sir_eccles

Ugh I hate mucking around our attic. It has that fluffy ground up insulation (recycled paper?) and is usually about 150f or more in the summer.

I actually have a length of cat5 that runs across the attic the previous owner put in that I need to move because it runs to the wrong room and I want to use it to extend the wireless range. I have been putting it off all summer.

RICH

As a Florida resident I have surprisingly few bug problems, but I feel the need to do an ant bait treatment on the whole yard (5000sf max). Have googled, and just wondered who has had success with what products?

I have several types of ants, but only guessing at Carpenter, Pharoah & Fire. How can you tell, short of a magnifying glass? Seems not all products work on all types?

Nutek

Have you tried luring them out by building a huge sugar silo?

scrubbedexpat097

If you are unlucky enough to have crazy ants then nothing out there seems to kill them.

We sometimes just smother them with Baby Powder. It works for a while unless it rains!

Pulaski

This might not be Arizona, but there is a reason why I waited until mid October before going up into the attic.

Anyhow while digging around in attic space I had not previously explored, I found this (below) interesting bit of plumbing.

10/10 for connecting the "soil stack" to a pipe leading to an external vent, albeit horizontally, which is code permissible. And, er, a big fat zero out of ten for using an uncapped T-piece (open at the top), rather than a 90° bend. That has to be a new entry straight into my personal top 10 almighty construction eff-ups!

[I have reloaded this picture four times, included rotated versions and a copy-and-paste into a new file, and it is STILL upside down. ..... Anyhow, the pipe down to the toilet sticks up into the attic and is open to the attic! ]

WEBlue

Oooh, another Joan Collins classic!

Norri

It's the right way up if you open it in a new tab. more than you can say for the tee piece if it was capped.

Pulaski

Wow, so it does. That is weird! Thanks for the tip.

Pulaski

For the first time in perhaps a decade, there has been a good crop of pecans, ....... that I have managed to get some of before they are all lost to children and squirrels. I collected a couple of hundred this morning.

WEBlue

Love pecans fresh from the tree! We had two pecan trees on our property in Houston back in the 90s, and some years we spent all autumn noshing on them.

Back then buying pecans in the supermarket didn't cost the fortune it does now. (I hardly ever buy them these days.) The just-fallen ones were so much better than the packaged ones anyway, my pecan memories have spoiled me....

sir_eccles

Dammit, can't reach the right bit of attic space. Too much ductwork, pipes and roof trusses in the way.

lizzyq

I have finally been able to sit down and play with my sewing machine this weekend and made this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizzya...posted-public/

pattern can be found here:

Lily's Quilts: Pam Kitty Tea Cosy Tutorial

ddsrph

From the photo it looks like they just forgot to run the 3 inch up from the tee and thru the roof. Does the horizontal pipe actually go to outside or to a outside wall to vent sink?

Pulaski

The side-T goes horizontally to another pipe which does vent through the roof. The next time I'm in the attic I will take a few inches of 3" pipe and an end cap to dry fit over the open end, and glue it in place at a later date assuming that the cap doesn't mess with the operation of the toilets. I believe the open end must have been like that for close to 40 years!

It's just another example that proves my experience, that every house I have ever owned has something, dumb and/or dangerous in its structure or systems.

ddsrph

I have always believed if you want something done right do it yourself. In the lake house I am building I am doing all the plumbing, electrical, HVAC, flooring, etc. The only contractor I have left to deal with is for the sheet rock.

It's a good idea you have to cap and test before gluing in place. You may have to somehow connect the open pipe to the other large pipe that goes thru roof.

JM