The Swamp

Why not bark chips? You can just fill in the holes when she digs.

Week seven of a ten week home reno.

No complaints about the contractor or his crew, on time and on budget, but trying to work in a house that is a construction zone is taking years off my life.

My wife repeatedly intersperses variations on the following two comments - "You should take the laptop to the library to work" and "you really have to keep an eye on these guys to make sure they aren't messing up."

P.D.X. wrote:Why not bark chips? You can just fill in the holes when she digs.

That was my first though, but with the rubbery ones, but that would be hell for shit gathering.

Why don't you buy her a bed so she doesn't have to sleep in a hole?

P.D.X. wrote:Why not bark chips? You can just fill in the holes when she digs.

You mean like mulch? It'll end up all over the pace.

AB, I might look into that turf at Sears. It doesn't say it's good for dogs but as long as I can wash it and it drains, it shouldn't be a problem.

Why don't you buy her a bed so she doesn't have to sleep in a hole?

She doesn't want a bed outside. I do have one on the deck. She sleeps in a hole because it's cooler.

Jerloma wrote:

sancarlos wrote:This may sound like I'm being snarky, but I don't mean it that way. Seriously, take your dog on a morning walk and an evening walk every day - one of them fairly lengthy. Exercise burns up a lot of nervous energy that leads to digging. As for the yard, I would re-sod it completely with new grass.

I do. She needs to run and I have a place I take her to do some laps and then she's done. I fenced in the pen because she was turning my back yard into a race track. Like I said above, she doesn't dig because she's high-strung, she makes huge holes so she can sleep in them.

Get her a dog bed?

Do you want a bed recommendation?

Hornet nest removal. Bitched out of that one for two weeks now. Thinking I need to be drunk to handle that one properly.

HaulCitgo wrote:Hornet nest removal. Bitched out of that one for two weeks now. Thinking I need to be drunk to handle that one properly.

Inside or outside?

HaulCitgo wrote:Hornet nest removal. Bitched out of that one for two weeks now. Thinking I need to be drunk to handle that one properly.

If outside, get a few cans of that spray that jets up like 20 some feet, WAIT UNTIL DARK (seriously, maybe 12-1am), douse that fucker with spray, repeat until no activity is seen, hit it with a pressure washer to knock it down, douse in 86 cans of spray, burn it with fire.

Though I will say I had one last year that was high enough off the ground they never once bothered me. Might have been wasps as opposed to hornets, either way.

Fun story, apparently the big nests, like one of these bad boys



are worth a shit ton of money preserved to the right people. So if they aren't bugging you, wait until the first freeze, get up there and tie a bag around the thing to suffocate any remaining bugs, then cut the branch down and spray it with glue/lacquer. I don't know about in your region, but properly preserved ones can for for 500-800 bucks down here. I was planning on doing this with mine but a nasty storm took care of it before the season ended.

People in Indiana are weird.

The Sybian wrote:People in Indiana are weird.

They are good for storing, and hiding, meth and other forms of contraband. Who would think to put their hands in one?

I guess people like them as decorations in cabins down south or whatnot?

Your line should have read: "Man, people in SOUTHERN Indiana are weird.

BSF21 wrote: Fun story, apparently the big nests, like one of these bad boys--

are worth a shit ton of money preserved to the right people.

Proof positive of the adage, 'all money ain't good money'.

howard wrote:

BSF21 wrote: Fun story, apparently the big nests, like one of these bad boys--

are worth a shit ton of money preserved to the right people.

Proof positive of the adage, 'all money ain't good money'.

Depends upon if you're buying or selling.

This is relatively minor, but I'm looking for some ideas.

A few years ago we put child safety locks like this on a couple of our doors:


First off, they were complete shit because it did not stop our kid from being able to open the door. But the real problem is the adhesive. It's that thick double sided tape like this:


and is next to impossible to get the remnants off the doors.

I've tried rubbing alcohol but it just smooths out the surface of the chunks left behind. I can use a putty knife and scrape some of the chunks off but it still leaves the door sticky (or removes some paint, which I am ok with - I do have some paint to touch it up with).

Anyone else have any ideas for something that will help get this stuff off the door?

Goo Gone has worked for me on similar glues/tapes.

Rush2112 wrote:Goo Gone has worked for me on similar glues/tapes.

Yep, that took care of it. Thanks for the tip!

Anyone familiar w/ water and sewer line insurance? Necessary, unnecessary, add onto homeowners, scam?

mister d wrote:Anyone familiar w/ water and sewer line insurance? Necessary, unnecessary, add onto homeowners, scam?

We get those notices from NJWater all the time. I spoke to two plumbers, and both passionately told me it was a scam. They said to only consider it if neighbors have ruptured water/sewer lines.

The Sybian wrote:

mister d wrote:Anyone familiar w/ water and sewer line insurance? Necessary, unnecessary, add onto homeowners, scam?

We get those notices from NJWater all the time. I spoke to two plumbers, and both passionately told me it was a scam. They said to only consider it if neighbors have ruptured water/sewer lines.

How much are they asking for in NJ? Mine was $120, so I figured for $10 a month it was worth it.

I should read that treatise on class actions.

The Sybian wrote:We get those notices from NJWater all the time. I spoke to two plumbers, and both passionately told me it was a scam. They said to only consider it if neighbors have ruptured water/sewer lines.

Plumbers who might see money diverted away from them in the case of ruptures or legit honest opinions?

Something like $13 per month here, Bronto. But it also caps and uses language like "covered repairs".

mister d wrote:

The Sybian wrote:We get those notices from NJWater all the time. I spoke to two plumbers, and both passionately told me it was a scam. They said to only consider it if neighbors have ruptured water/sewer lines.

Plumbers who might see money diverted away from them in the case of ruptures or legit honest opinions?

Something like $13 per month here, Bronto. But it also caps and uses language like "covered repairs".

That ain't a job for plumbers. They have to bring in a backhoe, dig out the entire pipe from your house to the street and replace the pipes. My next door neighbor had some issue that required him to do this, but it wouldn't have been covered by the insurance. What I was told is that they don't cover most issues.

Looking to replace the hardware in a shower. The wife insists on replacing the handle and escutcheon (the plate around the handle, never knew it had a name). The problem is, I can't find an escutcheon with the correct distance between the screw holes. I talked to a grout cleaning dude, and he said if I can't find a replacement with the correct spacing, I'll have to get a plumber to remove the tiles, bust through the walls and replace the mounts. Then get a handy man to patch the hole. I ain't paying $2000 to change out a shower handle.

The problem is, looking on line or even in stores, it never says the distance between the screw holes. Isn't that kind of a big deal? Since everyone replacing the escutcheon probably doesn't want to bust through walls, why wouldn't they list the screw placement? Driving myself nuts on the Googles trying to figure this out.

Also, is replacing the handle as simple as it seems, or are their issues with valves and whatnot. Seems like I should just be able to screw the handle on, but am I looking at any surprises?

The Sybian wrote:Looking to replace the hardware in a shower. The wife insists on replacing the handle and escutcheon (the plate around the handle, never knew it had a name). The problem is, I can't find an escutcheon with the correct distance between the screw holes. I talked to a grout cleaning dude, and he said if I can't find a replacement with the correct spacing, I'll have to get a plumber to remove the tiles, bust through the walls and replace the mounts. Then get a handy man to patch the hole. I ain't paying $2000 to change out a shower handle.

The problem is, looking on line or even in stores, it never says the distance between the screw holes. Isn't that kind of a big deal? Since everyone replacing the escutcheon probably doesn't want to bust through walls, why wouldn't they list the screw placement? Driving myself nuts on the Googles trying to figure this out.

Also, is replacing the handle as simple as it seems, or are their issues with valves and whatnot. Seems like I should just be able to screw the handle on, but am I looking at any surprises?

I don't know about the first part (is the distance maybe a standard), but for your second question - yes it's pretty easy. I had to replace the valve inside of the handle on a shower earlier this year. It wasn't hard at all. I probably could have figured it out, but a few YouTube videos made it even easier.

The Sybian wrote:Looking to replace the hardware in a shower. The wife insists on replacing the handle and escutcheon (the plate around the handle, never knew it had a name). The problem is, I can't find an escutcheon with the correct distance between the screw holes. I talked to a grout cleaning dude, and he said if I can't find a replacement with the correct spacing, I'll have to get a plumber to remove the tiles, bust through the walls and replace the mounts. Then get a handy man to patch the hole. I ain't paying $2000 to change out a shower handle.

The problem is, looking on line or even in stores, it never says the distance between the screw holes. Isn't that kind of a big deal? Since everyone replacing the escutcheon probably doesn't want to bust through walls, why wouldn't they list the screw placement? Driving myself nuts on the Googles trying to figure this out.

Also, is replacing the handle as simple as it seems, or are their issues with valves and whatnot. Seems like I should just be able to screw the handle on, but am I looking at any surprises?

Handles should be straightforward.

For the escuchteon, brands usually are the same standard set up so if you bought the same brand it usually works. There are often generics made by different companies that are made for Moen, or American Standard etc. But it sounds like you've already researched that...is it a custom bathroom?

The fitting/mount on the inside will dictate what kind of handle/plate you can put on anyway. They are not all interchangable and in order to use the same inside mount you'd have to use the same brand of handle.

That said, usually the hole is big enough to replace the fitting and not have to tear the whole thing out.

Shit...just remembered...most handle rigs come with the mount and everything to pull that mount off. That's what the one I put in my shower at my last house had, but I was doing it from scratch. You will need to match the handle to the rough-in fitting (but again, you shouldn't ahve to take the whole thing apart to do this). If you're just wanting to do a straight replacement of just handle and plate, you'll have to know the model and make.

I keep editing this, but I'm guessing the handle your wife likes doesn't match the rough-in valve. This is a case of it's better to let that valve be your limiting factor and not personal preference. Find out what model rough-in valve it is and then find the best handle/escutcheon given that.

Shirley wrote:

The Sybian wrote:Looking to replace the hardware in a shower. The wife insists on replacing the handle and escutcheon (the plate around the handle, never knew it had a name). The problem is, I can't find an escutcheon with the correct distance between the screw holes. I talked to a grout cleaning dude, and he said if I can't find a replacement with the correct spacing, I'll have to get a plumber to remove the tiles, bust through the walls and replace the mounts. Then get a handy man to patch the hole. I ain't paying $2000 to change out a shower handle.

The problem is, looking on line or even in stores, it never says the distance between the screw holes. Isn't that kind of a big deal? Since everyone replacing the escutcheon probably doesn't want to bust through walls, why wouldn't they list the screw placement? Driving myself nuts on the Googles trying to figure this out.

Also, is replacing the handle as simple as it seems, or are their issues with valves and whatnot. Seems like I should just be able to screw the handle on, but am I looking at any surprises?

I don't know about the first part (is the distance maybe a standard), but for your second question - yes it's pretty easy. I had to replace the valve inside of the handle on a shower earlier this year. It wasn't hard at all. I probably could have figured it out, but a few YouTube videos made it even easier.

It doesn't seem to be standard, unless there are 2 or 3 standard sizes. Some have 2 holes at the bottom, maybe 1 inch apart. Others have the holes on the sides, maybe 3 inches apart. We aren't very particular about the model, there are so many to choose from, we are only looking at whatever will fit.

I switched out some light fixtures today, and the insulation from one of the fixtures got in my face. It feels like I have a severe sunburn and hundreds of paper cuts. Lucky I didn't get any in my eyes, as my eyelids seem to be about the worst place. Can't find anything online beyond "wash vigorously," and that didn't do much. Good thing I am not planning on taking an MRI anytime soon.

Whoa, pretty sure that's called "drywall AIDS". You might be in trouble.

My affairs are in order.

Pros: Its in the 20s outside

Cons: Literally everything else related to having your fucking fridge die

The fucking fun never ends. Downstairs toilet had been periodically running slow even when no shits were taken or reason to clog. Plunging caused water to shoot up through the sink or shower. When this happens, flushing an upstairs toilet caused water to come up through the downstairs shower. Just had my worst fears confirmed, main sewer line is buckling the entire length from the house to the street. I watched the monitor as he ran the camera, and there were sags in the pipe completely filled with water, and the bottom of the pipe was what he called zippered. It was pinched at the bottom all the way through. Need to replace the whole damned thing.

I am having them do a pipe burst, which is a cool machine that pulls the new pipe through the old pipe's trench. It has a bursting head that blasts through the old pipe as it pulls through the new pipe. Saves me from having them dig up the entire yard. Next door neighbor did that a few years ago. A nice 5 foot deep trench. They just need to dig up a trench through my garage. All this for only $20,000! Which required the guy to fudge all of the measurements down to knock of $7,000. Fuck I hate owning a home.

Did you buy a lemon?

Brontoburglar wrote:Did you buy a lemon?

No, the house was built in 1960, so the caste iron pipes are at the end of their lifespan. The plumber asked if I've seen a lot of neighbors replacing their sewer lines, because they all tend to go around the same time. I just spoke to another neighbor tonight, and he said he was having similar problems. The problem with my house is that a previous owner cut corners in doing repairs, and I am stuck paying for it.

Wipes?

rass wrote:Wipes?

No, corroded 55 year old metal pipes.

The Sybian wrote:

rass wrote:Wipes?

No, corroded 55 year old metal pipes.

You don't look a day over 40.