u/Southside_john

I’ll start off by saying this is the previous owners shitty attempt at blocking this vent.

I have been at war with squirrels and chipmunks for the last several months. I used to think they were cute animals but drastic times have caused me to stack up a body count of about 7 squirrels and 14 chipmunks, some inside and some outside the house.

The population has been thinned drastically and they no longer destroy everything but I have 1 holdout that I can’t get rid of.

This is the vent to the exhaust fan for the oven and almost daily I hear the fucker scratching around in there. Previous owner just jammed wire in there but they get around it.

Question is, this is an odd shaped vent, what is the best way for me to block this off or secure some strong galvanized wire or something over this that they can’t push out of the way and that won’t look entirely ghetto? It’s pretty awkward around the cedar siding which is why I’m guessing they just decided to jam stuff up there. It’s also like 15 feet off the ground too making it extra fun to get at.

This is more of a rant than a question. I had a chimney company come out and sweep my chimney and inspect it because I just bought this house a few months ago. I thought I was being proactive having it done during the summer so that things would happen in a timely matter because I know companies get backed up in the fall.

They came and swept it and did their inspection to the tune of $350. They ofc said that they whole god damn chimney needs to be redone including rebuilding the whole masonry outside. Ok, I’m a little skeptical because the masonry doesn’t look bad. They said they would send a detailed report through email.

3 weeks later now and no report with pictures. I’ve called them a bunch of times just trying to get this report.

So now I’m sick of waiting. I call another company for a second opinion and they want $400 just to come inspect it.

I swear If im about to pay $400 for that then I’m considering spending $500 on my own inspection camera and sweep kit and just doing it myself.

Included are pictures of the brick that the technicians told me needs to be entirely rebuilt.

Getting ready to stain soon. This isn’t that high off the ground only like 6.5 feet. If I want to avoid a ladder I can reach over the top and stain down then stand on the ground and reach up to get the lower parts. It just seems like it’s going to be uncomfortable after a while and like stain is going to be running down my arm. I can use a ladder but the ground isn’t exactly level around it.

And secrets or tips anyone here use when doing this?

This storm door opens on the opposite side as the actual door that’s behind it. With the recessed entry it makes it very awkward going inside, especially if you are carrying anything. I was going to replace it to open the opposite direction but do I even really need it? This is the Midwest so we do have real weather but the main door doesn’t seem drafty and with how far back it is I don’t think rain or anything is an issue.

Ones that are unfortunate enough to be headed in to work tonight for this holiday or the ones already there and getting off in a few hours

I don’t know if this is a retrofit LED into a regular recessed lighting fixture or what the hell it is. It has definitely been painted over. Is there anyway to get the center gimbal out of these to see what’s going on?

I want to replace them but I might create a bigger job for myself by pulling down the housing and messing up the paint

Pervious owner attempted a shitty repair, I had the deck replaced. It’s bare dirt under there and I want to prevent it from washing away with rain while still keeping water away from the foundation as it currently does with the grade.

Can I just put down landscaping fabric and then gravel on top of that to stop or slow erosion? Anytime it rains right now I can see dirt being washed into the yard

Deck is mangled from the previous owner of the house. It’s a complete hack job but no surprises as we caught it on inspection and got a decent amount in concessions in the deal. I’m going to have deck contractors come out and take a look at it for likely replacement or repair if they think that’s even possible.

The question for you guys is how imminent is this? When you walk on the deck and try to wiggle it by shifting your body weight back and forth under your feet it doesn’t budge. I know a deck builder is likely going to want to do a full replacement right away but I’d like to wait until next summer maybe so that I can build my savings back up and have a decent amount of liquidity before shelling out money for a deck replacement. (I have the money now just prefer to have a lot more money before I do it)