What home improvement work did you do today?

Did you lose power?

 

You did the right thing.
My

$582 Chamberlain RJO20 , Black

Chamberlain RJO20 had issues after a year.
Chamberlain CS sent me one part, but didn't fix it.
Then another part didn't fix it.
I got tired of having to watch the door and make sure it closed every time I left the house.
The wife was even more impatient with it and she called a professional.

She paid for a Liftmaster 8500W and no problems since with the unit..
We've used the battery backup a few times including the Texas freeze a few years ago..
Last year my cables got twisted up and I had the guy come out and replace those.
No way I could have fixed that.

Chamberlain sent me a circuit board for the one sitting in my garage.
I sold the unit on FB noting the issues and replaced parts.
I told the guy it he had issues I'd give him his money back.
But I guess replacing all the parts including the board fixed the issue.
He said it worked fine for him..

If anyone is looking for quiet, these are the units to purchase..




If you don't have MyQ look into it.
It's a godsend when the wife leaves the door open and I'm 300 miles away.
I've got it set to send me a notification if the door is left open 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 minutes.
5 or 10 minutes I don't worry about, but any longer than that I'm checking Ring cameras to see if she (or I) left the door open.

 

Love MyQ.
I use it to open the door on dog walks, even though I have the exterior keypad..

 

Is this something you add to an existing door opener, or is it built into newer door openers?

 

I think you might be able to add it to some openers that are fairly recent. There are some bridges or accessories that you can purchase separately. I'm not sure if it gives you all the same functionality.
But it also comes installed one some/most new openers.

 

I had a version of it back in 2013 in our old house. I just checked their website to make sure that’s what I had and it said it’s compatible with most garage doors going back to 1993. It has to have a “learn” button - they have a compatibility chart on their site also.

 

Nice! Pretty easy right?

 

Something a little different, got a smaller removable basketball hoop meant to go on a pole. Redid the mount and painted it a similar color as the siding. The hoop folds up and makes for easy storage and just goes on/off with a big spring latch in a second. Seems like a good compromise of usage vs not having an obnoxious hoop forever outside. Put at 8ft since little kid height.

 

I forgot who recommended the Airthings. But THANK YOU VERY MUCH. We have a huge radon issue. I always knew it was possible locally, but never knew anyone who checked or did anything about it. We also have a house built in 2019, so thought it would be sealed well, it passed a blower door test and all that jazz, we actually need the air transfer piece to bring more fresh air in it is sealed so tight.

Anyways, it was reading at 16pci/l or whatever it is, and that is no bueno, especially with a kid down there sleeping. Professional came this weekend and his reader is confirming it's accuracy, and I told him get us vented asap! Hopefully this week or next we have a new radon vent. We will check the mother in law who lives behind us as well, fingers crossed she's fine, don't want to be paying for two!

 

Came home with a completely signed off permit... now the real fun begins... I hope...



I also called fiber out to raise their lines, now we are waiting for power to raise theirs.

 

Well, I didn't do anything but clear an area out for the guy to work, but we got our radon vent installed today. 3 hours, and about $1400 later, we are all set. It ended up getting to 21 before the guy came. Way higher than we feel comfortable with, and honestly, since we knew it was a problem, and could afford the vent, it would IMO be considered abuse to my children not to do it. We will paint it to either black, or color match the house in the spring when it warms up, not sexy but that's why its out back where we won't see it.

 

One of my gates hanging off its hooks right now in a snow pile. I'll get it in the spring

Nice repair job!

 

I did the best kind of home improvement recently - garage upgrades

Cut the drywall, blocked the wall, re-attached drywall, taped, mud, painted. Then I installed a wall mounted pressure washer and vacuum. My detailing wet dream is now a reality!

Topped it all of with a new Champion 4-post lift. Just need some hardware to store on it!

 

Now you just need a CR Spotless setup and you can really thumb your nose at your neighbors

 

While that would be nice, I personally don’t find the need. I always wash in the shade and haven’t struggled with water spots.

Those resin filters are spendy to replace!

 

You're a good man for saving the pup! So many of our dogs over the years have been the product of being dumped. I have nothing but disgust for people who do this. I wish the one you found nothing but the best life.

 

Roof update. The standing seam metal roof quotes were coming in at $70k +. Except for a dude I knew who is doing roofs on the side. Hadn’t seen him in 8 years, he came out with his “worker” and the first thing he says to me is “I’m going to start selling sex toys online.” I’m pretty sure he was hoping we’d create a website for him. Anyways, he came in at $41k for a standing seam roof but that was without insurance or any kind of real warranty. Possible could have had a box of used dildos tossed in for @Fotnot but he hasn’t built his shop yet so…

We switched to Owens Corning Duration Storm Architectural Shingles. Quote came in around $52k but they knocked it down to an even $50k. Platinum OC installer so there’s a 50 year warranty on the shingles and a lifetime warranty on the workmanship. New decking everywhere (pretty sure there is none). The class 4 shingles should give us a 10% or so break on our homeowners insurance and the roof should help with making our home a little more energy efficient.

Hated to tap into our home equity but it is what it is and it should add quite a bit of value. Possibly going to have them put in new gutters if we can get a good price.

Should be happening in the next week or two. Projected to be a two day job so I’ll post pics as it’s happening.

 

Get a cheap TDS meter off Amazon and see whats coming out of the tap. I'm pretty lucky with a TDS of around 75 so resin lasts pretty long, and it's really only around 150 to swap every few years isn't bad.

If your at a TDS of 300 it's gonna run through a lot faster....but I'd image that if you aren't having water spots, your probably fine.

Killer setup. I've got the Active2.0 also. It's a great little pressure washer.
I

 

I have a friend that was short on work and decided to throw him and his crew a bone before their business picks up in the spring. We have a driveway and parking pad that was pieced together through the years by my in laws (we bought the house from them). We also had a gravel pad installed on the side of the house for a shed that turned into an absolute fiasco……story for another day. Anyway - I wanted to join the driveway / parking pad / gravel pad and decided to install a retaining wall to join them. They did a great job and were happy for the work. The cost of materials has skyrocketed by the way. Very happy with how it turned out. This was the image after day 1. They extended the caps on the red block and added a row of new block on the fence line to raise the wall (reinstalled existing caps on them). Then used the red block you see stacked to install a flower bed retaining wall where the rhododendron and pacasandra is. I will get pictures for the complete project later today. They’re coming back later to drop off more gravel.