Sherwin Williams Paint Visualizer

We’ve been thinking about colors for our living room. We just painted an early American-style brown color in the dining room, and we’d like to find a lighter, complementary color for the living room. I’m no good with color selection, and Kim is knee-deep writing her term paper, so I immediately looked for an online tool to help. I ran across Sherman Williams’ Color Visualizer.

The tool requires you to select from a number of pre-canned rooms. The idea is to pick the room that reminds you most of the room you’re trying to work on. Once you have the room selected, you can “try” different primary paint colors on the walls, and the tool will show you complementary colors that will go well with your selection. It also offers a nice save and reload feature.

I picked a whacky combination in the room above to show the flexibility of the tool. Notice in the lower left how the tool will show you the colors that best go with the paint color you’ve picked. This is particularly helpful for me.

I noticed that Behr also has a tool available on their site but I have yet to explore it. It looks like Behr’s version will allow you to upload a picture of your room and paint it, but they charge $4.95/year for this functionality. I find it hard to understand why Behr would charge a nominal fee for this tool. Aren’t they likely to recover their investment in paint they sell to folks “painting” their rooms with the tool? The cost seems like a big deterrant, if for no other reason than the hassle of payment.

Paint Recycling and Disposal

There’s lots of old, un-usable paint out there, but you can’t just throw it away. So how do you get rid of old paint? Check out this great post detailing different ways to recycle and dispose of old paint. The post will walk you through different options and help you find a paint recycling center near you.

What do you think? Do you use a tool to help pick paints? Do you have any experience with a vendor other than Sherwin-Williams?

Before And After Dining Room Pictures

Alright, here’s the first Before and After post. I sure hope someone else links in! If not, I’ll just have to be bold and try again next week.

This Week’s Before and After: The Dining Room

We’ve nearly completed the dining room. These pics give a great overview of where we came from, and where we’ve made it so far. All in all, the dining room has been a really fun project. We had a great experience with Ralph Lauren paint, we sanded down the intrusive stipple ceilings, and we replaced the receptacles. We have a few more finishing touches to install in the dining room itself (pictures, other wall decor). Eventually we’ll also replace the entire first floor with hardwoods. That’ll certainly give me fodder for more posts – but I just couldn’t resist posting these two pictures now.

Before:

After:

It’s your turn: Just post a Before and After on your site and link in here. (Please link directly to the page where your post is.

Free Copy of the 2008 National Electrical Code (NFPA 70): No More…

For a long time, the National Fire Protection Association published free copies of the 2008 and 2005 electric codes on their web site. We used to publish direct links to both of those right on this article. In the last several years, NFPA has decided that they will no longer offer free codebooks online, which is a bummer. We’re not sure why they made the decision, and if you happen to work for the NFPA and you’re reading this article, we’d love to hear directly from you!

The online reader format NFPA chose was very clunky and hard to use. It worked as a quick reference, but they obviously did this to encourage folks to buy the hard copy. You can pick up the NEC 2008 manual at Amazon and many other online and local booksellers. Unfortunately, these code books aren’t cheap! Expect to pay around $65-90 for the code, unless you’re buying used from (for example) an Amazon reseller.

The Best Way to Get the Code Now…

The best way to get the code if you just need a few questions answered is to go to your local library’s reference section. Most libraries will have every recent version of the code on their shelves, and you can make photocopies of the sections you need for your job. We actually used this approach for our recent wall oven installation. I didn’t have any cash on hand for the photocopies, so I took photos with my iPhone and printed them when I got back home. It worked great, and our wall oven is installed to code specifications!

Many districts will be phasing in the 2011 NEC as their electric code standard over the next few years. You should always check with your local Government to determine what code is enforced in your area. For instance, when I started my basement project in 2007, Baltimore Co. MD was still enforcing the 2005 NEC, but had included several amendments. Some jurisdictions don’t use NFPA’s codes at all.

I am sorry that we can no longer point you to the free links. If you hear or find otherwise, I would very much appreciate a note in the comments with links to free copies of these documents… but only if they are legitimate! The NFPA owns the copyright to the National Electric Code. We don’t want to support copyright infringement or privacy here at OPC.

What do you think? Was this helpful? Leave a comment and let me know.

Home Electric Wiring Book Review

Some Background (You Can Skip This)

About 4 months ago, we completed the framing in the basement and moved to electrical installation. I’ve done minor electrical work in the past (replacing fixtures, switches, outlets), and a small amount of medium-skill work extending circuits. Our basement, presented a big enough challenge that I didn’t feel completely equipped to proceed without help.

In Baltimore, Co. MD, you cannot obtain an electrical permit unless you are a licensed electrician. Fortunately for me, my sister’s husband’s father (Jim) is – and that’s a close enough relationship that he agreed to help me out. He would pull the permits, help me plan the job, supervise and inspect my work, and do all the final wiring to the main panel. In exchange… well… he didn’t really ask for anything in return. So, Kim and I are planning to send he and his wife out to a couple of nice dinners when the work’s done.

Stanley’s Complete Wiring Manual

OK. That was a lot of background to tell you this: The first day we got started, Jim handed me Stanley’s Complete Wiring Guide and said everything I needed to know about simple home wiring projects could be found inside. The book includes everything from running receptacles and light fixtures, to installing radiant heated floors, to common outside jobs like installing path lighting. The book’s illustrations are top-notch. It’s so good, in fact, that I found myself reading from one chapter to the next, even though I had no immediate plans to do all the jobs it describes.

If you’re considering an eletrical project around the house, I highly recommend this book. You can pick it up from Amazon for a surprisingly good price.

What do you think? Any other books that impressed you enough to recommend them? Do you have a better home wiring manual?

Fishy Electric Smell (Plastic Around Outlets, Lamps, Switches)

Five months after we moved into our townhouse, we started to notice a bad odor in the unfinished part of our basement. The smell is difficult to describe, but it reminded me of bad fish. The most frustrating part about it was that I couldn’t determine where the bad smell originated.

I spent many nights sniffing, poking and crawling in my attempt to find the source. One instant, I’d feel like I was getting near it, only to ”locate” it again somewhere else. I began thinking there might be a decomposing animal in my dryer, duct work, walls, or floors.

It became even more interesting when I discovered that Fred and Kim had the same scent in their unfinished basement. We turned to Google to find a solution. Here’s what we learned:

A lot of people have odors or scents in their houses and it’s rather difficult to describe them with words. Descriptions we found online included moldly, animal-like smells, new house / material and water/moisture, to name a few. None seemed to fit until Fred found something about light fixtures giving off bad smells when they are heated up.

We learned that some old cermic-based lamp fixtures were made with a plastic collar at the base of the fixture, which when hot, gives off a bad fishy odor. We both had these lamps in our basement. This also explains why the smell was intermittent and infrequent: the light needed to heat up for a few minutes before the odor was strong enough to smell. We both removed these rings/collars from the lamps and have been odor free ever since.

We later learned that this same odor occurs when shorts in receptacles/outlets or switches melt the plastic eletric parts nearby - it’s actually a very common problem.

There are a lot of good resources for locating/identifying a strange smell (just search for ”weird/strange/fishy house smells”) But first, be sure to check all of your receptacles and lamps!

Ralph Lauren Paint Review – Worth Price Charged

For some time, one of my friends at work has been touting the qualities of premium wall paint. Every time I tell him of a finished painting project, he asks, “Did you go with that cheap Behr stuff again?” (Behr is Home Depot’s run-of-the-mill, cover-all paint). Of course, I had. Premium paints cost about $8+ more per gallon than regular paint, and I’ve always figured “paint is paint.” What value could there be in spending an extra $8.00 on the good stuff.

Two weekends ago we decided to paint the dining room. This offerred a great opportunity to try out my friend’s advice and spring for the premium paint. I figured I wouldn’t see much difference in performance.

Ralph Lauren Paint Review

Home Depot offers Ralph Lauren as an upscale alternative to Behr. RL paint costs about $28/gallon, an $8 premium over the $19.95 Behr. Now, my friend would have preferred that I were buying Benjamin Moore paint. I didn’t realize this until after I told him proudly I had bought RL. So, there will probably be another post on BM paint after the next paint project. Maybe BM will be even better.

On to the project: Our dining room has about 390 sq. ft. of wall. We decided to go with a darker brown color to give the room an early American look. (The color and pictures of the finished room will be the subject of another post). Since the room started as a lighter beige, the brown represented a relatively major change in color.

On the side of the can, RL claims their paint will cover 400 sq. ft. per gallon. I’ve seen claims like that before. Usually, if a paint or stain says it will cover 400 sq. ft., it will cover at least 25% less, particularly if you are changing a wall color dramatically. So, I bought two gallons just to be safe.

My wife and her sisters painted the room. They covered every square inch of the wall completely — with only 4/5 of one gallon. In many places, they had put on two complete coats! RL paint went on effortlessly — even thin. But, the coverage was amazing.

Needless to say, I was impressed. I’m confident that Behr paint would have required two gallons to achieve the same look. Further, the RL paint looks great in subtle ways. We chose an eggshell finish that gleams ever-so-slightly in the light. The only downside: Now I have an extra can of brown paint and no plans to use it.

Old Paint

Chances are you’ve got cans of old paint somewhere in your house. If you’re looking to get rid of it, check out this great post detailing paint disposal. This post will show you where to donate, recycle, or dispose of old paint in a safe and proper manner.

What do you think? Do you have any experience with premium paint? Did you notice a difference? Do you think the differences are in my head?

P.S. If you live in the Baltimore Washington area and are in need of brown paint, I’ve got a great deal waiting for you

REDIRECTED: Free Harbor Freight 15% Off Coupon

I just wanted to spread the word, Harbor Freight has issued a coupon for 15% off coupon to entice people to register for their mailing list. The coupon is valid from 24 July 2008 until 24 August 2008 at Harbor Freight retail stores only. It has the typical limitations (one per customer, cannot be stacked) but it is applicable to sale items. Here’s to saving money!

Editor’s Update: It looks like the particular 15% off deal mentioned here may be expired. However, we now maintain a complete list of Harbor Freight Coupons that is updated on a regular basis.  Feel free to check in there for all the latest deals.

Inexpensive Tools

Harbor Freight, “America’s Favorite Tool Store” (Their words, not mine) offers an oft-overlooked cheaper alternative for many DIYers.

While not as common as Home Depot and Lowes, Harbor Freight offers some pretty amazing deals. For example, I recently needed 4 GFCI receptacles for 4 new circuits in my basement. Harbor Freight sells 15amp GFCI receptacles for $9.99 each, while the other big boxes get $16.99 or more for each. That’s a $28.00 savings on 4 plugs. They have similar deals on all types of tools including electric, pneumatic, and manual.

Harbor Freight will also posts a retail flyer and accepts mail orders for tools and other parts – something neither Lowes nor Home Depot offer.

Of course, Harbor Freight has many fewer locations than any of the big home improvement chains, and the old adage may apply: “You get what you pay for.” I’ll certainly be monitoring the GFCI circuits in the basement to see how they hold up.

Want more? Wikipedia has an article discussing GFCI circuits here. Did you know that you should be checking your GFCI circuits every month?

REDIRECTED: Lowes Black Friday 2009 Deals – The Teasers Are Out Early This Year

If you’re here looking for 2009 Black Friday deals, it’s too late! Even though these deals are long expired, we still have a current Lowes Coupon good for an additional 10% off any in-store purchase. It’s not a Black Friday deal but it always feels good to save money!

Lowes is at it early this year… working to get a little buzz about their Black Friday specials with this little guy hanging out on the left of their web page. The big reveal: November 3, at 12:01am Eastern.

We’ll certainly be checking out the deals when they pop up. While you’re waiting for the reveal, make sure to pickup a Lowes Coupon, and… even though big orange isn’t out with their specials, can’t hurt to pickup a Home Depot Coupon early too.

REDIRECTED: Announcing our Home Depot Coupons Page

We’ve finally finished our Home Depot integration on the site.  (Actually, we finished about 7 days ago but I’m just getting around to telling you about it now).  Here’s the link:

• Complete Home Depot Coupons & Sales Page

To save you time, our Home Depot Coupons are updated daily.  Most of the coupons are click-through (e.g., you just click on them to use them).  Other coupons require a coupon code and they are noted in the grid.  Just click through the coupon link and add the code at checkout.

Note: We’ve been dealing with at least one problem where the spanish version of the Home Depot site loads.  We apologize if you click through the program and get espanol.homedepot.com.  We should be able to work that out soon

We’re going to be working on the visual interface to improve the categorization (which is a bigger problems for our Sears Coupon Page, where there are around 50 active coupons).

What do you think? Do you shop at Home Depot online?  Will this page help?

Image by Neubie.

REDIRECTED: Fixing Stippled Ceilings

Our house was built in 1984, and as such came with a few features we’d rather not have. One of those features is stippled ceilings. Last year, I read and read on how to remove the stipple texture. A simple Google search revealed many methods for removing it: sanding, wetting down the stipple, scraping. Many people said removing the stipple was easy… It wasn’t.

I decided to try the most endorsed method I could find, which consisted of wetting down the stipple and scraping it off. That was in our upstairs bathroom. The process destroyed the underlying drywall, and I ended up replacing the drywall ceiling (what a pain!). Later, when Kim finished the lower bath, she decided to give sanding a try. The results were much better. We decided to use the technique on the dining room. The key to Kim’s method was not sanding so far down as to remove the pattern altogether, but rather just enough to get rid of the stalactites. The major problem with stipple is that the large (1/2″+) stalactites create shadows on the ceiling, making the room feel like it is “coming down on you.” Sanding off the hard edges eliminates this, and creates a nice, nearly smooth, visually-pleasing texture.

Both of these pictures are links to larger versions. Let me know what you think.

Before:

After:

In response to 4KM’s question on prep method and time for the sanding: We cut two large trash bags and taped them over the two doorways to the dining room. (It has no real doors). We opened the room’s two large windows (making the place freezing cold), donned our drywall masks, and began sanding with two electric palm sanders. The total sanding time was about 15-20 minutes for two people for a room that is about 12′x14′ (168 sq. ft.). Of course, we were covered in powder.

We didn’t cover the carpet because we’re planning to get rid of it. I regret that decision, because now I think about the powder that is lodged in the carpet in the interim, and, we ended up covering it to paint anyway. When we do future rooms, I’ll put down the plastic sheeting first. (By the way, Walmart sells .6mil 9′ x 12′ plastic sheeting rolls for about $1.29/each).

Safety Information: The other regret I have is that we did not first check the ceiling stipple for asbestos. Now, our house was built in 1985, and from all my reading on the internet, interior products that could be sanded to a powder (like drywall compound) would very likely not have had asbestos in them at that time. That said, in older homes (particularly from the 60s and 70s), asbestos was used in some popcorn and stipple ceiling textures. For a small fee, a number of labs will perform an asbestos check. I decided to go ahead and send a few samples to a lab I found through Google. Click here to read my asbestos testing lab review.

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