Home Improvement Today?

Yikes,

 

Replaced some rotten post base trim and rail sections on a porch in a historic district (very strict rules). House was built in 1880. Can only replace exactly as was removed. No pressure treated allowed. I used Lifespan. The decorative rail section was bad, but the owner wants to tackle that later. A little prep and paint and it'll look like it was always there. Satisfying making new match old. Still needs a lot more work. Had to copy/mill up the 2 top trim pieces.

 

At least in my area iron pipe is no longer allowed for underground. Guess they used to use a black iron pipe that came prebent as a sort of riser. Our old run was one of those at the house end (that failed) with some sort of black poly pipe running to the meter. The meter side had a newer looking riser. The gas company tech figured at some point the meter side had been a black iron pipe riser too that had failed and they replaced it with what was there now.

There is a black iron pipe you can buy that comes painted with a green epoxy paint. But ease of use and the cost of it makes it pretty uncommon for most home applications. And from what ive heard its still a pain to work with as the coating chips somewhat easy so have to be careful transporting it and installing it. And backfilling. Poly is just so much simpler lol

 

I built my house 22 years ago and this week we just finished redoing all the floors upstairs and down with new carpet and Oak flooring. Before that we had recently replaced all of the vanities in the bathrooms along with the shower in our Master Suite. Next will be new counter tops in the kitchen and then we head outside and start. Unfortunately the installers we just had were idiots pretty much and pulled several half assed stunts including breaking 2 of our 3 toilets which had to be replaced by me after they doctored up the damage. Clean up with them was sweeping all the scraps down my basement stairs or dumping it in the register vents. Fortunately for us we had only paid half up front for the work so I deducted $700 for my labor and the new toilets' from what we owed them. They didn't argue when I showed them the pictures I had taken.
I had been through this before with contractors and cant stress enough to take pictures of their work. Its saved us a couple times.
The first house I had built was a nightmare and I was taking pictures just to make a scrap book of the build but wound up turning the pictures over to our lawyer and we won our lawsuit for $40000 in repairs.

 

My neighbor has a tree growing up through his meter, I called the gas company out because I smelt a leak and he just goes 'well I'd have to shut off his gas and I don't want to have to do that.' Isn't that your job?

 

The 2 times I've called our gas company regarding a leak or potential leak at the meter they've been super helpful and nice about it, but have also taken their sweet time getting out here. If I smell it again I'm going to hand them a shovel and request they dig down and check the pipe underground. I'm not taking any chances.

 

Yeah, I usually start smelling gas more often when it starts getting cooler outside since it hangs lower to the ground. I've called them out like 3 times in the 3 years we've been in this house. One time they ended up changing out like 3 or 4 meters that were leaking.

 

We had a gas leak in the new house, too. Very faint smell in the garage where our hot water heater is. The first plumber said there was no problem and sometimes a little gas smell gets out with a tankless water heater. We've had them before so I know that's bullshit. Second plumber fixed the problem.

 

Techamor Y201 Portable Methane Propane Combustible Natural Gas Leak Sniffer Detector

Techamor Y201 Portable Battery Powered Methane Propane Combustible Natural Gas Leak Sniffer Detector

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07BM1XWB8?_encoding=UTF8

 

Replaced a bunch of switches/sockets. Still have a bunch more to do. My fingers hurt.

 

Battery powered leaf blowers. Recommendations? Ones to stay away from?

 

I’ve got an 18V Ryobi that’s good for blowing out the garage, driveway, deck, and sidewalks. But not good for anything else in the yard.

 

If you have existing power tools/batteries, stick with the same platform. Most (Dewalt, Milwaukee, Ryobi, etc.) make leaf blowers now.

As stated, the battery blowers are ok for light work, but come fall, I opt for my Stihl gas powered backpack blower.

 

Thanks. I'll have some wet leaves to deal with. Maybe battery is not for me...

 

Not a lot of square yardage, but plenty of volume. Maybe corded?

 

Backpack blowers are better than the handheld in my opinion, but it all comes down to what you’re blowing and how much you’ve got to blow.

 

That or maybe a gas handheld.

 

Looking at those. Biggest complaints on battery is the charge. 5 to 15 min run times. I'll need more than that. Not a lot of yardage, but a shit ton of leaves, wet leaves at times. Maybe raking is still my best option.

 

Papa Bear
Mama Bear
Baby Bear

They all get used and serve their intended purpose well.

 

I'm happy with my Makita blower that came as a combo with the lawn mower. It can mow my 1/3 acre lawn no problem with it's 4 batteries. I have Fir and Arbutus trees which drop something all year long and the blower has no problems handling it. A bonus is the batteries fit my Makita cordless tools. I'm selling my gas blower and gave away the mower.