The Home Improvement Thread

[Anathollo]

80 degrees today. Pool cleaning weather. Had the little one helping me.. she did great.. she even had an awesome idea to speed up the filter cartridge cleaning. The filter tank has 4 large elements in it that capture all the sand and small debris the other skimmers and filters don't. To clean them is a PITA, they are fairly big (36-40" tall and maybe 10-12" in diameter) and you have to use a hose and just rinse them.. takes a long time.. like close to 90 minutes or more and you get soaking wet and its really no fun. Well she says "Hey dad I'll grab the garden hose from the garden area and we can both clean".. worked awesome.. basically cut the cleaning time in half. We both worked on the same cartridge at the same time. I also decided to order a new set of filters so we can swap out. I figure if I pull the old ones out, replace with new ones, and then let them dry out I can knock 80% of the sand out of them just by tapping them the pavement... then use the hose. Should save a lot of water and make cleaning them much easier... meaning I'll actually do it every 3 months. Just set them aside for next time. But we got everything done. Tested the pool water and it was spot on perfect. Let Mr Robot go sweep the floor of the pool and its looking pretty good. Glad its done. Will do it again in 3 months.

Yep we have two leaf bags for the pool sweeper. Take the wet, full bag off and put the dry empty bag on then. Then when the wet bag is dried out, we empty the leafs out of it. Makes it easier and quicker.

 

[Silverback]

These are the large cartridges.

 

[PSU Taco85]

power man has mad powaz

Yep, I like to treat myself to a toy every quarter and this is what I chose for 1Q2020

back up power? That is a good size generator

backup mostly. But it also has a 50 amp 240V outlet that’ll be nice to use if I’m doing any portable welding. Basically can power my house and a neighbor if i needed to, holds 16 gallons of gas

you need to add onto that shop! your running out of room.

you ain’t lying, I’m thinking 2021 will be addition time, I’ll plan it out this year. Ideally I’d like a spot to pull in a trailer that can be loaded up with a truck so I can store my 4Runner when I finally get that running. Something like an RV type bay size, ran longways off the back gable end

 

[Silverback]

So how much did you have to give for that genny? No wait.. don't tell us... yes tell us.

 

[Anathollo]

These are the large cartridges.

View attachment 20219

I know which filters you are talking about I was just saying that you should get an extra bag for your pool sweeper as well.

 

[Taco Loco]

Something like an RV type bay size, ran longways off the back gable end

^this. and be sure to add a drain also for the black/gray water!


When we have a lot of guests at our house, we sleep out in the RV/shop, Not sure if I’ll add a drain, but it would be nice. Long term goals, include relocating further out, when our boys close to finish college.

 

[AlienXtx]

I know which filters you are talking about I was just saying that you should get an extra bag for your pool sweeper as well.

Damn, how ugly is she?

 

[Anathollo]

Damn, how ugly is she?
View attachment 20237

Why would the "don't fucking care bear" be asking that question?

 

[Silverback]

I know which filters you are talking about I was just saying that you should get an extra bag for your pool sweeper as well.

Mine doesn't have a bag.. it goes into a hopper inside it.

 

[Oswego]

Damn, how ugly is she?
View attachment 20237

With that body she needs a 55 gallon drum liner not a paper bag

 

[Anathollo]

Mine doesn't have a bag.. it goes into a hopper inside it.

View attachment 20238

Ahhh ok. Well look at Mr. Moneybags over here!

 

[AlienXtx]

Damn, how ugly is she?
View attachment 20237

Need a heads up is all, might need to slam some Gatorade and hydrated first

With that body she needs a 55 gallon drum liner not a paper bag

 

[Silverback]

Ahhh ok. Well look at Mr. Moneybags over here!

LOL.. it was "free" with the pool. Not sure I believe they just "threw it in" though.

 

[PSU Taco85]

So how much did you have to give for that genny? No wait.. don't tell us... yes tell us.

I'm going to have to plead the 5th It does need a little bit of work. Previous owner seemed pretty dumb, so there was fuel in the oil and seemed pretty thin. Turns out he gutted the fuel shutdown solenoid and cut and capped the wire going to it. I guess too cheap to replace it. Hopefully he didn't run the engine too long like that. Let's just say I saved a "chunk" of money from buying new.

^this. and be sure to add a drain also for the black/gray water!


When we have a lot of guests at our house, we sleep out in the RV/shop, Not sure if I’ll add a drain, but it would be nice. Long term goals, include relocating further out, when our boys close to finish college.

That's a good idea, now that I've got this far on my shop, I have alot of lessons learned of what to do and what not to do. Drains were one of those lessons learned.

Today I got another item checked off the list. Bought one of those nest thermostats last summer when my gas company offered a rebate on them. Installed the one in the house right away because I had a 5 wire thermostat wire, but never bothered to upgrade the one in the back shop until now. Fished some new thermostat wire through the wall and installed a new taco single zone switching relay. Now I can monitor and control the temperature of the shop from my iPhone

 

[Silverback]

I need to get two of those Nest for the house. I have programmable thermostats but not the smart type.

 

[PSU Taco85]

I need to get two of those Nest for the house. I have programmable thermostats but not the smart type.

i really like them, they eventually “learn” where you like your settings and automatically set them there. Of course you can always over ride that.

The biggest benefit for me is that I always forget to adjust the temp when I leave (both house and garage), so I can now check and verify I turned it down, or also crank up a few degrees in the garage a bit before I’m ready to head out there to work on something.

check your local utility. They give rebates for getting them sometimes. I got the 3rd gen nest in my house for $100 and the nest E for the garage for only $20 after rebates!

 

[Silverback]

Nice! I'll check into it.

 

[CowboyTaco]

They learn, but they get confused AF when your wife and your mother-in-law can't agree on the temp and it gets changed every 10 minutes.

 

[balakay]

They learn, but they get confused AF when your wife and your mother-in-law can't agree on the temp and it gets changed every 10 minutes.

You can set it behind a pin. Mine is. My girlfriend can only adjust it between 66-70 degrees.

 

[Taco Loco]

You can set it behind a pin. Mine is. My girlfriend can only adjust it between 66-70 degrees.