Home Repairs/HoneyDo List/Advice & Tips/etc.

[buckeyebri]

Not really a repair or DIY question, but I figured it would fit in here as well as in a new thread.

I just moved down to Florida a few weeks ago and finally found a permanent living situation. Being that I only brought what I could fit in my car I need to buy some furniture like a bed, nightstand, and dresser. Went to the IKEA here and like several items and figured I'd see if any of you had any experience with IKEA furniture, if you like it, etc. I've also never used a platform bed before, but it doesn't seem like it should be that different from a typical mattress and box spring setup in terms of comfort. Is it? Also, I'm trying to decide between a foam-based mattress, or a typical inner-spring mattress. Any advice/tips/wisdom/reviews would be helpful. Thanks!

IKEA has some good items and you can furnish a place comfortably for a small amount of money. In some cases it is what it is and you get what you pay for, but some of the items we have bought have been good.

As far as the mattress goes, if you are a Costco member, they have some good deals on the memory foam mattresses if you watch their coupons. We currently have a pillow top and I am ready to be done with it and would second Jwinslow on that one.

 

[buckeyebri]

Ok, so now that we moved this thread a little bit in terms of direction does anyone have sweeper recommendations? We are putting new carpet in the house and the wife wants a new sweeper. Would you spend the money for the Dyson? I like the one that adjusts to the floor, as we have wood floors as well.

 

[buxfan4life]

Ok, so now that we moved this thread a little bit in terms of direction does anyone have sweeper recommendations? We are putting new carpet in the house and the wife wants a new sweeper. Would you spend the money for the Dyson? I like the one that adjusts to the floor, as we have wood floors as well.

I have a Eureka! cyclone action and it works great. Costs about 1/3 of the Dyson, and has lasted 6 years so far. Only had to change the belt and filters a couple of times, but that is normal wear and tear.

 

[scarletmike]

IKEA has some good items and you can furnish a place comfortably for a small amount of money. In some cases it is what it is and you get what you pay for, but some of the items we have bought have been good.

As far as the mattress goes, if you are a Costco member, they have some good deals on the memory foam mattresses if you watch their coupons. We currently have a pillow top and I am ready to be done with it and would second Jwinslow on that one.

Thanks, I might see if any of my friends here have a Costco membership (seems popular down here, so I don't think I'd have any issues). As for IKEA quality, I figure at worse they're the same as the boxed stuff I'd get from Wal-Mart online. So for the same price or cheaper, I'll get something that looks attractive that I like and checked out in person.

 

[muffler dragon]

Ok, so now that we moved this thread a little bit in terms of direction does anyone have sweeper recommendations? We are putting new carpet in the house and the wife wants a new sweeper. Would you spend the money for the Dyson? I like the one that adjusts to the floor, as we have wood floors as well.

I have a Eureka! cyclone action and it works great. Costs about 1/3 of the Dyson, and has lasted 6 years so far. Only had to change the belt and filters a couple of times, but that is normal wear and tear.

My wife and I bought the commercial grade Eureka 5 years ago. We got an upright and cannister for just over $200. The replacement parts are easy as hell to put on, and the machines seem to go and go. I would highly recommend going to an actual vacuum store and inquiring.

The Dyson has good marketing, but I've heard/read that the performance doesn't match the hype.

 

[buckeyebri]

Thanks, I might see if any of my friends here have a Costco membership (seems popular down here, so I don't think I'd have any issues). As for IKEA quality, I figure at worse they're the same as the boxed stuff I'd get from Wal-Mart online. So for the same price or cheaper, I'll get something that looks attractive that I like and checked out in person.

Sorry, if I came off wrong on that. We have an end table we bought there for $9 it is exactly what you would expect for $9. We have some of their cubes that we bought and those have been great, as well as, a lamp. I love going to the stores and just milling around, lots of great ideas.

Thanks for the sweeper feedback guys!

 

[THEWOOD]

Have had a dyson for about 6 years. Wife seems to like it and we've never had any problems.

 

[buckeyebri]

The house we just bought has an irrigation system. I have never had one before and don't know the first thing about them. Do I need to get some from a lawn service company to help me out or are they relative simple to figure out?

 

[muffler dragon]

The house we just bought has an irrigation system. I have never had one before and don't know the first thing about them. Do I need to get some from a lawn service company to help me out or are they relative simple to figure out?

Relatively simple. Just go to the control box, set the time, and then see what sections come up so that you can determine timing and such. If you have a fair amount of mulch and dirt build up, then you may want to leave each section on for a while in case any of the heads have been buried.

 

[buxfan4life]

The house we just bought has an irrigation system. I have never had one before and don't know the first thing about them. Do I need to get some from a lawn service company to help me out or are they relative simple to figure out?

They can be simple, but that all depends how they were installed. Like muffler said, play with it a bit and you should be able to figure it out. Also, if you can find the model number, look it up online for the documentation to the system.

Be careful mowing now, as well. Those sprinkler heads have a nasty way of occasionally getting into the mower blades.

 

[buckeyebri]

The Amazing Tile and Glass Cutter

I saw the "Amazing Tile and Glass Cutter" at the Indianapolis Home Show this year and it really looked amazing. I thought of all the time using the tile cutting saw I have and how messy I get doing it from the spray and thought, I have to have this.

I have a couple of big tile jobs I am working on. Well, either I suck (which is entirely possible) or this thing is the biggest POS there ever was. I have not had one tile cut correctly even with scoring all the way through the finish. I have tried to contact the manufacturer about it but can't get any response from them.

Does anyone else have one of these and does it work?

I went back to the tile saw. It may be messy, but it works....

 

[Best Buckeye]

I saw the "Amazing Tile and Glass Cutter" at the Indianapolis Home Show this year and it really looked amazing. I thought of all the time using the tile cutting saw I have and how messy I get doing it from the spray and thought, I have to have this.

I have a couple of big tile jobs I am working on. Well, either I suck (which is entirely possible) or this thing is the biggest POS there ever was. I have not had one tile cut correctly even with scoring all the way through the finish. I have tried to contact the manufacturer about it but can't get any response from them.

Does anyone else have one of these and does it work?

I went back to the tile saw. It may be messy, but it works....

Stay with the tile saw, the other won't do the job for you. I used both for 10 plus years. I used the scorer for baseboard tile only.
But use the saw for any piece cut from the big squares.

 

[jlb1705]

Has anybody here built a closet, or hired a contractor to do so? I'm not talking about adding custom shelving or accessories to an existing closet, I'm talking about building walls and hanging doors to enclose the space.

In moving into our new house, we've found that we're particularly short on pantry space. It's funny, the kitchen in our rental house was half the size of this one and only had about 2/3 the number of cabinets and drawers, but since the cabinets in our new house are smaller, we don't have room to store all of our food and dishes.

There is an existing closet space adjacent to the kitchen that the previous owners completely gutted. Actually, it appears based on a photo and other evidence that there used to be a pantry and a dry bar side by side in that space., with a dividing wall between them. The previous owners gutted it all though and used it as a recessed area to place a TV. I'm all about TVs, but that was a lousy spot to put one in and now we're also without the storage space.

There are no doors on the space at this point, and the dividing wall is gone. It appears though that the top plate and rear stud from that old wall are still in place. How difficult would it be to reclaim that pantry by rebuilding that dividing wall, framing and hanging a door? Or, if you have hired a contractor to do similar work in the past, how much can I expect something like this to cost?

 

[Mac]

Should be pretty easy. Sounds like if the top plate and bottom plate are still in place you have 2 options. A. Pull down the existing top/bottom plates and build the wall all together. or B. You measure and cut studs and attach into existing plates. It sounds like the rest of the project is adding drywall, tape & mud, paint and shelving, and then add a pantry door.

It's not a hard project. It may seem like it'd be tough, but it's really not.

 

[Saw31]

Has anybody here built a closet, or hired a contractor to do so? I'm not talking about adding custom shelving or accessories to an existing closet, I'm talking about building walls and hanging doors to enclose the space.

In moving into our new house, we've found that we're particularly short on pantry space. It's funny, the kitchen in our rental house was half the size of this one and only had about 2/3 the number of cabinets and drawers, but since the cabinets in our new house are smaller, we don't have room to store all of our food and dishes.

There is an existing closet space adjacent to the kitchen that the previous owners completely gutted. Actually, it appears based on a photo and other evidence that there used to be a pantry and a dry bar side by side in that space., with a dividing wall between them. The previous owners gutted it all though and used it as a recessed area to place a TV. I'm all about TVs, but that was a lousy spot to put one in and now we're also without the storage space.

There are no doors on the space at this point, and the dividing wall is gone. It appears though that the top plate and rear stud from that old wall are still in place. How difficult would it be to reclaim that pantry by rebuilding that dividing wall, framing and hanging a door? Or, if you have hired a contractor to do similar work in the past, how much can I expect something like this to cost?

Stud walls for something like that should be easy. All you need to know in video below. Plan it before you build and measure twice, cut once of course.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VwXv3x_5k8"]how to frame a wall 16 inch on center - YouTube[/ame]