Re: Home and garden projects
 

I needed a new water heater and decided to get a top-of-the-line tankless heater with no expense spared. Big mistake; I completely regretted it. Tankless heaters require a certain 'flow rate' before they kick in, so you can't have a relatively low flow of warm water - you have to cross the threshold of flow rate to get the system to kick in. Then there's something of a delay before it kicks in even on a fast flow, and then there's the 'warm up' time. All these factors combined with the distance from the faucets to mean that it took forever for hot water to arrive; not the best situation in drought-ridden CA! I'm going back to a tank in my next home, OR, multiple tankless heaters installed close to the faucets.

So even when you decide to 'do the right thing', it can backfire.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Thank you for sharing that information. Despite the propaganda put out a few years ago about how great the latest tankless water heaters are, I was always septical that they were significantly better than the ones I remember experiencing in the UK. .... They had exactly the failings of the "latest and greatest" you described above.

FWIW I suspect that a water heater linked to your AC system, effectively capturing and using the "waste heat" that your AC system otherwise has to disperse into the environment, and using it to heat water stored in a well insulated tank, is more eco-friendly than even a tankless water heater.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

[QUOTE=Pulaski

FWIW I suspect that a water heater linked to your AC system, effectively capturing and using the "waste heat" that your AC system otherwise has to disperse into the environment, and using it to heat water stored in a well insulated tank, is more eco-friendly than even a tankless water heater.[/QUOTE]

That would work very well and possibly increase efficiency of the AC. They also make heat pump water heaters that use a small heat pump solely to heat water.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

How dangerous are possums? We get them frequently in our alley or sometimes our back garden (thankfully none in the daytime).

Our dog is an English Pointer so thankfully she doesn’t attack or try to grab them ever, she literally acts as an alarm and stands and barks at one/in the direction of one until we acknowledge and recall her. Is this therefore ‘safe’ for our dog?

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Possums are great. They aren't dangerous. Our cat gets on very well with the local possums. Keep possums around, because they love eating ticks and other bugs.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Not heard of them, but can appreciate the idea. Ours will probably need doing in the intermediate future, unless I get this mossicide on it pronto.

Got a link ?

Steve

Re: Home and garden projects
 

They are probably better suited to smaller houses or single rooms.

I have a small one for the whole house, 3 bed / <2000sqft, and I don't have those problems.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I have looked at several and they vary in design and in finish/ appearance.

I am not sure that I like the sheen on these - and there are other styles by the same manufacture - tiles and shakes.

But I think, at the moment at least, this is the one we are most likely to go with - I like that it is gritted, so looks like a "normal" asphalt shingle.

BTW I just use bleach diluted 3:1 to kill moss. :)

Re: Home and garden projects
 

A couple of years ago I needed to make a new plumbing connection to some iron pipe, and my local plumbers merchant recommended a new-fangled compression coupling, you can slot any 1/2" pipe (copper, iron, PEX, PVC) into each side, hand tighten the knurled collar on each end, and voila! ...... A year later you have a leak. :rolleyes:

So I pulled it apart, cleaned it up, reassembled it, and tightened it a bit tighter "because obviously I hadn't tightened it enough". :nod: ...... A year later the dämn coupling slid off entirely - because the collar had cracked!!! :frown:

:confused: ..... :unsure: ...... :confused: .... :lightbulb:!

Rather than try a "solution" that had already failed twice, I decided that putting a new screw thread on the cut end of the iron pipe was the way to go. ..... Any solution that requires the purchase of a new toy tool is always preferred. :nod:

So off I went today to buy a "pipe threading set" - it will cut a thread onto the end of all standard pipe sizes from 3/8" to 2". :thumbsup: I also had to buy a can of "cutting oil". The total cost was significantly less than the basic call out fee for a plumber, so I am already ahead.

Now I have a new join between the iron pipe and the PEX: brass fitting screwed on to the newly threaded iron pipe using Teflon tape, and the brass fitting has a PEX lug on the other side, so now it will not come apart!

I am also prepared with the right toys tools the next time I need to put a screw thread on the end of an iron pipe.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

This afternoon I decided to fix my garden pond waterfall as the pump (one of two) had failed a year ago. I inherited this system so did not know either the plumbing or the electrics. The original pump is obsolete so I bought it's replacement and hoped.
After getting the broken pump out I realized that the PVC pipe was stuck tight in the pump, so an another first for me - working with PVC pipe and accessories. I found a wonderful spray can for the PVC glue.
I was able to re-use the old float valve which simplified the electric part. I had been worried as the new pump came in a box that said no-float, which I had missed when ordering it.

It all works, so very happy.

I now have it documented with photos, which switch controls which pump, and have the correct float valve for each pump. I finally understand the rats nest of electrics next to the pond.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Aluminium roofs will last a lot longer than composite or asphalt type shingles but be advised that I replace a lot of aluminium roofs that are not much more than than twenty years old, sometimes younger. This is not because the panels have degraded uniformly but because the aluminium corrodes wherever steel fasteners have been used (check out galvanic action if you are interested) leaving the fasteners in little doughnut holes so they do absolutely bugger all. It's more of a problem in older roofs where fasteners had no seal, bona fide roofers use fasteners with neoprene backed washers which help delay galvanic decay, caulking every fastener helps keep moisture out which also helps.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

OK guys... my roof has developed a small leak around a vent pipe. It's raining non-stop here until wednesday. I've put a bucket up in the attic to catch the drips for tonight. Any ideas about a quick seal that I can put round it which doesn't require dry weather? Thanks K.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

There is some silicone self-amalgamating tape that works wet you could use, I found it in home depot here, in their roofing department

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I have never tried a "wet fix", and so I would use the "bucket and wait" approach. .... Are you planning on climbing up the roof to apply a fix to the outside?

Re: Home and garden projects
 

I had the same issue. My temporary fix was pushing kitchen towels up to soak the water and having a bucket too.

I ended up having this problem fixed and other problems fixed by a new roof installation.

A permanent solution may require a new rubber boot and sealant.