Thanks so much for the input. Means I'm not crazy. Yes, I called the contractor & he agreed to redo the steps. They knew very well they weren't right. He will demo them & start over. When I'd hired them, I was very clear that the priority was safety, as my elderly mother was to be using them to access her in-law suite part of the house. They are not attached to the house, but part of the yard, at the end of a stone paver patio going down to lawn (inset with flagstone walk in the grass), replacing a set of wooden slat steps, so I didn't think a permit was necessary (not electrical, plumbing, structure), so no inspection. But when I called I told him my mother had already stumbled on them (true). I'm relieved they will redo them, but I'm worried they're just going to do them badly again, and wishing I'd done it myself. here's a picture, link to a before picture. garden stairs The risers were jarringly irregular: 5.25", 4.5", 5.25", 7.5", 6.5", and 7", the doozy being the >2inch drop in the middle. He said he would redo them all at 7.5", different # of steps, as if he were limited in the riser size. I originally want to follow the slope of previous stairs, which would have meant a shallower rise, more appropriate for a garden stair. 7.5 seems steep to me, and means a shorter run. I don't understand why he can't measure the rise & run & build a form to distribute them evenly over the same span? Is it really that tricky to build to size? Are there some standard forms out there or do they just not know what they're doing? If he does it with 7.5 risers, same total height, won't he need different railings, with a different angle? I'm very close to just asking him to demo, and firing them for this job (they also put in a mortored flagstone walk to our front door, which they did a good job on). If I did that, what would be a fair settlement for the work they did do? I'd pay them in full for the walk, and 20% of the stairs job? (they demo'd the previous stairs & hauled the debris). Would they be upset, or relieved to be off a job that's been problematic? 50% and call it a loss? I'm anticipating the cost on the stairs is ~3k (they didn't itemize it separately from the front walk job). sorry to ramble!

Hi All, Thanks for all the tips; you actually helped me solve my issue (the clutch did not engage). Two years ago, I decided to buy a “Portable Car Battery Charger” instead of keep buying new battery every winter, which apparently was the root-cause. I used the “Portable Car Battery Charger” to jump-start the tractor then disconnected it and start plowing but this year the clutch did not engage. Apparently, the clutch need some power from the battery and since my battery is dead it simple didn’t engage. So, as a "temporary solution" I ducted tape the “Portable Car Battery Charger” to the tractor hood and I keep it connected after the initial “jump-start” and the clutch (and me) are happy. Next week, I will get a new battery for the tractor and a “Battery Buddy” to keep the battery alive during the summers. Hopefully, this post will save others some time & $$

I had a height problem with my new refrigerator. It fit the standard 36” wide cutout in the cabinetry, but the raised hinges on the newer refrigerator would not allow the cabinet doors above to open. The best solution would be getting or making a new bridge cabinet above the frige, and then cutting the existing matching cabinets doors to a shorter hieght. Quite a chore. Instead I just removed the cabinet hinge mounting screw and now use the doors as simply removable panels. Problem solved the lazy mans way.

That hole is called the siphon jet opening. If the toilet just swirls but won't flush properly, then something probably went through the siphon jet opening and is in that cavity. I flushed some freeze-dried salmon dog treats and this happened to me. One of them made it through that hole. You need to put on a latex glove and put your finger into that hole. You will probably feel a foreign object in there. You will need to coax the foreign object out of there with your finger while the toilet is flushing.