to paint or not to paint?

Over the last month or so, we've been giving our house some major facelifts. Some of it was due to storm damage, and some of it was just routine maintenance. Our restoration work is nearing completion. The contractors have installed most of the siding, soffits, and fascia. Our new kitchen window above the sink is in. They've got a few sheets of siding left to hang, and then some trim. Then, we're going to have to decide whether we want to pay them to paint the house or if we should try and do it ourselves. I'm leaning towards just paying them for it. I've been falling behind on my web work lately. Since I feel I need to be available to answer any questions the contractors may have, it has been difficult to concentrate on programming. You know how it goes...you don't feel like getting too deep into it when you're expecting regular interruptions.

So I don't think I really have the time to take a few days out of my schedule to paint. As it is, we saved ourselves a chunk of change by putting the kitchen back together and painting all the interior walls ourselves. We also opted to just cover the existing siding, rather than have it all pulled down. This will save us a bunch of material handling, haul-away, and tear-down labor. I was leery about it at first, and hope that it doesn't come back to bite me in an inspection. Technically, there's nothing really wrong with covering the old siding with the new stuff. Most of it wasn't damaged; we only decided to replace the entire rear of the house so that it would all match. It just might look funny if someone got behind the trim and saw the two layers (extra R-value?).

Unfortunately, the way that the original builder nailed the windows on top of the siding would have presented some potential problems if we tried to remove it all. We'd basically have to take out all the windows, remove the old siding, install the new siding, muscle the windows back in and pray that everything opens and closes like it did before. No thanks. I can see that becoming a big expensive adventure. I'm also a little scared at what we may find behind the old siding. Every project that I tackle with this house ends up being one of those "tip of the iceberg" / "rust in a fender" experiences where we end up doing three or four times as much work as we had planned.

a place of houses

In the past, I've ranted and raved about the morons who built my home - the layout that makes little sense, the electrical wiring nightmares, etc. I'm feeling a little better today, though. For some time now, my wife and I have been toying around with the idea of building a house of our own, but the cost of land here in town is prohibitive. This hasn't deterred me, however, from reading some books on home design and I recently read one that actually has me inspired to fix up the home that we in now. The book was called "A Place of Houses" by Charles Moore, et.al. It's not that great of a read, really, as I find that it focuses a little too much on their own "modern" designs ad nauseum. It has some good information, but grandstands a bit too much for my taste. It is only worth reading, in my opinion, for some of the architectural theories embedded within.

One chapter includes a checklist for designing your home that I found to be very unique and pretty useful. Instead of focusing on which rooms you want and how big you want them to be, it addresses your needs based more on your lifestyle and the collective use of the family. There are also sections about rearranging existing rooms to breathe life into them, which will come in handy for us, since it doesn't look like we'll be moving anytime soon.

We had already started the obvious home improvement projects that many homeowners do once moving into a new house - adding new fixtures and painting. It has gone relatively smooth thus far, although I've had some problems with the discount bathroom fixtures that I have purchased online. (For example, I have a toilet paper holder that won't stay on the wall bracket, due to stripped tightening screw. The seller sent me a new one, but he sent me the wrong side. So I can either install it upside down with the screw facing upwards, or contact him yet again for a replacement. That's the problem with online orders.)

We've also been trying to rearrange some furniture, which seems to be helping us to feel a little more at home. The first step was to rearrange the living room so that traffic doesn't flow through the center. Instead, the sofa, loveseat, and armoire form their own little pocket of space, with the path to the bathroom and master bedroom running along the side of it. It makes a HUGE difference in the way that the room is perceived, and I find that we are spending more time there comfortably than before. It just feels cozier. We've got a new sofa on order that should help, too.

I also managed to take an old cabinet that I had removed from the kitchen when we first moved in and cut it down to about 6" deep. It now serves as a spice rack that matches the rest of cabinetry perfectly, hanging on the wall nearly within arm's reach of the stove.

Our next big project is to add a built-in dining area at the edge of the kitchen (by rearranging some floor cabinets), and turn the formal dining area into a reading room, anchored by a fancy new electric fireplace and hardwood mantel. The resulting kitchen will be a little smaller, but right now it is full of useless space. I have no idea why they designed it the way that they did. It's as if there was an extra set of cabinets, an island, or an appliance near the center that no longer exists. I don't know why else they would have left such a large space in the center. The new reading area will be perfect for those times when the kids want to watch movies in the living room, and we want to be close enough to keep an eye on them, but separated so that we can also carry on a conversation of our own, or get lost in a good book.

So, we're actually quite excited about our current home, or rather, its potential.

service magic sucks

Last year, I talked a little about my experience using a site called Service Magic. It was nice that I received a call almost immediately upon using their site, but in the end they only found one pre-screened contractor in my area. So much for them delivering multiple choices for me to pick from. None-the-less, I was willing to give them another chance and figured I would use their website again for the next big home improvement project that I didn't feel like doing myself.

HOWEVER...

I have just started receiving tons of spam at the email address I used to register with Service Magic, and considering that I created this certain email address JUST FOR Service Magic and haven't used it anywhere else, I would say that this is a pretty good indicator that they have sold my email address out to the likes of spammers. I don't see how else I would be getting spam to this dedicated email address.

Their privacy policy states: "We may share aggregated, non-personal information in any of the above situations and also with advertisers and others."

I guess that includes my email address, eh? As I've stated before, when it comes to so-called "free" services on the internet, they are rarely free. In this case, you're allowing your inbox to fill up with pharmaceutical spam and penis enlargement scams in return for someone playing the middleman between you and some contractors. What a deal...NOT!

So I have decided to change my assessment of Service Magic - they suck. I won't ever use them again, and I don't recommend them.

genes that skip

It always amazes me how there are certain skills that my parents excel at, that I myself cannot seem to master. Isn't this an example of reverse evolution? If so, how does it explain that my brother or sister picked up on some of these skills, and I did not? Does that mean I am doing something wrong?

My brother is great with his hands, but I am not. So it's obviously not a 100% foolproof genetic inheritance. You see, my father is a custom home builder and has been building homes with his own two hands since I was a kid. You would think that some of his prowess at quality craftsmanship would have rubbed off of me, considering that I've been around his luxury homes for most of my life. However, you would be wrong. I can't seem to do any handy-work around the home and make it really look good. I've got the engineering part down, and I can build things that are functional and work well, but they rarely look nice when I'm done. It's frustrating. At first, I blamed it on a lack of good tools. After all, building something like a bookshelf with a handsaw is more strenuous and time-consuming than using a powered table saw. I've picked up a few power tools over the years, and they have helped me with my "craft" a little, but it's still nothing that I'm exactly proud of.

I think what bothers me the most is that I secretly would love to be one of those survivalist types of people, and I fear that my lack of skill will prevent me from ever attaining a sense of achievement in that arena. But then again, as I mentioned earlier, I do have common structural sense and basic engineering skills. I'm just not very good at making things look good. So I guess I've got the utilitarian aspect of it down - just not the aesthetics. Which is funny, because I was an art major in college. Go figure.

when a bargain feels even better

The other night we had a couple of friends over for dinner, and after visiting the restroom, on of them commented on how much she loves our bathroom faucets. We thanked her and smiled to ourselves, knowing that we had saved about 60% by purchasing all of our plumbing fixtures via online auction. She explained that she had seen the same set in a recent mailing from Lowe's for like $200 and when we told her how much we had saved by *not* shopping at Home Depot or Lowe's, she was shocked. She kept asking if they were damaged or used in some way. When we explained that they were brand new in the box with no damage, she asked for the name of the online dealer we bought them from.

I don't know how they can sell their fixtures so much cheaper than the competition. Maybe they were stolen! I thought at first that they would make up for it by overcharging us on shipping and handling, but they didn't. Finding a bargain like that makes you feel good, but it feels even better when someone else notices, doesn't it?

impermanence and upgrades

Since we moved into our home nearly two years ago, there has been an ever-growing list of upgrades and home improvements that we've been considering. We managed to take care of a few things on the list that were basic necessities, like new appliances (our home was missing the range). We wanted to do some extensive landscaping and were even considering some terracing to try and make the hollow behind our home more usable. We'd like to get the deck covered and install solar lights on the railing. I've got some trim that I purchased not too long ago that is awaiting a coat of paint. Then I'll fasten it to the top of our kitchen cabinets, to make them look a little fancier. Other things like repainting the walls and ceiling are relatively inexpensive, and we're getting to the different rooms as we have time.

One of the items that was high on our list but fairly cost-prohibitive was installing hardwood flooring in the kitchen and living room. From what we've seen in stores and online, it looks like it will cost us about $6000 to $8000 installed. I could try to install it myself, which will certainly knock some cash off the price, but I'm not sure how good it would turn out. As I've stated before, I'm not the world's best handyman.

So for a while, we were thinking that we would apply our next big tax return to our wish list and get those hardwood floors installed. However, we've begun to question whether we want to stay in this house. If you've been reading my blog for any small period of time, you've certainly read my posts about the workmanship and questionable building codes (if any) that were followed when it was constructed. I still worry about the electrical work hidden in those walls. I've replaced most outlets and fixtures, but there's no telling what kind of mistakes the builders made behind the walls. I feel like I'm just waiting for a catastrophe.

So we've been debating selling the house and trying to build one ourselves, not necessarily in that order. Land in town isn't cheap, but I think it would be possible for us to build a small house that accommodates our family's needs for less than $100k, land included. This would assume that I do much of the work myself.

So we've been re-evaluating that wish list. Do we really want to get hardwood floors for a house that we're just going to sell? Would it increase the cost of the home enough to make it worth it? Would it be better to just install a new laminate or vinyl flooring? Those quick-flip shows on TV advocate just putting down vinyl stick-in squares. We don't live in a fancy neighborhood, and our house is probably one of the newer ones, so I don't think potential buyers will be expecting things like hardwood floors and granite countertops. But then again, houses in this neighborhood sometimes take forever to sell. Maybe hardwood floors would fix that.

As for the other items on our list, I guess we need to evaluate what gives the most bang for visual buck. It's a shame how your attitude towards a home changes s soon as you have decided that it isn't where you want to be.

fake rock to the rescue

Since I'm no stone mason, we'll probably end up using fake rock when we reside our home. It sounds fairly easy to install, and they've made great strides over the years to make it look and feel real. In fact, many of the higher end homes in Denver used this stuff all over their facades and we couldn't tell the difference.

It's pretty amazing what companies are able to do now to simulate earthen building materials like rock and hardwood. Recycled products that look like anything buy recycled products top the list for those who are green-minded. For many of us on a budget crunch, though, the products that look real, are inexpensive, and easy to install and maintain are the best choice.

One new product that I recently had a chance to review was a fake address rock from Artificial Rocks Factory. These are actually big synthetic boulders with address plaques embedded into them. Considering how difficult it is to obtain an actual boulder and have it engraved or embellished with an address plaque, these 50 to 60 pound alternatives make a lot of sense.

People love rock decor. When we were shopping for homes in Omaha, we noticed many homes with Husker rocks in their garden. In Nebraska, the Cornhuskers are worshipped by all, and nearly every home for sale with a Husker rock had it listed as an exclusion. These were solid rock pieces, mostly sitting in the gardens, welcoming visitors to the home of a true Husker fan (many of these homes also had red rooms).

Address rocks are no different. In most cases, the only people who can afford the real thing are the high end homeowners, and because these fake rock offerings are relatively new, you don't see them too often. But I suspect that will be changing soon as word gets around. Their website offers a rotating 360 degree view of each rock, so you can see it fro all angles. They are molded from the real thing, and are cast in stone not some cheesy fiberglass solution that's going to blow away with a hard wind storm.

I may just have to look at these when we decide to add stone facade to our house. Trying to embed a plaque into the wall of our home would probably be difficult. As I have said before, I'm no stone mason. Having one of these address rocks made and delivered would be a lot easier.

materials and moisture

Lately, we've been having a bit of trouble with some of the wood siding on our home. It is getting wrapped in places, and it is also turning green near our back deck. This leads me to believe that it is getting moisture behind the it (warping) and that the paint isn't keeping the wood from staying too moist (green stuff). We had similar green growth on our deck, but managed to clean it off with a bleach solution from the hardware store. I'd do the same thing with my siding, but I'm concerned that the solution may bleach the house paint or even remove it. I have no idea how many layers of paint there are on the house, and the last thing I need is some glaring undercoat showing through. With our deck, it was no big deal since we were restaining it anyway.

This got me thinking about building materials and moisture. In areas that tend to be humid, why do they even try to build exterior walls with wood? Why not stick to more impervious materials like brick and stone? I guess they are too expensive, but so is replacing the exterior walls of your home. I know that there are certain types of wood (like cypress) that are supposed to be more moisture-proof but they are getting sparse. We could try residing the home in vinyl but I never really liked the way it looks. So I'm thinking that at some point we may have to add stone facade where the warped siding is now, along the lower half of the home. There are some decent priced fake stone options, some of which we may even be able to install ourselves.

One thing is for sure - if we ever decide to build our own home in this area, I'm going for the real thing, even if it costs me extra.

carpet tiles?

We've been trying to figure out what we're going to do with the old grungy carpet in our basement. We visited the local hardware store and were pretty shocked to see that they charge about $20/yard and that doesn't include the cost of the pad or installation. Yikes. So it looks like an online purchase might fit our pocketbook best.

One of the things that caught my attention were carpet tiles. They look neat and they sound promising, but will they stay in place? Everything that I have read says that if you place them wall to wall (which we would) that they stay in place pretty good. But we've got small children and a dog that like to really "tear it up" from time to time, so I wonder how carpet tiles would fare. I just don't like the idea of paying a bunch of money for new carpet and then having the water heater overflow again at some time in the future. We tried to have a drip pan installed, but there was no place to drain it to, as the level of the water heater is below ground. We would have had to dig a trench outside and punch a hole in the wall to get it to drain properly.

That's what I liked about the idea of carpet tiles. If they get wet, you just pull them up and dry them out in the sun. There's very little fear of mold growth as you can see that the carpet tiles are dry before you place them back on the floor.

The pad is essentially built in, so that worries me a little. I'm not so sure that these carpet tiles would be as thick as regular carpet, and seeing as we'd be placing them on concrete it might not be so fun for my kids. But I do like the idea of mixing and matching colors and patterns for a more visually appealing carpet design. There are some real bargains online but like any other online order of this magnitude we'll have to order some samples first.

online orders versus in-store orders

So my online experience shopping for army surplus and seamless gutters has gotten me a little down on the internet lately. As convenient as it is to order items from the internet, it seems that there are very few companies that you can really pick something from their website and know exactly what you are getting when you order. While many stores offer some sort of guarantee for your order, setting up the return or exchange isn't as easy as it should be. Warranty claims are even sketchier.

So my assumption that moving to a small town wouldn't isolate us from the products that we need (because we have the internet) may have been a little naive. Sure, you can order items from the internet and get similar prices (or better) to what you would pay in a big city, but how often do you know exactly what you are getting? In addition, we have to worry about shipping and service issues that we wouldn't experience in a store. It's like buying new furniture. No matter how nice that store display looks, you're going to have to send it back three or four times before they deliver something that isn't damaged. Then there are inherent problems with warranties form items ordered online. How many times have you received an online order that arrived without a receipt or with a printout that doesn't look very official? Is that going to be adequate should you need to submit a warranty claim?

Fortunately, some online retailers are starting to understand this dilemma that net-savvy shoppers are experiencing. Just in time for my little quandary comes a big announcement from the largest online flooring company iFLOOR:

iFLOOR, America's largest online flooring retailer, today announced a $1,000,000 limited warranty designed to protect its customers from predatory manufacturer policies that exclude warranty coverage from online purchases.

The policy, which goes into effect immediately, offers up to one million dollars of coverage in the event that a customer's warranty claim is denied specifically because they made their purchase online. It is complimentary for every iFLOOR customer, and protects the buyer under the same terms as the original product warranty.

iFLOOR, Inc. CEO, Steve Simonson, came up with the program to combat "scare tactics" used by manufacturers of hardwood floors and laminate flooring. "Their idea is to discourage you from buying at a discount!" wrote Simonson in his blog "It's About Flooring". "This is not right! You deserve to save money! So we're going to take care of this problem once and for all."

And it would appear that federal law is on his side. Section 108 of the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Act, states that, "In general, tie-in sales provisions are not allowed. Such a provision would require a purchaser of the warranted product to buy an item or service from a particular company to use with the warranted product in order to be eligible to receive a remedy under the warranty."

Under iFLOOR's new warranty, a key provision allows for iFLOOR to "seek justice" on behalf of the customer in the event of legal action. According to Simonson, "I'm putting iFLOOR's money where my mouth is."

About iFLOOR, Inc.
Since 1998, iFLOOR.com has been the leading online and retail flooring company, with 36 local retail stores nationwide offering more than 70,000 products, including hardwood floors, laminate flooring, bamboo flooring and cork floors. iFLOOR.com is the largest online flooring retailer according to Internet Retailer Magazine, and was named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States for the past three years. Committed to quality customer service, superior selection and friendly expert advice, iFLOOR.com enables customers to buy flooring both online and in its retail stores at a substantial savings over traditional retailers. For more information about iFLOOR, please visit www.iFLOOR.com.

So what does this mean for us e-shoppers? For one, it means that retailers are starting to step up to the plate to make the online ordering experience (and the follow-up delivery and any warranty claims) more pleasant. Gone are the days when online orders were happening because of the novelty of the internet. If I can get it locally without the shipping and return hassles, I'm going to buy it locally. Some still go for the cheaper prices of online items, but shipping and handling charges often negates those price differences. But if the shipper can offer an iron-clad guarantee that protects me in the event that even the manufacturer denies my claim, I'm going to be more open to the idea of ordering such a large item like flooring online. And with my wife bugging me almost daily about how much she hates the carpet, I may do just that.

servicemagic smoke and mirrors

We've got a gutter that leaks water onto our deck every time we get a hard rain. It splashes onto the house, and I worry that there's water getting into the foundation and behind the siding. Several warped siding boards near my son's bedroom may confirm this suspicion. After getting up on a ladder, it appears that the gutter was damaged at some point, probably by a tree branch or something that fell on it from above. As a result, it sits a bit lower than the ends where the downspouts are located. I've tried bending it back up with no success.

So I decided to try and get some quotes from some local gutter companies to have the gutters replaced. In addition to the new gutters, I was going to opt for some sort of built-in cover that would assist me in keeping them free from leaves and debris, a serious problem in our area all year long - not just in the fall. Unfortunately, I am starting to learn that there aren't many services for our town listed on the internet like larger Metropolitan areas. I guess I'm spoiled because I like to see websites first, if at all possible. There are a couple of companies listed in the phonebook, but I can't find any info on them at all. Who knows if they are reputable or do a good job?

I then happened upon a site called Service Magic that claims it will locate several pre-screened contractors for you. Submitting my request was easy enough and it was free. Most impressive was the phonecall that I had received from then within minutes of submitting my information. The man on the phone promised to find several companies and have them contact me to present a quote. After some time (over a week), I still hadn't received any calls from local companies and was thinking that Service Magic had struck out. I finally received a call from one contractor and he gave us a quote that was much more than I had expected. My wife passed his quote on to me, and I called him back to let him know that it was much more than we had expected. I guess seamless gutters cost a lot more than I was thinking they would.

When I phoned the contractor to let him know that we were going to pass, he informed me of a "special deal" that they were giving for an additional $200 off. Interesting that he didn't mention this when he originally quoted us. None-the-less, I'm not ready to fork over $1200 for new gutters. I'd rather spend that money on new flooring and try to fix the gutters myself.

So when it comes down to it, Service Magic may work well in large cities but in more rural areas like mine, we only got one bid/quote, which I could have gotten myself from the company listed in the phonebook. I guess that the company that contacted me via service magic was pre-screened though, so that is a plus. I can't really blame the site for there not being many contractors in this area, but it would be nice if they would just tell you upfront instead of giving false hope. Or a follow-up phonecall to let us know that they only found one contractor would have been nice. Also, since the only contractor to contact us took quite a while, I could have been busy searching on my own that whole time. I didn't want any overlap, so I waited for them to pre-screen them for me, as they had promised.

In this case, I'm not going to proceed with the project due to the cost but if this were something that I needed done ASAP, that week of delayed response would not have helped any.

when the water heater leaks

Seeing how troublesome our water heater ordeal just turned out to be, I've decided to compile a collection of tips for those who run int this problem in the future. With any luck, this post can get indexed by Google so that you can get all of this information in one place, as I had to read several different pages of info to get it. Anyways, here goes...

First and foremost, make sure that it isn't just condensation. This should be fairly easy to recognize, as condensation won't cause very much water. If there is a large growing puddle on the floor, it probably isn't condensation. If you've got carpet nearby that now goes "squish" when you walk on it, that's also a good sign that you've got real trouble on your hands. In our case, we could actually see the water running out form the base of the water heater tank.

Once you've determined that the water heater is in fact leaking, the first thing you want to do is shut off the cold water supply going into the tank. There should be two copper lines going into the tank. One supplies cold water and the other carries the heated water to various areas of your home. The cold water supply line will have a shutoff valve. Turn it clockwise and close it off completely. This will prevent the tank from filling up with more water as it is drained.

Next up, find the breaker and switch it off. If you've running a gas water heater, I'm not sure of the steps involved but I would assume that you need to shut off the supply of gas and blow out the pilot light at some point. Google for more instructions if you need to.

Next, go to the bathroom and flip on the hot water faucet in the tub and let it run. You may want to put the drain stopper in and save this hot water for later, as it may be the last hot water you'll have for a day or more. Get yourself a garden hose and connect it to the small drain plug at the base of the water heater unit. Run the other end to a bath tub or outside. Then open the drain and allow it to drain the tank as much as possible. If you find that there is no water coming out after you've opened the tank drain, you've probably got a ton of sediment crusting up the bottom of the tank. You can try taking a metal coat hanger or other rigid wire and sticking it into the tank drain to scrape some of the crud loose. Make sure you have a towel handy, so that you can catch the water if/when it starts to flow out. Then shut the valve, reattach the hose, open the valve and allow it to drain.

While the tank is draining, you should start mopping up as much of the water as you can. If your water heater sits on concrete, you can use a mop and some towels. A wet dry vacuum or a steam cleaner also works good at sucking up excess water. If you've got carpet near the heater that got wet, you're in for more work. First suck up as much water as you can. Then you'll need to pull up the carpet by the edges, and prop it up so that you can blow a fan between the carpet and the pad. This is the only way we were able to get our carpet pad to dry, as it is made of a foam material that soaks up moisture. It is also where mold is likely to grow if you leave it untreated. Your carpet should basically create a tent with air blowing through it and the pad.

Get as many fans blowing in the room as possible, and crack some windows to allow for more air flow. The best fans to use are the small snail-shell styles that sit close to the floor. This is what the professionals use, but you can find inexpensive ones at places like Wal-Mart being sold as shop fans. Some people suggest turning on the heater to promote evaporation, but I also read that this can promote mold growth, so I wouldn't recommend it. Cold air obviously won't help, but I'd leave it at room temperature.

Once you've taken care of the water on the floor, and you've drained the tank as much as possible, you should be calling for a plumber to replace the water heater. Within a day or two, the carpet should be dry and that moist smell should be subsiding. If it isn't, you may have to have the carpet professionally cleaned or replaced.

the hot shower

It is funny how much one takes hot water for granted. We had our hot water heater replaced today by Lowe's and my wife and I managed to take our first hot shower in a couple of days. We didn't give the tank much time to heat up, and were worried that we may run out of warm water prematurely, so we decided to shower together. We were so relieved to have hot water again that we were almost "giddy". Let's just say that the water wasn't the only thing "hot" about the shower. But I digress...

The installation crew from Lowe's was quite professional and friendly. They gave me a few scares at first saying that they weren't sure if the new tank would fit with an expansion tank (which is supposedly required by code), but everything went pretty smooth. We're still trying to get the carpet dried out, though. I pulled it up at the corners and have the fan blowing beneath it like a tent now, and that seems to be helping to get the pad dry. My biggest concern is mold, although i have to admit that the idea of replacing the carpet isn't something that we would have a problem with. We've been discussing new flooring for the entire house for some time now. I'm just not sure that we've got the budget for it.

I was looking at carpet tiles as a possible alternative. They aren't that much cheaper than traditional carpet, but they are much more flexible and it sounds like a good option for an area that may be prone to flooding (like a bedroom near the water heater). I really like the idea that we could install them ourselves, and that you can easily pull up a tile and wash it if it gets a stain on it. I'm just not sure how well they would stick down to the concrete, and how much prep work would be required. I noticed today that the existing carpet pad is glued to the concrete floor, so that would probably have to be scraped up. Sounds like a pain.

If we can get the carpet dry and there are no signs (or smells) of mold, I may be able to delay this decision for a little while, but we're going to have to do it some day.

home depot versus lowe's

I spent most of the day on the phone with Home Depot and Lowe's, in search of our new water heater. I was going to call up one fo the local companies but decided that with a national chain I might get a better warranty service. Plus I know that I can raise hell with a big company like Home Depot should disaster strike and probably get some resolution. I also wouldn't have to worry about verifying that their installers are license, insured and/or certified for the work at hand. I also like to be able to look at the products on their websites before I buy. Call me spoiled in a true American consumer fashion.

I started out at the Lowe's website, since I also had a $20 off coupon. They had a couple of water heaters that would have worked for me based on the limited space in the closet. Their website also states that they can install same day if ordered by noon. It sounded promising, so I called their 800 number to order my water heater and schedule the installation. I was happily surprised that the phonecall took me directly to the "water heater" service line, and I didn't have to fumble over a bunch of voice recognition software. The customer service person was very friendly, too. Unfortunately, both of the water heaters that would have worked for me were out of stock. Seeing as I didn't want to have to wait seven days or more to start taling hot showers again, I figured that I better try Home Depot.

Home Depot only lists two water heaters on their website, both by GE and varying based on the warranty. One has a six year and the other has a twelve. No prices were listed. I went ahead and called their 800 number. After routing myself to the right service department by talking to their answering machine, I was finally connected. The customer service person was friendly, but the call seemed to take forever as she didn't have immediate answers to any of my questions. After about thirty minutes, she had finally gotten all of the details in order and I now had a purchase order for a new water heater and installation. I gave her my credit card number, and she gave me my order number and said that the installer would call me in the morning to schedule a good time to do the work. Everything seemed to be under control.

Unfortunately, six hours later I received a voicemail from the local Home Depot store indicating that they do not do water heater installation and that they were canceling my order. Needless to say, I was just a little bit upset. This is yet another example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Don't you think it would have made sense for them to check with the local store before placing the order and taking my payment information. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was when I received another phonecall from Home depot letting me know that my payment should be refunded to my credit card within the next three business days. I can't believe that they went ahead and charged me the money before they knew if they could even do the service. Let's just say that I'm glad that my credit card limit isn't much lower or I'd be waiting three days to get the water heater from someplace else.

I decided to go ahead and call the local Lowe's store to see if there might be a chance that, like their Home Depot brethren, their national service line may not know what the local stores could or couldn't do. I was on the phone with the salesman at the local Lowe's store for about twenty minutes as he tried to get my order processed. It wouldn't have taken as long if he wasn't putting my on hold every time an in-store customer would walk up. As luck would have it, he eventually found a suitable replacement and I am now expecting a call within 48 hours to schedule installation. So much for the same day installation promise.

All in all, I am fairly disappointed with the service from both of these chains. The total price for parts and labor was about the same ($775 versus $750), but the included lifetime warranty at Home Depot would have been nice. I only get nine years from Lowe's. That's about the life of a typical hot water heater. Finding the right water heater and checking availability shouldn't have been so difficult on their websites and with their telephone service reps. I can probably blame myself for trying to do something like this over the phone with their national service centers, as opposed to visiting my local store, but isn't that what they are there for? It's too bad that both stores are about an hour away or I would have placed my order in person.

Now I've got my fingers crossed, as I fear the next phonecall that I get from Lowe's will be to let me know that they can't install it after all, or that I'm going to be without hot water for another week. I guess I should have just called one of the smaller local companies.

next kitchen project - spice rack

After moving into our home, one of the first things we decided to do was pull down some of the kitchen cabinets that were hanging from the ceiling, blocking the view and making the kitchen feel closed off. I've since mounted new light fixtures and a wall sconce where they once hung, and I've repainted the ceiling with a new coat of "ceiling white" paint. I've been debating my next move and I think I am going to build a spice rack - not one of those wire-frame deals that could double as a wine caddy, but one that will fit in with the rest of the kitchen decor.

So I have decided to reuse one of the cabinets that i had pulled down. That way, it will have the same finish and all I have to do is make it much more shallow. I thought about cutting into the wall, but decided against it because the 2x4's that I would be cutting are load bearing. I don't need that potential headache.

So why a spice rack, you may be wondering. Well, it goes like this. We used to have one of those fancy rotating Kammenstein spice holders, and it was okay but we're growing tired of having so much stuff on our counter tops. And we've never even had coffee makers or espresso machines - just the basics, really. Between the bread basket, paper towel holder, and toaster oven, we have very little room for cooking. Adding a counter-top spice rack would give us no room. And I use a lot of spices. But having them in a cabinet makes it difficult to find the one that you need. I'm constantly taking some down to get to the ones behind them, and then having to put them back. So I'm building a spice rack that can hang on this one awkward wall in our kitchen.

I'm going to cut the cabinet so that it is about five or six inches deep, and then reattach the back to it. Then I'll cut the old shelves down to fit inside and we'll have our spice rack. I may try to add some try around the edges and top to make it look more intentional, too. I wonder why we never see spice racks like this anymore. My guess is it has something to do with how few people have time to cook anymore. It's really a shame, because cooking (and eating homemade meals) is fun.

beyond the typical hardware store

After writing my last post, I started to wonder if perhaps I just haven't been looking in the right places for the right kind of home improvement products. The little local hardware store here in town is terribly expensive with many of the products they sell, and the bigger chains seem to all sell the same products. I even thought of looking into art supply stores that might sell some sort of texture appliqué that I could use to create a more interesting effect on my wall.

I often think that consulting with atypical sources can lead to some truly interesting results, as long as you select similar quality materials. One approach is to investigate other cultures. So what do they use to repair their walls in China? How about Brazil? Maybe they don't have drywall...

Home improvement products in other countries like the UK may offer some interesting alternatives, if the shipping and exchange rates are acceptable. One of the largest stores in the UK is called Anglian home improvements and they cover all kinds of unique product lines that we don't typically see here in the states. Why is it that I've never seen a traditional styled conservatory on any of the homes in the US? They have them in several styles from classic Victorian to more cottagey garden finishes. I don't even think I've seen them in the high end million dollar homes here in the US. Why not? They add such an elegant touch.

I guess I'm just tired of having the typical covered porch. So I've made the decision that my next home is going to have some sort of a conservatory outside...and zero wallpaper inside!

wallpaper should be outlawed

We've started to refinish our bathroom now, and it has served as a none-too-friendly reminder of how much I hate wallpaper. Although the previous owners managed to lay down several coats of paint on top of it in a mock textured style, the edges were still coming up and my toddler even pulled a strip off one day.

Wallpaper is such a pain to work with. Putting it on is no easy task,and taking it off is three times as bad. I can't believe that they still sell it. Even though we rented a steamer, it is still pulling the top layer of paper off of the drywall, so I'm going to have to figure out how to re-texture the walls. Right now, they are smooth, but for the newly crated "scars" from the wallpaper that we removed. I looked into that spray texture stuff, but it is ridiculously expensive for the amount of coverage it provides. You need like a dozen cans to cover a decent sized wall. We also tried the little granules that you add to the paint bucket and although they did manage to hide most of the blemishes, you need to apply several coats on top of it to get them to not rub off with the brush of a hand.

There really needs to be a cheaper and easier way to repair drywall surfaces.

hunting for a response from hunter

I must admit that I am a bit disappointed in the Hunter fan company. We moved into our home and replaced all but one of the ceiling fans - the one in our master bedroom. Unlike the ones that we replaced, it is fairly new and looks nice, fits well with our decor and it seemed to work okay - at first. However, it started acting a little strange after a few weeks. First, it started turning itself on in the middle of the night. We thought that there may be some sort of timer or thermostat control for it, but I couldn't find anything. Then, I figured that there might be a remote somewhere in our home that was sending out a signal at the same frequency that might be causing it to turn on. However, this was happening even when everybody was asleep - the fan would turn on automatically at midnight.

We just dealt with it for a while, and then it started acting out in other ways. At times, it wouldn't respond to the remote. We never could get it to switch directions - it would just make a clicking sound. Then it stopped working altogether. I have tried replacing the batteries to no avail. I dismounted the entire unit, checked the wiring and everything was in order. I am guessing that it is the remote signal receiver that is causing the trouble.

While I had the fan down on the ground, I was able to retrieve the serial number for it. I checked out the Hunter website to see what kind of warranty this fan is supposed to have. It supposedly has a limited lifetime warranty. In fact, Hunter advertises this warranty for all of their fans. So I submitted a request to their customer service via their website. I haven't received a response, and it has been several months. I've been meaning to call them up on the phone, since their web contact form is apparently worthless, but I will probably have to take the entire fan down to get to the serial number again. I thought I wrote it down somewhere, but of course I cannot find it now.

I must admit. This makes me feel a little leery about the fact that I replaced every other fan in my home with a Hunter fan.

screening for bugs

It's a shame that we have such a large insect population. There are times when I would love to just open our windows at night. We do have screens on them, but I find that certain bugs are getting in through the screens, mostly those small obnoxious fruit flies that see to sprout from nowhere. In fact, I've had bags of fruit waste that were airtight, and somehow they end up with fruit flies in them. It's almost as if the flies had laid eggs in the fruit before we disposed of them, which makes me wonder if we're not consuming fly larvae when we eat fresh fruit. Ugh.

Our home has those neat double hung windows, so that you can open either the top or the bottom. The screen covers the entire window, which is good for keeping out insects, but bad for taking photographs. We get lots of types of wildlife that come very close to our home, sometimes close enough to warrant a photograph. Unfortunately the screen renders most of my through-window shots fuzzy. It's a shame because I love the double hung windows, but I hate the fact that the screen covers the entire window. There's no way that I would be able to get this close to a deer with my camera without a window and slightly angled faux wood blinds between us.

For anyone with small children, I would heartily recommend double hung windows. We were often concerned about our toddler pushing out the window screen and falling out, but with double hung windows you can open the top half of the window (which is out of his reach). When my daughter was little, she used to drive me crazy by pushing out the screen for our french doors leading to the backyard. I couldn't stand having to reposition that little black rubber strip to try and get the screen back in place, because it never turned out right. There was always some slack in the screen after that, and I knew that at some point she would just walk up and push it out all over again.

avoiding confrontation and playing handyman

As much as I hate to admit it, we did our best to stay inside the house this weekend. I had heard enough horror stories about the Hell's Angels to warrant some avoidance. Besides, they seemed intent on being left alone, and it looks like the police, FBI, and ASP were harassing them enough.

On the bright side, staying in the house allowed me to catch up on some home projects that have been taunting me for some time. It's interesting, but I feel like I have two gears when it comes to work - computer and non-computer. Trying to mix the two, or schedule them both in one day often results in failure. I'm not sure why. It's like I have to switch off one part of my brain to work on the other. So, I was able to ignore the net for a few days, and try to play handyman.

I'm glad that I don't have a job doing any type of home construction work. I just don't have the patience. I also find that I cuss more when trying to upgrade things around the home. I can't really explain it, but my father was the same way when trying to work on cars. I can picture him now, his buttcrack hanging out the back of his pants, swearing like a sailor while trying to loosen a stripped oilpan plug. I guess I inherited his demeanor towards inanimate objects that don't want to cooperate.

In my case, I have this home that was built by morons and without any adherence to building codes. So, every time I go to upgrade or repair something, it ends up taking me much longer than I had anticipated due to unexpected adjacent problems that suddenly reveal themselves. I guess it's like that whole iceberg theory, where you can only see like 10% of the problem. Or like rust. If you see a fingertips' worth of rust, you can probably put your fist through it.

So where does it end? When do you call it a day and decide that the house looks good enough? When you've trimmed out all of the gold chandeliers and replaced them with brushed nickel ones? When you've managed to repaint the ceiling and they all finally share one shade of white paint (and it all features the same level of reflectivity, as opposed to having shiny patches here and there from ghetto style patchwork)?

The part that really floors me is when I start to see items that I have replaced only a year ago start to corrode or wear before my eyes. It gets to the point where you want a house made of durable ABS plastic so that you can just spray it down with some Krylon every so often to make it look new. LOL.