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Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by ddsrph
(Post 12670359)
Lowes sells precut stair stringers made from pressure treated pine. They are in the area where the deck material is located. A nice touch to wooden steps is to pour a small landing pad from sacrete concrete mix. I usually make a form from two by fours and dig out inside to get a good concrete thickness. Having a edging tool helps round and smooth the edges then use a broom to get a non skid finish. |
Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by zzrmark
(Post 12670381)
Precut stringers are ok if you can live with the bottom or top (or both) risers being different height from the rest, unless it turns out that you are really lucky and the risers just happen to be the perfect height for your drop.
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Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by tom169
(Post 12670378)
Yes and yes. I flush it yearly with vinegar. Flushed it in January with a submersible pump and a couple washer hookup pipes.
T​​​​​hat really sucks that the plumber did not add those as part of installation. :banghead: Its probably diyable, but I'd still get a pro to do the work. Thanks...I'll buy the valves and get a plumber to fit them. Then do the vinegar flush. What sort of pump? About $60? |
Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by Hotscot
(Post 12670392)
Thanks...I'll buy the valves and get a plumber to fit them.
Then do the vinegar flush. What sort of pump? About $60? Bought a 5 gallon bucket and washer hoses at Lowe's or Home Depot. Bought vinegar at the grocery store. This was in accordance of manufacturers instructions. May want to check your manual to make sure vinegar is what is recommended. |
Re: Home and garden projects
Do the hoses fit the pump and the service valve directly?
No need for adapters? Sounds like a fun little project. Thanks! |
Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by Hotscot
(Post 12670402)
Do the hoses fit the pump and the service valve directly?
No need for adapters? Sounds like a fun little project. Thanks! https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-4-ft-Universal-Rubber-Washer-Hoses-PM14X10007DS/205473635 |
Re: Home and garden projects
Nice, I'll go there tomorrow.
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Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 12670388)
Which is one reason why steps up to a deck often have the sort of "landing pad" that Ddsrph describes - it is done to artificially adjust the ground level to the point where all the steps are the same height.
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Re: Home and garden projects
Another possibility for steps is precast concrete. I used these in my old house to step down into garage and another set to step up into utility room. Our local building supply company stocks them and the cost is reasonable. They come as 2,3,4,5 step units and look good and can be painted or stained if desired. Like Pulaski mentioned you can pour a base to adjust your height which should be done anyway if only dirt is there now. |
Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by Steerpike
(Post 12669541)
.... Just curious ... how comfortable are you with garage door openers? I know the early versions were easily hackable but the latest ones are ... supposedly ... more secure. ....
I did buy a new opener recently and deliberately chose one that is not "internet enabled". .... Mostly because I can't fathom any reason why my wife or I would want to open or close the door when we aren't either standing in the garage or within range of the remote control .... which is at least 250ft, so anywhere inside and a very large slice if our yard. |
Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 12670882)
Let's just put it this way, both my garage doors usually have a large padlock through one of the rails, making it impossible to open the garage door using a remote without first removing the padlock .... or tearing the whole door out using a JCB or similar heavy equipment, I suppose. :unsure:
I did buy a new opener recently and deliberately chose one that is not "internet enabled". .... Mostly because I can't fathom any reason why my wife or I would want to open or close the door when we aren't either standing in the garage or within range of the remote control .... which is at least 250ft, so anywhere inside and a very large slice if our yard. My nest thermostat has saved me hundreds just based on the fact that I can stop the kids messing with it - like the time I was 1000 miles away in Colorado when the kids decided to cool the house to 62F when it was 100F+ outside. This nest/yale lock is impressive. No keyhole to pick. Each person has their own code which can be cancelled/changed by me at any time. DD thought a bluetooth one which would open when her phone was near would be cool. However, she has misplaced her phone enough times that I thought that was a really bad idea.... And remember, you don't have to have the perfect security set up - just slightly more difficult than your neighbour.....:p |
Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
(Post 12670890)
Just wait til Miss P hits the teen years and her brain is so full of well, whatever, hormones etc that the ability to find/lose keys, lock doors somehow takes a steep dive. ….
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Re: Home and garden projects
Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
(Post 12670890)
Just wait til Miss P hits the teen years and her brain is so full of well, whatever, hormones etc that the ability to find/lose keys, lock doors somehow takes a steep dive.
My nest thermostat has saved me hundreds just based on the fact that I can stop the kids messing with it - like the time I was 1000 miles away in Colorado when the kids decided to cool the house to 62F when it was 100F+ outside. This nest/yale lock is impressive. No keyhole to pick. Each person has their own code which can be cancelled/changed by me at any time. DD thought a bluetooth one which would open when her phone was near would be cool. However, she has misplaced her phone enough times that I thought that was a really bad idea.... And remember, you don't have to have the perfect security set up - just slightly more difficult than your neighbour.....:p The best thing I find with the internet garage door is it will ping my phone if left open for 10 minutes. It has happened before whilst distracted bringing stuff in. |
Re: Home and garden projects
From the Department of Bizarre and Pointless Building Code Rules, I bring you this little gem that I've just been working through.
We're having a whole bucket load of work done to our house (would have been cheaper and easier to pull it down and start again, but for various complex reasons that wasn't an option) to make it wheelchair accessible. While we're at it, we've had a pool put in (for hydrotherapy sessions, of course, and nothing to do with the fact that it's a swimming pool...) The pool does not need to be separately fenced, so long as the back yard is secure. That's mostly easy, need self-closing springs and a proper latch on the gate, and a fully fenced yard which we had anyway because of the dog. However, code also insists that access doors from the house to the back yard are "secured." This means that they must have a latch or lock on the inside of the door, at least six feet off the ground, that will be out of reach of small children. There are two such doors, both of which count as emergency egress doors and have push-button automatic door openers and striker plates (a domestic version of commercial wheelchair-friendly accessible doors). This is also a code requirement for at least one of the doors. Clearly, a latch six feet up is not exactly wheelchair accessible, and would break the accessible emergency exit requirements. And a door that springs open from locked at the touch of a button is not pool-compatible. Thankfully our inspector is a sensible person, who understands the ridiculousness of competing code provisions, so he came up with a fabulous solution: Buy a cheap shoot bolt and a pack of little removable sticky pads. Mount the bolt at the appropriate place on door #1 using the sticky pads. Take a picture of it. Dismount, and repeat on door #2. Email a copy of the pictures to the inspector, who will note on file that compliance has been achieved. Then carry on and forget this conversation ever took place :blink: |
Re: Home and garden projects
We had to do the same with a C02 detector. Bought one. Stuck it on the wall with sticky pads. Sent pic to appraiser.
Sorted. |
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