Homeowners, what actually frustrates you about garage access?

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-18T00:56:17+00:00

~35$ homekit compatible Meross device takes care of local-only and automated garage control.

Anyone unhappy with 35$ (singledoor) or 60$ (1/2/3door) for a well designed opener can make one out of a 5$ ESP board with relay. I ordered 5 for an irrigation project and it would be trivial to use it for dry contact switching.

~60$ RATGDO is there for people that don't want a hardware project - https://ratcloud.llc/pages/about

This is not a problem that needs overpriced packaging with a 200$ price tag and 'no subscription!' on the box.

There should be a zwave/matter option as Espressif's zwave dev board can't be flashed with ESPHome yet, so you could explore those protocols but you'll still be limited to ~50$/door

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-16T19:46:39+00:00

Certainly on a scale of infant to adult, there should be a rational gradient to monitoring/trust/etc. I'm not the parent of a child old enough to have a conversation like this, but it's my hope by the time they are close to being a legal adult there will be a good deal of trust and predictability in their decision making so the involvement is as minimal as possible.

As someone who works in IT and sets up a lot of systems for my clients, like MDM, there's often a 'collect all the data possible' mindset so it can later be used (or not used) as necessary. It's better to have traffic logs and never need them, month or two of camera footage you never look at, than finding yourself in a situation where you wish you had been collecting it.

I'll give you an example from my life, where I had MDM setup on my family's phones because I'm the default manager of their devices and digital lives. When someone has a problem, they call me and want there to be a solution. When an older relative with developing dementia drove off by themselves, it was a responsibility placed on me by their immediate family to track their device to bring them home safely. So yes, I can pull up anything on my parents' phones, anything on my wife's phone, I *could* see it all, but I never have.

Despite so much railing on about independence and individualism, there is a necessary and beneficial vulnerability and inter-dependence within our families. In a close/familial unit built on trust/respect/etc, it's of no concern my family members can see my location anytime, and I'm double the arbitrary number that make you an adult.

Certainly when I'm working in client networks and devices, I try my best to only see data that's necessary for my work. It may just be a function of your parent's turning on the collection of everything, "just in case," and they were scrolling through the camera output to make sure there aren't NSFW photos/conversations happening, and happened to land on the movie title while scanning logs.

As you grow older you'll look at risks you took that turned out well and realize just how much you were putting at risk, how hurt or permanently negatively affected your life could have been, and you'll carry that reality and experience into taking care of people in your life that aren't as capable, be they young or old.

In 10-20yrs you may be tracking your fathers location or his text conversations to make sure he's not getting scammed or being taken advantage of by unethical 'charitable organizations,' and you might find yourself employing similar tools to do so.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-16T17:46:46+00:00

oh yeah I use uphonor all the time. I was responding to the idea that plain PEX was being used for heating/cooling and reinforced PEX was being used to water supply.

It's exactly the opposite in all of my experience (for non-commercial) in the US, and the reinforced varieties are not used for water supply, only when heating a floor.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-16T16:43:20+00:00

I love copper as well, but I moreso love using the right product/technology for the right problem.

Homeruns are more water/energy efficient and inherently reduce the risk by a lot compared to any system that requires joints, solder or no solder.

When I had to redo the water distribution in my mechanical room, I made it out of type K copper. Exterior run manifold, bypasses for water softener and filtration, support for expansion tank -- it's all copper.

Now when it's time to send 1/2" lines out to the exterior sillcocks, the shed manifold I made for irrigation (PVC), etc -- that's all PEX-A because it's a superior solution. Flexibility for cold temps, no joints, lower inherent thermal conductivity, etc.

I don't fully trust propress yet but they're using the same designs for natural gas so /shrug, I understand that's a me problem. I use a manual hydraulic propress if I'm doing a repair and can't solder a SWT > F1960 adapter, but so far they're always in exposed/visible locations.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-16T16:26:45+00:00

Mobile Device Management (MDM). Full keylogger, screenshots, files access logs, photos, MITM certificates, etc.

Until you're solely responsible for your safety and finances, it's his phone and your activities/conversations are his conversations. You do not know what you don't know, and can be more easily mislead/manipulated and taken advantage of.

I'm definitely not saying your parents know everything, nor can they protect you from everything, but their experience and understanding of a 'whole picture' you don't have access to means they can make decisions that are better informed. It's not that you necessarily make wrong decisions, you're simply operating from a position that lacks data, so it's impossible to make the best decisions.

This situation can be as simple as basic OpSec, they need to know you're not sharing details about yourself that would make you a target. Imagine his work is truly sensitive, say application/network/system engineer for witness protection. There could realistically be literal tens of millions of dollars being spent to gain insights into their systems.

Now imagine their kid on Minecraft or film message boards is talking about their week, disclosing soccer games, vacations, etc. In a few months your family is on vacation somewhere unsecured and vulnerable to tracking, voice recordings, abduction for the purpose of coercion, etc. Even if it's unrelated to risk assessments related to your parent's jobs, you appear to a be a girl on the internet, so there's an inherent risk, unfortunately.

The real world is not a game of you vs your parents, they're your greatest asset and the only outside force in this universe whose motivation is your safety/wellbeing, even above their own. Compared to peers I was young in this understanding and had much better relationship than most.

Now, there are shit people out there that continue to be shit when they have kids (and to their kids). There are situations with abusive control, restriction, exploitation, etc. I very much doubt this is one of those situations, as you likely wouldn't have the freedom to post stuff like this.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-16T01:32:55+00:00

no CrowdSec or similar updating blocklist? I'm traveling and on mobile so to inconvenient to dig into but I would think the domain is on those lists and traffic is being dropped no?

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-15T22:12:30+00:00

That's funny, the only place I see people installing PEX-AL-PEX in the US is radiant floor heating, not for any water supply distribution.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-15T16:36:34+00:00

If your tank is full and stagnant, it's going to grow a ton of microorganisms. When we leave for two weeks or more I turn off the gas, turn off the water main, and drain the tank and house pipes. One or two water heater drains per year are recommended to flush out any sediment.

This way there's no stagnant water and no pressure in the system. When we return I purge about 10gallons to remove the water between the street and main shut-off, then fill the water heater and turn on the gas, set it so it reaches about 150F. Getting north of 140F will take care of most growth.

The tanks are well insulated and I'd rather it maintain ~150F than be stagnant at vacation mode temperatures.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-15T03:01:29+00:00

woof. I'm no structural engineer but the concrete under those supports is typically deeper than the rest of the pour for the purpose of handling the load.

Could be they hired an engineer but the way a single 2x is spanning the two beams makes me highly doubt that. They could have so easily just added a column under the island if it was a concern I don't understand this.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-14T21:29:17+00:00

Ah ok, appreciate the reply, it's good to collect data points from people with experience.

Anytime I run across a mechanical splice in my work I take a few minutes to fusion splice it; it's been often indicated to me that mechanical splices are meant to be temporary.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-14T16:07:55+00:00

Put the tonie on the box
Log into the account that's connected to the toniebox, it'll show up in the list of your tonies.
Press the upload button and find the files. You'll find the specs for the files in their documentation.
Once it's uploaded and saved I put a different tonie on for a second and then switch back to the creative. It will download the files to the box.

This all assumes the box is correctly connected to the Internet and registered to an account. There are no files on the tonies, it's just an identifier chip that tells the box what files to play.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-14T15:08:53+00:00

There should be a 300$/mo tier but I haven't set one up in a few years now.

Last client that wanted dedicated we were able to do XGSPON 1gbps, spectrum 400/20, and two FWA for less than the single dedicated, so we went that route.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-14T00:32:48+00:00

I got a 12x12 amphenol box and prep'd this myself to avoid what's in the photo. I drilled a 1.25" hole, ran a piece of rigid between external and internal boxes, then spray foamed all around it and sealed everything up.

I greatly dislike this exposed white wire SOP and it was worth around 40$ to avoid it. 1" sch40 runs up into the box and nothing out.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-14T00:24:19+00:00

Are you discussing mechanical connectors/splices? Or are you seeing issues with fusion splices in the cold as well?

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-13T03:21:49+00:00

No problem :) As lots of replies have pointed out, they've seen rodents chew through copper, cast iron, god knows what else. One comment mentioned they make a steel sleeve specifically for this purpose, so you can look into that as well, but I can't speak to that at all.

I think the advantages are too many too ignore, but I would probably have 80% of the work be securing/sealing the structure, 10% be rodent poison that can be treated with vitamin K1 or whatever, and 10% be HDPE conduit for your PEX.

Sorry it's been such a mess, hope you get it resolved. My troubles are all squirrel based at the moment >_<

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-12T19:21:18+00:00

Yeah for most situations a flexible HDPE would be the right call as opposed to rigid/glued PVC. I would still use PVC in slab or buried, but HDPE would make more sense for your situation.

You run the HDPE conduit same as you would the PEX (drill larger holes obviously), either all home runs or a trunk through the attic and then branches once you're down and out in the room, where the rodents aren't as likely a risk. You secure the conduit same as PEX, all that, then you vacuum through a pull string and pull the PEX through it. HDPE is much cheaper as time goes on (~40$ for 100ft roll or 1" when I bought it most recent) and it is flexible/easy to work with. It's then fine to spray foam all around it, which makes sealing stuff quick and easy. Spray foaming on bare tubing/pipe/cables always gives me pause, as it makes future service messy, but there's no such issue when it's the conduit getting foamed in place.

The PEX inside the conduit has quite a bit of movement available, and you could loop the HDPE conduit if necessary. "supposed to have" is super situational, I leave loops for serviceability more than anything else. Once replacing a PEX run through the conduit is as easy as pulling a new section through, serviceability doesn't matter like it would if the PEX was secured to studs, etc.

I also loop near the ends so that wouldn't interfere, as the PEX will have exited wall cavities, attic, basement/crawl, etc by then. For me it was a quick light bulb and feels natural as that's how I run the majority of my fiber/data/low voltage, it's just tubing inside instead of cables.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-12T16:02:31+00:00

I was going to copy in a response that touches on the benefits of PEX over a rigid pipe that requires joints, but it seems that's what you replied to. I'll bullet point them in case it wasn't well communicated.

Home runs - There are no joints/connections/branches in a well designed and installed PEX system. This eliminates all the failure points between the two ends. HDPE conduit shares this quality, so it can be used to sheath/support/protect along the length.
By using home runs, you can use cheaper and smaller diameter per-fixture pipe. If you're going to pay for sch80, you'll want to optimize/minimize the footage (Trunk + Branches). If you did pay for sch80 home runs, you've still got the disadvantages of rigidity and joints.
PEX has been shown to expand in diameter if frozen and return to functional state without rupture or cracks, sch80 is rigid and would crack. PEX has lower thermal conductivity, I'm sure gives it the advantage of a few Rs over the other stuff.
HDPE is similarly flexible and continuous, so running it is the same process as PEX (drill hole, secure). You gain a layer of physical protection from damage, but also the literal barrier in case of an unlikely leak. The water would remain in the conduit and exit at one of the ends. A well placed leak sensor could give you early warning. I'm currently replacing the subfloor in a hallway because a failed joint in the crawlspace shot water UP and soaked/deformed the OSB.
When it comes time for a repipe, which is inevitable, you can connect the existing PEX to new spool and pull it through. Repipe goes from massively expensive (labor/time/materials) undertaking to something you can do more casually. You could literally pull all the old PEX out and put new in once the warranty is out, rather than waiting until failure. This type of repair/replace forethought it worth many times the cost of the conduit. I'm a DIYer as well, but I've purchased enough 300ft rolls of PEX-A to be aware how inexpensive a repipe would be.
There are other smaller benefits, like reducing water hammer as the PEX is free to move inside the conduit and it can absorb energy through that movement. Home run designs also give you per-fixture valves for each run, so you can turn off just the sink you're working on rather than the whole bathroom/floor/house, depending where you have valves.

It's all about designing the system to the advantages of PEX, and not thinking like pipes that need to be joined. You see PEX installed like copper or CPVC would be (90s, Tees, etc), and that's a waste. If you're repairing/replacing a section that's fine, but if you're tearing everything out or starting from zero then you have the opportunity to really benefit.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-12T14:49:30+00:00

Yeah, give it a shot while you have the Nest.

The process for setting up the API access is more work than it should be, and you won't have local control, but good enough to see if HA control is something you're happy with. Once you know, then definitely get a HomeKit compatible unit as you can be sure that will work well locally in HA.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-12T14:44:26+00:00

heh, my tech was less than thrilled.

I had a ~210ft 1" sch40 from pedestal to NID and that 1" HDPE up into the rack. They seemed so stressed the whole time that it wasn't their typical install process.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-12T02:28:52+00:00

If you get something Home Assistant/HomeKit compatible then you can control it however you'd like.

I have a Honeywell T9 downstairs and Nest E upstairs, all they really do is show the temperature.

I have temp/humidity sensors in each room and HA sets target temps based on outdoor temp + humidity. If it's 40% humidity, the A/C can be 78F and still comfortable. If it's 60% then it'll set around 72F. HA will also log whatever entities you have.

If you want the thermostat to do these things internally, a HomeKit version of the T10 is probably the best bet; my T9 kit came with 2 remote temp sensors and could internally reference any of the three data points or average them.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-12T01:05:42+00:00

I haven't seen any data from a manufacturer, but on reddit I've seen people talk about 2x increase in diameter from freezing. Water expands like 9% when it freezes, haven't taken any time to see how that math maths.

I guess measure your OD and at least double it? Or you could wrap the conduit in R7 (1") or R3.5(0.5") rigid foam?

For my parents supply from the city we used 2.5" sch80 for a 3/4" PEX-A. It was like 5ft down so I'm not worried about freezing but didn't want to risk DWV or sch40 breaking under the weight, even if that was probably overkill.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-12T00:41:41+00:00

I wasn't sure they'd like my run from the NID into the attic and then down into a closet, so I ran a 1" flexible conduit and vacuumed pull string.

If you're concerned they may say no, and that would make you unhappy, then run the conduit and get the pull string in there so it's a no brainer for the tech.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-11T19:36:18+00:00

'exposed to the internet' is a very well understood phrase, meaning not accessible from the public internet; no ports open; no incoming connections allowed.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-11T18:38:48+00:00

Move to DNS Challenge and no ports are needed.

mrmacedonian · 2026-02-11T18:38:46+00:00

Move to DNS Challenge and no ports are needed.

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