Kelly's Kitchen Sync

Bathrooms: It's all about heating and ventilation

(Photo credit: Ginger)

Yesterday I went out to a client's home to view two bathrooms.  In one of them, the first thing I noted (other than a sloped floor and water damage) was rust on metal. The coupling for the toilet was rusted, the underside of the curtain rod in the same condition. Even the screws on the robe hooks were rusted. I'm going to condense the conversation:

"Do you know why everything's rusting?"

"Sure," I said. "Combination of poor ventilation and insufficient heat."

She wasn't quite ready to believe me.  I pointed to the ceiling fan. "Does the fan work?"

"No," she said reluctantly. "Hasn't worked well for awhile. But we've got a window."

Windows are always the best ventilation but it wasn't the problem. "Let me ask you another question: is it always this cold in here?"

"Well, except in summer," she said.

I looked around. "Room's not warm enough for the steam to evaporate. Water condenses into drips under here--" I pointed to the underside of the curtain rod "--and without sufficient heat, never dries. There's no register vent in here; that's the other half of the problem."

Her eyes lit up. "No, you're wrong! There's a register vent in the floor!"

"Oh." Ok, that surprised me. I'd looked for one and hadn't seen it. "Where?"

"It's hidden under here." She pulled a magazine rack to one side. "See?"

I did. The register vent was closed. It was white metal, also rusted.

"Oh," she said. "Guess we closed that off when the water ran out of the tub and never opened it again."

"And there's the other half of your problem," I said. "Good news is, we're going to fix that. I'm also very glad you like the idea of Nuheat.  And while we're at it, let's look at exterior wall insulation."

***

It's easy to forget when remodeling a bathroom that it isn't simply pretty fixtures and nice lighting. It's a wet room and water (next to sunlight) has always been one of the most damaging factors for materials.

If the above scenario looks familiar to you, it's time to start thinking of a solution. Because if there's enough moisture to rust metal, I can't imagine what the water is doing to your cabinets, walls, and lighting fixtures.

Another thought on the recession

Nicole wrote me a nice comment for my last post,

Thank you so much for such a reassuring post! There seems to be so much panic out there right now, and we only tend to hear about the bad stuff. It's good to be reminded that this is not the end of the world, and that people who know what they're doing and who keep their heads level are going to make it through.

You're welcome! In my typical long-winded reply, I got a tad carried away responding *cough* and decided to be a bit more direct about recession survival here.

Let's be direct: I blame the mainstream media completely for making this recession worse than it could and should have been. They use fear as a way to keep us tuned in. Was it going to be bad with the mortgage crisis? Of course it was. We'll be dealing with some of those challenges this year as well, as we've all seen from the layoffs today. However, let's take another look, shall we?:

1) This last holiday season according to the news: "Christmas Sales are down! Retail is struggling! Oh woe! WOE!!!" (Or something like that. *grin*)

It was snowing, folks! People were stuck at home, so guess what they did? Shopped online.

Amazon had its highest Christmas retail ever this year. I repeat, the highest ever. I haven't checked other online sites, but would tend to bet they also did quite well.

2) Unemployment, also according to the news: "Look at all the layoffs! LOOK! DOOM!" Yes. My very sincere sympathies for those out there facing layoffs. Been there. Not fun. Numbers, when you are one, are terrible. There are 11 million Americans out of work as of January. 7.2% of the working population.

Now let's look at it from this angle: Um, doesn't that leave 92.8% of Americans still employed?

3) Employment, hardly reported on: Now, I'm not saying that someone in the tech or automotive industry shouldn't be concerned about job losses and slowdowns, but there are jobs out there waiting to be filled. On CareerBuilder.com, there are 1.6 million available jobs; I haven't checked the others.

If the media keeps talking "about the worst recession since the Depression" because it makes good copy, well, it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don't let them grind you down.

***

Also, for those readers who celebrating Chinese New Year today, I wish you a Happy New Year. The year of the Ox is the sign of prosperity through  calmness, fortitude and hard work.  Apt for all of us.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Gong xi fa cai!)

Congratulations and be prosperous!

Update

Surprisingly, given all the media doom and gloom, I've been busy. My first client walked in on January 3rd and said, "Kitchen remodel; let's go!" Since then, two former clients both decided they wanted their bathrooms remodeled, and another couple are looking at spring for kitchen and family room projects. Today I had 3 appointments and briefly talked to others who purposely wandered in; I couldn't even get to one couple. *scratches head*

I'm aware we're still seeing layoffs as a result of last year and that some of you are in harsher economic climes. I've also weathered, what, 5 recessions in Canada, and 2 in the U.S. so I tend to stay relatively calm and positive. Not always, but most of the time. :) In the meantime, some thoughts:

• If the price seems too good to be true, be cautious:  So here's a current situation. I get a couple of bids for subcontractor work and what I received was a wide "wow, big difference!" spread for supposedly the same work. But here's the rub:

Company A used to be good once. The rep is never in his office anymore, even though a couple of years ago, he was available all the time. Company A takes longer to return calls, longer to bid, and there are multiple confused phone calls from the company after I think everything's cleared up. If a mistake happens on the job-site (and it does, because there seems to be no connection between the office paperwork and the field), there's no quick turnaround like there used to be. There's few jokes or smiles from the people who work there and the joy's gone. Payment is requested immediately before the work is scarcely completed.

Company B is carrying on as they always have: excellent service, on time, excellent turn-around, payment terms as usual. 

Now, I can't say to clients I believe A's in trouble because I'm suffering from once bitten, twice shy. Legally, I have no concrete proof to say so and gut instinct doesn't hold up in court. Company A could be hunkering down and scaling back for survival reasons or they could be going through some growing pains. Professionally, I can only present the above facts to the clients and inform them of the range, addressing exactly as I have above. (After checking out both companies, the clients chose the higher-priced Company B.) Which leads me to the next factor:

• No one who plans to stay in business sells at cost:  The typical newbie mistake during a recession is, "I need to keep the crew busy, so let's just figure out the costs and pass them along to the client." Uh-uh. "Buying" projects never works over the long term. Short term, shaky. Long term, never. Nope. Still never. Why?  Because mistakes will kill you. And in a recession, everyone's nervous and prone to making mistakes. Not just mistakes in pricing, but mistakes in installing and ordering. To survive, a company should be going the other route, which is lowering overhead: downsizing the office or showroom, selling off company trucks, cutting back expenses, and yes, unfortunately thinking of layoffs. Lower overhead keeps the price lower. Selling at cost leads back to the first factor.

• Also? Never let anyone charge you upfront for labor: At least in California. It's illegal. Check with your local state and provincial codes. (Thought I'd throw that in for good measure.)

• In spite of everything I've mentioned, manufacturers raise their prices every single year: Everyone from cabinets to flooring to windows to appliances. You may get a deal, but the bottom cost went up. Your deal this year isn't as good as your deal last year (unless you're perhaps buying a last year's model.) Crazy world, isn't it?

Can you get good deals? Of course you can and probably have. I'm simply saying in the current economic climes, it, er, pays to pay attention.

In the meantime, I'm beat. Have a nice weekend, all.

Range niches

 

A range niche is just what it says -- well, sort of. It has less to do with the actual range and more to do with an opening in the wall behind the range. Creating a niche can be particularly handy as an extra ledge for setting extra jars and bottles. I like designing them especially when see the client has all the condiments lined up in a row behind the existing range. It allows for some tile fun in the niche and dresses up a formerly flat wall.

Some tips:

• Avoid light tile or light grout here. Don't laugh; you've never seen the results from soy sauce rings.
• Keep the opening in proportion --too big will overwhelm; too small will look like someone punched a hole in the wall and then got creative. It should be no larger than half the available space.
• Those with 2x6 framing get a bit more depth than those with 2x4 framing. Lucky people.
• The ledge doesn't have to be tile. It can be granite or quartz or anything non-flammable. Same goes for the entire niche. I just like tile.
• Yes, splatters can reach there (don't they get everywhere?) but they're not as hard to clean up as you might think.
• It isn't the best place for spices or oils. Or soy sauce. But it is handy if you're at the range for any period of time.
• For reasons of insulation and fire safety codes, it must be in an interior wall. And unfortunately, it isn't every interior wall. Those of you with firewalls between condos or town homes, interior walls in two-story houses which might have plumbing or venting, or walls with brick or steel-frame, my apologies; this might not be possible for you.
• They're also not for every kitchen. If you're under 5'0" (152cm), reaching over the range may put you or your clothes in contact with the burners. Play it safe; if you really like the niches and it's possible, have them on either side of the range.

 

 

I can't find my paperwork on what the backsplash tile is, but I'll post details for you when I find them... (Edited to add: ok, I have the name for the pinwheel mosaic but I believe it may be local and difficult to find on the web; however, it's called Sierra Pacific - "Arcadian Stone, multi-colored pinwheel". It's on a 12x12 mesh backing. Here's better luck with the rest of the backsplash; it's the Cairo series from Laufen.)

Not all fluorescent bulbs are created equal

In my inbox this morning from the Environmental Working Group:

(photo credit: WVStatespecialwaste)

Over its lifetime, a single CFL can save the consumer $80 or more, depending on local electric rates.

But all CFL bulbs aren't equal. Some have lower mercury content than others, and some last much longer. Unfortunately, you can't tell the best of the best by their labels - or the U.S. government Energy Star logo...An Environmental Working Group investigation has identified 7 bulb lines that trump the rest.

The report is here: Lighten Up in '09: Shoppers Guide to CFLs 

Regular readers know although I embrace the CFLs for their tremendous beneficial impact to the environment, I've been somewhat unhappy with the lack of information as to where old bulbs really go when they die. (No, I mean, real information -- not the "oh, you take them here." What happens after "here"?  Also, one bulb with .01-.04 grams of mercury doesn't bother me; a landfill of millions of them bothers me, so sure -- I'm all for less mercury per bulb.) While the report doesn't bring up all of this, it does cover some thoughtful points.

Over-appliancing your kitchen

Ok, so "over-appliancing" isn't a verb, but you get the idea.

When I first moved to California, I was struck by how  "biggest and widest and most" appliances were on my client's remodeling lists. Fine if your home has the space, like the kitchen above, or you're planning an addition or opening up walls, but for most homes, what we're dealing with is adding all the modern conveniences in the same sized kitchens of 30-70 years ago.

Which is kind of like re-using the suitcase from your single college days for your present-day family of four. At some point, no matter how much you hope and squish and pray, it's going to be impossible to fit everything in.

Here's why ~ let's look at the list of appliances from the past 70 years:

1940s to 1970s:

• a refrigerator (Not everyone had refrigerators in the 1940s either.  Ice boxes were in use in some areas up until the late 50s.)
• a sink
• a range (ok, sometimes the ranges were bigger, but hey, we had no refrigerators.)

1970s to now:

• a dishwasher. Or two.
• a cooktop and wall oven(s). Orginally, 30"-36" cooktops and 24"-27" ovens.
• a microwave

In the last decade:

• ranges to 48" wide
• cooktops to 60" wide
• ovens to 30" wide
• wine cooler and/or bar refrigeration
• refrigerator drawers
• steamers
• built-in cappuccino makers
• televisions
• warming drawers

Let me mention this again: added to the same size kitchens. Wham. We've lost most of our countertops and pretty much all of our storage.

(Before - 1960s kitchen with cooktop under microwave.
The spoons and vases next to the refrigerator sat on the cooktop when it wasn't in use.
If someone opened the oven  door,  no one could use the sink.)

To top things off, it's not only the appliances that have increased five-fold: what we store has increased as well. We may have lost the pressure cookers of 40 years ago, but we added the Mixmaster. The blender. The pasta machine. Two sets of dishes. Three types of wine glasses. Expresso cups. The waffle maker. The cool serving platters. The George Foreman grill. Micro-graters for peel, and 15 different styles of spatulas/wooden spoons/knives. Coffee mugs threatening to populate the world! (Or is that just my place?)

No wonder it's difficult to keep a kitchen tidy -- there's simply not enough room left for function and storage!

So...if you don't want your dishes stored in the oven and your mugs in the microwave, the design process is the time to realistically size your suitcase. Give some serious thought to what appliances you'll actually use. More importantly, think through how you'll actually cook in the kitchen.

Don't stack all your appliances in a corner or wedge them along the same wall if you can help it -- let them breathe or arrange for nearby counter space. Decent lengths of counter between appliances means decent landing and drawer spaces. Which also means decent wall cabinets for, you know, coffee cups. *cough*

If you imagine cooking one of your favorite recipes in your new kitchen before you finalize the design, it might be an eye-opener. 

And that's my two cents for the day.

(After - refrigerator is moved elsewhere. The microwave is combined with
the oven and warming drawer. The peninsula was switched to the sink side
in the foreground. No, I have no idea why there's an orange kettle
under the burgundy hood but it hurts us, yes it does.)

Part 3: Kitchen corners - double corners

Ok, we discussed blind corners in  Part 1 with interior fittings for blind corners in Part 2. Today we're going to talk about double corner units.

A double corner unit is simply a cabinet for a kitchen corner which extends both ways along the wall so the regular cabinets can be installed on each side, like so:

Most units are dimensioned the full width; in this case, 36" both ways. Some cabinets are as large as 39" both ways or as small as 33" but that is the smallest size I'd want - any less and it becomes the Dark Hole From Which Nothing Returns. The door is a combination of two doors which are either hinged together with something called a piano hinge or separately hinged on each side with standard hinges. Sometimes, each side may be customized. i.e. a 36" right "leg" and a 33" left leg, which really means a 12" door on the left and a 9" door on the right.

The advantages:

• much easier to reach into than a blind corner cabinet. 
• unlike the blind corner, there's enough space on between drawers on either side of the corner that there is no problem with the drawer handles clearing one another.

In the interior, the lazy susan is usually 2 baskets but can sometimes be 3. The baskets can either be mounted on a single pole or separately mounted on individual shelves. Sometimes the door can be mounted on the lazy susan itself, so that the door swings inside the cabinet with the susan and closes by itself on full rotation. I should point out that this is only found in some custom/higher-end cabinets; the mechanics of hardware that lift the doors up to clear the bottom shelf are very tricky. This one is from a western cabinet manufacturer called Hertco -- they have a video of the corner if you click on the link and look for "push through lazy susan."

 

The corner can also be diagonal at the front with a single door, like so:

(photo credit: WoodWeb )

This is called a base angle corner or a base diagonal corner. Note the susan inside is a full-circle unlike the base double corner which has a pie shaped wedge cut out of it; gives a bit more interior space.  It's also handy for a bit more counter space (and a bit more challenging for short people like me to reach  the back corner), the piano hinge is eliminated, and it adds a nice 45 degree angle to the cabinets and countertop.

Tip #1 - Watch appliance placement: It's not a good corner to place an appliance beside, unlike the double corner. Standard appliances are always deeper than cabinets; the doors could bind or hit one another without extra fillers. Even with integrated appliances, the handle placement could be a concern if not planned in advance. Also, forget about placing two appliances on each side of the corner -- the appliance doors won't open at the same time and neither will the corner cabinet (unless the doors swing inside the cabinet.)

I was going to post some different basket options, but apparently Susan isn't the only one who's lazy. If you search for "lazy susans" on the 'Net, you'll come across hundreds, or go back to Post 2 where I provided links for the half-susans. I'll leave you with a final tip you should know:

Tip #2 - Not all lazy susans can be retro-fitted: Buy a lazy susan either with the cabinet or have your installer install one before the countertop is installed. While it's possible to get a basket on the bottom shelf, that'll be about it and totally dependant on the size of the basket and the cabinet's opening width. It's next to impossible to install the lazy susans on full-pole system and forget about installing the middle shelf and basket.

There can be some disadvantages to a base double corner; we'll talk about that in Part 4...

My 2009 Green wish: Reduce built-in obsolescence

A Happy New Year to all of you!

For those of you who don't know, built-in obsolescence is manufacturing goods so that they have a shorter lifespan.

I was looking through items for another post and came across this 2007 article from the UK's Daily Mail Online -- "Frozen in Time -- the fridge still going strong after 50 years":

(Photo credit: Daily Mail Online)

Of course we don't want 1950s refrigerators, considering the energy-saving changes for refrigerators today, but why can't we have appliances that last longer? How many of you out there remember when a toaster lasted 20 years; a kettle 30? Never mind the 50-year old refrigerator.

Yes, I know -- the manufacturers won't be interested -- I can understand the monetary interest behind manufacturing more!all!the!time! But there has to be a better way.

Longer appliance lifespans would mean a staggering reduction to world-wide landfills, not to mention a reduction of manufacturing emissions. Sure, you say, much of the metals of appliances can be recycled and re-used, but not all of it. And like the CBS 60 Minutes report on following toxic waste for computers and cell phones, we need to address the re-use concerns.

I'm not fond of envisioning Earth as a scene from Wall-E with junk piled skyscraper high, so that's why I'm asking for longer-lasting appliances now. :)

(Photo credit: Disney/Pixar)