The DIY thread

[Tricycle Rider]

Okay, now that python and I have established that we absolutely do not understand each other's sense of humor I need some help with this DIY...

Found a yellow jacket nest (it actually appears to be underground), how do I get rid of it in the most non-toxic way? Reason I'm asking about non-toxic is because I don't want to kill the surrounding plants...

So far I've poured about a gallon of boiling water down the yellow jacket tunnel, but I've also read you can add mint oil to the boiling water. Being I don't have any mint oil on hand - would a breath mint do? Like an Altoid or something? Some minty herbal tea?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Btw., I feel like a bit of an *** running around with a boiling kettle of water in the dark, but this is apparently the only time the yellow jackets seem to be inactive.

 

[JayKosta]

mothballs - drop them in the tunnel when there aren't any flying around.

Jay

 

[jmdirt]

Just fill the entrance to the hole with dirt now. I think that putting dish soap in the hole just before the boiling water also helps.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

mothballs - drop them in the tunnel when there aren't any flying around.

Jay

That's an interesting fix, haven't heard of that before. Of course, I've never tried to non-toxically get rid of yellow jackets, I've always loved to just zapp them with Raid spray.

Have you ever tried that Sevin bug powder dust I'm reading about on the interwebs? I'm thinking of giving that a try...

Just fill the entrance to the hole with dirt now. I think that putting dish soap in the hole just before the boiling water also helps.

I plugged the hole up with a plastic cap, had a whole bunch of pissed off yellow jackets buzzing around yesterday trying to get back into the nest. Will they eventually get the idea that their nest is (hopefully) no longer there and go somewhere else? The suspense is just killing me!



On a completely different note - the torsion spring from the garage door snapped yesterday, I know replacing it is something some people can do themselves. But being this is a 150-pound door that could come crashing down on a car, person, or dog if I screw it up I will just have to bite the bullet and hire a pro. It's killing me not being able to do this DIY myself, but things could go horribly wrong if I don't do it right.

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

mothballs - drop them in the tunnel when there aren't any flying around.

Jay

That's an interesting fix, haven't heard of that before. Of course, I've never tried to non-toxically get rid of yellow jackets, I've always loved to just zapp them with Raid spray.

Have you ever tried that Sevin bug powder dust I'm reading about on the interwebs? I'm thinking of giving that a try...

Just fill the entrance to the hole with dirt now. I think that putting dish soap in the hole just before the boiling water also helps.

I plugged the hole up with a plastic cap, had a whole bunch of pissed off yellow jackets buzzing around yesterday trying to get back into the nest. Will they eventually get the idea that their nest is (hopefully) no longer there and go somewhere else? The suspense is just killing me!



On a completely different note - the torsion spring from the garage door snapped yesterday, I know replacing it is something some people can do themselves. But being this is a 150-pound door that could come crashing down on a car, person, or dog if I screw it up I will just have to bite the bullet and hire a pro. It's killing me not being able to do this DIY myself, but things could go horribly wrong if I don't do it right.

They will move on pretty quickly. I had a jacket hive under the eve of my garage so I knocked it down with a long pole. About half of the workers hung around (literally) for a few days and now they're gone. You could remove the cap, let them go in, and then put the cap back again. That seems like a recipe for stinging though if you aren't really careful.

I think that you can do the garage door yourself. I helped a guy do his and it wasn't bad at all. He was able to just replace the broken side with a spring that he got at the used building store (it had the same ratings). You can get the winding bars for ~$15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k9qrgZ9rPs

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

They will move on pretty quickly. I had a jacket hive under the eve of my garage so I knocked it down with a long pole. About half of the workers hung around (literally) for a few days and now they're gone. You could remove the cap, let them go in, and then put the cap back again. That seems like a recipe for stinging though if you aren't really careful.

I think that you can do the garage door yourself. I helped a guy do his and it wasn't bad at all. He was able to just replace the broken side with a spring that he got at the used building store (it had the same ratings). You can get the winding bars for ~$15.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k9qrgZ9rPs

Few things make me smile as much as killing a bunch of yellow jackets, their stings are just so painful. At least I have enough sense to stay away from them, not sure the dog does, though.

I opened the tunnel back up and gave it a good dusting of that Sevin bug killing dust this morning, hopefully this will do the job. Will keep you posted.

Thank you for the vid about the garage door spring, you guys make it sound so easy. I'm just so nervous about doing this DIY though... I'll get a free quote from a pro tomorrow, if it's just too ridiculous (something like $300-$500) I may just try to do it myself.

 

[JayKosta]

If the spring is at the front of the garage and goes across from side to side, those can be dangerous because you have to 'wind the spring' to apply the initial tension. Hiring a pro would be wise unless you feel that you are very mechanically inclined and have the needed tools and physical atrength.
The extension springs that are on the rear of the rails are not difficult to replace, but you do need to lift the door into the UP position and lock it there with a sturdy prop.

BTW - I had a friend who was almost KILLED replacing a spring - it broke loose under tension and hit him in the head. They need to be treated with respect and caution.

Jay

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

If the spring is at the front of the garage and goes across from side to side, those can be dangerous because you have to 'wind the spring' to apply the initial tension. Hiring a pro would be wise unless you feel that you are very mechanically inclined and have the needed tools and physical atrength.
The extension springs that are on the rear of the rails are not difficult to replace, but you do need to lift the door into the UP position and lock it there with a sturdy prop.

BTW - I had a friend who was almost KILLED replacing a spring - it broke loose under tension and hit him in the head. They need to be treated with respect and caution.

Jay

It is a side to side spring, and I am so tempted, and I thank you for the words of wisdom. I don't mind messing around with some yellow jackets, but a DIY that could potentially severely hurt (or even kill) a person or dog is just a DIY I'm not willing to do.

Given that I'll naturally be looking for the most price-efficient pro, will let you know how that goes.

 

[Unchained]

Trike please note that those springs.. both types are under lots of tension.. everything is different but my retention nut has 3 Allen key screws holding it in position on the shaft after the pre-load.. if you start to loosen anything you may be in for an unpleasant surprise when the retention device is loose enough to spin on the shaft.. the spring that picks up the garage door..(aluminum, wood..? anyway heavy) now the only resistance for the spring is the Allen wrench held by your hand flesh!!! Caution!!!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

Trike please note that those springs.. both types are under lots of tension.. everything is different but my retention nut has 3 Allen key screws holding it in position on the shaft after the pre-load.. if you start to loosen anything you may be in for an unpleasant surprise when the retention device is loose enough to spin on the shaft.. the spring that picks up the garage door..(aluminum, wood..? anyway heavy) now the only resistance for the spring is the Allen wrench held by your hand flesh!!! Caution!!!

Thank you, Unchained, you guys have sufficiently talked me out of doing it myself.

Mechanically I could probably do it, but there's just too much at stake if I *** it up.

Will hire a pro, promise.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Okay, here's the latest update on the garage door spring DIY (cause you guys just know I couldn't let it go)...

I realize I won't be able to set the new spring correctly myself, but the least I could do was take the thing apart and take the old spring off.

First thing, of course, was disconnect any power to the garage opener, and then I just went to town with a whole bunch of tools. (Some of them may have been metric, some the "other" system.) The garage door was already fully down, so there was no danger of anyone getting hurt if it suddenly came crashing down.

Either way I took it apart and now just need a pro to replace and install the new spring, giving him/her a head-start should hopefully save me a few bucks.

 

[jmdirt]

Good work so far!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udM-E2kxNA&t=257s

EDIT: she has two 'pros' with her, but she's doing the work.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

Good work so far!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udM-E2kxNA&t=257s

EDIT: she has two 'pros' with her, but she's doing the work.

Thanks, jmd, that's a cool vid!

My garage door has only one spring on the left, so far I've learned that it's a right wind, and the numbers on it say 26.75 and 275. I'm assuming the 26.75 is the length in inches, the diameter appears to be about 2". Not sure about the wire size, and what does the 275 number mean?

(I'm still not going to install a new spring myself because the old one is actually pretty heavy, but it's always interesting to learn new stuff.)

In the meantime I went back to playing with the yellow jackets early this morning...

After the Sevin dusting there was still quite a bit of activity yesterday, this morning I gave the tunnel more dusting and plugged it back up with a cap from an aerosol can. I filled the cap with more powder, can't wait to see what happens today! (If I see no progress by tomorrow I will just napalm the little fuckers with Raid, I have only so much patience. Or maybe I'll try the mothballs like Jay had suggested, because, why not?)

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

Good work so far!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udM-E2kxNA&t=257s

EDIT: she has two 'pros' with her, but she's doing the work.

Thanks, jmd, that's a cool vid!

My garage door has only one spring on the left, so far I've learned that it's a right wind, and the numbers on it say 26.75 and 275. I'm assuming the 26.75 is the length in inches, the diameter appears to be about 2". Not sure about the wire size, and what does the 275 number mean?

(I'm still not going to install a new spring myself because the old one is actually pretty heavy, but it's always interesting to learn new stuff.)

In the meantime I went back to playing with the yellow jackets early this morning...

After the Sevin dusting there was still quite a bit of activity yesterday, this morning I gave the tunnel more dusting and plugged it back up with a cap from an aerosol can. I filled the cap with more powder, can't wait to see what happens today! (If I see no progress by tomorrow I will just napalm the little **** with Raid, I have only so much patience. Or maybe I'll try the mothballs like Jay had suggested, because, why not?)

https://www.industrialspring.com/resources/measure-order-torsion-springs
If you have a pro do the work they will do all that for you though.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

Magnificent news!

The yellow jackets have abandoned fort... not sure the boiling water did anything because I don't know how deep the tunnel is (I've read that some tunnels are as deep as 4ft.!), but I can vouch for the Sevin product. It comes in various forms, I just used the powder dust because I wanted to make sure it stuck to the yellow jackets (much like pollen), so they carry it with them wherever they go. Plus Sevin is supposed to be harmless toward plants and the environment, I'm very pleased with that.

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-5-Percent-Killer-Shaker-Canister/dp/B004HVWB14/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532438955&sr=8-1&keywords=sevin+dust+powder

https://www.industrialspring.com/resources/measure-order-torsion-
If you have a pro do the work they will do all that for you though.

I've looked through the charts on that site, they're about as incomprehensible to me as some of Sheldon Brown's. :lol:

Thank you anyway, jmd, I just ended up getting a couple of quotes - one guy wanted $128, the other $162. After doing some research it's about what I expected, naturally I went with the less expensive guy.

I want to be able to at least watch him do it, that way I can do it myself next time.

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

Magnificent news!

The yellow jackets have abandoned fort... not sure the boiling water did anything because I don't know how deep the tunnel is (I've read that some tunnels are as deep as 4ft.!), but I can vouch for the Sevin product. It comes in various forms, I just used the powder dust because I wanted to make sure it stuck to the yellow jackets (much like pollen), so they carry it with them wherever they go. Plus Sevin is supposed to be harmless toward plants and the environment, I'm very pleased with that.

https://www.amazon.com/Garden-5-Percent-Killer-Shaker-Canister/dp/B004HVWB14/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532438955&sr=8-1&keywords=sevin+dust+powder

https://www.industrialspring.com/resources/measure-order-torsion-
If you have a pro do the work they will do all that for you though.

I've looked through the charts on that site, they're about as incomprehensible to me as some of Sheldon Brown's. :lol:

Thank you anyway, jmd, I just ended up getting a couple of quotes - one guy wanted $128, the other $162. After doing some research it's about what I expected, naturally I went with the less expensive guy.

I want to be able to at least watch him do it, that way I can do it myself next time.

I think that you can just match numbers without having to use charts. Do those prices include the spring?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

I think that you can just match numbers without having to use charts. Do those prices include the spring?

The grand total ended up being $150 -- $90 for labor, and the rest for the spring. There was no way around the $90 because that's his minimum rate for the first hour of labor regardless, and the new spring is longer than the old one. So I'm not sure how I would have gone about selecting a size that would work with my door if I had had to buy it myself, think the old one was some exotic size that is no longer available. (At least I couldn't find one that size on the webs.)

Btw., I called that place that you linked me to, they sell to contractors only. They referred me to another place that sells to the general public, the guy I spoke to over the phone only managed to confuse me and he wanted $72+ shipping for a custom-size spring.

Bah, it's all over and done with, springs usually last up to 10 years, so I won't have to think about this for a while. So now back to my unfinished symphony - the freaking attic ladder DIY.

I think I'll just sand it down so the legs are even, and then I'll glue some grippy stuff you normally put under a rug so it's not so slippery. It'll be an absolute masterpiece - once it's actually finished.

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

I think that you can just match numbers without having to use charts. Do those prices include the spring?

The grand total ended up being $150 -- $90 for labor, and the rest for the spring. There was no way around the $90 because that's his minimum rate for the first hour of labor regardless, and the new spring is longer than the old one. So I'm not sure how I would have gone about selecting a size that would work with my door if I had had to buy it myself, think the old one was some exotic size that is no longer available. (At least I couldn't find one that size on the webs.)

Btw., I called that place that you linked me to, they sell to contractors only. They referred me to another place that sells to the general public, the guy I spoke to over the phone only managed to confuse me and he wanted $72+ shipping for a custom-size spring.

Bah, it's all over and done with, springs usually last up to 10 years, so I won't have to think about this for a while. So now back to my unfinished symphony - the freaking attic ladder DIY.

I think I'll just sand it down so the legs are even, and then I'll glue some grippy stuff you normally put under a rug so it's not so slippery. It'll be an absolute masterpiece - once it's actually finished.

Its good to hear that your door is fixed.

 

[Unchained]

Trike you forgot to add that the entire event was injury free ...and that's worth something..glad you and your door are fully operational

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

Its good to hear that your door is fixed.

Trike you forgot to add that the entire event was injury free ...and that's worth something..glad you and your door are fully operational

Thanks guys, I'm relieved about it as well. When you think about it spending $150 on something that should last 10 years is definitely worth the cost of knowing that somebody did the job right.

Did what I just wrote make sense? I've been sanding for the past hour... I really hate my rotary sander, but I'm not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a more practical one. Gotta draw the line somewhere.

 

[Unchained]

I went round and round trying to fix the brakes on my motorcycle..it's a heavy pig but when I ride off-road O can't stay the ABS!!!when you try and use the brake to slide the rest off the bike..the ABS ..doesn't really allow the wheel to lock up..if you try and use road techniques..you grab a little front brake..and the whole front end washes out and you go down..
I purchased an accessory switch that looks stock..ran a little wire to the fuse block and now have the ability to turn off the anti lock brakes on the fly..ran the wire..made two tails and basically get in front of the fuse..I prefer to call it the ABS on-off switch rather than the blown fuse on purpose switch.
The dealer told me he would not make any mods to the factory brake operations..you know the old liability thing.two off road shops gave me quotes of $560-700 bucks...switch,wire..tiny black tie wraps and coffee,beer and donuts for my labor..it took about 4-5 hours and @$25 bucks..it took so long because I wanted it to look factory..had to route mine w the other wiring..getting it under the jacket if possible..
Starting towards San Francisco Monday...doing Ensenada to Parkfield Junction the first day...doing a BLM ..$5 dollar camp site day one

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

I went round and round trying to fix the brakes on my motorcycle..it's a heavy pig but when I ride off-road O can't stay the ABS!!!when you try and use the brake to slide the rest off the bike..the ABS ..doesn't really allow the wheel to lock up..if you try and use road techniques..you grab a little front brake..and the whole front end washes out and you go down..
I purchased an accessory switch that looks stock..ran a little wire to the fuse block and now have the ability to turn off the anti lock brakes on the fly..ran the wire..made two tails and basically get in front of the fuse..I prefer to call it the ABS on-off switch rather than the blown fuse on purpose switch.
The dealer told me he would not make any mods to the factory brake operations..you know the old liability thing.two off road shops gave me quotes of $560-700 bucks...switch,wire..tiny black tie wraps and coffee,beer and donuts for my labor..it took about 4-5 hours and @$25 bucks..it took so long because I wanted it to look factory..had to route mine w the other wiring..getting it under the jacket if possible..
Starting towards San Francisco Monday...doing Ensenada to Parkfield Junction the first day...doing a BLM ..$5 dollar camp site day one

Que? I don't understand what any of this means, but I'm glad you were able to DIY it.

On this front I'm working on the attic ladder... I've already sanded the wooden legs down so they are reasonably even, now I'm trying to see if the grippy rug stuff will stick to them. I'm using my favorite slippers as a prototype - I'm using some hot glue on the grippy stuff. Don't know if this will work - we shall see!

 

[JayKosta]

An option for 'grippy pad' is to find a suitable computer mouse pad, or maybe cut a piece from an old inner tube.
You DO save old inner tubes, right! Cut out the valve and they make great 'ropes' for holding things together and easy to remove.

Jay

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

An option for 'grippy pad' is to find a suitable computer mouse pad, or maybe cut a piece from an old inner tube.
You DO save old inner tubes, right! Cut out the valve and they make great 'ropes' for holding things together and easy to remove.

Jay

I sure do. I save old tires as well... I think I have a hoarding problem.

That's a great idea about using old tubes as bungee cord sort of thingies, I hadn't thought if that.

Thanks, Jay!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Grrrrrrr, update on the freaking yellow jackets...

Yesterday, after I thought I had successfully fixed the problem, I noticed the tunnel to their nest was once again fully open and they were merrily flying back and forth into it. I've read that this can happen if you don't plug the tunnel up properly, which I clearly didn't do. So I had this brilliant idea to plug the tunnel with a mud mixture made of water and soil...

It was only early evening when they were still pretty active, I approached the tunnel anyway with my mud mixture. I didn't get too far when I heard a yellow jacket buzzing around my ear - I ran like a bat out of hell and in the process I managed to trip and spill the mud all over myself. It was quite the scene, but at least I didn't get stung.

So early this morning while the yellow jackets were still having their beauty sleep I poured some more of that Sevin stuff down the tunnel, and then I pounded a tennis ball into the opening. (Plus covered it with dirt and more Sevin stuff.) I'm so tempted to just spray the *** out of them with Raid, but...

I've read that yellow jackets have a ferocious instinct to feed and protect their young, they are certainly very determined. But so am I, hopefully the tennis ball and Sevin will do the job this time!

On a more successful note - my ladder project is at last finished, hopefully it'll last a while. (I took MI's advice and am hiding the dead bodies elsewhere now, so won't be climbing up and down the ladder as much.) The legs are pretty even, and the grippy stuff seems to be sticking to them pretty well.