Home Improvement

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
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our house was a foreclosure before we bought it, it had sat empty for a year or two before we got in there, and the yard was a total wreck.

If your yard is really bad, like 50% weeds/crabgrass or more, I'd highly recommend just dealing with weeds the first year. If you try to grow grass in the middle of all those weeds, and trying to kill those weeds, you're going to waste a lot of money on grass seed and fertilizer and watering. The conditions will be too harsh for most types of grass to really grow well if you're spraying for weeds really often. And if you have that many weeds, you need to be spraying like once or twice a month probably, which won't leave you any decent window for growing grass. And if you go easy on the weeds so that you can get grass growing, you aren't going to stop the weeds, they'll just be back next year, and the year after, and the year after. Basically nuke those things this year while you don't have to worry about harming your nice grass, and start over from scratch next year growing some nice grass, or installing sod.

Focus on getting the weeds eradicated the first year, then you can really get some nice grass going the next year with minimal weed control needed.
Actually the way it was explained to me by a pro, is the opposite. If your grass is healthy you will not have weeds because the grass will stifle them. Weeds only grow on unhealthy lawns. A good weed and feed does the job. What you do is apply the weed and feed when the grass is wet, either after a rainfall or when the dew sets in at night so it sticks to the foliage of the weeds. Usually the weeds will start to curl up and die within a week.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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Right, once you get the grass established, but you have to get rid of the weeds first, and you can't grow new grass from seed very well if you're weed & feeding, or just outright spraying for weeds. New seedling grass will not be able to overtake established weeds, but once that grass is solidly established it can definitely help prevent weeds from coming back.

If you have tons and tons of weeds/crabgrass, one spraying or weed & feed application isn't going to do much, and you can't be putting that stuff down on new grass, it'll kill it quick. Our local nursery/grass place recommends not spraying or weed & feeding for 6 weeks minimum before seeding new grass, and not spraying weeds for 6-8 weeks afterwards either. That's pretty much your whole summer gone without being able to treat your weed problem.
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
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I'm going to have to do some tool rentals.

So Tatch it. Aerate it. Seed it. Then fertilize it? Seems easy enough. I'll have to use that starter fertilizer.
That sounds about right. Talk to neighbours/friends. It doesn't take any time to aerate, so if two, three, or four of you decide to split the cost to rent an aerator, you can get everyone's yard done in the rental time, and split the cost.

You can also get a thatching blade for your lawnmower. I know its not the same, but it does a good job. I did this in early spring for 3 yrs in my new house, and after the thatching I overseed with new grass, and now its like a new lawn.
I think these blades actually do quite a good job. Use them in the fall, and again in the spring. Don't freak out, it's going to rip up your lawn a bit, but that's just scarring what's above ground. The roots are still there. Give it a month, it'll look better than before. Also, get the blade that has the nylon thatching bits, not the metal ones. If you do this every other year in both fall and spring, your thatching issues will be fully addressed.
 

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
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Here is when I stripped my old hardwood floors. Lotta work but worth it in the end. I did almost entire house over 2 yrs, about 1000 sq ft. This is the living room (The kitchen and family room did not have any). Rental was a few hundred bucks materials were a few hundred more. I kept the natural color of the wood, no stain. Just 7 layers of hardwood floor waterborne urethane. Sanding with 150 grit after the first coat.

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Draegan_sl

2 Minutes Hate
10,034
3
I did that last year. Nice work. I did mine with 3 stages of sandpaper then against the grain with a "buffer" tool.
 

sl4ck3r_sl

shitlord
132
2
Here is when I stripped my old hardwood floors. Lotta work but worth it in the end. I did almost entire house over 2 yrs, about 1000 sq ft. This is the living room (The kitchen and family room did not have any). Rental was a few hundred bucks materials were a few hundred more. I kept the natural color of the wood, no stain. Just 7 layers of hardwood floor waterborne urethane. Sanding with 150 grit after the first coat.
Looks fantastic. The previous owner to my house carpeted over all of the wood floors including the stairs and the bathroom /puke. I've already ripped the carpet out of the bathroom and intend on working on clearing out the carpet on the staircase, cleaning that up and refinishing it sometime soon. Would using a hand orbital sander take care of refinishing the stairs - 2 3x3 platorms and about a dozen stair treads? I would just buy new treads, but taking a peek at the wood underneath of the carpet makes it look like the wood isn't in the bad of shape and just needs some tlc.

I've been meaning to upload photos from my kitchen touch up, you guys would lol at color choices of the 50s and 60s.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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I've been meaning to upload photos from my kitchen touch up, you guys would lol at color choices of the 50s and 60s.
When we bought our home a few years ago, the bathrooms were still original to the late 60s/early 70s. Pastel green and pink EVERYWHERE. We still have 1 left to remodel, the biggest one, I'll be damn glad when all those hideous colors are gone.
 

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
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Looks fantastic. The previous owner to my house carpeted over all of the wood floors including the stairs and the bathroom /puke. I've already ripped the carpet out of the bathroom and intend on working on clearing out the carpet on the staircase, cleaning that up and refinishing it sometime soon. Would using a hand orbital sander take care of refinishing the stairs - 2 3x3 platorms and about a dozen stair treads? I would just buy new treads, but taking a peek at the wood underneath of the carpet makes it look like the wood isn't in the bad of shape and just needs some tlc.

I've been meaning to upload photos from my kitchen touch up, you guys would lol at color choices of the 50s and 60s.
Thanks, they too carpeted all of the floors, covering up all the beautiful hardwood. We ripped all of it out. We now only have carpet in the living room. So much easier to clean as well. Just sweep and mop up with a damp swifer.

Hand orbital is prolly not enough for your stairs, that varnish and old stain is a bitch to cut through with just a handheld orbital. I would do it with the floor edger which you can rent. They are harder to control, but once you get the hang of it it makes shit like stairs easy. Careful though because they do remove alot fo marerial so just make sure when its on, you are constantly moving it.

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Asshat Brando

Potato del Grande
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I'm looking to replace my central A/C, is there anywhere to find out what the pricing is? Everywhere I look you basically have to call to get an estimate which I did but is the price I was given good or not the question? Anybody have any experience in this?
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
50,780
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I'm looking to replace my central A/C, is there anywhere to find out what the pricing is? Everywhere I look you basically have to call to get an estimate which I did but is the price I was given good or not the question? Anybody have any experience in this?
If you get a written estimate, in most states and provinces you can use that as a "the job will not exceed this cost" guarantee, unless something very extreme happens. Get three estimates, call the 2nd lowest one, tell them if they can beat the lowest by x amount, the job is theirs.
 

mkopec

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All that is sound advice, but not every time the lowest bid is the one to go with. I would rather pay a few more hundred for a reputable company to do it rather than some shady mom and pop shop with nothing to lose. A/C is a big purchase and you want that shit to be done right. Not 1/2 ass for the lowest price. Use your judgment.
 

Asshat Brando

Potato del Grande
<Banned>
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I'm certainly not going to half-ass it, I looked up as many reviews as I could find on the different makers and then found company's that have perfect BBB ratings and the NTEC certification or whatever the fuck that is. I have 1 quote so far that seems reasonable though the info he gave me on the actual unit is pretty sparse. No SEER rating or whether it's a single or split system. It could be a reasonable price or not depending on the actual unit that is going to be installed. I guess I'll have to call them back and ask them for the info.
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
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All that is sound advice, but not every time the lowest bid is the one to go with. I would rather pay a few more hundred for a reputable company to do it rather than some shady mom and pop shop with nothing to lose. A/C is a big purchase and you want that shit to be done right. Not 1/2 ass for the lowest price. Use your judgment.
That's why you deal with the 2nd lowest estimate.
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Jovec

?
836
412
I'm looking to replace my central A/C, is there anywhere to find out what the pricing is? Everywhere I look you basically have to call to get an estimate which I did but is the price I was given good or not the question? Anybody have any experience in this?
Depends on square footage of house, if you just replacing the condenser or the heater/blower too, if you need vents installed, if your vent ducting is good and asbestos free, if you need to upgrade/replace/move your electrical panel, if you need your installation to pass code/inspection.

If you are just replacing the condenser, you should be able to look at i's capacity (usually rated in tonnage) and hit up the hardware superstore to get an idea on the pricing. Same with the heater/blower.

Prices will vary by location (mostly labor), but a simple condenser and heater replacement can easily be in the range of $7K+ for a smaller house, and hitting $15k+ for that same house if you need everything new/replaced.
 

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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Also, if you have no idea of anyone reputable in your area, you can have the contractors that Lowe's or Home Depot deal with install it for you. You're probably going to pay more, but you're also going to be sure that they are insured in case anything goes wrong, and you'll have a solid warranty for the work, backed by a major corporation. I would think that the odds of Lowes or Home Depot shutting their doors and disappearing before your warranty is up has got to be less than whatever random local company you choose.

I'm sure there's perfectly good, and probably cheaper solutions, but finding them isn't always the easiest thing to do if you can't get personal recommendations from family/friends/coworkers.
 

mkopec

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Im pretty lucky and have a friend which does HVAC for a living. Last house, my furnace went bad, he was there that day installing a new furnace. I got a cheap one but it cost me $500 (parts) and 2 oz of weed. He gets a builders discount so that helps. He reused the old AC since nothing was wrong with it. He did a fucking awesome job too. At his work they have a machine where he feeds in the dimensions and it spits out a plenum (the sheet metal which connects the furnace to the duct work and houses the AC a-coil).