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Home Improvement

Various topics related to home improvement.

Raspberry Bare Root Canes – Failed Van Zyverden Heritage

Original Post: 6/4/16 Update 4/15/17 Note from 4/15/17: To be fair to Home Depot, I was at Home Depot last week and noticed a large supply of bare root raspberry canes that had plenty of healthy green leaves on them.  I’m not sure if they are provided by the same company (Van Zyverden), but the display looks pretty much the same as last year.  I clearly must have gotten one… Read More »Raspberry Bare Root Canes – Failed Van Zyverden Heritage

Raspberry Shortcake Plant Review

Original Entry – May 22, 2016 Update #1 – July 23, 2017 (Minor Update #2 – May 1, 2018 – Plant survived a second outdoor winter – growing leaves on the floricanes and growing new primocanes too!) (Minor Update #3 – March 25, 2019 – had to replace some broken links) (Minor Update #4 – August 13, 2022 – New photos – This plant is awesome!!!) (Please note that Brazelberries… Read More »Raspberry Shortcake Plant Review

Weber Genesis Grill Cookbox Cracked Near Hinge

I have to say that Weber is an amazing company.  When I bought our Weber Genesis E-310 grill a few years ago, we spent quite a bit more money than other no-name grills that had similar size.  I’m extremely happy that we went with the Weber, especially after dealing with their customer service. On Memorial Day, my wife is doing the grilling and she says that the lid (I learned it… Read More »Weber Genesis Grill Cookbox Cracked Near Hinge

Garage Door Spring Repair

We had a power outage and so I had to pull that red handle to release the garage door from the opener. I’ve done it once before without any problems. This time, though, I was able to get the door open just fine, but the door would not stay up. I had to have someone hold it while I backed out the car. Then, when I went to lower it, it only would lower half-way… Read More »Garage Door Spring Repair

Battery for backup sump pump – testing and replacement

We had our sump pump system redone after basement flooding issues in 2009.  One of the upgrades was putting in a more powerful back-up sump pump.  Our plumber used one that is comparable to the Zoeller Aquanot II pedestal pump.  It will run off of the AC wall current when we have power, but runs off DC current from a large battery when the power is out. These types of… Read More »Battery for backup sump pump – testing and replacement

Precor Elliptical EFX 5.23 Clicking Noise – Fixed

A few years back, we decided to get an Elliptical for exercise.  My experience with exercise equipment has never been good.  I’ve had an exercise bike and a treadmill in the past.  Other than the occasional use for their intended purposes, they seemed to mostly get used as a place to hang wet clothes to dry.  Not really the best investment. Mrs. F said that this was going to be… Read More »Precor Elliptical EFX 5.23 Clicking Noise – Fixed

Storm damage to pear tree – how to repair

We had a bad storm here recently, and one of our trees lost a giant branch.  I’m no arborist, but Google is my friend.  I knew it was a pear tree, and after doing some reading, I’m fairly certain that the damaged tree is a Bradford Pear tree.  If you do a Google search, you’ll see all sorts of information about them, most of which is negative. The reason Bradford… Read More »Storm damage to pear tree – how to repair

Basement Flooding Remediation – drying it out – Part 2

Continued from Part 1 – on becoming a basement flooding expert… As I was out of town when the basement flooded, the first thing I did was call our homeowner’s insurance which was Allstate at that time.  The woman who answered was super friendly and said I don’t need to worry and should do whatever I could to clean up the basement now so that I won’t have bigger expenses… Read More »Basement Flooding Remediation – drying it out – Part 2

The beginning – and dealing with a bit of mold

Yes – I would say I qualify as an expert in basement flooding.  Not quite an expert in PREVENTING basement flooding, but maybe someday I will be there. This all started about 5 years ago when I bought a house that had basement flooding issues.  Of course, the previous owners said the flooding occurred because there was no backup pump and there was a power outage. It wasn’t until I… Read More »The beginning – and dealing with a bit of mold

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