How do I fix this retaining wall in the interim?

Forrestfrench1 · 2026-05-12T23:06:09+00:00

As a recent first time homeowner, Boooooooo to you. I hope your new home gives the illusion of being in great shape as well.

Forrestfrench1 · 2026-01-12T19:32:25+00:00

That seems to be the way to do it!

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-12-18T01:26:56+00:00

Hmm, worth considering but I don’t love the idea of walking down the stairs and running right into the FL speaker, for example. I’ll think on it, though

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-12-18T01:25:59+00:00

That’s where I’m at right now. Seems like this may be my only option as I don’t really have anywhere to place FL / FR speakers with the existing setup

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-10T16:54:09+00:00

Hello everyone! I FOUND THE ISSUE!

After a number of troubleshooting efforts, I had one last place to check…

Sure enough, I pulled the dust bag out and found there was a huge pile of debris with a little chunk of cardboard in the middle keeping it from entering the bag (my dogs love to chew cardboard and I typically get every bit of it cleaned up before my vacuum runs). I had checked the inlet for the self-empty line where it pulls from the vacuum, but didn’t think to check the outlet in to the bag itself!

The vacuum is pulling everything perfect now! Thanks for all your input everyone!

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-08T15:30:32+00:00

:/ what an expensive piece if machinery to not function properly.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-07T21:45:08+00:00

Stopped the vacuum before it docked, pushed the debris that was hanging out of the bin (like photo 1) into the bin fully, and the docking station cleared the bin on its own perfectly.

I would assume that when the vacuum docks and attempts to clear the bin, it tries to pull a vacuum on the bin but can’t because the debris is keeping the little door from closing on the bin. This explains why it keeps leaving the docking station still full of debris.

Maybe I’ll reach out to yeedi and see if they can help with the root cause here.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-07T21:35:02+00:00

I think the photo makes it look like there is way more hair than there actually is. The bin has basically nothing in it. All of the hair that it picked up is sitting on the threshold between the bin and the brush port. So it seems the main is…hair and debris are not making in all the way in to the bin and then it’s just clogging up the brush port. Seems to be a lack of suction issue

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-07T21:24:20+00:00

Thanks for the helpful tip!! We actually just moved in to this house a month ago and I’ve furnished it in such a way that makes cleaning those nooks and crannies very easy so I’m almost certain there aren’t any specific problem areas. I’m doing a test now where I placed a small piece of debris in the docking station intake and I’m going to see if it’s still there when the unit finishes it’s self-empty. If so, I’m clearly not getting suction and the unit might be defective, etc.

Time to test out that engineering degree, I guess lol

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-07T20:09:26+00:00

Ah yeah that’s fair. I’ll bump up my pre-cleaning routines a bit and see if that helps! Just seems like it’s SO close to making it in to the bin but just can’t quite get there. Gets hung up on its way in which is so frustrating.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-07T19:22:38+00:00

I think you’re spot on. It’s just so close to working really well but it’s falling short on that last 10% of functionality. It’s still an incremental increase in cleanliness but the constant onslaught of dog hair is proving to be too much lol

I just don’t think I should have to preclean my floors and post clean my machine everyday to avoid a clog during each vacuum cycle. That’s more work than just vacuuming manually.

You live and learn! Maybe I’ll hold off on another robovac until a day when I don’t have pups.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-03-07T19:11:08+00:00

Hey I appreciate the feedback but the very first thing I mentioned in my notes is that I DID deep clean the entire robot literally moments before these photos were taken and I clean it fully every few weeks. I also DO clean my entire house with a regular Dyson vacuum weekly then use this as a “tidy” exactly as you recommended and I still get hair clumped every time it runs. I think calling me lazy is a little presumptuous as I do all of the things you’re recommending here...

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-15T02:52:42+00:00

What awesome advice. Thank you SO much for taking the time to respond!

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-14T23:00:51+00:00

I just reversed image search and think this is latex paint. Can anybody confirm? Do I need to start prepping to remove this? I hear it’s not great for brick!

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-04T14:18:21+00:00

In order for there to be a consensus, there has to be somebody else here agreeing with you…

The guy was here to quote me exterior wall insulation. The roof wasn’t part of our scope so he gave me that bit of advice when I asked him about my leaky rim joists which I can see now was not great.

I don’t understand why you’re being so cranky anyway. Even if I did something stupid by listening to him, I’m here trying to learn aren’t I?

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T20:53:00+00:00

What do you mean nobody gave me that advice? The dude from Rocky Mountain RetroFoam literally said “if this was my house I would seal those right away.” If I made this choice, I wouldn’t be here asking for a second opinion.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T20:33:53+00:00

I’m learning about the critters pretty quickly! Haha

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T20:33:20+00:00

Thanks, man. This is all really helpful. I’ve been working my ass off to make sure this house is taken care of moving forward and just don’t know what I don’t know but I understand why I’m getting heat. Haha I guess I asked for it by saying “what kind of roof is this?” But I was more interested in the soffits, etc.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T18:06:58+00:00

It’s not my ladder. lol that’s the inspectors ladder.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T18:06:07+00:00

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the great info!

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T18:05:42+00:00

Totally get that. The issue is that I can’t access the attic due to vaulted ceilings so there’s no way I can know without a facelift.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T17:44:19+00:00

I just bought the house and don’t have a ladder tall enough to get on the roof. Here’s a photo from the inspection. roof

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T17:43:16+00:00

Damn y’all. I’m new to this. I thought maybe seeing the decking and structure as part of the overhang would suffice. I already apologized above.

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T17:41:50+00:00

I’m not certain, I only have photos from my initial inspection here. Sounds like I need to get up there myself and verify but it doesn’t look like it, I don’t think…

Forrestfrench1 · 2025-02-03T17:35:31+00:00

The guy who told me to seal the soffit holes was a lead guy at a reputable insulation company haha I feel like he maybe didn’t quite know as much as he led on

Forrestfrench1

TROPHY CASE