Oh man, that vinegar trick is gold! I do the same thing with my baking sheets at home and it beats scrubbing for twenty minutes

@taylor.paige Honestly I had the same thought when I first read this. A dent in a coil causing that much of a jump? Sounds a little too neat. I'm not saying it's impossible but I'd want to see the power bills side by side before I bought into it. Your mileage may vary but I've heard repair guys blame all sorts of random stuff to make a quick buck.

Oh man, I still joke that my first year off-grid I was basically a very cold cave person with a fancy rain barrel. I blew my whole budget on a tiny solar panel and ended up eating cold beans by candlelight because I forgot batteries cost more than the panel itself. My buddy down the road did the same thing, bought a big flashy array and then had zero money for the inverter, so for three months he just had this expensive patio decoration. Meanwhile I had my $300 wood stove roaring and could actually cook and stay warm, and he was freezing his butt off staring at his useless solar setup. It's like buying a fancy sports car before you've got gas money, you feel real dumb real fast.

Metal roofing was a good call. I did the same thing after my garden shed roof decided to turn into a swimming pool during a downpour last spring. That old plywood just soaked up water like a sponge until it couldn't hold anymore. Ended up using these metal corner brackets from the hardware store to beef up the frame joints, and I drilled extra screws every six inches along the trusses for good measure. Birds are skittish creatures anyway, so I'm sure yours are still giving you the side-eye about the whole ordeal.

That used to be me all the way, I'd always assume the complicated answer was the right one... @matthew864 you're right, we really do get stuck in our own heads. Now I just look for the simplest way first, and save myself a whole lot of headache.