Home repairs before the holidays
November 12, 2005 | 12:00am
Dear Home 911,
We’re planning to have the house painted and repairs done in the ceiling and floors before Christmas. A friend suggested we get a contractor to do it but the ones I talked with were beyond our budget and besides it’s just a mini renovation. I talked with some-body working for a contractor and he agreed to do the job on the side. He said we could package the job or I could pay him and another person per day. What do you suggest? Any tips before we embark on this project? – ELENA
If my husband were to answer your question he would have only one piece of advice: Don’t. Two months ago, we (meaning, I) decided to have the flooring in our bedroom and library changed, the walls painted, the doors replaced and new outlets installed. The old flooring, which came with the house, was narra parquet and we had it previously stripped and coated with polyurethane after years of floor wax build-up. For some reason, our dogs Freeway and Alley like to scratch the floor of our bedroom but not the other room. So while the flooring of the library was okay, the one in our bedroom looked like a patchwork. So we decided to get those low-maintenance, fuss-free wood planks from Germany (there is also a Malaysian brand that’s less expensive but comes in only one shade). The first problem was not only scheduling the installation but also removal of the old floor, which would take an extra day or two, assuming the ground underneath was even and as flat as a tire slashed by an ex-lover. Anyway, the installation took a day (the installers advised us not to have the parquet removed but to just lay the new one on top to make sure the surface was even; parquet is glued on the cement so that would mean an uneven surface resulting from the glue once the pieces are removed). Still, the house was filled with sawdust from cutting the planks.
After that, the painting began. The workers said they would finish the two rooms in three days. I’m very skeptical. When people say three days, I think six. It’s like my hairdresser; when I tell him to cut my hair only an inch, he makes it two. And like Erap, when he was asked whether "accommodate" was spelled with a double M, he said, "gawin mo nang tatlo para sigurado."
I was sort of prepared that the work would drag on, but not for two weeks! During that time, all our books, DVDs, CDs, and my husband’s 800 computer games had to be stored in balikbayan boxes and put in the garage. We had to empty closets (not as easy as it sounds), transfer clothes from one room to another, and put the rest of the furniture in the living and dining rooms. For two weeks, we had dust in our hair, dust on the dogs’ heads, our rooms had no doors, and I couldn’t write at home or find anything – not even the dictionary.
So, my advice is for you to pay for the entire project on a package, not per day, or else the workers will be taking two-hour cigarette breaks. And most importantly, make sure your husband understands that your house will be a mess while the work is ongoing. He is going to feel as displaced as an Iraqi seeing his country being wiped out, town by town, by an unjustifiable war. I had never seen my husband so irritable as that time – and he was mad at me, not at the workers! Okay, so he developed a dust allergy and rashes and pimples.
Would we (again, meaning I) do it again? Hell, yes. Now I’m thinking of repainting the rest of the house (my sister abroad insists on a red and cream scheme; alas, my previously colorful taste has now gone as dull as vanilla). There is something in the constitution of homemakers that lets them gloss over the dust swirling in the air and see, crystal-clear, what the end of a two-week project will bring.
A few weeks ago, I told my husband, "Maybe we should paint the walls ourselves."
He had that momentary look of panic in his eyes before he bolted upright and snapped, "You can’t even draw a straight line with a ruler!"
ACETONE MAGIC |
I read a previous Home 911 where you advised a reader to remove ball-pen marks from a satin bag with acetone. On what else does acetone work? – TONY
Apart from being a nail polish remover, acetone is used as a lacquer thinner and for removing lacquer coatings. Yes, it can lift ball-pen marks and it affects synthetic fibers such as rayon and acetate.
PATINA PROBLEMS |
We have a lot of wood in the house. How can I restore their original patina? The commercial polishes, like Pledge, work well but are expensive. Is there a homemade solution I can try? – MARICRIS
You can apply lemon oil to restore the gloss of the wood. Or use Wipe Out, which is contained in a tin can, and costs less than a spray polish. I’ve seen sales people at furniture stores use Wipe Out when they want to clean their products. Make sure you apply only a thin layer of wax as this builds up over time. The Book of Cleaning by Ralph Treves advises that if the surface is heavily smudged or the finish is drab, "wash with a light rubbing of an appropriate solvent (turpentine for wax, acetone for lacquer), then polish with fine steel wool and dust thoroughly. Allow to dry, then apply lemon oil or a similar finish like Liquid Gold – just a few drops on a felt pad or a handkerchief. This will bring up the original finish, accenting the grain and leaving a fine surface film that inhibits lint and dust. The protective coating of hard paste wax can then be put down, very thin and well worked out by brisk polishing." He also advises to choose lemon oil that is free of additives such as linseed oil, beeswax or silicone.
NON-STICK RICE COOKER |
Where can I find a rice cooker that’s non-stick or Teflon-coated? I want to make dishwashing easier. When the bowl is not washed right away, the rice sticking to the walls hardens and I have to soak it in water and dishwashing soap before I can scrape it off. – CHING
I keep forgetting to answer this question as a friend wrote it on a piece of scrap paper that’s been swimming in a sea of scrap papers in my drawer at the office. I found only one brand of non-stick rice cooker at Rustan’s Makati’s home department some months ago. It’s a Philips and it costs more than twice the price of a regular rice cooker of the same size. If you use your rice cooker often, it’s well worth it. Our rice cooker at home is also a Philips and we’ve had it for more than eight years. But then, we use it about once a week because in a household of two persons and two dogs, the chances of one of them actually getting up from bed and cooking is as close to winning in a raffle draw. In fact, my husband’s boss couldn’t believe that our cooking gas lasts a year when he has to buy a new tank every two weeks. At least their consumption is predictable. We never know when ours is going to run out. Two years ago, an old college friend whom we hadn’t seen in years dropped by the house for a late dinner. Just as I was boiling water for the pasta, the flame went out. It was too late to call for home delivery and none of us felt like driving out to a gas station. It wasn’t that bad, though. We ended up having salad, cheese, crackers, and wine for dinner. Imagine the embarrassment if it was a big party and everybody was hungry. Well, actually, that sort of happened, too. But that’s another story.
HOME 911 HAS A NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS! |
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