Sorry for not putting away the crates with files in them that are on my desks right now to complete some major deadlines so I can then take pictures of my neat home. I have been having a difficult time training a new employee, buying a dishwasher, taking continuing education credits to keep my license and get updated for the year, and major projects. I will take pictures this week and share. I can't wait. I love the BM Bone White in the Pearl finish on my walls that really are so warm and look nice in all my rooms downstairs. I also like the bigger baseboard trim but I wish I went with gloss and not semi-gloss. I wish the installation was a better job but despite that, I do love having hardwood floors. The floor is solid but is not so hard like walking on a concrete floor due to the floor muffler but the floor feels like a solid hardwood floor when walking on it. I love the color of the floor and the pretty grain (had no idea Brazilian Cherry had so much grain and such a variety of grain since I never saw wide boards of this wood species in person) and amazingly, wherever I have lamps or anything on the floor does not have a light spot underneath it when moved. I am thinking maybe this is because the wood sat around for several weeks before being installed and then after the wood was mostly installed, I ran out of wood (wish I hired the installer who told me I was short a box and if I was going to be picky to buy two boxes... amazingly there was a lot of bad boards and I was so upset that the installer kept installing many of them and using wood filler) so I kept all the windows open with the floors bare until I found a painter to paint and put new baseboard trim on the walls. Then I had to wait for the new wood and finish that job. The floor is not too dark like I feared but it is richer and prettier than when I first looked at it in the boxes when it looked then so brown to me. I like the wide boards since they make the big rooms look bigger(my living room and dining room is a combined one big room with a half a wall high and long in between the two rooms) but the first installer did not use the 3M tape when he was installing the floor floating it over the floor muffler so the sides of the boards where they connect are not as tight as they should be in many places having some space between them which is still bothering me. I wish I installed the floor myself and just rented a machine to cut the wood but I was afraid to cut my hands and my back and neck have been hurting me from the car accident I had 2 years ago. But I should have had my employee cut the wood and help me install the floor if I was going to have the first installer do the job and not care when I told him which boards I wanted to make sure they showed on the floor and were not hidden with cabinets. If I had the 2nd installer do the floors as well as the walls and trim, I would have been so happy but he could not commit that many days at first. The 2nd installer has the boards very tight next to each other which is why I spent extra on the BR-111 for the tight boards with such a tiny micro-bevel. The floors are so easy to clean but unfortunately where the bad former installers dropped tools, there will be scratches forever but I have gotten used to the scratches since I can't change who I hired that was referred by a client. My 4 little dog's nails do not scratch the floor but I had to buy two new expensive sets of wheels for my two office chairs with real rubber on them since the first set of wheels for wood floors were causing some scratches. I love not having a floor mat under my chairs. My little dog's skin allergies cleared up and I also can breath better in my home office. My computer is not so noisy anymore since it is not getting filled with all the dust from the carpets. I also like the way I rearranged my home office and family room furniture making it feel more spacious and relaxing in the three rooms (living room & dining room is my home office and my family room also got the wood floors). I am glad I did not put the wood in the kitchen since my 20 year old dishwasher started to leak on the Linoleum floor so I bought a new dishwasher. One bad thing, is my little 5.8 lb Maltese, Sassy is still having problems with her fear of walking on the floors despite being a lot better than when they first were installed. My other little doggies have no problems at all and seem to love the floors.

Larger than required capacitors will not overload a start winding in a compressor or fan motor. The smallest capacitor that will allow reliable starting is selected to save $$. High voltage motor start and run caps are not exactly cheap. I worked verifying the sizing of motor caps for a couple years working on my engineering degrees. All the capacitor is doing is providing phase shift so the single phase induction motor has a starting torque. More phase shift will not harm the start winding, but will increase the starting torque the motor can produce. A 'hard start kit' for a compressor is just another capacitor and a time delay relay to make sure it comes out of the circuit without relying on the start winding centrifugal switch. Needless to say, hard start kits do not damage start windings, and are supplied by the manufacturers as part of some condensers since a single size compressor motor can be used in a range of units with different capacities with different starting requirements. The fan motor in the condenser is just another single phase motor that needs starting torque. Notice how the standard test is to spin the blade and see if the motor than comes up to speed? You are supplying the starting torque.

Well this pic was taken right after we finished and doesn't have all the countertop "stuff" on it like we have now. I have a nice new red toaster that helps. I am kind of stuck between 2 decorating styles though. Mostly because I choose usage over looks. The chairs were chosen because I have 2 little ones that sit in booster seats, so I needed a non-upholstered stool at a reasonable price ($50 a piece) and this is what I found. The valances were $10 a piece bargain and brought in my desire for red. I guess for now until my wallet magically grows, I'll be sticking with my own unique blend of style. :) Plus the rest of the house needs so much work.....

at first glance it looks fine to me. the extra trim is a common upgrade with drywall returns. as far as being out of square, its very likely that the actual opening itself is out of square and by inserting the window square and plumb, it looks crooked. this happens often but after explaining this to homeowners they understand.