The New "Home Improvement" Thread

[SaveByRichter35]

17 minutes ago, Pete said:

That's a great price. 

It actually wasn't even our lowest estimate.  We had one lower but I told myself from the start that I would not be going with the lowest estimate.  

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

I think I underestimated what you were doing. My back yard is kind of a mess at the moment but I don't think we'd need to completely excavate it. just wanna put some new grass on it, put in some stone sitting area. IDK i've never had a back yard in my life before my house so it's tough to envision what I'd want it to look like.

Not the top priority right now though (without officially announcing anything, lets just say there is something happening early 2022 that will require a lot of money and sleepless nights )

[SaveByRichter35]

10 hours ago, BlairBettsBlocksEverything said:

I think I underestimated what you were doing. My back yard is kind of a mess at the moment but I don't think we'd need to completely excavate it. just wanna put some new grass on it, put in some stone sitting area. IDK i've never had a back yard in my life before my house so it's tough to envision what I'd want it to look like.

Not the top priority right now though (without officially announcing anything, lets just say there is something happening early 2022 that will require a lot of money and sleepless nights )

I'd definitely put a new kitchen; or anything indoors related, such as, idk...a nursery, before outside stuff.  Our inside is pretty much as updated as its going to get aside from some paint touchups and spackling here and there.  Congratulations regarding "early 2022"  

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

13 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

I'd definitely put a new kitchen; or anything indoors related, such as, idk...a nursery, before outside stuff.  Our inside is pretty much as updated as its going to get aside from some paint touchups and spackling here and there.  Congratulations regarding "early 2022"  

thanks bud!

yeah kitchen is gonna be all brand new and done early December. And then I definitely gotta get to work that other project you mentioned lol. That seems more like something I can do myself though. 

[Vodka Drunkenski]

On 10/2/2021 at 10:21 AM, Pete said:

I have a guy who does all the chemicals and seeding, so dunno. 

I'm going to dump my own seed on this fall as well though. 

No one jumped on this one?  

[Ozzy]

Don't know if you guys ever need one, but I found a pretty good hot tub repair man.  Mostly Suffolk county, but I think he does get to Nassau too.  They're pretty tough to find, and god forbid anyone ever answer a phone these days!!  LOL

This guy's pretty good.  Message me if anyone ever needs his info.

[Vodka Drunkenski]

7 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Don't know if you guys ever need one, but I found a pretty good hot tub repair man.  Mostly Suffolk county, but I think he does get to Nassau too.  They're pretty tough to find, and god forbid anyone ever answer a phone these days!!  LOL

This guy's pretty good.  Message me if anyone ever needs his info.

Stop using the jets as it wasn’t intended to be used.  Problem solved

[Ozzy]

6 minutes ago, Vodka Drunkenski said:

Stop using the jets as it wasn’t intended to be used.  Problem solved

Old habits are hard to break, man!!!  Also have a problem with all those pizza crumbs getting stuck in the filter!!

[siddious]

8 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Old habits are hard to break, man!!!  Also have a problem with all those pizza crumbs getting stuck in the filter!!

[josh]

Walked down stairs. Small pool of water next to water heater. 
There’s a small but steady drip from beneath. We are going to get someone to look at it tomorrow, but should I turn it off or something?

[Pete]

44 minutes ago, josh said:

Walked down stairs. Small pool of water next to water heater. 
There’s a small but steady drip from beneath. We are going to get someone to look at it tomorrow, but should I turn it off or something?

Turn the gas off at the bottom, and the water off at the top. Call a plumber. Could be the whole thing is shot, or just a valve.

[Bugg]

On 10/6/2021 at 9:07 PM, josh said:

Walked down stairs. Small pool of water next to water heater. 
There’s a small but steady drip from beneath. We are going to get someone to look at it tomorrow, but should I turn it off or something?

Consider the tankless. A bit more expensive, and takes a minute or 2 to get going. But works very well, more efficient, takes up much less room, and no tanks leaking onto your basement floor. 

[SaveByRichter35]

3 hours ago, Bugg said:

Consider the tankless. A bit more expensive, and takes a minute or 2 to get going. But works very well, more efficient, takes up much less room, and no tanks leaking onto your basement floor. 

I have the Navien tankless.  Its wonderful.

[josh]

5 hours ago, Bugg said:

Consider the tankless. A bit more expensive, and takes a minute or 2 to get going. But works very well, more efficient, takes up much less room, and no tanks leaking onto your basement floor. 

Unfortunately we couldn’t. The set up is so old. I wanted to replace and relocate the furnace and the water heater. We didn’t have the time to do all of it so fml 

[SaveByRichter35]

Man, when it rains it pours.  So being that half of my front yard was destroyed during the construction of my front stoop and driveway, I decided to take advantage of the lack of grass and dig up my cesspool to be emptied.  Quite a few years back, my neighbor and I had concocted a 4"x3' PVC pipe into the cover of the cesspool for easier service.  Well when the cesspool company came to empty my tank last week, they told me the pipe is actually worse since they can't get the proper angle to clean the entire pool and scrape the sides, etc.  They suggested having the cover raised closer to the surface aid future cleanings.  So Sunday they came to do that job and found that the cover looked like it was starting to fail as well as a few sections of the top layer of block being damaged.  So this was all a blessing in disguise as who knows how long it would have held on before something catastrophic happening.  Unfortunately we need to have this pool filled in and a new septic system installed.  $7k later, there goes any hope of us getting a swimming pool next year.

Which also reminds me that  I never posted updated pictures of the hardscape work we had done.

Edited October 19, 2021 by SaveByRichter35

[SaveByRichter35]

Some before/after pictures.  Been meaning to post these.  Driveway still hasn’t been paved yet, that was supposed to happen next week but now with the cesspool situation we may have to push the paving back until after the cesspool is done.  They think a very small bit of it is under the driveway so they don't wanna risk paving it and then ruining it.

This is one of the best before pictures I could find that shows the old porch as well as the big hump in the front yard.  It is pretty old though.  The bushes to the left of the stoop, the wood fence have all been gone for quite a long time.

Just showing the detail the mason put in, cut the stones to fit against the siding.

The wife and I put in a little extra work to regrade the yard even lower than the landscaping company had done.  I’m much happier with the outcome now.  Unfortunately, the cesspool situation rendered this all wasted time.  Fuck.

Again, best before that I could find of the back patio.  Neither my wife nor I were smart enough to take specific before pictures before they started 

The stockade fence on the far side of my back yard that you can see behind the kid's swingset in the one picture was finally replaced Saturday.  And today my sprinkler system was repaired.  Just in time for it to be too late to bother seeding lol.  Maybe I'll throw down some annual Ryegrass so it will germinate quick and then end up dying during the winter.  Then I can plant my good seed in the spring.  I'll have to do the front yard in the spring too since the septic tank won't be done until November 10th.

Edited October 18, 2021 by SaveByRichter35

[Morphinity 2.0]

It really does look fantastic. Sorry to hear about your septic situation.

Maybe you can swim in the cesspool instead 

[SaveByRichter35]

36 minutes ago, Morphinity said:

It really does look fantastic. Sorry to hear about your septic situation.

Maybe you can swim in the cesspool instead 

[siddious]

58 minutes ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

Some before/after pictures.  Been meaning to post these.  Driveway still hasn’t been paved yet, that was supposed to happen next week but now with the cesspool situation we may have to push the paving back until after the cesspool is done.  They think a very small bit of it is under the driveway so they don't wanna risk paving it and then ruining it.

This is one of the best before pictures I could find that shows the old porch as well as the big hump in the front yard.  It is pretty old though.  The bushes to the left of the stoop, the wood fence have all been gone for quite a long time.

Just showing the detail the mason put in, cut the stones to fit against the siding.

The wife and I put in a little extra work to regrade the yard even lower than the landscaping company had done.  I’m much happier with the outcome now.  Unfortunately, the cesspool situation rendered this all wasted time.  Fuck.

Again, best before that I could find of the back patio.  Neither my wife nor I were smart enough to take specific before pictures before they started 

The stockade fence on the far side of my back yard that you can see behind the kid's swingset in the one picture was finally replaced Saturday.  And today my sprinkler system was repaired.  Just in time for it to be too late to bother seeding lol.  Maybe I'll throw down some annual Ryegrass so it will germinate quick and then end up dying during the winter.  Then I can plant my good seed in the spring.  I'll have to do the front yard in the spring too since the septic tank won't be done until November 10th.

69. Nice!!

 

looks good though congrats 

[Keirik]

Looks great. Where did you get the topsoil from and do you remember how much it was? 

[SaveByRichter35]

8 minutes ago, Keirik said:

Looks great. Where did you get the topsoil from and do you remember how much it was? 

It was included in the job so I don't know the price for the soil.  They did tell me where they got the soil from but I have to go back and look it up in the text conversation.  I'll get back to you on that.  However, I suggest getting your soil from Delea Sod Farms.  They have 3 locations.  I think Miller Place or Wading River, Northport, and I forgot the other.

[Keirik]

2 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

It was included in the job so I don't know the price for the soil.  They did tell me where they got the soil from but I have to go back and look it up in the text conversation.  I'll get back to you on that.  However, I suggest getting your soil from Delea Sod Farms.  They have 3 locations.  I think Miller Place or Wading River, Northport, and I forgot the other.

I’ll check in Miller place and or wading river since they are closest. Why do you recommend there? I’m not in a rush but I have a good extra half an acre of property that I want to try and make useable so yeah. 

[Albatrosss]

Where’s the Rangers flag?

[Morphinity 2.0]

I've got a couple of holes in my lawn I want to fill - one from the "For Sale" sign that I never filled since we moved in and one from a rabbit hole from this summer that my dog sniffed out. How do I fill these holes up? 

[Pete]

1 hour ago, Morphinity said:

I've got a couple of holes in my lawn I want to fill - one from the "For Sale" sign that I never filled since we moved in and one from a rabbit hole from this summer that my dog sniffed out. How do I fill these holes up? 

Got pics of your holes?