apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The cover of yesterday's "Barrons" is "Second Home Glut". Haven't read it yet but from the title it seems nosebleed pricing in some segments may be in for an adjustment.

And...while I'm whining. Can we talk about housing stock too? I'm in the land of the maybe-modern-ranchburger and the McMansion. Nothing in-between.

on housing stock:

I live in a city full of what are called "Vancouver Specials" - they are houses with raised basements built mostly for immigrants in the 60s. They were built at minimum cost - for instance, the width of the rooms was determined by the standard widths of carpeting. The roofs have the maximum possible grade that will still take tar and gravel. They're pretty uninspired, inside and outside. But they are large - often 4 bedrooms up and 4 down, with a second kitchen in the raised basement.

Check out what this local architecture firm managed to do with such unpromising material:

Hmmmm... no specific url. So go to

http://www.pechetandrobb.ca/

click on architecture and then Lakewood residence.

The architect says she is more interested in retrieving these kinds of buildings than in what are called "character houses" - older craftsman style houses which offer fewer possibilities for reworking them.

Scott, you're giving me housing-stock flashbacks to our brief stay in the Central Valley, which is suburban/rural.

The potentially cute bungalows were usually in dicey neighborhoods, as were the 1950s Eichler knock-offs. I was starting to seriously consider an early 1970s tract house (despite hating the one I grew up in) simply because those had been built as a sort of minimal shell that the owner could customize as money became available, so it's fairly easy to knock through walls, add molding, etc. Plus the rooms were usually neat rectangles, making reflooring very simple.

FYI, the Restoration H'ware warehouse sale starts this Friday. My brother said that there are some really good things on sale. Friday will offer the best selection but as the weekend goes on the prices go down. Ditto next weekend. It's in Edison, NJ at the NJ Expo and Convention Center for anyone who can make it out there. And it's mostly furniture that's on sale. Good luck,have fun!

Good air conditioner cleaning recommendations? Yes, I see the Frenchman, but I've got to wait two weeks!

Who are the other companies who do good work?

Has anyone here used one of those spot cleaners for carpets? I have seen that one you set on top of the spot and walk away and the machine does all the work. Does it really work? Anyone?

Anne, it's basically an automated scrubber. It won't clean the whole carpet, and seems to be a waste if you're buying it for only one spot. And scrubbing can wreck the appearance of carpets. You come back to your cut pile only to find that the spot is gone and so is all the twist in the yarns and you now have a spot-free area that looks frizzy. And ain't nothin' going to fix that other than replacement.

You'd be better off considering renting a steam cleaner for that one spot. Or buying an inexpensive steam cleaner for home use, I have the least expensive Bissell upright which does amazing things without moving brushes and heated water. Adding in those options would make it a little more effective.

What kind of spot do you have? How much carpet do you have?

Zip over here to read about carpets and spots:
http://www.carpetcave.com/Carpet_101/carpet_101.html

Yeah, "The Carpet Cave"...cracks me up every time. I've never even looked at their carpet. Hah! Found their site searching for carpet cleaning tips ages ago, and it's SO easy to remember.

Chances are you could get the spot out right now using household products. There's a huge list of stain solutions there, so check it out and let us know!

anne--
My former SO has one and he loved it... the SpotBot, I think. Perfect for pet owners.

Thanks Andree and P2. I have SPOTS not just one spot. The cats throw up and now I have spots that I've tried to clean but I think I made worse. The carpet is very low loop pile, 100% wool. I don't want to buy one of those big mothers of a machine but if the small ones work then I'll give one a try.
I'm going to check out the SpotBot.

anne-

For cat spots, I highly recommend "Nature's Miracle." The sooner you catch the spot, the better. It's kind of time/labor intensive, but here's what never fails for me:
-remove as much of the, er, material as possible with paper towels, etc.
-generously spray the spot with Nature's Miracle. [I buy it by the gallon & put it in a spray bottle].
-pile on rags/paper towels & blot to absorb the Nature's Miracle.
-repeat with another round of spraying & absorbing. and repeat. and repeat. until the spot is either gone or as faint as you can get it. [3-4 rounds is typical]
-let the rest air dry.

It's a bit of a PITA, but it hasn't failed me yet. And it works for the other less pleasant cat spots (vomit/feces/urine) and seems to help the smell dissipate as well. Pl;us, the blot technique minimizes carpet loop/strand fraying.

I discovered at my mom's that it doesn't always work on spots that have already been through a few rounds of Resolve. Also, certain cat foods seem to result in more stubborn stains.

Depending on the spot & the rug, I've had some sucess with steam (not solvent, just steam) on synthetics. I don't like the idea of trying that on wool, though.

Good luck!