My oak flooring was installed at a 45 degree angle. In the hallway and around the island in the kitchen the boards are fairly short. Is it possible to use a drum sander in these areas when refinishing? I know sanding with the drum sander should be with the grain of the wood but that wouldn't be possible in these areas. I'm thinking I'll need to do these with a smaller belt sander but I'd like to hear some opinions on this.
I tried to install a newel post and drilled a 5/8" hole 6" deep into a hardwood floor. It went through multiple layers: a hardwood floor covering, OSB, and 2x8. The problem is that the hole isn't straight. It's off by 5 degrees approximately from 90 degrees. What's the best way to fix this?
Need someone to replace me for a 1 bedroom in a 4 bedroom townhouse in the Inner Mission area with 3 other roommates! My roommates are great, I'm just moving in with my boyfriend. - Lease is renewed September 1st, but flexible - Contract is for a year (Ends Aug. 31 2024) - Rent: $1050 (not including utilities) - Deposit: $1500 (1.5 times rent) - Square feet ~1600 sq. feet ROOM: - 1 window, super roomy (can fit a queen bed comfortably) - Super high ceilings - Small closet with a door OVERALL HOUSE: - Lovely hardwood floors except in tiled bath and kitchen - Open Kitchen has wide granite counters - Tremendous NATURAL light and BRIGHT - New Bathroom - Updated Kitchen w/ dishwasher - Street parking is actually very easy from my experience; I have no parking pass - No pets allowed (but they have a hamster named Mimosa) AREA: - 2 laundromats (across the street and other side of the block) - Very close to nearby public transport - tech shuttles and bus lines - Close to Bart/freeways (closest bart is 24th and Mission) - Close to many cafes, taquerias, bars, restaurants - Grocery outlet is a 9 min walk away, Trader Joe's is a 20 min bus ride away - Resides right above a convenience store ROOMMATES: - All girls house - Don't mind noise at all - Clean, sweet, and friendly - 25 year old works 7am - 4pmish M-F - 21 year old goes to school at SF State and works at a coffee shop in the mornings - 18 year old works late afternoon - night at a restaurant and goes to school at City College of SF CONTACT (Instagrams): - Caitlynn (me): @ bbyhandzz (9163004918 is my number) - Neida: @ neiduhhhh - Tanya: @ tany2k - Amy: @ amyymab
I fell down an entire staircase and all the momentum buildup came to a complete stop when my head hit the hardwood floor at the bottom. It formed a big bump and went down after a week or so but it never really left. Ever since then, there’s been a little bump there. Luckily, it’s only noticeable if you touch it. Should I be concerned?
Part 26:
https://www.reddit.com/Viidith22/comments/141nvay/my_roommate_is_slenderman_part_26/ (Terry)
I awoke an hour later, brain pulsing. I was in the back of the van laying on the floor, “The prodigal son returns, welcome back you crazy son of a bitch!” Tucker laughed.
“Took on a god face to face. Pretty sure the only one with bigger balls than that would be Abraham. Though, balls didn’t save you.” Doc said, looking up from his book.
“Took the last core I had, but at least I can say I’ve killed a god now.” Tucker snickered with a smirk.
“Concentrated light, can’t say it’s what I would have thought of, but it was effective.”
“Yeah, wasn’t effective portably until we came across some anti-matter from a crashed–”
“What?” I tried sitting up but failed.
“Right.” He stood, propping up the left row of seats, and pulled out a black case. Flicking it up he aimed it down at me, “Anti-matter annihilation laser. Think you can piece it together.” There were about five lenses that each shrunk, narrowing the barrel to a tip. Everything but the lenses was coated in a vanta black paint, “Each lens reduces the energy state while also–”
“I couldn’t give less fucks if I pulled them out of Doc’s patients. You killed him with that thing?”
“Yup, his head’s probably gettin' breathed in from the wildlife out here.” He clicked the case shut, put it back in place, and sat.
“And the data is intact?”
There was a brief pause, “While it is, I feel it’s important to be more concerned about yourself. You have major skull fractures, a concussion, you’re missing your face flesh, your back had to be clotted to avoid you bleeding out, and you are severely low on blood. You should be sleeping right now.”
“I just, I had to know.”
“Knowing you, you’ll be back on your feet in–”
I passed out again before he finished talking.
---------------------------------------------
When I awoke, I was on my bed, Sepratine was applying herbs to my face, “Ho–”
“16 hours, Doctor Sadist and Rachel are busy. You really ought to be more cautious, this isn’t one of your video games.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. You heard from Jones?”
“No, apparently he passed out at the wheel after he parked. The Sadist said they’d be out for a while. He’s having Rachel look them over once she finishes a project she’s working on.”
“Shouldn’t you be helping her?”
She put her mortar down and sighed, “Flip onto your side, I need to replace the bandages on your back, then you need to eat.”
She finished tending to me in silence, then went to cook. The whole time, I just wanted to get up and finish everything. But even if I did, the data wasn’t fully recovered until it was sifted through. So I resigned to wait until the detective got back to me.
Sepratine came back a while later with a plate toppling over itself and a glass of water. Not to get too detailed, but both were empty in a matter of… 30 seconds or so? “Now get back to sleep. Your face should be back to normal in another day, and your skull is still fusing back together.”
“Let me know when Jones has the info.” She stood, taking my plate and cup.
“Someone will I’m sure. Get some rest, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t. You were reckless enough… Whatever, goodbye.”
-------------------------------
When I came to again, my face was dry, the medicine Sepratine had put on felt like a cracked desert, leaving a green crust behind. I stood, heading to the bathroom to wash my face. I took my meds, then removed the bandages from my back. Heading back to my room, I grabbed my phone, seeing several missed calls and texts. I immediately opened the message from Jones.
Call me when you wake up, I’ve got it, you’re not gonna believe where it is. The phone rang four times, “Eh? Terry, that you?” He yawned.
“Yeah, what’s the deal?”
“You remember when you first met me?”
“No.”
“Well, I was headed to a town down in southeastern Oregon, one that wasn’t on any maps. And you’re not gonna believe this shit, but Tenyit Lane, the place I went, that’s where he’s being held.”
“So you know where I need to go?”
“Yeah, the place is a hot zone for organizations. There’re at least seven that I’ve recorded since I first went, and that’s not including–”
“And?”
“Well, point is, there’s security everywhere, people are gonna be everywhere, and the police and government officials are gonna be too busy counting bodies to care about one missing person.”
“Send me the coordinates.” I took a picture of my wall, putting the phone back against my ear.
“I’ll do you one better, I still have an old map to the place, I’ll send it over.”
“I don’t care what you say, I am paying you after this.”
I was already out the door, wearing nothing but a hoodie and sweatpants. I started the car, threw on EDM, and headed down to find Joseph.
------------------------------
A grey smoke rose in the night air above the town. I had a good ten miles left on the empty road before getting to the one stop on the entire strip. As I climbed the mountain, I turned my windshield wipers up more and more. The road was coated in a light crust of white, the speckles dropping ever so carefully in the light wind.
As I rounded a bend, I saw a flicker of headlights through the pine trees. Rounding the next one, I saw the lights again, this time coming around their own turn, before heading in my direction. The snow picked up as I met the gaze of the other driver, it was her.
I screeched to a stop, whipping a U-turn that nearly sent me into the rails. I stopped, having noticed her car was pulled over to the railing too. I jumped out of my car, running over to her, and grasping her in my arms, “I thought I’d killed you Tresca!”
Setting her down, my brain fully processed its surroundings. The person in front of me was Joseph, he was a bit shocked, but the rest of him reminded me of how he looked when we first met, “I-I’m sorry, I just–”
“Look, Terry. Honestly, it’s great to see you, great to have clear evidence I’m not crazy, great to know all those fun ass memories at the apartment were real. But…”
“I’m just so glad you’re okay.”
He smirked, but his eyes were hollow, “Yeah, okay…”
“I mean, you’re alive though!”
“Terry, this isn’t going to work.” He looked up, “I can’t ignore what you said when you saw me.” He looked back at me, nervous, “I read up on you, it was intrusive, and I’m sorry for that, but I can’t keep being a replacement. I need to live my own life, I need to get away from all this, I…” His eyes filled, but refused to streak, “I want to live a life away from all of this. I know a normal life isn’t really an option anymore. But I still wanna do what I can.”
“You… read my files?” I glanced at my phone, thinking about the picture I’d taken before leaving, “Which ones?”
“Your old life, hers too. Once I got ahold of my files, I decided to do some digging. I was me, but not I guess, I had to get an understanding of who the people I used to know were. I know about Tresca, I remember your conversation with Maerod.”
“I…”
He waited for a while, a few cars flew by us before he took the rope, “I will never regret the time we had. We had fun, we had some adventures and even a few emotional tipping points. Without you and everyone else, I’d probably have a slab of a ruck on top of me now. I don’t feel like dying anymore, but I also don’t feel like living. I’m sorry, but… I need to find my life out there.” He threw his arm up, gesturing around, “But if I stay with you, I’ll never get that chance.”
I tried to maintain myself, for seemingly the first time, taking Joseph as a person in. His overgrown brown hair, his blue eyes, broad shoulders, bland outfit. “You look different from before.”
“I feel different.” He shot a breath out his nose.
I staggered, “Let me grab something from my car before you go. You mind coming with?”
He nodded, gazing up at the grey sky. Several more cars flew past us as we made our way to mine. When we got there, I pulled out a small bag,
I reached into my car, pulling out the contract, “This was the guy that placed a hit on your wife. He’s dead now.”
A car flew by, lighting up his face to reveal his frozen face, “Y-you mean it? Who killed him?” He snatched the paper from my hand, looking over the entire sheet.
“The detective put on her case, the original guy is my understanding. Goes by Jones, he’s a P.I. now.”
“Really? Where is he?”
I cleared my throat, “You su–”
“Positive, where is he?”
I rubbed my arm, but looking at his hopeful face, I caved, “Apex Investigation Office, downtown Albany.”
He hugged me, “Thank you… Seriously, this…” He cried into my stomach for a time before pulling back and recomposing himself. Rubbing his nose dry, he turned around.
“Wait!”
He stopped, turning his head to me, “Yeah?”
I held onto my phone, debating to show him the picture or not. We stood still as two more cars flew by, followed by one with sirens. I pushed my phone back into my pocket, “Where are you going?”
He turned back to his car, holding up the contract, “To repay a debt. You’ll get yours too one of these days.”
Sitting in his car, he drove off without another word.
I sat in mine, pulling the phone from my pocket, and opened the gallery. I had one recent picture, it was one of the walls in my room, one with several posters. All of which were had drawn anime style portraits of Tresca. “Maybe Abraham was right, and maybe, Joseph has the right idea too.”
----------------------------------------
(Joseph)
Epilogue:
I dried my face as I left him behind, unsure of what to do first. I sat with music blasting for the first hour, mind flashing through the events like a slideshow. When I eventually came across a convenience store. It was a 24/7 place, the kind that had hot dogs on the roller for days at a time, and the only people that worked there couldn’t get a job anywhere else.
I pulled into a parking space and picked my phone off the passenger seat. I’d already decided I’d go to the detective’s place last. But I’d never been to Rachel’s before, and I didn’t remember her phone number. “What if I?”
I dialed a number, letting it ring a good five times when “Chad’s Cads how can I help you?”
“God, tell me that isn’t the name of your shop.”
“Joseph? Is that you bro?”
“Yeah, it’s been a while, good to hear from you.”
“Where the hell have you been man!? Terry’s out look–”
“It’s all sorted now. I don’t mean to be callous, I promise I’ll catch you up to speed later. But do you have Rachel’s number?”
“Oh, yeah. Everything good dude?”
“Yeah, she apparently told Terry to have me see her when he found me, so…”
“Oh for sure.”
“So can you send me her number?”
“Oh right, yeah. Good luck bro, come by when you have time. I wanna see how strong you are.”
“Sounds good Chad.” I hung up, smiling. A minute or so later, I had her number.
“Joseph?” Her voice was smooth.
“Hey Rachel I…”
“Chad messaged me.”
“Gotcha, Terry said you wanted to see me?”
“Yes, there’s a lot you need to know biologically if you want to pass for human.”
I sighed, rubbing my side, “Where should I meet you?”
“I’ll send you the location, Sepratine will be here too.”
“Oh, yaaaaaay.” She was alright, but she always had a whole bag of chips on her shoulder.
“See you soon. Oh, and did you happen to feel an aching in your right side at any point?”
“More than you know.”
“How frequently?”“Well, I was starved for a few days at one point, aside from that though I’d say a couple times a week if not more?”
“...Was that the entire time you were gone?”
“Not entirely sure, the first month or so is still kind of hazy, but since I was moved into town yeah.”
“...Okay, just… See you when you arrive.”
Click “I thought Doc was supposed to be the cryptic one of the bunch,” I smirked, a tear forming in my eye. “Goddamnit.” I wiped it, clicking the address she’d sent me, and heading on my way. Only after I picked up some gas station food.
-----------------------------------
“Oh my.”
“It’s me.” I did jazz hands, wearing a faux smile.
“Your soul is much… larger than I anticipated. Come inside, I’m sure you’re hungry.”
A whiff of cedar and sweetgrass slapped me in the face, “Wow, that’s… pungent.”
“Apologies, my sense of smell isn’t very strong, and Sepratine is….”She took a sharp intake of breath, closing the door behind me.
Looking around, the house seemed pretty standard, aside from the greenhouse in the living room, “So uh, what’s this you got goin here?”
“Take your shoes off please,” She did the same, “Creating chemicals from what’s in the air is taxing, it’s more convenient to just have the plants you need on hand.” She headed toward a door down the hall, “My equipment is downstairs.” She opened the door and I followed.
The air was a solid 80 or so, with humidity so thick it was like snorkeling, pollen so strong it activated allergies I hadn’t had since I was five. “Quite the quaint home you have here.”
“Oh right, sorry again.”
“No, you’re good, I’m just gonna need a few boxes of tissues is all.”
“Oh Jo–Joseph, my gods, you’re… wow. Different is a word, what happened to your soul?” Sepratine was turned to us, standing in front of a table with apparently every plant unknown to man of it.
“That’s kinda why I’m here.”
“Oh right, don’t mind me, just running a few experiments, Rachel has the perfect climate down here for a few plants.”
“Alright Joseph, hop on the bed.” Rachel stood in front of a wooden table, I couldn’t help but notice vials and jars stacked neatly on a counter that circled half the room, as well as a set of tables that held assorted plants with different lights hovering over them.
I sat on the table, “You need me to turn my head and cough?”
“No, first I need you to eat. It’ll be easier if you’re digesting food.”
She headed to a small closed-off area, then came back, plate in hand. Mostly just leafy greens. Maybe some kind of bean too?
“Go ahead, this should pass through you at just the right speed for me to catch it.” She turned, heading to another room, “Oh right, when you’re done I’ll need you to take off your shirt and lie down.” Then she headed through a door.
A few minutes passed and I finished the salad. Putting my plate on an open section of a counter and throwing my shirt to the side, I laid down, “Sepratine, you know anything about Vampirism?”
“Only rumors, they’re rare, so you’re the only one I’ve met.”
“Rarer than what you are?”
“Dryads are uncommon for sure. But given my personal experience, I’d say you’re one of a kind.”
“Awwwe, thank you.” I said sarcastically, “But is that all? They’re rare?”
“You’re here for Rachel because they’re rare. She’s met something like five, even got to do a lab experiment on one of them, saw how their stem reacted to stimulus. She’s the closest thing to an expert I can think of.”
Rachel made her entrance with the smack of the door on the wall, “Alright, don’t worry Joseph, I’m not going to cut you open today, I just want to see how large your stem has gotten. Based on your soul, you might be around half to ¾ vampire. But the only way to tell for sure is to see the size of your stem.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask, but everyone else I’ve met who knows about it has been a psychopath. What’s a stem?”
“Oh, kind of like a parasite is my current understanding.” She picked up a large metal plate, pressed it against my stomach, and used a metal rod to probe my right side.
“Come again?”
“Well… it’s more like a symbiotic relationship? Consider it another organ, only it’s wrapped around a portion of your large intestine. A full vampire has them fused, and it becomes an addition. But a partial, you can still see where they are two entities.”
“So you can cure me?”
She scoffed, “No.” Putting the plate and rod away, she pulled out a roundish object and squeezed some kind of gel onto the end before rubbing it against my right side. “If it’s removed, both entities die. You’re a symbiote now, you each rely on each other. In return for giving it nutrients, it gives you cells that allow you to regenerate anything short of half or more of it. They’re akin to stem cells, but enhanced. It extracts your DNA and replicates what it needs to to keep you alive for as long as possible. That’s the working theory I currently have anyway.”
“So I have a parasite in me?”
“A symbiote, you two aid each other, there are only benefits for each of you. Not to mention the enhanced soul… which I’m not entirely sure what causes that yet. Though the more vampirized you are, the more spiritual power a vampire seems to have. Considering that’s how it’s been with the last five, it’s only an assumption. But if that is the case, I am curious about the correlation.” She put the device down, handing me a towel, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to see the images I got back. Time to see how far along you are.”
Patting me on the stomach, she walked out of sight, and I wiped my side down. Sitting up, I hopped off the table, picked up my shirt, throwing it back on. Then, it was dark.
---------------------------
My eyes shot open, I was upright on the hardwood table, eyes darting around for the threat.
“Relaaaax, you’re fine.” Rachel and Sepratine stood beside me, and I loosened up, wired as hell.
Standing, I regained my balance, “Which one of you knocked me out?”
“Neither.” Rachel said, offended, “You fainted, you had several nutrient deficiencies, and call me crazy, but I don’t think you were willing to hear what I had to say.”
I mulled it over, a burst of panic surging when I thought about the thing inside me. But I managed to push it back into its little jar. Which I promptly placed back on the shelf with the rest of my emotions. “I’m fine.”
“Yes, now. But I have to be honest with you, the ultrasound came back more worrying than I expected. You’re only about ¼ so far. Your soul is far larger than any of my calculations suggested.”
“Right on.”
“Joseph, you have far more potential than I expected. While I advise safety, occasionally fasting may build up your soul to around as strong as Smudge.”
“Cool beans.”
“The issue is that you have an extremely high-functioning stem. You’ll need extremely nutrient-dense foods with extremely specific nutrients to maintain yourself as you are, let alone grow stronger. I’ll have what you need, but if you don’t want to go on a killing spree every few days, you’ll need an extremely strict diet.”
“How much is that gonna run me?”
She sighed, rubbing her eyes, “Quite frankly, I’ll charge you what it costs me. I don’t want you going on a murder frenzy. You’re my friend, but that’d also guarantee your death. As not only an alchemist, but a scientist, I can’t allow that. I’ll charge you at the end of each month. How does that sound?”
“Cool, do you have an estimate?”
“Joseph I feel you are hearing me but not listening.”
“No, I’ve got it.”
“This will be in the ballpark of 1500 dollars a month, and that’s alongside normal meals. Which should help you not only maintain but build up. The pain will feel like you’re being digested if you get to the point of dangerous starvation. Now, repeat everything I just said back to you.”
When I did from start to finish, she rubbed her face, “Alright, you can pick up your supply weekly from here. For now, though, I have something that should hold you over until next Friday, when I’ll have the actual supplies.”
She helped load a few milk crates into my overstuffed car, and when I went to start my car, she gestured for me to roll the window down. “Yes?”
“There are places you can get help you know?”
“I think I can handle the vampirism thing.”
“Joseph…” She stared at me, tugging at my bucket of guilt, tipping it ever so slightly.
“I’ll be fine. Thank you Rachel.” I flicked the button up and the window went with it as I pulled out of her driveway in the suburbs of West Salem.
-----------------------------
“Joseph?” The familiar guy behind a desk just across from me stared, eye agape.
“D-Detective? What uh… what happened to your erm… you?”
“Long story. What happened to you?”
“Long story.”
He chuckled, “Guess you were in that town for a while. What are you doing here?”
I held up the contract, “I’ve got a debt I needa pay.”
-------------------------------------
Author’s Note:
Hey guys, 4Shot speaking. Holy FUCK guys. This has been my longest-running series, it’s been 3.5 years in the making. Hell, it was the series that got me into this whole writing shebang. It feels weird to be saying goodbye to Joseph, given this series has been with me since the start. I’ve seen my ups alongside this story, and those who read or listened to the poker scene in my detective series will know I’ve had my downs.
Though, it’s not exactly the end. I have one final series I’ll be writing to wrap everything up. Those who have followed my first three may notice a trend. And yes, the final series will be a continuation of Jones’ tale. It’s been a long time coming, and I hope to complete it before february, which is when I’ll be taking an extended hiatus. I’ll be back, but I have some things I want to do first. This entire unraveling story will have been a part of my life for over 4 years by then, something like that is hard to just let go, and I have some life I wanna experience. So I may be gone for around 6 months to a year when I’ve finished the Detective’s story.
I’m glad so many of you have enjoyed my stories. I honestly never expected to go anywhere with any of this, thought I’d give this series up around part 3, and writing would just be another dead hobby of mine. But here we are. Honestly, there are a lot of people to thank, but the main people are my boy TeeStache who got me into writing, NaturesTemper who picked up my terrible rough draft of this series, and Viidith who first found my detective series and asked to narrate it, and proceeded to narrate my Lighthouse series.
It’s been a crazy ride out there, and I only intend to make it crazier in the future. Thanks again guys, cheers.
We have hardwood floors, and I drop things on those floors way more often then my partner (anywhere from once a week to a handful of times per week). Things I drop include: Ice cubes, computer mice, my phone, (rarely) dishes, and (rarely) bottles of water -> causing a spill. When I spill something liquid, I clean it up immediately.
Of course, I'm not trying to drop things. Who would? I'm just clumsy and forgetful and not very aware of my surroundings while concentrating. I'm not really sure how to fix that about myself.
My partner drops things sometimes too, but they just move on when that happens. They have many things around me since we've lived together, such as computer mice and silverware and jugs of water, and I never pressure them when it happens.
However, when I drop something, my partner gets anywhere from mildly frustrated to "we need to talk about our relationship" levels of annoyed. It seems like they feel like I'm not trying hard enough to not drop things. They almost take it personally, as if it's an indication that I don't care about them or our relationship enough.
Here's an example: While we were having a two-hour gaming session together, I dropped my computer mouse THREE separate times, and my phone once. That is pretty bad! This was a particularly bad day, as I rarely drop things this much. Each time, my partner sighed loudly. The final time I dropped my mouse, they were visibly very frustrated. After collecting themself, they told me that random loud noises are very triggering to them. Not only does it trigger trauma (they had a mean parent), but it's also a sensory issue for them.
This topic is a sore spot for us, because I've felt in the past that they have been a bit over-bearing and borderline controlling when it comes to this sort of thing. But I thought the way they approached it tonight was very understandable and non-violent as far as communication goes. They just laid out their feelings and asked for a compromise. I can work with that.
So, here's my side of the issue: I feel that I'm doing my best, and I feel that my clumsiness is kinda part of me/my brain to a degree. Maybe there's a way I can work on it, but I can't see how (I'm very welcome to ideas). I do find ways to work around it, such as having lots of surfaces nearby to set items, keeping my drinking water in bottles with really tight lids, and padding floors with carpets. But I still drop things. I also feel like my partner isn't very understanding about my coordination struggles, and I get the feeling that they think I'm not trying hard enough to fix this issue.
Here's my partner's side: They worry that I'll damage the hardwood floors by dropping things. And the random loud noises I make stress them out. It seems that this also triggers some amount of childhood trauma, though they didn't go into detail. What I know for sure is that it makes them very anxious, and they want me to either stop dropping things, or to figure out how to make it less loud.
Any ideas?
Buying a home from a widow in a super trendy, scenic, yet semi-rural area in Upstate NY. Seller cannot afford to make any repairs. My offer was accepted at $200K and I recently completed an inspection. It will be a second home for me. Small cottage house, 950-975 sq ft 2 bed 1 bath. The bathroom is totally renovated but everything else needs work. Move-in ready comps sell for $300K-$350K.
The home needs: - New roof - New boiler and oil tank - Sagging floor repaired
Cosmetic updates: - Kitchen remodel (new cabinets or refinished cabinets, new appliances, and new countertops) - New vinyl flooring - Interior painting (entire home) - Exterior deck (stained) - Exterior of house needs to be painted - Basic landscaping work
Wondering if I should simply walk based on this list, or dump money into repairs? I’m willing to spend $50Kish on repairs and cosmetic updates, but it feels like there’s no way I can accomplish all of this for $50K. Is it normal to get quotes from a contractor pre-close (so I can have a better understanding of the costs), or should I simply walk?
I’m working on renovating a ~600 sq ft mother-in-law unit in a basement, with the hopes of making in an appropriate long-term living space for a small woman currently in her late 80’s. The space needs to be a good blend of safe and comfortable/aesthetically pleasing, to entice her into living there sooner rather than later. She’s a bit spoiled and picky in terms of ambiance, and reluctant to leave her nice but unsuitable home.
What I’m reading is that for flooring, the best choice is rubber due to its give and anti-slip properties (even when wet), and the runner-up is cork because it also has give, traction, and low trip risk (compared with carpet, etc.). Carpet is ok, but not suitable for potentially wet areas, and needs to be low-profile/short-pile, and the transition between it and other flooring can be a trip hazard. Cement (the current flooring), stone, tile, and hardwood are no-goes because they’re very hard (higher risk of injury during fall) and (less importantly) cold under the feet. Area rugs are a huge no due to the major trip hazard.
Unfortunately what I’m seeing so far is that the rubber options are pretty expensive and there are very few design options (basically, it’s ugly, primarily grey or black, and that will be a major turn-off for her). Cork is pretty easily damaged and not very water resistant, which could be an issue in the kitchen and bathroom areas, and can also get pretty pricey. I’m reading really mixed things about the safety of vinyl, which comes in a greater variety of nice and affordable aesthetics, but is less cushioned than the other two, and may be quite slippery, especially when wet (opinions/experiences about this seem to differ by source).
Does anyone have personal or professional experience with home renovations for aging-in-place, and cost-effective recommendations for safe flooring? Do you have vinyl in your home, and if so, do you find it slippery (or do you think you would if you were elderly/clumsy)? Any other random tips you wish you’d known during aging-in-place renovations?
Moved cross country with my partner last year and the detached garage on the property had some fresh water damage when we arrived. We’ve worked with a local contractor to repair the stud framing, the siding, and add drywall to the inside, but it wasn’t until AFTER the construction was done and we went in to clean the floors that we found a large oil stain that has been hidden under built up dust and debris for who knows how long (we’re quickly finding a LOT of hidden issues from the previous owners)
I’ve tried Rustoleum Heavy Duty Degreaser as well as their Clean and Etch, and even a round of diluted muriatic acid and nothing has worked. Any thoughts beyond renting a sander and grinding the whole floor?
RE Agents out there: talk me off a ledge here in Texas.
I know home buying is emotional and sometimes complicated. I would really like to know if I’m being hyper sensitive here, or if this Agent should be held personally liable for a transaction falling through?
Here are some questionable things that I’d attribute to the agent, that I can remember.
Listing-related: Didn’t update to pending for 5 business days (okay no biggie, but…)
Prior to final walk: -Advised client to turn off utilities (no water, gas, or power during the final walk) -Advised client it was okay for her to vacation/be unavailable the day of close -Advised client it was okay that contractually agreed upon repairs were not performed by the close date because “work had already been started so that’s good enough” -Redlined an amendment post-signature/execution -Advised seller that buyers would lose earnest money if we didn’t close for any reason (including repairs not being complete)
Day of final walk: -Removed Supra box from house -Traveling by plane and was unreachable; had not informed us, our agents, or her agency -(So with those two things we couldn’t even get into the home to perform the final walk)
Honorable mention being that the listing brags about brand new hardwood floors, when it’s obviously laminate. I know I can’t fault the agent here, but c’mon…
Of course we had to extend, amend, etc throughout this process. That’s a story for another day. But man, I personally feel like some of these things should be borderline felonies. And this many issues in one deal? Tell me I’m being a baby and to just shut up and take the L.
And yes I’ve already considered this was all part of a plan for the seller to get out of the contract, but there are some reasons why I don’t believe that.