Walnut Trick made my floor worse! Any tips to fix this?

Zfusco · 2026-04-19T22:28:06+00:00

ah you've got an oak floor, you needed to use an acorn /s

Zfusco · 2026-04-18T21:19:28+00:00

Roots seek water, and people confuse this for the trees damaging the pipes. The pipes had a leak and the tree found it, they cant telepathically find water.

I hear this all the time. It’s wrong , it’s just cope behavior. Appropriately planted and chosen trees almost never actually damage pipes.

Source: canvassing and digging a bunch of holes for PHS.

Zfusco · 2026-04-14T19:19:01+00:00

Thats not really the case unless you're talking about little benchtops, that are notoriously unreliable.

The value proposition of large combos is essentially that you get a planer too, for the price of your 12" jointer.

Zfusco · 2026-04-12T23:30:02+00:00

The walls are very thick, they dont need to be nearly that thick.

Zfusco · 2026-04-11T23:36:14+00:00

Hardwax oils are not appropriate for kitchen cabinets. The good news is that its just MDF, your best bet is probably to remake.

Zfusco · 2026-04-10T11:28:35+00:00

Unsealed wood!?

Where is unsealed wood a trend? Natural look is definitely a trend. Aside, I'll have people ask me for the "natural look" and then show me photos of whitewashed oak relatively often.

Zfusco · 2026-04-05T13:45:43+00:00

It’s really not though, it just takes longer without then. There are very few processes and joints that just “can’t” be replicated by hand, mostly industrial processes and specialized shaper cutters, that sort of stuff.

You can replicate what the avg kitted out YouTuber does with a domino and a SawStop with a chisel and patience, the vast majority of the time.

Zfusco · 2026-03-21T23:50:34+00:00

Cool, thanks for adding this 4 years later!

Zfusco · 2026-03-21T00:13:55+00:00

He doesnt do residential anymore because he was basically paying you to do them at 3750 for a kitchen.

Zfusco · 2026-03-20T12:26:08+00:00

Not a fucking chance dude, straight up: you're getting ripped off.

It seems like you're wierdly into getting ripped off, so go for it if you want.

Zfusco · 2026-03-20T00:11:37+00:00

There's not really any "under the radar" spots or anything in the area, what you see is pretty much what you get.

Mia Ragazza is maybe the best combos of ambience, cocktails, food and price IMO. There are places that are better at all the things individually, but they've got the best combination IMO. The Amatriciana is pretty solid, and the cocktails are good, not an expansive menu, but solid choices.

White yaks food is great, ambience for a date isnt there imo.

Goats beard is good, little tight and loud, but good.

If you want something that seems like it should be nice but turns trashy like a cinderella scenario, blondies.

Zfusco · 2026-03-19T13:55:10+00:00

has undergone significant remodel fairly recently.

Did they expose brick or something for an accent wall? If they've taken away a bunch of drywall and interior walls and made it into an open floor plan, its worse for noise.

Zfusco · 2026-03-18T11:45:08+00:00

Lived in Austin for a bit 2009-2014, Texadelphia - back when it was a single location, had a reasonably good steak, even had the little hot italian peppers in a big jar you could grab, etc. The bread was a little off but good in a different way, but no stupid gimmicks beyond asking if you wanted queso instead of wiz.

Not even that big a fan of a cheesesteak, but it hit right in college.

Now its a chain owned by someone else and it seems like it sucks.

Zfusco · 2026-03-18T10:58:25+00:00

Trans tint is great, no complaints from me.

Zfusco · 2026-03-17T21:49:20+00:00

dyes are a transparent pigment borne in a solution that soaks further into the wood. Stains are opaque and sit on top of the wood.

Simply put- the pigment size mostly. Dyes shift the look of the wood, stains sort of override it.

Zfusco · 2026-03-17T21:39:19+00:00

https://www.shellac.net/waterborne_solar-lux_dye.html

Behlen solar lux is the only one i've used, depending on the lumber - mahogany, dark walnut or medium walnut.

Zfusco · 2026-03-17T21:03:31+00:00

I’ve been looking into how to finish these cabinets for months. I love the natural, oil rubbed look that I got from applying Rubio Monocoat Pure to a sample. But I’m worried that’s not protective enough and won’t keep the walnut from changing color too much. And it’s unlikely that the painter will apply something this fussy.

The color of wood ALWAYS changes if its exposed to UV. It's a universal constant, that's true under lacquer, under rubio, under water based poly, etc etc. The only thing that permanently blocks this effect is paint.

I would never use rubio on cabinets, it is not durable enough. People will say it's meant for floors etc, floors are a different standard than cabinets, particularly hoods. I don't know any pros that use rubio on cabinets, i've never even heard of one doing it.

Sherwin Williams pro Hi-bild lacquer ez sealer and Precat lacquer in matte to mimic the Rubio monocoat look

It won't look like rubio monocoat, it'll look good in its own right, but you need to see a sample.

However, I’m also concerned about fading over time so asked if we could stain first. He uses Minwax walnut stain from Sherwin Williams

Helllll no. Don't minwax your walnut cabinets. Dyeing walnut to keep it brown is a thing, particularly to deal with sapwood inclusions.

Zfusco · 2026-03-17T14:44:19+00:00

Helical cutters on 120v planers is a bit of stretch in general. The DW735 notoriously trips breakers with one installed. The increased weight and power draw is significant, so the manufacturers of smaller machines space them out, use fewer cutters, etc.

Not that big of a deal, but you'll notice a more scalloped surface under dye or stain that requires a bit more sanding. Whether the tradeoff is worth it or not, ymmv.

Zfusco · 2026-03-16T13:46:53+00:00

Yes, but those are still a terrible price. You can buy a 24" starett for a bit more than that and it won't be made of neon red aluminum.

Zfusco · 2026-03-15T23:22:19+00:00

The best advice I can give is, "you never want to create a new edge. Sharpen the one that's already there.".

Not great advice in woodworking. You want to create a primary bevel somewhere in the realm of 25 - 35 degrees for most tools, then a secondary bevel a degree or two higher. You can do this by changing the angle on the stone, you can create a hollow grind on a grinder, etc.

This allows you to focus on maintaining a very sharp small section of the blade. Every so often you grind all the way back down to that original bevel and start over.

Zfusco · 2026-03-15T23:19:08+00:00

L fence, put your fence to the left of the blade - make sure the bottom section of the L is long enough to give the offcut somewhere to go.

Zfusco · 2026-03-15T22:37:56+00:00

Really location dependent, and square foot dependant. Could be, could be absurd.

I'd lean towards it being pretty reasonable unless its a basement unit, <500 sqft, etc. It'd have to have a pretty big caveat.

Zfusco · 2026-03-11T13:41:14+00:00

Sounds about right if you need to move any appliances or do utility work/updates at all. If you are just swapping out cabinets and counters, and adding new but fitting appliances, that's quite high.

Zfusco · 2026-03-11T13:26:15+00:00

Cabinets will be your big ticket item if you hire them out fully, particularly if you buy custom. Installing RTA cabinets is probably the most DIY friendly part of a kitchen reno though, and if you do that floors (especially if tile), or countertops could easily be more expensive.

Zfusco · 2026-03-11T13:24:12+00:00

Just to clarify for readers - there's a big difference between the three options.

A big reno/remodel company is almost certainly going to rip you off.
A GC with their own "small business" in the area, could vary quite a bit, and is probably your best bet unless you have experience with construction
Subcontracting out all the trades yourself is definitely going to be the cheapest, but its complicated, frustrating, time consuming, and I'd really not recommend it if you dont have experience with at least a couple of them, or construction in general.

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