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surf rock posted:I have a 20+ year old hand-me-down couch that has pretty much given up the ghost, and I'd love to replace it this year. I don't know the first thing about buying good sofas, though, so I would love advice on it in general and specific recommendations (of specific couches or trustworthy) if you have any. I would love to keep the purchase below $1,000 but I'm willing to up up to $1,500 if it's a major quality difference. I'm open to different designs and materials. What qualities are you looking for in a couch? ed: a cowch snipe 
Pigsfeet on Rye fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Mar 30, 2018 |
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Mar 30, 2018 01:21
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Pigsfeet on Rye posted:What qualities are you looking for in a couch? I like clean lines on my furniture. I'd like a fabric couch with either no patterns or a very subtle pattern. I don't want an L-shaped couch; and I'd like it to be able to sit three adults comfortably. Looking at some of the most common couch styles, I have an affinity for Lawsons, Bridgewaters, and Mid-Century Moderns. If there's any other key info I'm missing here, just ask. Thanks!
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Mar 30, 2018 02:44
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surf rock posted:I like clean lines on my furniture. I'd like a fabric couch with either no patterns or a very subtle pattern. I don't want an L-shaped couch; and I'd like it to be able to sit three adults comfortably. Looking at some of the most common couch styles, I have an affinity for Lawsons, Bridgewaters, and Mid-Century Moderns. For me a sofa is about use first, looks second, though I understand some people have it the other way round, but nonetheless I'd start with or at least vet your visual choices by their practicality. - Are you going to be lying down on it? Will someone crash on it some nights? If so, soft base cushions, soft armrests, deep base. - Does the proportion fit you? For example a lot of Ikea sofas have very deep seats but short backs, which doesn't work for me if I'm going to actually be sat up. - You mention "three adults comfortably" which is fine, there are 3-seater sofas, but "comfortably" is a range based on the size of the adults and the level of familiarity. My rule of thumb is "do elbows touch with hands behind heads" for beds, and "do elbows touch with hands on thighs" for reasonably friendly sofa sitters. (hands on hips for more formal situations)
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Mar 30, 2018 09:28
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Speaking of couches, how can I show my wife than an L-shaped couch in the space we have would be a terrible idea? She wants enough room for 4 people to sit comfortably. Our current couch is very long so has seats for three comfortably, and we use a carver chair by the fireplace if we have extra guests. My suggestion was a 3 seater couch replaced 1:1 where the existing one is, but getting an ottoman to extend one end if required into a sort of chaise-lounge, or to be used as a separate chair (i.e. to replace the carver in the above scenario) - but wife is adamant that she wants an L-shaped one. The bottom wall in the above photo has a radiator against it, and so the small-point of the L will basically butt up against the TV stand. If there's a way to make this work I'd love to hear it, and if there's a way to demonstrate how it's impractical then I'd love to hear that too! Thanks,
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Mar 30, 2018 10:57
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Simple, anyone sitting on the proposed l-end will have to face sideways to see the TV and will be blocking anyone in the corner, as well as blocking the radiator from putting any heat into the room. It gives no benefit over your current setup and loses flexibility.
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Mar 30, 2018 11:02
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This the right thread to ask about flooring? Looking to replace about 900sqft with "luxury" vinyl plank, and having a hard time deciding what brand to go with.
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Mar 30, 2018 18:14
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Enos Cabell posted:This the right thread to ask about flooring? Looking to replace about 900sqft with "luxury" vinyl plank, and having a hard time deciding what brand to go with. I just installed a room of Trafficmaster Allure Ultra (not regular Allure, that stuff is the source of all the bad reviews I've seen) and it went pretty well. I really appreciated being able to make cuts with a utility knife and heavy shears rather than a miter saw, since it was cold out and sawing outside would have been supremely unpleasant (and sawing inside would have been a dust disaster.) The look is pretty good for fake wood, though there are only a few board designs. Doesn't matter much for a small bedroom, since it's almost all covered by the bed anyway. The wide boards made for at least a bit less work. There's a good write-up on installing it here: http://blind-hysteresis.blogspot.com/2012/03/reflooring-partay-uncarpeting-pizza-and.html Got 600 sq ft at half price on clearance--need to call other stores to see if anyone else has it in stock on clearance price to get enough for the whole condo.
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Mar 30, 2018 18:46
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Pigsfeet on Rye posted:What qualities are you looking for in a couch? I looked this loving thing up a week or so ago and now Google is convinced I want one and wont stop serving ads
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Mar 30, 2018 21:14
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hey guys i went looking for a "smart house" thread couldnt find one. I am having an awful time with my grandmothers power bill. Basically she is a bed bound 88 year old woman i moved her to a waaay to big house figuring I would need the extra space to house me caregivers and visiting family. Well that plan has devloved into a poo poo show of E/N levels complete with lovely nephew/business partner entering litigation with her/me because she didnt pass on when he felt she should. Anyway litigation is pricey at home caregivers are pricey and 800 dollar gas/power bill a month is driving me crazy so I am really trying to get into this problem full force. Now i have a live in caregiver that feels it best to have all the outside lights on front porch/patio/back yard flood lights. and I 've noticed more than once that the sun goes down and the lights are on, so I think they might be running all day and night at times (no they are not LED) so I had my buddy get up on the roof and unscrew them. My next plan is to replace one porch light with a led fixture and replace the switches with timers. i talking with my caregiver on the issue she goes on about the washing machine the o2 generator ect. So I was thinking if there was some kinda wireless plug monitor thing that I could hook those up to in order to better nail down where most of the power is going. Anyone have any ideas?
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Apr 4, 2018 05:31
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Ups_rail posted:hey guys i went looking for a "smart house" thread couldnt find one. Buy a kill-a-watt and rent a thermal camera (flir). Open her panel up and shoot the FLIR at it. If anything glows start tracing. What uses electricity to move heat?
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Apr 4, 2018 06:07
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Ups_rail posted:hey guys i went looking for a "smart house" thread couldnt find one. How many square feet? What climate and what kind of HVAC? Having high wattage lights on all day can be a problem, but lighting tends to be dwarfed by climate control in a lot of regions.
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Apr 4, 2018 13:09
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Ups_rail posted:hey guys i went looking for a "smart house" thread couldnt find one. FWIW: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3635963
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Apr 4, 2018 13:11
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Ups_rail posted:hey guys i went looking for a "smart house" thread couldnt find one. http://www.p3international.com/products/p4400.html ? That's not going to let you monitor hardwired loads though (lighting, HVAC, stove). An amp meter would, but you'd have to be comfortable opening the breaker box to use it effectively https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Multimeters-Auto-Ranging-Multimeter-Resistance/dp/B00NWGZ4XC/
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Apr 4, 2018 13:42
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Bitcoin mining and/or secret greenhouse and/or vaulted ceilings.
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Apr 4, 2018 13:55
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An oxygen concentrator can use a fair bit of power, but doing some quick Google work we're talking maybe 600 watts on the high end, which shouldn't be more than around fifty bucks a month. I'm guessing HVAC. Older single-stage blower units use a ton of power. We saw a big decrease in our energy usage in the summer when we had to replace an old single-stage A/C unit and put in a two-stage compressor and multispeed air handler. The old A/C unit was oversized, so it cooled the house down quickly but did not have a chance effectively to dehumidify. The newer units run more frequently but do a much better job of dehumidifying the house, which lets you keep it at, say, 73 instead of 68 and still feel more comfortable. You're also looking at a good chunk of money for a replacement, though, so your first step would be to get an audit of the tightness of the home's envelope and fix all of the leaky spots.
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Apr 4, 2018 14:22
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Oh so sorry the 800 dollars are with out running the hvac. the house is alittle over 4000 sqf. most of that space is a huge living room. the house has 3 roof top units, two of them are old but the one that services the side of the house that has the bed rooms is newer, and I try my damnedest to not run the old units, and just running the never lenox is a bitch The issue is we have a thermostat in the hallway very far away from the bed rooms so my grandma s room can turn into a oven cause most of the out put goes into the room and not the hallway basically the havc system doesnt work. So for winter we just used a electric heater to heat her room, and my room as well. because of litigation I dont wanna say what climate but it gets triple digits here in the summer. Also on PGE plane with tiers to it so yeah power use ads up. hence why i wanna find whats so expensive. I have a house with a pool and I dont have bills nearly that size at all. There is a pool which I thought was the issue but the former owners already put in a variable speed pump for it. and I very brielfy had the power bill not be crazy sadly i didnt pay too much attention to what was different for that bill but I do note I replaced the front porch bulbs with led. The current suspects are 1. the outside lights 2. the 02 generator 3. Her air mattress pump 4. Pool 5. Washing machine (always seems to be running) 6. two tvs that I think are one 24/7 I also got her doctor to fill out a medical forum so PGE will give her some extra power.
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Apr 4, 2018 17:04
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Just a quick question to formulate effortpost at some point in the future - my garage is poured concrete, but done really sloppily - the middle third is about 1" higher than the left third, the right third has dents/divots a few inches deep where they clearly ran out of concrete and thought "gently caress it". Can I lay another 1" or so of regular concrete ontop of this to even it all out, then levelling compound and then epoxy coating?
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Apr 4, 2018 17:14
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Ups_rail posted:hey guys i went looking for a "smart house" thread couldnt find one. https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Secur...2R7YWFA47R839GE https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Energ...e+power+monitor This will require a Z-wave hub, but that is the "smart home" answer
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Apr 4, 2018 17:14
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Southern Heel posted:Just a quick question to formulate effortpost at some point in the future - my garage is poured concrete, but done really sloppily - the middle third is about 1" higher than the left third, the right third has dents/divots a few inches deep where they clearly ran out of concrete and thought "gently caress it". Can I lay another 1" or so of regular concrete ontop of this to even it all out, then levelling compound and then epoxy coating? To my understanding the main thing to worry about with concrete is expansion. I'm not 100% sure what'll happen when you have two intermingling layers of concrete with possibly different expansion characteristics. I'm not sure what is different about materials designed to go on top of concrete that makes them OK vs more concrete itself, but that would be my concern.
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Apr 4, 2018 17:25
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Hey Jaded Burnout (or any other UK people), have you used B+Q's kitchen units? are they any good? I want to do a budget kitchen but I don't want to go too cheap. I've had some Wickes ones in the past and they were a bit poo poo. I was gonna use Ikea's but having now examined them they have no service gap at the back and there is therefore no chance that I could fit them without serious mods to get around all the pipes in my kitchen, and their door measurements seem slightly unique so I cant get matching doors for an existing unit.
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Apr 4, 2018 18:14
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Any good ideas of what to do for my driveway here? The narrow entrance and the angle of the driveway means that this corner of the ground is constantly being run over. I contemplated putting in some decorative stone but I would appreciate any input on how to make it a) not look terrible and b) withstand driving over it 
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Apr 4, 2018 18:31
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Tomarse posted:Hey Jaded Burnout (or any other UK people), have you used B+Q's kitchen units? are they any good? I want to do a budget kitchen but I don't want to go too cheap. I've not, I'm afraid. I'm still a little way from properly looking at units. I was actually looking at Ikea but only because I saw them on my way through. I've also been looking at http://www.diy-kitchens.com/ on and off.
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Apr 4, 2018 18:33
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I've used b&q units, I can't compare with wickes but there was nothing really wrong with them and they were great about quickly replacing missing hardware/damaged bits. I used glue when assembling them too, because why not.
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Apr 4, 2018 19:45
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I've been hoping to find something decent that's not made of chipboard.
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Apr 4, 2018 20:08
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I think making your own out of plywood is the only "cheap" option there.
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Apr 4, 2018 20:17
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cakesmith handyman posted:I think making your own out of plywood is the only "cheap" option there. I was strongly dissuaded from doing so by the woodworking thread. MDF would be OK. Just not chip.
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Apr 4, 2018 20:27
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This is intended to be a quick, cheap kitchen. Chipboard it is. The previous chipboard kitchen lasted 28 years judging from the newspaper that was wedged behind it and if it wasn't for water damage 5 years ago and how I had to butcher my way in to get at the water meter that was behind it then most of the carcasses would probably have lasted longer.cakesmith handyman posted:I've used b&q units, I can't compare with wickes but there was nothing really wrong with them and they were great about quickly replacing missing hardware/damaged bits. I used glue when assembling them too, because why not. I shall give them a try, and I was also planning on gluing because why not. Its slightly disappointing as because of ikea's slightly different dimensions for units their kitchen fitted better into my space than the B+Q ones do. The old units stuck out infront of a corner/doorway by about 5mm which always annoyed me. I'm hoping that my new improved plumbing work and some better quality modifications of the corner unit will be enough to gain me 10mm and stop this
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Apr 4, 2018 20:42
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I used B&Q units for my old kitchen - it was fine, nothing to shout about. What is it that you want to know specifically? I went with high gloss doors, standard hardware and regular glossy units. Obviously it's all poo poo quality but if you want a fitted kitchen thems the breaks.
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Apr 4, 2018 21:24
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Southern Heel posted:I used B&Q units for my old kitchen - it was fine, nothing to shout about. What is it that you want to know specifically? I went with high gloss doors, standard hardware and regular glossy units. Obviously it's all poo poo quality but if you want a fitted kitchen thems the breaks. "Nothing wrong with it" and "fine" are kinda what I wanted to know specifically  I have checked and I have a couple of wickes units. Two in my office and one in my extension where the washing machine lives. The quality of them is terrible and I would never want to put one in a kitchen. They use 15mm board vs the 18mm of B+Q/Ikea and are visibly cheap units.
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Apr 4, 2018 21:44
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Southern Heel posted:Obviously it's all poo poo quality but if you want a fitted kitchen thems the breaks. I'm still in denial that the only two options are "contract grade" sacks of poo poo and "we'll make up a number" bespoke.
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Apr 4, 2018 23:06
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Hubis posted:https://www.amazon.com/Aeotec-Secur...2R7YWFA47R839GE Thank you sir
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Apr 4, 2018 23:44
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Kanish posted:Any good ideas of what to do for my driveway here? The narrow entrance and the angle of the driveway means that this corner of the ground is constantly being run over. I contemplated putting in some decorative stone but I would appreciate any input on how to make it a) not look terrible and b) withstand driving over it What if you dug out, gravelled, and poured a triangular concrete corner piece?
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Apr 5, 2018 01:50
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Get a stone about 3' tall and it'll withstand people driving over it just fine.
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Apr 5, 2018 01:53
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Jaded Burnout posted:I'm still in denial that the only two options are "contract grade" sacks of poo poo and "we'll make up a number" bespoke. Exactly. I'm going to try to convince the wife to go with a non-fitted kitchen next time so I don't have to give money to those blood sucking leeches again - free-standing oven, a big belfast sink, butcher's block and proper cabinets for plates, etc. and a farmhouse table.
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Apr 5, 2018 07:50
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Jaded Burnout posted:I'm still in denial that the only two options are "contract grade" sacks of poo poo and "we'll make up a number" bespoke. To be fair there seems to be many grades of 'contact'; howdens upper level, b&q and ikea seem similar in quality, then you've got the soft paper faced budget garbage.
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Apr 5, 2018 09:04
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cakesmith handyman posted:To be fair there seems to be many grades of 'contact'; howdens upper level, b&q and ikea seem similar in quality, then you've got the soft paper faced budget garbage. Having had direct experience with Howdens they have both "contract" (in their words) kitchens and "make up a number", with the added bonus that they added 25% as a kickback to my builder. I refuse to even talk to them after I found that out.
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Apr 5, 2018 11:58
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Southern Heel posted:Exactly. I'm going to try to convince the wife to go with a non-fitted kitchen next time so I don't have to give money to those blood sucking leeches again - free-standing oven, a big belfast sink, butcher's block and proper cabinets for plates, etc. and a farmhouse table. How do you handle counters and floor cabinets in this situation? I'm already doing the others (except the sink).
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Apr 5, 2018 12:00
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Kanish posted:Any good ideas of what to do for my driveway here? The narrow entrance and the angle of the driveway means that this corner of the ground is constantly being run over. I contemplated putting in some decorative stone but I would appreciate any input on how to make it a) not look terrible and b) withstand driving over it http://www.typargeosynthetics.com/products/ground-reinforcement-mesh/grassprotecta-grass-reinforcement-mesh.html There's a bunch of different places that make this stuff.
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Apr 5, 2018 13:39
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I used big river stones and/or a embedded bricks for our similar driveway corner.
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Apr 5, 2018 16:08
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Cacti?
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Apr 5, 2018 18:42
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