Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[ncbill]

I put one of those in a couple of weeks ago. The deer like a light over their salad bar.

Ours lights up so you can see your way to the garbage can.

The raccoon appreciates it too...

 

[John Galt III]

Is there any way the water can be coming in from way up above? We had a first-floor window that had a small, periodic leak and it wasn't until we added caulk to the (exterior) bathroom fan vent about five feet directly above it that it stopped. Talk about odd. Over a decade in this house and there has never been caulk around that vent, so we have no idea what changed. It was a "well it couldn't hurt to try" thing as we were really stumped and it worked, so we aren't complaining.

It could be that the water has two entry points and you only found one of them, as you have wondered.

Thanks for the reply. There is 3rd story window above the French door. Hmmm.

 

[nash031]

Three weeks home after 6 months away, and the repairs are racking up. Just this past week:

- Troubleshot a neutral ground on electrical outlets and found the loose connection, repairing it and restoring power to the master bedroom.

- Replaced the front door handle which had corroded internals making the front door difficult to open... thanks ocean breeze!

- My coup d'grace: we've been fighting palm root intrusion into our master bathroom toilet sewer connection. The roots grew up through the hole in the slab for the sewer line, up through a hole in the flange, through the wax seal and down into the sewer line. This first happened about 18 months ago, and we got it fixed along with some other plumbing issues in the house at way too much of a cost. The second and third times, the HOA took care of it as a courtesy, including helping us figure out where it was coming from. The fourth time happened roughly 3 months after the previous time, and our better plumber came out and fixed it for $95 including a toilet installation for dummies session with yours truly.

Six weeks after that, root intrusion happened again, so I took the toilet off myself, applied instant plant death to the roots, removed as much of the root system as I could, and put rock salt in the hole (PVC piping). I let that sit for a couple of days, then reinstalled the toilet with a new-fangled plastic+wax seal. We'll see how this goes. If it lasts longer than 6 weeks, it's a win... hopefully this solves the problem without making our neighbors have to remove the palm.

 

[Texas Proud]

Three weeks home after 6 months away, and the repairs are racking up. Just this past week:

- Troubleshot a neutral ground on electrical outlets and found the loose connection, repairing it and restoring power to the master bedroom.

- Replaced the front door handle which had corroded internals making the front door difficult to open... thanks ocean breeze!

- My coup d'grace: we've been fighting palm root intrusion into our master bathroom toilet sewer connection. The roots grew up through the hole in the slab for the sewer line, up through a hole in the flange, through the wax seal and down into the sewer line. This first happened about 18 months ago, and we got it fixed along with some other plumbing issues in the house at way too much of a cost. The second and third times, the HOA took care of it as a courtesy, including helping us figure out where it was coming from. The fourth time happened roughly 3 months after the previous time, and our better plumber came out and fixed it for $95 including a toilet installation for dummies session with yours truly.

Six weeks after that, root intrusion happened again, so I took the toilet off myself, applied instant plant death to the roots, removed as much of the root system as I could, and put rock salt in the hole (PVC piping). I let that sit for a couple of days, then reinstalled the toilet with a new-fangled plastic+wax seal. We'll see how this goes. If it lasts longer than 6 weeks, it's a win... hopefully this solves the problem without making our neighbors have to remove the palm.

Your problem is different than mine, so I do not think it will work the same... I had a willow tree that was on the neighbors yard that found a space to insert a root into my sewer pipe and grow every bushy.... it would cut almost all the flow... paid twice to get it cut... the second time the guy suggested to use root killer... every 2 to 3 months flush a bunch down the drain...

Since yours is up high I am not sure it will do anything... especially since you are putting it directly on the root... have you tried Round Up?

 

[harley]

I don't think RoundUp will work applied to a root. It's supposed to be applied to the leaves of a plant. I've sprayed weeds right around trees (including palms), definitely hitting the roots. Killed the weeds (sometimes), but never the trees. I've also had no luck spraying exposed roots/stalks of things like ferns and oleander. It seems to need something green to transport the poison to the roots for effectiveness.

 

[nash031]

Your problem is different than mine, so I do not think it will work the same... I had a willow tree that was on the neighbors yard that found a space to insert a root into my sewer pipe and grow every bushy.... it would cut almost all the flow... paid twice to get it cut... the second time the guy suggested to use root killer... every 2 to 3 months flush a bunch down the drain...

Since yours is up high I am not sure it will do anything... especially since you are putting it directly on the root... have you tried Round Up?

I used concentrated glyphosate, same stuff I used to kill the ficus root when we cut that down. I applied it several times - initially when I pulled the "mare's tail" out, then I poured it around the sewer flange and let it sit before removing the root material further, and then again after I had removed as much of the root material as I could get to. I don't know if it'll kill the root entirely, or if it'll kill the tree (which honestly I wouldn't mind), or if it won't do anything... so I poured the rock salt all around the flange and into the space between the flange and the soil/slab to create a barrier through which the root shouldn't grow. From what I've read, the rock salt barrier can work for a year or two. If that doesn't stop it, the funky seal I used might work better than the cheap wax seal. I hope I bought quite a bit of time before I have to go ask the neighbors if I can cut the root system away from the house, which would probably kill the tree. Palm root can be a real PITA, so we'll see. But maybe we'll move and it'll be someone else's problem.

I was particularly proud of my caulk job, which looks pretty good considering it's the first time I've done a toilet install!

 

[Philliefan33]

Today I replaced the brake pads for the rear disc brakes on my mountain bike.

 

[ERD50]

...

I was particularly proud of my caulk job, which looks pretty good considering it's the first time I've done a toilet install!

If this is caulk around the base of the toilet and the floor, they recommend that you leave a small part un-caulked in the back. That way, if there is a leak, you will be more likely to see it before a lot of damage is done.

As far as the roots, I've heard about placing copper wire in the pipe (I think this is used to keep moss from growing on roofs. But my searching seemed to come up with the usual anecdotes of "Works great, never had a problem", to "had to dig up some and the pipes were full of roots - with the copper wire in place", so I dunno. Best solution always seems to be get rid of the plant.


-ERD50

 

[aja8888]

Yesterday; 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe @ 75,000 miles - oil & filter change, topped up coolant overflow tank, brake fluid reservoir, WW fluid, inspected CV joint boots, inspected emergency brake cables, rotated tires, checked brake pad wear (still quite good), adjusted tire air pressures (including spare), de-trashed interior (DW's messes ).

 

[ejman]

Lubed the deck and spindles and wheels on my Sabre 1542 HS lawn tractor- amazed it's still doing my 7 acres after 18 years at it.

 

[Souschef]

Put an additional railing on the front and side porch steps. The 2 x 4 is too wide for DW to grip safely. Found crown molding is perfect for the job. Primed them today. will paint them tomorrow.

 

[nash031]

If this is caulk around the base of the toilet and the floor, they recommend that you leave a small part un-caulked in the back. That way, if there is a leak, you will be more likely to see it before a lot of damage is done.

As far as the roots, I've heard about placing copper wire in the pipe (I think this is used to keep moss from growing on roofs. But my searching seemed to come up with the usual anecdotes of "Works great, never had a problem", to "had to dig up some and the pipes were full of roots - with the copper wire in place", so I dunno. Best solution always seems to be get rid of the plant.


-ERD50

Yep, there’s a hole in the back. [emoji5]

Never read about the copper, just rock salt and removing the tree. Tree removal is the next step if this doesn’t work, but it’s a neighbor’s tree, sooooo...

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Replaced two decking boards on the back deck. Surprisingly, it went extremely well. I went to Lowe's to buy the boards, returned home, pried up the old warped boards, cut the new ones to length, drilled pilot holes and screwed them down all before lunch. In fact, I can't recall the last time a repair like this went so well without a return trip to Lowe's, jury-rigging a solution to some weird complication, etc.

 

[Texas Proud]

I don't think RoundUp will work applied to a root. It's supposed to be applied to the leaves of a plant. I've sprayed weeds right around trees (including palms), definitely hitting the roots. Killed the weeds (sometimes), but never the trees. I've also had no luck spraying exposed roots/stalks of things like ferns and oleander. It seems to need something green to transport the poison to the roots for effectiveness.

My DW had planted bamboo that she swore up and down was not a runner.... well, it was... we had new shoots popping up all around...

We used round up to kill them... we used the concentrate and had a paint brush.... cut the stalk and very quickly paint the stem... it drew the poison down to the roots and killed them... took a bit of time as new ones kept coming up for awhile but we eventually got them all...

 

[nash031]

My DW had planted bamboo that she swore up and down was not a runner.... well, it was... we had new shoots popping up all around...

We used round up to kill them... we used the concentrate and had a paint brush.... cut the stalk and very quickly paint the stem... it drew the poison down to the roots and killed them... took a bit of time as new ones kept coming up for awhile but we eventually got them all...

When we won the war with running bamboo a few years ago, Roundup was the WMD.

 

[Dawg52]

Replaced a chain in a ceiling fan switch. Thank you youtube for your help. A lot of cussing during the process but got it done.

 

[4legsgood]

hardscape improvement

Currently having a rotting wood retaining wall replaced with cement block wall...just gave them a couple benjamins to get rid of the ivy too since don't want to cover up my beautiful new wall (also, to get rid of rat habitat).

Recent DIY, adjusted idle on mower with help from youtube, probably no big deal to most but I have no skills so it was a huge victory!

Dog is frustrated to not have back yard today but he scored 5 balls recovered from behind the old retaining wall.

 

[mexexpat]

Old house in Central Mexico. Terrace is screened with decorative ironwork including over a dozen of life size small birds. The ironwork is painted the black but the birds are unpainted, but dull. Figured out they were brass. Probably not cleaned in decades, we cleaned with muriatic acid. Cleaned up nice but we wanted protection for them. Read to use linseed oil.

Went to ferreteria (hardware store) and asked for aceite de linaza. The owner asked if I wanted a litro....no no I said,mas pequeno, showing him the international sign for "about 2 inches worth." Back he comes with a huge drum, pours 2 inches in a plastic cup, charges me 20 pesos (about a buck).

Wow the gloss on these brass birds is amazing!

 

[Winemaker]

With about $400 of lumber and deck screws, I replaced about 50% of a treated wood deck at a rental unit this week. 2 contractors offered to replace them and the steps for $12,000.
$11,600 saved, available now for more grapes come September wine season.

 

[thatguy]

My fuel pump failed in my car. I spread the repair out over several days. The pump is inside the gas tank. I had to get the gas out of the tank to reduce the weight when removing it. I couldn't siphon it out. I finally used a inline 12 volt fuel pump attached to the fuel line at the engine. Borrowed the pump from a friend that's a bigger gear head than I am. The hardest thing was getting the dead car into the garage and on the lift. Once on the lift I found our local wildlife had chewed up the wiring near the gas tank. Didn't need a fuel pump. Didn't need to drop the tank. Spliced 3 wires and all works again. Cost about 50 cents.

 

[travelover]

Not exactly a repair, but I'm tuning up the new-to-us house for energy efficiency. It has a bunch of can lights which are notorious energy wasters. It has the newer air tight cans, but the perimeter of the drywall hole was never sealed and the dust trails tell the story of air leakage.

The other fun project is reattaching the insulation in the crawl space. This house was built with 4x8 floor joists spaced at 48". That means the insulation under the floor has to span about 45". Originally it was suspended with twine but gravity and time have it hanging and drooping all over the place. Naturally, to save money, the crawl space is only 24" high so it is a real picnic working under there.

 

[John Galt III]

My fuel pump failed in my car. I spread the repair out over several days. The pump is inside the gas tank. I had to get the gas out of the tank to reduce the weight when removing it. I couldn't siphon it out. I finally used a inline 12 volt fuel pump attached to the fuel line at the engine. Borrowed the pump from a friend that's a bigger gear head than I am. The hardest thing was getting the dead car into the garage and on the lift. Once on the lift I found our local wildlife had chewed up the wiring near the gas tank. Didn't need a fuel pump. Didn't need to drop the tank. Spliced 3 wires and all works again. Cost about 50 cents.

Great story with a happy ending! I bet you saved yourself a lot of work and aggravation.

 

[frayne]

Put in a new kitchen faucet last week and changed out a dead battery on my Macbook Air. Thank you "Youtube."

 

[samclem]

Home AC repair. The outside condenser unit wasn't starting up reliably, only intermittently. The HVAC tech said we were low on R22, so he would put some in, and maybe that would allow it to come on (because the low limit pressure switch might be not be allowing it to come on). Hmm. It's a 25 YO unit, but a good one for its time (scroll compressor, 12 SEER). The repair would be $185. Buy a new unit or fix this one? Decided to fix it because 1) this is not a good time of year to buy AC gear and 2) MIL is coming to visit in 2 days.

He put the Freon in, and it didn't work better. His next proposed step was to bypass the low-pressure limit switch, because replacing it wouldn't be cost effective on this unit (true, but it was obvious he was just guessing at the problem). I sent him on his way.

I jiggled some wires, it came on. After some more troubleshooting, replacing spade connectors, jumping various connections, I finally figured out that a timer delay board had gone bad. A new one is on order ($60), and the unit is working fine in the meantime with some temporary "McGivering."
I'll definitely get a new AC system in the fall.

 

[97guns]

Had lunch with a cousin the other day and he said to try Angie’s list, he uses it anytime he needs something done and it’s been great every time, he says the reviews are very accurate, I’ll try it next time.