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How many coats of oil poly?
I’m having 90 year old floors refinished, and some new oak sealed. How many coats of oil-based poly would be typical? I am quite certain the (legit) company said three all along. There was a set-back this week that put us back a day. Now they are saying oil-based only needs two.
12/17/2010 5:09 PM
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Where to Buy Interior Door
I’m looking for closet doors. Nothing super fancy, but not home depot stock 6 panel. Anyone know where to look for a decent selection of interior doors?
11/20/2010 6:43 PM
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Best DIY Way to Strip Paint
I’ve done a few smaller scale stripping projects in the past (furniture) and always used the low toxicity orange goo paint/varnish stripper and a plastic scraper/elbow grease.
Now I’m looking to undertake stripping the paint off some moldings in my house – much more area to cover. What is the best DIY way to go about this?
Heat gun? Specialty tool? I’m a little hesitant to drop money on a special tool because none of the wood is currently exposed, so I don’t know what I’ll find under the 10 layers of paint. The doors are very pretty, so I’m taking a gamble on the moldings. Even if I end up painting them again, I’d like a much smoother finish than I have now.
Any advice?
10/22/2010 10:45 AM
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Seeking Mirrored Sliding Closet with Traditional Styling
Anyone have a suggestion for this? I’m thinking wood molding and beveled mirrors hopefully. Any suggestions for online or brick/mortar retailers?
Thanks
09/09/2010 12:07 PM
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Cabinet Maker
What kind of prices does one pay for simple but hand built wooden cabinets? Some web forums seem to indicate that this can be more cost effective than then manufactured “semi-custom.” Anyone have experience with this? I believe the forums I’ve seen are not NYC oriented. Seems like custom would always be more…but maybe the lack of middleman and transport evens it out. Would love to keep money local of course.
08/30/2010 5:36 PM
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Terrace / Lower Roof – Who’s Job?
The second floor of my two story house has a small terrace, which is also the roof of the first floor below. It has obviously leaked in the past, and is covered with flat gravel-type roofing shingles. One assumes the wood under there is rotted out based on the small amount that is exposed. If needs to be refurbished. I’m love to have some wood decking atop the properly roofed (EPDM I assume) surface.
What kind of tradesman would do this job? A roofer? A carpenter first then a roofer? Waterproofing company?
Any suggestions, referrals, and commiserating appreciated.
08/30/2010 10:47 AM
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Discount Appliance Tips
I know there are deals out there – kitchenguys.com, greendemolitions.com, sears outlet, the floor models at the big-box stores.
What are the best sources for mid-grade appliances at low prices? Any sources to avoid?
08/26/2010 2:08 PM
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Anyone Have Ultracraft Cabinets?
I’m not having much luck finding online reviews of this product, specifically Ultracraft Vision line. I like the beaded inset look, and this is the only maker I found with a budget version of that. We’re trying to get about 30 linear feet for cabinetry for 5k. Suggestions welcome! Thanks.
08/26/2010 10:45 AM
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To Closet or Not to Closet
I love polling the forum because I love the law of averages. Thanks for bearing with me – all comments are welcome.
I have this second bedroom in my unit of a two-story two-family. There was a 6 ft closet in it, which has been demolished to expand the space in the kitchen. The room will ultimately be a rectangle of 9′ 3″ x 11′ 11″. There is a window dead-center in the short wall across for the door, and another window on the long wall, almost abutting the short wall that the door is in.
The question is, should a closet be built to the side of the dead center window, as shown in the picture.
My gut feeling is that this reduces the flexibility of the furniture layout and creates an unsightly bulge in place of a symmetrical section of wall on either side of the dead-center window. The intended use of the room is as a guest bedroom. I’m more inclined to use an armoire for storage and maintain the wall symmetry and the ability to rearrange furniture meet changing needs. This could one day be a child’s room. Obviously a closet could always be built in the future, and there;s some debate about what to do in the immediate term.
Also, there are about 15 linear feet of closets throughout the apartment, and we are two people (both women, but shoe collections are moderate.)
Thoughts?
08/23/2010 10:16 AM
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Another Jack Post Question
Like a recent post, I have an issue, with the non-code support posts in the basement under the main beam. The house is solid brick, 1922, 20 ft wide and is not noticeably sagging. But the pre-purchase inspector did say this arrangement of non-code posts should be rectified.
My GC (who, for better or worse is a family member) says both that there’s no reason to fix it, and that if you were to fix it in the future, which would of course involve digging up the basement floor to pour cement footings, that this would in fact not jeopardize any newly finished elements, such as tile floors/walls or skim coated plaster. The inspector meanwhile had said, do this first, so if there’s any movement as a result, you don’t crack the new plaster, window seals, etc.
So I guess my question is, does this seem reasonable? Specifically, any comments about leaving it as is, since it’s not ailing, and also whether doing the proper support method in the future would in fact not risk cracking things upstairs?
I m a bit worried that GC is just not interested in that particular project, and wants to prioritize other things (e.g. finishing baths and kitchens) that are underway.
08/19/2010 10:45 AM
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466 dad
May 21, 2012 | 02:16 PM