Remodel Kitchen

This thought had been percolating in the back of my mind for the past week or so, and Consumer Reports beat me to the punch. For a front loading washer, if you do not leave the door ajar, you risk mildew or mold build-up. However, if you do leave the door ajar, then this practice poses a child-safety risk.

Benjamin Moore & Co. recently released a free iPhone application entitled Ben Color Capture. From the application, you touch the Capture button to either take a photo or select one from your camera roll. Then, when you touch a point in your photo, Ben Color Capture will return a color strip with the matching Benjamin Moore color. I believe the Strip button returns a matching color strip and the Harmony button returns complementary colors. While this application is great in theory, color matching based on a photo is naturally an imprecise operation.

First, the color of an object can be affected by the lighting, as well as surrounding objects. For example, if you take a photo of your house, the color of your house will be different depending on the quality of the lighting. Obviously, in full mid-day sun, colors will appear lighter. Conversely, if you take a photo in the shade or on a cloudy day, the colors may appear more muted. So, while the Ben Color Capture application can give an approximate color range, it cannot return the exact color.

Additionally, nearby objects can affect the color of your house. For example, reflective tile can cast their colors onto a nearby wall. Of course, Ben Color Capture doesn’t account for all these factors. When I tested the application, Ben Color Capture said that the external walls were Wenge. In reality, I used Benjamin Moore paints and the actual color is Woodstock Tan, a significantly lighter shade of brown with a slight green cast.

Despite these shortcomings, I still like this application. If you are looking to paint (or repaint) your house and really like the color scheme that someone else has used, Ben Color Capture would be a great tool for finding a similar palette.

I’ve been using a KitchenAid Bottom-Mount Refrigerator for just over two years. Last week, I encountered a problem where the cold water dispenser located inside the refrigerator stopped dispensing cold water. I pulled out the refrigerator and took a look and nothing seemed out of order. I knew the dispenser itself was “working” because I could hear it attempt to pump water whenever I pressed the button.

So, after much searching around, I finally was able to locate the cold water tank behind the two crisper bins. Seriously, the owner’s manual should tell people to check the water tank within “The water dispenser will not operate properly” section of the troubleshooting guide. Even though the refrigerator says it is 38°, I know for a fact that certain parts of the refrigerator are colder than others. For example, leaving a gallon of milk on the top shelf by the blower will cause the milk to freeze. Anyways, a thin layer of ice had formed in the water dispenser tank. I didn’t even need to heat up the tank. Just tilting it back and forth caused the ice to break up. When I pressed the water dispenser button again, it started pumping out cold water (with a few ice crystals here and there.)

I’ve finally come up with a solution for the walking LG Tromm Steam Washer. While the GVI Anti-Vibration Pads were really helpful in dampening the vibration and cutting down the noise from the washer, the pads could not prevent the washer from walking around the laundry room. Before I discovered this secret, I was really torn. The pads worked very well at silencing the washing machine for the most part; however, if the washing machine shifted every so slightly during the rinse or spin cycle, I had a really difficult time moving the washing machine back into place. Those pads really gripped the tile floor well.

As an experiment, I stuck an empty shoe box between the washer and the dryer. Lo and behold, I’ve ran through several wash cycles and the washer has not budged an inch, even on those loads that typically cause the washer to slide around the room. Problem solved.

Well, two months have passed since I installed the GVI pads underneath the LG Tromm SteamWasher. I am absolutely delighted with my purchase of the GVI pads. Can’t say the same for the LG Tromm. The pads have made owning the LG Tromm tolerable.

If the LG Tromm did not have a vibration problem, it would be a fantastic washing machine. Of course, that’s not the case. Fair or not, I expected the LG Tromm to perform no worse than all top-loading Maytag washing machines I have had the pleasure of using over the years. If an owner should only install the LG Tromm on a concrete floor, LG should require all its dealers to post such a notice on their showroom floors.

Anyways, the LG Tromm suffers vibration problems during two stages of the washing cycle. When the LG Tromm first enters the spin cycle, some items can be exceedingly damp; e.g., towels, mattress pads, etc. Now, I’ve never had a problem washing these types of items with a top-loading washing machine. With the LG Tromm, the washing machine really shakes violently when it encounters heavy, water-logged laundry items. The GVI pads have no measurable effect during this stage. However, after the spin cycle has progressed for a few minutes, the uneven load problem disappears and the GVI pads work extremely well at dampening the LG Tromm’s vibration and noise, even at the fastest spin levels.

So, for two years, I’ve been searching for a solution to the LG front-loading washing machine vibration and noise problem. Last Thursday night, I discovered the Front Load Toad website which promised a solution to the vibration problem caused by front load washers. The clincher was their video which showed a vibration meter measuring the vibration from a LG front load washing machine with GVI pads, with no pads and with Kellet vibration pads. When I saw the video of the LG washing machine with no pads, it looked and sounded much too familiar. With visual proof that the pads worked, I immediately ordered a set of 4 GVI pads. Of course, not before shopping around. Anyways, Good Vibrations (GVI) sells the vibration dampener pads directly, but the prices from Front Load Toad were more competitive. Anyways, they shipped really quickly and I received the pads on Saturday afternoon, just in time for the weekend laundry.

How to Install the GVI Pads

The first problem was trying to figure out how to install the GVI Anti-Vibration Pads. After numerous attempts, I found out a solution. If you are installing the GVI pads, you probably have the washing machine installed indoors in a laundry room. I had minimal clearance on either side of the machine so there was no way I could tilt the washer and place the pad underneath a rear foot. What worked was a broomstick and a flashlight. First, I used the broomstick to push the pad next to the leg. Next, I tilted the washing machine to one side and had an assistant nudge the pad into place under a rear leg. I was able to easily place the pad underneath the front leg by myself. After one side was done, I repeated the process on the other side. Then, I used a flashlight to confirm that the pads underneath the rear legs were properly place.

The first load I ran after I had installed the GVI pads was amazing. I had to open the laundry room door several times just to confirm that the washing machine was actually running. The pads completely eliminated the noise and seriously reduced the vibration. They were amazingly effective.

I’ve been tolerating my LG Front-Loading Washing Machine WM2487HWM for about two years now. Considering the premium price of the washer, I expected my experience to be flawless. Unfortunately, it was not. Out of the box, the LG washer had a defective load balancer which made the washer move all over the laundry room even when it was leveled. The replacement part was back-ordered, so LG left me without the use of a washer for about 3 weeks. I’ve never had a problem with the top-loading Maytag washer I had previously owned.

Even after the load balancer was replaced, the washer still had a vibration problem during the spin cycle. Too bad I can’t find my printout of the washing machine ratings from Consumer Reports at the time of my purchase. I want to see whether I can blame my buyer’s remorse on CR. In their current ratings, CR gives numerous LG washers fair and poor ratings for vibration. Specifically, CR notes:

Vibration was poor, a great concern only if you’ll place the washer on a standard wood-framed floor rather than in a basement.

Well, I certainly wasn’t aware of that when I bought the washing machine. Basically, CR recommends that the LG washing machine be installed in the basement or the garage where it will sit on a poured concrete floor.

Home Depot EXPO is closing. The official news release on the Home Depot corporate website announced that Home Depot will be closing 34 EXPO Design Center stores. A quick check on the EXPO store locator web page confirms that Home Depot only has 34 EXPO stores. Also, when I viewed the news release, it displayed a mismatched photo showing enthusiastic associates flashing the #1 sign.

Anyways, I love Home Depot because their prices are competitive and I can usually find the products I need in stock. As for Home Depot EXPO, it offered a few items in stock for a great price, but most items required a special order. In other words, not too different from any other plumbing, appliance and tile store. I’ve spent a lot of money at Home Depot and I’ve spent a lot of time at Home Depot EXPO. That’s probably why the EXPO Design Centers are closing.

In November, I replaced a pair of light bulbs in one of my ceiling lights. Tonight, the light bulbs in the other ceiling light also burned out. However, instead of replacing the burned out light bulbs with incandescent lights, I installed a pair of U Lighting America dimmable compact fluorescent light bulbs.

So, this is the first time I have ever used dimmable CFLs. At full power, the dimmable CFL works just like a standard CFL. At anything less than full power, the dimmable CFL hums. At the lowest dimmer setting, the dimmable CFL flickers. So, while the CFL is technically “dimmable,” the humming and flickering basically renders this feature useless.

The only upside to this is that I now have two ceiling lights side-by-side with different types of bulbs that were installed at relatively the same time: one with incandescent light bulbs and one with dimmable CFLs. So now, it’s a durability contest between them to see which one lasts the longest. Theoretically, the CFLs should win. However, theoretically, these CFLs are dimmable as well.

I’ve had positive experiences with both <a href=”http://www.remodelkitchen.net/2007/03/21/grohe-warranty-delivers/”>Grohe</a> and Hansgrohe plumbing fixtures.  Usually, I will order the parts through a local plumbing supply shop.  However, last weekend, I stopped off at Home Depot Expo to reconsider my strategy and noticed that the Expo store stocked selected products from Grohe and Hansgrohe.  Imagine being able to immediately pick-up your plumbing fixtures off the shelf.  No special order and all the hassles that accompany that process.