Random home and house thoughts!

[guyjin]

Hardwood is so cold and hard and formal and uninviting. Carpet is warm and soft and casual and relaxing.

I don't know why hardwood floors are so fashionable right now, but I hate it.

[Mistwell]

We need to do SOMETHING to fix our electrical bills. We just got a shockingly high bill for the prior two months. And I am 99% sure it was the old airconditioning we use. It's necessary. Do not go off about windows or any crap. It got up to 115 one day this summer. That shit isn't going to be helped with open windows and fans.

So, I am thinking the following:

1) New air conditioner
2) New double-paned windows
3) Attic Fan
4) Screens on the windows, for those days when it would help to use windows.

The house HAD screens at some time in the past, but not right now. So, I gotta get those, and I am not sure what method is best to get inexpensive but effective screens.

Also, we need a new roof at some point (but cannot afford it now). I have heard that better insulation and some sort of insulation mat is easily put down when redoing the roof. And, I could put in an attic fan then, and perhaps dormers that actually open.

[madwabbit]

The house HAD screens at some time in the past, but not right now. So, I gotta get those, and I am not sure what method is best to get inexpensive but effective screens.

Lowe's has some fairly inexpensive "make-it-yourself" window screen kits (Home Depot probably does as well, but I find Lowe's generally superior to Home Depot).

Picture window or door size screens, however, you're best going to a local window/glass company for them to make for you.

[Belen]

Good thing you said something. I'd invited you and Alenda to stay at my house should you ever make it to Albany Gameday. Given that you'd detest my entire ground floor, including both guest bedrooms, i suppose that would be unfair to you.

[Trillian]

Hardwood is so cold and hard and formal and uninviting pretty and shiny and easy to clean. Carpet is warm and soft and casual and relaxing harbors allergens like crazy and sucks to have when one has pets and looks like shit in a couple of years no matter what and smells funky after a while.

FIFM

'Cept I don't have hardwood, I have laminate that looks like dark gray slate and it's puuuurty. And zomg so easy to clean. And just about impossible to scratch or dent or otherwise fuck up. I lourves it.

[Davek]

...And just about impossible to scratch or dent ....

And dishes shatter when dropped on it ....

[Trillian]

We need to do SOMETHING to fix our electrical bills. We just got a shockingly high bill for the prior two months. And I am 99% sure it was the old airconditioning we use. It's necessary. Do not go off about windows or any crap. It got up to 115 one day this summer. That shit isn't going to be helped with open windows and fans.

So, I am thinking the following:

1) New air conditioner
2) New double-paned windows
3) Attic Fan
4) Screens on the windows, for those days when it would help to use windows.

The house HAD screens at some time in the past, but not right now. So, I gotta get those, and I am not sure what method is best to get inexpensive but effective screens.

Also, we need a new roof at some point (but cannot afford it now). I have heard that better insulation and some sort of insulation mat is easily put down when redoing the roof. And, I could put in an attic fan then, and perhaps dormers that actually open.

Ask your power company if they can send out an energy efficiency advisor or something. I know ours has them. Or maybe they can recommend someone. You'd spend a bit of money but they could figure out where your problems are.

[Trillian]

And dishes shatter when dropped on it ....

I've only ever dropped dishes in the kitchen which was never carpeted to begin with. Although I have only had one dish actually break when hitting the floor. The laminate has built in padding under it...guess it helps. That or my dishes are sturdy.

[Lycorys]

Even normal non-sheer curtains make a noticeable difference. However, you have to balance that with the lack of ambient light during the daytime. You who work outdoors may not suffer so badly though.

I traditionally had white fabric shades - not the lame dorm/apartment plastic kind, but sort of Roman shades? - in my living room, which balanced nicely the need for light with the need for an air barrier. The dining room had burgundy thermals, so if i needed light i had to accept it would be chillier in there. Bedroom doors were kept shut so their equilibration was not noticed by the thermostat, except the master bedroom which had roman shades under sheers. Still not as insulating as thermals but again, balancing light with heat.

Even just doubling up with a non-sheer (velvet or brocade) with another non-sheer or a shade can make a huge difference.

Another trick i used was to use the spare summer sheers between LR and DR in the winter. Between the people, the computers, and the TV the LR was noticeably warmer than the DR, and the sheers keeps a lot of that heat in nicely. I kept my thermostat at that house around 65 when i was home/awake, and 55 at night/during work.

And of course you can always plastic, which i consider to be a last resort, aesthetics wise.

Thanks for the advice, Yttrai.

Plastic is right out - all the woodwork in my house is original (except for one bedroom and the third floor) and there is no effing way I'm going to risk damaging it with plastic.

Presently I have sheer curtains on all the windows along with heavy draperies. The draperies are old and need to be replaced and I thought for the coming season I'd try the thermal draperies, hence my query.

Lyc, I have not (I've been eyeing them but I can't find a color I like) however at one point I was using heavy duty velvet (it was an old synogogue curtain) as window coverings and it helped a LOT with the cold drafts. Also in our last rented house, which was a 1920s bungalow, I used that plastic that you tape over the windows then heat shrink and it worked great. Honestly you can't really see it once you hit it with a blow dryer or heat gun, especially if you use normal curtains around it.

Yeah, I was curious if a heavier curtain was really going to help out with the drafts. Good to know. Plastic is still right out.

You could always just throw on some thermal drawers to stay warm, but of course that defeats the purpose of the kilt.

Thermal drawers + kilt = dead sexy. I do wear thermals almost the entire winter in the house. That and a heavy sweater keep me plenty warm. If I was married or if my gf lived here the ambient temp of the house would be a much much much bigger issue. Fortunately, that is not the case.

first year we were in our house i did the whole winterizing deal. where i put the sheets of plastic on the windows and sealed with a hair dryer thing. and put the foam in the connections to all exterior holes including outlets and light switches.

also added more insulation to the attic.

after that year i realized it didn't save much.

the only thing that has saved us on utility bills has been the new windows we installed and the new siding with a wrap.

I think winterizing only helps if you live somewhere that actually has a winter.

Loki stole my schtick on that one, harbinger of the hirsute.

Hardwood is so cold and hard and formal and uninviting. Carpet is warm and soft and casual and relaxing.

I don't know why hardwood floors are so fashionable right now, but I hate it.

It's a matter of opinion and function. If, like me, you have two dogs that shed incessantly, hardwood floors are much easier to keep clean. I also like the look of hardwood floors, but clearly you mileage varies.

[Lycorys]

That or my dishes are sturdy.

Clearly a euphemism.

[Yttrai]

I don't know why hardwood floors are so fashionable right now, but I hate it.

You mean, 50 to 100 years ago when most houses were built?

I've never lived in a house less than 80 years old, except my last 3 years of high school. (I'm not counting places i've rented.)

Carpeting is not warm and inviting in old, wonderfully built and cared for, older houses. It is boring, dull, uninviting, and sucks the life out of a room in a way that hardwood or laminate does not. Wood reflects and amplifies. Carpet absorbs - emotion, light, sound, and allergens

I'm not saying you aren't allowed to cover your beautiful floors with carpet. I just think it's a big waste of money. I can swap my area rugs based on the weather and my mood at a moment's notice, but wall to wall teal is going to be wall to wall teal for DECADES

[Alenda]

What the heck, Belen? Of course, we'd love to stay with you, Yttrai! You know, if we ever make it to an Albany Gameday. :sighs wistfully:

I share Belen's dislike of hardwoods, but not from a "I HATE ALL HARDWOODS ALL THE TIME" angle, but more like a "I think hardwoods are nice and good in other folk's homes, but would never want them in mine."

They are just so much harder to keep clean, IMHO. In our new home, the majority of our downstairs is tile flooring, and it annoys me to no end. I can't just whip out a vacuum. I have to sweep, then swiff (with a swiffer), then sweep again, and it still never feels/looks as clean as a freshly vacuumed carpet. I looooove freshly vacuumed carpet when it has all those lines in it.

Yeah, I'm an odd ball.

[Trillian]

In my experience tile flooring is really, really hard to keep clean.

I'd love to have real slate flooring though. While I'm at it, with radiant heat. Mmmmmmm.

[guyjin]

You mean, 50 to 100 years ago when most houses were built?

most of their owners got sense later and had carpet put on top of it. recently, people have started ripping it out, though, and not replacing it.

I've never lived in a house less than 80 years old, except my last 3 years of high school.
(snip)
Carpeting is not warm and inviting in old, wonderfully built and cared for, older houses.

I grew up in a house that is 100 years old*. I've never seen the hardwood floors under the carpets there. I can't imagine it being any other way.

*: I think. it's at least old enough that a bedroom was divided to make room for an indoor bathroom.

[Rel]

I can't just whip out a vacuum.

Why not?

Our living room, kitchen and foyer are all laminate and I routinely run the vacuum over them and then throw on the little attachment that lets me get any dirt and dust out of the corners/around the molding.

Is there some reason that your Texas-style suction won't work on a hardwood floor?