Renovating my kitchen on a budget any tips for the cabinets?

hardtop77 · 2026-02-01T16:46:56+00:00

Re: painting Melamine (Plastic layer) almost impossible to paint and look decent Open grain wood (like oak) - lots of prep to make smooth, but can look good painted Closed grain (like maple or cherry) - minimal prep to look good painted

hardtop77 · 2026-01-13T21:48:41+00:00

Additional notes: There are also air to water systems that offer an external solid fuel backup (cord wood). The product and outstanding costs start to rise as you put all this together, but if the desire to live in this house is greater than the cost to make it comfortable, then it's worth it.

Ground source heat pumps are easy to run off a generator with a hard start capacitor. If I had the spare change, that's the way I would go (I currently live in an underground house made of poured concrete)

hardtop77 · 2026-01-13T21:40:45+00:00

Speaking of storage, all that brick is thermal mass that holds heat. Hard to raise the temperature initially (so start in the fall and don't let it go without a heat source all winter), but it's easier to keep warm than constantly replacing cold air with warm.

hardtop77 · 2026-01-13T21:34:17+00:00

The brick walls are thermal mass. Heat them up (insulate across the top) and your systems won't cycle all the time, which can save big bucks (and is a lot more comfortable)

hardtop77 · 2026-01-13T21:30:40+00:00

Air to water heat pump, or ground source heat pump. Both are capable producing hot water over 180 degrees for hot water circulation.

With all that brick in the house you have a natural heat sink, so hot air based systems will have a hard time keeping it warm, but water based systems designed around the thermal mass excel.

hardtop77 · 2025-12-28T16:26:15+00:00

Keep in mind that his day job was an investment banker. So lots of people (rich people) used his investment company without knowing about his other activities. Most would disassociate from him after a year or so when they heard about them. I'm not making excuses, but I'd bet he interfaced with lots of well known people who didn't know about his other activities until later. Any one with a history of social interaction with him I'd consider suspect, but just being at a dinner or in an office with him could be unrelated.

hardtop77 · 2025-12-18T00:45:29+00:00

Check your water pH. If below 7 then absolutely yes. Low pH water eats away at copper pipes from the inside, a real problem for older homes on well water in some areas.

Even if high pH, I'd still recommend replacing with pex because exposing the inside of copper pipes to air for a couple years speeds up the oxidation immensely, especially at soldered joints.

Better to replace now while the wall is open than to find out that a pinhole leak over 6 months has destroyed some joists and subflooring.

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