Fruddled Gruntbugglies

Category: House

  • Chores Chores Chores, and a Broken Timer Switch

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    Today was a “get stuff done around the house” kind of day, where I basically knocked as many items off my to-do list as possible. Among the fun stuff accomplished:

    I finished winterizing my chipper/shredder, pressure washer and trimmer. The chipper/shredder takes the most time, because I like to break it down, clean debris out of the blade housing, inspect the blade, and lubricate the metal flails. I also clean it off with a blow gun. For the others, it’s just a matter of adding some oil to the cylinder. I like to do this particularly with the chipper/shredder and pressure washer, because they can go long periods of time without being used.

    I drained 2-3 inches of water out of the pool, to get it back below the tile line. This is one of those thankless busy-work type winter chores. However, I’ll take this any day over a pool that is losing water. This winter, I decided to just pump the water back behind the deck, rather than running it all the way out to the side street. It’s much less of a hassle. I thought it would be faster, too, but it still seems to take forever. Best guess is around an inch an hour with my dinky 1/6hp utility pump.

    I noticed that our timer switch, that controls the front porch light, had stopped working. I only noticed because I happened to drive by the house around 2:30pm, and noticed that the porch light was on. I checked the switch and find the display said “No Op”. The switch is basically dead, and the light won’t turn off. I checked the trusty internet, and apparently these switches are basically garbage. Wish I had checked before I bought it. It’s a bit of a surprise, given that I’ve used lots of Intermatic products before, and generally been happy with the quality. However, this particular model seems to be a dud. Which leaves me without a timer for the front light. I pulled the switch out, so the fixture would go off. I guess I need to find a new switch. The challenge with this particular setup is that it’s a 3-way switch, and let me tell you, 3-way timer switches are haaaaard to come by. I have a standard single pole timer switch that I’m not using, so for now I may put that in and just forgo using the remote switch (we never use it anyhow). Long term, I may check into an X10 type switch, but there’s a limit to how much money I’m willing to pour into this. If a working 3-way setup turns out to be cost prohibitive, I’ll probably just live with the single pole.

  • Leaf Patrol

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    Yesterday, I finally finished up this year’s round of fall leaf removal. After 5 go-arounds with leaf removal on this property, I’m getting better at it, but the process could still stand some improvement.

    The bulk of the leaves fall in back of the house, with the Tulip Poplars starting earliest, and the Oaks finishing up last. The Tulip Poplars start dropping leaves in mid to late August, creating an ongoing chore of clearing leaves from the pool, pool area and deck. The rest of the trees are better behaved, and drop their leaves in November.

    Up to now, my leaf removal equipment has consisted of: Toro electric blower/vac mulcher, push broom, rake, and an old chipper/shredder (rescued from my parents’ garage).

    Now, the Toro actually does a really nice job. I use it in vac mode in the summer, to clean up around the pool area without blowing debris into the pool. The blower does a good job clearing off the deck and other paved surfaces. Its only problem? The cord. It’s a pain maneuvering the cord around the pool fencing and trying to keep it from falling in the pool. This past fall, I tried using the blower to clear some grassy areas, but my extension cord was too short. My solution for next season: I’m going to upgrade to a gas powered blower/vac, probably an Echo ES-230. I’m hoping it’ll work as well as the Toro, without the cord.

    The next big issue is removing the piles of leaves from the property. This year, I mulch/composted a bunch with the chipper/shredder, and put a bunch more out for yard waste pickup. I’m really looking for ways to make this process more efficient, because it’s long, hard work. The chipper/shredder has a ramp that you can lower to the ground, and rake leaves right up into the unit. I used to use this, but this year I found it was faster to just grab a big armload of leaves, and slowly drop it into the hopper. After a few tries, I got it so that I could do this without clogging up the intake. Still, this takes a long time. A bigger chipper/shredder might help. I’ve seen yard sweepers (Agri-Fab seems to be a popular brand) selling for $200 or so at Sears and Lowes. Still, with the amount of leaves we get here, mulching them down is pretty much a necessity, or I’d be putting out hundreds of bags a year for pickup. I’d love it if Howard County would start doing a service where you rake all your leaves to the curbside, and they pick them up without you having to bag them. That would eliminate the need for mulching, but they’d probably use it as an excuse to jack up our property taxes again.