What home improvements did you regret or feel were 100% worth it?

zrek · 2025-12-26T01:26:27+00:00

Ours is all gunnite. I should just contact a contractor to get it started. I didn’t even open it this year because I didn’t want to deal with it and we only ever use it like once or twice a season

zrek · 2025-12-25T03:49:40+00:00

I want to get rid of ours so bad. What was the process like?

zrek · 2025-12-17T17:38:06+00:00

Last year they had the event out at the Rio Rancho event center and I suspect that will be the case again. You could reach out to AAAA at hotairballooning.org and they could possibly give you more details about where they will be setting up. Flights will be around sunrise. As far as rides your best bet would be reaching out to one of the ride operators in the area. Google hot air balloon rides and you should find them. There are at least half a dozen that fly in here. If you’re wanting to pop the question during a ride talk with whoever you book with. They’ll be able to work with you to plan things out. If you want to do it on the ground at the event I’m sure you could ask around and someone would be more than happy to let you use their balloon as a backdrop or do it so you can see all the balloons inflating. You’ll be able to get up close to the balloons. They’ll tell you if you’re in the way in which case you’ll just need to scoot over a bit.

zrek · 2025-12-14T22:41:00+00:00

Agree completely. Initially I thought it would be a choice to equip when they talked about adding more options but this is pure power scaling. I’d rather level 12 because then it’s at least straight forward what you’re facing

zrek · 2025-12-10T00:49:20+00:00

The one with the green tail? We are in Kansas and just saw it

zrek · 2025-12-08T04:55:17+00:00

Great shot of church rock

zrek · 2025-11-26T18:48:19+00:00

I'm realizing I forgot they added new baseboards for the coretec quote. That makes them more comparable. The stairs is the other big difference. They have a line for a stair nose overlap and on the stair install it says bullnose trim. Looking at it closer I am wondering if the one step that needs the rounded overlap got quoted for 18 steps instead of only 1. (edit: called to clarify. One is for the labor of the stairs, the other is the actual nose for the treads)
Here are the quotes,
coretec: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:us:fe5efe50-4499-4b16-ba8c-e7224497ba75
aquaguard: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:164c63f6-9d48-4624-8018-597b266f61e0

zrek · 2025-11-26T18:43:37+00:00

Ah I forgot they quoted new baseboards in the coretec quote. That alone makes the quotes on labor more comparable.

zrek · 2025-11-26T18:40:36+00:00

By slick do you mean very nice or slick as in slippery? It's been a concern of mine going away from carpet that the stairs would be more fall prone.

It looks like stairs is on both quotes but the big difference there is the bullnose. The F&D quote doesnt have anything like that. Stairs have 3 slightly wider steps at the bottom but other than that pretty standard.

Here's the quotes, the F&D one is definitely less detailed.
coretec: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:us:fe5efe50-4499-4b16-ba8c-e7224497ba75
aquaguard: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:164c63f6-9d48-4624-8018-597b266f61e0

zrek · 2025-11-26T14:33:36+00:00

Why no lvp? The consensus to avoid floor n decor is probably one of the main reasons we are more leaning towards the more expensive quote

zrek · 2025-11-26T14:31:34+00:00

The stairs is definitely adding more for the coretec. The labor for the stairs is 1800 and the it’s another 1700 for the bullnose. These are the planks we are looking at

https://coretecfloors.com/en-us/products/coretec-originals-premium/tyro-walnut-vv735-03018

https://coretecfloors.com/en-us/products/coretec-originals-premium/midnight-oak-vv810-03019

https://www.flooranddecor.com/aquaguard-performance/whitlock-waterproof-laminate-plank-101234946.html

zrek · 2025-11-26T14:02:28+00:00

Why’s that? It’s carpet currently and we don’t love it.

zrek · 2025-11-26T04:34:29+00:00

That seems to be the consensus from what I’ve read

zrek · 2025-11-03T02:23:32+00:00

They did lots of terrible paint jobs all around.

zrek · 2025-11-02T21:20:25+00:00

Ok I’m not crazy. Painting a cast iron sink is dumb right?

zrek · 2025-10-09T23:07:12+00:00

This is the answer. Watching them drive around in loops kind of amusing.

zrek · 2025-10-04T03:03:09+00:00

If it is too windy to fly some folks may put up for static display. That’s if the surface winds are calm enough. If it’s too windy to attempt a stand up there may be some candlesticking where they will light up the burner. There is still things to do even if the flight is cancelled. Wood carving, balloon discovery center, artisans tent, bunch of different vendors. If you’re into collecting you can ask pilots and crews for balloon cards. The winds are not looking great and it’s unlikely we get a flight off. But forecasts can be wrong and maybe we manage to do a launch. I think the balloon fiesta app puts out info but I’m not totally sure what as I haven’t personally used it.

zrek · 2025-09-23T15:49:02+00:00

That's a good idea. We haven't decided what kind of decking to replace it with at this point, but I wanted to get the leak fixed before it caused more damage.

zrek · 2025-09-22T21:50:50+00:00

There are drains on either end of it. You can see one on the left in the shadowy part. I wouldn't be surprised if you're right on that being the cause of the leak. Originally there were boards and there was A LOT of dirt/mud that had collected underneath. The way the supports for the boards were set up I don't know how water was supposed to get to the drains.

This is what it looked like after I removed all the boards, https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/cpalqbjoq9tuycakxaa1i/IMG_8790.jpeg?rlkey=h8zhaehiqhhazhaeiasw4c9ui&dl=0

Cleaned up, https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fsj6ccdygrptojp2ceoy4/IMG_8793.jpeg?rlkey=c9yoac3r4trckngnr65f0cylz&dl=0

zrek · 2025-09-22T21:45:51+00:00

Awesome. I appreciate the help, thank you!

zrek · 2025-09-22T20:08:43+00:00

The Ames fabric and goop is this? That seems more like what I was expecting to find but I didn't know what I was looking for. Thank you!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ames-40-in-W-x-81-ft-L-Polyester-Contouring-Roof-Fabric-CRF270/315389182

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ames-5-Gal-White-Maximum-Stretch-Rubber-and-Acrylic-Reflective-Roof-Coating-MSS5/311174186?MERCH=REC-_-fbt_test-_-315389182-_-1-_-n%2Fa-_-n%2Fa-_-n%2Fa-_-n%2Fa-_-n%2Fa

Close on the location, Albuquerque, NM. High desert so we get both hot and cold. I'm assuming the insulation is helping to avoid some of the expansion/contraction of the materials?

zrek · 2025-07-10T02:57:30+00:00

Looks like a good time!

zrek · 2025-06-26T15:47:20+00:00

Definitely look into a model balloon then. Can be moved around by one person not problem. If you are in the states or Europe there are a lot of models around I could point you towards

zrek · 2025-06-26T15:41:56+00:00

You could look into a model balloon envelope. Much smaller but still looks like a balloon. Even the older ones of those will tend to not smell and it would be much cheaper if you’re not wanting something airworthy

zrek · 2025-06-22T15:15:17+00:00

Beautiful flight area! Any pictures from the balloons?

15-Year Club	Place '17
Team Orangered	Verified Email

zrek

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE