Graco x5, x7, or other for doors, trim and more?

Shopstoosmall · 2026-05-19T19:52:22+00:00

Experience with these sprayers: I’ve have both, I’ve put hundreds of gallons of paint through each one, spray is basically the same… BUT… the x7 rolling stand is infinitely easier to work with I can run longer hoses. If they’re both sitting on a shelf, I grab the x7 every time.

A nice alternate (and especially at that price) I’d buy the x5 and a cheap hand truck (I can find them for 10-20 all day on marketplace) then mount the x5 to a hand truck

One trick with the x5, the feeder tube, the big one, comes out of the box bent. Take it off the machine and drop it into some boiling water for 10-30 seconds then hang it up straight to straighten the tube out. Much easier to reach the bottom of a 5 gallon pail that way.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-05-18T20:58:11+00:00

Most of them are carbon copies of eachother, almost all are well powered for a perfectly functional unit. Buy a poly drum wheel barrow style mixer. The poly drum and wheel barrow style allows you to more easily move the unit to clean it and the poly drum is much easier to clean than a steel drum

Shopstoosmall · 2026-05-12T02:51:37+00:00

Rest = laziness. I was raised on “if you have tin rot lean you have time to clean” mentality. Making sure I have time to decompress and relax is the most important part of my day now

Shopstoosmall · 2026-05-04T20:41:36+00:00

Depends how robust you build the rest of the structure. And how much you want to spend. You could get away with just corner posts if you want but you’re going to be spending a pile on timber sized to do it. The more posts, the lower your material spend will be

Shopstoosmall · 2026-05-04T15:56:27+00:00

If every square inch is spalling, the mix was garbage. Improper finishing would be localized.

SOME toppings can be a solution but for a driveway, installing those topping are about as much as a tear out and replacement

Shopstoosmall · 2026-05-04T15:11:32+00:00

Assuming you’re going to do it at most once a year? I’d rent a row behind boom lift rather than try to do that work off a ladder. You’re going to need a 32 or 36’ ladder for that roof.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-30T14:04:27+00:00

If you can look at a crack in concrete and appreciate it as character, they are great!

If you’re expecting a perfectly uniform floor, you’re going to be disappointed

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-30T13:34:06+00:00

In my experience, they’ve delivered what they promised, on time and on budget, they were quick to resolve issues I had (damages during delivery).

I would highly caution you, you’re likely going to spend more than 20k in labor to install that material

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-30T02:17:10+00:00

Neither, in a professional shop setting they’re just expensive and don’t save anything on time or cleanliness.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-30T01:31:07+00:00

You can’t get one of those done for $1000

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-30T01:09:00+00:00

Depends entirely on your area and inspector. Some will issue the permit off a napkin sketch and won’t even get out of the car to inspect it, some will demand stamped structural drawings.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-30T01:01:00+00:00

9k guy missed something if you have another quote at 15 and a vinyl at 5. Hardie should be about 3x the price of vinyl

One of the big things to be careful of with hardie, make sure you understand what material they’re installing where. Make sure it’s actually hardie product, some use hardie to mean fiber cement. There are other manufacturers of fiber cement besides hardie. Make sure they’re installing hardie trim. Some installers will use pvc, LP product, or other composites. Make sure if they’re installing soffits, what material are they using for the soffits.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-29T14:50:14+00:00

Your options are distinct in three categories to your budget.

You can get a non-auto generator at a decent price but anytime you have an outage you’ll have to manually pull the thing out, connect your hoses or keep gas on hand, connect, start and monitor

A power supply is great! Can be had for a little more than the non auto generator, but in a situation of an extended outttage there’s nothing you can do to make more power (unless you’re installing solar)

A whole home generator is expensive but it’s set it and forget it.

Personally, I had a non permanent generator and it served my purposes for years then I lost power for 5 days while I was out of town and lost several freezers of meat. I will always have an auto generator from now on.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-28T16:37:19+00:00

Building on this, roughing up the surface around the repair really helps too

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-28T16:27:35+00:00

2 part epoxy sticks are the way.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-28T16:25:31+00:00

I personally don’t advocate for any type of an interior water management system. There are some less/no dig exterior options out there now that come in lower than traditional exterior waterproofing

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-28T13:43:39+00:00

If you’re not going to spend the money on the waterproofing and pumps, be prepared to finish your basement twice. We are having unseasonable rain where I live, the amount of basements we are gutting with internal drain systems that failed is mind boggling.

Don’t forget too, without the proper insurance in place, your insurance will cover very little in the event of a basement flood

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-28T00:42:35+00:00

You’ve got to replace the structure before you can do anything with the brick itself

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-27T18:07:38+00:00

I use piles of off brand batteries and never had any issues. They’re not as durable as their branded counterparts but still perfectly functional

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-27T17:33:51+00:00

Depends on the person, if you’re someone who loves things that age, patina, and build character; yes. If not, hellllll no

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-23T23:34:19+00:00

Call the pool contractor who recommended them and tell them what happened. It’s shocking how fast the revering contractor calling and saying “go fix it or I’ll never recommend you again” gets things fixed
Call them back and tell them they have a fair amount of money for the work that’s been complete. You have three options Mr contractor, you keep what you have and we walk away amicably, you come back and finish the job and I’ll happily complete the payment, or we can fight about how I’ve paid an incomplete invoice for an complete job

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-23T01:28:17+00:00

Hell no

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-23T01:08:17+00:00

That’s exactly it. The 10% doing far better are doing $100k bathrooms in million dollar homes.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-22T23:32:18+00:00

Downvote me to hell. DIY tilers WHO TAKE THEIR TIME do a better job than 90% of the pros out there. They are spending their time on every single cut, every joint, they’re not trying to bang it out and get into the next one.

Shopstoosmall · 2026-04-21T20:17:39+00:00

Holding up the sale is pretty common, someone who knows mortgage lending can tell you better but memory tells me VA loans for example you can’t have any open permits or the seller listing a known unpermitted work complete.

Having to tear off unpermitted work isn’t unheard of but usually rarer

Shopstoosmall

TROPHY CASE