c/abq-homeowners

Finally gave up on my drip irrigation after 6 years of fiddling

I fought my drip system since I put it in back in 2018. Emitters clogged, lines blew off in the sun, and I was out there every other week with a shovel and a box of 1/2 inch fittings. What finally turned me was watching my neighbor's yard stay green all summer while mine looked like a patchy desert. He asked me why I kept patching instead of just running one simple line. So I ripped out the whole mess and put in a basic hose-end sprinkler with a timer from Lowe's, cost me about $40 total. Now my grass is fine and I spend zero time on repairs. Anyone else in ABQ ditched a fancy setup for the dumb version and had better luck?

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samwalker•1d ago

Why does nobody talk about how fast gravel driveways wash out in monsoon season?

I moved into a place off Coors and Central back in March and the gravel driveway looked fine then. After that big storm last Tuesday, I've got ruts deep enough to hide a soccer ball in. The previous owner just kept dumping more gravel on top instead of fixing the base. My neighbor says I should shell out $800 for crushed rock and a compactor rental. Has anyone else dealt with this in the Albuquerque clay soil? Did you end up going with pavers or just redoing the gravel right?

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jordan_anderson90•4d ago

I was wrong about solar panel leases, but only for my specific roof

I spent 2 years telling every neighbor that solar leases were a trap, until my east facing roof with a 2019 hail dent meant the lease company ate the $4,300 panel replacement cost. Property tax on the system jumped in Bernalillo County by $210 a year, which I didn't budget for, and that extra fee might tip someone else the other way. Anyone else have a lease that actually made sense because of an older roof or weird layout, or am I just the lucky exception?

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stella_baker•4d ago

Hit 7,000 hours on my swamp cooler motor and it still hums

I was doing the annual bearing oiling on my old Mastercool unit here in the Northeast Heights and saw the hour meter I installed back in 2019. It read 7,015 hours of run time. That motor has survived three dust storms, two monsoon seasons, and one summer where I forgot to change the belt until it snapped. I expected the bearings to be shot by now, but they feel tight and the shaft spins smooth. Did anyone else ever actually track their cooler's run hours, or am I the only one with a cheap hour meter bolted to the pad? Thinking about whether to preemptively swap the motor or just let it ride until it dies.

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xena_brown50•7d ago

That 'tiny leak' quote came back to haunt me 6 months later

Back in March I had a plumber look at a damp spot in my laundry room and he said it was nothing, just condensation, 65 bucks for the visit. I noticed the floor tile started feeling spongy last month, so I pulled up a corner and the subfloor underneath is black and rotting. Turns out the supply line had a pinhole leak the whole time, and now I'm looking at a 1,400 dollar repair just to rip out and replace that section. Has anyone else had a pro wave off something that turned into a much bigger bill down the road?

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amy154•8d ago

My neighbor's comment about my dead lawn changed how I water

I was out front in the 87114 area and my neighbor across the street, Bob, said my sprinkler schedule was making the soil too hard. He told me to switch from 10 minutes every day to 20 minutes twice a week, and I noticed the grass actually started holding green after about 3 weeks. Has anyone else had better luck with longer, less frequent watering in the summer heat?

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paulschmidt•9d ago

Warning: that $350 roof patch job just cost me $2,100 more

Last Tuesday a hail storm hit near Tramway and I thought I was slick hiring a handyman to patch three shingles for 350 bucks. Now my ceiling has a brown stain the size of a dinner plate and the real roofer says the whole valley needs replacing because the patch went through the underlayment. Anyone else learn the hard way that cheap quick fixes on ABQ roofs never stay cheap?

1 comments

rodriguez.diana•11d ago

The $180 roof inspection that saved my flipping budget

I almost skipped paying for a full roof inspection on a house I bought near Nob Hill, figured a visual walk was fine. The inspector found soft spots in two spots that looked fine from the ground, plus a failing vent boot. Has anyone else had a cheap inspection catch something big after you thought you had the deal figured out?

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derekward•12d ago

Quit fighting my stucco cracks, finally tried the backer rod trick

For years I patched the same hairline cracks on my east wall every spring, then they came back by August. A guy at the building supply place in Rio Rancho told me I was wasting my time with plain patching compound. He had me dig out the crack wider, stuff in a foam backer rod, and then top it with flexible sealant. It took about 4 hours total for a 30 foot stretch, but it's held through two monsoons now. Has anyone else had luck with that method, or do you just accept reapplying every season?

2 comments

sagep19•14d ago

The $400 foundation repair quote from a guy at the hardware store

Old-timer at the Lowe's on Coors told me my cracking stucco was just the soil drying out, said to water the foundation for a week before calling anyone. Three weeks of soaker hoses later and the crack hasn't grown an inch, saved me that quote entirely. Anyone else get surprisingly solid advice from a stranger in the checkout line?

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ryan_ellis•15d ago

My swamp cooler dumped 20 gallons on my carpet and I finally get why everyone says to drain them before spring

Came home from work on Monday and heard this weird dripping sound. Walked into the laundry room and the carpet squished like a sponge. The cooler hadn't been used since October and I just left it. I always thought draining it was optional, like a nice to have. Nope. The float valve got stuck and it filled the pan and overflowed for god knows how long. Took me 3 hours with a shop vac and 2 box fans to dry it out. Now I check the drain plug every month even in winter. Anyone else learn this the hard way or am I just the dummy this time?

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tylerblack•15d ago

Heat pump installer recommendations in Albuquerque?

Seriously considering switching from gas furnace to a heat pump for both heating and cooling. Can anyone recommend a company in ABQ that really knows heat pumps? Seems like some places still just push basic AC units.

2 comments