Recent content by Larry Caldwell

It depends on the species. Rufous roosters are fighters, Annas are more peaceful.

Talk to adjoining property owners to see if they are interested in buying the remote parcel. Maybe somebody is a duck hunter. Check with the county to see if a boundary line adjustment is legal.

30 years in our house. I installed CFLs when we bought, and still have maybe a dozen of the originals. I replace them with LEDs as they fail, and have had no LED failures. Six years since I built my shop, and have had half a dozen 4' LED shop light failures.

One of my hobbies is refurbishing electric motors. I have a half a dozen 2.5 to 5 hp. single phase motors that I bought for $25 each. I take them apart, clean them up, install roller bearings (some are so old they have brass bearings and oil cups), paint them up, and sell them for $400. Pin...

You go to restaurants? I brown bagged every lunch for my entire working career, and carried a thermos of coffee. I don't drink, not because I am teetotal, but I don't want to spend the money. I go to one movie every five years or so. I cut and split my own firewood for winter heat, and am...

Not all treated wood is really treated. I installed "ground contact rated" guardrail posts on a tree bridge 8 years ago, lag bolted to custom ordered 4x10 stringers. The posts rotted, the stringers did not. Some treated wood is junk. I have no idea how to tell the difference.

That's the one I installed on my shop. Good lockset. The house is also Schlage, so I keyed everything alike. So far, no arthritis in my hands, but if it comes I will be ready.

I suspect bird flu has taken a toll. Another species that is rare this year is the great horned owl. We typically have three nesting pairs within earshot, sometimes four. This year I heard one female calling for a mate, but she did not stick around. There are no nests within earshot. There are...

The number of birds has picked up, and we have a whole squadron of rufous hens, so it's likely we will have more. We finally have enough to clear out the gnats and mosquitoes on the deck, so sitting outside in the evening is very pleasant.

The rufous were really late showing up this year, but things picked up with warmer weather.

Stucco is fine. It's the wood under it that is the problem. I have replaced a lot of rotten walls under stucco, particularly on the north side of the house where condensation is most common.

I have heard that cement board siding has the same problem with condensation as stucco. If it's a problem, and how to deal with it, will depend on your local climate and humidity. Talk to local experts.

When you pull down the existing ceiling you will have access to that tough-to-access space. The rule with insulation is "seal the warm side and vent the cold side." Make sure there is adequate attic ventilation, and ditto on venting the fan to the outdoors. While you have the ceiling down is the...

It depends on range. I have shots withing 30 yards, so a load of steel #6 does fine. At 40 yards, it's iffy. Steel doesn't carry like lead, but is good for close range. I have some #2 Hevishot that will punch through 10 gauge steel at 40 yards, but it's expensive to replace. I have about 50...

I use Remington Sportsman loads with steel shot to keep from contaminating my property with lead.