Silverback
Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Damn man.. that could have been bad.
The Home Improvement Thread
- Thread starter texasislandboy
- Start date
balakay
BabyMax
Yeah and it's not the first electrical problem I've had with this house. Found about half of the connections in the breaker panel were loose when I was having issues with my heater last year.
Silverback
Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
Up your insurance.
I just physically cringed. Man that sucks.
balakay
BabyMax
Yeah. It was quite the surprise. I'm going to have my dad come over and check everything else out as well soon. I dont like these kind of surprises.
Good plan.
Oswego
n00b
Got a 1/2 # of native perennial wildflower seed and 1/2# of native short growth annual polinator attractant seed + a few hundred bulbs and some small shrub graphs on order. Got tired of mowing this year so I let about 500sqft of lawn grow natural and might add another 500sqft this fall when I till/seed the original plot I let grow. I have no HOA or any of that crap so if it all turns out good in the next two years and I'm still stuck here I may seed my entire backyard with low growth native wildflowers or even the front. Neighbors might not like the front yard idea, but screw them ~ this is my land 
PSU Taco85
Well-Known Member
Oil filter for my log splitter came in yesterday, thing is damn beefy. 1.25" NPT lines with a 10 micron filter and 25 psi bypass; shouldn't have to worry about hitting the filter bypass for a while 
Ordered 10 gallons of Dexron III that came in the other day. Going to drain and install the filter as well as change the engine oil out and fill with fresh oil this weekend if the temps finally go down a bit, been hot and humid as hell out here the last few days.
Ordered 10 gallons of Dexron III that came in the other day. Going to drain and install the filter as well as change the engine oil out and fill with fresh oil this weekend if the temps finally go down a bit, been hot and humid as hell out here the last few days.
Oswego
n00b
Oil filter for my log splitter came in yesterday, thing is damn beefy. 1.25" NPT lines with a 10 micron filter and 25 psi bypass; shouldn't have to worry about hitting the filter bypass for a while
Ordered 10 gallons of Dexron III that came in the other day. Going to drain and install the filter as well as change the engine oil out and fill with fresh oil this weekend if the temps finally go down a bit, been hot and humid as hell out here the last few days.
View attachment 15980
You should sow some wildflower seed. The grass you need to mow would make my head spin. if you want any leftovers for testing a small area let me know ~ I can throw some seed your way. I got double what I need.
CowboyTaco
Well-Known Member
Speaking of throwing seed. I got an appointment next week to stop that.
Oswego
n00b
Ive been waiting to see how bad running my AC kills my electric bill this summer and to my surprise this June I was @ 220 kwh vs last June w/no ac @ 301kw hrs for a savings of 81 kw hrs.
That blew my mind so I had to double check that both readings were actual and not guesstimated then I looked at average temps and length of billing period & they were all very similar. Made me wonder how that could be possible, because it shouldn't be. Only thing I can think of is my 20+ yo fridge was really sucking down the power last year vs this years new fridge & I'm not running my whole house fan this year. Crazy
I know my house and it's contents are much happier. Had some mold spores start eating some of my leather shoes & boots in last summers humidity. AC has kept the humidity at bay for an average of 43% this month and while that's high that's far better than the 95% it is right now outside. I'm not running any additional dehumidifiers - just letting the hvac system do it's thing and I'm fine with that. Overall I'm pretty stoked and wish I had upgraded years ago.
Don't worry about that little spike in November......
That blew my mind so I had to double check that both readings were actual and not guesstimated then I looked at average temps and length of billing period & they were all very similar. Made me wonder how that could be possible, because it shouldn't be. Only thing I can think of is my 20+ yo fridge was really sucking down the power last year vs this years new fridge & I'm not running my whole house fan this year. Crazy
I know my house and it's contents are much happier. Had some mold spores start eating some of my leather shoes & boots in last summers humidity. AC has kept the humidity at bay for an average of 43% this month and while that's high that's far better than the 95% it is right now outside. I'm not running any additional dehumidifiers - just letting the hvac system do it's thing and I'm fine with that. Overall I'm pretty stoked and wish I had upgraded years ago.
Don't worry about that little spike in November......
PSU Taco85
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I'll let you know, may not be a bad idea and would def same me some te. So far the heat has killed most of it so it doesn't grow too fast I usually mow once every 2 weeks. And my lawnmower has a cupholder so that always helps
Ive been waiting to see how bad running my AC kills my electric bill this summer and to my surprise this June I was @ 220 kwh vs last June w/no ac @ 301kw hrs for a savings of 81 kw hrs.
That blew my mind so I had to double check that both readings were actual and not guesstimated then I looked at average temps and length of billing period & they were all very similar. Made me wonder how that could be possible, because it shouldn't be. Only thing I can think of is my 20+ yo fridge was really sucking down the power last year vs this years new fridge & I'm not running my whole house fan this year. Crazy
I know my house and it's contents are much happier. Had some mold spores start eating some of my leather shoes & boots in last summers humidity. AC has kept the humidity at bay for an average of 43% this month and while that's high that's far better than the 95% it is right now outside. I'm not running any additional dehumidifiers - just letting the hvac system do it's thing and I'm fine with that. Overall I'm pretty stoked and wish I had upgraded years ago.
View attachment 16010
Don't worry about that little spike in November......
View attachment 16011
Damn that's crazy only 220kWh, I thought I was low at 424kWh this last billing cycle. I do run two refrigerators and usually have my welder and air compressor going every month so I'm sure that adds to it.
My nest thermostat seems to be working out pretty well, hard to tell the savings yet but I don't have to always dick with the thermostat like I used to . It knows where I like to keep the temps and leaves them there, plus it's nice seeing the humidity reading and temps from my phone while I'm not home. Those old refrigerators suck up tons of energy, you ever see the lights dim when the compressor kicks on first thing?
Oswego
n00b
You can't plant it until after the first frost so plenty of time. I'm starting to weed my beds now and prep them for seeding. Going to cook off the weeds w/clear plastic. Was going to get it done this weekend but f that heat.
Yea, I had to double check that it was the actual reading because I did not believe it. Everything in my house is within a year old with exception to the clothes washer/dryer and everything is high efficiency/Energy Star rated that can be. If my house was actually efficiently built and insulated to today's standards they would pay me to use electricity Ive got almost all the doors and windows changed at this point but the walls have poor insulation, the attic is about 1/4 of what it should be insulated at, and my basement has no insulation so I'm losing 10% of heat and cooling into the block/slab/outside down there. Heck I got 1/4" gaps in my basement windows I need to caulk I just found yesterday
Yea, I had to double check that it was the actual reading because I did not believe it. Everything in my house is within a year old with exception to the clothes washer/dryer and everything is high efficiency/Energy Star rated that can be. If my house was actually efficiently built and insulated to today's standards they would pay me to use electricity
Ive got almost all the doors and windows changed at this point but the walls have poor insulation, the attic is about 1/4 of what it should be insulated at, and my basement has no insulation so I'm losing 10% of heat and cooling into the block/slab/outside down there. Heck I got 1/4" gaps in my basement windows I need to caulk I just found yesterday 
Taco Loco
Tired and Lazy, married to ‘The Laundry Fairy’
12’x16’ is not that big, use steel for all your framing and piers!
Oswego
n00b
Steel would be good. Much less framing needed. Pretty heavy for 1 person though. I also lack any/all tools req for ironwork (including the knowledge).
104* here at my house Friday. That got me thinking that it's not getting any cooler and I'm not getting any younger so I think I'm going to get an in ground pool. Had a above ground POS rust trap of a pool in my yard when I moved in, but that was one of the first things to go. Spent my first 25 years of life in houses with pools and now that Ive not had one for a long time I'm ready to do some work in summer again to enjoy one. Pretty sure what size I want but gotta look into the local ordinances to see what I can get away with and what may fit w/future garage. While I do want out of NJ it's going to take longer that I imagined so might as well enjoy it for now.
Also doesn't help the neighbors just got one and all I hear is them splashing around having fun while I'm dripping sweat just sitting down on my bench
CowboyTaco
Well-Known Member
Just wait til after dark and use theirs. You have at least 6 minutes of bliss before the cops arrive.
Silverback
Lima Gulf Bravo Foxtrot Juliet Bravo
104* here at my house Friday. That got me thinking that it's not getting any cooler and I'm not getting any younger so I think I'm going to get an in ground pool. Had a above ground POS rust trap of a pool in my yard when I moved in, but that was one of the first things to go. Spent my first 25 years of life in houses with pools and now that Ive not had one for a long time I'm ready to do some work in summer again to enjoy one. Pretty sure what size I want but gotta look into the local ordinances to see what I can get away with and what may fit w/future garage. While I do want out of NJ it's going to take longer that I imagined so might as well enjoy it for now.
Also doesn't help the neighbors just got one and all I hear is them splashing around having fun while I'm dripping sweat just sitting down on my bench
Man I love our pool.. I'm planning to get in it here shortly. Curious as to how they do them up north. Down here we keep water in it 24/7 and when it gets cold (below 32) the pumps kick on and run continuously until it warms up.