Monday, August 11th, 2008
As I was outside today cutting down some more small trees, the chimney repair guys rolled down the driveway. I thought he said they were going to call to set up an appointment, but this was fine with me. The faster I can cross something off my list, the better.
The job was to repair the crack in the chimney crown and ad a cap. I found a nice site that offers reasons why repairing a chimney crown is important. I have a feeling this is one of those repairs that a whole lot of people ignore. I guess they will be forced to fix things once they start falling apart. Heck, I wouldn’t have even known about this if the chimney cleaning guy didn’t tell me. I did my own research to back up what he said.
Chimney crown and cap
The cap they put on the chimney is stainless steel and measures 13″x28″. It has a lifetime warranty. For the price they charged, it better.
There are some benefits to having a chimney cap installed as well. They are:
- the cap helps to prevent downdraft
- it helps to repel rain and snow
- stops animals from nesting in your chimney
- helps to improve draft
- helps the chimney crown to shed water
- stops or helps to stop the fireplace damper from rusting
With all these benefits, I thought getting a cap would be the prudent thing to do. I am a prudent person.
During a walk last week, I noticed that virtually all the new houses around here don’t have chimney caps installed. I guess it’s not that imperative for new construction. I am still wondering why that is. It is probably the duty of the homeowner to get that done after the house is built. It still strikes me as odd though.
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Posted in Home Improvement | 1 Comment »
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
Yes, I know, this is probably one of my more boring posts. Actually, maybe not…I have a lot of boring posts.
Well, we had our new washer and dryer delivered today. We left our old ones back in NY. We were going to bring them, but I thought it would be a good selling point for the other house if we left them, especially since they are almost brand new. Also, I really wanted to get one of these new types of washers. They are Energy Star® and use much less water. Also, the spin cycle spins the drum at 1,100 RPM, so the clothes really get a lot of the water spun out of them before they hit the dryer. That equals less dryer time.
The washer is very quiet. I was sitting right next to it, while talking on the phone and could hardly hear it operating. I like the way I can watch the clothes flop around in there. We got the “LG Electronics 4.0 Cu. Ft. Energy Star® Front Load Washer in White” from Home Dept. I think the Energy Star®, along with the reduced usage of water was worth the few extra bucks.
The dryer is a regular old dryer. It is the “GE 7.0 Cu. Ft. Super Capacity Electric Dryer” also from Home Depot. When we went in to pick them out, I really wanted the stainless steel drum. The sales girl told us that she went to a class just the day before and was told that the stainless steel did virtually nothing for performance. I thought this was a little odd because the stainless costs more and she would probably want to make a bigger sale. Since we really don’t need any fancy features for a dryer, we got this one.
The first wash is going right now. I am going to get the dryer going and start finishing up the pile was already have down in the laundry room.
Peace out.
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Sunday, October 7th, 2007
My sister, Lauren, asked me recently how our new stainless steel pots and pans are working out for us. I told her that they were doing well. She is considering making the switch, I think.
As I mentioned, we tossed our old Anolon non-stick cookware and upgraded to a T-Fal Elegance 10 Piece Stainless Steel Cookware Set. The Anolon stuff was supposed to be really good. You know, it had all those warranties and guarantees…all that sales stuff. In actuality, the non-stick coating fell off, or scratched off in about a year. In my opinion, all those pans suck. There are so many rules to them. Don’t use metal, don’t use high heat, don’t put them in the dishwasher, don’t look at them funny…you get the idea.
I have never been all that good at handling limitations. My mother still has her set of T-Fal non-stick pans. She has had them for over ten years. I don’t know how she does it. I guess she is much better at behaving than I am.
Ok, so here is my early review of the new stainless steel cookware. In the beginning, everything stuck. I was making mess after mess. Then, I began cooking at a lower heat. I started noticing that fewer items of food were sticking to the pans. Hmmm…this made me think, and you know how much I like to think. Now, I cook at about 3 out of 10 (heat setting) and don’t have a sticking problem anymore. I have also noticed that olive oil isn’t the greatest lubricating agent out there. Margarine is much better. I actually cooked two huge pancakes this morning without issue.
So Lauren, my advice is to get the stainless steel pots and pans. I think they will last a lot longer and, for us, we won’t have to struggle anymore with cooking on pans with no non-stick coating left. For more opinions on this topic, you can visit this website.
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Posted in Family & Friends, Food & Drink | 4 Comments »
