The Home Ownership Thread

[sugarbutch]

"A spectacular Primary Bedroom Suite that defies description, including wood burning fireplace, a separate clothing and dressing room with Bay and Presidio Park views."

I dunno, Mr. Real Estate Agent, I'm not so good with using the words and all, but didn't you just describe it?

Not a closet. A clothing room.

 

[UnFacconable]

Question for y'all: is "smart" lighting just a solution in search of a problem?

Doing some home stuff now and thinking about whether to mess with a lot of this home automation stuff and I am having a hard time seeing how smart lighting will be any easier to use than normal light switches. I don't really think I need "scenes" and I have never had trouble turning off lights when I leave a room or turning on lights when it's too dark.

Also, with a wife and kids, feels like it would just cause a lot of confusion where none is really needed.

But, I keep hearing there are all these smart lighting afficionados so maybe I'm missing something.

I do recognize that it might give people peace of mind to be able to turn everything off remotely when you are traveling or to set some kind of schedule for the lights to make your home (especially second home) less attractive to invaders.

I have a collection of smart bulbs that came with Alexa devices but we don't really use lamps in our house and the only fixtures they would fit in would be a couple of hallway lights and closets. I did use one in one of my kids room for a supplemental light that I liked turning off from outside the room to notify bedtime but that's run its course by now.

I'm in sort of the same place with door locks but mostly because they seem really annoying. I have had a keypad door lock for over a decade and we are mostly happy with the experience but changing the batteries every few months is annoying.

 

[nootje]

Our whole house is decked out with Hue lights. The most useful ones are the hallway lights on all three floors tied to a motion sensor, with the top level tied to the hallway, technical and storage room. Being able to walk up with a baby in your arms in the middle of the night and having the light switch on without having to reach for anything is worth quite a bit.

The lower levels I all tied together, with one remote. Even though the builders grouped them as three separate spaces, we use them as one big one, hence this solution.

Lastly the garden, which is my main irritant currently. I shelled out for several lamps with the leds build in on a 12v system. Calculating they should last, on average, about 10 years. 2 have already crapped out after 3, and I don’t want to pay another 300€. So I’ll probably replace them with regular garden lamps and put indoor hues in those as well, at least those don’t cost an arm and a leg when they die.

So yeah, for me it was worth it. Even with some of the initial hassles.

 

[Gibonius]

I've got a bunch of Hue lights. It's pretty sweet to just yell at the Robot Assistant to "set basement lights to movie mode" and have it turn off the two in front of the TV and dim the others to 10%. Or create semi-randomized on/off cycles for when we're out of town (without hardwiring anything).

I use the color temperature setting on my office light a lot, especially in the winter.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Smart home tech is basically a way for platform corporations to get inside your home to gather more data to sort and sell to advertisers (and also the police - see the deal that Amazon has done to let the police get data from its Ring and Sidewalk systems).

 

[sugarbutch]

Smart home tech is basically a way for platform corporations to get inside your home to gather more data to sort and sell to advertisers (and also the police - see the deal that Amazon has done to let the police get data from its Ring and Sidewalk systems).

This is a valid concern, but some systems don't require internet connection: https://www.whichhomeautomation.com/blog/how-to-make-smart-home-without-internet/

 

[flipstah]

I'm fist deep in Hue ecosystem and love their product line. It's been nice to use and easy to set-up. Also, not concerned about data mining because if you have a cellphone, you're essentially doing that already and cannot escape it.

So it's been a month since I moved out of a condo and into a home with a lawn, so I've been learning how to do lawn care. I'm not there just yet but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

**** you, weeds.

Random question: Is it good to add clover seeds when overseeding next season?

Before

After

 

[Gibonius]

Keep in mind that if you add clover, you won't be able to use selective herbicides without killing it.

 

[flipstah]

Keep in mind that if you add clover, you won't be able to use selective herbicides without killing it.

Well that's good to know.

From what I've read, clover can help choke out the weeds so this might be a moot point (?)

I'm uber noob so apologies in advance.

 

[Gibonius]

Well that's good to know.

From what I've read, clover can help choke out the weeds so this might be a moot point (?)

I'm uber noob so apologies in advance.

Clover used to be a default part of grass seed mixes before chemical lawncare was common. It's good for the soil, one of the few plants that fixes nitrogen into the soil.


If I ever get rid of the wild violets in my yard and can consider my war on weeds "won" to the point I don't have to routinely use chemicals, I'd definitely consider throwing down some clover.

 

[ellsbebc]

I'm fist deep in Hue ecosystem and love their product line. It's been nice to use and easy to set-up. Also, not concerned about data mining because if you have a cellphone, you're essentially doing that already and cannot escape it.

So it's been a month since I moved out of a condo and into a home with a lawn, so I've been learning how to do lawn care. I'm not there just yet but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

**** you, weeds.

Random question: Is it good to add clover seeds when overseeding next season?

Spoiler

Before View attachment 2024359 View attachment 2024361 View attachment 2024363 View attachment 2024365

After

View attachment 2024367 View attachment 2024369 View attachment 2024371

Good transformation in short period of time. Any reason you are waiting to overseed until next Spring? I’m not cool a cool season expert but depending on your climate, I think now is prime time for overseed.

 

[flipstah]

Good transformation in short period of time. Any reason you are waiting to overseed until next Spring? I’m not cool a cool season expert but depending on your climate, I think now is prime time for overseed.

I missed the mark methinks. I’m in a cool season area.

I started overseeding in August for the front and noticed slow growth already

 

[jcman311]

Well that's good to know.

From what I've read, clover can help choke out the weeds so this might be a moot point (?)

I'm uber noob so apologies in advance.

Clover also helps keep lawns green in drought conditions when cool season goes dormant. However, I’ll add to what @Gibonius stated and add that if you have wildlife watch out as apparently they also love to snack on clover.

 

[ellsbebc]

I missed the mark methinks. I’m in a cool season area.

I started overseeding in August for the front and noticed slow growth already

@double00 might be able to share wisdom but I would think it’s worth another seeding effort on those bare spots. you should have enough season left to establish new seedlings. Otherwise, those areas will be infested with winter weeds since you won’t be able to spread pre-emergent with the recent seeding. That’s about the extent of my cool season turf knowledge.

 

[double00]

@double00 might be able to share wisdom but I would think it’s worth another seeding effort on those bare spots. you should have enough season left to establish new seedlings. Otherwise, those areas will be infested with winter weeds since you won’t be able to spread pre-emergent with the recent seeding. That’s about the extent of my cool season turf knowledge.

@flipstah do it right heckin now , this is absolutely the time . window is closing .

https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/ec1550.pdf