Home Improvement Today?

Does anyone have any recommendations for Zwave plus light dimmers? I had the GE ones before but they weren't intuitive like a slider. I know I can add a relay to a standard dimmer like the one below but that gets expensive really quickly.

 

Power tools in a purse?? That could bring in some viewers

Spent a full day at war with these damn doors. Measure twice cut once helped minimize my mistakes but not eliminate them. Thankfully most of it can be hidden behind Bondo & primer. Cutting 1/4" off the width was actually too much so now I need to shim out the hinges a bit to close the gap on the other side, as it is you can see a sliver of light the entire height of the door on the latching side. I'm pretty confident I can get it closed up. The other 2 bathroom doors only got 1/8" shaved off and that was the sweet spot. Found out the hard way my router adjusts itself after 2 uses, and of course it goes the unhelpful direction. Once again, shims under some hardware to bring it up level. As of now all 3 bathroom doors have hardware & are hung. Will sand some spots, adjust hinges & prime/paint them another day. Tomorrow I'm getting the 2 bedroom & 1 pantry doors delivered & will repeat all this on them...albeit a bit quicker & more accurate! I'm kicking myself for not ripping out the frames & installing all new frames to fit these new doors without having to cut them up. Replacing these doors in the future means repeating all this.

Tacoma chase light came in handy once the sun went down on me



Not super happy with the latch jig but I'm probably the only one who will ever notice it.


Original powder room door, you saw this as soon as you entered the condo. Prior owners had a nautical theme, thus the blue

New shaker door & oil rubbed bronze Schlage hardware. Still needs some spots sanded & a coat of paint.

 

The happenings in the water softener always seemed a bit mysterious to me so over this Christmas I put an ultrasonic salt height measuring device in the brine tank lid that records a new height data point every minute. I found it interesting that the salt drops around 4% every 10 days or so which seems reasonably functional. At least now I can check if we need more salt when I see the 40 lb bags at Costco and might hopefully catch the next failure.

Realtime brine tank plot:
https://io.adafruit.com/bp_io/dashboards/house?kiosk=true

 

That's pretty cool, we could have used this at one of my previous jobs. We had a 500 gallon brine tank that went through about 40lbs per day. It was a real hassle when someone forgot to check it for a few days.

 

What are you guys using/recommending for a thru-wall vent cap
I’m about to put a 6” exhaust wall vent fan in the bathroom remodel and the flappy guy it came with has me concerned about water and draft intrusion

 

I used one of these on our townhouse in VA a few yrs back for the bath fart fan...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/No-Pest...unt-Dual-Door-Wall-Vent-in-Tan-NPJT/207195613

 

I haven't used the Zwave because I believe it requires a hub.

I went with these Leviton switches for my living room and haven't had any issues and doesn't require a hub, just an app on the phone:

$75 Leviton Decora Smart Wi-Fi 600W Universal LED/Incandescent Dimmer, Works with Amazon Alexa, No Hub Required, DW6HD-1BZ, White

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NASBN1...0_1_7&amp=&crid=2Z5DPOPX4TKUD&sprefix=leviton

 

Yea i think it needs a hub for those zwave. I think i used Leviton as well for standard dimming. I also have WeMo Smart switches for certain lights

 

On that same vein, depending on the piece would just a quick buff with car wax once a year work?

 

The Leviton WiFi switches require no hub but do need working internet for the My Leviton app to control them. The advantage of using a hub is it tolerates internet downtime since control is on your local network only when using Hubitat (not true with SmartThings), which also improves response time as cloud-based control can get lag time based on traffic conditions.

In home automation circles, Lutron Caseta with the Lutron Pro hub is the gold standard for performance, but the dimmer face is unfavorable to some. Hubitat is the best hub to control Z-Wave switches.

 

I'll just wait till Nest comes out with wifi switches. I already have smart bulbs in most of my lamps, but turning off ceiling lights would be nice.

 

Appreciate everyone's input. I already have other Zwave plus devices and a hub on battery backup. Was more just looking for switch recommendations that aren't trying to reinvent the wheel. The toggle dimmer below for example, you have to hold up or hold down to adjust brightness.

 

Leviton DZ6HD for classic dim adjust on the side

 

Perfect , I was having a hard time finding one for some reason.

 

Has anyone used or know of a smart outlet for exterior use? Not a plug/whip for existing outlet, but an actual receptacle. All I've found either don't state or say only for indoor.

Only have 1 exterior outlet on the house and its in the side of sconce that I replaced last year. Looking to add outlets with waterproof, exterior "while in use" covers. Plan to use the front one for Christmas lights so would like a smart capability to set timing/remote control, and wife wants string lights on the side patio, so could use the same application there.

 

Just installed a new vanity and faucet for the guest bathroom! Oh and a new shower head. Looks way nicer than it did before. Just need to finish that bathroom with a in wall medicine cabinet/mirror thing.

 

Wemo switches work well with Google Home. I can turn on my driveway and entry lights just telling google to do so. I also have a Yale/ Nest lock that i can lock by telling it. Nest thermostat is amazing as well.

 

I have had 2 Kasa outlets behind 'in use' covers for around 3 years with no problem yet. Kasa is great if you don't want a hub. Control from the app to the device stays on your local network (no cloud lag) if both devices are on the same WiFi network at home. no hub required and really good WiFi range. Kasa is my favorite WiFi outlet and does integrate with Hubitat if needed. Also supports Alexa etc if desired (a lot of home automation people avoid Google and the 'always recording your audio' and unless you work to set that up, it is not natively activated with Kasa.

Perfect for your setup:

$24 Kasa Smart Plug KP200, In-Wall Smart Home Wi-Fi Outlet Works with Alexa, Google Home & IFTTT, No Hub Required, Remote Control, ETL Certified , White, 1 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/Kasa-Smart-Outlet-Wall-TP-Link/dp/B07N3CK3MM?crid=2XQZWDI2E9U8S&keywords=kasa+outlet&qid=1643828035&sprefix=lasa+outlet%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-3

 

I have pretty much one of every Nest product and all my locks are the Nest/Yale lock. I'm a big fan of smart homes.