The Home Improvements Thread (3)

The_MAC said:
Just had the garden sprayed with pesticide to remove a colony of harvester termites, they ate about 50sqm of lawn.

Next step, rehabilitate and/or plant new grass, and if the budget allows, install a 500mm paving border around the half of the house that has lawn right up against the wall of the house (one of my pet hates).

Photo of the little F'ers (in nature, they are actually amazing, so important in the eco-system, not so great for your garden/house):

large_c2933ef11e24e1afbe91049911d9123c.jpg
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That gives me the heebeegeebees
 
marhsava said:
Where are you getting it from and how much are you paying?
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Been quoted R11k for 200sqm. The lawn itself is R40/sqm balance being made up of removing the existing lawn, preparing the area and delivery fees.

Still need to get a second quote.
 
rodga said:
I think 3/4mm normal glass would work just fine in that size be within the regulations, would also cost much less

Edit: unless its for a door/entrance
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Its our house entrance door (not property), in my genius one evening, I fitted a Yale Electroc Keypad lock to it - that you can turn open from the inside, once fitted and admiring my work from outside, I realised someone can just break the window and turn the dial.

(also - remember the reason it broke in the first place, I decided to hold on the eviction and keep him around a little longer :D)
 
TedLasso said:
Talking about pesticides, once a quarter i pay about r2.5k for pesticide control at my place -

1. ant treatment around the house and all paving (they do it twice - 1 week apart)

redo all the rat traps in the garden (about 4) and the house roof etc

put that stuff on window sills to prevent cockroaches and stuff.

Also spray all the skirtings in the house with something


We haven't had issues since I started using them so I guess it's working but is that a fair price? 900sqm property . Also is 4 times are year too much??

Our place is definitely not infested with rats or mice. Ants cause problems now and then.
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Once a year works for me - sometimes only every second year. I generally get it done when I see the problem is getting bad.

I didn't have much luck the past couple of years, three companies later in a span of six months to get the ants under control. The last company (Verminator) - was the only one that actually came back until it was under control (think it was 4-5 visits in two months)
 
Arzy said:
Been quoted R11k for 200sqm. The lawn itself is R40/sqm balance being made up of removing the existing lawn, preparing the area and delivery fees.

Still need to get a second quote.
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Fark , I still don't understand why is grass so expensive,it's just grass
 
marhsava said:
Fark , I still don't understand why is grass so expensive,it's just grass
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I decided to go the cheap route : - two boxes of Kikuyu grass seed at over R800 per box to cover our street grass that was destroyed by Joburg Water and Eskom contractors. Been watering it's for a month every evening for 8 mins or more (depending on what the evapotranspiration rate is, etc). Got my council bill and eish , 45kl used in the last month. We usually only use 13-14Kl.

Wondering if buying fully grown grass would have been cheaper. Definitely would have looked nicer.
 
xrapidx said:
Once a year works for me - sometimes only every second year. I generally get it done when I see the problem is getting bad.

I didn't have much luck the past couple of years, three companies later in a span of six months to get the ants under control. The last company (Verminator) - was the only one that actually came back until it was under control (think it was 4-5 visits in two months)
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Thanks, may switch to 6 month cycles , did feel excessive but I will die if I had to see a mouse or rat in the house. Goggas I don't care too much about.
 
TedLasso said:
I decided to go the cheap route : - two boxes of Kikuyu grass seed at over R800 per box to cover our street grass that was destroyed by Joburg Water and Eskom contractors. Been watering it's for a month every evening for 8 mins or more (depending on what the evapotranspiration rate is, etc). Got my council bill and eish , 45kl used in the last month. We usually only use 13-14Kl.

Wondering if buying fully grown grass would have been cheaper. Definitely would have looked nicer.
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How many m2 that covered?
 
marhsava said:
Fark , I still don't understand why is grass so expensive,it's just grass
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Farming grass is not as easy as it first sounds, especially weed free, good quality stuff.
 
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WAslayer said:
Swartland, door and window manufacturer does supply window beading.. you are going to have to speak to the right people at builders/bright etc to get them to special order for you from Swartland or try contacting Swartland yourself and let them know that you are getting the run around from every one who sells their products..
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Those pompous arrogant Capies @ Swartland don't deal with the public direct.

See if there's a Rutherfords near you...
 
Mannydefreitas said:
Those pompous arrogant Capies @ Swartland don't deal with the public direct.

See if there's a Rutherfords near you...
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The point wasn't to buy from them directly, it's to see if they can help their so-called distributors catch a wake up, who are supposed to be selling their products to the public..
 
marhsava said:
Don't understand why it's not a stolen "commodity" then , like copper pipes ?

Am I missing something?
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Risk vs reward maybe?

When I was selling we would sometimes have customers coming back to get a couple of rolls that they suspected their neighbours of nicking/harvesting/borrowing. ;)
We never lost any rolls that we left on the side of the road overnight though.
 
Arzy said:
Upcoming projects I hope to have done before the year is done:

- Adding a second 2500l JoJo tank. This should cover the household for about a week. Just need to look at the timing so that I can empty the existing one in order to position it and have space for the second one.
- Ripping out the existing bent grass lawn that has become infested with clover and replacing it with good old Kikuyu.
- Stripping out the main garden beds inside and out and replanting with something we actually like.
- Replacing the pool cover.
- Installing those black pool solar heaters, piping is done all the way up to the roof but the previous owner removed the panels at some stage.

A big ticket item for next year is to remove the gas fireplace and replace it with a slow-combustion stove.

And then within the next 2 years repaint the entire house inside and out.

No structural work planned thankfully.
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With "water sharing" upon us it seems more and more are planning jojo tanks,
I am also looking at doing 2500l municipal backup before the end of the year
 
Has any body used these damp vents from takealot to prevent/dry damp walls?
I have a problem on the exterior walls and I can't paint because of damp walls

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stepper said:
Has any body used these damp vents from takealot to prevent/dry damp walls?
I have a problem on the exterior walls and I can't paint because of damp walls

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
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Smells like snake oil to be honest.. there are many many homes that do not have these things and do not have damp walls and or mould etc..

What does this tell us..? Your damp issue has a cause and will therefore have a permanent fix..

So work to find the cause and fix it instead.. it's the only real, long term solution..
 
stepper said:
Has any body used these damp vents from takealot to prevent/dry damp walls?
I have a problem on the exterior walls and I can't paint because of damp walls

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
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I would drill the holes as per the instructions, and then just mount little covers, for the fraction of the cost, not convinced that the plugs do anything else other than cover the hole?

1697191365341.png
 
WAslayer said:
Smells like snake oil to be honest.. there are many many homes that do not have these things and do not have damp walls and or mould etc..

What does this tell us..? Your damp issue has a cause and will therefore have a permanent fix..

So work to find the cause and fix it instead.. it's the only real, long term solution..
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Most damp is due to poor build quality, and of coarse the presence of moisture (my area for example has a very high water table), if you have a combo of both then it's a disaster.

My dad has damp, short of demolishing the house, he drilled core holes right through the problematic walls and put those plastic covers I posted above, this allows the wall to breathe. Once in a while he cleans/replasters the walls and repaints/ He has made peace with it and factors it in as part of maintenance.
 
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