The Home Improvements Thread (2)

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Stokstert said:
Another problem could be that the pump is running continuously, which will feed hot water to the collector through the night and thus cooling it down. The high temp sensor on the collector might give a wrong reading, thus keeping the pump running when there is no hot water at the top of the collector.
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No, the pump is working correctly. Have all the monitoring in Home Assistant.
 
Not a home improvement question, just a general silly question - you know those breaker switches for ovens/ stoves - do you switch yours off every time after you're done cooking?
 
Sepeng said:
Not a home improvement question, just a general silly question - you know those breaker switches for ovens/ stoves - do you switch yours off every time after you're done cooking?
Click to expand...
These days, yes, always.
Had two blown ceran hobs and one blown oven with loadshedding (both not in use at the time, but power was on).
 
My grass is patchy and brown, Some parts green and lush
How do i fix this? I have tried 2 different composts and wet it ALOT,
its weird... and annoying.

Side note, Roundup on the pavement works amazingly.. just takes like 2weeks

edit- weeds on pavement are not near the patchy grass...not related
 
Sepeng said:
Not a home improvement question, just a general silly question - you know those breaker switches for ovens/ stoves - do you switch yours off every time after you're done cooking?
Click to expand...
Yes, one of my kids hit a knob on the stove whilst carrying in groceries one day. Fortunately the smell of burning plastic alerted us to the stove plate being on.
 
marbro said:
My grass is patchy and brown, Some parts green and lush
How do i fix this? I have tried 2 different composts and wet it ALOT,
its weird... and annoying.

Side note, Roundup on the pavement works amazingly.. just takes like 2weeks

edit- weeds on pavement are not near the patchy grass...not related
Click to expand...
Pics
 
Sepeng said:
Not a home improvement question, just a general silly question - you know those breaker switches for ovens/ stoves - do you switch yours off every time after you're done cooking?
Click to expand...
That switch is called an isolator. Even though it has a rating, it doesn't have any breaking/tripping ability.
A light switch would melt if you used it as a stove/oven isolator switch.
You don't have to turn it off when you are done. If your oven had a clock you wouldnt want it losing/resetting time.

As pointed out, if you have inquisitive small kids who like to turn knobs, it helps to turn off that switch so that kids don't cause destruction.
Also if your stove has a fault, then its easy to isolate to stop the rest of the house from tripping.
 
marbro said:
My grass is patchy and brown, Some parts green and lush
How do i fix this? I have tried 2 different composts and wet it ALOT,
its weird... and annoying.

Side note, Roundup on the pavement works amazingly.. just takes like 2weeks

edit- weeds on pavement are not near the patchy grass...not related
Click to expand...
Need pics.

Sounds like ants are eating the roots...

... or your Garden specialist spilt the Roundup...
 
Fcon_Vpro said:
That switch is called an isolator. Even though it has a rating, it doesn't have any breaking/tripping ability.
A light switch would melt if you used it as a stove/oven isolator switch.
You don't have to turn it off when you are done. If your oven had a clock you wouldnt want it losing/resetting time.

As pointed out, if you have inquisitive small kids who like to turn knobs, it helps to turn off that switch so that kids don't cause destruction.
Also if your stove has a fault, then its easy to isolate to stop the rest of the house from tripping.
Click to expand...
Which south African has a clock on a bedside device, oven or microwave that doesn't flash constantly?
 
marbro said:
My grass is patchy and brown, Some parts green and lush
How do i fix this? I have tried 2 different composts and wet it ALOT,
its weird... and annoying.

Side note, Roundup on the pavement works amazingly.. just takes like 2weeks

edit- weeds on pavement are not near the patchy grass...not related
Click to expand...
Which grass type..?

I had this with Kikuyu.. I had to thoroughly spike/do aeration and remove the dead grass.. Add a good lawn fertilizer, not compost and the patches then grew back in..

What it looked like in my case, is the dead grass doesn't allow new grass to grow, so making room for new grass is the best option..
 
Mannydefreitas said:
Need pics.

Sounds like ants are eating the roots...

... or your Garden specialist spilt the Roundup...
Click to expand...
Thats me! Im the specialist...
i have a small bit of grass, round about 4mx4m .. so no need for a pro. apparently.

I will spike it a bit like @WAslayer suggested, then if its not getting better, rip it out


as for the kind, I aint no garden guy, its green... thats all i know :( it was pretty last year , this year, not so much.

Google tells me its Kikuyu, pics look about the same
 
marbro said:
My grass is patchy and brown, Some parts green and lush
How do i fix this? I have tried 2 different composts and wet it ALOT,
its weird... and annoying.

Side note, Roundup on the pavement works amazingly.. just takes like 2weeks

edit- weeds on pavement are not near the patchy grass...not related
Click to expand...
Scalp it if it's Kikuyu. Cut on your mower's lowest setting and fsck the grass up properly. Then if you have access to one or know where to rent one you can scarify it by removing the thatch. Don't worry, it bounces back.

You could then aerate with a spike roller. And if you so wish you can overseed with proper Kikuyu seed and put down decent lawn dressing with fertilizer and lots of water. That is the process I follow every year in September.

These pics are about 2 weeks apart and this is where I am now. Gonna have to start mowing soon.

After scarifying and verticut.
1695286047129.png

All done with spike roller, overseed and lawn dressing.
1695286127885.png
1695286147476.png
1695286168516.png

And this is now after almost 2 weeks.
1695286198676.png
1695286231151.png
1695286252782.png

And this is what it looks like when settled. If you listen closely you can hear the grass growing. I got a Professional cylinder mower. Best thing ever. I have to mow 3 times a week when the grass is at its peak.

1695286395793.png



1695286572286.png

1695286685537.png
 
Usually, when I mow the lawn I fill up maybe 1 and a half black bags.
After I did my 1st scarification I filled up 6 bags of thatch. You think you don't have thatch until you scarify.

I bought an el cheapo Black & Decker scarifier on TA. Does the job well enough. The only problem is the tines are now worn out and I either need to import the drum with the tines at a price of around 40 euros or import some tines at around 14 pounds for 60 tines.

This is what the thatch looks like coming out of the scarifier.

1695287072200.png
 
marbro said:
Thats me! Im the specialist...
i have a small bit of grass, round about 4mx4m .. so no need for a pro. apparently.

I will spike it a bit like @WAslayer suggested, then if its not getting better, rip it out


as for the kind, I aint no garden guy, its green... thats all i know :( it was pretty last year , this year, not so much.

Google tells me its Kikuyu, pics look about the same
Click to expand...
leroymerlin.co.za

SCARIFIER SOLES, 2 IN 1

1PX SCARIFIER SOLES, BY 2PCS, 2 IN 1
leroymerlin.co.za leroymerlin.co.za

Cheap scarifier.

Honestly, i've never heard off this thing until today. My fok. I'm impressed.
 
W@P said:
Scalp it if it's Kikuyu. Cut on your mower's lowest setting and fsck the grass up properly. Then if you have access to one or know where to rent one you can scarify it by removing the thatch. Don't worry, it bounces back.

You could then aerate with a spike roller. And if you so wish you can overseed with proper Kikuyu seed and put down decent lawn dressing with fertilizer and lots of water. That is the process I follow every year in September.

These pics are about 2 weeks apart and this is where I am now. Gonna have to start mowing soon.

After scarifying and verticut.
View attachment 1590262

All done with spike roller, overseed and lawn dressing.
View attachment 1590264
View attachment 1590266
View attachment 1590268

And this is now after almost 2 weeks.
View attachment 1590270
View attachment 1590272
View attachment 1590274

And this is what it looks like when settled. If you listen closely you can hear the grass growing. I got a Professional cylinder mower. Best thing ever. I have to mow 3 times a week when the grass is at its peak.

View attachment 1590276



View attachment 1590282

View attachment 1590284
Click to expand...
I think i just came...

Thank you!!! I will def be doing this, I see its quite flat too, did you do that, or was it like that when you moved in?

Gonna be a bit of work, but its not as big as your yard
 
Tabac said:
leroymerlin.co.za

SCARIFIER SOLES, 2 IN 1

1PX SCARIFIER SOLES, BY 2PCS, 2 IN 1
leroymerlin.co.za leroymerlin.co.za

Cheap scarifier.

Honestly, i've never heard off this thing until today. My fok. I'm impressed.
Click to expand...
Those shoes may work if you have a small enough lawn or you have an engineer who can walk around for an hour or two.

The drum spike rollers make bigger holes. Better penetration.
1695289345982.png
Tabac said:
@W@P You've got a beautiful place.
Click to expand...
Thankyou very much.
 
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