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Kenmore washer we got from a friends parents when they moved out of their apartment at least 10-15 years ago....going strong.

maytag dryer again at least 10-15 years old.  Also going strong.
If you want to find out who actually manufactured a Kenmore appliance, just look at the first 3 digits of the model number (there will be a period and a bunch of other digits after the period in the model number, too).  Compare those three digits to the chart on this webpage (http://www.appliance411.com/purchase/sears.shtml).

 
The jury is still out on new GE products.  They were purchased a little over a year ago by Haier, which is a Chinese company.  So far, they haven't changed much at Appliance Park in Louisville, but I have a feeling they won't be paying for American labor for much longer.  And Haier appliances built before they bought GE had all the quality you would expect from a Chinese manufacturer.

 
I have a GE dishwasher and stove.  Both of them are about 7-ish years old now, and both are huge pieces of sh*t.  Have had problems with them since day one.

 
Whatever...they're all basically the same nowadays.  Some units are just better than others.  Kind of like cars, whether you get a lemon or not has a lot to do with what day it was built on.

The only one that is truly better is Speed Queen, but you're going to pay for it.  There's a little mom & pop appliance place that I checked out who carries SQ.  They had a brand new one that was built like the washer my mom had when I was a kid, i.e. every single bit of it was mechanical, there wasn't a single electronic in it.  Of course it cost more than almost any new washer and it was 3 cu.ft. which ain't gonna work for a family of 5.

 
About to begin the often frowned upon garage to interior room conversion. Anyone had any luck with Levelpro or any other type of concrete leveler? When in the process is the best time to do this? Right up to the baseplate prior to installing drywall?

 
Ive never had the "knack" for it. I had to level the area where I put a shower pan in the basement and it was much more of a PIA than I thought it would be.  How much space you talking about?

 
we tried to level a minor area in our basement to get the subfloor to install properly ( echo the PITA)...a garage floor has a slope on purpose...that is going to take a LOT of leveler.  I'm not sure the home improvement store stuff will be effective on that scale.  

 
When my brother remodeled his garage into a living space, he ended up building a floor above the concrete slab to level it. He used 2x8 joists to span it because the garage floor was about 18" below the rest of the house.  Depending on how the floor height of your garage sits in relation to the rest of your house, that may be an option.

 
Depending on the height difference and overall slope, may be able to even do this with 2x4 and rip it down to the slab slope as you go towards the back with the lesser slope.

 
Has anyone here done any of those retractable screens/awnings that are common with pergolas?  Not the automated ones like Sunsetter, but the ones that you just open/close with a pole by sliding it along a track.  We have a retractable Sunsetter type now, and it's an ugly POS that hangs way too low when fully extended and sags.  I need to redo my deck boards and railings soon, and I'd like to get rid of the automated awning and attach 4x4 corner posts that extend up 8-10 feet and are joined/boxed at the top (one to two boards spanning between each).  I would attach pulldown shades on one side to block out my ********* neighbor, and use the sliding awning on the top.  It also gives me a place to hang some outdoor string lights.

Curious if anyone's done anything like this or has recommendations on brands.  I know the "it" thing to do now is those slatted wood pergolas, but a) I think they're ugly, b) I don't want to get permit/HOA approval to build one, and c) I can skip permit and HOA approval if I can bolt things to the existing deck since it won't be an additional "structure". 

 
Just replaced our driveway where roots and Jimmy Hoffa buckled it in a zillion places.  The brick edging is being ripped out and replaced by gravel this weekend by decree of her heiness Mrs. MS.  I have no clue what type of gravel to get.  On trails we hike, the trails are all small, gray, rough gravel.  Gravel paths online show larger rocks.  Should I be getting 3/8"?  Fines?  5/8"?  Do I even need to put / tamp down a rock dust base before the top gravel?  This is simply on the sides of the driveway and more cosmetic than anything.   :unsure:

 
Just replaced our driveway where roots and Jimmy Hoffa buckled it in a zillion places.  The brick edging is being ripped out and replaced by gravel this weekend by decree of her heiness Mrs. MS.  I have no clue what type of gravel to get.  On trails we hike, the trails are all small, gray, rough gravel.  Gravel paths online show larger rocks.  Should I be getting 3/8"?  Fines?  5/8"?  Do I even need to put / tamp down a rock dust base before the top gravel?  This is simply on the sides of the driveway and more cosmetic than anything.   :unsure:
White landscaping stones?

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Landscaping-Hardscapes-Landscape-Rocks/White/N-5yc1vZbx5dZ1z0vm5f

Also you want to line underneath the stones with geotextile filter fabric so the dire below doesn't migrate into the stone and it will minimize the likelihood of weeds growing through the stones.

 
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1/4" compacts pretty well but still lets it drain and won't wash away.  Nicer aesthetic than pea gravel but less likely to let weeds/etc. grow through it.  I think that's what I'm going to end up using for backyard walkways and fire pit surround.

 
Anyone ever use a Stratton bracket?  It's sort of a J-hook that's bent to follow vinyl siding contours.  Anchor to the wall with lags, and then lag a ledger to it.  Seems like a good way of semi-permanent mounting without having to cut and flash all the siding while allowing some breathing room.

 
anyone ever try these? or something similar?

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Wireless-HDMI-Connection-GWHDKIT11/dp/B077BGN2C8/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524612825&sr=1-4&keywords=wireless+hdmi&dpID=31UhR8sha-L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

what I am trying to do is not have a tv cabinet under the tv (on the wall) - I meant to run an hdmi cable through the basement so I could put the DVD player under an end table and not have to have anything under the TV. But i forgot and now the basement below is finished and isn't accessible. I have everything else behind the TV but there doesn't seem to be an option to vertically mount a DVD player behind the TV - which would be cool if I could find that.

alternatively I am putting hardwood floors in the living room and my last option would be to fish an hdmi under the plywood flooring - I hate to have to cut out the plywood and replace it for the cable but would be willing to do it. I was going to put a floor mounted junction box for the hdmi cable I could plug the dvd into - and I am able to fish it up the wall on the other side to where the TV is...

 
anyone ever try these? or something similar?

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Wireless-HDMI-Connection-GWHDKIT11/dp/B077BGN2C8/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524612825&sr=1-4&keywords=wireless+hdmi&dpID=31UhR8sha-L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

what I am trying to do is not have a tv cabinet under the tv (on the wall) - I meant to run an hdmi cable through the basement so I could put the DVD player under an end table and not have to have anything under the TV. But i forgot and now the basement below is finished and isn't accessible. I have everything else behind the TV but there doesn't seem to be an option to vertically mount a DVD player behind the TV - which would be cool if I could find that.

alternatively I am putting hardwood floors in the living room and my last option would be to fish an hdmi under the plywood flooring - I hate to have to cut out the plywood and replace it for the cable but would be willing to do it. I was going to put a floor mounted junction box for the hdmi cable I could plug the dvd into - and I am able to fish it up the wall on the other side to where the TV is...


These looked cool and cheap too.  You still have run a cable though

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=109&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011012&p_id=8121

 
anyone ever try these? or something similar?

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Wireless-HDMI-Connection-GWHDKIT11/dp/B077BGN2C8/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1524612825&sr=1-4&keywords=wireless+hdmi&dpID=31UhR8sha-L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

what I am trying to do is not have a tv cabinet under the tv (on the wall) - I meant to run an hdmi cable through the basement so I could put the DVD player under an end table and not have to have anything under the TV. But i forgot and now the basement below is finished and isn't accessible. I have everything else behind the TV but there doesn't seem to be an option to vertically mount a DVD player behind the TV - which would be cool if I could find that.

alternatively I am putting hardwood floors in the living room and my last option would be to fish an hdmi under the plywood flooring - I hate to have to cut out the plywood and replace it for the cable but would be willing to do it. I was going to put a floor mounted junction box for the hdmi cable I could plug the dvd into - and I am able to fish it up the wall on the other side to where the TV is...
I haven't used the IOGEAR solution, but used another wireless HDMI implementation by Warpia. It worked well enough for periodically streaming content from a laptop. But didn't try a permanent implementation. One thing I did notice was the quality of signal. Periodically there were times where an audio delay was encountered or if streaming HD content (i.e. 1080p) and someone broke the line of sight between the transmitter/receiver, the video would stutter. For the most part, the comments are fairly positive on the IOGEAR solution.

 

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