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?

Insulate Your Hot Water Heater for Energy Savings

Becoming more energy efficient is a great way to help preserve the planet and save money at the same time. Insulating your hot water heater is one quick way to do just that. All you need is an insulation blanket and some duct tape.

Note: You should always follow the insulation manufacturer’s instructions for installing hot water heater blankets. General information follows; but should not be construed as installation instructions).

The installation method depends on whether you have an electric or gas heater. Electric heaters can be wrapped the whole way around and even on top. You should make cut-outs for heating elements and any information labels. (Obscure labels are unsafe and will void manufacturers’ warranties).

Insulating a gas heater is similar but with a few important differences. You should not insulate the top or bottom and should be careful to keep the thermostat and burner compartment clear.

How Much will I Save?

Insulating your hot water heater could save you between $3 – $5 per month, depending on the age of the heater and other factors. Most insulating blankets cost around $20, so your investment will be returned in no time.

Why is Extra Insulation Needed Anyway?

Insulation requires space. Since water heaters tend to be installed in closets and other space-limited environments, manufacturers must consider both the energy efficiency and space requirements of a design. While modern water heaters have relatively thin, high-quality insulation materials with high R-values, older models do not. As a rule of thumb, if your hot water heater is warm to the touch, you can benefit from additional insulation.

What If I Have a Tankless Water Heater?

This advice presumes you haven’t switched to a more modern, tankless water heating system. Tankless heaters heat water on-demand without maintaining a resevoir. As a result, there’s no need for extra insulation on these types of water heaters.

What do you think? Have you installed a water heater insulation blanket? Was it worth the time and expense? What tips do you have for installation?

(Image is considered public domain, provided by EERE)

Thanks to Chuck the Home Improvement Friend

This Saturday started out much like any other. I picked up my 16-year-old brother-in-law around 8:30am from his parents’ house and brought him back here to work on the basement finishing project. (It’s currently his only venue for earning money).

We had a few errands to run and we were waiting for Ethan to head over, so we didn’t end up walking downstairs until around noon. The plan was to get started on installing the second area of radiant heated floors.

Then, Disaster Struck…

We turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Saturday’s plans changed. About half of the basement was covered in 1/8″ of water (the basement isn’t completely level). The likely suspect turned out to be guilty: we discovered a pinhole leak in the bottom of the hot water heater. All things being equal, the damage wasn’t so bad. The leak was slow and apparently we caught it early. This was a blessing. My basement is completely water tight and has no sump pump; if a pipe ever springs a real leak, we’re going to have an indoor pool.

We quickly vacuumed up the excess water, turned off the breaker for the hot water heater, turned off the main water cut-off, and began draining the heater through a hose to the back yard.

And then I called Chuck.

Enter Chuck

Chuck’s the kind of friend every person needs.

He and I met at work about 6 years ago. He was one of my first project managers. He’s about 25 years older than me, and has wisdom and experience in many areas, particularly home improvement.

When we still hardly knew each other, I mentioned that I wanted to install hardwood floors in my living room but had no experience with that kind of work. He said he’d done it a few times and it was a relatively easy job; he’d walk me through it. He devoted four weekends to helping me get the project done (it wasn’t your typical hardwood flooring job). From that project on, Chuck and I built a friendship. Most of that friendship involves me asking him for advice. More recently, he’s borrowed a couple of tools. (I’m glad I can offer something back).

When I first moved into this house, Chuck and I replaced a non-working main water cut-off, a job most people wouldn’t even consider doing on their own. But, Chuck said we could do it. And we did. So, I figured a hot water heater replacement would be a piece of cake. I called Chuck right at noon. He dropped what he was doing and was here by 12:45. That’s an awesome friend.

Within a matter of 3 hours, Chuck, Ethan, and I had gone to the big box, bought a new hot water heater, removed the old one, and nearly finished the installation. Oh, and we got pictures and videos of the whole thing–expect a few articles in the next two weeks. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to build a how-to guide for replacing an electric hot water heater.

Going Above and Beyond

Note I said we nearly finished the installation in 3 hours. Around 3:30, Kim and I were already an hour late to a wedding we were supposed to be attending that evening. The only thing that remained was to install the pressure-release down pipe on the back of the heater. I told Chuck and Ethan that I really needed to go and was happy to finish the job later in the week. Neither would hear anything of it. After I left, Ethan and Chuck stayed another hour finishing the job without me.

That’s friendship.

Thanks, guys!

Some Final Thoughts

Chuck has made an enormous impact in my life. I hope you’ve got a Chuck in your life. Everyone needs someone who can provide a little wisdom and perspective. It’s even better when they can get the hot water flowing back to your shower.

What do you think? Do you have a Chuck in your life?

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.

House Blogger Interview: Jennifer @ Tiny Old House

Jennifer @ Tiny Old House kindly agreed to do OPC’s first house blogger interview. According to her blog, she’s a lover of old, small houses, has a few skills in remodeling, and has an interest in environmental methods. I’ve seen Jennifer’s comments on many house blogs. She’s offerred me some really helpful ones here (Jennifer introduced me to Habitat ReStores and the potential for Asbestos in Stipple and Popcorn Ceilings). So, I think she makes a perfect candidate for my first shot at an interview.

Jennifer authorized me to copy pictures from her blog and put them in the interview. But, her blog is well worth visiting. I suggest following the links she provided throughout. OK, on with the show…

What’s your house blog name and web address?

Tiny Old House http://tinyoldhouse.blogspot.com/

Is this your first house blog? (If not, what others have you had?)

It is our first houseblog… it’s also our first house. I’ve found it is quite fun and motivating to log the progress (or lack of) on our house.

Describe your house for us:

Our house is a pyramidal cottage (or hipped roof box), with a back addition tacked on. It’s 897 square feet, and was built in 1911. The main house is basically a four room square with a room in each corner and the furnace/water heater in the middle. It has a pyramid shaped roof and a front porch. If you walk down our street, there are 8 houses with an identical floorplan and shape… obviously a popular style in 1911!

http://tinyoldhouse.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-in-world-is-my-house-part-2.html

When you walk in the front door, you are standing in the living room. Ahead of you is the open kitchen, and to your right is the first bedroom. The second bedroom is in the far right corner, and there is a bathroom between them. At the back of the main house is the addition, which houses our bedroom and laundry room… both unfinished, of course.

There is little to no indication of original style (apart from the porch columns) as almost everything was replaced in the 1970’s and 80’s. We are redoing the house in a somewhat modern interpretation of a simple Victorian style with Craftsman elements, as the porch columns hint at. We figure as long as we keep it simple, and from the 1900’s to 1910’s, we should be fine.

What made you buy this house?

Well, unlike the rest of the houses we looked at in our tiny price range, it wasn’t falling down, didn’t have huge structural issues, and wasn’t on a highway. It was kind of ugly, but the wiring and plumbing had both been updated somewhat recently.

Oh, and the home inspector said that it was one of the best 1911 houses he had ever seen as far as condition.

What’s the biggest, hardest, or craziest (pick one or more) project you’ve completed so far?

Our biggest project so far has been the kitchen cabinets and new microwave. We’d never done anything like it before, and there was a pretty big learning curve. Now that we know how to hang cabinets, it’s pretty easy… we’ve hung the old ones in the laundry room and garage in 10 minutes or so each.

Our hardest and craziest project was probably doing the disposal of the branches from our tree trimming (saving thousands). 47 FULL pickup loads of tree branches to the city recycling center, in 100 degree heat… and it turns out one of us is allergic to elm trees. Fun week for all. All 17 trees are now fully trimmed and healthy.

What project(s) are you working on now?

Right now I am finishing up the bathroom. We laid slate floors last month, and now I am scrapping off the old texture and priming for some new paint. I still have to cut slate baseboards and hang the new 60 lb bathroom door. I’m dreaming about slate tiling the tub surround, too… but that might be a later project.

http://tinyoldhouse.blogspot.com/search/label/Bathroom

What’s the biggest project you haven’t started yet?

Laying the 100 year old heart pine flooring in the kitchen and living rooms. It was salvaged out of a bungalow down in Denver, and has never been sanded… it should be an interesting experience. Neither of us has laid wood floors before.The other big project will probably be creating the master bedroom out of the back addition.

Is there a room or area in your house that you love the most? Why?

I really like our kitchen right now… I love what we did with the colors, and the stain glass window we found is perfect in the space. I can’t wait for the counter tops and floors!

http://tinyoldhouse.blogspot.com/2007/11/great-kitchen-remodel-70-done.html

Would you buy your house again? (Why/why not)

If the question is “Would I buy it if we were to go back in time?”, then yes. It’s perfect for us at this point…there is nothing original to destroy or mess up as we learn. At 847 square feet, it’s just the right size for two people and 2 curly puppies.

Would I buy it for our next house? No… I want something with a little more of a defined character/style about it next time. I long for other people’s built-ins, original wood floors, and bathroom fixtures. Next time.

Would you like to add anything else?

Thanks so much for allowing me to babble on about my house! It’s been a lot of fun to be a part of a community of fellow home improvers, renovators, and such over the internet. I get new and great ideas every day from other’s experiences… and learn from other’s problems and mistakes. I only hope that others will learn from mine.

—-

Jennifer, Thanks for sharing your time! It is awesome to be a part of a big online community of folks you otherwise wouldn’t meet.

If you’re interested in interviewing at OPC, please leave a comment on this post.

DIY Wood Pot Rack

While I was rummaging through some digital photos, I ran across this picture of a pot rack I designed and built at our prior house. It brought back all kinds of nostalgia for me. So, bear with me for a moment while I remember why I loved it.

Our prior house had a dearth of cabinet space. We were constantly digging through the backs of cabinets to find the right frying pan, spatula, or skillet. The pot rack put all of our kitchen tools in plain site.

It’s not completely evident from this picture, but our prior kitchen had an awkward corner in it with no cabinets. We found a relatively tall cabinet for the base, but the space above was wasted until I built the rack.

I made the frame out of maple hardwood and two 1″ oak dows. Total cost of wood and hardware was about $60. A good amount of that can be attributed to the chain. Professional racks can cost anywhere from $100-$600.

We actually climbed in the attic to put cross-beams over and between the joists. The rack easily supported me (220lbs.) and the pots together.

I guess some folks don’t like the idea of pots hanging in their kitchen space, but I thought it made the whole place look a little more like a professional kitchen.

What do you think? Do you like/dislike pot racks?

Toilet Heck

I hate toilets. Ok, maybe I don’t hate toilets. But I hate home improvement projects that involve toilets. Toilets are dirty. Particularly the bottoms of toilets. So I just have to rant.

Toilet Incident #1

About 2 months ago, our first floor toilet stopped working. We plunged and plunged but to no avail. The water just wouldn’t go down for hours. I thought for sure the kids dropped a toy in the toilet. I reluctantly pulled it. I took it outside on a little dolly, put on two layers of latex gloves…and found… DENTAL FLOSS! A whole box of dirty dental floss was stuck just near the exit pipe. And when I say dirty, you know what I mean. YUCK! Apparently someone accidentally knocked it off the back of the toilet. So, I ran to Depot and bought one of these fancy new non-wax toilet bowl gaskets to re-seat the toilet. It didn’t work. The toilet sits so close to the plumbing that it didn’t fit. (The toilet sort of “hovered”) I ran back to Depot and got the traditional NoSeep #10 wax ring. That has worked since. That toilet is fine now, and has returned to my good graces.

Toilet Incident #2

So, 4 weeks ago, BOTH of the upstairs toilet wouldn’t drain. No amount of plunging helped, so I figured it must be in the pipe passed the toilets. Ugh. So I decided I should rent an electric snake from home depot (by the way, these are the nastiest tools on the planet–just think where they’ve been). I pulled the toilet in our second bathroom, ran the snake through (it found a big clog), took the snake back to Depot, and re-set the toilet, this time using a “bol wax” ring. Everything was fine….

Toilet Incident #3

…Until water started dripping through the kitchen ceiling the next day. Turns out I hadn’t tightened the water intake valve sufficiently and a slow drip leak formed. Over the next 24 hours, that leak found its way through the drywall into the kitchen! Kim poked a hole through the ceiling drywall and a stream of water came gushing in. Fixing the slow leak was fairly easy (plumbers tape did the trick). But now the drywall in the kitchen is sagging. At least the water in the ceiling was from the clean side of plumbing.

Toilet Incident #4

Of course, why stop with only clean water? About a week ago the drip started happening again. This time, it was harder to track down. Turns out the cheap-o $1.98 “bol wax” ring I got at Home Depot failed, and water was essentially pouring out of the ring onto the wood floor, and again finding its way down into the kitchen. I’m finally going to get a chance to fix this tonight.

Grout Cleaning and Sealing Review

Soon after we (Jocie and Ethan) moved into our house, Fred and I laid ceramic tile as part of our kitchen remodeling project. Everything turned out beautiful….for a while. The problem was I never took time to seal the grout. Over the past two years, our beautiful floor became rather dingy looking, even with regular cleaning. It really surprised me how much the dirty grout affected the overall look.

Miracle Brand Grout Sealer

A local tile contractor recommended Miracle brand grout cleaner and sealer. It isn’t the least expensive option, but it was well worth the cost (and available at most big box stores). Miracle gives instructions for both basic cleaning and concentrated cleaning. The latter is used for the tough spots.

I considered our whole floor a tough spot. Jocie and I used the concentrated instructions for the entire thing, and went through a few grout brushes along the way. Now it’s time to seal the grout. I figure a good sealer should give us about 2 years before having to clean and reseal again. Check out the difference!

Grout Sealer Before and After Pictures

Before:

After:

What do you think? Do you have dingy tile? What cleaner / sealer do you use? How long before it needs some attention?

Free Copy of the 2008 National Electrical Code (NFPA 70)

The National Fire Protection Association now publishes a free online copy of the 2008 National Electrical Code (NFPA 70).

Many districts will be phasing in the 2008 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.

The NFPA also publishes a free online copy of the 2005 National Electrical Code if your district still enforces the older version.

The online reader format NFPA chose is very clunky and hard to use. It works 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 shown on the right at Amazon for about $65.

The 2008 NEC is great for understanding the code requirements, but it isn’t a good how-to manual. For how-to help on electrical projects, you’ll definitely want an easier read, like Stanley’s Home Wiring Guide. Just click that link for my review.

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

Replace Receptacles to Improve the Look and Value of a House

Replacing old, worn receptacles and switches can really improve a room. After a fresh coat of paint goes up on the walls, old, half-painted, discolored receptacles stick out like a sore thumb.

That was the case in my dining room after we finished putting on a new coat of brown Ralph Lauren paint. This weekend, I finally replaced the receptacles. I’m pleased with the result. I used Leviton brand builder’s grade receptacles (my thoughts on buying receptacles here), and Leviton Mid-Way, white face plates. I bought both at Home Depot. Let me know what you think.

Before:

After:

Tools I used: receptacle tester, wire strippers, needle-nose pliers, flat screwdriver, phillips screw driver, and a very small flat head screwdriver.

Time: 7 receptacles took me about 1.5 hours.

Safety: Always turn off the power before doing any electrical work. Make sure the power is off to the circuit using a receptacle tester or volt meter. Note: You should always test both top and bottom receptacles, since they can be wired separately (the subject of a later post).

How To Guide: For help with this and other simple house electrical work, I found Stanley’s Complete Wiring Guide to be a big help.

You can also find tutorials online. I found this one on easy2DIY’s site. Note, that this tutorial does not show that you must connect the ground wire directly to the receptacle, particularly when using plastic boxes! While unlikely at 110volts, a mistake like that coupled with a malfunctioning appliance could cause serious injury. Also, I prefer to use a receptacle tester that incorporates a circuit analyzer.

What do you think? Have you changed any receptacles in your house?

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