Home Improvement

lurkingdirk_sl said:

For the love of all that is holy, don't stain it! Pressure wash that thing clean, and clear water-seal it. That's a short, easy process, do it every other year depending on tree/sun coverage. You stain it, you're going to have flaking colours, uneven coverage, har\d time finding the same colour a few years later...
I'll never stain a deck again. I had it at my last place.

Click to expand...

I think I need to stain mine. Here is a picture of my initial power washing attempts and even though it looks much better on the power washed side it still looks... washed out? Not sure what the word is for it. You can also see where I learned to not use such a high setting on the power washer!


Still my Power Washer is only 2000 PSI so it's going to take awhile to power wash all of my fencing and I haven't seen three consecutive warm days let alone sunny rain-less days to even think about applying the stain or stain/seal combo. Still I can start power washing now and hopefully decide on seal or stain & seal in a few weeks.

Rent one of the super great power washers. It isn't that they are more powerful, just that they can present the same amount of power over amuchlarger area, making the washing take a fraction of the time. Get it all looking pretty good, then keep it up with your own pressure washer ever other year or so.

Frankly, I even prefer the greying wood look to a shitty, coming apart stained look.

I don't mind staining once a year or few years, the deck isn't big, it's certainly not 10k square feet. Just want it to look nice. Surprisingly my wife doesn't care about it, but she also doesn't care about wood rot. Or leftovers.

Noodlemod_sl said:

my wife doesn't care about [...] wood rot. Or leftovers.

Click to expand...

How are you able to remain married to such a barbarian?

smh

Ill post more in here later but wanted to thank you guys for the help with my patio a few weeks back - its about 90% done (mostly I just need to buy some dirt and mulch and tidy up) and im feeling good about it

Oblio_sl said:

The house I am buying is awesome but it is also a fucking nightmare. Built in 1977 and all original so there is a a massive amount of updating to be done. However, before I can even touch the inside I need to make it look purty on the outside...it needs roof, paint and yard work. I am sure I will be frequenting this thread for advice in the coming months and years as this house will not be an overnight project.

Today I am looking for some advice on a lawn mower. The whole property is 1.2 acres and I would guesstimate that 1/3 of an acre is grass that needs to be mowed once every week or two. My father in-law advised I buy a riding mower but I think I would rather get some exercise from a regular mower. I would like to keep the purchase to a high of $500 and preferably lower like $300 but at the same time I do not want to buy a cheap piece of crap. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

lurkingdirk is trying to kill you.

Get a middle of the road piece of crap that you replace every 2 years.

They've actually got some pretty nice self-propelled standing lawn mowers that you could get for a little bit shy of 500. But I'd still go for the 150-200 version every 2 years. But I have a habit of letting my yard go a little bit tall before I cut it, which overheats lawnmowers and kills them early. Even the nice ones.

I would say to make sure the mower you get is a mulching mower, but it seems like they pretty much all are anymore. Bagging is dumb, mulch that shit up and let it drop on the lawn to reabsorb the nutrients. Mulching mowers are damn nice for dealing with leaves in the fall too. I'd much rather push the mower around the yard than rake.

We just have a self=propelled Husqvarna from Lowes, and it's been great for 4 years so far, and I haven't done a damn bit of upkeep to it other than getting the blade sharpened. And I've even mowed grass several times that's so long that it clogs the mower to the point of completely stopping the blade and it hasn't burned out yet.

The price discrepancies are mainly just going to be your blade length. The bigger the blade, the more you can mow at once. I just have a 21" blade and it was around $250 or so, but going slightly larger probably wouldn't be a bad idea if you have a really big yard. My whole lot is only like 1/3 of an acre, and a quarter of that is taken up by house & driveway, so it only takes me about an hour to mow with a 21" deck.

I have had really good luck with Craftsman mowers from Sears. Priced well, and last a long time.

Y'all mothafuckas ain't even trying to sell a bro on the best brand ever?

I bought a $400 self propelled Honda and the thing is a fucking beast. Mows grass like it killed its fucking kids.

Noodlemod_sl said:

Mows grass like it killed its fucking kids.

Click to expand...

I don't get this. Do people who have killed their kids mow grass better as a result?

Khane_sl said:

I don't get this. Do people who have killed their kids mow grass better as a result?

Click to expand...

If you're willing to mow down kids, how could grass be any obstacle at all?

Ahh yes

I'm going to get this one when it goes on sale.

Toro SmartStow Mower

The way this stores just makes sense.

Sorry for the confusion I meant it mows the grass like the grass killed the mowers kids

Well, that totally clears it up.

Speaking of mowers, anyone sharpen the blades themselves? What do you use? I figure mine needs a sharpen

Noodlemod_sl said:

I may have asked this before, so I'm sorry if I have.

Our house came with two brand-new decks (side door and back porch). They're unstained and I'm looking to do that this year. Someone recommended doing a power wash on them and then doing the staining, is that the best route? They're fairly dirty, but I don't know if after 1 year of use it is really necessary or not.

Also, do I just buy stain and go to town, or is there anything I should put on before/after the staining process? Obviously never done this before. Any good brands to look at? Probably looking for a deep cherry color, since we have red shutters/doors.

Click to expand...

I'm actually doing this within the next few days. The wood is old and fucked up.
Rent a power washer with enough power to "sand" the wood down. Gas powered.
Learn hot to use it, keep the nozzle 12 inches away from the surface. Clean up every surface.
Then you can go and buy a stain and sealer all in one and just paint brush/roll everything.

Do it on a day where after you wash it down and it dries out, you have dry weather to do the stain.

Ritley_sl said:

Speaking of mowers, anyone sharpen the blades themselves? What do you use? I figure mine needs a sharpen

Click to expand...

Tried once. Take them to a shop; three blades for $20.

Guess it depends on where you live. I live in the south and I can't imagine mowing even a 1/4 acre with a push mower. Right now my yard at one house in 2.5 acres and it's rained all week, by the time it stops raining and dry enough to mow the grass will be over a foot tall since it's spring and I mowed it the day before it rained. Probably have to be mowed with the blade way up and then mowed again at finish height.

I haven't seen anyone mow a yard bigger than one of the lots that have enough grass total to park a car on at most with a push mower in probably 20 years, maybe more.

Those that have an in between size yard normally pay a service to do it and they will mow down an entire side of the street at once with a ZTR.