Ask MetaFilter questions in the home & garden category

Blankets just aren't the same...

Bergamot — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:56:03 -0800

What should I do with a wounded duvet? A few months ago my partner decided to do some housecleaning, and washed our lovely, heavyweight down duvet (I know, I know...). Apparently the fabric of the duvet got caught in the washing machine somehow, and tore open the duvet. I'm so glad I wasn't there to deal with all the soaking down, and especially glad it wasn't our washing machine! So now we've got broken bedding. The duvet was sectioned, and only one section--sadly, one in the middle--was emptied of its down, but it's still useless as it is. Is there anywhere I could go to get it repaired, or is this a very expensive write off? (We're in Edmonton, if it helps). If it's not reparable, is there anything else we could do with it?

Will a condo be built in front of me?

nyc_consultant — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:13:53 -0800

If I buy a condo in Seattle with a great view, will that view be blocked by new condo construction in the near future? There is a condo for sale that I am interested in which has a great view. Currently there are 2 small commercial buildings in front of the condo, which do not obstruct the view.

I'm going to be devastated if I buy this place, and then either one gets torn down and someone builds a shiny new building which will block my view.

How can I figure out if this is likely, possible, or planned?

[Side note: I asked a question 6 months ago on how to convince my wife to move to Seattle. Thanks folks, she agreed to the move, and now she loves it!]

Contractor estimate and accounting for cost overruns?

pakoothefakoo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:43:02 -0800

My friend is buying an old brownstone in Brooklyn that needs to be gut renovated. The question is how accurate the contractor estimate is and should he account for cost overruns, if so, by how much? My friend is about to purchase an old brownstone in Brooklyn that needs a lot of work. It's a 5 story building, with approximately 16,000 square feet of space. The buildings needs its pipes replaced, a new heating system, electrical work, and the foundations (or more specifically the supporting columns in the cellar needs to be replaced, along with some wood replacements due to termite infestation.

Two contractors gave him an estimate in the 120-150k range for all the above. Is this reasonable? Should he expect cost overruns and if so, by how much?

How do I decorate my mirror wall?

unsupervised — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:18:27 -0800

How would you decorate a living room with a mirror wall? We're in the process of replacing all the starter/hand-me-down furniture in our condo and we're at a loss as to how to decorate the mirror wall in our living room.

About the wall: It's roughly 20' long and comprised of four 7 1/2' tall and 5' wide mirror panels. It's the longest uninterrupted wall in the room spanning both the dining room for 7 1/2' and the living room for 12 1/2'. Other than an 1/8" gap between panels and a 3" runner on the floor, it's floor to ceiling uninterrupted mirror. They're in perfect condition.

We've grudgingly embraced them: we have friends in the complex with the exact same condo layout as ours and our unit looks immense when compared to theirs. The mirror wall is also directly across from the windows and we get the added benefit of light and a view on that side of the room. We've never had any idea how to decorate it, though.

What decorating/furnishing ideas could make the most of my mirror wall?

Need help fixing a roll up shade

kbar1 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:27:22 -0800

Please help me to repair a roll up matchstick shade or refer me to a web site with directions in plain English. I bought an 8ft. matchstick shade and spent hours just installing the 3 hooks and hanging it, then discovered the drawstring on the right side had pulled loose from the pulley mechanism.

Obviously, I'm not mechanically inclined, but I'd rather try to fix it than return it to the store and start over. The problem string attaches at the top-back of the blind and should loop down under the bottom, and up to the pulley. The string is attached as it should be at the back, but just hangs straight down. I've tried feeding it through the pulley, but there doesn't seem to be room - and even if it did fit, it seems like it must need to attach to something - but what?

I know this is a longshot, but I'm hoping it will make sense to someone with experience fixing roll up blinds. Thanks!

Dustbuster recommendations?

leesh — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:48:36 -0800

I'd like to get a dustbuster or similar cordless small vacuum device. Can you awesome people recommend some brands/models? I saw this thread but it's a couple years old and I figured dustbuster technology has advanced some since then, plus I really do want a cordless one. Currently Amazon has a good deal on one of those Kone things, but the recent reviews seem mixed. Have any of you used one, and would you recommend it? Or is there some other awesome dustbuster I should know about?

Stabbing myself in the eye with a letter opener doesn't seem to be an appropriate reaction to this problem.

sugarfish — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:28:54 -0800

I just spent another hour going through giant stacks of mail and shredding crap and I swear I can't take it anymore. All of our bills are paid online so half the time stuff never even gets opened. This leads to problems like letters from our HOA getting missed when like a month later I break down and go through stuff. And then what do we do after the bills are paid? What should we keep (paystubs, etc)? What's fine to get rid of? How long should we keep receipts for things like home or car repairs? Why do these mysterious statements keep coming from the retirement account?

We have no system whatsoever. I feel like I missed that day in learning-to-be-an-adult class. (Well, I missed a lot of days, but this is the most pressing one.) What does your filing cabinet look like? I need a filing cabinet, right?

I know some of the basic things we can do -- opt out of paper mail, etc, but is that okay for everything? Isn't it better that I have a hard copy of my credit card statement to compare just in case it changes down the line, or am I being a conspiracy theorist?

What about regular, day-to-day receipts? Do you just take time once a week to shred them, or what?

We are intelligent people but unfortunately neither of us is detail-oriented. We work long schedules and when we get home at midnight the last thing we want to do is go through another pile of mail that turns out to be usurious credit card "checks." (Seriously, I just shredded like a dozen envelopes' worth.)

Please hope me.

We are trying as hard as possible not to be noisy

marble — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:53:11 -0800

How best to handle noise complaints against us, when I feel we are being reasonable? Since the first complaints we have been dialing down the noise in every way we can think of, but apparently it's not enough and we don't even know which neighbor is complaining, so we can't speak to them directly. Several months ago, we got a formal written noise complaint from the landlord. We couldn't figure out what we were doing to cause it, and there were no specifics. It made a reference to stuff being done after 10:00 pm. I can't tell from the wording if it's *just* whatever they heard after 10:00 pm, or if we were being admonished for stuff prior to that hour or not.

We do not have parties or anything like that, we don't play loud music, and we live on the ground floor. We play videogames and watch tv and movies, and at a volume such that no one has complained until recently. (I have lived here for four years now).

Then a couple months ago we're playing SingStar, and a knock at the door reveals a policeman. They called the cops on us. For singing. Sigh. Really? The police? Anyway, I was pleasant and polite to the cop but I felt rather bewildered by the whole situation. I admit we do tend to turn up the sound on the tv when we play that game, because neither one of us likes how our voice sounds so we can drown it out with the actual artists singing. Okay, well, I guess it was too loud even though we never had trouble with it before. We haven't even touched that game since that encounter with the cop. It saddens me greatly, we used to have a great time playing it, but I can't figure out if the problem was that it was after 10 or just that we were playing it at all.

Overall we made an effort to make sure things were quieter, especially after 10. I'm talking things like headphones used for playing games and music, a quieter volume on the tv, and just plain going to bed earlier.

But then we got *another* formal written noise complaint from the landlord, on Wednesday.

What the hell? I am really frustrated with this. I don't know what to do. I don't know how many complaints before they try to evict us. I feel really powerless and upset. I honestly don't want to offend anyone with noise, but I think this person is being hypersensitive and at this point they may just be making bogus complaints to fuck with us (maybe they want us to be evicted so they can have the ground floor apartment? my mind is reeling). It's not like they have to provide proof. The landlord doesn't even have anyone on the property to corroborate a noise complaint past like 3pm, and we are at work til 5. So they can complain as much as they want, and they will be believed even if we are in bed at the time.

Our apartment is in a small block of eight. We have no idea which neighbor lodged the complaints, so we can't try to talk to them about exactly what they heard and when, and try to work with them to make sure we don't bother them. We are not assholes, we just want to be able to enjoy our entertainment.

This whole thing is making us paranoid. We watched Desperado last night, the last 40 minutes of which were after 10. I thought we shouldn't because I don't want any chance of them hearing anything, even on a weekend night. But we watched it so quietly that we could barely hear the dialogue, and turned it way down for every gunfight.

This is crazy. I hate living in fear like this, feeling so uncomfortable in my own home. If this person really is out to get us evicted, then there's nothing I can do anyway.

I thought about maybe writing a formal letter to the landlord explaining that we are surprised that our noise level has bothered anyone, but we are genuinely making a sincere effort not to offend (since the very first complaint), and would appreciate it if they could tell us when they actually hear noise so that we could figure out which thing it is that is causing the problem.

I'd like to talk to the neighbor directly, but I have this fear that the person is going to construe me even talking to them as harassment or something, and I'm rather pissed off at this point and am not sure if I could keep a lid on my obvious resentment coming through in tone of voice and facial expression. Also, I hate confrontation. I'd much rather write a letter if I could. But this is all moot since I don't even know which neighbor it is and the landlord likely won't tell me.

The landlord's latest note referenced paragraph 20 of my lease, and I think the part they refer to is (excerpted): "You and your occupants or guests may not engage in the following activities: [...] behaving in a loud or obnoxious manner; disturbing or threatening the rights, comfort, health, safety, or convenience of others (including our agents and employees) in or near the apartment community [...]". This is a standard Texas Apartment Association lease, and I live in Austin.

I'd really like to communicate in writing as calmly and reasonably as I can, but I'm scared even that will blow up in my face somehow. I'm supposed to sign my new lease soon but I haven't talked to the landlord since the last complaint so I'm not sure how pissed off they might be at me right now, or if they consider the complaints minor. I'm scared to even bring up the lease with them. New lease would be starting January 1st.

Anyway, I'm looking for advice as to how to approach this. I'd like to be able to enjoy my usual activities at home without feeling like I'm going to be evicted for it. And we have already gotten two levels quieter and it hasn't helped. Argh!

I need to leave Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems

jragon — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:33:05 -0800

I signed up for a "pay half your mortgage twice a month" thing and now Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) is a little too involved for my liking. Help me leave them. I got a funny feeling about MERS so I started doing some research. While not 100% scam, they seem to get between a homeowner and their mortgage provider, which can lead to all sorts of trouble. (wikipedia info)

A few days ago, I got an Appointment of Successor Trustee and a Deed of Reconveyance, which I've never seen after 6 years of my loans being sold to people willy nilly.

So now I want to leave, but have to wait until tomorrow when they're open. My concern is that I'll call and they'll basically say I can't leave and dare me to press the issue. And then I'll call MetLife, who I originally got the loan from, who will say it doesn't concern them. At that point I'm not sure what I'll do, so I wonder if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks.

Knit one, purl one, turn the plastic handle?

sabotagerabbit — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:48:10 -0800

My grandmother just gave me some of her old knitting and sewing supplies, including what appears to be some sort of plastic knitting machine. Tell me more about it and how to use it! I'm pretty sure it's a knitting machine/toy of some sort, but my Nana's not verbal enough these days for me to ask her how to use it. I've googled a bit, but I don't really know what to call it. I want to know if it's worth me keeping for my crafty pursuits!

any idea where i can get an out-of-warranty ipod dock repaired?

camdan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:51:57 -0800

i purchased a specktone retro ii a couple years back, basically this thing. unfortunately, i got it at a bargain bin reduced price from an ebay mass seller, with a very short warranty. sure enough, right at the end of the warranty the thing started wigging out. the original seller wouldn't take it back, of course, and the manufacturer won't take it either; they said to return it to the seller. a perfect feedback loop of screwed.

you might tell me to cut my losses and buy a new dock. and i do have another dock. but i like this thing. the sound is great, it looks cool, and it takes up very little space. it's just sitting around and i hate to waste it. every few months i'll start it up again, and i get a nice 15 minutes of brigadoon before the thing starts flipping out. i'd like to work it out. i need to work it out.

oh the problem - it plays fine for the first 15 minutes or so, then the audio cuts in and out continually in split second bursts. your only option is to unplug it, let it sit for awhile, then start over again. (if left plugged in the problem will continue without the ipod docked - the speakers cut in and out continually without cessation.)

if anyone knows anywhere i could send this thing to get it fixed, that would be great. if it's someplace in the atlanta area that would be even better. what would be THE BEST, if it's a simple solution that i can fix myself, and someone could tell me how to do it. it's got to have something to do with the power, and not the docking mechanism itself.
thank you! come again.

Can my Garlic be saved?

drezdn — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:01:03 -0800

I planted several garlic bulbs a month ago, expecting frost, but the weather has warmed up and now they've sprouted. Can my garlic bulbs be saved? Is there anything I can do to keep them around until spring? Covering them with dirt? Or should I just accept that I learned a lesson and move on?

Is there anything fishy here?

Taurid — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:57:53 -0800

Its that time of the year again, when I get the furnace cleaned, install a new filter, clean the humidifier ( and install a new humidifier pad), and start it all up. In the last few years, I've seen something called the "Swordfish" advertised. Its an ultraviolet light that is connected to the furnace ductwork and kill bacteria as well as mold that passes by the light. I've read some reviews about it and it sounds as though it does work. However I'm still a little skeptical. Does anybody have one or have any thoughts on it?

Help me pick a mattress

TorontoSandy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:19:33 -0800

We're shopping for a new mattress and thinking about an Ikea mattress. Does anyone know how Ikea mattresses are compared to a brand name one like Sealy? Is there a difference in quality and/or price? We have to drive about 100 miles to get to an Ikea store vs 15 minutes for a Sleep America. Is it worth the trip?

soundproof bathroom

neelhtak — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:42:20 -0800

How to best soundproof an existing downstairs 1/2 bath with hollow core door? The downstairs is one large room with the door to the br in the dining room. The use of that area as dining area not changeable.

Would a solid core door help? Cork on one side of existing door? something to block the 1/4" space @ bottom of door? Exhaust fan not an option. Some sort of white noise machine? Is there one that's battery operated?

Just want to know what would work the best before onslaught of holiday company. I usually send people upstairs for privacy, but that trip is getting hard to manage for some of the elders.

How to sympathetically restore an old marble top?

kitfreeman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:52:03 -0800

How best to sympathetically restore an old marble top? I have an old sideboard (around 100 years old) with a marble top which has broken into two pieces. The top also has scratches and some dirt. I'd like to restore the top, but want to do so sympathetically, with respect for how it originally looked. I'm worried that if I take it to a professional restorer they will over-restore it so that it looks like a new piece. How should I go proceed? What would a sympathetic restoration involve, and how should I go about it? More specifically, how should I repair the break (glue?), and should I allow it to show? How should I treat the surface (polish? wax? oil-based polish? sanding?). Would the surface originally have had a shiny finish or a matt one? Does anyone have any advice, please?

Greener cookware recommendations?

cadge — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:56:17 -0800

Can you recommend greener cookware (preferably not cast iron)? My small set of cookware (one frying pan and two saucepans) is getting really old and worn out, and it's time to replace it all.

I've read up on safer and more environmentally-friendly cookware, but I'm having trouble figuring out what would be the best type to buy. It's a bit overwhelming.

In every writeup (and previous Ask MeFi post), dozens of people recommend cast iron. But I've looked at cast iron cookware in my local shops (a cookware shop and a camping shop) and it's just too heavy for me! It was effort just to pick the smallest pan off the shelf! I'd really like to avoid buying cast iron cookware if I can.

My cooking needs aren't much. Mostly I use the frying pan for simple stir fries, tofu, grilled cheese sandwiches, and browning ground meat. I don't fry eggs. I use the saucepans for vegetables and pasta sauces. I'd like to cook more, but I doubt it'll be anything elaborate. That said, I don't mind investing in higher-quality/higher-price cookware that I can use for years to come.

What non-food consumables can I make for holiday gifts?

mr. remy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:07:08 -0800

I want to make lots of neat little gifts to give friends for Christmas. I'd like these gifts to be useable, elegant, consumable, and grown-up (not decorative, artsy-fartsy crafty crap). My recipients are Pragmatic New Englanders, and would be irked receiving potpourri, eye pillows, embroidered towels, door-hangings, pine-cone-bird feeders, or anything of that ilk. Hence: consumables. In the past I've had past successes making figgy pudding with brandy butter and a collection of homemade ketchups, relishes, mustards, and chutneys, but this year I want to move out of the kitchen. Blow me away with millions of amazing little home-made gift suggestions. Trio of caveats:

1) Soap initially seemed like a good idea, but now feels expensive to start, if I want to do anything but melt-&-pour.

2) Not into making fabric/textile art. I'm okay doing crafts, but I'm not – 29 year old male – gonna learn to embroider/knit/needlepoint. Also not consumable.

3) I have no access to a woodshop, specialty tools, nor lots of $ to spend on these projects. My kitchen, however, is loaded to the gills with specialty equipment I could commandeer in the name of the holidays.

Holiday lights: hang 'em high!

Bardolph — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:58:49 -0800

How can I conveniently and safely affix a string of Christmas lights to the edge of a second-story roof? Halloween's over, and it's officially time to start planning holiday decorations, hurray! My challenge this year: to get a string of lights (preferably icicle, but standard C4s in a pinch) hung along the eave of a ~22'-high roof.

It sounds simple, but the roof is really too high and treacherous to go with the standard plastic light clips that have to be manually stuck on and pulled off the gutter every season. I think I could probably make it up there once, to install whatever hanging hardware may be necessary, but after that the lights will have to be hangable from the ground exclusively.

My current thought is to screw metal hooks into the underside of the eaves, then hoist a string of lights onto the hooks using a tall pole of some sort-- but without any way to close the hooks, I worry that the lights might blow down in a gusty wind. Ideally, there'd be some more secure way to make sure the lights stay attached, but can still be hung and removed easily by someone reaching out a window or standing on the ground.

So what might be some clever alternatives for hanging long strings of lights across high places? Has anyone had any success with pulley/clothesline-type apparatuses? Or with these dodgy-looking lighting tracks? Any other bright ideas?

Details:
--There's a small dormer in the middle of the roofline which it'd be nice to outline as well, although in theory the lights could be strung straight across that.
--The gutter is also accessible at wide intervals from second-story windows, as shown in this crude drawing.

Any and all suggestions welcome-- thanks!

Where can i find a cheap dB meter?

ilike — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:56:45 -0800

Where can i find a cheap dB meter that can meter a low dB? (say 30-50 dB) Hi I recently moved in to an appartment that has a few sound sources that annoy me a lot.

The first problem is that the front door is paper thin and located close the main entrance to the house and that each time someone enters the house I hear the front door slamming very loud. The thing that annoys me the most however is that it gets very noicy when my neighbour use his kitchen faucet.

I have spoke with the local building enviroment regulator that recommended me to try to find a dB meter I can use to see if I am anywhere close to the levels where I can demand that my landlord fix this. According to him between 35-50 dB is the maximum threshold depending on type of sound.

I understand accoustic metering is something that should be left to professionals but I would like to see if I am anywhere close to the threshold levels before spending money and time on a accoustic engineer. Maybe I am just overreacting.

Are there sound meters that can be had reasonably cheaply and can handle low noice. It doesnt have to be to accurate, just enough for me to get an idea if there is any point going forward with this.

Bonus point if I can order it from an EU country.

We have a chest full of stench!

imjustsaying — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:44:58 -0800

We've inherited a wooden sea chest from 1827 along with accompanying provenance and documentation. That's the good news. The bad news is that it stinks. This beautiful antique chest was filled with old navy uniforms for at least 100 years, but also with moth balls.

When we open it, the smell of the moth balls is overpowering, to say the least. We've tried leaving it open outdoors for several days, putting trays of baking soda in it and closing it, and doing the same with vanilla extract.

Nothing works, although we have seen soem slight improvement.

Should we resign ourselves to never again being able to store anything in it?

Rochester NY decorating services / help?

14580 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:27:47 -0800

We're remodeling our kitchen and adjacent family room and we need help finding someone in the Rochester NY that can help us pick out and coordinate the colors of our walls, counter-tops, rugs and floors. I've been looking at the web sites of interior designers and decorators and I find them very intimating. It looks like they work on $$$$ projects and we have a modest house and a modest budget. Do you have any recommendations or suggestions?

What to do about an office that smells like smoke, exhaust, and stale french fries?

lakeroon — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:25:53 -0800

How can I make the air in my office more breathable? HEPA filter, activated charcoal, or both? Brand/model recommendations? My office is in an old building with heat that is hard to control. Year-round I'd like to be able to modulate the temperature by opening the windows, but they're one floor above an area where people stand for smoke breaks, across the street from a restaurant that emits frying smells, and right at an intersection where cars idle. The air in here isn't that great even with the windows closed, but of course it's particularly bad when I try opening them.

Specs of the office: a single room about 200 square feet, baseboard heat, window a/c unit in one window, two openable crank-style windows.

From prior questions it seems like a HEPA filtration unit (the Austin Air HealthMate was mentioned) and/or activated charcoal might help with the smell, flying road dust, and headache-inducingness of this situation. Which would help more, or can they be used together? Should I try putting filtering material over the window screens and/or an active filtering device? (The solution does not have to be aesthetically pleasing.) Product recommendations welcomed. Thanks.

Power-vented water heaters -- what say you?

sesquipedalia — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:35:58 -0800

Replacing a water heater... to power-vent or not to power-vent? That is the question. Old water heater (possibly as old as 18 years) is leaking and will go away soon. It's currently chimney-vented; I'm pretty sure the chimney has a liner, but I don't know much about its size (so it's hard to tell if the current venting is effective at venting the heater's output). The furnace no longer vents to the chimney. This has all been unchanged for the past 7 years and there have been no problems, no carbon monoxide alarms aboveground, etc. The house is old and the basement windows (most windows, actually) are far from airtight, so there should be sufficient drafts for convection.

Plumber is recommending a power-vented heater instead of ventung the new one throughy the chimney too. His main argument is that as houses get tightened up and more airtight, chimney convection gets much less effective.

We're probably moving out of the house in the next 5-10 years and don't currently plan on doing an energy audit / making the house more airtight / replacing the basement windows etc in the meantime.

Plumber's quote is $800 for straight replacement with a new chimney-vented heater); $1500 for installing a power-vented one, setting up the venting, etc.

What experiences do you all have with power-vented heaters? Pros and cons? Do you think it's worth doing in this case? And is the cost differential (and the actual amount quoted) reasonable?

Thanks, hive mind!

Catalytic converter unnecessary?

rahnefan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:43:54 -0800

Do I need to replace the catalytic converter and oxygen sensor in a 2000 Honda Civic (125k miles)? Engine suddenly idling low. My Check Engine light came on night before last. The technician says the codes it gave are for the oxygen sensor and the catalytic converter (which upon inspection, is physically cracked). They said the purpose of the one is only to detect problems with the other.

But in my experience, a faulty catalytic converter makes zero difference in emissions tests (one went bad in a Toyota I had but for years after, the techs said it was as low on emissions as a new car). We just had this one tested.

My bigger concern is the engine is now starting to idle low, as if it wants to stop, but is that coincidental? I asked the tech but their explanation did not sound confident about a relationship between these parts and low idling. It sounded like, "sure, why not."

Are the parts unrelated to low idling, and do I really need them if the car has low emissions?