Re: Home and garden projects
 

Very good for on a pole getting high ceilings

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Water Softener question - the place I just bought has a 'whole house water softener' (water in AZ is apparently not very nice!). This type of water softener passes the incoming water through a medium that extracts the 'hardness' and replaces it with salt. Every few days, the system 'regenerates' by going through a three-stage process of backwashing, rinsing, and recharging the medium with salt. Detailed explanation here, FWIW ... https://www.popularmechanics.com/hom.../a150/1275126/

It has a 'controller' on top of it that controls this process - it decides 'when' the regeneration needs to occur, then it actually facilitates it by opening and closing valves, etc. Controllers can be dumb - based on a set time interval, semi-clever - based on how much water is used, and smart - actually measures the condition of the medium.

Mine is 'semi-clever' - it measures the flow of water through the system, and decides how often to recharge based on the number of gallons used.

The problem is ... even when I was away for 2 weeks recently, the system 'recharged'. This should not happen, if it's flow based. I had a plumber come out and he confirmed with me that my garden irrigation / sprinkler system is NOT fed through this softener, and there's no other system or device in the house that could (or should) be consuming water. So if it's really flow based, and it regenerated while I was away, it means I have a leak ... which I can't find.

HOWEVER - I'm questioning just how accurate my plumber's assertion is that my controller is entirely flow based. It looks so much like a classic old-fashioned house timer to me, and I wonder if it has a 'time element' built into it.

Anyway - has anyone ever owned one of these and knows definitively if it is entirely flow based, or if there is in fact a timer element to it? My controller is a Fleck Econominder 5600 and this is an online article telling you how to set it up; has a picture of the 'control' dial
https://www.softenerparts.com/kb_results.asp?ID=56

Re: Home and garden projects
 

This weekend's big project was dealing with two pine trees that were damaged in the post-hurricane storms last September. One was an 83ft "widow maker" snapped off 15ft above ground, but still attached, with the top leaning on another tree. The other was 79ft and bent over around 30° with the snapped off part of the other tree bending it over.

After clearing saplings and vines to make a safe working area and an escape route, my new saw made short work of the leaning tree, and the broken top of the other tree fell immediately, as I expected, with the bottom end landing about 20ft behind me as I had already moved away when the tree I was sawing started to fall. Thankfully, the widow maker utterly failed to live up to the hype.

The rain, and a repair job on a storm door, have prevented me from completing the clear-up today, so that should keep me busy on evenings this week, weather permitting. :unsure:

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Re: Home and garden projects
 

That's gorgeous. Love the color.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Asking for a friend.... where did you return the child to?

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Looks great, and I assume your wife is pleased with it. Personally I wouldn't have chosen the faux-brick walls, or the open extractor over the stove, and I am 99.9% certain Mrs P wouldn't either, though I am not going to ask her as new kitchens are a sore point with her. We gutted the kitchen in London, right back to the bones - to the ceiling rafters, the studs/masonry and the concrete floor, then I rewired it, with extra sockets and separate light switches for ceiling, under, and over cabinet lights. Then it was completely rebuilt, with tile floor, replastered/ half-tile walls, pickled oak cabinets, granite counter, fitted appliances, and an extractor fan that fed into the chimney (which had previously been corbelled just below the ceiling). It even had a new window and window sill. ….. Then we moved out (and left for New York), without her even making a cup of tea in the finished kitchen. :(

Re: Home and garden projects
 

What a transformation! Looks great.

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What do you mean by 'open extractor' ... as opposed to 'closed'?

Re: Home and garden projects
 

As opposed to encased or concealed, most commonly, in the US at least, in an "over-the-stove" microwave. Most OTS microwaves are actually installed to recirculate the air through filters, and running a true extractor can seriously mess with your heating/ AC as it will draw in substantial volumes of unheated/ uncooled, and certainly unfiltered, air into your home.

It is also possible to duct an extractor though an over-the-stove wall cupboard, which is what I did in my home in London, as I described above - the duct ran though the cupboard, then though a low profile "flat" duct along the top of the cupboards (so it wasn't visible by someone standing in the kitchen, even me), and into the corbelled bottom end of the chimney in the corner of the kitchen.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

So your objections are aesthetic considerations rather than regarding the actual functionality of the extractor hood?

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Primarily, yes.
Maybe, it depends on how it was installed, and some on the local climate/ environment, but I certainly wouldn't choose a true extractor in either Phoenix or Minnesota. :lol:

FWIW it is also possible to install a dedicated extractor hood (as per the one in the photo above) to filter and recirculate the "extracted" air, rather than expel it from your home.

Personally, I would choose something similar to this (style, but not finish/ colour) for my dream home in a suburban or rural setting. I am not sure if Mrs P would agree. :unsure: I would probably go with an exposed metal extractor for an urban condo or loft.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...f942c3c041.jpg

Re: Home and garden projects
 

Totally agree

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I learned the limits of this last weekend. Uneven drywall needs to be finished with a brush and a steady hand.