- 🪵 Decks
- 🔥 Propane
- 💡 Electrical/Lighting
- 🔐 Security
- 🛠️ Tools
- 📦 Storage
- Shelving
- Plastic bins
- 🚫 Pest control
- 🐜 Ants
- 🐭 Mice
- 🔇 Soundproofing
🪵 Decks
The best way to extend the life of your deck is to seal it, and the best sealants are solid color (even though they don’t look as pretty).
Consumer Reports recommends Behr Premium Solid Color Waterproofing Stain & Sealer sold at Home Depot:
(Kinda sad to lose the beauty of the wood grain, but kinda fun that you could theoretically paint your deck just about any possible color under the sun!)
Other supplies: they recommend using a roller brush with 1/4” (or smaller) nap for efficiency, a 3-4” synthetic brush for smoothing the finish and a 1-2” brush for getting hard to reach areas.
🔥 Propane
If you’ve never had to deal with propane, it can be a little daunting until you understand the relevant pieces for deciding on a provider.
- Do you own a tank, or will you need to rent one from your provider? It’s easy (and common) to rent, but it means you can’t easily switch between providers for any given delivery as their per gallon rates fluctuate.
- What size tank makes the most sense for your situation?
- How many appliances use propane? Is that how you heat your house? Power your water heater? What about your kitchen appliances? Oven? Stove?
- How big is the house (if you’re using propane to heat it).
- How often are you at the property and how many people are there? What season?
- How much of an eyesore would a large tank be? Can you disguise it well?
- In theory, you could get a massive tank, fill it up when the prices are low, minimize delivery fees, etc. (As far as I know, propane doesn’t go bad like gasoline does). But that comes with its own downsides—tanks are expensive and not always easy to come-by, especially with delivery/installation. If renting, you’ll probably pay extra for the super-sized rental (some companies won’t even provide a particularly large tank, and some companies won’t keep you as a customer unless you have a fillup at least once a year).
- Do you want to keep an eye on your tank levels and purchase strategically (e.g. filling up in the summer rather than topping up during the winter), or do you want to rely on your provider?
- If you rely on your provider:
- will they be coming by to check your tank monthly?
- or do they have a meter that tells them your tank level remotely?
- Do they have a policy where they will always fill up at a certain level e.g. always coming out to refill once it drops below 60% full?
- That’s probably safest, but takes away your ability to try to stock up on propane when the prices are good. It also might mean more delivery charges than necessary, especially if you’re in a situation where the house is generally vacant.
- Do they have modern billing? e.g. electronic bills, auto-pay, a portal where you can view your tank’s gauge and your monthly usage?
- How responsive is their customer service? Do they operate in your area regularly? Can they guarantee delivery with 24hrs notice? What happens if there’s a big winter storm?
Costs to ask about:
- Initial delivery and setup fee
- Often there’s a per gallon discount on the first fill-up
- Annual tank rental fee
- Delivery fees each time they top up your tank
- Per gallon fees (which can fluctuate pretty significantly depending on the time of year, so you might want to ask for their 1-year high and low to be able to compare to other providers).
💡 Electrical/Lighting
It’s very straightforward to replace ceiling light fixtures or wall light switches. I like having more control, so I am often swapping traditional light switches for dimmer switches.
(Note: if you go the Programmable lighting route, you may not be using bulbs that can work on dimmer switches, and for plug-in light fixtures, you may want to try a Foot-controlled dimmer).
Back in the day, everyone had to twist the wire ends together and then twist on a little plastic hat, often while standing on a ladder — that was before Wago connectors changed the game. Just insert the wire and lock each one in place.
There are lots of multipack options, but you’re mostly going to need to connect two wires together, so you can start there with a pack of 10:
Or a pack of 100:
🔐 Security
See also: Security for property without WiFi (or for places out of range)
🛠️ Tools
This is the best screwdriver. Not only does it ratchet in both directions (with a shaft you can spin manually when no force is needed), but it has a ton of different heads stored in the handle. (These two models are the same, and between them, you have three color options.)
This is the best wood glue. Indoor/outdoor, waterproof, but still cleans up easily with water.
Note that it does take time to set, so if you can’t clamp whatever you’re gluing, you may want to supplement with a quick setting glue or screw or nail or clamp your wood together.
You’ll want clamps.
I think this is a solid starter set: two heavy-duty (300lb 12”) clamps and two lite-duty (100lb 6”) clamps, but both with an easy release handle and ratcheting mechanism.
I get a fair amount of use out of my rubber mallet—along with my magical screwdriver, it’s all I need for quick ikea furniture building; I wouldn’t attempt Eket cubes without it.
Something odd happened once our phones all came with flashlights—don’t be fooled, even a small flashlight or headlamp (if you need both hands) is way brighter and more useful.
📦 Storage
Shelving
The best thing I’ve found for storage: garage, basement, or storage unit, are these metal, 6 shelf, adjustable racks.
I think in most circumstances it will make sense to spring for the swivel wheel add-ons (two of the four have brakes to lock them in place).
They’re super sturdy and can handle 600lbs of stuff, and with the wheels, you can roll those 600lbs wherever you want!
In a storage unit, this means you could have a whole lineup of these shelves with only one walkway worth of space, and then just smoothly move the shelves to create an aisle of access where you need it. They disassemble just as quickly as they assemble, so you don’t need a truck to transport them from place to place.
I do find it useful to have a rubber mallet when lifting the shelves off their mounts to either adjust the shelf height or disassemble the unit.
They also come in other sizes, but I’ve always just used the biggest available.
I’ve also seen folks use them for Gardening, since you can easily adjust the spacing between shelves and you can easily hang shop lights above trays of seedlings. 🌱
If the bare wires are a problem for what you’re doing, you can also get shelf liners. I can’t vouch for any in particular, but you can find things like this at Home Depot and Amazon.
Plastic bins
I use the shelves in conjunction with Plastic bins, and in this situation you don’t even need sturdy ones, because you aren’t stacking them.
One thing to note on the plastic bin+shelving is that the big bins I use don’t match the dimensions of the shelves, so I can only fit two on each shelf, with the narrow end hanging off the front of the shelving unit. The height of the bins also doesn’t match, so I can have only five of the six shelves if I’m just using big bins, or I can make one useable skinny shelf if I set the bottom shelf at the lowest point and the top shelf at basically the highest point. So 10 big bins per unit (or 11 if you’re bold and using the top without guardrails and maybe aren’t planning on rolling it anywhere 😅). But the mismatch has never bothered me because I always have other odds and ends to fill in the gaps.
🚫 Pest control
🐜 Ants
This is the most effective ant bait I’ve found:
🐭 Mice
This is an effective mouse trap (and I do think quick humane killing is the right general strategy once you have mice in your home):
And an easy kit for plugging holes where they may be gaining entry (professionals can also come do exclusion):
Pro tip: In a situation where things are being stored without a watchful eye: garage, attic, basement, storage unit, shed, seasonal home, etc. I highly recommend using clear plastic bins for storing anything a mouse or rat could get into or ruin by nesting, compulsively chewing, peeing, and looking for food: clothing, linens, food, birdseed, books & papers, extension cords, etc. This preserves your items, but also creates a much less hospitable environment for a mouse to decide to settle in and raise a dynasty.