The Home Improvement Thread

[CowboyTaco]

A decent number of people in my subdivision want chickens. I keep trying to explain to them that they are not pets and will attract more problems to the neighborhood.

I understand the reasons for having them but not when the person has less than a quarter acre to live on. The chickens will end up in a coop 24/7.

Ours have a half acre to roam. We had them when we were on a 1/10th acre lot too....just not as many. Never had problems with mice/rats in the subdivision. Technically, we were illegal then because we couldn't get the coop 50' from the nearest neighbors dwelling; but we asked the neighbors beforehand and they were cool with it.

It was only after we moved onto the acre that we were introduced to the rodents. They would come in at night and eat the food in the chicken feeder. A lot of people don't like cats, but I see them as useful. I like pet cats....as long as they are outside.

 

[Oswego]

This guy has it right with rodent control. Trains minks and dogs to take them out naturally. This Guy Raises and Trains Mink to Hunt - Modern Farmer

I'm not a fan of outside cats. They are an invasive species that kills off the local bird species + I'm tired of them crapping in my beds and walking on my cars. I live trap them and drop them off at the local pound. Funny thing is they come from a silly chick who lives next door and adopts them at the other local pound. Got rid of a family we found under my shed while working on the taco. I may hate them because growing up at my moms marina the neighbor kept something like 100 feral inbred cats on his property and they were a constant battle to keep out/off of customer boats.

During a hurricane I can't remember which one my sister adopted/saved a inbred cat with 6 toes and named it Dock. Roads were flooded with 2' of water and the kitten was literally floating down the road clung to a pc of driftwood. Thats about the only outside cat Ive ever liked.

 

[Silverback]

I've seen that guys videos before. Minks are cool.

 

[Oswego]

Yea I think I watched....more like listened to just about everyone he has posted last week while I was cleaning my house. I like the ones he gets from the farm that want to kill him for the first few days. I could of sworn he was going to lose a finger to one he just bought and wanted to breed.

 

[tx_shooter]

Just finished mowing a little over half an acre with my push mower. Either I need to get a really good deal on a riding mower or I need to get a really good deal on someone mowing this place. Because push mowing this place sucks even worse now. The rain we have had made the rock shelf grow in my front yard so I have more rocks than before. I am going to see what I can do to fill and sod it this upcoming March/ April. My goal is to get the whole place in better shape over the next couple of years so we can look at listing it when my sammich maker graduates.

 

[fsbrain03]

Just finished mowing a little over half an acre with my push mower. Either I need to get a really good deal on a riding mower or I need to get a really good deal on someone mowing this place. Because push mowing this place sucks even worse now. The rain we have had made the rock shelf grow in my front yard so I have more rocks than before. I am going to see what I can do to fill and sod it this upcoming March/ April. My goal is to get the whole place in better shape over the next couple of years so we can look at listing it when my sammich maker graduates.

I may have a rider for sell after this season.

 

[tex]

Noticed this hole yesterday. There is a retaining wall on the other side of the fence and a bunch of dirt was in the neighbors driveway.

Picked up some gravel and drainage rocks today and got to work. Turns out moles had tunnels under the bricks and with all the rain we have had it must have collapsed.

I should have leveled out the last 3 rows of bricks but I was tired.

 

[achirdo]

Noticed this hole yesterday. There is a retaining wall on the other side of the fence and a bunch of dirt was in the neighbors driveway.
View attachment 11453

Picked up some gravel and drainage rocks today and got to work. Turns out moles had tunnels under the bricks and with all the rain we have had it must have collapsed.

View attachment 11454

I should have leveled out the last 3 rows of bricks but I was tired.

Damn moles. I'll bring the acetylene bottles to your house after we are done trenching up my yard.

 

[tex]

And the roof is leaking like a mother fucker. Leaking into the garage at least but it's a lot of water. Had to move my truck out since Im afraid the ceiling is going to come down.
Just hope the water does not run down the rafters and into our bathroom.

 

[Silverback]

Man its raining like a mofo here... had to go open the gate in the yard to allow water to flow better. It had come up all the way onto the back patio... all the way to the doors! Water on the sides of the house was at least 15" deep. Went around to the other side and knocked 3 pickets loose at the bottom to allow that to flow better. Weather Underground says only 3/4 of accumulation since midnight... bull fucking shit!! My pool was 3 inches down yesterday afternoon and now its overflowing like crazy.

 

[Silverback]

Local news says just south of here got 4 inches since midnight and almost 5 in past 24 hours, that's more like it.

 

[Taco Loco]

And the roof is leaking like a mother fucker. Leaking into the garage at least but it's a lot of water. Had to move my truck out since Im afraid the ceiling is going to come down.
Just hope the water does not run down the rafters and into our bathroom.

Drill holes in sheet rock

 

[tex]

Not sure how much rain fell here last night but it's still raining a little. Drilled a hole in the ceiling last night for the water to get out and pretty sure that kept the ceiling from falling down.

 

[achirdo]

Not sure how much rain fell here last night but it's still raining a little. Drilled a hole in the ceiling last night for the water to get out and pretty sure that kept the ceiling from falling down.

Holy shit that must have been a ton of water. That must be a big ass hole up there somewhere

 

[Anathollo]

Not sure how much rain fell here last night but it's still raining a little. Drilled a hole in the ceiling last night for the water to get out and pretty sure that kept the ceiling from falling down.

That sucks.

I'm always amazed how much water sheetrock will hold up with a coat of mud and a couple of coats of paint. I had a pipe leak in the ceiling at my mom's house. I put a 55 gallon trash can underneath it, punched a hole in the sheetrock and watched it fill up a quarter of the can! Crazy...
I also deal with water leaks at my work. I spent an hour yesterday tracking one down. That pipe must've been leaking for years through a pin hole and all of a sudden a torrent of water came rushing out. I have guys there right now replacing sheetrock, piping and flooring today so the lab occupants can go back to work Monday .

 

[Silverback]

FIL went to the vet today who is about 2 miles from here.. he said they got 10+ inches of rain last night.. more like it. I have never had water on my patio more than 1/2" near the grill area.. this morning it was above my ankles. Makes sense. I told the wife we need to invest in some gutters for the backside of the house. It was like a fire hydrant was open on each side from above... unreal. When I went out to the edge of the pool the water was overflowing and well above my ankles. And this water was coming from above or from my roof.... I took video but its shit.. sorry it was dark and I had 4 hours sleep... although at the time I felt super aware.. might have been the lightning or cold rain. Later after the rain subsided I scooped about 100 dead earth worms from the bottom of the pool (poor bastards) and cleaned out the skimmers and set the robot to work. Shitloads of debris in there. It will take a few days to get it back to a good Ph level.

 

[tex]

Found the leak and the reason it was happening. Old flashing that had holes and didnt go all the way down to the corner.
So it got beefed up with ice/water barrier, new flashing, and more shingles.

 

[CowboyTaco]

@tex, are you replacing siding as well? If you aren't already done, I have the Gekko Grips to hold lap siding in place and a saw blade for cutting the Hardie plank siding.

 

[tex]

@tex, are you replacing siding as well? If you aren't already done, I have the Gekko Grips to hold lap siding in place and a saw blade for cutting the Hardie plank siding.

Not replacing, the siding is still in great shape.

 

[tx_shooter]

So I finally got around to replacing the mixer cartridge on the shower valve. There was an * on the part that the head had been redesigned and the new valve would fit but not completely seal all the gaps. I checked the listing and risked it.


Yep - I have the original design and the new design has a shank about 3/8" longer. So it technically "works" but does not look right. So I am going to go on the hunt with the old cartridge to find the old design replacement. All the fun of home ownership.