89 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

Looks great, Mike.

[Mike in STL]

Looks great, Mike.

Thanks. Although, I told my wife no Pintrest for the next 6 months.

 

We need to save up to have a driveway put in anyway. On the side of the house where we want it, the ground slopes toward the house. Whenever it rains hard, like last night, it puddles up right there and doesn't flow out towards the street. I know that water is just sinking in and waiting to get through the foundation and into our basement one day. I put some fresh dirt along the house so the puddle isn't right up against it. But it's a patch, not a fix. Would like a driveway to slightly slope away form the house, and towards to street. 

 

So, anyone here used an asphalt company before that they would recommend?

[Mackus]

Can't help on an Asphalt recommendation, but I know good waterproofing people if you want to look into installing a French drain or something like that to prevent any future water issues. 

 

Having had basements flood in both houses I own in the last few years, I'd definitely recommend prevention over cure in terms of dealing with standing water!

[Mike in STL]

Can't help on an Asphalt recommendation, but I know good waterproofing people if you want to look into installing a French drain or something like that to prevent any future water issues. 

 

Having had basements flood in both houses I own in the last few years, I'd definitely recommend prevention over cure in terms of dealing with standing water!

There was a waterproofing done shortly before we bought the house. Don't know anything about a drain being put in, but we have the paperwork that proved something was done. I could call and give them the order number maybe, explain that I'm the new owner, and was curious exactly what they did. 

[NewMarketSean]

Thanks. 

 

How was it doing your floors? Did you have a lot? I could see myself tackling one room If i had too. But doing two bed rooms, a living room, and a hallway, I'll never do again. 

 

It was a 12 x 16 room I think, small bathroom and closet. Took about 4 weeks from doing it mostly on weekends and some stuff here and there at night. It all adds up and makes so much work, but the floor was laid and stained/poly within the first week.

 

Yeah I had the huge project back in 2013...shared some of it on the Hangout...full kitchen remodel that turned into a whole first level remodel with steps and upstairs hallway...it took a full calendar year to complete, about, but most of the big stuff was finished within 6 months.

[NewMarketSean]

Does anyone have ants really bad this year? It's been terrible....and now I think they're nesting behind the siding on my house.

[Pedro Cerrano]

My mom had them bad at her house.  One trip from Orkin for like $40 and they've been gone since.

[Mackus]

Buy the liquid ant baits, they work great and really quickly.  I've never had a major infestation or anything, so for that I can't recommend anything, but the liquid baits are basically what the pros use, they just have a big jug of the stuff and put it down wherever they think the ants are coming in.

[NewMarketSean]

I've got them laid out and all, and they seem to be working but it's more than baits can handle. Going to call Orkin shortly.

[Pedro Cerrano]

The Orkin guy basically told my mom they but the poison down and then the ant brings it back to the colony which kills them there.  So yea, for what it's worth haha.

[SammyBirdland]

Buy the liquid ant baits, they work great and really quickly.  I've never had a major infestation or anything, so for that I can't recommend anything, but the liquid baits are basically what the pros use, they just have a big jug of the stuff and put it down wherever they think the ants are coming in.

 

+1 on Terro for ants.   It kills them within a day or two.   But, I probably should be calling Orkin because we get invaded by them several times a year every year.

[Mike in STL]

Are there any electricians around here? I have issues.

[RShack]

Are there any electricians around here? I have issues.

 

No.

 

What's up?

[Mike in STL]

Are there any electricians around here? I have issues.

 
No.
 
What's up?

I've been installing new switches and outlets in my dads house. Pretty basic. Shut off the breakers to the area I'm working in. Take out the old. Take note of how it's wired. Install the new the exact same way.

Except there are now places in the house where the outlets stopped working. Some are new ones. Some are old ones I haven't even touched yet. The lights don't come on in a couple places also where I haven't been working. Checked all the breakers, they are on. Flipped them all off and back on, thinking it could be a way to reset it...No luck. Same with the main breaker.

Just wondering if there is a trick or something to try before I have to pay for an electrician. I'm not that smart, but smart enough not to go taking the cover off the panel and fiddling around with its higher voltage inner workings.

[RShack]

I've been installing new switches and outlets in my dads house. Pretty basic. Shut off the breakers to the area I'm working in. Take out the old. Take note of how it's wired. Install the new the exact same way.

Except there are now places in the house where the outlets stopped working. Some are new ones. Some are old ones I haven't even touched yet. The lights don't come on in a couple places also where I haven't been working. Checked all the breakers, they are on. Flipped them all off and back on, thinking it could be a way to reset it...No luck. Same with the main breaker.

Just wondering if there is a trick or something to try before I have to pay for an electrician. I'm not that smart, but smart enough not to go taking the cover off the panel and fiddling around with its higher voltage inner workings.

Lots of things are wired in series, not parallel... and sometimes a brand new outlet or switch will be bad... which should not happen, but it does anyway... if so, then everything on the far side of the new bad outlet or switch will stop getting juice even though you never touched them... it can be especially infuriating if a new outlet works but fails to pass the juice on past itself, because you can see the new one working but can't understand why other things suddenly aren't... so, my question is, did you meter the juice on both sides of whatever each new item is?

Also, are any GFCI things involved? And do you have one of those little things that check ground?

[RShack]

Also...

 

Do you have a little multi-meter?   And do you have clarity about which things are on which circuit?

[NewMarketSean]

Did you install any outlets with the test/reset button on them? If so you may need to reset those. I have a bunch in my house and if one trips several other outlets stop working. It doesn't trip the breaker, just the outlet. Hitting reset on the one that tripped will solve the issue.

[Mike in STL]

No outlets with buttons on them. No meter either. I bought outlets and switches out of the 47 cent bin at home depot. Maybe I'm getting what I paid for.

[MKlein76]

Did you happen to pull on any of the wires when you were installing the new receptacles? A lot of times, the wires are twisted together and if you pulled one, it may have come loose and messed up the rest of the circuit. Could the receptacles be bad? Sure, it's possible.

[Mike in STL]

Did you happen to pull on any of the wires when you were installing the new receptacles? A lot of times, the wires are twisted together and if you pulled one, it may have come loose and messed up the rest of the circuit. Could the receptacles be bad? Sure, it's possible.

I will check it out when I'm up there tomorrow. It's possible. It was on the day a changed just two outlets that problems started happening. So I'm going to double check those first and make sure one didn't come loose or something.