What have you done to your house today

Gabe

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Are the boards Trex or wood? If they are wood, do you think with the humidity they are swelling and causing them to shift?

Wood.
The Trex hidden fasteners were left with me by my bro-in-law, he did his deck with the same stuff and his looks good.
I don't know what's up. I can just say "fuck it" and ignore it, but my OCD is having seizures when I see the uneven gaps.
 

EBABlacknChrome

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No railing yet, but thanks, we'll check out that link.
I'm having some issues with some of the board gaps opening up to the point where you can stick a finger in-between.
I used some Trex hidden fasteners, 2 different kinds, one T-shaped plastic retainer and a metal bracket. Both supposed to leave the perfect gap behind. Both going into biscuit cuts that I made into the sides of the boards (using a biscuit cut machine, lent to me by my bro-in-law). I want to pull them and use different hardware. I love the look of hidden fasteners, not face-screwed.
I used a heavy duty ratcheting strap when I installed the boards, to pull them tight. Gaps were great when I was done. Then within a few days they started changing. WTF??

View attachment 73407

View attachment 73408
Not sure exactly why it's doing that but I have a good idea what maybe causing it. Plastic clips if not screwed at the correct angle will allow excessive movement. The boards should have been installed as tight as possible when doing so. With a deck board tweaker. With out looking hard to say. Here's a Concealoc from azek I am installing right now. They actually bite very well if the screw is placed correctly.
86d5a9bfe4f95e6b5f62c88b7c70fb58.jpg


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Gabe

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Not sure exactly why it's doing that but I have a good idea what maybe causing it. Plastic clips if not screwed at the correct angle will allow excessive movement. The boards should have been installed as tight as possible when doing so. With a deck board tweaker. With out looking hard to say. Here's a Concealoc from azek I am installing right now. They actually bite very well if the screw is placed correctly.
86d5a9bfe4f95e6b5f62c88b7c70fb58.jpg


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Thanks, that's Trex though, right?
I used the Trex fasteners with the PT boards, cuz that's what my brother-in-law left for me to use, same fasteners he used in his deck a few years ago. His deck is doing the same thing as mine.
I still don't have railing on it so I might still pull the boards and reset them using all metal fasteners. Still trying to avoid face-screwing the boards since the clean look is so nice.
 

EBABlacknChrome

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No this is a Azek coastline decking. The plastic hidden fasteners suck! These clips could be used on your deck but the camo tool and screws may be a better option now that you have biscuit joints/slots. I have another clip that may work with your current slots. I'll take a pic tonight when I get home. I think I have a whole box of them, they're specific to wood decking with biscuits.

This isn't my usual decks. I do a lot of ipe decking when we do it. If we do plastic, I prefer Azek products but this batch has been a bitch to deal with.
bd33b2536acba98dea135a5415be67b9.jpg


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WJBertrand

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Not today, but had a new roof installed last week. Trying to get all the necessary projects done before I retire.
 

Gabe

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Started building a catio against the sunroom. It will eventually be screened in and with a while bunch of shelves/sitting areas and other things in there for the 2 fur babies to enjoy, outside. Also planning on installing a pet door into one of the window screens above it, and tying in an access to the catio through its roof, so they can go outside almost anytime they want.

IMG_20200805_195550318.jpg
 

AndrewNagle

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Started building a catio against the sunroom. It will eventually be screened in and with a while bunch of shelves/sitting areas and other things in there for the 2 fur babies to enjoy, outside. Also planning on installing a pet door into one of the window screens above it, and tying in an access to the catio through its roof, so they can go outside almost anytime they want.

View attachment 74049
very cool, can't wait to see the finished product
 

WJBertrand

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Not today, but a few days ago completed installation of a new roof and gutters. Trying to get some big ticket maintenance and repairs completed before taking full retirement.
 

JimC

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Hired a new lawn service. The guy we had the last 2 years had a hissy fit last week.

He was supposed to cut 2 Fridays ago, but couldn't make it. So he texted my wife and said he would do it on Monday last week, along with the shrub and tree trimming we've been after him to take care of the last month.
Monday he texted and said he wasn't feeling well and would be over on Tuesday.

Tuesday he texted and said he couldn't make it and would be over on his usual day of Friday.

Friday came and .................. nothing. No show, no text.

My wife texted him Saturday morning to ask what is going on, when can we expect him to come since it was now 2 weeks. He said "you never responded on Tuesday". What were we supposed to do, you said you can't make it and will be over on Friday. Guess he didn't like that response so he said maybe we should find someone else (which we had already started thinking after the no shows this year). So my wife told him no problem -- get us the final bill and let us know how much the credit amount is and when we can expect him to deliver it since we paid already.

New service started and took care of everything. Actually MUCH better work than the other guy. They were recommended by a friend and we are happy with them.
 

skwerl

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I had a lawn business for about 8 years and that sounds about right. Don't blame yourselves. Lawn guys do a lot of work for very little money and tend to get burned out on it. When that happens they will sabotage themselves in order to lose business so they won't be so overwhelmed. Then they don't make enough money so they add more accounts, and the cycle repeats. Middle of August guys are dropping like flies.
 

Snakethat

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I had a lawn business for about 8 years and that sounds about right. Don't blame yourselves. Lawn guys do a lot of work for very little money and tend to get burned out on it. When that happens they will sabotage themselves in order to lose business so they won't be so overwhelmed. Then they don't make enough money so they add more accounts, and the cycle repeats. Middle of August guys are dropping like flies.

Lawn care services is a tough one. Its so cheap. I cant imagine mowing someones yard and trimming for 100-150 a month. Insane
 

skwerl

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I had a bunch of zero lot line accounts that I mowed as cheap as $45-60 per month. Back in the 80's.
 

oldVOR

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Lawn care services is a tough one. Its so cheap. I cant imagine mowing someones yard and trimming for 100-150 a month. Insane

That's cheap, the lawn services around here charge $75 per cut with $25 additional for trim work on roughy 5/8's acre lots
 

Juice

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Up to $75 an acre around here, depending on obstacles. Depending on the mower, it can be done in 30 minutes. I can do my 2 acres in under 3 hours, lots of gardens and obstacles to cut around. Thats with a 48" mower. Sulky helps a lot. lol
I'm guessing it would be a $150-200 per cut cost if I had a lawn service do it.
 

Gabe

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Made more progress on the catio.
I have the door wall left to screen, then the interior shelves/sitting areas, toys, and whatever else we'll cram in there

IMG_20200809_193233155.jpg IMG_20200809_193249518.jpg
 

Gabe

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Cat jail. :(

Yeah. Mixed feelings. Wish I didn't follow advice going with 16" on-center, I was gonna do 24" (probably closer to 26" so as to have even spacing across all studs, the bro-in-law recommended 16".
Now the multitude of studs takes away a lot of the visibility and makes it feel more confined.
But they'll still be outside and they'll experience different air, smells, noises, and other things to check out in there.
 

AndrewNagle

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Yeah. Mixed feelings. Wish I didn't follow advice going with 16" on-center, I was gonna do 24" (probably closer to 26" so as to have even spacing across all studs, the bro-in-law recommended 16".
Now the multitude of studs takes away a lot of the visibility and makes it feel more confined.
But they'll still be outside and they'll experience different air, smells, noises, and other things to check out in there.

Yeah builders love 16" on center but for what you are making an unnecessary expense and as you said too many studs.

Still looking good though
 

86GT351

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Nothing like going into your Garage at 10PM to take the trash cans out the night before. Find Water on the floor coming from the AC Air Handler. Drain had some sediment in it. Had to clean last night. My wife and Father in Law were not very happy with the Air Compressor being on that late at night. Homeownership is so much fun sometimes.
 

tjm73

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Yeah. Mixed feelings. Wish I didn't follow advice going with 16" on-center, I was gonna do 24" (probably closer to 26" so as to have even spacing across all studs, the bro-in-law recommended 16".
Now the multitude of studs takes away a lot of the visibility and makes it feel more confined.
But they'll still be outside and they'll experience different air, smells, noises, and other things to check out in there.

Thing is....cats...they don't care. LOL!! But I bet they will love being outside in it. You could probably remove every other stud and use the removed stud to double up the remaining stud and make it feel more open.

Being in NH and that being near flat roof, snow load could factor heavily. No pun intended.
 

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