What's everyone up to right now?

[NoraBrimstone]

Oh, his friend phoned when I was there. I answered the phone, and his friend presumably asked him who I was because I heard him say "My Granddaughter.............. No, she's getting on a bit now.......... 27" wtf?

[Clueless Morgan]

You brits and your carpets... I admit, they do create a cozier environment... for nasty bugs!
Use wood and floor heating!

Brit?? I was born and raised in Oregon, dude.

And regarding wood and floor heating, wood is an insulator so it's not the most efficient finish to put over radiant flooring; concrete, tile or stone is way better for that job as it holds the heat and continues to radiate it to the space after the heater is turned off (like a sidewalk in the shade that's still warm from the sun shining on it hours earlier), and neither is flooring the most efficient place to put radiant heat, as a good deal of it would be covered by furniture and rugs and the like and thus not be available to radiate heat.

With those things said, the technology to install good radiant systems under wood floors has improved since I was in school so they might have become way more efficient and effective. That still doesn't mitigate the problem of covering the radiant floor with furniture though.

In any case, I'm putting in laminate and can't afford a radiant system anyway.

I finished priming my kitchen cabinets on Sunday

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The paint colors are on the wall there to the left of center: the base cabinets are going to be the dark grey, the walls are going to be a light, fresh green, and the uppers are going to be one shade lighter than the light grey up top. (that one is a smidgen too dark for me.)

I'm buying my paint tomorrow - I'm so freakin' excited!!!!

What are you using for a topcoat?

I've been waffling between Miller's Acrinamel (Acrylic Enamel) and Benjamin Moore's Advance Alkyd in Ashley Gray for the base cabinets and China White for the uppers - the top grey in the photo is Baby Fawn and it's just a shade too dark for my taste so I took it a step up to China White. I think I'm going to paint my living room with Baby Fawn, though; it's a very pretty color.

Miller is a local (to the Northwest) company so I really wanted to go with them, but I've heard good things about BM's Advance and since I'm using BM colors and I'm concerned with getting "true" colors without the hassle of color matching (Which Miller can do, but...) I'm going to just do BM. Especially since BM is going to give me a designer discount and the price per gallon of Acrinamel vs. Advance is the same. I'm going to do Miller for all my wall and ceiling paint, though.

I've read a lot about what paint is best for cabinets what I've concluded is that which brand of paint you use is almost, almost, irrelevant as long as you put the legwork in up front with the prep (TSP the cabinets, then sand or degloss [sanding is recommended, but I did both to be extra sure I got good adhesion], priming with a quality primer appropriate for the substrate [oil vs. water base], vacuuming sanding dust and then tack clothing to remove all the little crumbies and dust bits, etc.) which I think I've done. With that said, you still want to choose a quality paint appropriate for the project, which means don't just go to Home Depot and buy a gallon of Behr latex. Unless you're buying Cabinet Coat from Home Depot which is supposed to be really good, but only comes in white (or lighter, pastel) colors. Since I'm going a deep tone for the base I can't do cabinet coat.

These are going to be my door and drawer pulls, installed centered and horizontal on each door and drawer: Global Door Controls Hollow SS Pulls and I'm replacing the antique brass hinges with satin nickle which I'm ordering today, along with new drawer slides and tip-out trays for the sink front panels. (Which reminds me that I need to double check measurements to make sure they'll fit...)

I'm buying the paint tonight and taking tomorrow and Friday off to start painting. I'll post a couple of process photos, and a photo of the finished cabinets once they're reassembled with the hardware and everything.

[pocaracas]

You brits and your carpets... I admit, they do create a cozier environment... for nasty bugs!
Use wood and floor heating!

Brit?? I was born and raised in Oregon, dude.

That's somewhere between London and Cambridge, right?
UK, Britain!

And regarding wood and floor heating, wood is an insulator so it's not the most efficient finish to put over radiant flooring; concrete, tile or stone is way better for that job as it holds the heat and continues to radiate it to the space after the heater is turned off (like a sidewalk in the shade that's still warm from the sun shining on it hours earlier), and neither is flooring the most efficient place to put radiant heat, as a good deal of it would be covered by furniture and rugs and the like and thus not be available to radiate heat.

Yes, ceramic floor would be better to store the heat... but it's much worse if you're not desiring to keep it heated... and just wake up and put your feet on the floor...
Wood's better.

In any case, I'm putting in laminate and can't afford a radiant system anyway.

Nor can I.
Laminate's good enough! Just make sure it's well laid out and be careful with liquid spills.

[Clueless Morgan]

And I pulled out the carpet in the bedrooms and found this underneath. If you need a reason to remove the carpet in your house, look no further.

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Dirt, dust and mud caked on to the subfloor from years of living on the carpet and years of it absorbing moisture. Belch.

---

And this is one of the reasons I'm scared to pull up my carpets. Yuck. That, and I think they're glued down.

I've been told by a couple people that this was way worse than anything in their own homes, and when my parents took the carpet out and put in laminate it wasn't anything like this.

I think this was due to a combination of dirty living habits (not removing shoes, etc.) of the previous owners, as well as carpet padding that retained moisture and dirt - and the previous owners probably never had the carpets cleaned by the looks of them when I got the place...

---

Brit?? I was born and raised in Oregon, dude.

That's somewhere between London and Cambridge, right?
UK, Britain!

Yes, exactly. Somewhere between London and Cambridge by way of the Pacific coast.

Yes, ceramic floor would be better to store the heat... but it's much worse if you're not desiring to keep it heated... and just wake up and put your feet on the floor...
Wood's better.

Which is why the technology was so adamantly developed; people don't want tile floors in their bedrooms.

[Angrboda]

Coffee, Mr. Pibb, and tomato flavored broth with sriracha sauce. Oh! And photoshop!

[Clueless Morgan]

Physics is awesome.

Just sayin'

[The Valkyrie]

Looking at Rasetsu's awesome avatar.

[FlyingNarwhal]

What are you using for a topcoat?

I've been waffling between Miller's Acrinamel (Acrylic Enamel) and Benjamin Moore's Advance Alkyd in Ashley Gray for the base cabinets and China White for the uppers - the top grey in the photo is Baby Fawn and it's just a shade too dark for my taste so I took it a step up to China White. I think I'm going to paint my living room with Baby Fawn, though; it's a very pretty color.

Miller is a local (to the Northwest) company so I really wanted to go with them, but I've heard good things about BM's Advance and since I'm using BM colors and I'm concerned with getting "true" colors without the hassle of color matching (Which Miller can do, but...) I'm going to just do BM. Especially since BM is going to give me a designer discount and the price per gallon of Acrinamel vs. Advance is the same. I'm going to do Miller for all my wall and ceiling paint, though.

I've read a lot about what paint is best for cabinets what I've concluded is that which brand of paint you use is almost, almost, irrelevant as long as you put the legwork in up front with the prep (TSP the cabinets, then sand or degloss [sanding is recommended, but I did both to be extra sure I got good adhesion], priming with a quality primer appropriate for the substrate [oil vs. water base], vacuuming sanding dust and then tack clothing to remove all the little crumbies and dust bits, etc.) which I think I've done. With that said, you still want to choose a quality paint appropriate for the project, which means don't just go to Home Depot and buy a gallon of Behr latex. Unless you're buying Cabinet Coat from Home Depot which is supposed to be really good, but only comes in white (or lighter, pastel) colors. Since I'm going a deep tone for the base I can't do cabinet coat.

These are going to be my door and drawer pulls, installed centered and horizontal on each door and drawer: Global Door Controls Hollow SS Pulls and I'm replacing the antique brass hinges with satin nickle which I'm ordering today, along with new drawer slides and tip-out trays for the sink front panels. (Which reminds me that I need to double check measurements to make sure they'll fit...)

I'm buying the paint tonight and taking tomorrow and Friday off to start painting. I'll post a couple of process photos, and a photo of the finished cabinets once they're reassembled with the hardware and everything.

Advanced Alkyd is a good product, a hybrid would definitely be better (in terms of durability and finish) than an acrylic latex like the Acrinamel because it's not going to leave as noticeable brush strokes. If you're using Ben Moore though I would recommend the Satin Impervo, only thing is that it's a full oil based so it'll be harder cleanup, you'll need a natural bristle brush, and it only comes in a Satin finish. I'm pretty sure you can tint it to deep colors too, but if you want something with a higher sheen I would stick with the Advance. But the Impervo should give you a more durable finish than the advance because it's completely oil and you should get less brush strokes and a smoother finish than the hybrid. Whichever one you go with though, if you decide to use a roller on some sections go with a foam roller instead of a woven one for a better finish.

[ManMachine]

... about the average weight of a pregnant hippo.

I need to get back in the gym.

[Marsellus Wallace]

... about the average weight of a pregnant hippo.

I need to get back in the gym.

I'm quite the opposite, i'm too slim and that is why I also need to go to the gym.