Home Improvement Today?

I found nest #8 and #9 yesterday morning. I found this on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/xO3TvAb_WcM

 

BRILLIANT!!
if you have a drone laying around you could always park it on top of them too and when they fly out BRRRP!
https://youtu.be/YrfGzCfxmkI

 

Replaced my water heater anode rod. This is what it looks like after one year of service.

At my previous house the water heater lasted 18 years without a problem. When I replaced it I also installed a water softener. Seven years later the second water heater started leaking and I was pissed. But, come to find out the anode rod doesn't last as long in softened water. That is a fun fact that I didn't learn until I was this many years old.

My new house has a water softener and a high efficiency water heater that is going to be freaking expensive to replace, so I want it to last as long as possible. On the water heaters annual maintenance I decided to see what the anode rod looks like and to replace it with a magnesium rod. I was a little surprised to see how much of the first rod was gone. At best it would have lasted 2 years. In a year I'll pull this new rod and we can compare aluminum vs magnesium anode rods.

 

What is the pH of your water?

 

According to the city's water page 7.75.

 

Aside from window replacement and a couple of small items the laundry room/half bath remodel is done.

before:




After:

 

Anyone know how I can run 2x 10/3 through a single 3/4 knockout clamp?

The 3/4 clamp I have are only rated for a single wire. Does anyone make one that can do 2 of this size?

 

Do you not have any more knockouts available?

 

Not really. It's an exterior box that only has one on the back. There are some in the sides but I want to avoid using those if possible.

 

What about just drilling another hole in the back to make a knockout?

 

A normal punch wouldn't work but I think a drill would. I think it's a cast aluminum box.

The only NEC rules I'm aware of is it must be done with good workmanship so I think that'll work.

Thanks for the idea.

 

Been a labor of love with the house, but the exterior I’ve been working on since the fall finally wrapped up a few weeks ago:

Don’t think I’ll buy a foreclosure again, going to make my money on this one and hopefully find some land and build.

 

Just got a fence installed. It's been in the mid 90's here this week and I'm glad I hired this out. 700' of fence came out great. Gonna give the boards some time to dry out before we stain...

 

AC question. I keep a spare capacitor at home for my ac should it go out. Well we have a friend who’s went out but they have to wait a few days to get a replacement. Mine is a 45+10 mfd capacitor. Could they run on it til Monday or Tuesday? Theirs is a 50+5

 

Did some more clearing behind the shop today.

 

Hung a light and fan

 

Wow I would have never expected that. I will have to check mine next weekend. Expensive water heater 9 years old, I never checked the rod thinking softened water would protect it.

 

I am still waiting on some bookshelves to come in to finish the game room, but I guess you could consider this home improvement



with the door open, its nearly completely hidden

 

There’s a technique I learned to get clean paint lines I use it all the time and it even works well on textured walls. After you lay your tape down, hit all the seams with a dry brush- using very little paint as opposed to a loaded brush. The small amount of paint on the brush dries quickly and seals the tape edge. Also using very little paint doesn’t give enough paint for the liquid to bleed under any tape edge that wasn’t pressed down completely. After that you can go apeshit with a roller or a wet brush. The key is to then pull the tape (away from the line) before the heavy coat dries completely and you’ll also avoid lifting an edge.
I’ve done pinstripes on walls as well as geometric designs like that and always get a clean edge.

 

Green frog tape works good also