(Part 2) Top products from r/homeowners

Absolutely correct. I live in the middle of a ~300acre wheat field a couple miles outside of town, in a 100+ year old farmhouse. Mice are just something you have to deal with.

Sealing up obvious entry points is first line of defense. Next, keep clean. Don't leave food out. Keep dry goods (beans, rice, flour) in sealed containers. We keep our bread in a breadbox.

Use bait stations. Use bait stations. I say it twice because they really do help. You probably want at least two, maybe four. Don't even screw with the little mouse ones the size of your hand, get the big ones for rats. A bucket of bait will probably last you a year or so, depending on how often you check & re-bait them. If you have a large or medium sized dog that likes to chew, make sure the dog can't access them, if they get determined enough they could chew it open. Cats are OK.

Every so often, you'll open a drawer or pick up a box in the pantry and find some mouse droppings or discover it's been chewed up. Don't panic, it happens, set traps. These style traps are the absolute best. Little dab of peanut butter in the reservoir and it's almost impossible to get the bait without setting them off. They last, too - I have some of these with dozens of kills on them. For best results, bait the traps but don't set them, leave for a few days, and re-bait as necessary. Mice get used to a free meal at the trap every day. Then, bait and set, snap! snap! snap! it'll be a mini mouse armageddon.

I actually did speak with our town water department, allegedly new wells should be going online in about 6 months, but in the meantime, it is just painful to deal with the smell. I was wondering if it would be possible to take a filter like this (hhttps://www.amazon.com/Culligan-HF-360A-Standard-Housing-Filtration/dp/B000BQUPZ8) ,
but instead of the carbon filter, put in some slow release chlorine tablets like these https://www.amazon.com/CLOROX-Pool-Spa-22005CLXW-Chlorinating/dp/B00PZZFBUO/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Chlorine+Tablets&qid=1551383674&s=gateway&sr=8-3) so that I am not massively shocking my water to the point where it is dangerous to drink.

I already have one of the filters mentioned before fitted with a carbon filter, but could easily put in another one either before or after the existing one. All of my piping in that part of the house is PEX, and I have all the tools to work with PEX, so another filter would be easy to install, and available at the local hardware store for about $50. I figure I could put in a total of about $100 if all I need is chlorine tablets and a filter housing, along with some chlorine test strips to make sure I am not over-chlorinating.

Any idea if my idea would work, or are the tablets too imprecise to be safe for drinking water?

Another vote for Vornado heaters. Specifically, I've used this one in a couple of different apartments with inadequate heating. It's quiet, puts out decent heat, low profile makes it harder to be knocked over on accident, and it has an automatic cutoff switch if it accidentally does get knocked over.

My parents use a portable oil filled radiator-style electric heater in parts of their house, instead of baseboard heaters. I'm not sure it's actually as cost effective as they think, but I've visited during the winter and the heaters do a nice job of keeping the rooms warm. Theirs look like this one although I'm not sure it's the same model. Pretty sure they got theirs at Fred Meyer during previous winter sales.

We had an epic clog in the bathroom sink once. The prior owners liked to cram hair down there or something. We ended up having to shut off the water to the bathroom, removed the piping, and manually scraping out all the goop and hair in the pipes. Then put it all back together and water test it. Took about 90 minutes and it has worked well ever since.

If you have to go that route get a pair of disposable gloves, one of those plastic drain snakes (about $2-$4 at HD), and a hook and pick set (saw one at autozone for $1.79). Don't forget some plumber's tape(just got some for $0.52 at walmart).

You can use either a big channel-lock pliers or an actual plumber's wrench (usually more expensive) to take apart the pipes, if you need to buy some measure your pipe sizes ahead of time. You will either need 2 of them, one to counterbalance your wrenching, or some other way to hold the other end in-place while you unscrew stuff.

Good luck!

As an aside: the amazon stuff I linked is waay over priced, but it lets you know what I am talking about, and I'm too lazy to find the best prices for stuff in your area.

Some are poorly designed and don't last long, but I've had great luck with this one by Smith that's sold on Amazon.

> would be able to get that back when we sell the house?

You might be lucky to get 50% of the cost if you sell.

If I were you, I would invest the money.

You can paint yourself for a few hundred bucks.

You can refinish the cabinets as well.

The shower will be a lot more work, and unless there's some problem I'd just leave it.

Unless the carpet is damaged, I would hire a steam cleaning service to clean it. I like Stanley Steemer. Alternately, you can buy a high quality carpet cleaner for about the same price as one cleaning, and then you own the machine. I have a Bissel professional that is amazing.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00450U6CS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So ... blow $30k or $1k and invest the rest?

I bought a combination of these two:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YC535Q/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EVO7C2/

I like how they interconnect with each other so that if any of them alert, they all alert. It also has voice alert to tell you where and what type of hazard there is.

I installed 1 combo Carbon Monoxide on each floor of my house, and then the straight smoke detectors in almost every other room.

If you don't want to rent the FLIR, yes, just buy one of these. It'll get the job done. Honestly though, so will your bare hand. If it's making that big of difference, it'll be obvious.

A lot of the homes in my area are on well water. The quality of the water is not necessarily bad, but we do get some sediment (sand) in the water. I used this and it worked great and filters are inexpensive.

It's not all encompassing, but this book is about as close as it gets to in all in one reference. I like it a lot, nice color illustrations and a wide array of topics.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6MRJKRA7GB72XKHXGX00)de: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Yourself-Manual-Newly-Updated/dp/1621452018/ref=pd_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6MRJKRA7GB72XKHXGX00

I've been lurking on the r/diy and r/homeowners for a long time while I was going through my house hunting. [Settlement is August 21... so exciting].

I don't remember the post but this book came highly recommended from a few other redditors. I just bought it and at first glance it looks fantastic for the initial concept of 'what does this mean and what does it entail.

They are extremely helpful, and they sell the same stuff the pros use. Make sure you get a nice sprayer.

I use this one for quick spraying around the house:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YNSAGM/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As for outlets: buy one of these outlet testers. The diagnostic lights will tell you exactly what you are dealing with. If your outlets are 3 prong but not grounded that is not a good situation and how to fix it depends on many variables (Basement vs crawlspace vs slab, attic access, are the boxes grounded but not the outlets). At least the diagnostics will tell you enough to know what you are dealing with and if you need an electrician.

As for checking breakers, I would suggest turning on all the lights in the house. Go to the breaker box, turn each breaker off, one at a time and make sure the label in the box matches what actually turns off in the house. Fixing the labels now might save you a hour in the dark in the future.

Similarly, look at all your plumbing shutoffs. Make sure they are not leaking. Turn each faucet on first hot, then cold, then close the shutoff in the basement and/or under the sink. Label ones you find in the basement, hot vs cold and what room/rooms they feed. Again this tells you if you might need a plumber (or DIY) to resolve some bad shutoffs (gate valves >15yrs old should not be trusted) and can help if(when) you have a serious leak in the future.

Update: when I first saw your comment, I ordered terro as per the suggestion. The first 2-3 days the ants swarmed toward it (I found one of their entrances by a floor heat vent where hot air comes out), then eventually they stopped coming. I thought they all died but after about a week another swarm came and now at present it's looking like they're appearing less. It's been a month since I initially posted/bought this I'm hoping they're getting closer to completely dying.

The box says to replace very 3 months though. I don't think the boxes attract other colonies as well as the smell (pheromones) that comes from the ants when they find food does so shouldn't the boxes be left incase more ants come?

You're certain the fan is on same breaker? In my place, most of the breakers were labeled correctly, but i had a couple of outlets and switches that were tied to other breakers. Also, mine has switches and outlets separate. I believe I have upstairs outlets, upstairs lights, downstairs outlets, downstairs lights. I'm not sure what the norm is for this, but getting a little klein pen tester and tying your rooms/fixtures to their actual breakers in a google doc will be really helpful now and in the future.

This might help: /r/anxiety

But seriously, it'll all be good, dude. I just closed on my first house two weeks ago. The inspection should've covered you on anything major. Your homeowners insurance will be there to protect you from bigger issues. And anything else that goes wrong will be small and fixable. My house is 80+ years old and I'm finding little things here and there that need fixing/tune ups. There are so many resources out there to help you. I bought this book. It's old, but still relevant and can teach you about how things work in your house. Highly recommend. And anything you're not comfortable fixing yourself, ask around for recommendations on local handymen.

Yeah it's these traps. The first one I put in looks pretty full and I've added two more since then.

> keypad is great. Having a keypad with a key backup is also great.

Do we call these "smart locks" though? This Schlage Camelot has this functionality, but no wifi/z-wave/anything connectivity.

Get a book on basic home maintenance and repair, like this one: New Fix-It-Yourself Manual: How to Repair, Clean, and Maintain Anything and Everything In and Around Your Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/0895778718/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_mEEnzbVHQQD74

And get a fire extinguisher for your kitchen!!

I recently did a remodel and added these to all of my bathrooms.

In my case I already had bathroom fans with an on-off switch, so I replace those switches with these timers. This is good both for clearing the steam/humidity out of the room after a shower, and after (ahem) having lunch at Chipotle.

You can buy the one Lowes rents for about $300. I like mine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00450U6CS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is far cheaper than a single unnecessary GFCI receptacle:

https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Receptacle-Professional/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1539193478&sr=8-3&keywords=circuit+tester

Every home owner should have one. Put it in, push button, it'll let you know if it's protected. As I posted above, receptacle needs to be GFCI protected, but there are more ways than one to do that. Not every outlet needs those two little buttons on it.

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Only time ever happened for anyone I know is when we intended it. For example, daring someone to get squirted in the face. That was the day after last Thanksgiving, I'll add. I'm in my thirties. We're all pretending to be adults, I think.

Anyway, it's a narrow stream and pretty much just hits your dirty bits. If you're interested but not convinced, get a cheap add on one for your current home. The Astor bidet linked below is $25 and installs in 15 minutes or less. Try it out.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003TPGPUW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467593353&sr=1-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=bidet&dpPl=1&dpID=31DZfu08OPL&ref=plSrch

Search for a bath overflow drain cover. You can get one on Amazon for $7, or pick one up at Bed, Bath and Beyond and the like. It covers the drain so you can have a deep bath.

Edit: there’s a hole in the top so you won’t run the risk of completely overflowing the tub.

If you go that far, I'd reccomend getting something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Receptacle-Professional/dp/B000RUL2UU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519316688&sr=8-3

It will show problems that you might miss if you are just plugging something in, and it's a good idea to test GFCI too.

Grab an outlet tester. First thing is, it will test the outlet in the moment. But, if you leave it plugged in, you can have a constant visual indicator if the outlet is working (there's a light on it).

But yeah, replace the outlet.

Links: https://www.homedepot.com/c/how_to_install_a_receptacle_HT_PG_EL

https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/how-to-replace-an-ugly-old-electrical-outlet/

• Replace all toilet seats with soft-close models.
  
• Add timer switches to all bathroom exhaust fans (https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-LTB30-1LZ-Incandescent-Resistive-Inductive-5-10-15-30/dp/B002WTC91K)
  
• Add timer switch that tracks sunrise/sunset for lights you want on at night like front porch (https://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Econoswitch-RPLS740B-Programmable-Switch/dp/B004AP92N2)

Or just pick up some of these and don't worry about running a bunch of wires: https://www.amazon.com/First-Alert-SA511CN2-3ST-Smoke-Alarm/dp/B000YC535Q/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=wireless+smoke+detector&qid=1562997929&s=gateway&sr=8-6

https://www.amazon.com/Astor-Non-Electric-Mechanical-Attachment-CB-1000/dp/B003TPGPUW

I think this is the exact product I bought.

https://www.amazon.com/Hangman-Q-Hanger-Release-Christmas-Stainless/dp/B002NEFFHO?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

You have to drill a pilot hole and then thread them into the hole. But they are stainless, not chrome plated, so you shouldn't see rust, at least not for a long time.

https://www.amazon.com/DeLonghi-EW7707CM-ComforTemp-Portable-Oil-Filled/dp/B000TGDGLU

That is very close to what I have and it's been working for over 10 years.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00837ZGRY

> Or, for just an extra inch or two, rotate the overflow drain 180* and caulk it.

Or just buy one of these to throw over the overflow when you're taking a bath.

I would say the Do it Yourself Manual

https://www.amazon.com/New-Fix-Yourself-Manual-Everything/dp/0895778718

No need to call a plumber. Go to Amazon and get a couple of braided stainless steel washing machine hoses and a pair of Channel locks.

Get these hoses

They will outlast the washing machine you now have and the next machine too. Use Channelocks to tighten the hoses and you're all set. For less than $40.00 you're all set and a plumber will charge you at least $75.00 to do the exact same thing and this way you get to keep the Channelock pliers for the future.

> https://www.amazon.com/Hangman-Q-Hanger-Release-Christmas-Stainless/dp/B002NEFFHO?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

>You have to drill a pilot hole

Oh man, someone should have told that to the photographer. Look at the 2nd pic (the one with the hand); they split the board at all 3 visible screws.

If the batteries die, you can use keys, but obviously the pad won't work. I got these for my deadbolts and this for my garage door that didn't have a deadbolt. Took them all to the hardware store when I got them to get them re-keyed so they all had the same key.

this stuff kills them and then dries out their little bodies so you don’t smell the rot. have used it in my 3 family home many times. just be careful if you have pets. def buy the bait dispensers too.