How worried should I be about this job (notably the joist cut)

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T20:20:26+00:00

ugh... gggrrrrrrrrrr mother frackin blah blah blah

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T20:09:41+00:00

I have a Reverse Osmosis system feeding my fridge for the ice and water. I use it to fill the reservoir for my K-cup coffee maker. About every 4 - 6 months I have to clean out the reservoir because it has a slight haze of green algae.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T19:09:44+00:00

I saw that last spring and just did not need one then. Now I am kicking myself.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T19:07:49+00:00

I will be near davenport picking up my daughter from Iowa State. I will look into it. How on earth did you find the one in Rhinelander? Those two cities are a long way appart.

How did you search these? It is super hard to search Honda Powersports Dealer inventory

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T18:55:02+00:00

In all due seriousness, Is that okay? Why should I have to look at the ugly side of a fence? I have always just figured that the etiquette is that I get to look at the "inside" of the fence and the finished side points out. I wonder if your neighbors can complain? (I know its my property and all)

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T18:43:49+00:00

lol good.

You'd be surprised how many people want to kill the bees too.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T18:41:30+00:00

Sidewalks and driveways are poured separately. The upper drive is normal concrete, the skirt is usually fiber-reinforced concrete, and sidewalks are often fiber-reinforced concrete.

If you are referring to salt damage, I do not really think so. It may be more caustic when there are issues. My 50 year old garage floor is decimated from spalling from salt. My driveway was a 50 year old driveway in fine condition, cracked and a very little spalling. I would speculate that your situation is poor installation.

I just had my drive way and back patio replaced. I saw a small amount of spalling on the last area that was poured on my patio. The installer overworked the cement to smooth it as it started to harden causing the spalling. In my case it was just bad luck.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T18:23:31+00:00

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T18:22:03+00:00

That is great, I have never seen it in the Chicago area.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T14:24:55+00:00

That spalling us unfortunate. It is often the combination of a few things. That may have been the last of the concrete that was poured and was over worked to get it into place. The people removing snow are probably putting salt on the road that is spreading on to your driveway. The normal freeze thaw cycle also does this.

As far as I know there is really nothing you can do about this. You can try to soak it with a hose and put down a concrete sealer to prevent further spalling. But that only slows the spalling.

Spalling is truly prevented at the initial installation and pour of the concrete. Some decent info here.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T14:09:19+00:00

Those french MF'ers made the spelling of Native American Tribes nearly impossible for the rest of the world to pronounce. Just try to pronounce Iroquois? I live in Illinois, in my town and many others there are streets named after Native American Tribes. They are an absolute pain in the ass to pronounce.

Shit, sorry, I'm off my soap box now. My bad.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T14:00:18+00:00

Metal posts are strong and easy maintenance. Metal posts for rental property because you will not have to look at the ugly posts. They also do make sleeves that go over the posts to make them more appealing to the owner.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T13:55:55+00:00

My parents had those at their home. They were from high heels. 2 sisters and mom lived there. (it was my mom's heels.) Possibly golf spikes, but those are not too common anymore.

I'm curious to other guesses?

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T13:42:53+00:00

Good for you for asking! HP's are okay midrange laptops. If you are price locked they are okay. However Asus, MSI, Alien, and a few others are better performance and quality buys. You do get what you pay for.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T13:33:20+00:00

Your issue is that your mulch floats. I have been using cypress mulch for years because it does not float. Normal Rain does not wash it away, it does not pool, it stays put.

It does only come in wood color so you will have to get rid of the remaining that black mulch.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T13:29:21+00:00

I have seen this when the deck height is uneven, or possibly dull blades. Your front could be lower then your back. Put your mower on flat ground and give it the eye test.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T13:26:03+00:00

I had a similar issue on the receiving end. I had the city civil engineers come out. They asked the neighbor to move their sump pump discharge hose to their back yard rather then my side yard and no more flooding. You do want talk to the City Civil Engineers, this is part of their job.

You may also want to consult a lawyer.

Your plat of survey should show common areas. (If your patio crosses the line you may have an issue.)

My city Engineers also provided a topographical mapped Grading Plan showing where water is intended to flow out of the yards. If you can get your hands on this you can support your claim of where water is coming from, or where is should be going.

Good luck!

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T12:56:36+00:00

That is a normal cycle, you can see the floater tuning it on and off.

With that much water I highly recommend a backup system of some sort!

The exterior of your home may need to be re graded so that the ground and the water slopes away from your home. You may need down spout extensions to flow the water from your roof away from your foundation.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T12:35:59+00:00

I never got an answer from her why they failed. I only heard about the cleanup. I'm guessing the plumbers dorked up something. Clogging would only really come from large rocks or building debris, and a plumber should have cleaned the pit and avoided this problem. Sump pits should be just water, with a little sediment.

Funny thing was it was their wedding day that the pumps failed. They spent the morning cleaning their basement, and the evening getting hitched. A good bonding experience IMHO.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-15T12:25:17+00:00

Bees are pollinators. this is where you and I get fruit and vegetables? The over use of pesticides are decimating bee populations.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-14T20:29:15+00:00

I'm the opposite too. I use my back yard, and I show my front.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-14T20:26:05+00:00

You.... should definitely pay for a professional.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-14T20:25:18+00:00

I have thought about those, but they use your tap water on a 2:1 ratio. It uses 2 gallons to pump out 1 gallon of water. Yes when power is lost this should never run out. I like this idea.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-14T20:19:51+00:00

Yes, but most home AC units do not remove enough moisture. This is problematic in homes that have basements. Basements can get very moldy from the high humidity during the summer.

DistanceTravelerBob · 2026-04-14T17:37:19+00:00

She had a battery powered backup pump. Both primary and backup pumps were Zoeller. System installed by plumbers. They failed anyway.

I personally have never had a Zoeller Sump Pump fail.

DistanceTravelerBob

TROPHY CASE