Retreading Main Stairwell - Sound Dampening?
Bill Gillespie
4 years ago
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thinkdesignlive
4 years agoJohnson Flooring Co Inc
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Options to make wood stairs slip resistant?
Comments (29)I looked the SlipDoctor product up on Amazon after seeing their website, and the reviews weren't great. I also have to disagree with how slippery the hardwood is compared to carpet. Carpet can be slippery, but let me tell you, hardwood, when you're in socks, is much more slippery and hurts so much worse when you fall on them, flat onto your back! We have two long steps that lead down into our family room, my foot caught the edge of the second one as I stepped down, and I landed right on the edge of it with the small of my back. I was sure it was broken. Thankfully it wasn't, but I'm not taking another chance and have been searching for something to save me or someone else in my house from having this happen to them. I'm looking at some sort of clear tape. I'm hoping to find something that isn't going to ruin the new floors. If it does ruin them, it's better than ruining me!...See MoreDid you kitchen stay in the existing space?
Comments (33)We converted our 2 family into a single and used the tenants 1st floor kitchen (12.5'W x 14'L) as our kitchen. The last updates were 1950's or '60's. We gutted the kitchen and moved the ceiling height to the room above it (raised about 1'). Found an old floor just above the lowered ceiling made up of ~170 year old wide pine that wasn't used for at least 100 years and we will now incorporate it into the banquette. We bumped out the back of the house 6' for the kitchen (now 20'L). Since some of our bathroom plumbing was from the 1850 - 1870s and the newest being 90 years old we replumbed the whole house. Also most of the wiring was when they invented it so we had the whole house rewired and upgraded to 400A service. We added the "sandwich" in a new nook opposite the basement door (60"W x 22"D cabs). We recessed the frig into the back stairway - much more than the drawing shows. In the bump out we added 5 windows, french door and skylight to the kitchen, 1 small window in the half bath and a transom between the half bath and pantry. Here's a basic idea of the kitchen but we swapped the range and sink plus DW after suggestions from GW and moved the prep sink. The shaded area is the bump out....See MoreAttic temp pattern not as expected.
Comments (30)Hi, Mike. I know why you're confused :) I must have explained the goal badly. The target is ~10 degress delta from the INSIDE house temp (not the external temp). With encapsulation you treat the entire attic as part of the building envelope, rather like a vaulted ceiling from an energy perspective. The high-R on the inside of the deck prevents conduction (and radiation to a somewhat lesser degree) heating from roofing material inward. Some people put insulation on the floor as well, but that seems like more of a personal thing since at that point, your're not really blocking much undesired energy transfer except maybe attenuating noise from mechanicals or dampening some vibrations from framing members, not really affecting heating/cooling performance. I.E. no ROI. The foam in the rafters does result in slightly higher shingle (or other roofing material) temps (like 2-3 degrees in most studies). The same studies have shown that the color of the asphalt particles and the direction of the roof pitch make more difference than whether the deck has foam under it or not. Are you "cooking your shingles"? Yes, with the equivalent of an EZ-bake oven. 99.99 percent of the energy is still coming from the sunny side and all we're doing is preventing it from dissipating inwards. It still happens after the sun goes down. For this reason, all the big shingle companies have allowances in their warranties for this type of attic now. This allows putting HVAC equipment and ducting in the attic cavity without having to deal with heat/cooling loss from transfer to the very hot (or cold) air in the space. You can simply tape/mastic your ducts in the attic space and you're 90% there...with some light insulation wrapping or XPS if desired to drive up heat transfer efficiency or your HVAC even more. I've confirmed that my lack of effectiveness in the system was NOT due to the 6" open penetration, at least not entirely. I plugged the opening with a piece of fitted XPS and taped it well on Saturday afternoon, so I'm no longer getting any significant air infiltration from the outside. BUT, even with rain, overcast skies, and temps in the low 80s, my peak temp hit 86 yesterday. I'm pretty sure this is under-performing what it should be doing. energy_rater_la, have you seen cases where inadequate spray foam coverage can lead to this kind of behavior? What is a typical course of action for the homeowner?...See MoreWeek 125 - Who is remodeling or planning to - what topics do you need?
Comments (20)i think some good ideas have been posted here for future threads. yrs ago after reading here for a few yrs I decided NOT to redo my kitchen because I didn't have the strength, energy or decision making capabilities to do so - from what I read here. I didn't want to go thru the things you all do - lol! I don't cook much anymore and I'm not in the kitchen all that much. the insides of the cabs are good, the outside is just tacky - and I only have 6 drawers (not very wide either). But I've muddled thru ok for yrs. I have planned to have 3 or 4 drawers put into 1 lower cab that's 24" wide. haven't gotten to that yet tho. I do need a new faucet and have a new/used sink to be put in... but then I think of the blah/old counter top I have and figure I should replace it at the same time. BUT, I think my first spring here I had ants attack the kitchen. they were so very, very tiny, if my counter hadn't been plain white I doubt I'd have even seen them. that made me rethink the patterned counters I'd decided on... it took me over a yr to convince myself to go for color and pattern rather than plain white or beige. and I tossed out the whole idea because of ants... that was 3 or 4 yrs ago. now I'm thinking about it again... the same with my mstr bath. it has a 5' vanity but the sink isn't aligned with the lights over it... and the under sink cabinet is very misaligned. the right door of it is under the sink and the left door of it is under the counter to the left of the sink... yikes! I could use more drawers in there too and I have the space for them. I have 3 maybe 10-12" wide drawers. and again in there, it started with the faucet not working right. it's very old and ugly. the sink is bad too so that should be replaced... so while I'm at it I should replace the cabinet... and while the cabinet's out I should replace the flooring... see what a mess I'm in? lol! I didn't even mention the light fixture and mirror need to go... I'm not sure I'd live thru the bath or kit redo. but 1 thing just leads to the next until it's way beyond what I think I can deal with. I do plan to talk to my handyman on his next trip here. bath 1st maybe... but what do people with patterned/colored counters do if they can't see the ants? isn't like these things are big enough to be easily seen (or like I have good eyesight or wear my glasses in the kit) or black or something (wearing a sign?). maybe I'm stuck with just plain beige. I think I could deal with it if it could be done in maybe a week... it's just me and I don't really have to cook and there's no kids but I don't think me would survive it! you all are so brave and gutsy! I know if any of you had a magic wand you'd share it with me - right? beachem, I hope your dad gets totally better. and sorry to hear about the slab - VG is one of my favorites, but I'd like a piece for wall art not counter! I'd never see the ants in a VG countertop!...See MorePatricia Colwell Consulting
4 years agoStax
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agomillworkman
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoDavidR
4 years agoGannonCo
4 years agoksc36
4 years agolefty47
4 years agoDesign Girl
4 years agoBill Gillespie
4 years agoSJ McCarthy
4 years agoBill Gillespie
4 years agoci_lantro
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoci_lantro
4 years agoDavidR
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agobeanym
4 years agoStax
4 years ago
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