What home improvement work did you do today?

we had an appliance repair guy come out to repair our stove. i asked him a couple questions, with one being about the dishwasher. ours (Fridgidaire) has been working fine thankfully, but we're coming up on 10 years since we built, which means appliances are too. I asked about a couple appliances including the dishwasher. I mentioned Bosch and the great reviews. He said, "Honestly, they're good, but we have had a lot of them leaking. 2 this week. One was a mouse chewed on a plastic part and made it leak. The other was a housing issue making it crack. Main thing to look for is a metal inside bin." I was kinda dead set on getting a Bosch when the time comes, but now I'm second guessing a little bit.

 

I was between Bosch and miele. I went with a Miele. There is an initial learning curve, and honestly some of the way it's set up vs bosch/ge ones I've had in the past are annoying. It cleans great, and the pre-filled powered detergent holder last us a month or more. Its one of those "I didn't know I needed this" features that looks dumb from the outside. It also uses air to dry, and that can take a little longer. 56 minute quick washes, that do what a regular dishwasher did 20 years ago, is a phenomenal feature with two young children. I know some Bosch models also offer that feature. Overall we like it, I'd give it a 8/10.

 

I wouldn't. I mean, DEFINITELY research. I research the crap out of stuff...but I've owned 3 Boschs in a row (2 in our previous house, 1 in this one) and the ONLY time ours leaked is when I was stupid enough to get something wedged in between the door and the gasket - and that was my own fault. LOL

 

Not really home improvement per se, but kinda. Amazon prime deal. New patio table and 4 swivel rocking chairs for $269 plus tax. 3 more chairs need to be put together but I'm happy as all get out with the price and quality upon initial build and inspection.

 

I LOVE our Bosch. Went with a 500 series. Bought it in 2018 and have had zero problems with it. Finish Quantum tablets, and the rinse aid. so clean. everytime.

 

10 years out of an appliance these days seems like a good run. Depending on the price between a Bosch and another Frigidaire I'd probably lean towards my last good experience with the brand that lasted over 10 years without issue. We purchase a new Samsung fridge a few years back and right after the 1 year mark, I had to replace a fan.

 

Last Friday, which ended up being the hottest day of the year so far, I moved this shipping container into it's final resting spot. Wasn't too bad, but took a few hours. Pushing and pulling it with the tractor across 4x4 skids. I made a cool bracket as well to use with the bottle jack.

 

Well, maybe it’s a new issue . The unit pictured, I installed that back in 2009 and it’s still running like a champ. I’ve never had to install a single part into it. It hasn’t leaked. Of course, now I’ve said this to you, something will happen in the next week. But I’d say 16-17 years of service life is good and it shows no signs of letting up. Mind you, I also take care of our house and its appliances, maybe better than most, and I repair them myself when broken, usually.

That said, it’s become painfully clear the quality of everything has gone down the shitter, thanks heavily to globalization and cost cutting. Aftermarket auto parts are unacceptably bad these days, to the point I won’t buy them anymore. Quality control is a joke. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the number of major storefronts like scAmazon and fleaBay and even WallyMart allowing boatloads of counterfeit and greymarket parts into their warehouses and/or out to customers is a damn joke.

That said, we have an appliance person out in Loganville we’ve used for the last 20 years, and they’ve never steered us wrong on anything we’ve bought. They were the ones who sold us on Bosch, after my MIL (who is a designer) told us to look into one.

Anyway, all that to say, if Bosch sucks, I imagine Frigidaire is worse.

 

Fantastic view you have there!
And oh nice table and chairs too, there are some good deals every now and again on Slamazon.

 

It's not too bad.

 

You know how I said, there are some things on the dishwasher that take some getting used to? And I really liked that auto-detergent dispersal feature?

The last 1.5 weeks I have been looking at everything and running cleaners through the dishwasher because I just wasn't happy with the cleaning and something had changed. Well, finally went into the settings two days ago and saw that the auto-dispenser had been switched off. So it was doing a great job cleaning without any f'ing soap!

So, for home improvement, I added soap to my dishes again. New score from 8/10 to 9/10. But have to keep an eye on that going forward. What an idiot I am.

 

All this dishwasher talk and whether a pre rinse is necessary or not. I go to put my dish in the dishwasher a few minutes ago and I find this. Kid think 101. Even if the one bowl was rinsed, How can I get them not stack bowls? It must be me right? Parent fail 103.

 

Ask my wife and son that question. I have showed them both *LITERALLY* hundreds of times, and I'm not exaggerating even one bit when I say this is usually how both of them 'load' the dishwasher. For someone with ADHD and a touch of OCD, it drives me freaking bonkers.

 

This and the washing machine. THERE ARE LIMITS. It's not, how much can I fit and it will still close! I've given up on my end.

I actually was looking at commercial washing machines the other day to replace ours when it breaks. I was really on to something until I saw they are like 15-20k.

 

As someone who entered the professional above-the-table employment world with a dishwashing job at age 14, it pains me to see half the shit that happens in our house. I was one of the fastest and most-thorough dishwashers on the damn planet. I don't play. So when I see someone can't even rinse dishes to put them into the washer, in a way that they won't hold water - which is so damn basic, this isn't rocket science - I get pretty pissed off.

 

How about the inefficient usage of space in the dishwasher?
That's what gets me. I end up having to refill the whole thing before starting it.

 

Apparently I'm not alone. Every time I see stuff like this, which is often in my home, I'm thinking, and this is why I don't pay you for chores.

 

LMAO! I mean, I'm happy wife and son want to load the dishwasher...but I am also happy when the dishes ARE CLEAN once the dishwasher finishes.

I tell them there's a reason the dishwasher manual comes with a 'preferred loading pattern' or whatever it's called.

 

Not picture worthy, but I did put down 6 40# bags of lime and fertilized the lawn

 

Yesterday, not today, but I had to update two of our three Nest t-stats to 3rd Gen models so I can keep all three cloud-accessible.

If anyone wants a pair of cheap Gen1s, I'm open to offers: https://www.tundras.com/threads/pair-of-gen1-nest-thermostats-50-shipped-obo-for-everything.161294/

Price isn't fixed, kick me an offer. They'll keep working like normal programmable t-stats, they just won't be cloud-connected (to the Nest cloud app), so no remote access unless you're using a smarthub of some sort in your house.

More info over there.

 

Stepped up the glamping level yesterday. Couple times we've used the tent, the wife and I have used a blow up bed she wanted to try out. Blow up beds suck, but I let her give it a go. Neither of us can sleep on it and while the kids sleep great, I always end up on the floor and she just tosses and turns all night.

So ordered a relatively cheap foam mattress from foambymail.com and got a 70 dollar bed frame from Amazon, about $600-650 all in for a king size foam bed and frame, can't complain about that. After two days the foam has stiffened up nicely and I am excited to give it a go! Break in will be Monday and Tuesday as we have a very busy weekend and next weeks weather looks great.

 

X4
I would just re-organize it every time, top and bottom levels. Not only so it would actually clean the dishes, but you could fit so much more in there if done correctly.
That wife, and all those kids are long gone, and we don't even have a built in dishwasher in our new place

 

I’m the architect in our house.
It took a long time not to do this every time I opened it.


I consider it a win that she doesn’t put the sharp knives in there

 

Now, I get bitched at for overloading the washing machine when I fill it about half way. So in our house, I’ve got the DW ‘tism and she’s got the clothes washing ‘tism

 

Smoked a small brisket and a couple beef roasts, they turned out delicious if I have to say so myself. My son, daughter and SIL came over for dinner and games. This is a photo of just before wrapping them.

 

What's funny is that my wife was complaining about me loading the laundry a certain way - and that was my response. "I'll stop criticizing your dishwasher skills when you stop criticizing my laundry skills."

She didn't respond

 

Now that my refurbished deck has been sufficiently weathered, I prepped it last week and put the sealer down yesterday.

 

Busy weekend: smoked a brisket, changed a bike tire, pressure washed back patio, sprayed house with insecticide, laid pavers for garbage cans, ran the last two (and most challenging) security camera cables, fixed sloppy irrigation controller conduit install, changed all HVAC filters, installed an attic hatch weather stripping seal, sold a storm door, bought a new storm door, and buried a drain for the AC condensate. Scoured the lexel off my hands. I think that's it?

 

Man,you must have been pumped to punch in this morning at work to get some rest...

Holy smokes you were busy