Overwhelmed with designing- help!
flyergrace
8 months ago
last modified: 8 months ago
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flyergrace
8 months agolast modified: 8 months agoflyergrace
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I'm overwhelmed- help!
Comments (6)Yes, I'd check with CA gardening forum too. Also, you sound like you might be in a state of panic. Don't panic...that soil will wait for you to decide what to do! Just make some educated decisions about what you want to plant, then go forward. Posting here is a good start. First decide whether you want permanent plants, or do you want to have annuals which need to be replaced periodically? Boganvillas would probably want more sun than you have, and they get very large. You should think more of ferns, fuchsias, heavenly bamboo, azalea, camellias. I have clivia in full shade, and they have done well for years. Impatiens might be ok there and bloom beautifully.Clivia blooms are orange, but there is a new creamy white variety out at Armstrongs. Be sure to take into consideration the final grown-up size of your plants. If you put in something that grows too big, you'll end up pulling it out and starting over. If you are going to do more gardening, you will probably want to get a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book. It is very helpful....See More30" range died, overwhelmed and need help finding replacement
Comments (65)AniaWin, That's why I love GW. You can talk to people that actually have an use the appliances you're considering. I'm personally pretty sensitive to noise. For example, our Kenmore induction range has no fan to cool the oven after use. The induction cooktop fan only turns on when using high heat, and is quiet / unobtrusive enough that I only notice it when it turns on and quickly forget about it. You'd never hear it over a range hood (and if you do, tell me who made your range hood). The convection fan in the oven, on the other hand, is relatively loud and annoying. It turns on when pre-heating the oven and when using any convection settings, and is one of my main dislikes about our range. It doesn't keep me from using the convection settings, but I will turn the oven on using regular Bake so that I don't have to hear the fan once the oven's pre-heated while I finish my prep work, and switch the oven over to Convection Bake once everything's done and ready to go in. I am, admittedly, sensitive to noise. For example, I switched all our bathroom fans out for the quietest I could find, and while they no longer bother me they're still not quiet enough for my tastes....See Moreicf, sip, geothermal, overwhelmed!!!! help!
Comments (29)SerenityLand, I would not worry about whether you can find trades familiar with ICF as the solutions are pretty easy. I would know the solutions, and find trades that are open to learning. For example, my Sparky had never worked ICF and was skeptical. I told him to tell me where he wanted wiring in the ICF walls, where he wanted boxes in the ICF walls, etc. I then pulled out my handy router, set my depth gauge, and cut the foam where Sparky said he needed wiring and boxes. I also used some electrical boxes with "ears" that I had picked up from the local big box. And to secure wires in the foam, enter spray foam. Sparky was amazed at the ease of doing this, decided to buy his own router, and has done several ICF houses since. Other trades you will want to talk to are anyone having penetrations in the walls (put some PVC pipe in there they want penetrations, before the walls are poured). This might include Sparky (service, AC location, external fixtures, phone service, cable service), HVAC (intake and vent for furnace, ERV/HRV, lineset), Plumber (supply line, DWV line, intake and vent for HWH). If you miss a penetration or two, it isn't that big of a deal. However you don't want to pay to core too many holes in your nicely cast concrete walls either, it gets kind of pricey. Any then you want to know how to hang sheetrock (my sheetrockers looked dumbfouned until I showed them how to find the webs and to use #8 screws instead of #6), trim carpenters (not much to nail trim into ICF, but easy solution is to screw plywood base or at crown molding level that is smaller than the trim and then let the sheetrockers finish flush to the plywood), cabinet hangers, carpenters (how do you secure wood stud walls to ICF, what about floors and/or roofs, get out the Simpson or USP catalog, and don't be afraid to use connectors for hurricane areas as FedEx delivers overnight), etc. Basically you don't need trades that have direct experience with ICF. You do however need a trade that is open to new experience and new technique, but you need to provide them the solutions (ICF isn't new technique, solutions exist, research them and don't expect your trades to do this for you). Good luck....See MoreKitchen Flooring Design - Overwhelmed and Frustrated
Comments (3)Your laminate floors would look AWESOME when paired with a slate-looking floor in the kitchen. You currently have an 'almost white' counter top on white cabs. That will be quite bright. That's fine but it will be like cooking in a cloud. To 'ground' the kitchen you are welcome to look at a darker coloured floor. By 'grounding' we mean using a strong/dark colour to give the eye a sense of 'up' and 'down'. The counter top you are showing (as a mimic) is, on my monitor, a peach tone. The way you assess its appearance in a kitchen is to view it from 10 feet away. At that distance the tiny little flecks that people see 'close up' become melded into one colour (the eye LOVES to blend things to create a single colour). We say the counter top will 'read' more peach than anything else. Or it could read more orange...it depends on the actual slab. So how do you compliment this? You figure out how it 'reads'. An example: Your counter has pretty flecks of yellow and orange and white. At 10 ft it has the appearance of a mango. Or perhaps a cantaloupe melon (soft orange). No problem. So long as you can 'see' the colour you can work with a floor. If I'm correct and your counter 'reads' a bit peachy orange, you can use a product like slate (a multiple colour stone one of which is copper or orange). You can use the natural orange tones in the slate to compliment the peach tones in the counter top...while the darker blue-gray and green-gray tiles add depth of colour to anchor the floor. All of which will look magnificent with your current laminate (which is VERY handsome BTW). Google 'slate floors'. You will see THOUSANDS of photos of these types of floors (and yes they come in vinyl tile options as well). You'll see what I mean....See Moreflyergrace
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8 months agoPatricia Colwell Consulting
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8 months agoMark Bischak, Architect
8 months agojust_janni
8 months agolast modified: 8 months agoJoseph Corlett, LLC
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8 months agolast modified: 8 months agoMark Bischak, Architect
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8 months agoMark Bischak, Architect
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8 months agoMark Bischak, Architect
8 months agoDiana Bier Interiors, LLC
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