Dethatching the lawn

Borrowed the tow-behind dethatcher from David. Dragged behind the Craftsman mower in 2 directions all Sunday afternoon. Held down by a 70# bag of sand. It left a covering of white fluff everywhere. Now the problem is raking it up.

Started in front with a large box. Trying to irrigate a little to ease the trauma. Still 80F days, but windless. Relatively mild weather.

Later thought of using a blue tarp instead of box.

Disposing in a pile in the back. Huge piles. Perhaps I will put some out for yard waste pickup every week to get rid of it. Would attract bunnies to nest in it.

Raking is tiring. So used the mower to try to windrow the thatch, before raking and collecting on the blue tarp. Took from 6-8:30pm one night. Ending up in darkness.

I will probably run the mower this weekend, and bag to pick up stray thatch left on the lawn.
And get a couple bags of winterizing fertilizer.

Reseeding dead spots near driveway and street front. I've suspected these are thatch related.


I got a $5 garden rake from Menard's to hand thin certain spots. I could grind the tines sharper.

I also bought a $12 dethatch blade for the mower (Arnold universal 16 in). Just in case I couldn't borrow David's implement. Haven't tried it. People say it can be brutal. Both hard on the mower and on the lawn. Some call it scarification. depends how low you set it. You're supposed to cut the lawn short first, before dethatching. And if you dethatch every year or every other year, it won't be so overwhelming or traumatic to the lawn.

Gray epoxy floor paint

Basement floor still yucky from the flood. Rust stains where paint cans sat. and then paint peeled in places. Have to touch it up.

I opened a can up, and put some on my car's wheel where the finish peeled off. The gray kind of matched color.

Nice: water clean up.

Used Barkeeper's Friend to remove rust stains. oxalic acid. Really works, you still have to rub a bit.

Once I touch up the basement floor, there are some sections that weren't painted. Like under a shelving. That will make it look more complete.

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Rekeying Weiser deadbolts

a really good feature of the weiser deadbolt is that it has a grade one rating. schlage only has a grade one rating in the primus keyway B500 series. the primus keyway is restricted. only certain franchised locksmiths can cut keys for it. a grade one rating means the deadbolt has certain superiority in things like being able to stand up to various physical attacks. go to weiser.com and read up on the weiser before you make a decision to replace it with another deadbolt. check out some independent reviews of the weiser. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Locksmithing-3110/2008/9/Handleset-Rekeying-1.htm

replacing the weiser deadbolt with another weiser deadbolt would probably cost about $50 and a rekey for it would probably run about $20.
i am not familiar with the quality of the weiser deadbolt so i cannot advise you as to how secure it may be. schlage is pretty high quality. medeco is high security but the can be expensive. i would judge a kwikset to be medium security. you can get a low end schlage for about $30.

AOS water heater FGR-50 224

180193-4
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It's April--where are we now?

The remodeling company is done with the drywall, painting, doors, and cabinets. From the beginning of the year until now. Carpet needs to be installed. and then to check if the mortgage company wants to send an inspector.

Then to finish cleanup of the unfinished side. To arrange the storage. and then to move stuff back down to the basement. Settle back in.

MS Virtual Earth

Click on a photo to see a blowup of it.