Before (the bare trunk is a smelly overgrown weed with deep roots)
During (how deep? about 2')
After (this is a pale lilac, along with some new paving stones...we're not done!)
Before (the bare trunk is a smelly overgrown weed with deep roots)
During (how deep? about 2')
After (this is a pale lilac, along with some new paving stones...we're not done!)
Last edited by Veloise; 02 Jun 2009 at 11:26 AM.
I have accomplished a "major" DIY project (for me anyways): I changed out the springs on one of my overhead garage doors.When I came home from my camp on Saturday, I discovered that one of the springs had broken.
So, Sunday, I trotted off to Home Depot and returned with a set of new springs. It took me about an hour to do the first one (including securing the door in the "up" position), but the second one took only about 15 minutes, including installing the safety wires. Unfortunately, the spring was too heavy, so the door wouldn't stay shut, so I had to take the spring mechanisms apart, return them to HD, pick a new pair and try again. Voila! Success!!! Not only did I get the springs back on, I got the safety wires threaded and secured properly (all approved by my local construction-guru friend Dave who showed up after I was all done!), and the garage door opener successfully reconnected! Now, I'm thinking about adding safety wires to the other garage door since it doesn't have any.
My plunge into garage door repair was totally motivated by money: the pair of springs cost about $25 out of pocket while the last time I had the garage door company come out to look at one of the doors, it cost me $100+ -- and they didn't use any parts. They just oiled the doors and reprogrammed the remotes.
I now declare myself a "garage door spring" guru ... "guru-ette"???
I'm impressed. I would have just called the garage door guy.Originally posted by Linda_D
I think I've accomplished a lot when I get the kid to drill holes in a couple new plastic plant pots...
Every time I visit Mom down at the Jersey Shore on vacation she always has a list of projects to be done.
I wonder what Mom will want done this summer ?
Thank goodness Mom hired somebody to replace the windows (16) last year.
I have posted in the past what I have done on vacation to maintain her house.
Last edited by JNA; 10 Jun 2009 at 11:26 PM.
Oddball
Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?
Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
From Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Are you sure you're not hurt ?
No. Just some parts wake up faster than others.
Broke parts take a little longer, though.
From Electric Horseman (1979)
Looking to replace most of my drafty single-pane cattywampus windows.
My handyman steered me towards one of the places advertising in the weekly mailers. He said he can't do a window for $189 (includes hardware). So I got a quote, and for the double-pane heat-sealed left handed veeblefetzer windows, it's quite a bit more. The windows look pretty plasticky; oak finish would be extra.
Called another place. They wrote it up for...um...about half of what I paid for the house. That can't be right. But if I act NOW, they'll let me have the "best" windows for the "midgrade" price. Etc, etc, many voicemails and sales pitches. Their product looks even more plasticky.
This week I'll be visited by a Name Brand window mfgr. I'd stopped in their showroom only to find out that they don't make a garden window (under consideration for my bathroom). But wait -- it's sold at one of the big box places.
Any comments to share? TIA.
I just ordered a solar-powered attic vent. I have been dreading wiring a fan for the attic and then I found this at Costco. It is priced really well and should pay for itself over one summer. I will be installing it this weekend or next.
http://www.jackswholesalewindows.com/
We will be purchasing a new high efficiency furnace in the next few weeks.
The current one is OLD and after freezing in the house for the past two winters (with $400+) heating bills we figure we should invest in a new one before the current one goes kaput.
We'll be taking advantage of the $1500 tax credit, a NYSEG $600 rebate, and a $150 rebate from Carrier.
It will be our biggest investment in the house to date.
BF is adverse to the phrase "Honey Do List". Any suggestions for a name for the list of projects we need to undertake for the house?
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. -Martin Luther King Jr.
Avoid vinyl replacements!! You'd be better served, and better serve your home, by fixing the cattywampus wood windows and upgrading the glass to a single-pane low-E glass. Then, invest in good storm windows (either exterior or interior) as well as thermal window treatments. You'll save a bundle and won't have to spend it all again in 10-15 years the way you will when the vinyl crapola wears out.
I have seen
old ships sailing
like swans asleep
Handyman's assistant (needed for high ladder work) says he has "never heard anything good" about this outfit.
The vinyl crapola is waranteed for a gazillion years. Some of my windows are downright unsafe; they are casements of a grade lower than the type with a counterweight inside. In other words, opening & closing them is a huge challenge.
:checks fingernail -- yep, the smashed section finally grew out:
Last edited by Maister; 13 Oct 2009 at 9:52 AM. Reason: sequential posts
I hear you. The uni apartment that I live in had windows of the same condition. You had to call maintenance whenever you wanted one opened or closed. Although there were storm windows they didn't do much but rattle in the wind. Thankfully they were replaced this past year.
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" Jeremiah 22:16
We have a full concrete unfinished basement. It would be nice to someday finish off the space for use & future resale. What would be required to finish my basement? How much would it cost to do a basic finish? Is this something we (and by we I mean me and my soon-to-be-retired father) could do by ourselves?
It really depends on what needs to be done and your skill level - it's not hard to throw up some interior partition walls, but if you need/want to re-wire (add light fixtures, plugs, etc.) or want to put a bathroom down there it can get more complicated.
We would probably need/want to rewire for lights and outlets. We currently have a toilet down there so it would be nice to partition that off, add a sink, and call it a half bath.
Would it be weird to have a finished half basement? We do use a large portion of it for storage and washer/dryer.
Not at all unusual. That's our setup.
Uh-oh! If someone like Maister has that set-up there must be something wrong with it. Forget I even asked. Do you hide the bodies in the unfinished half?
Maister, she knows too much...
That's where he hides THE GIMP???? OML!Maister, she knows too much...
"Maynard it's Zed. The spider's caught a couple of flies."
Whose chopper is this?
It's Zed's.
Who's Zed?
Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.
Greatest. Movie. Ever.
"I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany"
Off-topic:
It's on my top 3 list. I believe it is the most quotable movie too.
"Did you see the sign in my front yard?"
Some of you might not agree this is an improvement, but it's better than the cat-barf impregnated predecessor. This one is in front of the sink; another is in front of the stove.
It's raining here on the panhandle, so it's a slow day.....
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
I have this ugly white ball (definitely 1970ish) on the top of a rotting metal pole as an outdoor light in my front yard. Who (ie, what kind of professional) would be likely to have the expertise to fix/replace the metal pole and replace the ugly white ball with something more appropriate?
I could live with the ugly white ball but the rotting pole needs to have something done.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. -- John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961
Anybody with a shovel should be able to do it. Seriously. I am not the handiest of people and am usually one of the folks who will call a professional for most any job that looks like it will take me more than an hour but replacing our front light post when we moved in was something that I decided to try and tackle myself. I did a bit of research online, found a youtube video, and tackled it. I think it took me an afternoon to do. My main concern was that I was afraid I would somehow cut the electrical line with the shovel and not be able to figure out where but that was an unfounded fear.
However, if I were to want to change it this time of year, I'd probably call an electrician or general handyman just because I get frustrated too easily doing that type of work when it is cold out.
"Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost." - 1980 Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan
Thanks. I wasn't planning on having it fixed now -- the pole isn't going to topple over any time soon -- but it's something I want to get taken care of this coming year.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. -- John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961
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