Terro is great. It's like crack for ants. I've put out those little traps and withing an hour or two it's amazing hour many ants surround it. After about 24 hours there's a few stragglers hanging around. After 48 hours I will usually not see another ant in that area. For the rest of the summer we don't see them around. I highly recommend that stuff.

7/17/2013 6:12:23 AM

daaaaaaamn BobbyD, thats insane. im sorry bro, that sucks.

im going to grab a couple of the shake bags for the yard on thursday as a precaution. i have hardly read

any negative reviews about any terro product. they got that 190% apparently

7/17/2013 9:20:43 AM

Lot of spiders getting in recently.
Any suggestions?

7/17/2013 11:32:32 AM

Just had to drop $400 to get refrigerant topped off in both AC units. The coil in the upstairs air handler that the unit feeds was freezing up on hot days. Both were hovering around 50psi where nominal should be ~70. Bit the bullet and filled both. Hopefully the systems will be a little more efficient and we won't have any issues with the coil freezing.

7/17/2013 1:41:41 PM

did they find the leak or do they have a plan to come back out and find the leak and repair it?

7/17/2013 3:01:53 PM

Did put some dye in it, but no apparent leaks. Systems are 12 yrs old, never been serviced. We'll see.

7/17/2013 3:47:46 PM

I tell a lot of people this, but it's always good advice:

If you have to recharge refrigerant you have a leak. It doesn't get "used" up or anything so it has to exit the system in order for you to require more/recharging.

It is probably just a very small leak. One of ours has a very small leak; so small they can't find it either. So far it seems to be able to go 2 years without losing enough to affect operation but it will continue to need recharging until the leak is found and repaired or we just get a new system (similar age as yours).

7/17/2013 4:21:24 PM

^^^^^^ Do I get a cookie?

7/17/2013 6:48:30 PM

Quote :

"yeah, so i'm having my entire crawlspace fully encapsulated, vents sealed, and two dehumidifiers installed. I can think of other ways I would have preferred to spend $17k. "

Any particular reason? The debate over sealed vs. unsealed crawlspaces is far from resolved...

7/17/2013 8:40:50 PM

i think 17k is insane for that service

7/17/2013 10:35:08 PM

Doesn't Bobby have a pretty large house though? Per square foot that might not be ridiculous.

7/17/2013 11:38:38 PM

^^^ see my post on the previous page. That said, all of the current information i've found indicates that crawlspaces should be sealed and/or conditioned to avoid the problems that I'm having (moisture/mold which is now getting into the living areas). Being waterfront, there's a lot of moisture.

I'm not going to claim that i'm an expert by any means, but literally everything I've read about the problems I'm having state crawlspace encapsulation is the way to go. If there's another proven way to keep the RH in my crawl space below 50%, I'm all ears.

^^/^ got three quotes, and all were within about $5k. yeah our first floor has 2700 sq feet of crawlspace underneath.

[Edited on July 18, 2013 at 3:39 PM. Reason : .]

7/18/2013 3:39:42 PM

Quote :

"Any particular reason? The debate over sealed vs. unsealed crawlspaces is far from resolved..."

Strictly speaking in terms of relative humidity, an unsealed crawlspace with vents does hardly anything and in a lot of cases is proven to be worse than nothing at all. Moisture migrates into the crawl space more often than out with those vents. There is still lots of discussion on the best way to handle it and the most cost-effective way to handle crawl space moisture but in terms of moisture it's a pretty easy call if the only thing you are talking about is effectiveness.

Now, there are other factors like radon and things but I was just answering in terms of humidity issues.

7/18/2013 4:35:39 PM

All the rain we have gotten has washed out the support blocks on one corner of my front porch. So now I have a serious sag on that end. Going to have to jack up that corner of the porch and pour a new footer. Fortunately I have a friend with a hydraulic jack he'll let me borrow. Lately it just seems that every time I finish one project, 2 more pop up.

7/19/2013 10:16:51 AM

No kidding. I've gotten burnt out with the whole grad school + 2 part time jobs + remodeling thing so I'm probably quitting one of the part time jobs to have more time for the house. It'll be cheaper and less stressful than paying people to work on the house because I'm too tired for it now.

7/19/2013 10:38:51 AM

but then who will you blame for everything?

7/19/2013 1:10:50 PM

Good news, I have a swimming pool. Bad news, it's in my crawl space.

7/19/2013 9:42:44 PM

Bust out that Wilmington grill and party!

OK, so, indoor ant solutions. I have ants on the second floor, wtf. I'll put a glass of water beside my bed, and over night there's ants in it.I haven't quite traced where they're coming from though...

7/21/2013 11:35:04 AM

ant spores in your water?

7/21/2013 1:33:55 PM

^^ We got a gallon of Ortho Home defense max and it cured our ant problem in the kitchen. I need to go spray it around the edge of the house as well.

^^^ we looked at a house like that. Get a sump pump in there ASAP.

7/21/2013 5:00:59 PM

^^^They've been mentioned here before but it bears repeating. Terro ant bait. It's awesome. The other brands don't compare, in my experience.



[Edited on July 21, 2013 at 7:43 PM. Reason : .]

7/21/2013 7:40:06 PM

^^^sounds like a great twilight zone type thing. Ant spores in the water, and then you drink them and have ants germinating in your stomach.

Imma go dump my water now.

^thanks. I saw Terro mentioned further up on the page, but figured it was an outdoor application only.

[Edited on July 21, 2013 at 10:04 PM. Reason : .]

7/21/2013 9:42:30 PM

i get Lorsban from someone with the proper credentials (farmers, etc.) and spray around the foundation of my house every few months. Terro works great if i do find them in the house, but the Lorsban does a good job.

7/21/2013 9:54:42 PM

anyone tried sunsetter awnings? we bought one used from a family friend for $500 (rarely used, 3 years old, motorized). they've got pretty good reviews, but i'm mainly concerned about whether to try to do it myself or just hire someone. it's a brand new house so i don't really want to tear the siding off in the first week

7/21/2013 10:09:13 PM

[Edited on July 22, 2013 at 9:05 AM. Reason : nm]

7/22/2013 8:47:59 AM

Quote :

"it won't (so far) auto-connect to a device by connecting from another device when you last used a different device. so if i was playing shit on my iPad, I have to go turn the bluetooth off on it to connect to my iPhone, and vice versa. However, I bet I just am not doing something right, so im going to continue working on that."

by the way, if anyone else was curious about that showerhead on the previous page. I figured out what I was doing wrong there. You just have to hold down the connect button a little longer to put it into search mode to connect from a different device.

I'm still really enjoying it.

7/22/2013 9:40:04 AM

The guy behind me just moved in and installed floods that he keeps lit all the time at night. Thing is is they shine right into our bedroom.

I've already asked him once to turn them off and he "pointed them away from the house" but they're still lighting up the bedroom if we don't have the blinds fully closed.

The lights are in violation of HOA covenants but I don't want to go that route unless I have to.

I was thinking of offering to suggest or buy him motion activated flood lights.

What say you TWW?

7/22/2013 5:58:41 PM

bb gun

they are pretty much silent and he will have a hard time proving you are the one shooting the bulbs out

7/22/2013 6:04:30 PM

trying to find a schematic of a septic leach field for a property we might purchase (wake co)... any way to do that without having to contact the county? there's a note online about viewing it through the GIS mapping, but i'm not seeing it... property built in 2001

7/22/2013 9:15:17 PM

^^^well close your damn blinds. flood lights help prevent crime.

7/22/2013 10:08:29 PM

motion activated lights would do the same thing

7/22/2013 10:10:41 PM

^^^

Just go ahead and request a copy of the septic permit from Wake Co Environmental Services (919) 856-7400. It's a very common request. Beware though, a lot of the sketches of the septic systems are basically hand drawn garbage. You can pay someone to come out and locate everything, but it won't be cheap. Send me a pm if you need more details.

The county is starting to put a lot of the permits online through GIS but its hit & miss currently. If it doesn't show up when you click the box then it means they know your house has a permit but they don't have it online yet.

7/22/2013 10:27:26 PM

thanks... i was just hoping i missed something on the map (just saw the green square for a system w/ no pump) but no record of permit... will be calling in the morning

7/22/2013 11:07:07 PM

^^ this. I had to have some work done on my leech field and got a copy of the schematic from Guilford Co. And yes, it was hand drawn garbage. But it told me what I needed to know.

Quote :

"I was thinking of offering to suggest or buy him motion activated flood lights. "

If they're anything like my motion flood lights, they will just go on and off all night anyway (especially in the summer). I dialed the sensitivity way back on mine, but moths still make them come on pretty much constantly.

[Edited on July 23, 2013 at 11:53 AM. Reason : a]

7/23/2013 11:49:31 AM

Quote :

"they're still lighting up the bedroom if we don't have the blinds fully closed. "

Uh, so close your blinds? I leave mine closed all the time.

7/23/2013 12:34:12 PM

^ agreed. Unless you want the sun to wake you up at 6AM, why wouldn't you have your blinds closed?

7/23/2013 2:01:24 PM

Maybe their neighbors like watching them fuck.

7/23/2013 7:01:15 PM

moths do not trigger my motion-activated lights

7/23/2013 8:03:35 PM

got the septic drawing faxed to me today from the county - hand drawn, but good enough for what i wanted to see

next question - anyone know of a home inspector they would recommend? haven't had one done since our first home purchase in 2006

7/23/2013 9:19:10 PM

Walked into the basement and found water...never good. Inspected the area and found it coming from the water heater. Down side, I'm going to be out $900 by the end of the day. Up side, I get to increase the tank size up from 30 gallons.

7/24/2013 9:09:47 AM

"coming from the water heater" as in just coming out of the side of the vessel or what? why does it need to be replaced?

7/24/2013 10:52:43 AM

I know a few good home inspectors:

-John Hagan: http://www.inspectorhagan.com/
-EMB (Erskine Betts) Home Inspections: http://www.embinspect.com/
-Jim Suchy: http://www.jimsuchy.com/

7/24/2013 11:55:41 AM

^ great, thanks

7/24/2013 2:56:29 PM

^^^it was coming out of the bottom, somewhere underneath (not the hose attachment area). Everything I read online said that this problem was better to replace the unit rather than try to take it apart and fix it.

7/24/2013 3:49:57 PM

ok, yeah. i just wanted to make sure you weren't replacing the whole thing b/c a fitting was leaking or something.

7/24/2013 4:03:39 PM

Just walked to bathroom and saw water tickling down the wall from ceiling. It's fucking pouring down rain. Went outside and the gutter is waging and can't take all the rain and sidebar is from roof. So I had to play gutter repair man in the pouring down rain

Who do I call to check this shit out and will my insurance cover it

Notes. Older style gutter system with no leaf guard

7/31/2013 9:59:27 PM

any disaster restoration company can come check it out. Cary Reconstruction, Emergency Reconstruction, ServPro, Carolina Restoration, etc are names of some companies that do this. I work for one of them

Insurance can cover the damage if its over your deductible, however they don't usually cover the cause of the damage (gutters in this case)

Edit to add you can contact your insurance company and start the process of filing a claim and they might give you a few options of who they have worked with before. And if it ends up costing less than your deductible they'll just close the claim.

[Edited on July 31, 2013 at 11:23 PM. Reason : .]

7/31/2013 11:17:24 PM

Gotcha. Thanks or that

8/1/2013 7:24:44 PM

might want to read this too before looking at insurance.

http://money.msn.com/home-insurance/home-insurers-secret-records-weston


unless you have catastrophic damage, i would pay for the repair out of pocket.

8/2/2013 2:24:17 PM

How hard is it to install a new door without getting it pre-hung? DIY? Professional? If we ever go through with this project, should I just go pre-hung anyway?

Basically, the front door wasn't hung great to begin with on this house (11 years old now). I adjusted the screws some on the hinges when we first moved in and it made significant improvements but it's still not perfect (assuming it's the door and not the frame that is not proper). In addition to that, the weatherstripping needs to be replaced and I just don't really like the front door anyway. It's got ornate gold metal detailing in the glass, seeded and textured glass etc. Just does not mesh with the more streamlined furnishings. The only thing I like about it is that it is about 70% glass so it lets in a lot of light.

Anyway, with not liking the door, it not being hung 100% proper, and needing new weatherstripping, I was at least toying with the idea of installing a new door. I know that the "best" way to do it is to buy pre-hung since it all fits and the weatherstripping is theoretically tighter, but it seems like that would be significantly more expensive than getting the door slab (I've never priced out front doors though).

If I did replace it, i'd probably go with something like this:
with a wood that complemented the hardwood in our house.

Any ROM on the cost difference between the slab vs the pre-hung? And how difficult is it to hang a slab door in an existing frame?

[Edited on August 3, 2013 at 8:53 AM. Reason : ]

8/3/2013 8:45:17 AM