I finally took up my old lawn and placed new sod down, the weekend before last. It was some of the most grueling physical labor I've ever done, but the end result is great. Now I just have to water the crap out of it, since it hasn't rained since day 1 of the project.

If interested, pics are on my FB page: http://tinyurl.com/69b9veu.

6/7/2011 2:25:45 PM

Is that fescue? Yes, you had better water it hard and every day for the next 30 days if you want it to last through fall. I have experience with Fescue sod, and planting it at the non-perfect time, and finally doing it right the second time (see gallery)

6/7/2011 3:22:01 PM

No, that's Compadre Zoysia. It's a warm-weather grass, so this is a good time to sod.. but we still have to water it like twice a day for two weeks. I already know my water bill is going to be ridiculous. :-/

6/7/2011 3:26:44 PM

So, mosquitoes. I need some tips on reducing the amount of these bastards I have in my yard. Last year they were a fucking terror, and this year I'd like to see if anybody has any advice for me to pursue.

Maybe I just need to cut down 2/3 of the trees in my backyard and get more sun in there to dry it out. I've got some spray poison I can use but I am not sure I want to just poison everything.

6/7/2011 10:29:29 PM

along those lines

in the last week or so, ive noticed the following:

1-2 large houseflies in my house pretty much every evening, spawning again even after I kill the ones I found the day before. I have 6 small transom windows in my place and one front door. none of them are open, and my front door opens to an indoor hallway where i have never seen a fly. i dont leave my door open long enough to warrant daily flies. my trash is taken out regularly. the only thing i can conceive is that they're some how coming in through my AC intake? my ac unit is on the roof of my building. but still.

what the fuck. is jeff goldblum secretly living on my rooftop? (i havent gone up to check yet)

anyone else had an issue similar to this?

6/8/2011 12:09:17 PM

I noticed a little bit of sunlight coming through the jam on my front door. Figured my door just wasn't shut all the way. Well my door is warped and the bottom corner is curled in towards the house. The gap really isnt big enough for stuff to get in but I am thinking of all the AC/Heat I am losing through that gap. Any suggestions on a way to get the warp out of the door or is replacing it my best option?

6/9/2011 12:28:51 PM

doubt you're gonna be able to un-warp a door...my front door sucks too, i just put weather stripping/flashing around it and it seems to work fine.

6/9/2011 12:50:41 PM

^^ Install a "door sweep". I did this on the door in my kitchen that opens to the garage and it seals quite well. Add a better threshold with a rubber seal if you don't have one already.



[Edited on June 9, 2011 at 2:52 PM. Reason : l]

6/9/2011 2:51:14 PM

^^^ Do ^ that, then grab some of that cheap adhesive weather stripping for doorways you can get for like $1.60 at Lowe's and plonk it down so it will fix the gap in your doorway. I have warped as shit doors as well (original 70's doors that came with the house) and this helped the kitchen out a lot this winter. Mind you, it was still colder than the rest of the house there, but it was a solid improvement.

6/9/2011 11:42:20 PM

My dryer is taking forever to dry things all of a sudden. It gets hot but it now takes hours to dry clothes. Thoughts?

6/10/2011 6:36:59 PM

First step would be to check the vent for obstructions. If your element is heating up but it's still not drying as quickly, there's likely a blockage somewhere from the lint filter to the vent on the side of the house.

6/11/2011 10:03:07 AM

Anyone have experience with gas water heaters? I have it set a notch above the midpoint setting. Sometimes the water is much hotter than other times. For instance one shower I'll have more than hot enough water and the next I will have the faucet turned to all the way hot and it is just above warm. This will happen in the morning when there has not been any hot water use prior to the shower. Every time I look the pilot light is still lit. The thermostat seems like the likely culprit but I'm not sure. How difficult is it to replace a dip tube if it turns out to be broken?


[Edited on June 12, 2011 at 1:58 PM. Reason : df]

6/12/2011 1:54:09 PM

Its possible its just a problem with the hot/cold balance valve (I forget the official name for it) in your shower. Does the same thing happen at your sink?

6/12/2011 3:36:15 PM

yeah, all showers and sinks.

6/12/2011 3:37:57 PM

^^ that was my guess initially until ^ answer. :/

I have a question about light fixtures. The wife and I want to replace 3 fixtures in our house at the moment: the entryway fixture, the dining room chandelier, and the kitchenette hung light. We do not live in Raleigh so any specific local stores that aren't nationwide wouldn't be too helpful, but I'm mainly looking for any suggestions people have from past experience. Do Home Depot/Lowes have cheaper pricing than lighting specific stores for the same quality? Online? The lighting specific stores? We'll definitely be looking around on our own here soon but I am trying to get a start in the right direction and we were trying to maybe get them in the next 2 weeks.

We already know the general style: oil-rubbed/antique bronze for the foyer(semi-flush mount) and dining(chandelier) and probably a brushed metal for the kitchenette(not a chandelier but it needs to be on a chain that we can pin over about 3 feet). Just not familiar with anything but a few "big name" brands like Hampton Bay etc.

6/13/2011 1:04:35 PM

Duke Power stopped by and wanted to cut "a few limbs" off a ~75 ft tall tree in my yard.

This is the result:



I am not pleased.

6/16/2011 2:12:04 PM

^yeah, easements suck

6/17/2011 10:18:56 AM

I don't know where the best thread for this question, but I thought this would be a good place.
Where can I currently get the best interest rate for a mortgage? SECU is currently offering a 2-year 3.75% ARM for 30 years with 90% loan to value. Should I try a mortgage broker?
I found a home I really like and I need to get a pre-qualifying letter ASAP.

6/19/2011 2:39:39 PM

FFS don't do an ARM.

SECU will do a 20 year fixed for 5.75 at 100% financing at that

[Edited on June 19, 2011 at 8:48 PM. Reason : *]

6/19/2011 8:47:36 PM

Well we had finally gotten around to painting our kitchen and only needed to finish that and get the backsplash done and it would be completely remodeled. Then thursday a copper pipe in the wall between the downstairs bath and the kitchen sprung a pinhole leak. Really sucks because there are 2yr old cabinets on that wall of the kitchen- which were installed after another pinhole leak caused damage.

Anyhow, we called it in and Cary Reconstruction Company had a project manager and a plumber out in an hour. $1,500 state farm deductible really sucked but we are looking at well over $10k in repairs. They punched through the soggy drywall and the leak got fixed, then two huge dehumidifiers were put in Friday when they came out to cut out the wet sheetrock. Next step will be tearing out the affected cabinets and ripping up the flooring. Good news is when its all done the kitchen will be finished and the downstairs bath too.

6/20/2011 10:55:17 AM

ouch

6/20/2011 11:42:36 AM

^^Eesh...that blows.

I've been having some AC problems the past few weeks. AC guy came out and fixed it last Monday (he said loose wires were preventing the right amount of voltage needed for cool air...whatever that means). But then apparently they messed up again on Thursday and we've been having phone battles up until this morning (basically me calling him 5 times for every one attempted return phone call from him). Luckily I was away at a bachelor party this weekend, but my roommate had a warm couple of days at the house while I was gone.

I'm pretty reasonable and leave very cordial messages like, "Hate to bother you again, but it's 88 and climbing in the house and I'm just wondering if you can stop by today." But the second call today got him to call me back immediately.

I would call another AC guy, but I'm still under warranty with this particular one and I think he's so slack on it because he knows he's not getting paid.

Either way...it's fucking hot inside my house today.

6/20/2011 12:19:35 PM

so my fly infestation was caused by some asshole in my building who poisoned a rat without trapping it and let it die in the floorboards/walls somewhere, which allowed a shit ton of flies to breed in a closed utility room and then infest the spaces between units. luckily an exterminator came out and killed those fuckers. jeff goldblum was not, in fact, responsible after all.

6/20/2011 12:22:15 PM

^Relating to this...

I posted a page or two bag about having really bad house fly problems (mostly outside of the house, but they definitely creep inside when the weather is nice and I open up my windows).

But outside...they are just ridiculous. I've come to the conclusion that my yard is the breeding grounds for all of the house flies in downtown Charleston.

But I've done some major work on them with the help of these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_46767-2226-1FTD_4294857396_4294937087_?productId=3033965&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl_Flying%2BInsect%2BControl_4294857396_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&facetInfo=




They are fucking awesome. Give them a week, and you have hundreds of flies dying inside. I put out two at a time, and I'm on the first week of the second set of two, and the flies have all but been eliminated.

I also used one of of these for mosquitoes:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_114974-316-0112599_4294857399+4294965005_4294937087_?productId=3063091&Ns=p_product_brand_name|0||p_product_description|0&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl_Cutter_4294857399%2B4294965005_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_brand_name|0||p_product_description|0&facetInfo=Cutter




And I haven't been bitten by a mosquito since I sprayed the yard three weeks ago.

6/20/2011 12:33:41 PM

when i thought they were coming in from the outside, i used the jar version of the bag thing you posted. it was the fly version of rwanda outside my window. the jar is literally filled with fly corpses. very effective except those werent the flies that were getting in to the building. now that the rat "dried out" (term of art used by the exterminator), we're all clear.

6/20/2011 12:56:02 PM

Hahaha jbrick, I thought my yard had the title of biggest fly repository in charleston.

Im glad to hear those bags work, I just bought two at lowes this weekend and put them up last night. Hopefully I will have a fly massacre in a day or two.

6/20/2011 4:29:17 PM

They work even better if you put them in your neighbor's yard

6/20/2011 4:46:22 PM

Quote :

"My dryer is taking forever to dry things all of a sudden. It gets hot but it now takes hours to dry clothes. Thoughts?"

Clean your vent.

If it's one of those cheap aluminum foil accordian style ones, replace it (Preferably with a rigid duct). If your vent has a bunch of debris caked to the side, it's a huge fire hazard as well. #1 cause of house fires in the US, I believe.

[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 8:43 PM. Reason : ]

6/20/2011 8:33:30 PM

Quote :

"I noticed a little bit of sunlight coming through the jam on my front door. Figured my door just wasn't shut all the way. Well my door is warped and the bottom corner is curled in towards the house. The gap really isnt big enough for stuff to get in but I am thinking of all the AC/Heat I am losing through that gap. Any suggestions on a way to get the warp out of the door or is replacing it my best option?"

Sounds like you have a 'racked' door.

I believe it's caused when the actual wall isn't 100% vertical but the door is and it bows your door frame. I used to have that problem with about a 1/4" gap in one of the upper corners. The easiest thing to do if it's close enough is to put in a larger weather seal. If that's not an option, what I did was take off the hinges and fill the holes with glue & a ton of bamboo skewers. Fill the holes and cut the ends of the skewers off flush. Move the top hinge in or out (depending) how ever far you need it. Move the middle one in half of that. It'll cause your door to hang properly...just measure twice before you do it




[Edited on June 20, 2011 at 8:43 PM. Reason : ]

6/20/2011 8:37:00 PM

Cleaned the vent. It works now. Thanks.

6/21/2011 10:43:58 AM

New issue with our 5 year old town home that is currently being rented.

The A/C's freon line completely froze from the attic all the way to the compressor. The tech pulled the fuse and let the ice melt and refilled 4 pounds of freon this afternoon.

The fun part comes when we eventually have to find the leak, reclaim the freon, clean the coils, and refill 7 pounds of freon at $50 a pound.

Though the part I am confused on . . . I didn't think HVAC techs were allowed to refill freon with ID'ing leaks?

6/21/2011 10:00:50 PM

Quote :

"I also used one of of these for mosquitoes:"

Dude, sweet, I bought some of that stuff last fall. I might end up using it this spring in short order. My house is on half an acre and has a lot of areas where they might live, though, so I might not be able to cover the whole area that I need to in order to get the mosquito count down.

I guess I could feel better about the fact that I killed a bunch of bugs, even if I missed the ones that are biting me.

6/21/2011 10:14:17 PM

we're under water rationing, and right now only allowed to water with hand held hose end sprayers.

they've started construction on the lot next door to me, and have put up a mesh fence on the property lines. they laid the foundation yesterday.

last night, i got home from work, and my hose was unrolled, and leading to the construction site. still connected to my house, and the end in a full 5 gallon bucket. hose was covered in mud, and the white dust from concrete. muddy footprints down the sidewalk and up the driveway, and the mesh fence was rolled back to hook the hose up to my spigot.

the fact there was any mud at all is of major concern, considering before today it's rained <5" since christmas.

what the fuck?

[Edited on June 22, 2011 at 2:53 PM. Reason : e]

6/22/2011 2:49:13 PM

Find out the number of the general contractor responsible for that site. I'd request some compensation for water usage and trespassing and request that they not step foot on your property again. Did you take any pictures?

Unfortunately construction workers do this kind of stuff all the time. I found workers from my neighbors' screened-in porch construction job on my front porch with a microwave plugged into my exterior outlet cooking frozen burritos one day. I asked them what they were doing and their response was "Her exterior outlets don't work." So their logical step was to trespass and use my power to cook their lunch. I have definitely heard of workers in new construction neighborhoods using/stealing water from existing houses before as well.

[Edited on June 22, 2011 at 3:09 PM. Reason : .]

6/22/2011 2:58:38 PM

yeah i did.

it's the same builder that built my house, so i still have his contact info as a starting point. awaiting response to an email.

also, brought the hose rolls into the garage, and they'll be staying there, which is a pain in the ass when my shrubs are needing water daily to survive. put together a marking system with some duct tape and a sharpie marker on the underside of the spigot to see if it gets used without my knowledge again. unless they're really slick.

wish i had a way to valve out that spigot, but i don't see why i should have to. it should not be a problem. i wonder if i could dispute it with the city.

your burrito story makes me wonder... i did notice something very suspicious in the back yard last night while i was grilling dinner... there were three tostitos/rawhide looking chips, that were drawing ants to the patio. i flicked them over the fence, as i didnt want my dogs getting it. we dont let them eat rawhide, and i asked the gf if anyone had been over with chips recently. just thought it was weird and didn't think about it.

i have no lock on my fence, and wonder if it's related. might be picking one of those up. need to anyways as the latch is pretty shitty and with the clay soil moving the ground around the door sometimes gets opened by the wind. our dogs are explorers by heart and have taken this to their advantage once before. there's a twist tie from a bread bag on it now. lol.

6/22/2011 3:22:30 PM

Yeah you just have to keep your eyes out for that kind of stuff. You can buy spigot locks, but like you said, it sucks that you have to worry about that possibly. If your spigot is inside your fence it might be worth it to just buy a lock for now as it would also be useful going forward anyway.

6/22/2011 3:27:01 PM

I'd water the hell out of the lawn...hell, might even open up a water park.

At the end of the month mail the homebuilder the bill and be like "LOOK WHAT YOUR DAMN SUB-CONTRACTORS DID!"



[Edited on June 22, 2011 at 5:43 PM. Reason : ]

6/22/2011 5:43:32 PM

Quote :

"I apologize they were using your water for some reason. They know they are not supposed to do this and I will have Brian be sure to tell them again. Brian said they have water on their trucks for this reason. However I completely understand what you mean & where you are coming from. If you get your bill and notice a difference I can guide you to the right person to talk to for reimbursement. Does your hose need to be replaced? Brian said he would have your hose replaced if it was damaged. Again I am so sorry about this. If it continues for any reason let me know but we will do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t."

response from the builder's rep.

not bad.

6/23/2011 10:31:47 AM

good deal.

6/23/2011 10:38:41 AM

Yeah, I caught the builder using my exterior outlet when I first moved in. I bitched to them and they put up a private residence sign on my property. I also planned to cut the extension cable in half had I caught them doing it again.

6/23/2011 1:46:15 PM

In regard to light fixtures like I posted about earlier, we just ended up picking some up online from Home Depot. The prices were very reasonable and after receiving them in the mail the quality was good. Definitely looking forward to getting these up this weekend as I think it will really improve the look on our first floor.

We saw some others at some actual lighting stores around us but they were more expensive and honestly, after receiving these HD ones, they weren't really worth the extra cost. We didn't sacrifice at all on the style we had in mind for the lights and in total on multiple fixtures spent the same as one chandelier we liked at a lighting-specific store.

[Edited on June 23, 2011 at 2:13 PM. Reason : .]

6/23/2011 2:10:29 PM

Quote :

"Well we had finally gotten around to painting our kitchen and only needed to finish that and get the backsplash done and it would be completely remodeled. Then thursday a copper pipe in the wall between the downstairs bath and the kitchen sprung a pinhole leak. Really sucks because there are 2yr old cabinets on that wall of the kitchen- which were installed after another pinhole leak caused damage. Anyhow, we called it in and Cary Reconstruction Company had a project manager and a plumber out in an hour. $1,500 state farm deductible really sucked but we are looking at well over $10k in repairs. They punched through the soggy drywall and the leak got fixed, then two huge dehumidifiers were put in Friday when they came out to cut out the wet sheetrock. Next step will be tearing out the affected cabinets and ripping up the flooring. Good news is when its all done the kitchen will be finished and the downstairs bath too."

UPDATE

First, some background information- our home was built in 1978. The kitchen floor is tile, but there are several layers of flooring in the kitchen, maybe 4, and a backer for the tile. They found asbestos in the bottom layer of flooring- so now ALL the layers of the ENTIRE floor have to be removed. Which means all the cabinets have to come out, which means the granite has to come off, and the sink, etc. Also removing 1.5 inches of floor will make some changes in the kitchen but because its all related to the water leak- our insurance covers it.

Needless to say, we will be having the copper pipe removed so we don't have to go through this a 3rd time.

6/23/2011 3:37:27 PM

Quote :

"If it continues for any reason let me know but we will do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t."

if there was someone from the GC on site at least once a day I'm sure they would notice this. thats the problem with these big builders. they build so much that they cant supervise what all is going on.

the builder in my neighborhood finally got his license(after illegally renovating 8 homes) and just started a new home. they dug the footings yesterday and there is dirt 1" thick covering the sidewalks. he currently has 3 small homes being built/renovated in the same neighborhood and his guys are damaging fences, landscaping, etc due to him never coming onsite. all is cares about is that paper...


i admit that the house Im currently building I do take water/electricity from the house next door.

only because its my house

[Edited on June 23, 2011 at 10:06 PM. Reason : pic of dirt]

6/23/2011 10:01:31 PM

^ easy fix for this, call 1-866-stopmud. Give address of sed control violation. profit.

6/25/2011 8:38:13 AM

Ugh...toilet problems.

So the tank on my upstairs problem won't refill. Well it technically can, but it takes forever. Already replaced the the fill valve, and that did nothing. Have pretty much determined that it has to be a really big leak in the flapper/inlet/flush valve area.

Anybody got any suggestions? I'm trying not to call the plumber, but I think that's whats going to happen on Monday.

6/25/2011 9:01:37 AM

^ They sell full toilet repair kits at Home Depot that are really simple to install. It comes with basically all the guts of your toilet (Fill valve, flushing handle, flapper, etc).

Probably takes like 30 mins to swap those out. No need to call a plumber...it's simple. All you'll need to do is cut the water, remove the 'tank' portion of the toilet, and replace the parts.

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/bath/toilets/fluidmaster/complete-toilet-repair-kit-102017.html

It doesn't really make sense that your flush valve/flapper is leaking though. Does it flush on its own randomly and/or have to refill itself every hour? From what you're describing, it just takes awhile to fill the tank up, but operates perfectly normal after that? If the flapper is leaking, you should be able to hear water dripping or leaking, and it would probably be randomly flushing on its own quite often becuase once that seal is broken, the water pressure would probably push the flapper up and flush the toilet.

As long as you're getting the proper amount of water INTO the toilet, you are definitely leaking somewhere though. That kit will replace every gasket/seal in the entire tank portion of the toilet, and it's simple to do.



[Edited on June 25, 2011 at 10:42 AM. Reason : ]

6/25/2011 10:24:41 AM

Has anyone here done a complete kitchen redo before?

We're thinking of buying a house but the kitchen kind of sucks and would need to be redone to be functional (cabinets are literally falling apart, no appliances, etc). It looks a lot like this kitchen but crappier and more closed in:



Those people did a remodel that while I'm not into the Star Trek look of it I do like how the kitchen is very open and kind of spills into the living area:







So my question is, how difficult is it to tear down a wall (assuming it's not a load bearing wall which I'm fairly sure it's not from what I saw), throw in a wall oven (I fucking loooooooooooove wall ovens) and install a cooktop? Is this something I could DIY with my construction savvy father or would it be in my best interest to hire a pro? We're probably going to roll about 25k in renovation costs into the house but I don't want to dump all of that into a kitchen project. I guess I could always get a contractor to do the difficult tasks and I can handle the easier shit like installing cabinets.

6/25/2011 10:07:50 PM

I've never done that type of major renovation, but if you have a contruction saavy father, see if he has. If so, go for it. I wouldn't try it on my own without SOME type of major reconstruction experience....I don't think it's going to be simple without the know-how by any means

6/26/2011 1:49:41 PM

Whom do you people recommend buying home insurance from? I have my car insurance with a smaller company and I don't think they do combined deals.

6/26/2011 3:21:34 PM

^shop around. it really just depends. I have Allstate but that is only because they gave me the lowest price for the same coverage versus other people. I'll probably shop around again for car+home in another 2-3 years or so.


Replaced the 3 light fixtures this weekend. Looks worlds better and I'm glad I know how to change them now. Planning to replace 3-4 others in the house now.

6/26/2011 7:38:03 PM