What home improvement work did you do today?

I want them. I dont want them on my roof. My power bill rolls up into the 300's per month. I havent looked in to them on this house yet, but will one day when the tech comes down or I can do them myself. I am going to do the shed myself and learn from that.

anyway, my cousin did it on his house. his ROI was something like 12+ years, but he felt it immediately. his power bill was north of 350 per month before install. post install, less than 50. plus he got a new roof and windows rolled in to it all. his panel bill is around 300. so he saves a couple bucks a month out the gate and isnt worried about any more high power bills. the summer months he would go over 400.

Plus, the credits are stupid. I know people getting 10k per year for two years back in their taxes from solar credits. if you apply that to your panel loan.... math can math in your favor.

For me, the roof is too important. so i will wait till I clear some trees and put them over my drain field to make sure no one drives on it lol

 

Finally started filling the garage with all my crap. Now I need to figure out storage for everything.

 

We've seen a big return on our PV setup. Put 10k down, kept the monthly payment about $40 below our avg monthly power bill and we overproduce, so we get $500ish back each year. Our power bills are now only $20-30 a month due to nonbypassable charges . Went with (24) Panasonic 400W panels with 92% output guaranteed after 25yrs (From Panasonic). This should last us a long time, well past our 8yr loan.

 

Will have to do the NG rates.. never done that.. Weakest points are windows, they're 35 years old.. maybe even the skylight... I know a little bit of cancer... My wife just ended her treatment, and it appears my mom may be going down that path as well...

 

@IMXPLRN .. I believe If my garage had that high of ceilings I woulda had to put in higher (8') garage doors... Looking good though..

 

Back in the yard some today. The local dumps have been burning non stop since the hurricane came through to keep up with all of us bringing our debris to them. I used to burn in the yard but decided I wanted my yard back. Funny saying that since I have acreage, but burn piles are fun here and there, more work than anything.

anyway, scenes from today:

 

Fortunately I don’t share this stuff with my wife because then I’m on the hook for building something like this.

 

Tied hallway floor in from kitchen area. Dumped $100 into washer to keep it running. Threshold tie in pieces to do but coming along.

 

Nice work!
My now better half has always wanted the washer/dryer on the first floor,and here you posting pictures on the Blabernet.
I'm going to follow your lead and not show her your pictures!
Lol!
BTW nice job on that Kitchen to,that project will be on my radar on winter's planning for spring of 25, but until then that's down range for me.

 

As the son of a Vietnam vet who passed in 2019 from brain, stomach and lung cancer due to Agent Orange exposure...

...I'm both happy as hell for those who are FINALLY getting compensated....and enraged that my father had to bust his ASS to get the little compensation he did prior to passing.

 

Damn man, sorry about your dad.
Too little, too late for a lot of vets

 

Is OK. He's not in any pain now Truthfully I'm just happy that others in the position he was in, are now getting assistance easier.

 

I definitely looked into putting in taller doors but that would be a massive undertaking. There is a steel I beam under the header that spans the whole distance of the front of the garage and then theres all the brickwork on the front of the house. I have the space to build a shop so I would likely do that instead of messing with this.

 

Just yesterday, the VA finally ruled in my dads favor for his side effects from agent orange exposure. He has now been deemed by the VA as 100% disabled which is very hard to get to. It means my mom will now have free medical for the rest of her life and he gets several years of back disability pay. These vets deserve this and more for everything they sacrificed.

 

That's awesome (about the ruling in his favor, not the side effects)!

And agreed 100% on vets deserving this and more. My dad did indeed get 100% and several years' back pay. He passed about 6 months later; however, Mom is taken care of now, so that is good. It's what Dad would have wanted

 

My Dad is going through the whole thing right now. He finally had to send an email to our state representative to get the ball rolling.

 

I went through all of this back in 2001. Once you get the "Congressional inquiry" going, they tend to move a little faster. The Pact Act should hopefully make things smoother for a majority of the veterans filing in the last 2 years. An issue I had was that they had nothing in their big book of ratings for what I was experiencing. Poke, prod, and get with the AMVETS, State Veteran Services Reps, or other service groups to help guide him through the process.

 

Man that is one sexy Garage!

I tell you this,my old man's Garage was very similar (almost identical ) we put the doors down and we made cubed or you could say boxed in shelving system,above the doors.
They were 5' deep by 5' tall and just about 8' in width, we attached them to the wall and also latched onto the joists in the ceiling,it handled the load with ease.

Today with all of these gadgets that are available through the Blabernet you could have some of the shelving on runners, kinda like what some do with the beds of there trucks.

Just food for thought man.

I'm jelly over yours I wish my garage had that square footage,I need a shoe horn to get my rig into it.

 

Here's what I did at my last house for storage. My new house has much higher ceilings and I have some ideas floating around. I should be able to get most of the stuff off the ground.

 

Simalar,my Dad wanted above the doors because it's dead space that never gets used so it was perfect for seasonal stuff like patio cushions ect.and other stuff that didn't get used on a weekly basis.
We built this decades ago before cell phones and the Blabernet so all of these ideas and such were just though friends, family and co workers and the one thing that came up was a rolling ladder....
Man that would of been a home run if he had that.
today it is very possible to get one.
But, yeah man, your garage is beautiful definitely take your time with this on thoughts and ideas, if this is your end game home,then do it right.

Cheers!

 

The more room you have ... The more "inventory" (that's what I call it, Wife calls it junk) ya have ... Just saying ...

 

Very true, and if there was more than 24hrs in a day we would stuff more shit into our lives.

I just need to find a spot for my trucks shoe horn

 

Well, what started on June 4th and was supposed to take 10 days to complete (contractually), we finally have a screened in porch. There are still a couple loose ends to tie up (one of the screens has a rip that they need to rescreen and they need to modify the gutter /downspout to accommodate the roof line), but we have a screened in porch. The lead carpenter came out and has met with us four times to make sure things are going as planned and the crew is doing things the right way. All in all, I have quite a few complaints and would not use the company again, but the guy is trying his best to make things right. So far we are finally satisfied with the work. We have a financial agreement for a discount in place that makes us feel better. We moved the furniture in tonight at 830pm and sat out for a half hour enjoying what will be a three season room (and likely a four season with the fire table, solo stove and tower heater). My wife had a smile on her face and said “better late than never” and given what she has been going through, that perspective is spot on. Shit happens……but it all works out in the end

 

So... I have never been able to track down this slow leak in our porch roof, even after I coated it... a lot. Before the storm, I climbed up and found a tear in my first attempt using flex tape. Stupid and poor decision executed on bad advice. So I bought another tube of caulk and a gallon of rubber roof material. I got notified I needed to head out for work and the storm was coming in... so I jumped up on the roof, ripped off the tape and did the best I could to prep the area. Coated a whole gallon on 1 panel and the seam and went inside. Then the skies opened up... about 9 hours earlier than forecasted....

I stood in my house staring at the now draining roof... pissed, I said f it and left for work. Came home and got back up on the roof.. All of the rubber I rolled had washed away. Boy was I angry, but hey... what can you do?

So I prepped the surface again today and then used the caulk rubber to seal that area down tight. I used a whole tube in about 1/2 the coverage I did across the rest. fingers crossed it solves the issue. If so, I am done with the rubber roller and will just use this stuff in the seams. The other leaks all sealed with the same treatment, but the rolled rubber was recommended as a total coverage and safety step for long term.

First time dealing with this and would much rather just caulk it every couple years and move along.

 

leaks are tough to locate. I had a gutter that would drip onto the front porch via the way it traveled on the siding. Anyways, I tried some very good sealant putty that still allowed a leak. I needed to try something…. I tried some spray flex sealant and it seemed to work. Comes in white, black or clear. I pulled off the old putty and cleaned it as best as I could. Did two coats per instructions. We’ve had some rain and so far it’s good. We should get a drenching tomorrow night, so I’ll have to check again. Edit: we had a good rain last night, no drip to be seen on the porch.

 

Have you cleaned each seam to remove all oils?
Back in the day when I had my 33'TT,every 2 years regardless, I would clean all the seams with PVC primer and then use self leveling caulk.

 

I have used eternatape on tv roofs and that stuff does not leak once laid down. The problem is it is impossible to get up once it’s placed.

 

Hope you guys have a better morning than I do..
Its a T-line... and of course 1 section is buried deep... will JB Weld it and observe.. had to uproot my rose tree..

 

Getting this room ready for our soon-arriving baby boy. Used to be my music room, and was in need of new flooring.








Still have the moulding to do, and plenty of furniture assembly ahead...