All Forum Posts by: Loren Thomas

@Arlen Chou They've held up well, no real scratches or dings or anything like that, and we're pretty abusive to them. I can't speak to setting something beyond hot to the touch on the counters. I was always taught to put them in the sink or a hot pad. Candles get pretty hot near their end, that's probably the hottest they've endured. 

I am wondering now about tenants and their countertop habits, I suspect they may not be as diligent as I am. I have two thoughts on this. 

One, Isn't it pretty much common sense to not put hot things on countertops? Most stone surfaces could probably take the abuse, but that's a very very different price bracket than what I've done. Anything non-stone I think would be less durable than polymer acrylic countertops (@Steven J.). 

Two, we actually had to pour one side 2 times, because the #&^$^&%## CAT jumped up while it was curing. In addition to that, I didn't mix it as well as I should have first try and it came out with a hint of wavyness to it, not glassy. So I sanded it down real quick with 120 grit, cleaned it real good with mineral spirits, and re-poured. It was a $75 dollar mistake in materials, but a repeatable process, much like say carpet or wall paint. I feel pretty confident it can last many years before any issue, probably as long as the rest of the kitchen until it gets updated again at least.

I would buy a multi family property with an fha loan using 3.5 percent down (owner occupy). Because of the low down payment, you can then use the remaining funds to invest in other properties.

My thought process about durability was this:

This stuff is made to be very very durable. It interlocks with itself improving durability. I think it's the nature of flooring to hold up well. Now as far as heat from the range, I hadn't really considered that til you mentioned it. I don't think it's a substantial amount of heat (temperature) on the backsplash, nothing it can't handle anyways. 

You have motivated me to fire up my torch when I get home. I'll take one of my scrap pieces and give it a bit of a torture test. 

I very much dislike the iPhone. I've had both multiple times, and will never have an iPhone again. I strongly believe the droid is a far better product unless your 60 yrs old just learning a smart phone and need the most simple platform. Especially with business and spreadsheets and all the little options the droid gives you over apple.

If you like your iPhone then right on, but have you had a droid to compare it to? There's no competition to me. 

So, Droid or iPhone? 

PS, When do we get a droid app? It's been being worked on for some time now... Arg. 

if your good at sanding and have some time to kill, you might be able to fill it with wood putty and sand it down. That said it might take as long as just redoing it. 

Ok, here's the final product, at least on that side of the kitchen. The material is vinyl plank flooring I got for free from work.

@Marcia Maynard

This is my personal residence. We are basically house hacking after living here for 7 years.

We're in Lake Stevens, so I'm not overly concerned with looking too high end. However, I really thought the metal trim would tie in the stainless steel of our sink, faucet, and future appliances. 

This is the input I'm looking for, thanks to you both. I'll post another picture tomorrow of my progress.

I'm going to finish more tomorrow. Once more is done I think it'll turn out pretty good. 

I fought with myself about where to put the edge, I don't think the backsplash should be off the cabinets, to me the backsplash is for the countertops and should flow with them well. 

Good, bad?

It's probably not the house if it's that new. I've seen chandelier lamps go out prematurely often and also exterior fixtures. It mostly depends on the quality of the fixture moreso than the bulb that's in it. 

What type (incandescent, halogen, CFL, LED) of bulbs are you using and where is the fixture? 

A few years ago I slowly started converting to LED in my house. Zero have had any issues. I highly recommend LED lamps. The ONLY downside is that they are very expensive. My house's exterior lights blew out traditional lamp, I put LEDs in there and haven't had an issue in 3 years. They're also on a timer to turn on and off every night, so they get cycled frequently. 

That said, in say a rental or a situation whwere LED just isnt warranted, spend the extra dollar or two per pack to get a Philips or GE brand traditional lamp. 

I am really not a big fan of CFL lamps. they have to warm up, they don't dim as well as other options, and frequently the color is different from lamp to lamp even in the same pack.

To answer your questions, I'd say buy better lamps. I'd consider LED as they can take more abuse (on off on off on off) (moisture), and they're cheaper than a new fixture....  Usually.