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#136 jeremx

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 10:52 AM

at the end of 2008 i found termite tunnels in the house..


we're coming up on 3mos being in the new house and we just noticed two new tunnels on the kitchen ceiling. the house was apparently treated before we moved in and there's a 1yr warranty. i've dealt with termites before and i think what's happening with these is that they likely ate whatever the treatment chemical was and died as the tunnels appeared one day and then haven't grown or multiplied in the week since. despite that, we're having someone come out to make sure. there's some issues with the grout used for the saltillo tile. seems they didn't compact it well enough in a couple places and bubbles formed which caused the grout to collapse into a small pocket. so we just have to refill those. shouldn't be too big a deal.

we've got a ton planned and i may have already listed some of this stuff. we've got a lot of trees we have to get rid of. which is a shame because we could use the shade. but some are dead, some are in non-optimal locations (in the way of new plans), and some are pretty well useless (who plants ornamental oranges that you can't eat? although i think someone said you can make marmalade out of'em). most of those trees are where we want to add a few outbuildings.. or one building separated into a workshop, storage, and entertaining room with a bar and some seating. we're on a quarter acre so we've got a lot of room. the house was built in '47 so it's not very big despite a master bed/bath being added before we bought it. that building will be on one side of the yard while on the other we're planning a mini orchard that starts in the corner of the front yard followed by a garden of raised beds, then the compost storage, then the chicken coop/run towards the back corner. we had some column ficus trees planted along the back fence for privacy and they're coming along pretty nicely. we're also planning a white picket fence along the front yard and along the carport with two gates for access. we're also planning a higher wall for privacy from the neighbors next to use who have let their property go to shit. the wall will have staggered slats for hanging potted plants.. some flowers, herbs, etc. it's some pretty ambitious stuff that we have planned mostly since i don't have much experience outside of woodshop in jr high and messing around in my father's woodshop growing up. my biggest problem is measurements and angles so it could get interesting. :unsure:
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#137 jeremx

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 11:10 AM

..tear out a huge dying pine tree...


we've got the exact same issue. and the thing is huge enough that i'm not willing to tackle it myself. did i already ask you about tree services (if you didn't do it yourself that is)?
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#138 Danosaur

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 11:17 AM

What sort of home improvement has anyone taken on?

Our hallway bathroom shower was looking pretty rough. Original tile from 30 years ago in the shower, cracked in places, grout missing, tiles not flat with each other. It really needed to be redone. We got with a contractor and are doing it partially ourselves, namely all the demolition, some of the plumbing. It's small enough we decided to retile the floor as well to match the shower.

Getting the tile off the walls was no problem, it was actually pretty fun. Place hammer in hand, swing at wall as hard as you can. The floor tile, what a bitch! Not to mention, the tile had been laid over the original 1980 linoleum floor. So, we had to pull that up too. I will never, ever try to pull up a linoleum floor again. At least I can skip the gym this weekend, a couple hours of scraping inch by inch has been a good cardio workout. :)


My wife and moved into our current home in 2006 and spent the first three months removing two walls, putting up two new beams, re-drywalling, adding new wood flooring, and re-ordering the kitchen including tile, cabinetry and relocating gas and electrical. My brother and I also put in four new down lights across the furred beam that we installed. In 2008, I re did the roof completely and added a vaulted patio cover. This is still not totally completed in that it just needs some finish work and we kinda ran low on funds. We had thought about making it into an addition, but then realized it would have taken about 20K more to complete. Then the market went to shit and I had a hard time convincing my wife to let us upgrade the house any more with our mortgage being so completely underwater. However, I recently installed to new windows in the front room one being a good 8ft picture window. The house is 50+ years old so were talking plaster, concrete and chicken wire that looks like something from a prison camp.

The good news is...we may have found a home we want and have been approved for so me may end up buying that and shortselling this one (or walking away).

I hear you John on that linoleum flooring...best thing I found to use was one of those super large tile scrapper.


holy shit, dan. you're like bob vila.

when we moved in i painted. and i even sucked at that.



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#139 Rial

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 11:28 AM

..tear out a huge dying pine tree...


we've got the exact same issue. and the thing is huge enough that i'm not willing to tackle it myself. did i already ask you about tree services (if you didn't do it yourself that is)?



had some dude do it, tree line design i think, i can double check. it was $250 and that included grinding down the stump. Took them 15 mintues, i felt like a pussy.
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#140 jeremx

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 11:41 AM

had some dude do it, tree line design i think, i can double check. it was $250 and that included grinding down the stump. Took them 15 mintues, i felt like a pussy.


ha ha.. i keep thinking the same thing whenever we decide to have someone else do something. i'm like, "i can climb up there, chop it down to a stump and then back my truck into the backyard and rip it out." likely wouldn't go as easily as that, however. and a few of'em are located near utility lines and i don't really wanna eff with that. i'll likely do the ones that i can manage and then leave the rest to the pros.
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#141 Jacki O.

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 12:29 PM

the city came and chopped down my palms for free because they were growing into the electrical lines in my backyard. it totally worked out for me because they were dead anyways.

so if they are growing into utility lines, you might be able to get those chopped down for free.
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#142 Rial

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 12:58 PM

I hate palm trees
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#143 jeremx

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 01:03 PM

the city came and chopped down my palms for free because they were growing into the electrical lines in my backyard. it totally worked out for me because they were dead anyways.

so if they are growing into utility lines, you might be able to get those chopped down for free.


thanks. i will definitely be looking into that.
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#144 Tony

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Posted 23 August 2010 - 01:09 PM

and some are pretty well useless (who plants ornamental oranges that you can't eat? although i think someone said you can make marmalade out of'em).


seriously. same issue at my house. why not just plant a regular orange tree?!?!

i juiced some of them and it tastes like lime juice mixed with orange juice. totally sour. i used it in a pork marinade, and i also made mojitos with it. other than that, useless. i've got 500 sour oranges and i can realistically use maybe 3 a year. well played, previous home owners!
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#145 Jacki O.

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Posted 09 September 2010 - 10:44 AM

so my AC unit at my house finally died. It's like 40 years old. Anyone got good recommendations for AC companies?

I'll prolly wait til i need heat to get a new one but i'd like to have someone come out and look at it and tell me it's not fixable
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#146 MikeyWretch

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Posted 09 September 2010 - 10:46 AM

That sucks!
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#147 Jacki O.

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Posted 09 September 2010 - 11:34 AM

That sucks!


yep

but at least it's not july right? last night i slept with the windows open so my peeping tom could serenade me and it was quite nice
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#148 Dr. Lazarus

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Posted 09 September 2010 - 12:03 PM

That sucks!


yep

but at least it's not july right? last night i slept with the windows open so my peeping tom could serenade me and it was quite nice


i'm glad you appreciated it.
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#149 Jacki O.

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Posted 09 September 2010 - 12:09 PM

That sucks!


yep

but at least it's not july right? last night i slept with the windows open so my peeping tom could serenade me and it was quite nice


i'm glad you appreciated it.


your rendition of "Every Breath You Take" was amazing. i cried. (but you already know that)
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#150 Tony

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Posted 09 September 2010 - 12:11 PM

Anyone got good recommendations for AC companies?


EPS HVAC Services

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