FLs & Mold - Settlement Info via Consumer Reports
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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8 years ago
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRelated Discussions
locals telling me no real wood in fl???!!!
Comments (26)I have lived in Florida since the late 70's and have put solid wood down on concrete slabs in 3 of my homes. I have also used engineered wood in one home. The solid wood ALWAYS out performed the engineered ... ALWAYS. Recently, I had a slab leak in my current home. The solid oak swelled and the engineered wood peeled from the top layer. I had already replaced the engineered wood in my kitchen because of moisture which caused mold. When the insurance company replaced my entire wood flooring, the wood flooring guys kept telling me that I should use engineered wood, for all the reasons you all are hearing. I chose to use solid wood again (which they were not happy with and said they couldn't guarantee it) but here's the thing.... when they removed my engineered wood, it came up very easily. When they tried to remove the solid oak, which had dried out and was fine, they had to saw thru the wood to the concrete EVERY 6 INCHES ... and it was still hard to get up. When they kept trying to tell me engineered was "better", I said, "You guys keep telling me that, but from what I SAW and EXPERIENCED, I'm going with solid wood!" I chose this time to put solid hickory down as it it harder than oak. My floors are beautiful and I absolutely love them. They are glued to the concrete and even the longer boards have done well. You can put them down yourself if you have time and Lumber Liquidators has great wood. So does Floor and Decor....See MoreConsidering LG washer- is mold/mildew a 'true' problem
Comments (34)The reason mold was historically so much less of a problem for European front loaders is hot water being an important part of the cleaning process. Front loaders arriving in high numbers in the U.S. coincided with the development of excellent cold water detergents and an emerging energy conservation consciousness. Manufacturers then sold the lower end machines in the U.S. without heaters, making the problem worse. How many FL machines, installed in normal humidity and run weekly with hot water, have mold problems? My guess is almost none. Just like in Europe. The other end of the risk spectrum is doing cold water washing with a machine installed in the basement. A very common way of doing laundry in the U.S. Not using enough detergent is also a risk factor. The components of the detergent clean the machine too. It's odd how so much advice on avoiding mold doesn't consider the issue of not adequately removing laundry soils from the machine. When in doubt, the correct amount of detergent is the smallest of the multiple levels recommended by the detergent manufacturer. No one solved their mold problem by just changing detergent types or eliminating fabric softener. They made multiple changes to their laundry practices....See MoreFL'er common questions and answers
Comments (5)Neatfreaknot, I could not agree with you more about the owners manuals of most FL'ers out there on the market. Most of them just give basic directions for machine use and pay little if any attention to maintenance or even proper machine use. While the ideal material for the outer drum would be stainless steel, it would add a significant amount to the cost, probably upwards of several hundred dollars. Plastic drums are fine if they are maintained properly, but like you just said the manual needs to communicate this to the user. I see more damaged machines from improper installation than anything else, removing the shipping bolts and laying the machine down to transport and attach pedestals often times destroy the suspension system of the machine. Dealers and installers need to do far better in this department. Manufacturers need to do a much better job of temperature control on these machines, Bosch is the only one I know of in the U.S. that uses the heating element in all cycles to reach the target temp and then maintain it throughout the washing cycle. Other makers may do this, but they don't communicate this well if at all in the owner's manual. People have hooked up a Killawatt device to there machines to see if they do in fact use the heater in different cycles, this should not be necessary as this info should be in plain english right in the manual. Another manual pet peave of mine is using fancy technical terms to describe a feature, but then not explaining how it works. A good example is the manual states something like this, Our adaptive sensor technology uses multiple sensors to assure your clothes are clean and free of detergent residues. Ok, so what sensors are used and how does it work? Who knows, it's never explained in the manual. For all I know it's just some fancy words that are used as a marketing gimmick....See Moreshould i cancel my order of my fl washer --)warning long post!!!
Comments (6)If your current washer has been repaired and is working, why replace it now? You've already invested in the repair, I'd suggest continuing to use the machine until it develops another problem. Payback on energy/water savings depends on individual usage characteristics and local utility costs. Payback time at average of four loads per week likely will be longer than you expect, unless your utility costs are very high. Keep in mind that just because a frontloader (or any washer for that matter) has an exceptionally large capacity doesn't mean all your laundry should be bundled together so as to always run the largest load possible. Sorting according to color, soil level, fabric type, and special care items is still important, and even moreso with the newer HE-type low-water and high-spin-speed machines that are less forgiving at mismatching the cycle selection and load type. The wrinkle-prevent (or wrinkle guard, finish guard, wrinkle free, etc.) feature on dryers sometimes lead to misunderstanding of what exactly it does. It's intended for situations in which no one is present to immediately unload the dryer when a cycle ends. What it does is instead of the machine shutting off and sitting there with the clothes crumpled in the drum, it runs an unheated tumble for an additional period of time (either intermittently or continuously) to keep the items moving and fluffed-up. If you normally unload immediately when the cycle ends, the wrinkle-prevent function won't really do much for you....See MoreRelated Professionals
St. Louis Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Hopewell Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Charlottesville Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Rolling Hills Estates Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Hawthorne Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Acworth Custom Closet Designers · Addison Flooring Contractors · Apple Valley Flooring Contractors · Brushy Creek Flooring Contractors · Damascus Flooring Contractors · Fargo Flooring Contractors · Lady Lake Flooring Contractors · Reading Flooring Contractors · Shaker Heights Flooring Contractors · Town and Country Flooring Contractors- 8 years ago
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