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Dandai

Dandai

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Got at least a couple hours of work left. I’m ready to be done with this project. One day I’ll learn that doing something this size by myself is just an unnecessary test of the strength of my marriage. I got some false confidence at the start of it because my six year old was able to help me pry the blocks out with a crowbar. I didn’t think about the fact that he couldn’t really do much after that since the blocks are a little too heavy for him to repeatedly pick up and move.

FEF40166-DB3B-42B8-AB1B-D4582873E7C1.jpeg
 
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lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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Is it me, or are those bricks a little lower than the grade at the far end? I'm worried you're going to have water collect on these bad boys.
 
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Dandai

Dandai

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The surrounding dirt is mounded up because I lazily shoved it aside instead of hauling it away properly. If after it’s all done and I find that I dun goofed and put the blocks too low I’ll run a french drain.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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anyone got a smart lawn timer controller?
the house came with an old hunter pro c, i can't upgrade it to the newer wifi/hydrowyse (have to replace the whole thing)

guess it's gonna be between

Hunter PRO-HC PHC-600 Residential Outdoor Professional Grade Wi-Fi Controller With Hydrawise Web-based Software - 6 Station

Orbit 57946 B-hyve Smart Indoor/Outdoor 6-Station WiFi Sprinkler System Controller, Compatible with Alexa

Rain-Bird ESP4MEI Indoor Irrigation WiFi Zone Controller Timer Box and Link Lnk WiFi Mobile Wireless Smartphone Upgrade Module Sprinkler System

Rachio 3 WiFi Smart Lawn Sprinkler Controller, Works with Alexa, 8-Zone

currently this thing is like only 40bucks, i might just get it to fuck around with it.
Blossom 7 Smart Watering Controller, 7 Zone, WiFi, Compatible with Alexa (but it seems limited) (also this device seems to call home to the company to operate, so maybe no)

i wanna check out which ones have good soil sensors (if any), basically i just want this to connect online, check weather and water if needed.

my current hunter proc is in my garage, so i don't have to worry about installing it outside.
 
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lurker

lurker

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I have the 12 station Orbit B-Hyve, the indoor/outdoor version like in your link. They now have an indoor only version that has no knobs or buttons. It's just a smooth white flat hunk of plastic. The reason I mention that is because I have never used the knob/buttons on mine. It's just so much easier to program and control with my phone. The whole thing works very well.

I bought it originally for the geek factor of have a wifi timer but it has actually proven to be a very useful feature for when you need to trouble shoot your sprinklers. No more running back and forth or doing the walkie-talkie thing with your wife to get different zones to go on or off.

There's a smart water/water sense feature that I don't use. It combines internet weather with rain sensors and info about your lawn and soil that you provide to come up with a program for watering. I just don't bother. I pay for water by the season, not the gallon so I'm not as water conserving as I could be.
 
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Lanx

Lanx

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lurker said:
There's a smart water/water sense feature that I don't use. It combines internet weather with rain sensors and info about your lawn and soil that you provide to come up with a program for watering. I just don't bother. I pay for water by the season, not the gallon so I'm not as water conserving as I could be.
Click to expand...
this is what i'm mostly interested in, if the timer can calculate and distribute based on current soil and weather.

this one? yea i original skipped it, cuz i only saw the 4 station, had to go into it to get the 8station
Orbit B-hyve 57925 Smart 8-Station Wi-Fi Sprinkler System Controller, 8-Zone Gray

yea i guess that'd be an option too
 
lurker

lurker

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Lanx said:
this is what i'm mostly interested in, if the timer can calculate and distribute based on current soil and weather.

this one? yea i original skipped it, cuz i only saw the 4 station, had to go into it to get the 8station
Orbit B-hyve 57925 Smart 8-Station Wi-Fi Sprinkler System Controller, 8-Zone Gray

yea i guess that'd be an option too
Click to expand...
Yeah, that one. I'd have bought it but it wasn't available when I bought mine last year.

I tried to do the smart water programming but it was just too tedious and I really didn't know the answers to some of the questions it was asking about soil type and drainage, so as long as I was just guessing, I just went ahead and made up a program for my lawn. I have 8 zones of lawn and it wasn't that hard to figure one zone gets 10 minutes, because it's mostly in the shade and some other zone gets 20 minutes because it's in the sun and so on. It's so easy to modify with the phone that I just tweak it now and then as spring turns into summer and summer turns into fall.
 
Dandai

Dandai

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I need to clean up and do some grading, but the joint sand is in and cured. We’ll see how the drainage looks when it rains, but I think big dirk is right and I fucked myself with the height of the pavers. The problem is I was planning on putting 4” of stone under the patio (best practice) but budget constraints made it so I could only use 2”. That’s why the final height is so low 😬

On the bright side, it’s smooth and solid like a fucking sidewalk. I was worried I’d put a lot of effort into this only to have a slightly less fucked up patio. Once the joint sand was in and I gave it a few passes with the plate compactor, everything got super rigid and flattened out. I haven’t taken my long level to it to confirm the slope I built into the stone base has survived, but eyeballing it it looks like an inch drop from the house to the yard side.

E8B2434E-CD01-4132-96CA-904F3CC43049.jpeg


Edit: Set my 3' level on it this morning. It's definitely graded towards the corner farthest from the house (middle right (in the above picture), so that's exciting! When I get back from work today I'll put my laser on it and see if I've still got an actual one inch drop over the 8 ft span.

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GuardianX

GuardianX

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Well I wanna "finish" this bathroom but I've been sick the last weekish, been trying to do some research on fixing some of the dry-wall fuckups that we did but I'm just debating cutting an extra dry-wall segment and just patching it in at a point of issue.

Had a question regarding wall boxes for switches. Installing outlets and these plastic boxes seem super flimsy even when anchored with metal support brackets.

Using:


Wondering if switching to something else would be better? I need a 3-gang, one of the switches is even pulling double-duty.

Looking at this:


even though it's plastic having metal(?) attachments for the outlets seems like less of a "this will break over time" issue. I mean we won't be Screwing and Un-screwing things over and over but I expect with kids I'll do it more than twice.
 
Dandai

Dandai

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Was gonna put this in the FSR, but it feels more at home here.

8B2EF55C-2D46-4976-A0E6-2488A40CCAFF.jpeg
 
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Dandai

Dandai

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GuardianX said:
Well I wanna "finish" this bathroom but I've been sick the last weekish, been trying to do some research on fixing some of the dry-wall fuckups that we did but I'm just debating cutting an extra dry-wall segment and just patching it in at a point of issue.

Had a question regarding wall boxes for switches. Installing outlets and these plastic boxes seem super flimsy even when anchored with metal support brackets.

Using:


Wondering if switching to something else would be better? I need a 3-gang, one of the switches is even pulling double-duty.

Looking at this:


even though it's plastic having metal(?) attachments for the outlets seems like less of a "this will break over time" issue. I mean we won't be Screwing and Un-screwing things over and over but I expect with kids I'll do it more than twice.
Click to expand...
Do you have a hardware store nearby? Not all plastics are made equal. Could be a more agreeable box to be found at Lowe’s or Home Depot. You could use the commercial metal boxes, but I believe you have to ground the box, . They’re obviously way more expensive, but you won’t have to worry about rigidity (that’s what she said?).
 
GuardianX

GuardianX

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Dandai said:
Do you have a hardware store nearby? Not all plastics are made equal. Could be a more agreeable box to be found at Lowe’s or Home Depot. You could use the commercial metal boxes, but I believe you have to ground the box, . They’re obviously way more expensive, but you won’t have to worry about rigidity (that’s what she said?).
Click to expand...

So i was going to hit up:

www.lockesupply.com

Legrand Pass & Seymour S3-54-RAC Slater Wood and Steel Switch Outlet Box With Quick Click and Captive Mounting Nails, 3 Gangs, 3 Outlets

Quick/Click feature secures devices quickly and easilyDoes not strip when over-torquedIt has six auto clamps on each end eliminate the need for separate cable clamps with quick/Click entriesCaptive mounting nails on each endIt is easy-to-install with a rectangular cutoutIt is made with a...
www.lockesupply.com www.lockesupply.com

and buy it if need be. I debated a metal box but I don't think they have those in 3-gang configurations do they? Unfortunately I have to have 3 gang.
 
Dandai

Dandai

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GuardianX said:
So i was going to hit up:

www.lockesupply.com

Legrand Pass & Seymour S3-54-RAC Slater Wood and Steel Switch Outlet Box With Quick Click and Captive Mounting Nails, 3 Gangs, 3 Outlets

Quick/Click feature secures devices quickly and easilyDoes not strip when over-torquedIt has six auto clamps on each end eliminate the need for separate cable clamps with quick/Click entriesCaptive mounting nails on each endIt is easy-to-install with a rectangular cutoutIt is made with a...
www.lockesupply.com www.lockesupply.com

and buy it if need be. I debated a metal box but I don't think they have those in 3-gang configurations do they? Unfortunately I have to have 3 gang.
Click to expand...
hm, now that I couldn't say. You can pretty much guarantee that place will have something that'll make you happy though.
 
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Erronius

Erronius

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GuardianX said:
and buy it if need be. I debated a metal box but I don't think they have those in 3-gang configurations do they? Unfortunately I have to have 3 gang.
Click to expand...

They absolutely, 100% have 3 gang metal boxes. Gangable and ungangable, masonry, old work, cut-in, bracket, no bracket, etc etc etc.
 
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Dandai

Dandai

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Guys!! I’m so excited that I may finally be getting a proper man’s grip! I’m not enjoying my hands being so sore that they feel arthritic though. Been pressure washing this ugly ass paint off of the brick in front of my building for three days. This is about 12 hours worth (we rented a second pressure washer so we could speed up the actual time to completion).

A64EA808-6C31-4424-80C1-81FBEA1291FE.jpeg


We’re getting messages from strangers on our Facebook page thanking us for fixing the eye sore that was this building lol. We’ve got a scissor lift coming tomorrow and gonna take the paint off all the way up. I think it’s 24 ft at the highest point.
 
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