So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Touchofevil]

Our house has two full and one half bathroom, each with a sink with those "built in" mechanical plugs (curiously, one came without the lever, so it is perpetually open).

With three females with long hair being brushed at the sink/mirror, four of us brushing teeth with toothpaste that is, essentially, plaster in a tube, and one Mister Cairo shaving both face and head, these sinks plug on an almost weekly basis. We are spending about $20 a month on drain-o.

Is there a problem with rubber plugs?

Two full bathrooms with only one Lady with long hair and one fellow who shaves his head and trims the beard daily. Her bathroom is prone to clogging, mine is not. The snake, the plunger, and the Drain-o are always at the ready.

 

[Stearmen]

Our house has two full and one half bathroom, each with a sink with those "built in" mechanical plugs (curiously, one came without the lever, so it is perpetually open).

With three females with long hair being brushed at the sink/mirror, four of us brushing teeth with toothpaste that is, essentially, plaster in a tube, and one Mister Cairo shaving both face and head, these sinks plug on an almost weekly basis. We are spending about $20 a month on drain-o.

Is there a problem with rubber plugs?

Just get one of these!

 

[MisterCairo]

Just get one of these!

I will never be able to get rid of those images...

And we have one of those, the issue is we cannot fit it in through the counter top sink drains, owing to the internal mechanisms having very small drain openings, the very cause of the problem!

 

[tonyb]

I will never be able to get rid of those images...

And we have one of those, the issue is we cannot fit it in through the counter top sink drains, owing to the internal mechanisms having very small drain openings, the very cause of the problem!

Might that entire stopper mechanism be removed?

 

[MisterCairo]

Might that entire stopper mechanism be removed?

We've looked into it, and we'd need to replace the section of pipe in each sink (the mechanisms in our case are "built in" to the pipe). It's certainly doable, and we are looking into it as part of our upgrades overall. We need to replace one older toilet which is cracking at the base.

Home ownership - the worst type of living, except for all the others...

 

[tonyb]

...

Home ownership - the worst type of living, except for all the others...

I'm no handyman, but necessity has prompted me to carry out repairs and improvements.

The missus and I last year ridded ourselves of the last piece of real estate in which we do not reside -- a large duplex, which was in need of new fencing and a roof before long. Two water heaters, two furnaces, two air conditioners, two pairs of washers and dryers, four toilets, six sinks and faucets, etc., etc. All that stuff fails eventually.

There's a complete, separate dwelling unit in the basement at our new place (we rent it out on a short-term basis), so I'm not completely out of the rental property business. But I'm down to one structure with one roof and one water heater and one furnace and one A/C and only two toilets and four sinks. The list of et ceteras is much shorter.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ When we renovated our apartment, we subscribed to my father's dictum for buying a car - anything fancy is just something else to break. He preferred roll-up windows, manual locks, etc. We also tried to use traditional product / materials that we felt we could maintain, repair and restore ourselves or with only minimal help.

Hence, of the things we could control (which is less than one would like in a NYC coop), we bought the simplest, well-made, uncomplicated, not-digitized version that we could. Note, not the cheapest, but the one that was well made but simple.

We are even separating out the heat from the fancy schmancy "HVAC" units (they cumbersomely incorporate the building's 1928 steam heat into the thru-wall air-conditioning units we have) that had been installed by the prior owner. It is not a cheap thing to do, but will cut our costs over the years as we won't need to run the HVAC's fan every time we want heat (inefficiently pumped through the HVAC). We've already removed one and our electric bill has dropped a bit (two HVAC conversions to go) and the heat is stronger and quieter. And it's one less thing to break.

 

[vitanola]

I'm no handyman, but necessity has prompted me to carry out repairs and improvements.

The missus and I last year ridded ourselves of the last piece of real estate in which we do not reside -- a large duplex, which was in need of new fencing and a roof before long. Two water heaters, two furnaces, two air conditioners, two pairs of washers and dryers, four toilets, six sinks and faucets, etc., etc. All that stuff fails eventually.

There's a complete, separate dwelling unit in the basement at our new place (we rent it out on a short-term basis), so I'm not completely out of the rental property business. But I'm down to one structure with one roof and one water heater and one furnace and one A/C and only two toilets and four sinks. The list of et ceteras is much shorter.

When I renovated the big house back in 2000-2002 I added bathrooms willy-nilly. Eight. One for each bedroom, a powder room on the first floor, and a toilet and shower in the cellar.


Mistake.

They all require maintenance. I have taken to turning off the water supply to all of the bathrooms which we do not regularly use (that is all of them except the bath off of our bedroom and the 1st floor powder room), for otherwise we will perpetually have one toilet running somewhere where we will not notice it.

When I plumbed the house I made certain that all of the bathroom sinks were on 3" vented risers. We have no troubles with drains clogging, at least.

 

[Fading Fast]

When I renovated the big house back in 2000-2002 I added bathrooms willy-nilly. Eight. One for each bedroom, a powder room on the first floor, and a toilet and shower in the cellar.


Mistake.

They all require maintenance. I have taken to turning off the water supply to all of the bathrooms which we do not regularly use (that is all of them except the bath off of our bedroom and the 1st floor powder room), for otherwise we will perpetually have one toilet running somewhere where we will not notice it.

When I plumbed the house I made certain that all of the bathroom sinks were on 3" vented risers. We have no troubles with drains clogging, at least.

Love it ⇧ . As a variation on the theme, we clean our own apartment which completely turns one off to wanting more space as many do. I have no desire to clean anymore living space than I need and, since bathrooms and kitchens take the most time, as opposed to most people, I have no desire for those rooms to be one inch bigger than functionally necessary. That's just us, I know most / many people love bigger homes and more power to them. Smaller is just right for us as simpler appliances, etc., are just right for us - what others want is their right.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Really trivial:

These days, I'm wearing a usual fine-knitted cotton-troyer pullover. So far, so good, it's a nice piece. But I feel permanently, that I'm accustomed to my beloved cotton (thermo)flannelshirts. And every minute, I could go to my wardrobe and grab one of my cozy flannelshirts!
But wearing the fine-knitted cotton troyer feels soft on the one side, but just "wrong" on the other side, because of the elastic (fine-knit) pullover type. That's, why I was never really a friend of usual softer or more elastic pullovers. It feels like a kind of half-naked to me and it gives you no "stay".

And that's, why I just like the feel of "robust" (thermo)flannelshirts, Denim-jackets, jeans, hiking boots and so on. It feels just "right" to me. It gives me security.

I'm just sensitive to such things.

 

[sheeplady]

When I renovated the big house back in 2000-2002 I added bathrooms willy-nilly. Eight. One for each bedroom, a powder room on the first floor, and a toilet and shower in the cellar.


Mistake.

Did you run a Bed and Breakfast or intend to?

Three bathrooms (while having kids) is my absolute limit. I'd prefer two (one for us, one for them they stay out of my things) but more than 3 is awful to clean. The only thing is I do like a bathroom on each "living floor" so you don't have to do steps, particularly during the night. I often work from home and having to go to another floor ends up in distractions... I see something that needs fixing or correcting or doing and there goes my hour.

ETA: I do like a first floor bedroom, even if it's small. And a first floor bathroom. When I was pregnant with my daughter I was on strict bedrest for the last 4 months and was only allowed to climb the stairs once a week. I would have liked to be able to be on the main floor, but there was no bedroom there (and the bath was down three steps) so we decided I'd stay on the second floor. After that I decided no more homes unless there's a first floor bedroom/ office/ sickroom with a bathroom with NO STAIRS.

 

[MisterCairo]

Fruit flies.

 

[vitanola]

Did you run a Bed and Breakfast or intend to?

Three bathrooms (while having kids) is my absolute limit. I'd prefer two (one for us, one for them they stay out of my things) but more than 3 is awful to clean. The only thing is I do like a bathroom on each "living floor" so you don't have to do steps, particularly during the night. I often work from home and having to go to another floor ends up in distractions... I see something that needs fixing or correcting or doing and there goes my hour.

ETA: I do like a first floor bedroom, even if it's small. And a first floor bathroom. When I was pregnant with my daughter I was on strict bedrest for the last 4 months and was only allowed to climb the stairs once a week. I would have liked to be able to be on the main floor, but there was no bedroom there (and the bath was down three steps) so we decided I'd stay on the second floor. After that I decided no more homes unless there's a first floor bedroom/ office/ sickroom with a bathroom with NO STAIRS.

We had considered converting the house to a Bed and Breakfast. As it was, since we were doing an extensive renovation, and I was doing the work myself, we figured that the time was ripe to give each room an en-suite. When we renovated the house I completely re-configured the former servant's quarters into three nice sized bedrooms with full baths and with closets, for in the modern world there was no need for seven tiny (7' or 8' by 10') bedrooms. I took the big front bedrooms and put full baths into their associated dressing rooms.

We don't have a bedroom on the first floor just now, but with a large library, front and back parlors, and a dining room, there is certainly room for one. I have spent the past five years away from our house taking care of my elderly parents in my natal home. Over the next couple of months I will be converting the back parlor into a dining room (a simple matter of changing furniture, changing the chandelier, and replacing the books in the built-in book case with china) and changing the dining room into a first-floor bedroom. I have already converted the adjacent laundry room to a full ADA bathroom, and have moved the laundry into the cellar. I expect that the first floor bedroom will come in handy as we age.

When we renovated the house I had installed aligned closets so that we might install a residential elevator someday. Modern residential elevators cost much less than one might think. I suggested the elevator option to my father, since it would actually have cost a bit less than the bathroom and would have taken less time to install, but he preferred the first floor bedroom for there they would tend to feel less isolated.

 

[vitanola]

Fruit flies.

Time flies like an arrow
fruit flies like a banana

 

[tonyb]

When I renovated the big house back in 2000-2002 I added bathrooms willy-nilly. Eight. One for each bedroom, a powder room on the first floor, and a toilet and shower in the cellar.


Mistake.

They all require maintenance. I have taken to turning off the water supply to all of the bathrooms which we do not regularly use (that is all of them except the bath off of our bedroom and the 1st floor powder room), for otherwise we will perpetually have one toilet running somewhere where we will not notice it.

When I plumbed the house I made certain that all of the bathroom sinks were on 3" vented risers. We have no troubles with drains clogging, at least.

At least you have space for visitors, eh?

How do you heat that big ol' barn?

Among the reasons I was distressed by the stroke suffered by an elderly uncle last year is an entirely selfish one. The old guy was once the physical plant manager for a small school district and has owned numerous rental properties. Whenever I had questions about pretty much anything having to do with structures I got on the phone to Uncle Ray. At the very least, I was better equipped to deal with whoever I might hire, should I determine that doing the work myself might not be the wisest course of action.

Relieved to report that his recovery is essentially entire. No perceivable cognitive diminishment at all.

 

[vitanola]

When I renovated I insulated the house fairly well, and made up tightly fitting inside storms. The house has three coal fireplaces and four working coal stoves. I installed four high efficiency furnaces and four air conditioning systems which are set up with zone controls room by room. The interior frame walls and floors are all insulated to prevent sound transmission. This has the additional benefit of allowing the heat to be turned off in every unused room. Back before the boom in fracked natural gas I largely heated with coal, but these days gas is actually cheaper per BTU, and of course is clean and automatic.

Our utility costs are actually quite reasonable, for I avoid the use of the air conditioning in the summer whenever possible and keep the house at 61 or 62 degrees in the winter. Our bills will be going way up when Mom and Dad get here, for my father is on blood thinners and cannot tolerate either drafts or temperatures below 74 degrees.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
Sounds like you did it up right.

The dewy-eyed bride would rather not hear what it costs to keep this place above 71 degrees in the winter and below it in the summer. At least I have her thinking that xeriscaping is the way to go here in this semi-arid climate.

 

[Stearmen]

Here is my new hero. George is a friend of mine and just plane a nice guy! http://www.9news.com/news/local/nex...to-follow-his-dream-until-he-was-68/417099946

 

[Trenchfriend]

Today, I saw a nice "roasted coffee brown" Canvas-fieldjacket from Tom Tailor. And now, the jacket spooks around in my mind, thank you.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Remember:

When your morning-coffee tastes chocolate-like, pay a little more attention when giving the sugar in, nex time.