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I moved into a new apartment two weeks ago, and I finally had some time to go to Home Depot today. Lo and behold, I now have...
1) Brand new vegetable sprayer 2) Better shower head 3) "Private" toilet seat (my old one had the pee space in the front)
Ahhh. Course, these are very simple fixes, requiring nothing more than a pair of pliers and a screwdriver. We'll see if I get the courage to try more daring things.
Anyone else have cool home improvements they did on their own?
I also helped my landlord install the new stove hood last weekend. He was doing fixes around the apartment, and realized he needed a little help. It was pretty funny when I had a power drill and he didn't. ------- Edit: Sniff.
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What I really want is to replace the kitchen faucets. But i'm pretty sure that would require a professional... right?
Also, two of my windows take a great deal of strength to open... they're wooden frame windows with wires going up the sides for tension. Can I fix this or no?
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Kitchen faucets are pretty easy to do. Just expect a leak somewhere that will have to be addressed when you're done. No matter how careful you are during installation, there will always still be a leak somewhere.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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We installed washer/dryer hookups in our kitchen. I drilled a 4" diameter hole through our outside wall to install the dryer vent. Seeing as how our house has a solid brick exterior, that was no small project.
Prior to that, we put up a new piece of wallboard and mudded and taped it ourselves.
We de-wallpapered our living room and are in the process of cleaning the walls, priming, and painting in there.
A few days ago I downloaded plans for building a sandbox.
I think the area where we just aren't making much headway is our lawn. I just don't know how to get a healthy lawn going, especially in the heat of summer with no sprinkler system. Plus, we just don't have enough time to be out there working it every day. I'm desperately fighting just to keep the weeds from taking over. Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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you can make a "poor mans" sprinkler system with a couple of cheap rotary sprayers and a couple of connecting hoses from walmart for probably $25 or less. yes it isn't as pretty as a subterranean system, but it is still better than an ugly lawn.
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I've become an expert on sprinkler repair over the last 5 years. The previous owner had his son, who owned an irrigation company, install an underground system.
The son was an idiot. I've had to :
replace the well, which was too shallow
replace the pump, which fried when they well went dry
replace the corroded electric line from the timer, because he didn't use underground line
replace many heads because he installed them right on the main lines and they snap right off if you step on them
spend hours finding bad valves because he didn't put them all in one place, they're buried all over the yard with no markings
Luckily, I work for a company that does drilling work, so I got the well put in for free. afr, if you ever put in your sprinkler system, feel free to email me with any questions. I'm not a professional, but I've learned a lot of things the hard way.
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One of the best thing I learned about lawns is that you should water them mostly in the mornings and evenings. Some people do it toward that middle of the day and most of the water simply evaporates and never reaches the roots. Also, raise the blade of you mower to at least 2 inches for the summer. Believe it or not you won't have to mow it as often if you let it grow that long. Also, the roots grow to about the same length as the blade, so if you mow to 1 1/2 inches, your grass can't hold as much moisture and will wilt in the summer sun easier.
Last but not least, put lots of nitrogen down on the lawn; most fertilizers are nitrogen, and go a reasonably good job of keeping the grass growing. Don't put too much down, and don't do it if the forecast is for excessive heat. Spring and Fall are the best times for it.
I worked for Chem-Lawn for 2 summers, so I learned a bit about lawns...too bad I don't have one of my own....
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