apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I need your help to choose a faucet.

I bought a 13" (from the front to the back) oval sink with a drain hall is in the middle.
If I place my sink 2" away from the wall, how long the projection of the faucet (wall-mounted) should be?
The shortest one I can find is 6" projection.
If I buy 7" or 8" one (which are more commn), is it too long?

Also how high I should install the faucet on the wall?
(How many inches above the rim of the sink?)

I have been trying to find the answer in vain.
Thank you so very much.

Anyone have any comments on paint colors for a couple accent walls (bright & small apartment)? Here are the colors we are deciding from, BUT are open to other suggestions!

Wish list:
Bright
Cheery
Not super dark

Kitchen: BM Orange Sky, BM Mandarin Orange, Behr Mango Madness

Living Room: BM Margarita, Glidden Fresh Lime, Behr Grape Green

Entry Hall: Ralph Lauren Aegean Blue, BM poolside blue, Behr Teal Zeal

We will get any paint matched to BM paint. Please help us!!! It would be much appreciated! :)

HELP!! I just found mouse or rat droppings in my apartment.

1) How do I figure out which is which
2) How do I get rid of them and make sure they don't come back
3) I have a dog - so I guess poison isn't an option

meenasyaz,
if there are lots of rodents in your building, you can call 311 and they will resolve the whole issue for the long run. (not sure how they did it, but they fixed our previous rental apts).
Mice look smaller than rats. Rats look vicious...
Block small openings in the apartment. If you know where they are from, block the little holes with cement or whatever recommended by Home Depot...

And good luck!

@ meenasyaz,
First and foremost, get rid of their source of food! This will encourage them to move on and will discourage them from returning. Secure all of your people food (forgive me if I'm being obvious, but "in a cabinet" is not adequate. Mice can squeeze through holes smaller than the diameter of a quarter and they can chew through wood, drywall, and cinder block) and do the same for your PET FOOD. You can block and poison and trap all you want, but if you don't remove the food source, your long term prevention efforts will fail.

As imcaffeine sez, block holes in your apt walls and floors. Previous tenants in my unit used wads of steel wool tightly packed into the gaps around the pipes leading to the radiators--don't know if this is a recommended technique, but it's what they did.

Then, set traps. I used the old fashioned snap trap and was not disappointed by its effectiveness. It felt harsh, but I was uninterested in the rigamarole of live trapping (in the city) and glue traps seem more brutal.

As for telling mouse scat from rat scat, mouse droppings are smaller. I would wager you have mice, just as my uninformed opinion.

Good luck.

@miaues,

If you know how to install a wall-mounted faucet you should be able to line it up with the sink basin. I'm thinking that maybe you do not. I would hire someone to help you with this. You may have to build a mount within the wall to support the rough-in for the faucet and it may also have to be installed with rigid piping.

Has anyone ever purchased a loft bed from collegebedlofts.com? I'd really like to hear some reviews before I order one.

can anyone source this coffeetable?: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25593631/?pg=13#TDY_HPprince

@ meenasyaz,

If the droppings look like chocolate sprinkles, you've got mice. Any bigger and I'm afraid you're problem might be bigger too.

Definitely plug up any noticeable holes with steel wool, as was already mentioned... and don't forget behind the stove! That's where the critters were sneaking in at my previous apartment, shimmying down the gas line.

Also, in my experience, the only traps that work are the old fashioned snap kind. They're the cheapest and the the most effective. They ignore the self-contained, circular ones, and when I had glue traps I never caught a mouse, but instead found little mouse footprints all over them! Bait them with peanut butter and place the traps near where you saw droppings.

And put as much of your food, especially things in bags or cardboard boxes, as you can in plastic contains or the fridge.

If worse comes to worse, you can always offer to pet-sit a friend's cat for a few days. I'm serious... It works!

Hi everyone,

My question concerns remodeling our co-op apartment. When we started the remodel, we were told by our management company that when we were done we were to notify them when we were finished (to get our deposit back most importantly). It was not really made clear how but I just assumed it would just take a phone call to the managing agent.

However, now our super has come forward and is claiming that he needs to enter our apartment and look at it to make it so. I suppose you could call it an inspection. I am not comfortable with this arrangement (our super has been known to have his own agenda regarding remodeling, since he also is a contractor) and so far I have never heard of this arrangement with remodeling in other co-ops.

So NYC ATers, have you had experience with this? Is this the norm and I'm missing something (this is my first co-op)?

Thanks so much!

@jenna24 I had excellent luck with Timbernest. One of the two shipping boxes was stolen from my apt. and they replace it for free.


On another note, can anyone point me toward some good sources for funky/fun, reasonably priced bedding? CB2 has some, but I'd love something a little less mainstream. Good patterns/colors would be awesome.

munckee - without a style directive I'd suggest you check the New bedding at Target.com, WorldMarket.com, PBTeen.com and the various websites that roll out back to school gear which is both patterned and colorful.

This is a bit more of a Boston question than a NYC question, but here goes: I am seriously looking into the certificate program in Decorative Arts at the Boston Architectural College (BAC) and was curious if anyone here has taken this certificate program or knows anyone who has.

Thanks Lady J, I'll check it out. Style directive would be...modern, clean, playful...not afraid of bright colors or interesting patterns. I'm a designer by trade, so something one-off or interesting is good.

Hi All-
Been a while since I posted. Does anyone know of a good "man with a van" service for Manhattan? I have to move a rather large glass & steel Room & Board table from Chinatown to Soho by the end of the week. I'm a bit leery of just calling up anyone from an ad so if you have a recommendation I'd love to hear it.

thanks!
Trish

bezlzabean

I have been on a co-op board.
Inspection after renovation is very common and reasonable.

The purpose of the inspection is to protect other shareholders shares (property).
The co-op like to make sure any improper structual changes are not made. If your buildind don't allow some appliances such as washing machine, dryer or dishwasher, they also like to check if you didn't install illegally.
In some buldings, the inspecitons are done by the manegement company.
I understand your super has his own agenda, but if that is the way inspection is done in your building, you have to follow it.
You can challenge it but I don't think there is a chance you can win.
If you check your by-law it usually states that you need to allow inspection if requested.
"I have never heard of this arrangement" is not going to let you win the argument.
Every co-op has a different laws and regulations and you have to follow the ones in your building.

Welcome to the co-op building.

Trish,

Go to your local "Housing Works".
They have a listing of the movers.
Ask them which one is the popular one.
People usually leaves feed-back to housing works so bad guys are eliminated.
And their fees are very reasonable.

Good luck

munckee,

How about "Urban Outfitter"?

Thanks Miaues! I ended up going with NYCityVan. They just left a few minutes ago and I was so pleased. They were efficient and friendly - and insured! I would totally recommend them. I found their ad on Craigslist and saw they had been recommended by NY Mag so it seemed pretty safe. $110 to transport a heavy stell & glass table and a bicycle.

http://www.nycityvan.com/

@miaues Good thought, thanks. They have some really fun pillow cases. Not sure I'm feeling the rest though. Little retro/kitsch maybe...

munkee,

I totally agree with you, it is too retro to me too.
But they seem to be popular so I had mentioned about it.
How about Overstock.com?
They have a couple I don't mind buying.
And their prices are very reasonable.

Trish,

Glad you foud somebody you liked.
And thanks for the rink, I will keep it in my mind.

link not rink