The Home Improvement Thread

I live on three acres, half of which is mowable.  We have so many natural springs on our property, that the entire thing has to be done by push mower only; riding lawn mowers get stuck.  By me . . . I die, every time.  We used to hire a college kid, who would do it with his shirt off, and then he got a real job.  Stupid college influence.

Thanks, obamacare.

WalkOnBack wrote:
We used to hire a college kid, who would do it with his shirt off, and then he got a real job.  Stupid college influence.

Good to know porn has the same story, gay or straight.

I'm pretty sure my favorite story here is sweetcell telling Space to cheat a local business over $7 fucking dollars..

^that was a curveball I wasn't expecting from sweets

vansmack wrote:
I'm pretty sure my favorite story here is sweetcell telling Space to cheat a local business over $7 fucking dollars..

I live in the burbs, not a million dollar condo in a select SF neighborhood. I'm pretty sure my only hardware store option is Home Depot, not a loveable mom and pop. Does that make Sweetcell's deviousness more palatable?

vansmack wrote:
I'm pretty sure my favorite story here is sweetcell telling Space to cheat a local business over $7 fucking dollars..

i was playing to Space's well-known reputation for being cheap.  note that only 1 of my 3 suggestions involved returning something. 2 outta 3 ain't bad.

sweets keeps lowering the bar, this covid is really getting to him

Space wrote:

vansmack wrote:
I'm pretty sure my favorite story here is sweetcell telling Space to cheat a local business over $7 fucking dollars..

I live in the burbs, not a million dollar condo in a select SF neighborhood. I'm pretty sure my only hardware store option is Home Depot, not a loveable mom and pop. Does that make Sweetcell's deviousness more palatable?

A million dollar condo in San Francisco? How insulting!

Yada wrote:

Space wrote:

vansmack wrote:
I'm pretty sure my favorite story here is sweetcell telling Space to cheat a local business over $7 fucking dollars..

I live in the burbs, not a million dollar condo in a select SF neighborhood. I'm pretty sure my only hardware store option is Home Depot, not a loveable mom and pop. Does that make Sweetcell's deviousness more palatable?

A million dollar condo in San Francisco? How insulting!

yeah I think that is eligible for public assistance

Bad news, and i though this might be the case since the mower/battery is only three years old..I put the new battery in, charge it, and the mower still doesn't start up. So it's something other than the battery. So I have an extra $65 battery.

DIY fail. I had originally called the closest B&D service center, but they were in Manassas and there was going to be a 24 day wait. Maybe you can take it to a place that's not a recognized service center and they'll do it? Anybody know? I think i've only had work done on a mower once in my lifetime and don't remember the details.

Space wrote:
Bad news, and i though this might be the case since the mower/battery is only three years old..I put the new battery in, charge it, and the mower still doesn't start up. So it's something other than the battery. So I have an extra $65 battery.

DIY fail. I had originally called the closest B&D service center, but they were in Manassas and there was going to be a 24 day wait. Maybe you can take it to a place that's not a recognized service center and they'll do it? Anybody know? I think i've only had work done on a mower once in my lifetime and don't remember the details.

I'd just let the grass grow all summer.

Can’t you find a passing street urchin to care for all your lawn and chimney sweeping needs like the rest of us?

All of these lawnmower places want $50 nonrefundable for a diagnostic plus whatever it takes to fix it. It's almost like it would be easier to donate the old one and shell out $300 for a new one.

I replaced the string on my string trimmer. 4 minutes.
I cleared the weeds out of the garden. 45 minutes.
I took photos and video of a cool eastern black rat snake in a tree adjacent to the garden. 2 hrs.

I have an old pre-USB non-Smart tv that we still use. The sleep feature seems to have somehow become engaged and the tv shuts off after 5-10 mins. Sometimes it comes back on, sometimes not. Or at least i think it's the sleep feature. I tried unplugging but it's still doing it. Should i trash it or is there a way to fix it?

trash…there really is no way to fix something like that

Only thing to look for is a 'factory reset' button
I assume you've done some web searches with the model number/brand


Although, could be something else…like your kid

my cousin thought it was funny to do this to his dad
bought a universal remote and would go outside and change the channel/volume and watch his dad loose his shit
I never saw it happen, but he for some reason loves bringing up that story

Space wrote:
I have an old pre-USB non-Smart tv that we still use. The sleep feature seems to have somehow become engaged and the tv shuts off after 5-10 mins. Sometimes it comes back on, sometimes not. Or at least i think it's the sleep feature. I tried unplugging but it's still doing it. Should i trash it or is there a way to fix it?

I mean, you can get a new 50 inch smart tv for under $300…

But I can use those $300 for something I don’t already own.


No but seriously making things last is fun and if it still works… now if its not a solvable issue guess you got to upgrade


We recently went from a 32” to 55”…my aunt in law gave us a tv she wasn’t using…it feels great!

The one that is breaking down is one that I found in my neighborhood with a "Free, It works" sign on it. Got a few years out of it,

We have a second Smart TV that we paid for.

And a third larger tv that we picked up for free earlier this year that I haven't hooked up yet.

Likely we'll trash #1 and replace with #3.



Now, if I could just find someone in the hood giving away a lawnmower.

Space wrote:
I have an old pre-USB non-Smart tv that we still use. The sleep feature seems to have somehow become engaged and the tv shuts off after 5-10 mins. Sometimes it comes back on, sometimes not. Or at least i think it's the sleep feature. I tried unplugging but it's still doing it. Should i trash it or is there a way to fix it?

Which port do you stream VHS through?