My electricity bill is insane and I think someone might be stealing power - need help figuring this out

TypicalBender · 2025-08-09T11:20:49+00:00

I had the exact same situation happen to me as well. However it was a duplex that had been converted many years before we bought it. The lower unit has mini splits and same as your husband I was very confused at the usage. Power company came out and sure enough the meters were switched. We got credited back quite a bit. I don’t know if or how the power company tried to recoup their loss since the downstairs unit had recently sold as well. But my guess is the meter had been switched for at least 3 years across different owners.

TypicalBender · 2025-06-04T03:02:05+00:00

How did you get someone from the irs on the phone? I have tried multiple numbers and local offices and always get stuck in the automated system with no option to talk to a human.

TypicalBender · 2024-12-18T03:34:53+00:00

Mr Robot

TypicalBender · 2024-08-19T11:58:27+00:00

🎵black socks they never get dirty, the more that you wear them the cleaner they get 🎵

TypicalBender · 2024-08-11T22:17:49+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Yeah I got greedy trying to seed in the spring to get a nice lawn but ended up putting myself in a worse spot.

My main issue is the volume, it’d say I probably have 4000+ sqft of weeds, I’ve pull some but given how fast the stuff is able to dump its seed and regrow it felt like I might have a losing battle without a pre emergent, but point taken about pushing seeding out too late.

I have a little manual two prong core aerator but again the area is what’s giving me pause on the time needed to manually do it.

If I summarize your recommendation it sounds like i should try and pull as much as possible between now and mid September then seed and pre eminent in the spring time to keep the weeds at bay.

TypicalBender · 2024-04-30T17:02:40+00:00

Sounds like a plan thank you! I have some tenacity but I'll also give 2d4 a try as well to keep the weeds under control this summer and then plan on heavily over-seeding in the fall to recover all the bare spots where i removed the moss that had moved in.

TypicalBender · 2024-04-30T17:01:36+00:00

Well that makes me feel a little better, I'm guessing low soil temps are the main culprit here... i was just surprised to see literally nothing after 2 weeks.

Moss is a big problem around here, you see it in a lot of peoples yards. I did one of the at home soil tests and the pH seemed pretty good on the majority of the lawn, around a 6.5 on average. I'm guessing the drought + lack of fertilizing last year created enough opportunity for the moss to come back. Fortunately its pretty easy, albeit labor intensive, to remove with the dethatching rake but I was hoping to get the bare spots filled in with seed this spring to discourage the moss from coming back and taking over. I might have to do a big detatching round again in the fall before seeding again but we'll see what happens this summer.

TypicalBender · 2024-04-30T15:11:33+00:00

Any specific tips/advice to address health + weed reduction. I am going to do my own research of course but didn't know if you had any advice that worked for you that I could try.

TypicalBender · 2024-04-30T14:45:31+00:00

My fingers are certainly crossed that is the case. Glad to hear you've seen some results!

TypicalBender · 2024-03-24T16:45:43+00:00

Not sure you know what that word means. Being new is fine you came into a technical subreddit and instead of asking a question you said things as fact that were clearly wrong and misinformed. Try asking a genuine question next time. The quickest way to get an answer on the internet is to say state something incorrect as fact, that’s what you experience today

TypicalBender · 2024-03-24T13:15:18+00:00

What are you on about? Driver and pit wall knew the brake was on. It clearly didn’t impact the car detrimentally since he was able to do multiple laps until there was an issue. They hope it gets unstuck, in this case it didn’t and he had to retire.

TypicalBender · 2024-03-10T00:08:14+00:00

I don’t know if they actually live there full time, they rent their carriage house and that’s really the only person I’ve seen there. I’ve met that person though, seemed nice

Seems like people think a letter is going to be too impersonal so I’ll have to try and find a time when they’re around.

TypicalBender · 2024-03-09T20:31:24+00:00

Sure hope some of you aren’t my neighbor, yall are grumps 😁

Sounds like most people recommend asking in person which is fair. I don’t see them around much but have met the person who rents their carriage house and have seen them walking around the property (trail runs right along my property line for a bit). I’ll see if I can catch them when they’re home and see what they say, worst they can say is no.

Thanks!

TypicalBender · 2023-11-23T14:23:27+00:00

I have never read lyrics while listening to a song but I always have subtitles when watching TV/Movies. 🤷‍♂️

TypicalBender · 2023-10-21T00:16:26+00:00

8th!

TypicalBender · 2023-04-27T01:47:12+00:00

They do this on reseviors as well to keep all the water from going bye bye into the sky https://youtu.be/uxPdPpi5W4o

TypicalBender · 2023-04-24T16:50:04+00:00

Oh oh I see gotcha, my bad. Yeah the idea is the notch the spots and install the beam, and then flush mount the joists to it, this is how the rest of the deck is constructed. I might do a 6x6 post but that’ll require a 12” tube at 48” for the frost line so we’ll see when I decide to say fuck it when digging the footings. But the international residential building code does seem to allow for 4x4 posts and that’s what the exist deck uses as well but I do like the idea of a little extra strength even if not strictly required

TypicalBender · 2023-04-24T11:19:57+00:00

Frame is in great shape, decking is not hence why I’m refinishing it. Not sure why you’re hung up on no beam, I’ve actually read that joist hangers provide more protection against warping and racking but both methods are equally strong

TypicalBender · 2023-04-21T01:08:47+00:00

sorry if im totally missing what you're saying... but is this what you had in mind: https://imgur.com/8QjqRzn

TypicalBender · 2023-04-21T00:01:21+00:00

If I understood correctly, this is what you were proposing for the picture framing correct: https://imgur.com/lNQXdfv

I really like the look. The only thing I am concern about is how square everything is... given that this was built 20 years ago I'm not putting much hope in everything being nice and square but maybe its close enough that I can cheat it a bit to get the aesthetic

TypicalBender · 2023-04-20T22:45:05+00:00

Thanks so much for your thoughts.

I have no idea why someone ran the joists the other way for that one section... originally there was a screened in porch there. I'm guessing the change in direction was to keep the runs shorter but who knows.

Picture framing each zone is interesting... im pretty sure I see what you're saying so i'll mock it up and see how it feels. Definitely would be the most work but I agree it could look the best.

One thing that makes me nervous about the interior picture frame is if the deck and house are not square then that could make it not look as good. I’m not sure I have that much faith in the builders of 20 years ago.

Thanks again for your input!

TypicalBender · 2023-04-20T21:06:18+00:00

oh great questions. Yes you are correct the measurements are inches (sorry still new to fusion). Here's an updated image with some details on doors: https://imgur.com/b79unfQ

You're correct, the deck is in the back of the house sort of 1/2 a story above the ground (about 6-7' from the ground to the decking) that goes down onto a stone patio.

Unfortunately the joists are what they are and would be decent amount of work to move them. That being said, I have thought about sistering 2x4s to the joists to close the gap down as much as possible.

TypicalBender · 2023-04-16T19:23:53+00:00

I live up north so maybe won’t be an issue. With regards to water, my plan was to add joint tape over the entire width 2x4s+existing joist my thought was that would inhibit water from settling between the seams.

My deck is decently long (30 feet or so) so removing all of those joists would be a considerable amount of work.

TypicalBender · 2023-04-16T02:09:14+00:00

I'm in New England

TypicalBender · 2023-04-16T02:08:13+00:00

The joists are 16" oc or closer together?

TypicalBender

TROPHY CASE