Home improvement - where to start?

Muscles

Michael Peterson status
Jun 1, 2013
2,596
3,597
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California/Hawaii
gas you can see the flame
if you have a dish towel or paper towel, will the induction burn it and start a fire?
also, is there as much control with induction as with gas?
we had electric in our last house and were very happy to switch back to gas
Induction works through magnetic fields. It cannot burn a paper towel. The stove will shut off if you remove the pan from the burner.

It heats up much faster than gas and the control is fine. I converted from electric to induction three years ago and have never missed using gas.
 
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Phil Edwards status
Sep 17, 2012
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If a magnet sticks to the pan, it's compatible with induction stoves so stuff like aluminum pans and towels, your hand, don't burn directly on the surface. If you put the paper towel in the hot pan it might burn, yeah.
I have a sh1tty plug in induction stovetop single burner and it doesn't have a good low setting but gets hot in seconds.
 

rice

Duke status
Jul 2, 2002
24,304
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CA
Induction works through magnetic fields. It cannot burn a paper towel. The stove will shut off if you remove the pan from the burner.

It heats up much faster than gas and the control is fine. I converted from electric to induction three years ago and have never missed using gas.
All this.
And, it heats up FAST.
 

rice

Duke status
Jul 2, 2002
24,304
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CA
I have a Jennaire induction. I made pasta yesterday for my dinner. I boiled a huge pot of water in minutes. It is significantly faster than a gas or electric stove.
Though I have noticed that different pots heat up faster. It seems that a really thick bottom is quickest. The cast iron is fast, too.

Our tea kettle is a bit thin on the bottom and doesn't heat up much faster than it did with electric.
 

PJ

Gerry Lopez status
Jan 27, 2002
1,022
733
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Shrub Oak,N.Y.,USA
I'm actually going to do my kitchen right now too (last kid just graduated college), got the plan and getting a price on the demo and install.
We have a flat glass top electric Kitchen Aid range now but have since got a gas service to the house so we can get a gas range but we like the cleanability of the glass top and it doubles as a workspace - it's a small kitchen - 1960 split level house, every inch counts.

But you guys have me thinking about induction now. Does anyone prefer it over gas?

And the microwave - It's good at heating wet parts of food, bad at heating dry parts so it heats unevenly. It can only heat at either zero or 100% which is bad but it can duty cycle on and off to get whatever total percentage of heating you want which is key. By using the reduced power / duty cycle at say 30% it heats the wetter parts then shuts off and lets the heat spread to the dryer parts. By keeping the duty cycle low enough you won't heat the wet parts enough to change them or mush them so you can reheat food without damaging it. Most important - don't let any part of the food get to 212 because then it will boil, make steam, and dry out.

For leftover pizza and burgers I start the toaster oven on convection at 250 (the lowest smoke temp of all the fats is butter around 250 so staying at 250 means no smoke) while that's warming up I use the microwave for what it does well just to bust them loose, get them out of cold iron, get the fats moving - say 20 - 30 secs at 100% (more if frozen), feel the temp then maybe again - just to get that dead coldness out fast. So maybe the bread's a little soggy now - into the toaster oven which then does what it does well - finishing the heating and re-crisping. I get great results this way. I always microwave reheat at either the "reheat" duty cycle or set my own. Reheating at 100% is usually a bad idea. And Pasta salad, Greek Salad, an Italian Hero - anything that's dead refrigerator cold you really can't taste it well so 10 - 15 - 20 seconds at 100% just to break cold iron and get the fats moving is great to get the flavor out,
 

sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
Jul 13, 2020
5,857
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San Diego
Another microwave trick to add moisture through a wet paper towel over the top of the food. Will effectively steam whatever is under it.
 

JBerry

Billy Hamilton status
Dec 8, 2017
1,602
872
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I’ve got my micro in my garage. Don’t want that thing in the house. We use our toaster oven much more often.
electric stove sucks. Have had stubbed in for when we do our kitchen remodel going to gas. Induction sounds good, but I don’t want to buy new pots and pans as well. And I like the gas range ability to dial down the flame, and NPG is cheaper than electricity.
 

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Phil Edwards status
Sep 17, 2012
6,910
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Haven't had a micro for like 20 years as well but the place I'm at has one in the kitchen. If I want to use it I have to turn off all the lights otherwise it trips the switch and half the power goes out.
 
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ElOgro

Duke status
Dec 3, 2010
31,867
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Haven't had a micro for like 20 years as well but the place I'm at has one in the kitchen. If I want to use it I have to turn off all the lights otherwise it trips the switch and half the power goes out.
:roflmao: :foreheadslap:

Wired to the most stringent mexicode standards.

I think we have a microondas in town, not sure but if you change your breakers out for fuses and put a nail where the fuse goes you’re good to go. Until you smell smoke anyway.
07FA68AF-8293-423C-AEDD-6A2FA020C043.jpeg
Microondas Azteca.
 

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
24,855
7,753
113
San Francisco, CA
Mr. Doof to the white courtesy phone please.. stat. :)
Because the love never stops in our neighborhood of delight, some neighbors and I just got sidewalk repair notices from the City of San Francisco.

For me, 50 square feet of sidewalk needs to be replaced with permits within the next 30 days, with filing extension if we can't find a contractor fast enough. Others got more dots painted on the sidewalk than I, so at least my repair should be less expensive.

Looking up and down the block, you can see the patchwork repair over the last few decades. Now it is my turn to replace the 90 yr old concrete.

Sigh.
 
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Why_was_I_banned

Billy Hamilton status
Sep 5, 2020
1,388
775
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IMO as a painter, Sherwin Williams, Dunn Edwards, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, all have a computer color matching 'eye' that will get you pretty close. Goto the store that you want to buy your paint from. Your best bet, is if you have the existing paint color, in a can somewhere, mix that up, if you can, and finger some on a piece of cardstock, and take that to the paint store to have them color match it.
The very best is if you have someone behind the counter who is really good at custom color matching, and can fine tune the color to exact. This is what I do in the field on jobs, when I need to make a custom color, I have a rack of tints, and just start going to town to get the color matched. Keep in mind that if you are 'touching up', the paint will never match the existing color you are trying to touch up because of age, so you'll need to custom match the existing color for touch ups. If you are re-painting an area completely, then you can get away with a bit of variance on color, if you or your wife is flexible with that, if you are painting an entire room, or wall.
You'rea painter? You ever work in Santa Barbara? Clients are always asking for referrals
 

JBerry

Billy Hamilton status
Dec 8, 2017
1,602
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You'rea painter? You ever work in Santa Barbara? Clients are always asking for referrals
Yes and Yes, Spent a few 4-5 years working SB, Cito, Carp areas with father inlaw painting before he kicked me off payroll and we moved south a bit. He's based in carp, works in cito, sb, etc. you probably know him.
But yeah, SB is kind of a drive these days, but I'd work there for the right job indeed! As well as referrals are always appreciated!
 

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
24,855
7,753
113
San Francisco, CA
So we want to redo our kitchen
and maybe make more of an open floor plan
and maybe extend out a few feet, and maybe sliding glass doors to the back yard
but it might be extending over the sewer line
possibly the gas line too
and I don’t know how close the the property line I’m allowed to build

so I have no idea where to start to get a ballpark number of what this would cost
or if a push out of 2 feet is 60k less than 6 feet
or if this is going to raise my taxes by 5k per year or 20k per year

ive heard an architect would be the first step in the job, and a general contractor would coordinate everything
but whats the best way to start, with little to no investment, to get a general idea of what is worth doing

thanks any thoughts



Updates?
 

Random Guy

Duke status
Jan 16, 2002
32,005
6,133
113
Update: I’ve been thinking about it a lot
If I knew anyone who had their home expanded and was happy with their contractor, I’d call them
I keep procrastinating on calling my cousin who works for a company that does kitchen remodels
So, yeah, no update
 
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casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,209
17,639
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Petak Island
Update: I’ve been thinking about it a lot
If I knew anyone who had their home expanded and was happy with their contractor, I’d call them
I keep procrastinating on calling my cousin who works for a company that does kitchen remodels
So, yeah, no update
It's hard to find a decent contractor.
 

santacruzin

Kelly Slater status
Oct 17, 2007
8,832
9,764
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valley purgatory
It's hard to find a decent contractor.
Growing up pops did everything himself. A new project was an excuse to buy new tools and put me and my friends to work haha. It pains him now hes older and actually has to hire people for some stuff.

Seems that's a lost concept on a lot of adults these days or maybe we are cheap!