My orbiter weighs 25 lbs and is a low speed (something like 350) rotational unit, unlike the square buff which is 3600 rpm. The reason I bought the orbiter was for maintenance, not refinishing, so you are very fair in your wish for me to go higher power in these steps, I have no problem with that. The VERY KEY point of the Oreck is that IT can apply MUCH more force to the floors than MY ARMS can, BUT it is small/light enough that I can schlep it around, anytime, anywhere. I would LOVE to find a way to use THIS machine on my floors, for cleaning/maintenance. I do not necessarily want a top coat on my floor. What I want is a floor that is compatible with some method to maintain GIVEN the dogs. So a waxed or buff based maintenance is one possibility since I have the oreck. The reason I bought it in the first place is if I can figure out a way to use it I can apply MUCH more cleaning force than just with my unfortunately wimpy arms, toward all those sticky dog spots. My dogs are 90 lb German Shepherds from police lines. When they go off, they apply TREMENDOUS force on my floor with their nails, unlike a 90 lb lab who trots around, nails clicking. It's not uncommon for my dogs to skid around the corner, tearing toward a window, claws extended into my wood as they spin around the corner. Quite often they are just like a looney tunes cartoon, running in place on the floor with claws extended for traction, trying to get to the door or window, etc. (They are the nightmare of you guys in the wood floor trade, I'm sure.) This floor has taken that sort of abuse since 1998 now and is still quite good looking, so I want to keep it, as it is HARD surface (but with dry spots). The wear surface layer (acrylic impregnated wood layer, that is) has NOT been a disappointment and is iron tough. The floor has been extremely dimensionally stable through at least a couple water immersion events short term. There are no raised grain or raised edges in it anywhere (that would need sanding down, for example), it is perfectly flat as the day it was installed. But this suggests to me, and your statements suggest, that a TOP COAT may not be the best idea in MY situation. Perhaps I should focus on the embedded resins and look at a buff based maintenance. The LAST thing I want to do is apply a top coat that then gets all flaky and half scratched off. This is not a statement of y'alls assessment of modern finishes bonding so much a reality based statement of the abuse this floor takes from VERY HARD, very concentrated contact with these German Shepherd toenails. This must be the reason my floor is not really scratched up after all these years, because there is no surface coat to scratch! FYI I have no issues whatsoever getting or renting the right equipment or persons to do this right. My obsessing is focused on making sure I do the right thing and using the right products (oil vs, water vs. wax based) to my floor, GIVEN my situation with the dogs and maintenance. Can you please tell me your opinion on this article, see link below: Here is a link that might be useful: article - the best commercial finish may be no finish at all

Assuming your existing fridge is in good working order and there are not other good reasons to replace it, for example it's too small, then the only reason to replace it would be to save money. In other words, it would be a financial investment. However, comparing it against other investments makes it look rather minimal. Taking Cynic's example, for the mid-range fridge it takes 5-6 years to pay for itself. However, you don't quite have your money back yet, you're still missing the cost of the fridge - something which you would still have if you had kept the old one. It will take another 5-6 years to have your original investment back again. In 10-12 years you may have saved $1000, but it cost you $500 up front, thus it takes that long to break even. Unfortunately, in the 10-12 years your original investment was tied up in that fridge, it hasn't earned any interest at all, so in fact you have lost money. Worse still, taking in to account the quality of many modern appliances, you may need another new fridge soon too. Depending on events, it's looking like you may never break even on the fridge investment, let alone see significant returns from it. Even a bad savings account would be far ahead at this point, having had around a decade to accumulate interest.

I'm not sure how much additional money the property would go for in making changes...but sometimes, making changes even if it doesn't net additional money is worth it in the fact that it makes the property more desirable in a sea of others that are a similar price, so that has to be factored in. This house appears to be more in the lines of what a young-family would be looking to get, maybe first time home-buyers? If so, what they usually want is something that is move-in ready...something that they need to do very little with at the start to get into the house - they usually have just managed to get enough to get their downpayment and they often have a little one (or a 2nd little one) on the way...so, "heavy lifting" isn't high on their list. They usually have a high wish-list without a ton of money to back it. Understanding who the potential home buyer might be helps in making decisions on what to do. Removing the wallpaper is a no-brainer. It HAS to be done. While it's not a tough thing to do, people walk into a house and envision wallpaper removal as a gargantuan task and it terrifies them! :) Ideally, you replace the fluorescent with can lights. You mentioned that you can replace the door pulls for $1 ea - I think at that price, it's a good change out - looks like that would be $30-40. I would probably replace the countertops if it can be done relatively inexpensively. If you do granite though, you'll probably want to replace the sink as well to be an undermount. Some granite fabricators we talked with in our area included a "builder grade" stainless steel sink that you could pay to upgrade. And if you're replacing the sink, you'll probably want to replace the faucet...see where this is going? BUT, you can keep your eyes open for a good Craigslist/Ebay find for a nice faucet. For a backsplash, I'd probably stick with simple white subway tiles - they are, for the most part, a timeless classic that can help to update things a bit as well. Unless your parents need new appliances, I probably wouldn't worry about replacing those if they are functional. Many people *want* stainless appliances, but I'd consider putting in an appliance allowance with the house rather than changing them since a lot of people like to pick their own appliances anyway. Something else that I would consider doing and I don't think anyone else has mentioned so far is placing some inexpensive under cabinet lights. Lighting makes such a difference when people are looking at a house. Just having that extra light makes people feel all warm and fuzzy. And it can read as more expense than what it really is. You can get something inexpensive at one of the big box stores. I just purchased some LED strips from IKEA for my parents house - they work reasonably well for $70-ish (it's not what we're putting in our kitchen remodel, but for the price and ease of install, it was well worth it). They use an existing plug...there's a cord hanging down then since they aren't hardwired and there isn't a plug up high, but it makes a big difference in the overall look of a kitchen. Well-lit is always a big factor in how someone views a home. If your parents are planning on being there for 3-ish more years, it would be nice for them to do the upgrades now and enjoy a bit of their labors.

Until recently, we drove older vehicles. I had a 95 Chrysler Cirrus (bought in 95) and a 02 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder (bought in 05). The Chrysler had 107,000 miles on it when sold to 16 year old as her first car. I traded the Spyder in for a 14 Chrysler 300C. Hubby drove his 99 van until the frame rusted out and we replaced with a 12 Ram 1500 PU. My family has always driven older cars. My brother has my dad's 96 Chrysler Sebring convertible and recently ventured into the 2000s by picking up a 03 Jeep Liberty. He drives multiple cars every day (utility purposes), switching between a work van, his personal 00 Dodge van and a 73 Plymouth Gran Fury. He's got a bout 7 cars (never less; you'd understand if you knew our family). My all time favorite car to drive is now in a museum. A 27 Dodge Cabriolet that was in the family for 30+ years. I loved driving it. The heavy duty truck transmission requiring double clutching, the "grabber" brakes that required an oh so gentle touch on the pedal. I miss that car.....Here's a picture of the car being loaded up to take to the museum. The guy's head that you see is the guy who's in charge of the car. We've kept in touch and they haven't modified the car at all. Still looks like this and is driven very frequently. I've been fortunate to have driven cars from every decade starting with the 1920s and I've enjoyed the heck out of each one.