Help me fix this den?!
Lana K
last year
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Elaine Doremus Resumes Written
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Help me save my adopted Dens!
Comments (7)Thanks for the advice. Will try it and see what happens. Howard, all growers here in Singapore use only charcoal as potting media. Even the commercial growers. Maybe its our weather? We're sunshine all year around and the temperature never falls below 23C (73.4F). Med to high humidity all year round too. We're a typical tropical country on the equator. I've asked one of our local growers this question and his reply was that, the charcoal is only to stabilize the plant in the pot and nothing else. With regular watering and fertilizing, orchids, especially Dens bloom every few months in our climate. It almost never goes dormant. As for shading, if they have anymore sun than they do now, they'll burn for sure. In the mornings, direct sun is about one and a half feet away from my orchids and in the afternoons, about half a foot. When its cloudy, I put a high wattage reading lamp over them. It also gets very breezy where they are so I should think they're getting adequate circulation. But I've never nursed a sick orchid before so am concerned about whether what I'm doing with my healthy orchids is advisable for the sick ones? As for societies, I just joined one. But THE society seems to be dormant... lack of members?...See MorePlease help me with opening up living room wall to den area
Comments (21)Ditto what Annie said. You are talking about the structural integrity of your house and it looks like you have a second story, and you probably also have a basement. By removing the wall, the beam needs to support the floor above and the roof. And if you're in a "snow zone" that has to be factored in as well. Another thing, walls are distributing the load from above to the floor or foundation. When you remove a portion of the wall, you are creating point loads on the floor or foundation, which may require additional work to your foundation in the form of footings or additional beams below. These are examples of how removing a wall can get complicated. Maybe you are already aware of this. I hope so! Edited to add another thought I wanted to share regarding openings to let in light. You're only going to get sunlight during the daytime. How often are you home during the day when you can benefit from the daylight? Painting the paneling and better lighting in the family room will to wonders for making the room look brighter. Also, consider replacing the back door with a slider. That will allow more light into the family room. This advice is coming to you from someone who is considering taking down walls to let more light into her dark family room. :) But I've been in my house a long time whereas you haven't even moved in yet....See MoreHELP me fix a major staircase error in a new cabin!!
Comments (65)There may, or may not, be a way to get a traditional stairway in there. Certainly it will require floorplans and some volunteer work to figure that out. We are missing a lot of information. My own opinion is that the loft space that I can see in the photo doesn't justify sacrificing a large amount of premium main floor space for a traditional staircase. We are seeing the kitchen and main living area, I assume there's a bathroom and bedroom on the main floor. It would be ridiculous to take up that much main living area floor space for a traditional stair that you would find in a 3.000 sq ft suburban home. That said, ladders, trap doors, climbing ropes, ball pits, jet packs, levitating carpets, etc. that don't meet code are not reasonable compared to a spiral staircase that provides code compliant stairs that are usable for an older person - yet very compact. Regardless of the current owner's intended use, if the property is ever sold, it greatly detracts from the value of the property if that space isn't totally legit. Again, we are talking about an older gent. First floor space is at a premium. The loft clearly needs to be useable, but is probably a secondary space. It's near completion, we don't have the option of a dramatic re-design at this stage of the game - so comments along the line of, "It's all wrong" aren't helpful. I'm not sure what prompts comments such as "... but spiral would be the worst possible thing to have" and "Spiral staircases are the work of Satan." - but they are not rational comments and are prompted by something other than the needs of the Original Poster and the given facts - I'm guessing a traumatic childhood experience, a serious bump on he head, or premature potty-training....See MoreHelp me fix my aloe plant-brown spots!!
Comments (6)Overwatering is the #1 cause of death of these plants. It pays to keep it in a pot with soil amended with perlite or pulmace or both. Some of my Aloes I keep in a 50/50 mix of potting soil and perlite. From what I can see, it still looks good. Give it all the indoor sun you can....See MoreLyn Nielson
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