Brian Elfert
Contributor

They sell all kinds of stuff at Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards that technically require a permit to install, or is simply not legal to install. For...

Most grid tie solar inverters need a source of power to sync to. Even if you had a transfer switch to isolate your solar the panels won't produce...

The rotors are so thin from new on my car that there is no resurfacing them. I doubt they are over 1/2" thick. They don't have the vents between...

The local Menards had hundreds of pairs of eclipse glasses left early Monday afternoon. I checked the Menards website yesterday curious to see how...

I have 96,000 miles on my car. I had to replace the rear pads for the first time around 86,000 miles because one of the rear calipers locked up. It...

How properties are valued for property tax purposes varies from place to place. I know in Minnesota state law determines how properties are valued...

Tax forfeitures here in Minnesota generally take several years of missed payments before you lose the property. You certainly aren't out on the...

I would think the covering is there to encapsulate the fiberglass. You don't often see loose fiberglass insulation unless it was something like a...

It seems to be pretty common where I live that abandoned/unused fuel tanks have to be removed. The MN State Fair had a former DOT truck station...

There are a BP and Speedway station across the street from each other that are often the same price, or less, then the Costco about eight miles away....

For a lot of folks a $12,000 transmission repair would be a financial disaster it could take years to recover from. They don't have the savings to...

The whole tanker thing is not that big a deal for me. I have a Costco membership, but I don't buy gas there all that often. The closest Costco is...

Where I live they split the city up into five sections and the assessor does visits to one section each year. I believe that includes interior...

A former manager at my employer bought 4k laptops with 13" screens for everyone. The purchase was about six years ago and company employees skewed...

I've appealed a few times, but my appeals were less than ten thousand dollars, not 50%. I won every time.

I don't think Minnesota technically allows any electrical work without a permit with one exception. My understanding is a contractor can remove and...

Furniture companies provide pictures of their products for items that cost less than 1% of that $90,000 table.

That $200 was probably parts and labor.

I am guessing your warranty was aftermarket, not from the dealer? Some independent repair shops refuse to deal with extended warranty companies...

It appears they will mandate blade brakes on table saws. I doubt they are requiring use of any specific technology such as Saw Stop. Government...

Extended warranties are sort of like casinos. Overall, the house always wins. If every customer came out ahead on extended warranties the companies...

Some items are shown as stock on the website. The rest are custom order with a lead time of 48 weeks for wood furniture.

I'm not buying furniture without at least seeing a photo of it. In person would be better. Of course, if I was really buying a $90,000 table I...

Man, the Donald Judd furniture website leaves something to be desired. No actual pictures of the product. There are just basic line drawings of...

I had a forced air HVAC system installed in my house after I bought it. The round duct is all screwed at the joints and a brush on sealant was used...

Large wind and hail deductibles are starting to be the norm. A hail claim in 2014 is unlikely to have any impact.

Way back in the 1990s I worked for CompUSA for a while. HP printers were basically sold at cost meaning CompUSA made no gross profit on the sale. I...

Sometimes these cards offer six months or more of no interest if you need a short term loan. You have to be absolutely sure to pay it off by the end...

My point is prices are still going up faster than they have about any time in my adult lifetime. My income has not gone up anywhere near the rate of...

I bought a Xerox higher end office printer on clearance in hopes that it would last longer. The bigger issues if you want a laser printer that lasts...