The DIY thread - DIYourself

[iman29]

meh.. it's done.

Two bedrooms, a jack and jill bathroom, and a laundry room.

Any HVAC guys here? We had a long delay, and my installer is now jammed. Need 6 supply (2/br, 1 bath, 1 laundry) and 2 returns run off existing unit already in attic.

Give Chris a call and tell him I sent you. Solid guy but also no idea how booked up he is.

ChrisMerring – Conditioning to make you comfortable

FWIW he's the one who called me back over the summer in the middle of July when it was 110F and helped me figure out how to replace the capacitor on my condenser myself because he was totally booked solid for a week. Then he came by a week later for an overall inspection (my central AC and Furnace are 19 years old) and didnt charge me and told me I did a great job because it was "cold as hell in here" .

Good luck.

 

[jnos]

Black to gold or Black to brass. Easy peasy swap.

Yup, black to brass is easy to remember twitch both being B’s.

 

[Patrick]

Here is an "I could have, but NFW"

pipe between the septic tank and distribution block collapsed. It was an asbestos pipe.
At least it wasn't a $30k septic replacements (Yet).



I got the feeling i've lost a couple of the laterals too. Probably perforated asbestos?
Oh well - not going anywhere soon.

 

[w_b]

Here is an "I could have, but NFW"

pipe between the septic tank and distribution block collapsed. It is an asbestos pipe.
At least it wasn't a $30k septic replacements (Yet).

View attachment 169414

I got the feeling i've lost a couple of the laterals too. Probably perforated asbestos?
Oh well - not going anywhere soon.

This at Casa de Sauce?

 

[Patrick]

This at Casa de Sauce?

Si.

 

[w_b]

Watch out with da mower.

 

[Patrick]

Watch out with da mower.

#sendit.

 

[serviceguy]

This at Casa de Sauce?

Is it called sauce these days? I need to get up to speed...

 

[iman29]

Here is an "I could have, but NFW"

pipe between the septic tank and distribution block collapsed. It was an asbestos pipe.
At least it wasn't a $30k septic replacements (Yet).

View attachment 169414

I got the feeling i've lost a couple of the laterals too. Probably perforated asbestos?
Oh well - not going anywhere soon.

I heard doing that yourself is a pretty crappy job anyway 😛

 

[jmanic]

So I got a little complacent with the deck varmint situation.

2-3 weeks after spraying with peppermint soap and sprinkling skunk repellant granules, I come home to find this.

Fucker is even chewing up speaker wire that isn’t in its way.
I knew it would have to be weekly treatments. Oh well.

Found this- Dig Defence

Solid concept, and beats what I was planning with buried chicken wire-
We’ll give it a go.
Plus their website has the header:
“Psalms 18:2 | The Lord is my shield…”
So it’s got to work. Lol.

Also have conduits to shield the wires once remediation is complete and I splice wires.
May wrap conduit in chicken wire for good measure.


In the meantime, while I’m waiting for delivery on those, I’m just going to try for some pain and suffering.


It didn’t have to be like this.
Speaker wire was a bridge too far.

 

[Karate Monkey]

It didn’t have to be like this.
Speaker wire was a bridge too far.

It's too late, he has the taste for the white lightning.

 

[ekuhn]

I use the typical bait stations around the house to keep mice and voles at bay. This might help you as I used this before. Just be mindful of where you put it with the pup.

Amazon product ASIN B016KIHC5Q

 

[THATmanMANNY]

USED CAT LITTER!
or do what w did and tear out the low deck

 

[Zaskar]

Installed a hitch on our new Explorer. Wasn't terrible difficult just time consuming...about 2.5hrs.
Had to lower exhaust, remove and modify the heat shields to add the hitch.
Would do again.

 

[jmanic]

I use the typical bait stations around the house to keep mice and voles at bay. This might help you as I used this before. Just be mindful of where you put it with the pup.

Amazon product ASIN B016KIHC5Q

I have some Tomcat mouse and rat baits I was going to throw under there,
I'll try those first since I have them on hand, but I like this- looks like coated seeds,
probably very tempting.
I do think this is something larger than a mouse or vole, based on the size of the hole- maybe 3-4" in diameter.

USED CAT LITTER!
or do what w did and tear out the low deck

I have some kitty litter, but no cat...

 

[JDurk]

USED CAT LITTER!
or do what w did and tear out the low deck

I tried that with a groundhog under my garage. Didn't work. Had to go full force ammonia right down the hole.

 

[iman29]

This may be a stupid question/idea and I am not sure if I posted it here before so figured to ask the more intelligent audience here.

On days like today I stress about the power going out or even worse the sump pump failing. I have it on my to do list to get a backfeed panel installed by an electrician so i can plug in my generator to the house. This would not solve my problem if the sump pump fails. I know i can also get the whole backup sump bump battery system thing too but wondering if this idea would be a less of a hassle.

Since my basement has a french drain, would it be a bad thing to add a few bricks or create a barrier on the floor enclosing the sump pit, to redirect the water back to the french drain? This would only be for "emergency" purposes obviously, up to the point that I can repair or replace the pump and/or get the generator running to start draining the pit.

I realize it's probably counter productive to send the water back to the same place I am pumping it out of but for a short period of time it would prevent the spillage onto the basement floor for times when no one is around (ie power outage or pump failure in the middle of the night).

Idea would be to get a few leftover bricks that someone might be getting rid of, and section off like the picture shows. then seal it to the floor and in between with construction adhesive/silicone and seal off the inside part of the bricks with the same basement waterproofing i have on the cider blocks.

on a side note replacing the pump soon( *edit - and check valve) is on the list especially after this bad storm season. I think its about 5+ years old since I replaced it last.

Discuss.

 

[jmanic]

This may be a stupid question/idea and I am not sure if I posted it here before so figured to ask the more intelligent audience here.

On days like today I stress about the power going out or even worse the sump pump failing. I have it on my to do list to get a backfeed panel installed by an electrician so i can plug in my generator to the house. This would not solve my problem if the sump pump fails. I know i can also get the whole backup sump bump battery system thing too but wondering if this idea would be a less of a hassle.

Since my basement has a french drain, would it be a bad thing to add a few bricks or create a barrier on the floor enclosing the sump pit, to redirect the water back to the french drain? This would only be for "emergency" purposes obviously, up to the point that I can repair or replace the pump and/or get the generator running to start draining the pit.

I realize it's probably counter productive to send the water back to the same place I am pumping it out of but for a short period of time it would prevent the spillage onto the basement floor for times when no one is around (ie power outage or pump failure in the middle of the night).

Idea would be to get a few leftover bricks that someone might be getting rid of, and section off like the picture shows. then seal it to the floor and in between with construction adhesive/silicone and seal off the inside part of the bricks with the same basement waterproofing i have on the cider blocks.

on a side note replacing the pump soon( *edit - and check valve) is on the list especially after this bad storm season. I think its about 5+ years old since I replaced it last.

Discuss.

View attachment 169716

Just curious- how would powering your panel with your generator not solve the sump pump issue if power went out?
Edit: duh- reading is fundamental. Second vote then for battery back up sump.

In the more active of my two sump pits,
I have a secondary sump with marine battery back up on a trickle charger/battery minder.
If you want I can post specifics.

I wouldn't have all that much confidence in bricks for staving off disaster.

 

[Patrick]

This may be a stupid question/idea and I am not sure if I posted it here before so figured to ask the more intelligent audience here.

On days like today I stress about the power going out or even worse the sump pump failing. I have it on my to do list to get a backfeed panel installed by an electrician so i can plug in my generator to the house. This would not solve my problem if the sump pump fails. I know i can also get the whole backup sump bump battery system thing too but wondering if this idea would be a less of a hassle.

Since my basement has a french drain, would it be a bad thing to add a few bricks or create a barrier on the floor enclosing the sump pit, to redirect the water back to the french drain? This would only be for "emergency" purposes obviously, up to the point that I can repair or replace the pump and/or get the generator running to start draining the pit.

I realize it's probably counter productive to send the water back to the same place I am pumping it out of but for a short period of time it would prevent the spillage onto the basement floor for times when no one is around (ie power outage or pump failure in the middle of the night).

Idea would be to get a few leftover bricks that someone might be getting rid of, and section off like the picture shows. then seal it to the floor and in between with construction adhesive/silicone and seal off the inside part of the bricks with the same basement waterproofing i have on the cider blocks.

on a side note replacing the pump soon( *edit - and check valve) is on the list especially after this bad storm season. I think its about 5+ years old since I replaced it last.

Discuss.

View attachment 169716

it's going to fill up the french drain before it comes out of the top of the pit? isn't the drain hooked to the pit?
If not, it should be. even if just "under" the slab. unless you have another dedicated pit?

haven't you already gotten all the cardboard off the floor? and no wallboard?
so it is just a scrubby brush if you get water.

and seal that pit! it is filling your home with radon. (it probably isn't, but that is one place it would come in.)

 

[ekuhn]

This may be a stupid question/idea and I am not sure if I posted it here before so figured to ask the more intelligent audience here.

On days like today I stress about the power going out or even worse the sump pump failing. I have it on my to do list to get a backfeed panel installed by an electrician so i can plug in my generator to the house. This would not solve my problem if the sump pump fails. I know i can also get the whole backup sump bump battery system thing too but wondering if this idea would be a less of a hassle.

Since my basement has a french drain, would it be a bad thing to add a few bricks or create a barrier on the floor enclosing the sump pit, to redirect the water back to the french drain? This would only be for "emergency" purposes obviously, up to the point that I can repair or replace the pump and/or get the generator running to start draining the pit.

I realize it's probably counter productive to send the water back to the same place I am pumping it out of but for a short period of time it would prevent the spillage onto the basement floor for times when no one is around (ie power outage or pump failure in the middle of the night).

Idea would be to get a few leftover bricks that someone might be getting rid of, and section off like the picture shows. then seal it to the floor and in between with construction adhesive/silicone and seal off the inside part of the bricks with the same basement waterproofing i have on the cider blocks.

on a side note replacing the pump soon( *edit - and check valve) is on the list especially after this bad storm season. I think its about 5+ years old since I replaced it last.

Discuss.

View attachment 169716

French drain just carries the water to the pit. Once its full, its full, and it needs to be pumped out - hence the sump pump.

Battery operated backups are cheap insurance. Many available.