Good morning!!!!

[PJSprog]

PJ. We found Lowe's contractors to be the high priced guys. Last estimate we got was 1/3 material and 2/3 labor. Ordered off their measurements but layed part of it ourselves and then hired another guy to finish. Come to find out he lays floor for Lowe's but also subs out on the side. He layed 2 bedrooms in under a day. Said bathroom might have pressed him into 2 days. But labor bid from Lowe's was over 6k. He did it for $400.

Yeah, I agree, they're not the cheapest around. However, part of our decision was based on our carpenter getting ready to start a new home build. He's very busy, because he's very good and very reasonable (built our sunroom for half of what everyone else quoted). With that in mind, we thought we'd go ahead and give Lowe's a shot at installing the stuff we bought from them. Our guy was OK with it, too, because it gave him a jump into the new construction before having to come back and work on our walkout basement.

As I noted before; we've filed this one in the lessons learned drawer.

 

[sodamo]

So here is a drone pic of my solar panel upgrade.



Not finished, but may be the last drone pic for a while. Very pleased with the production with my new batteries. Generator hasn't run in 4 days

The Easterly tilt of the end panels is an attempt to gain a bit morn early morning sun. Unfortunately some trees have grown over the past 10 years and I start losing production on the west end about 3pm.
Eventually, I might have to seriously consider topping that line of trees, but a major undertaking.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

PS: Y'all should have seen my redneck vacuum press. I used a contractor trash bag, AC vacuum hose, and duct tape! It worked like a charm. My truck AC condenser was straighten out in no time.

Rednecks rule, Cajun! Wonder if something like that would work for a bowed out tailgate? What did you use to pull the vacuum?:confused3:

 

[txdon]

Kyle, are you sure that the fish isn't one of those 3" minnows held close to the camera.

Where did you get your SpeedQueen. My wife was doing some research and just this morning said that that is her next washer.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

That picture is a real keeper, Kyle! And that fish looks to be about half the size of your boy. :laughing: You guys eat that fish, or let it loose to make more?

Maybe the trick to finding good work is to use small companies where there's less room to pass the buck. The people contracted through either Home Depot or Lowes are not direct employees, and I imagine that as such accountability suffers when things go sideways. I know I've never been impressed by the employees at either place, nor their managers. No one seems to give a hoot about their customers, the ol' shoulder shrug stare-at-the-floor routine being the standard response to difficult questions. That said, how did you find your small contractors, PJ? Did you try the Angie's List type services on the web?

 

[riptides]

Here are some Silo shots. Note the tree coming out of the middle of it. Most unfortunate as it is going to take some daring to get that out of there. I had hoped on a platform at the very top for sky watching, flying activities and general fun factors. I will get an engineer out this summer to gauge the support value of the structure.

One shot is during the cleanup effort, I think that's the second pile of trees to come out.

The other shot is the rough grading in progress. This is were I found most of the concrete pad and the metal roof panels. LOL.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Note the tree coming out of the middle of it. Most unfortunate as it is going to take some daring to get that out of there.

Visions of long extension ladders and pole saws leap to mind, then my knees start knocking together at the prospect of actually getting up there to do it. Maybe money well spent on a tree service for this job?

Regardless, looks like it's coming out real nice, and having that gound available again has got to be a great feeling!:thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

Thomas, I think making maple syrup from one's own trees must be very satisfying.
A very direct connection to your land. Vertical farming.

......................................
Indeed,family event.

 

[PJSprog]

..., how did you find your small contractors, PJ? Did you try the Angie's List type services on the web?

The HVAC guy has been servicing her Grandmother's system for a couple of decades, so we just stayed with him. Good guy. The carpenter we found by referral, and just kind of fell into our lap. Someone my wife used to work with (when she was working in the construction industry) had used him and recommended him, so we called and asked for a quote. After finding his quote considerably lower than others, we started asking around about him. We found nothing but high praise from everyone we asked. Even our HVAC guy said he's worked with him a lot and is impressed with him. He retired from the construction industry several years ago and started working on his own with his son. They enjoy a stellar reputation around our area. Even my Wife's cousin's husband, who runs his own small construction company, said the guy is very well-respected. We let him recommend a local plumber and electrician, guys he prefers to work with. The electrician has been a bit flaky at times, but he's done nice, professional work.

We really kind of got lucky in not having to do long, involved searches for good people.

 

[Mousefield]

[QUOTE Mousefield, are those herring bait/chum fish or the kind in the Vita herring jar with sour cream and onions? I like those...[/QUOTE]

Think they send the Roe to Asia, the fish are great eating. Used to catch them when I was a youngster in Victoria, fishing line would have 8-12 fly hooks on it and we would jig for them. People would line the bridges and fish from there. Some would get a good size bucket full.