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i'm not sure if the gel-gloss will work or not, i have a spot where it's a matte surface because I being a dumbass used a sandpaper with way too low of a grit, so I think that gel coat layer was removed. when you spray on the liquid, you can clearly see the light reflecting off of it, presumably due to the carnauba. it sounds like you wipe it on, then wait for it to dry to a haze, then wipe in a circular motion. hopefully this will help but I'm not sure. has anyone else used this stuff?
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May 27, 2022 01:41
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As a fairly new person in this thread, have we talked about Radon? From the  governmenthttps://www.canada.ca/en/health-can...anada-2009.html quote:What are the Radon Levels in Canada? I purchased a battery powered Radon detector from Amazon that was on sale the other day and put it in our basement spare bedroom that is used from time to time (it's also physically very close to our sump although an interior wall is between them). https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00H30TLPA?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_NHP7RY4XZ7FT384DHQTJ Initial readings after about 8 hours was 400 Bq/m, which is super early so definitely not a long term average but that's not giving me the good feels and I'll probably be learning about Radon because that sounds like its 2x the guideline if the average doesn't come down signficantly. That bedroom has a window which is never opened and the door is closed, and neither our furnace or AC have kicked on for days so I'm cracking the bedroom window and see if some fresh air effects things. One thing after another.  Anyone else do testing? Did you have to do any remediation?
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May 27, 2022 15:04
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I just did a Radon test in my potential new home. 48 hour average was 92.5 bq/m3. The action level (at least for here) is 148 bq/m3. 800 seems REALLY high.
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May 27, 2022 15:22
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400, but still high. Definitely watching and seeing how it averages out. If it's as simple as cracking a window or periodically ensuring air flow, I can easily deal with that. E: the home is a raised 2 storey with very high, almost 10' ceilings in the basement and main floor, so the basement floor is quite deep which probably isn't helping. slidebite fucked around with this message at 15:39 on May 27, 2022 |
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May 27, 2022 15:37
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If you're getting that high of a reading from a DIY test, I would definitely pay a professional to do a proper test. With DIY stuff there's always concerns about calibration and measurement accuracy (both from the device and the placement). When we bought our house, our 48 hour average was 0.3 pCi/L, which apparently is 11.1 Bq/m3. Some locations just have issues with radon, and if you're in one of those places you absolutely need to look in to mitigation.
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May 27, 2022 15:38
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Speaking of radon testing - are any home kits better/worse than others? Our basement is unfinished atm but hopefully soon we'll start piecemealing it into a finished space.
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May 27, 2022 15:39
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slidebite posted:400, but still high. Oops, I transposed the 8 and 4. But yeah - you're probably still in mitigation territory. Honestly we're looking into mitigation with just a 2.5 pCi/L reading (4 being action). Two young kids, just want to be safe. edit: and our test was done by a professional, I'd def recommend getting that done as well.
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May 27, 2022 15:45
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We did testing that came back 2 or 2.5x EPA's recommended action level when we redid our basement after a flood and planned on spending time down there with them. We hired a mitigation company who came out, took a quick sample to confirm, drilled a hole for a 3" conduit, sealed our sump and ejector pits, and installed the extraction fan and PVC vent outdoors. They did a post-install vacuum test to verify they were getting enough airflow by drilling two 1/2" test ports in the slab on the opposite side of the basement. All total it was around $1100. Radon is pretty common in our area and the county health department really pushes testing.
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May 27, 2022 16:27
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It's also advisable to retest for radon every few years, whether you have a mitigation system or not, as levels can change. I had some foundation work done including a perimeter drain and sump pit installed which sent my levels from 0.5 piC/L to around 8. I ended up installing a mitigation system myself for about $400 and my levels now hover around .25 piC/L. I have an Airtgings digital radon meter that I periodically check.
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May 27, 2022 17:43
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Any literature that supports radon being a risk? Not doubting just curious.
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May 27, 2022 18:09
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VelociBacon posted:Any literature that supports radon being a risk? Not doubting just curious. https://www.epa.gov/radiation/what-...ancer%20deaths. quote:Breathing radon over time increases your risk of lung cancer. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Nationally, the EPA estimates that about 21,000 people die each year from radon-related lung cancer. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths.
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May 27, 2022 18:11
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Thanks for the feedback on Hardie/cement fiber. My vinyl siding looks like poo poo and is failing so I'm going to have to replace it and so far cement fiber looks like the front-runner, but it also looks like if the install is in any way half assed it's prone to failure (but what isn't, I guess?) Didn't really think about wood siding though, I just figured it'd be wildly out of my price range but maybe not? I'll get some quotes, at least.
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May 27, 2022 19:00
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Since writing about scandi interior/exterior design stuff seemed to be appreciated. I thought I'd write about benches, namely these. I think these are a classic scandinavian feature, maybe I am wrong, but I can't recall having seen them elsewhere. The stainless steel bench with sink. Nowadays these are considered outmoded, but to the point people are starting to like them again. Popular from the late 30s and most popular in the 60s and going out of style by the 80s. I really like them because drat, look at all stainless surface. It's so practical and note the lip to contain spill overs. This is the kind of kitchen Dexter would've liked, easy to hose down.   Nice... Think I would've preferred a very light green or blue over yellow however. Those pine floors by the way might often just be treated with nothing but soap. Soap and scrubbing for years on end, it is it's own finish called "såpskurning".  I think one of these could make a pretty banging workspace top. Infact I just gave myself an idea.... Gotta go look on the 2nd hand sites...  They're making a comeback in slightly updated forms :   The big backsplash panels would be very useful in my current kitchen which has none of this. By the way these two last pictures have got to me a quite non-scandi feel, because the sink is infront of a window. That's something I associate with england or the US. I might be wrong on that too. But in my experience the sink has never been at a window in any place I've lived or visited.
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May 27, 2022 20:19
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that looks very weird with the wood countertops to me I wonder how that would fare in the winter where I am, it gets extremely dry, seems like you would get zapped a lot, but maybe I'm thinking of a different material
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May 27, 2022 20:52
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I have some metal cabinets that include a metal top like that (original 60s Kenmore cabinets) and I've never been shocked by them, and it also gets VERY dry here in the winter.
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May 27, 2022 20:57
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Those are super common in commercial kitchens, dunno if I've ever seen one in a home though.
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May 27, 2022 20:58
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Enos Cabell posted:Those are super common in commercial kitchens, dunno if I've ever seen one in a home though. it could work in a home with an industrial aesthetic.
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May 27, 2022 21:00
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Bet it looks like poo poo after a few months of use
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May 27, 2022 21:01
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Tiny Timbs posted:Bet it looks like poo poo after a few months of use You clean it with only soap, it gains a new finish called ståinlëss. Jokes aside that's so cool. I get the impression the average age of the homes in Scandinavia is like 5 times that of here in North America where it's mostly new developments etc. Is it not common to have a backsplash that runs all the way up to the kitchen cabinets?
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May 27, 2022 21:18
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VelociBacon posted:You clean it with only soap, it gains a new finish called ståinlëss. Lol dunno where you live but in some large metros the norm is 100 years old, not new development. I live in a 20 year old concrete floor condo but it has no backsplash. I am debating adding one but I don’t cook much so far and what I have cooked hasn’t been hard to clean off the painted wall if it splatters  Here you go, this my little kitchen: (since then new faucet + fridge) 
Inner Light fucked around with this message at 21:25 on May 27, 2022 |
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May 27, 2022 21:22
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Inner Light posted:Lol dunno where you live but in some large metros the norm is 100 years old, not new development. I live in a 20 year old concrete floor condo but it has no backsplash. I am debating adding one but I don’t cook much so far and what I have cooked hasn’t been hard to clean off the painted wall if it splatters drat those floors look good. I'm in Vancouver (suburb), my 23 year old 2br condo was renovated in 2015 with the backsplash and all that. Doubt it had one before.
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May 27, 2022 21:26
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VelociBacon posted:drat those floors look good. I'm in Vancouver (suburb), my 23 year old 2br condo was renovated in 2015 with the backsplash and all that. Doubt it had one before. Thanks for saying so! That is realtor photo magic. The floors are generally OK, they are builder grade engineered wood from 20 years ago. There is some poorly repaired PO liquid damage in a highly visible area in the living space unfortunately, and the top coating is wearing/flaking away in several areas, but those are not noticeable unless you look close. Liquid damage:  The condo is 100% wood flooring so a sand/refinish job is going to be at least $5k, I highly regret not doing it before I moved in. And, it is tough to decide whether to refinish vs. replacing, but the wood company that came over said they are confident they can be sanded once. Also I assume sanding/refinishing with a clear top coat will heavily change the color of the floor, and the whole condo, so that is a bit unnerving since I don't know what it will quite look like afterwards. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 21:33 on May 27, 2022 |
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May 27, 2022 21:29
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Inner Light posted:Thanks for saying so! That is realtor photo magic. The floors are generally OK, they are builder grade engineered wood from 20 years ago. There is some poorly repaired PO liquid damage in a highly visible area in the living space unfortunately, and the top coating is wearing/flaking away in several areas, but those are not noticeable unless you look close. Well they'd be sanding it down and refinishing it so you can have it look however you want. You could point at a good area now and say 'make it all like that'. If you meant they'd just sand the clearcoat down and leave the stain, it still shouldn't look any different. We have engineered floating maple floors here and the first thing I did was drop a bottle of white wine on the quartz countertops and it shattered everywhere, tried to get the wine mopped up ASAP but who knows. I'm relieved there's no smell. e: to the goon providing the Scandinavian content, can you include the English pronunciations of the Finnish words? I'd like to say them to myself in my dark room thank you VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 22:13 on May 27, 2022 |
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May 27, 2022 22:09
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Tiny Timbs posted:Bet it looks like poo poo after a few months of use You can see in the photos, some of them are many decades old by the time they where photographed. I think they wear in nicely. VelociBacon posted:Is it not common to have a backsplash that runs all the way up to the kitchen cabinets? I think in a lot of cases, the tiles fill that function.
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May 27, 2022 22:11
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I like stainless countertops. Put them in my own kitchen. Easy to clean, heat resistant, stain resistant. What's not to love. Scratch? Buff it out.
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May 27, 2022 22:13
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His Divine Shadow posted:You can see in the photos, some of them are many decades old by the time they where photographed. I think they wear in nicely. Yes sorry I was referring to the tiles when I said backsplash.
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May 27, 2022 22:13
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RE radon, The levels have started to plummet. I just did a hard reset of the unit and going to let it run for a few days in the middle of our spare room in the basement. For kicks, after a few days I'm going to put it in the unfinished area of my basement where the sump is. The more I've been looking into it, I find it really interesting. There appears to be a real shortage of people that do measurement, let alone mitigation. It appears to be a common occurrence in Alberta by looking at this map (assuming this is accurate) 
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May 27, 2022 22:45
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I lived in a rental with an enameled drainboard sink, like this https://www.etsy.com/listing/167762...rBoCjXoQAvD_BwE It was super functional
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May 27, 2022 23:10
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Stainless countertops around the sink and stove are default in Japan. The alternative is usually "synthetic marble" which is vulnerable to staining. https://www.takara-standard.co.jp/product/system_kitchen/ (This is generally the only workspace counter in the kitchen)
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May 27, 2022 23:13
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peanut posted:Stainless countertops around the sink and stove are default in Japan. The alternative is usually "synthetic marble" which is vulnerable to staining. Makes sense considering their bathrooms which as I understand it are designed to be wet/splashed everywhere with a drain in the middle of the room.
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May 27, 2022 23:16
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Epitope posted:I lived in a rental with an enameled drainboard sink, like this Ya, those are great as well. A bit less forgiving if you drop something made of glass/ceramic compared to stainless, but avoids that 'metal' look that some people don't like.
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May 27, 2022 23:21
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VelociBacon posted:Makes sense considering their bathrooms which as I understand it are designed to be wet/splashed everywhere with a drain in the middle of the room. Yup, a wet room (shower/bath) is standard. It's basically a walk-in shower with the bathtub inside the shower area., the sink/changing area is in an adjacent room. https://www.lixil.co.jp/lineup/bathroom/unit/
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May 27, 2022 23:40
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We had all-wooden countertops (except one marble, which my mom had to buy from a gravestone maker) in the house I grew up in. Butcherblock was big in the '70s. Yes, it stained on the areas next to the stove, but it was so boss to just be able to pull a pot sideways off the stove if it got too hot, and to have the stuff you just chopped right at your elbow while you were working with the pan. Having lots and lots of cutting-board space was wonderful, too. Wouldn't do it today, probably, but I enjoyed it growing up. And the marble countertop was awesome for pastry and candy-making, so much so that I bought a marble "cheese board" in our early 20s and lugged it from house to house ever since. Scraping bread dough off a marble board is easy-peasy, rolling out pastry while keeping it cold and then removing it easily is awesome, and I wouldn't know about candy-making because I haven't been that ambitious since the 1980s. You need one, too.
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May 28, 2022 00:18
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I am pretty sure rodents have gotten into my attic or are currently in my attic. My house in this photo is L-shaped with the garage coming out, perpendicular to the front door and there is a valley where the two roof slopes meet under this stupid eave from the front entry way roof. (I swear if I had the money I would hire an architect to build me a house with a roof that makes sense among a lot of other stupid things about this 1990s builder-grade house.) I can see daylight in the attic coming from this area of the roof, but it is very cramped and the attic is not a pleasant place so I don't know how to DIY a fix to seal it. What type of person would I call to remedy or seal my attic from rodents? Would it be a pest control company that would do the sealing from inside the attic? I assume they would be the same people that might set traps or help me determine if I still have a rodent problem? Since we're coming up on summer months in Texas with mid-high 90 degree temps outside, the attic is unreasonably hot so is it likely rodents would stick around in this heat?  Edit: My dumbass keystone reminds me I have been meaning to compile a photo album of houses in my neighborhood that have rectangular-shaped openings with a keystone in the middle. MetaJew fucked around with this message at 05:30 on May 28, 2022 |
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May 28, 2022 05:27
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MetaJew posted:I am pretty sure rodents have gotten into my attic or are currently in my attic. My house in this photo is L-shaped with the garage coming out, perpendicular to the front door and there is a valley where the two roof slopes meet under this stupid eave from the front entry way roof. (I swear if I had the money I would hire an architect to build me a house with a roof that makes sense among a lot of other stupid things about this 1990s builder-grade house.) Yeah I'd start with pest control companies, but definitely ask if they'll try to patch the entryways. Usually they'll do some small stuff like jamming exclusion material into holes, but they don't typically do repairs to the structure and will tell you to get a contractor for that. It may also be a process of them working to trap and then exclude, depending on what's up there. Mice are different than raccoons or squirrels for example. Best to get someone out to take a look first. Some pest control places want you to be on a subscription but others are good for just one job even if it takes a couple of visits.
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May 28, 2022 08:10
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At least here in Minnesota, "wildlife" control companies will do more work around keeping critters out. When we had squirrels in the attic last year we got a quote for trapping and releasing the squirrels plus sealing off every single possible point of entry into the attic, from a wildlife control company.
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May 28, 2022 13:29
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re: radonchat, our basement tested at like 8 on one of those Home Depot mail in test kits so I bought an airthings to throw down there for long term monitoring and ordered remediation. the highest it measured was 12.9pCi/L before the mitigation came in. 
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May 28, 2022 13:57
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The one I bought is an Airthings too. What did you do for mitigation and what is it reading now? I opened the window in the basement for a few hours during the day, but closed it for the night, and it was 101 this AM (approx 2.7 pci/L) Its clear I do have some radon in the basement, which isn't a surprise, but I think we're at a perfect worst case in the seasons right now where my central heating/AC have not been on for a basically a couple months due to the weather so there is basically zero air movement at all there. I suspect that will change in the coming weeks as it heats up. I'll keep it in the bedroom (where people might be for 8 hours) for a longer term here and see what it does. But I think I will be looking at getting a pro or even finding out what you need to get certified yourself. I find this whole thing kind of fascinating.
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May 28, 2022 14:15
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On a scale of 1 to do not attempt, how tough is installing a new toilet and flange? I just moved to my very first house and this would be my first home improvement project of any sort whatsoever. I watched some YouTube videos and it seemed mostly straightforward, but if I screw it up I don’t have a toilet which seems sort of like high stakes.
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May 28, 2022 15:56
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If it’s your only toilet I would just pay someone to do it right on one try.
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May 28, 2022 16:09
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