Installing an apron front sink is not easy.

Cutting into your brand new, expensive cabinets is not for the faint of heart. Or the inexperienced. Though that did not stop us.

We learned that it also depends on the sink you buy. The first sink that we had was a Belle Foret. It was pretty much a rectangle. The outside was completely finished and smooth. My three year old saw it and asked if it was a little tub for him.

That sink ended up being too big for the sink cabinet. The lesson here is to remeasure everything even when you have “professionals” doing things for you.

We returned that sink and bought a Kohler. Not because we wanted a Kohler sink, but because it was the only sink that was in stock, in the size that we needed, in the entire tri-state area.

Oh, Kohler farmhouse sink how we hate you and your rounded and beveled edges. Sure you look pretty now that you are installed, but cutting the hole to fit the sink was a long laborious process.

The inside of the cabinet had to be fitted with wood braces and plywood to support the sink. The front of the cabinet had to be carefully sawn away. Swearing, while not technically required, seemed to be neccessary more than usual in this diy project.

My husband and I have been having a heated “discussion” about some repairs that need to be done around the house. Or I should say I think need to be done before our house goes on the market and he thinks do not. The biggest one is the roof of our front porch.

We had to jack the front porch up and replace some of the supports that had rotted. When we did this it became obvious that the roof was also in bad shape. Right in front, the roof has a pretty big dip.

My husband thinks that it costs too much to replace the porch roof. I think that not replacing it causes potential buyers to question the quality of the rest of the roof of the house. A huge, huge roof that would cost a ton of money to replace. The rest of the roof of the house is in fine shape, but seeing that part of the house needs a new roof could just be the turn off that sends people fleeing. They begin to question the roof as a whole. Studies have shown that replacing a roof, though a very straight forward job that doesn’t take too much time or disrupt life in the house too much, scares people.

So who is right?

Turns out I am. The top five home repairs and improvements that should be done before selling a house:

1) Paint walls and ceilings that need painting

2) Update flooring. Time to get rid of that smelly old carpeting. Hardwood flooring is preferred by buyers.

3) Update bathroom fixtures

4) Update kitchen. No need to get top of the line items. Buyers want things that are clean and not damaged. Look over the room with a critical eye.

5) Curb appeal. Repair or replace roof, repair cracked driveway, edge lawn, and plant some flowers.

I will be calling the contractor ASAP.

All of us who own old houses know about unlevel floors. The kind that if you spill something it immediately starts a river running to a certain corner of the room,faster than you can run for the paper towels One of my kids asked once what would happen if you spilled something on a level floor. They want to know if it would just stay there.

Our kitchen floor was very unlevel. It was also made worse my the previous owners who tried to level it, but failed miserably and installed vinyl flooring over a floor so unlevel that it undulated.

We tore off the vinyl. The plywood under the vinyl. The linoleum under the plywood. And then the plywood that was under the linoleum.

And then we wept, because it didn’t look any better and we had no idea what to do next.

Luckily we had a contractor who was working on our house and felt like giving us some much needed advice.

We found the high point in the floor and using a long level attached firring strips to the floor. That part was not that revolutionary to us, we had done things like that before. The problem we usually faced was the spaced between the firring strips left too much bounce in the subfloor, especially if you planned on tiling.

Our contractor, and the flooring expert who was out at our house to refinish some hardwood floor agreed, told us to use the thinset mortar to fill in the spaces between the firring strips. For whatever reason neither of them are thrilled with the stuff that is sold as leveling compound. I am not really sure if there is a problem with the leveling compound perse, or if they just prefer their old school methods.

Once this dried we laid our plywood subfloor right on top.

I don’t think that we have another floor in our home that is as level or sturdy.

Tired of granite, marble, soapstone? Looking for a new high end countertop for your kitchen that will be different than what you see in the other houses in your subdivision? Look no further.

Metallo Arts has custom made pewter and zinc countertops that are stunning, and I am not just talking about the cost, which can be up to $400 per linear foot.

I have seen other metals used as countertops, but none of them have the detail and patina that pewter and zinc do. It would give any kitchen an old world feel, unlike some of the more shiny metals like stainless steel which are decidedly modern in their aesthetic. The website calls it living metal and points to its antibacterial properties as a selling feature. Though, I think that most people who are attracted to these counters are not really worried about its antibacterial properties.

While the price of these counters puts them out of the reach of the average homeowner, I could see spending the money to use on an island or other small accent area in the kitchen.

Replacing your roof is expensive. Expensive to the tune of 15-25 thousand dollars, depending on the square footage of your roof.

The sun baking on your roof is the number one culprit for roofing materials to begin to fail.

If you have a leak in your roof, there is no reason to begin panicking. Most leaks can be repaired without having to replace the entire roof.

However, a roof needs to be replaced when the shingles have become so dried and brittle that they are no longer keeping moisture out. The rain water gets under the shingles and causes damage tothe joists holding up the roof. It is more of a slow death.

The front of our home gets direct sunlight all day long. Luckily the roof over the main portion of our house does not face the front of the house. The only section that is constantly baked is the front porch, which is big enough. This is the main reason that main support (shown in a previous post) of the front porch rotted. The roofing material cracked and pulled away from the flashing. And the rain began to leak inside of the porch roof. Until the porch began to sag, it wasn’t readily visible. Yes, if we had gone up onto the porch and inspected we would have noticed it, but we were too distracted by other, more obvious, things.

Signs you might need to replace your roof:

1) Age. A roof ususally lasts 20 years, this can be considerably less due to extreme weather conditions.

2) Missing or broken shingles. If some of them are visibly damaged, then others are on their way there also.

3) Roof is exposed to extreme direct sunlight, build up of lots of snow and ice during the winter, or frequently experiences hail.

4) The condition of the beams in the attic or ceiling walls.

5) Roof sagging between rafters. This indicates that the roof decking is also compromised and needs replacing.

Even though the cost of replacing a roof is high, it is better to replace (or repair if possible) than to let it go. The damage that a bad roof can inflict upon a home is staggering and it will end up costing far more in the long run.

I think I need a new category. Previous owners - what were they thinking.

I imagine it went something like this:

“Gee that support beam holding up the front of the porch and the porch above it is rotting and sagging. I have a great idea. Let’s just cut it out and put in new support beams.”

“Ooops, it would appear that I cut the new beams too short. One of them doesn’t even reach the support post.”

“Oh well, the trim board will hold it all in place. Right?”

And the answer is that yes, it did hold it all in place for a short time.

We jacked the beam back up and replaced it. All the trim work had to be replaced. The rotted boards removed and replaced. It was a fairly large undertaking. But now it is straight and level. Probably the straightest and most level thing inthe entire house.

Just what are all those different parts of a window called? Do the terms sash, grill, and muntin have you confused? You are not alone.

Most of us are confused because there are numerous names for each part of the window.

Jamb: Interior sides of window frame
Apron: Piece of wood trim below the window sill
Sash: a single pane of glass enclosed in a frame of wood, or can be divided into multiple panes or lights, each divided by a several mullions
Rails: horizontal pieces of wood in the sash
Stiles: Vertical pieces wood in the sash
Mullion: vertical piece dividing a window
Muntin/Grill:Decorative window dividers that either snap on the interior or are sandwiched between the glass. True divided light windows have individual pieces of glass and are typically only found in older homes.

Sill: horizontal piece forming the bottom of the window frame
Casing/Trim: decorative wood that surrounds the window frame
Pane: glass

Double hung windows: windows with two nearly identical sashes. The top one moves down and the lower one moves up

New houses have double paned windows that work as an entire unit with air in between that helps insulate your home. If you break on of these types of windows, the unit fails and it needs to be replaced by a professional. It is very costly — just ask me, I had to bring one of these types of windows to the repair shop a few weeks ago after one of my children broke it.

In old homes, however, the windows are single panes of glass that can be easily, and inexpensively, repaired by the home owner.

Step One:

You want to remove the window and lay it down on a flat surface to work.

Step Two:

Remove lose glazing, carefully.

Watch out for the glazing points under the glazing. You might want to try and salvage these. What are glazing points? They hold the glass in place in the frame. You can buy them at your local neighborhood hardware store.

Step Three:

Replace the window into the frame. Use the glazing points to hold the glass in place. You will want to use at least two glazing points per side, space them about 8 inches apart and 2 inches in from the corner.

Place the glazing point flat on the glass with the point facing the frame. Press it into the wood frame with a putty knife or glazing tool.

Step Four:

Buy real window glaze. Don’t attempt to put your windows in place with caulk.

We use DAP33 which is an oil based product. You will want to warm this up in your hands to get it to right temperature so that it is pliable. We have found the best method for doing this is to roll the product in our hands. Or get your kids involved and have them squish it like playdoh.

Roll the glazing compound in your hands to form a 3/8-in.-diameter snake. Lay this down around the perimeter of the glass.

Step Five:

Use a small putty knife to press the compound firmly into place against the frame and the glass.

Step Six:

After the putty is in place, you will want to go back over it with a long even stroke. This will smooth out the glazing and enable you to remove any of the excess.

Step Seven:

Viola!

As a note, it takes a long time for the glazing to dry, as in two weeks or so. You need to know this before you try to move the windows and wrap your fingers around the top and imbed them into the glazing, ruining your hard work. You will also want the glazing to dry if you are planning on painting.

Step Eight:

You can reinstall your windows at anytime. This particular window is in the attic of our home.

Gone are the days of kids hanging out in the dark paneled basement. More and more parents are turning to designers to create a space for their children that is friendly, inviting, and most of all will keep their children at home. Parents are turningto designers to help them create these rooms, or in some cases elaborate indoor-outdoor cabanas.

I saw evidence of this when we were looking at new construction. Every single house had a second dedicated family room for the kids and a media room especially for watching movies.

In a recent article in the NYTimes,

Julia Buckingham Edelmann, a Chicago interior designer, said that over the last few years she has seen a large increase in clients who want to decorate and design spaces for their teenage children, and a concurrent decline in interest in the multipurpose great room. “There are dedicated spaces for everything” these days, she said — the home gym, the home spa — “so it makes sense that there is the teen space.”

I think that the point is aptly made that what passes for “play” these days for kids is really structured activities that look a lot like work. And so during their down time, kids, just like their parents, want to hang at home with their friends. Gas prices and safety issues have effectively cut out the drive around in the car all night looking for friends. Not to mention that through the advent of cell phones and texting, kids are constantly connected to their peers anyway. They don’t have as much of a burning desire to see them face to face.

The whole movement makes sense to me. We all want our teenagers to bring their friends to our house so we can get to know them. We all feel that we will supervise better than the other parent. Mostly, we don’t want to have to drive them all over Hell’s Half Acre. I want one of those rooms with the pool table, the 100 inch television, the XBox and whatever else in my house. Maybe once my kids go to bed for the night I could sneak in there and play.

It has recently come to my attention that I have been neglecting the grout in my tile floors. Really, I have always assumed that the slight discolorations here and there were character. Not so, a friend has told me. She has her grout professionally cleaned every six months or so.

Unless your grout is white, you don’t want to use chlorine bleach as it will discolor the grout, resulting in a mess that is worse than before.

Before you begin your scrubbing, you will want to vacuum your floor thoroughly. Then get out your scrub brush. Toothbrushes, which are what most of us scrub small areas with, are too soft. Wire brushes are too stiff and can gouge the grout if you are not extremely careful. Use a regular stiff bristled brush for the job.

I researched my options online. Vinegar and water was the first suggestion that I encountered. It proved to be ineffective.

Baking soda was next. I made it into a paste and scrubbed with a scrub brush. It worked well, but I am not sure that it worked any better than soap and water. My grout looks fine. It doesn’t look as good as new, but it looks perfectly fine. I mean you wouldnot come over to my house and and look down at my floor and gasp with horror.

The next thing that I read about was oxygen bleach. I haven’t tried it yet, but think the next time I am in my local flooring store I will pick some up. The grout in my mudroom floor is looking like it has seen better days. It would be a good test of the effectiveness of the product.

The other interesting tidbit that I ran across while researching was that you shouldn’t seal the grout. This goes completely against everything I had always heard or done. Basically the thinking says that if you seal the grout the stains that get through will be even harder to remove because the stain treatment can’t penetrate the sealer. Not sure if I buy that or not.