This is a great thread! There are so many considerations for us summer out/winter indoors people. In the summer I have cattleyas, dendrobiums, oncidiums, and bulbophyllums out on a porch, with direct sun in the morning and late afternoon, and shade overhead at midday. This year I put out paphs too, on the bottom shelf where they had more shade. Everything does very well and adds a lot of growth. In the winter, they all move to a sunroom facing west but with a south exposure too. Life for my orchids improved immensely when I added Wonderlites (in the west and south windows) and big humidity trays to this set up, and it cost very little. Most winter days it is about 60% humidity, high of 80 F and low 55F. I have a tiny space heater to boost heat on really cold nights. My electric bill is just $25-30 a month. It helps that this room can be closed off to retain the humidity. I have the catts in clay pots and water about once a week. I think the humidity helps them cope with drying out completely. Another factor I think is that I choose catts that aren't seasonal bloomers but bloom at various times of the year. Originally I chose them just because I wanted to get more blooms, but I also figure they have a built-in urge to keep growing and not go dormant when the light and heat wane. They make lots of leads and lots of blooms during winter. My only basket plants are brassavolas that I water every other day. Calvin, I think your plan to cut back on water and fert until you see signs of growth is exactly the way to go. Generally I think it's important to observe the plants really closely and follow their lead. By the way I suffered from tinted windows for a month or two before I realized what was going on, but mine came with a little label that warned against using ammonia or detergent to clean them. The anti-UV tint was just a surface film that was gone with a few vigorous washings. By the way, I also remove the screens in winter as they cut down on the light. Good luck and keep experimenting! Margo

I would try to get something in there like the dental tool and loosen it. Maybe brake it up into small pieces shop vac'ing with a crevice nozzle at the same time. If that doesn't do it, at least if you could drill some holes in the foam with a long bit to make channels, that could work as well. I think sill pans are most critical with brick veneer and stucco exteriors, probably not so much with lap sidings. If your windows are flashed properly, you might be okay unless you have brick or stucco, then you definetely need a place for moisture and water to channel out over the sill pan.

Hi, We are dealing with an issue similar to this one, only the HVAC closet is on the ground floor - the lines were cloged and the emergency line was also not working. The water not only backed up to the pan, but also drained into the pedestal box and one of the HVAC lines that hung below the unit. In our experience, it is never a good thing to have the AC off. Regardless of how dry it seems, mold can grow in humid areas. I would recommed you get the pan installed and have your HVAC guy out to keep it running. In the meantime, I agree with another posting on getting the dehumidifier in. Regarding the insurance company. They are basically trying to save the company money only and do not have your best interest at heart. I haven't heard of any insurance company painting whole rooms or casing not damaged by the incident. In your case, it might be better just to either do the rest yourself or have whomever painting finish the rest - via an additional quote - so you know exactly what they want to charge. I hope you get good sincere workers in there. On another note, the home we are working on also had window leaks. Everything went unchecked and the maintenance person that did painting and caulking simply covered and filled rot up. The house now has primary and secondary termite colonies, not something to take lightely and a true lesson for the absentee owners (vacation home). I would seriously think about visiting your vacant home periodically - make sure your windows are not leaking, weather stripping on doors is in good shape, your HVAC will need monitoring. You will also want to think about a few other things. When a house is vacant, the sewer line does not get flushed out - there's a trap (elbow) at each fixture - sink, toilet, tub, etc. I believe this would be the case with your own septic system, so please ignore if you are on some city or county sytem (unless someone corrects me there). To continue, your best bet is to flush the toilets and run water in your sinks and tubs - not for long, just a few seconds. It just simply puts water back in the elbow, preventing sewer gases from coming into the house. Prevention can go along way. As they say, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" Good luck, I hope you can sell. Remember curb appeal also - make sure the yard is taken care of - it does go along way and when someone stops by if they see its taken care of outside, they will assume it has been inside. Small details will also get noticed. Go room by room and just check small details, do cabinet and regular doors hang and shut correctly, what about drawers - these are things that people will look at, minor yes but if they can't pull apart your house, it may satisfy them with what they see first hand. Another HVAC tip - even though the house is not getting used, make sure to change the filters. You could get the reusable ones or just use the paper ones. At our house we purchased reusable and vacum and then rinse the extra dust out (they have a plastic frame with washable screen). Check around the perimiter of your home outside also - keep it clear. If there's a moisture issue, try and get it diverted or fixed, termites love moisture. Well, hopefully I have been helpful. - Rachael

My my, people do love their thinset. Overall, the Kerdi installation looks fine, corner pieces can get messy at times. I don't see any glaring issues, but rather a few points for discussion. Have these with your installer. Regarding the Kerdi bridging the gap at a 45 in your second photo...is there air behind the Kerdi? Is it bridging open space, or did they fill that chamfer with thinset so the Kerdi has full support across the chamfer? I'd prefer it to be filled with thinset. I'm supposing that when tiling begins, the vertical wall tile, which is large format, so it will have plenty of adhesion area, will come up and meet the underside of a slightly pitched-for-drainage sill on the window. As long as that triangular gap between the Kerdi and the vertical wall tile and slightly pitched window sill is fully filled with thinset, all should be okay. If there is air behind the membrane that bridges the chamfered 45 and you're instead having some sort of thin perimeter trim liner installed around the window, that thin trim piece would need full support behind it. All he has to do is slice open the Kerdi, pack the gap with thinset or mortar, then set a minimum 4" wide strip of Kerdi to cover the slice. An inconvenience...but nothing difficult. As far as the last photo, the drywall being proud of the cement board along the vertical edge of the shower? First question is what thickness of cement board was used. Because the Kerdi meets the drywall flush at the top of the walls in your photos, I'd guess he used 1/2" cement board and the vertical is off simply because of how the new work melds with existing work. If that differential is caused because 1/4" thick cement board was used on the walls, that's a rather large issue. You should be able to see the thickness of the cement board at the shower valve hole. But let's assume he used 1/2" and it just happens to be an issue of surfaces meeting flush. What is the detail you have planned to finish off that edge? If you haven't already, talk to your installer. The tile over the cement board can come out to be flush with the drywall, then and a trim piece can go over the Kerdi on the drywall to trim out the edge. It could butt or slightly overlap the tile on the cement board, depending. It's easy, It can look nice. But work out the details before any surfaces are installed; what materials, what overlap, what proportions, what edge treatments, etc. I hope I'm correctly understanding your issues. Still, open up a discussion with the installer now. Put yourself in the driver's seat and work together with your installer. It's easier to clarify issues now rather than later.