Monday, November 26, 2012

So much to do, so little time

We've recently come to the realization that we have less than a month till closing.  Which means about three weeks to pack, to plan our first moves in the new house, to coordinate our assistance, to go crazy from the stress of it all.  Right now I'm focused on the first moves.  My list so far:

Paint the boys' rooms (more if possible, but those rooms are must-do)
Install ceiling fixtures in boys' rooms
Install garage door opener
Baby-proof the cabinets
Put locks on all the windows (no falling children, thank you!)
Install gates on staircases
Install cabinets, counter, and hanging rods in laundry room
Install light-blocking mechanisms of some sort (haven't come up with a master plan yet)

Possible, if needed:
Change doorknobs (some will need locks, and I'm not sure what we get automatically)
Additional shelves in closets
Seal bathroom tile
Paint/seal garage and storage room floors


The problem with reading so many blogs is that I can no longer remember where I saw anything!  I know I've seen in several places that people have sealed the tile in their bathrooms...it sounds like a good idea, but my husband wants to know why and I don't know what to tell him.  :)  Sealing the concrete in the garage has also been mentioned, and I would imagine for similar reasons, but again I don't remember why.  I've been tossing around the idea of painting the concrete floors in the garage and basement storage areas, on the grounds that a painted surface is easier to clean.  Can anyone shed light on these topics for me?  And what else do people recommend that we haven't thought of?

20 comments:

  1. From what I've read sealing the bathroom grout helps keep dirt and stains away and helps prevent mold and mildew... http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/Home101/Clean_and_Seal_Grout_0711.aspx

    Sealing the garage floor protects it and makes it easier to clean.

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  2. Amanda, go to Maria's blog who built the Avalon and she shows a picture of the grout they used and by all means to to Ravenna's Speed (Thomas) Blog to read all about everything!! He did a wonderful tab for these types of questions. I also checked with our PM and he said RH doesn't do it but it would be to our advantage to do it. I also plan to epoxy the garage floor which is the substance recommended for the concrete flooring. Did you get your entire garage insulated because they only insulate the interior walls of the house? I know this is a non standard request in most areas. If I am not mistaken, Thomas also has a picture of the insulation you can put on the garage door too.

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    1. Shoot, I should have known to check Thomas first! He has all the good lists. :) We didn't get our whole garage insulated, not sure if we will down the road or not.

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  3. As M mentioned, sealing the grout protects it from stains and water damage. We used a spray sealer that I found at either Lowes or Home Depot. I asked the person working the area and he told me that there is a water based spray that works just as well. This is what I used and it wasn't too bad with the fumes and has seemed to hold up well. I did need more than one can for our bath as I did two applications per the instructions.

    Though I understand the desire to paint, I would suggest using flat paint. Here's why: our service manager let us know that the reason that they don't advise painting is not just that you'll have to reprint if there are repairs but that the repairs often don't take as well or look as good if you use a different finish of paint. If you using bold colors, it will also show more variance if there have been repairs. Just something to think about. He did say that if we were dying to paint that the bedrooms usually require few repairs, so those would be the safest ones to paint.

    What doorknobs are you thinking that you will need to change? All bedrooms have locking doorknobs as well as the bathrooms. I'm also curious about the window locks. I'm not sure the age of your children, but the windows come with locks and the windows themselves a pretty tight. It takes a little bit of effort to open them.

    Good luck with all the planning and packing :)

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    1. I've been going back and forth on the painting, but really it's about not having to kick the boys out of their rooms down the road while it's done. I'm glad to hear that the bedrooms have the least problems, we'll probably hold off on the rest of the house. Bold colors are the only kind I like on my walls. :)

      We definitely want locks on basement, pantry, bathroom, bedroom, linen closet...wait, that's pretty much every door! But it's also about what KIND of lock it is. For the boys' rooms and bathrooms we want the push-button kind, for the other rooms I think I'd prefer the kind that needs a key (or is at least more complicated than the push-button, because those are easy to figure out).

      For the windows, I'm referring to the baby-proofing kind of lock...my son is perfectly capable of pushing the standard levers and opening windows, and our current house has pretty stiff windows as well. The PM said the windows do not come with anything else, I asked him specifically. That might be regional variation, though.

      In case you can't tell, my son is a Houdini at getting into things that are "baby-proofed." So far the only thing he hasn't worked around are the magnetic cabinet latches. I'm hoping that lasts a while.

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    2. Thanks for the detail, I was wondering about locks and such, too.

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  4. Garage floor is a must! Think of oil spills, radiator fluid spills from a leaky car, or even concrete cracks. Epoxying the garage floor will help prevent these stains, make cleaning easier, and plus there is a speckled texture you can sprinkle on to hide cracks. PM definitely suggested sealing grout too.

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    1. Can you elaborate on this theme for me? I mentioned oil spills and the fact that it would stain, and that didn't seem to faze him. Would these fluids damage the concrete, and would these products prevent that damage? (I think the speckled texture is what he DOESN'T want, though!)

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    2. You can get a clear sealant just make sure it says it penetrates. It also helps protect concrete from salt that gets on your tires as well as oil spills or other fluids that can stain. I am heading to SW today to buy some, I can let you know what they say.

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  5. We just did our final walk through today and our PM said that you need to seal the grout... But not the tile. The grout needs sealant every year or more offer, depending on the type you use. I've had tile for years and it definitely pays to buy good quality sealer, not just the cheapest deal. I made that mistake once...the grout was dirty within months. And cleaning it with a toothbrush is NOT fun!
    As for sealing the garage floor, you want to wait til it's done curing, which could take up to 6 weeks... Our PM also said to not use stuff from Home Depot or Lowes. You need penetrating sealant and it best to get that from Sherwin Williams or a concrete company (per our PM). If your driveway gets poured this year, he said to seal it as soon as possible after it cures because standing water and salt from your tires will cause pits. Unfortunately, he opted to not have ours poured until spring because the nights are getting too cold already.
    Anyway, hope that helps.

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    1. Catherine, does it take the drive way to cure the same amount of time as the garage?

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    2. If I recall correctly, our PM said 4-6 weeks depending on the season. Takes longer to cure when ground is colder.

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    3. Ah, good tips. I'm assuming the driveway sealing is only applicable to concrete, though? We're getting asphalt, I believe.

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  6. As for flat paint, if you are doing children's rooms, you do not want flat paint. It does not clean and kids need scrubbable walls. Our painter recommends low sheen for most living areas and satin for kids rooms. If you are worried about nail pop repairs, I understand why RH says to use flat but our PM said they do their best sanding down after repairs to lessen the chances of flaws.

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    1. I can't stand flat paint. I might be able to stomach eggshell, but even that would be a stretch. And as much as my boys like to bang their dirty hands and feet on my walls, I need cleanability! :)

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  7. I was wondering some of exactly the same things.
    Our flooring rep told us that sealing the grout was part of the tile maintenance, she didn't say specifically but I think, depending on the directions you get in your area you have to do the recommended maintenance to keep your warranty. You can find brush-on or roll-on products as shown in the earlier lowes link from M, We were recommended a spray-on Dupont product that can be dry wiped from the tile so you don't have to be so meticulous in the application, and at our lowes they've just reduced their variety so the dupont sprays are now a lot of what's there. I found it helpful to watch some Youtube on the topic to get familiar with the possible processes in order to pick my product. Also, each spray can only does one small room, some do twice as much even though they're both the same # oz.

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  8. We were also told we must seal our granite.

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  9. On sealing the garage floor... I was planning on it, but when I checked out the products available at Lowes, they directions said in order to use it on bare concrete you had to use an etching product first, and all of those were cleaners too, also they required 30 days of cure before application, so I figured there was no particular advantage to trying to do it before using the garage. If anyone knows a concrete sealant that doesn't require pre treating the bare concrete, please reply and let me know!

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    1. I was at Sherwin Wiliams today and they have H&C sealers. The product I read did not say anything about etching first but it did say to apply when temps were between 50-90 degrees for at least 24 hours after application.... Which basically means we can't apply any time soon! We won't see a low in the 50's til March or April.

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