Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[Jerry1]

I went out and looked in my utility room which is a weekly chore and noticed that the pump that moves the furnace condensate up to the drain was not working. Thankfully the exact same pump is for sale at Menards and I go pick it up and replace the pump. All is good. So I pour some water in the pump to test it and the new pump does not work. I took it appart and moved over to my bench and plugged it in and it worked. Then I realized the the outlet in the furnace room is a GFI. Sure enough, the GFI neded to be reset. Being a glutton for punishment, I plugged in the old pump. Yep, works just fine. Thankfully I'm only out $50 and an hour or so of work. And, I guess having a spare isn't a bad thing but I'll probably go before the new pump does. Oh well. At least I didn't call someone out for that.

 

[travelover]

..... Sure enough, the GFI needed to be reset. .....

I admire you for admitting it. I think we've all fallen for that at least once.

 

[Souschef]

I noticed a damp spot on the side of the house where there were no water pipes. I determined that the main drip irrigation line under the house was leaking.
I called a drip irrigation guy I had used in the past to fix it. He took out one of the vents and showed me where it was leaking. After a discussion, we decided the best thing was to run the line around the back of the house rather than under it. That way any problems were accessible. It cost an additional $100 for the extra material and labor, but well worth it.

 

[Walt34]

And, I guess having a spare isn't a bad thing but I'll probably go before the new pump does. Oh well. At least I didn't call someone out for that.

About a year ago I replaced our 19-year-old A/C condensate pump just out of "general principles" figuring that even if it hadn't gone out by then, it was about to. So I kept the old one as a spare, which as you note is not a bad thing. Stuff like that always "goes out" when the stores are closed. This of course virtually guarantees that the new pump will not fail in my lifetime.

 

[Jerry1]

. . .Then I realized the the outlet in the furnace room is a GFI. Sure enough, the GFI neded to be reset.

So today I added an LED nightlight to the outlet in my furnace room. Most of them were configured to go off in the daylight, but I got an always on model. Now when I do my weekly check, I’ll be able to see weather the outlet has power or not at a glance. The LED puts out 1-2 lumens according to the manufacturer so not a significant electrical draw. Maybe overkill because I don’t suspect I’d fall for that one again, but I thought it was a good solution to make sure I verified that the outlet was live. I got a two pack for under $6.


https://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Always-on-LED-Plug-In-Night-Light-2-Pack-Soft-White-Glow/16879621

 

[sengsational]

An LED that small has negligible operating cost, and nice to know at a glance it hasn't tripped.

 

[NW-Bound]

Had water cascading from the mini-split in our bedroom. You may recall my post about this happening to the larger mini-split in the living area a week or two ago.

Yes, another attack by the dust bunnies, which clogged up the outlet of the condensation tray. This time, I knew what to do with the wet vac. I attached it to the drain pipe end outside the home, and the dust bunnies were sucked out.

We were glad this happened while we were home. Gosh, all sorts of things can happen to ruin a home, if you are unlucky or do not pay attention.

 

[Jerry1]

Yes, another attack by the dust bunnies,

Time to put dust bunny removal on your maintenance checklist. Thinking once a year would probably be enough.

 

[NW-Bound]

Time to put dust bunny removal on your maintenance checklist. Thinking once a year would probably be enough.

Yes.

A complication I have is that the two mini-splits share the same drain pipe leading to the outside. In order to have good suction, I need to disconnect and cap one side of the Y connection.

I am thinking of retrofitting two full-flow ball valves into the drain line to facilitate this. It still requires going up into the attic.

Or I could install a 2nd drain line for each mini-split to have its own drain. Then, it would be an easy job not involving going into the attic.

 

[Jerry1]

Yeah, I’d find a way not to have to got into the attic.

 

[JoeWras]

I've repaired a few floors in my housing relief volunteer gig. A lot of our low income clients rely on window air conditioners, and these things can leak and drip inside in insidious ways. Do that for a summer and the floor by the window becomes a mess, especially in mobile homes where the floor is nothing but very low grade particle board.

In my own house, I had a condensate pipe leak out of the blue after 12 years. Not enough glue. It was in the attic area and I guess a bunch of heat cycles finally backed off the seam and it started a seeping leak. It went on for quite a while until I noticed it. My first indication was some random black mold colonies in my tub. There were no outer indications of the problem that were visible. I had to tear out and replace about 50 sq. ft. of drywall.

Condensate issues are sneaky!

 

[Car-Guy]

My 7+ year old HP laptop has been making "clicking/popping" noises for the past few months whenever I open the top... I didn't think much about it until I noticed the front part of the screen was separating from the back side of the assembly. I tried to snap it back together a few times but I had no luck... As time when on the gap widened and the popping got louder. It was still working but I just couldn't get it to snap back in place!

So I finally fixed it. . While at Walmart the other day they had all their laptops on sale. So why not ... I looked them over, picked one that seem to have everything I wanted and bought it. (Well I fixed that problem ) Now I've spent the last few days moving things over a little at a time and setting up the new machine. (Windows 11). I like it.

It also came preloaded with the Microsoft office suite which is okay but they want me to buy an annual subscription to keep it functioning. I'd much rather pay a one time fee or even better be allowed to move my existing version over to the new PC. (Still working on that option) Everyone is getting on the subscription fee bandwagon.

Oh, and now that I have a new PC, I tried again to fix the old one again by pressing a little harder to snap the screen back in place. Well it didn't snap back but it still works even with all the cracks that "now" run across the screen.

 

[Jerry1]

It also came preloaded with the Microsoft office suite which is okay but they want me to buy an annual subscription to keep it functioning. I'd much rather pay a one time fee or even better be allowed to move my existing version over to the new PC. Everyone is getting on the subscription fee bandwagon.

They sell a version that is a one time fee.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mic...2021/cfq7ttc0h8n8?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

If you want the full version it’s here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/get-started-with-office-2021

 

[Car-Guy]

They sell a version that is a one time fee.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mic...2021/cfq7ttc0h8n8?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

If you want the full version it’s here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/get-started-with-office-2021

Thanks, I'll probably do that once I've convinced myself it's the easiest/best way to go.

 

[NW-Bound]

Since retirement, I have only needed to use Excel, and found that the Open Office work-alike does everything I need.

Sorry MS, no money from me.

 

[braumeister]

Since retirement, I have only needed to use Excel, and found that the Open Office work-alike does everything I need.

Sorry MS, no money from me.

I agree. You will probably be hard pressed to think of anything OpenOffice can't do for you.

 

[Car-Guy]

^^^^^
I had forgotten all about that... I may download and try it again.... Must be a newer version available from what I used years ago, which wasn't bad even back then.


Thanks for the reminder, "folks".

 

[brett]

Laid ceramic tile in two bathrooms at my daughters home. More work to go...

 

[travelover]

Laid ceramic tile in two bathrooms at my daughters home. More work to go...

That is a very satisfying task for me. I cringe when I got into other's bathrooms and see little skinny 1 " pieces of floor tile tacked on to fill the gaps.

 

[Music Lover]

That is a very satisfying task for me. I cringe when I got into other's bathrooms and see little skinny 1 " pieces of floor tile tacked on to fill the gaps.

That's one of my pet peeves. Tile layout is very important.

 

[Sunset]

I agree. You will probably be hard pressed to think of anything OpenOffice can't do for you.

I switched over to libre office, a fork off open office..

 

[brett]

That's one of my pet peeves. Tile layout is very important.

I spend a fair amount of time on prep work, tile layout and surface prep.

For showers and tub surround I ensure that I start level-vertical and horizontal and I verify it on each row.

Both are the most important part of the job. Screw that up and you have the tile job from hell.

 

[Jerry1]

I spend a fair amount of time on prep work, tile layout and surface prep.

For showers and tub surround I ensure that I start level-vertical and horizontal and I verify it on each row.

Both are the most important part of the job. Screw that up and you have the tile job from hell.

I had a tile guy do some work. He was recommended by a family member. Without a doubt, he was on the weird side. Anyway, his first day there, he didn’t seem to do any work. Come to find out, he was laying it all out, measuring, taking notes, . . . In the end, it was the best tile job I’d ever seen. When other trades came in to finish the rest of the bathroom they all commented on the tile. I never realized how much thought needed to go into tiling.

 

[aja8888]

I had a tile guy do some work. He was recommended by a family member. Without a doubt, he was on the weird side. Anyway, his first day there, he didn’t seem to do any work. Come to find out, he was laying it all out, measuring, taking notes, . . . In the end, it was the best tile job I’d ever seen. When other trades came in to finish the rest of the bathroom they all commented on the tile. I never realized how much thought needed to go into tiling.

Years ago, I had a tile guy who was recommended by a good friend do our downstairs tile job. Same thing, first day measure and cut all the outside pieces, trim under door molding, layout grids, etc. Second day, lay tile. Third day, grout. Absolutely beautiful job.

 

[Bamaman]

There's a big water spot on the 12' sheet rock ceiling out in my garage. I've had a drip drip in the shower faucet directly above that spot.

The grandson took a long shower in the other upstairs bath today, and there's water dripping down from my kitchen ceiling downstairs.

I've got to tear out the sheetrock to get to the underside of the shower/tub(s) to see if the problems are leaking drain or leaking faucet. If it's a simple plumbing repair, I'll do it and get a professional drywall person to hang new sheet rock.

Hanging sheet rock on 12' and 9' ceilings and finishing it is a job for a professional. The pros do such jobs effortlessly where it's best reserved for someone that does the job daily.