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I avoid fire-nuts and use Wagos except for low voltage control circuits. I only switched a few years ago. Was hard to give up the rotary phone too. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

Even if you go with a thin layer of gravel, maybe 6”, the rock itself may be your main cost. In my area rock goes for close to $70/yd delivered due to high transportation costs. Maybe price that so you can better evaluate contractor proposals. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal...

Is the electrician proposing a variac or a fixed transformer to get 220v from ordinary 240v power? Asking for a friend. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

No dickering intended. I just pointed out that, even in California, this is not the law. Contractors will insist on progress payments, before the job is competed, for significant jobs. My recent build involved excavation along with fabrication, delivery and placement of over $20k in rebar...

There is no law in California disallowing payment of more than $1000 before the job is complete. The closest you will find is a law for home improvement contracts prohibiting a deposit of over $1000 to be collected prior to the start of work. For really small, simple projects I’m sure you can...

If you are trying to shelter money from runaway inflation maybe cash out dollars for something more stable like Zimbabwean currency. Best way to weather the storm. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

You can get centrifugal sand traps that work much like a dust collector. That being said, beyond getting ideas from the interwebs you might ask your local lab if they can recommend a well water tech who has experience with the water in your area. You might save a lot of money by talking to...

Wow. Nine pages of replies and nobody mentions Haix. I wore redwing for a couple of decades. Uppers always fell apart before the sole wore out. And I needed to add $50 special insoles if I didn’t want to aggravate bone spurs. Haix boots an order of magnitude better. Come with a high quality...

Not everyone has marine mud for soil. In my location, the soil is alluvial till. You use a rotohammer with 36” bit to find a location with no boulders near the surface. Then you use a pavement breaker to try to drive a rod. If the rod deflects off a rock below the 36” drill hole the breaker has...

My 2006 IR 5 hp compressor had a motor fire. I was there at the time and it tripped the 60A breaker after it filled the garage with smoke. According to the IR service tech, they had started building the compressors with ChiCom motors and the issue was faulty shellac on motor windings. He claimed...

I’ve seen D8 operators spinning tracks trying to pull 24” stumps. I’m sure they all wish they had the power and traction of your truck. Why waste a day with an excavator cutting half of the roots when some guy with a 1/2 ton could have just popped it out easily. Sent from my iPhone using The...

Depending how high the box is above your work surface, a full cutoff wall pack might be a good fit. No light in your eyes and you can get a pretty bright light in that configuration Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

This sounds like a quote rather than plans. No idea what you mean by “insane” snow but if you have more than 20 psf snow you want to have the contract state that the design will include calculations demonstrating it meets code, including location-specific snow load as specified by your local...

I think “Wow” means a US dollar is worth about as much as a Zimbabwean dollar after the printing presses have produced $8T in stimulus currency. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

Look for pesticides that are either banned in California or can only be imported a few ounces at a time. Those tend to be the most effective. That’s how I found cypermethrin, which did a job on my ant problem. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

The good news is that scrap steel is worth nearly $0.01 per pound. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

No idea where you are located and what typical humidity is in your area but you obviously have a humidity issue so you should start by getting a good instrument to record humidity and temperature. Record temperature and humidity numbers inside vs outside (which you can get from a weather...

Sorry. We prefer to have super-sized forest fires and if we allowed cutting of our own trees that wouldn’t be possible. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

Look at a linear operator, like Viking G5. Needs less than 12” clearance. Two downsides: 1) expensive and 2) you need a beefy post. Even though you have a wood gate, you would want to consider a 4” steel square tube post set in a fairly heavy concrete footing. Sent from my iPhone using The...

If you make your own kit you can get a higher quality crimper like the Burndy MRE10-22B. New pricing is crazy but you can occasionally find gently used for less than $100. Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app