ground wire to at least some of the outlets, but doing this without ripping out walls depends a lot on if you have access to an attic or basement or something. The alternative is to place a GFCI outlet on each circuit. This is a code-approved way to add a LOT of safety without needing to mess with wires at all, which also makes it really cheap. Once the first outlet on a circuit is GFCI, the rest can be replaced with regular 3-prong outlets. (Mark them with "GFCI protected" or something, so that if the GFCI trips people know to check that.)
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
We're currently shopping for a BBQ. I have to be honest, I don't really know what makes a good BBQ. All I know so far comes from watching a couple of Youtube videos.
Just watched a video that spoke very highly about the Weber brand. Is this brand really that good?
Its the Toyota Camry of grills. They are sold everywhere. I'm sure some of them are nice, but the ones my family has purchased fell apart after a couple of years on a covered deck.
The Weber Spirit gas grills are considered the best mid priced grills you can get. They are heavy cast aluminium and actual angled steel construction, not just pressed sheet metal. Weber charcoal kettles are iconic for a reason. They are the one to buy.
You can certainly get cheaper, but on the whole they are the ones to beat.
It's quite possible we just got unlucky. The angled steel in the grill used for heat spreading rusted out, and the tank platform did as well. One of the burners would work correctly about 50% of the time.
He has an old charcoal weber somewhere, like 40 years old now, which worked well (I think, I was kid when were camping with it) but the one we got mid 00's was a rickety piece of crap.
Yea shit happens sometimes to even good brands and I hate to see people get burned by it. I've ran Weber most of my life, except for a charbroil grill I got from the inlaws. It was decent but hotspotted like hell and the thin construction just radiated the heat and didn't keep it in. For $100 it was a pretty good 4 burner grill. It never felt like it was going to fall apart.
What I'm looking at now is a 30" Cuisinart propane round griddle. It would let me do smash burgers outside, Mongolian grill, and bunches of other stuff. For the price though I might just get a 3 burner spirit and a griddle insert.
Posts
He came by to do another walkthrough and answer a few more questions I have and when I showed him the brickwork around some of my flowerbeds, he geeked out like a kid on Christmas. I've never seen a grown man get so excited about bricks. He was so pumped that the previous owners did such a good job initially, though the bricks sunk and need to be raised.
I think I like this guy.
For the sake of my neighbors I will hang them off the side of the deck as curtains.
You find a good contractor and you hold on to them with both hands.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Yeah. I told him before he left that I had a feeling I was going to keep him busy for years.
I also told him that, since he did the neighbors' yards, he had to step up his game because I wanted the house with the nicest-looking yard.
Fridge suggestions? We might try to go to Lowe's and see what is out there (as much as we don't want to go out). The fridge that came with the house is just...no.
Internet connection suggestions? Right now, Verizon had us set up our own Internet since they weren't allowed to come inside. So the modem and router are in the basement, 2 floors away from my room that I wanted wired. Right now I have a crummy wi-fi dongle that barely works, so I am going to have to work from the basement this coming week and wire in until Thursday, when this is being delivered. I'll try and see if that is any better. We have also been looking at an Eero 3 pack. I just...need to be wired. From Twitch to streaming services to streaming myself to downloading games to playing games...I don't want to go back to wi-fi. I also have the wi-fi dongle for the Switch and wouldn't mind wiring my PS4 since wi-fi on it isn't great.
Any tips on changing 2 prong outlets to 3 prong? There are TONS of 2 prong and barely any 3 prongs in this house. Gonna call an electrician tomorrow to see how we can fix that.
We are slowly settling in here finally. It has been a rough week of moving and there is still plenty to be done. I'm sure I will have a laundry list of questions in the next few days.
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I can only speak to the fridge - based on reviews here and elsewhere, avoid LG like the plauge, and samsung has issues. I opted for a GE (gets delivered tomorrow!), or there's nicer stuff in the upper bounds.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/235649/home-networking-and-you
1) Any advice on finding a company that'll clean my gutters, including removing whatever plant that is? The gutter in question is 20 feet above uneven ground, so doing it by ladder would require not only a very long ladder but one that could handle being put up on an incline. So doing it by the roof is probably the best and maybe only way it can get done, so I'd need to find gutter cleaners that'd be willing to do that (and accept they'd probably charge appropriately for the risk) if needed.
2) Any advice on how to clear that underground gutter pipe? Since it's still raining out I didn't try to see if I could remove the cap, but assuming I could, would something like a plumbing auger be enough to clear out whatever blockage there is?
You'll have to maybe ask around the neighborhood for a good gutter cleaning company. Conversely, you could try one of those long J-hook pipes that attaches to a hose and see if you can get it. Let me see if I can find a link
Edit: this is what I'm thinking. Maybe you could use it from the roof to blast out the blockage?
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07P9FKJGY/
I have a corded Sun Joe (uuuuh, Sun Joe MJ403E Mow Joe 17-Inch 13-Amp Electric Lawn Mower/Mulcher) that's been great, but if mulching I gotta empty the bag super regularly.
I popped open the pipe and it went directly down into a T junction with the underground drain pipe about 12 to 18" below the surface (I closed it back up before I thought to grab a measuring tape to check the actual depth) and there was about an inch of water still in the main pipe. From this I think that it was raining so hard that the underground pipe was full from the the gutter drains further up the chain, so at the point I looked at the water had nowhere to go (especially since all of the pipes are the same size, so if an input pipe is saturated that means the underground pipe is saturated). I think I'll still grab an auger to just make 100% sure there's no blockages.
I just bought an Atlas to replace an Ego that burned out after two years (I took a shot at fixing it and discovered its "brushless" motor had distressingly short brushes that had worn through and fused what was left to the commutator. Support number said this was an error with a very limited number of units that they would be happy to replace if my warranty didn't end over a year ago. I loved that mower while it lasted but it's soured me to the brand.
The Atlas self propelled with two batteries and a charger came in just under $500 with some coupon shenanigans, shelf price is right around $600 for what I got. There's a cheaper charger option (only get this if you're planning to keep enough batteries on hand to do everything - it takes way longer to charge than you get out of one and you'll basically be stuck waiting for tomorrow if you run out of juice) and a non self-propelled that's like $80 cheaper, but you'll probably want the self propelled for that hill.
Upside: Dual 80v battery slots, I can finish my lawn without needing to stop and switch batteries unless it's wet, a third battery would get me through that but I haven't bought one yet, I just finish the sides after one battery is done.
Downside: Pretty sure all the exposed plastic bits are just ABS, no GFR like you'd expect from a tool of that tier. Everything load or vibration bearing is metal, the piece on the front seems to just be to keep clippings from gumming up the wheel adjustment, but don't drop anything on top of it because I don't trust the motor housing and battery compartment lid.
Vinegar. It accelerates the mold lifecycle which causes it to run out of nutrients and die off. Bleach removes the black but doesn't really kill the spores in the cracks in the walls. Me and Bulgarian girl treated a bunch of problem walls with a wet wipe of vinegar and it more or less permanently killed all the mold.
If it's sawflies, you can just spray the plants with insecticidal soap to kill off the larvae until you have no adults left. No nasty pesticides that could harm your biome.
Do you have Japanese Beetles in your area? They love roses and will swarm and destroy them if they aren't controlled. I lost about 6 bushes to them a few years ago.
Luckily, they are easy to control without chemicals, via the use of Milky Spore (link is not meant to be specific, you can find this stuff online everywhere and in a lot of garden stores as well). It infects the grubs and eats them from the inside out and spreads it over your lawn even more. It's basically a permanent solution as well, should last many years before you need to reapply.
EDIT: Should also mention, we have a gardening thread as well: Gardening Thread
We're currently shopping for a BBQ. I have to be honest, I don't really know what makes a good BBQ. All I know so far comes from watching a couple of Youtube videos.
Just watched a video that spoke very highly about the Weber brand. Is this brand really that good?
Its the Toyota Camry of grills. They are sold everywhere. I'm sure some of them are nice, but the ones my family has purchased fell apart after a couple of years on a covered deck.
I don’t think I agree with that.
The Toyota comparison, yes - ubiquitous, relatively inexpensive, but they last forever if you do basic maintenance.
The one I’ve got is about 10 years old, and it’s been outside the whole time. I’ve mostly kept a grill cover on it, but have occasionally forgotten. Use it on average about once a week.
Everything still works perfectly, with the exception of the push-to-start thing which stopped working a couple of years back. So now I just use a long lighter.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
The Weber Spirit gas grills are considered the best mid priced grills you can get. They are heavy cast aluminium and actual angled steel construction, not just pressed sheet metal. Weber charcoal kettles are iconic for a reason. They are the one to buy.
You can certainly get cheaper, but on the whole they are the ones to beat.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Yeah, plan on it. Buy a grill lighter and plan to use it within a few months of buying the grill.
https://www.weber.com/US/en/grills/gas-grills/46110001.html?cgid=8#start=1
I am human garbage and conduct almost zero maintenance beyond occasionally scraping the grill and emptying the grease trap. It's going in to its fourth year with zero issues.
Edit: It's propane, which I'd recommend if you've never really grilled outside much. I love charcoal but propane is leagues easier to cook with.
Should I be worried about mold in the walls? We had water seep into our house from the outside and I'm worried about what the inside of the walls are like.
I don't want to end up with the Lada of grills, tough
There aren't very many grill companies anymore that are relatively easy to find and affordable. It's Weber, CharBroil, and...like 2 others?
I have a Ducane that needs replacing now that it's 15 yrs old (the company was bought by Weber), so instead we use a stovetop cast iron grill/griddle from Lodge.
Typical Summers we spend our days at the neighborhood pool, which has its own grills, so I've been hesitant about buying another when it'll basically just rust on the back deck.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Weber-51060001-Q1200-Liquid-Propane/dp/B00FGEHG6Q&ved=2ahUKEwjM_vWI5N7pAhXplXIEHV--AyUQFjAYegQIExAB&usg=AOvVaw0RgTMXixBCwycuEsJjfQWg&cshid=1590951603658
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
It's quite possible we just got unlucky. The angled steel in the grill used for heat spreading rusted out, and the tank platform did as well. One of the burners would work correctly about 50% of the time.
He has an old charcoal weber somewhere, like 40 years old now, which worked well (I think, I was kid when were camping with it) but the one we got mid 00's was a rickety piece of crap.
If they still make them, get the stainless grill grates. They'd look new still if I bothered to clean them seriously.
Fridge:
Think very carefully if you want an in-door ice/water dispenser. They're prone to leaking, and it basically doubles the number of mechanical parts in a fridge.
2 prong outlets:
The real question is if the wires have a ground. The other real question is if the 3 prong outlets are actually connected to ground. What I suspect is that the original builder just used hot/neutral wires everywhere, then someone replaced some of the 2-prong outlets with 3-prong for "convenience". This is bad/wrong, and should be fixed. (Also, if the electrical is old enough that it doesn't have a ground, I'd be dubious about the state of the wires as well; this needs to be checked.) Was an inspection done? This is the sort of thing that should be on it.
You might be able to run a ground wire to at least some of the outlets, but doing this without ripping out walls depends a lot on if you have access to an attic or basement or something. The alternative is to place a GFCI outlet on each circuit. This is a code-approved way to add a LOT of safety without needing to mess with wires at all, which also makes it really cheap. Once the first outlet on a circuit is GFCI, the rest can be replaced with regular 3-prong outlets. (Mark them with "GFCI protected" or something, so that if the GFCI trips people know to check that.)
Yea shit happens sometimes to even good brands and I hate to see people get burned by it. I've ran Weber most of my life, except for a charbroil grill I got from the inlaws. It was decent but hotspotted like hell and the thin construction just radiated the heat and didn't keep it in. For $100 it was a pretty good 4 burner grill. It never felt like it was going to fall apart.
What I'm looking at now is a 30" Cuisinart propane round griddle. It would let me do smash burgers outside, Mongolian grill, and bunches of other stuff. For the price though I might just get a 3 burner spirit and a griddle insert.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981