Home Improvement Today?

Water softener brine tank needed a cleaning today. Had a bit of iron bacteria going on, and overall just nasty. It was all going good when I was using salt pellets, but on a recommendation I used solar/rock salt for about 6 months. I went back to pellets with an "iron fighter"





Put 160lbs of new salt in...



I don't want to put much more than that in there even though I could. The softener is about 23 years old and is on its way out. Starting to notice a decrease in water pressure as well. Doesn't help there's no pre-filter. Just buying my time till it does eventually shit the bed...

 

Well, I had this really nice Gardenia hedge on the side of my house that provided a ton of privacy and blocked a lot of the afternoon sun. I didn't check the drip system (they clog over time with the crappy hard city water) and I fertilized it. With the upper 80s it croaked and checked out. So when life gives you lemons...buy another lemon tree? Meyer lemon. I still need to plant it.



My Lisbon lemon is doing well this season. Last year the birds pecked all the lemons off before they could grow.

 

AC stopped blowing right as it's warming up here. Called 2 local companies and the quotes were between 10-12k to replace the entire system because my refrigerant was banned. Started googling around and was able to determine it was a bad fan on the heat pump. $158 on Amazon and 1 day delivery. YouTube'ed a few videos and spent 45 mins doing the swap. Air is blowing cold since yesterday. Never trust the 'professionals' who drive really nice vans with really nice paint jobs, and who produce really nice commercials.

 

Finally getting to the front door and it is cleaning up better than I expected with 6 hrs sanding/scraping/wire brush so far. Will try some Timber Mate Red Oak Putty in the larger cracks tomorrow.

Color will be 2 coats of 50:50 walnut:black Gel'd stain which should hopefully be dark enough to hide the putty spots.

Before:



After 6 hrs cleanup:

 

It's shit like this that got me started doing DIY. Along the way I discovered I really enjoy the sense of accomplishment every time I complete a project. Not to mention my wallet enjoys DIY too.

 

truth

 

Serious question, you guys who have a green light to DIY, those of you who are married with kids, what's the situation?
1. Your wife trusts you and your judgement and allows you to take on what you want to take on and only asks politely when you'll be done?
2. Your wife only agrees to let you DIY if you prove value and still makes you cover childcare on the back end to compensate for her sacrifice?
3. Your wife gets quotes from various professionals and tracks your time and expenses to ensure you're providing value
4. Your wife only approves work for you to do if she determines it's something she wants done before a professional can get to it and holds you to a timeline?

 

Mines a bit of a combo.
Wife or I identifies problem/ project, decide it needs to be done. I decide it’s something that’s reasonable to DIY (because I’m interested, because I think it’ll be cheaper to DIY, because the bids are insane, etc). Wife is cool with it, because we’re both always down to save money. I DIY while wife provides child care, wife grumbles that project is taking too long. Project is done, both of us are usually reasonably happy with how it turns out. Another job comes along that we don’t DIY, costs a ton, wife makes comment about it’s nice that I can DIY sometimes.

TLDR: We try to select projects that are in my comfort zone to avoid unhappiness. Wife sometimes gets a little unhappy with providing child care in the midst of project, but at the end of the day we both usually think it’s a good use of our time.

 

No kids here, but kinda #1 and#4. Most places we've been its hard to find people to do basic things you can find youtube videos for. Or to come out in a timely manner. While some things are beyond my skills to do it properly/ look good, i still try to tackle most jobs myself. Ive saved thousands of dollars DIY over the years.

 

My wife just bitches like hell after the fact. Then she gripes I never take her anywhere while griping that I don't do anything because I'm busy doing all her projects and gripes that we don't have any money because we spend it all on the house but we aren't spending enough to make the place look nice.

I mean I can't verify any of this but that is just the feeling I get when she gives me "the look".

 

Patience is not my wifes strong suit...so yeah i can relate

 

In all seriousness the only time my wife has actually griped is when we have hired some help. I can't blame her, but I have grown used to fixing shclock work.

 

Pictures not loading!!

 

Yep. It was a long walk!

 

I consider DIY to be my hobby. Nothing is sacred, house or cars I'll tackle almost any job. I started a long time ago after paying for some crap work from a "professional". I looked at what they did and thought I could do that. Money was tight and it seemed natural to do what I could to cut expenses. So, in an era before the internet and youtube I started on my DIY path. Along the way I discovered I enjoyed it too. Items 1-4 are not even discussion points in our house. My wife and I discuss all of the thousand projects around the house and decide which ones are first. If they're big and intrusive, like completely redoing a bathroom, we make sure each of us is ready for it. When I tore out the kitchen for 3 months, she was there with me figuring out how to cook with only a microwave and a bathroom sink to wash dishes. She got the kitchen of her dreams for a tiny fraction of the cost of paying a pro. I got the satisfaction of building something really nice.

Sometimes the difference between a hack and a pro is their tools. If I don't have the tools they get budgeted into the project. One example is my first bathroom remodel. I'd never tiled anything, didn't own a single tiling tool, but the pro's bid was $8,000. (it was a BIG job - steam shower, separate tub, floors, and a closet.) I bought a used professional tile saw, a bunch of other tools, and top of the line porcelain and grout for about $4k. Those tiling tools and skills have now put in 1 office, 1 laundry room, 2 kitchens, and 3 bathrooms (soon to be 4).

 

I always interpret "looks like a garage in here" as a compliment. It doesn't help, but seems to be a fundamental principle to half the population.

 

For sure number 1. Being that I do this shit for a living and she's an air quality specialist my knowledge and skills are never questioned. She is also always helping with the shit I don't like to do. For instance, she's painted 80% of the walls in our home. Need to remind her about the other 20% actually. lol

The house is at a point now where it's pretty much exactly where we wanted it. Not much left to do except the usual maintenance. She has been hinting about redoing the yard though. Guess who's gonna bet to play landscaper this summer? lol