Thursday Chatter

These storms are crazy.  So glad it sounds like idoggers are OK so far.

Karen, you take care on the road!!!  Let us know when you get home.

The wind is nuts here.  I am on the 39th floor and we are swaying like crazy!  You know what they say, when the tower is a rockin...

Watching some of that footage from the latest tornadoes yesterday was really something. I feel horrible for the people who's home or towns have been devastated. It didn't look like today was going to be a whole lot better either.

Karen - as already said, please be safe and let us know when you've made it back home.

I'm thinking of buying a steam mop. I'm pretty sure we've had a thread about them, so I'll try to find that but the Eureka Envirosteamer seems to have the best reviews. About 1/2 of my house is tiled and I just don't do very well with keeping up with mopping all of it

rwbeagles

boneyjean

On Monday we finally closed on our home improvement loan.  I tell you what, your credit is sacred, because if it weren't for our great credit, I am not sure we would have closed without having to come up with more money on our own since the real estate industry is hurting so much and we even live in an area that is holding value pretty well.  Our appraisal didn't come in as high as they would have liked but they did take some of our addition into consideration which made it all work out without any extra hoops for us to jump through.  The permit applicaiton is happening today and once approved, work will start either tomorrow or Monday.  We are well on our way!  I am just hoping for it all to be finished before baby boy arrives! 

I hope everyone has a great day and stays dry and most importantly safe!!!! 

I missed a bunch? Is this the new house you bought or the one you were selling or did plans change? Sorry I'm so behind!

 

I caught Marty on FB and she's okay tho one did touch down about 45 mis from her she said. The closest we've had one was 2 mis and it was NO picnic!

Yeah, we have had some pretty close calls in the past as well...thankfully not lately!  Most are 15-30 minutes away from us.  I really need to clean our hall closet out though in case we need to take shelter there this season.

Gina, we decided about 2 months after putting our house on the market that we were making a huge mistake and decided to stay put and add on instead.  In hindsight, I am glad we went through all the motions we did because we probably never would have added on if we hadn't but it helped us to realize just how much we were giving up to gain less in so many other areas other than space.  We are in a highly sought after area that seems to be where a lot of younger families are moving these days, excellent schools for our district (the best), great location with easy access to I-20 and everything around us and a really nice little house that we have already done a ton of work to.  Plus, we were practially giving our house away!  Of course, we got an offer on our house the same weekend we were making this decision and they even came back a month later with a full price cash offer, but we were very decided by then that staying put, even if we didn't add on, was the direction we were going.  This addition will afford us the space we need to realistically stay put for another 10 years to get the kids through elementary school which is the highest rated in Fort Worth, but more likely keep us here forever.  Hubs and I both really like our house and were both sad about leaving, and have been so much more confident in our decision to add a study/extra room as well as a large master closet.  The best part is that we are essentially taking on less debt to do this than to move to another house with more space that cost more, and still needed all the work we had already done to ours.  It just made more financial sense and more sense in so many different ways.     

 Apparently 2 people died in the tornado that touched down in Barnesville, north of me.  This whole system was frightening to think about, and worse at night when you can't see a thing!  My prayers go out to those affected by it. 

Be safe, folks in the path of this crazy weather.

Cathy, we have a shark and although it works fine, I'm not as impressed overall.  It just seems to take me way longer than using a mop and bucket.  I have to be really thorough with vacuuming/sweeping prior and then sometimes go over spots more than once.  It works exactly as promised but I'm just not patient enough maybe?  It also doesn't get the grout but I wasn't expecting it to, really.  It wasn't too expensive though and we are putting hardwood downstairs (basement) that I can use it on, but not a mop and bucket, so I'm sure it will be great for that.

NicoleS

Cathy, we have a shark and although it works fine, I'm not as impressed overall.  It just seems to take me way longer than using a mop and bucket.  I have to be really thorough with vacuuming/sweeping prior and then sometimes go over spots more than once.  It works exactly as promised but I'm just not patient enough maybe?  It also doesn't get the grout but I wasn't expecting it to, really.  It wasn't too expensive though and we are putting hardwood downstairs (basement) that I can use it on, but not a mop and bucket, so I'm sure it will be great for that.

Thanks Nicole. I couldn't find the thread but went back and read the reviews from Amazon and it really sold me on the Eureka. Some women did a pretty extensive review of a bunch of the steam mops and rated them on how hot they got, how sturdy they were, etc. and the Eureka did best. I went ahead and ordered it and this one isn't too expensive either.  At about $64 and free shipping, it's worth it to me to give it a try. I'll let you know if I think it's worth the money.

Ahh! I gotcha. Interesting! We thought about adding onto our very first little place...so glad we didn't because none of the other stuff was there like you mention, good area, schools, etc none of it. We moved around then corner for a year or two then out to where we are now...and couldn't be happier.

Reno's are stressful but once they're done I think it's worth it. I hope everything goes well, on schedule and on budget for you guys and you get to enjoy the new add on's soon! :)

Gina, thanks for asking about my friend in TN.  I just talked to her and all is fine there.  They had lots of storms but no damage. 

cakana

I'm thinking of buying a steam mop. I'm pretty sure we've had a thread about them, so I'll try to find that but the Eureka Envirosteamer seems to have the best reviews. About 1/2 of my house is tiled and I just don't do very well with keeping up with mopping all of it

I have this one and have been pretty happy with it.  I was horrible about mopping before, and still am not that great, but I do use it a lot more than when I used to mop.  I like it because I don't have to put a lot of elbow grease into getting the floors clean.  I just run it over the spaces I want clean.  I was expecting the pad to look a lot dirtier every time I used it and I never think it looks that dirty, however I do feel like my floors are so much cleaner when I used it.  It could also be that my floors are ceramic tile, but they are more like a stone texture so there are a lot of grooves to get into.  The pads it comes with have pretty thick texture themselves so that may be why I don't think they look dirty enough because it is in thr grooves of the pad.  I have played around with some different dish towels etc too and it works great everytime.  I was able to get up some sap that had dried on our floor and I had been scrubbing at for years with this thing which told me it really does work.  I am still debating about whether it is safe to use on my laminate floors or not.  I know it is on hard wood, but I worry about it ruining the laminate finish and it doesnt' specifically say.   

Two things that are nice is that the water container is big so you aren't constantly refilling.  I can mop my kitchen and dining area twice (which is a pretty large space), plus both bathrooms, all on one filling.  The other is that is has a longer cord than a lot say they do.   

marty_ga

This whole system was frightening to think about, and worse at night when you can't see a thing!  My prayers go out to those affected by it. 

 Marty, I'm so glad you're ok.  Our prayers and thoughts are with those who were not as fortunate. 

You're right, it is the most frightening to be going through that at night.  When I drove across country through the central part of Kansas, there was a tornado warning happening, and knowing nothing about the area, I had to make decisions on where to go/what to do in the dark while the rain was pelting and winds were blowing and I could barely see a thing.  It's scary.  The tornados we had in Colorado were different.

Good thoughts to those who need them...

Oh good Jackie! I was thinking "wasn't Jackie JUST over in TN?" so glad all is well there with your friend. I cannot believe the death toll, it's shocking :(

Cathy, here is that thread about steam cleaners: http://forum.dog.com/forums/t/109184.aspx

rwbeagles

Ahh! I gotcha. Interesting! We thought about adding onto our very first little place...so glad we didn't because none of the other stuff was there like you mention, good area, schools, etc none of it. We moved around then corner for a year or two then out to where we are now...and couldn't be happier.

Reno's are stressful but once they're done I think it's worth it. I hope everything goes well, on schedule and on budget for you guys and you get to enjoy the new add on's soon! :)

That's the thing, we were doing the opposite.  We were going to move to a less desirable area with good schools but they didn't compare to the ones where we are.  And it is a very up and coming area.  We actually got our house pretty cheap because it needed a lot of work, and have no debt to show for the work we have done thus far so it just didn't make sense, because we are used to a certain stadard of living now and aren't in a place in our lives where we want to take years to do that work again.  Plus, right across a main street that runs through the neighborhood there is a REALLY nice neighborhood where the houses are worth twice as much.  If you weren't familiar with the area, you wouldn't be able to even differntiate, but there is a lot of older smaller homes and older larger homes all sort of in the same area which is great for property values.   

I am especially stressed being pregnant with a baby coming shortly after it is scheduled to be done, but the contractor did say last night that he gives a conservative time estimate and it may be a few weeks less which would make a big difference.  And our friends who used him and recommended him to us told us how the whole process went with him etc so I think he tries to be the least disruptive as he can to your life since you are still living there.  We will have to move out of our bedroom though since we are reconfiuring closets etc.  I don't care though, if the baby comes before we are done, at least we all have a place to sleep still!  Our guest will just have to camp out on the couch!  lol!  All I know is I am SO excited about all of the things we are doing and it will only leave a few small things to be done, other than updating our bathrooms in a few years.

 Sarah, my kitchen floor is a laminate which resembles tile, and I use the steam mop on it with no problem.  I have the Shark, and I'm fairly certain the instructions said it was fine. 

boneyjean

Cathy, here is that thread about steam cleaners: http://forum.dog.com/forums/t/109184.aspx

Thank you and thank you for sharing your opinion. It would've been a bummer if you'd have said you hated it right after I ordered it . The reviews said that the Eureka gets hotter (220 degrees?) than any of the others and in some case, twice as hot as others. I have porcelain tile in the master bath area (which is huge!) and that tile has a lot of grooves too, so I know what you're talking about. I had my tile professionally cleaned several months ago and basically they just used a steam cleaner but the difference was amazing. It's way too pricey to have done regularly, so that's what led me to thinking about buying my own.