HGTV musings

[fairestoneofall]

We are the exception to that rule! Our house was built in 1980 and the walk in closet is accessed from the master bath only. Our bath is open and the toilet is "free range". That term makes me laugh, the toilet in its natural habitat.

DH & I do not ever get ready at the same time so it has never been an issue. We changed the doors from 2 bi-fold to a single solid door. I hated the bi-folds! I want privacy on both ends. Neither of us needs to know what goes on in there!

We have a vent we rarely use and a window. There are no issues with humidity or mildew.

our house was built in 2011. the master closet is accessed through the bathroom. and our toilet is out in the open. we have a decent-sized bathroom (nothing fancy, but it is somewhat roomy).

 

[sukhakuli]

Our house was built in 1988. We have 6 bathrooms. They all have a separate toilet area except for bath in the main level hallway and the one up in the loft. The two in the secondary bedrooms hallway have a double vanity, a door, and then a toilet/shower area. So one kid can brush their teeth while another one uses the toilet. It's a really nice set up for kids sharing a bathroom.

And yes, I know we have a ton of bathrooms. Our house is a custom home, and my theory is that the people who built it grew up in homes with one bathroom (as did I) and overcompensated by putting a bathroom everywhere. I use one of them for storage, lol.

It's not HGTV, but I love Renovation Realities. I love how people who can't even hang a picture think they can rip out load bearing walls and redo entire kitchen layouts.

 

[Bluestars]

I think I'd be worried about my clothing mildewing if my closet were in the bathroom. Before we remodeled this year, we always had issues in the winter with mildew on the bathroom ceiling. Once a month I would have to wipe down the walls and ceiling with bleach. We put in the largest volume vent fan when we remodeled, so far, no mildew issues. I just would think the bathroom would be just too damp a place to keep my clothing in.

Mildew or clothes being damp hasn't been a problem. Maybe it's because the clothes are in the closets and walls separate them from the shower. Our clothes never get damp from the shower. We've never had a problem with mildew in our shower. I clean the shower stall with bathroom cleaner, but the ceiling doesn't seem to get damp. It's a pretty tall ceiling though. Maybe it only happens in certain climates. I live in the south.

 

[Bluestars]

We play HGTV BINGO for kicks. We have squares with "stainless steel", "hardwood", "natural lighting", "put our stamp on it", "double sinks", "claustrophobic", etc. The loser has to do the dishes the next night.

The House Hunters International makes me laugh. "Oh, we want to experience life like it's lived here in (insert foreign city of your choice)!" and then there's great amounts of moaning and groaning because there is no dishwasher, or the shower is small, or there are only two burners and the refrigerator is tiny, or the place isn't big enough. OK, then stay in Houston...

I get a kick out of the "tiny house" shows, too. I'd love to see follow-ups to see how soon those people move out of the "tiny houses" when they find out that, while it is extremely *trendy* to live in one, it's also a pain in the royal patootie.

I watched the tiny house show for the first time last night. A family of 6 was looking for a 600 SF house.

 

[Bluestars]

There was a family of 6 on tonight that moved from L.A. to New York from a 2500 square foot house to a 1 bedroom home with less than 600 square feet. Immediately, they hadn't moved in and were remodeling to make a loft bedroom for two older daughters and dad was talking about building an office outback for his work as an animator. So that's sort of cheating. 100 square feet per person in a home would be crowded to me.

I admire the desire to save and live debt free, but goodness. I'd think a little elbow room and sanity might be worth a little $. We moved from a 1300 to a 2100 square foot home in 2003. Now, that our own 4 kids are 13, 15, 17, and 20 our home feels small.

Yes, that is the one I watched! Crazy.

 

[Andtototoo]

OMG! Yes. Do people really "entertain" that much?

And have that many friends and family who stay overnight all the time in the required guest room(s)?

 

[tvguy]

Mildew or clothes being damp hasn't been a problem. Maybe it's because the clothes are in the closets and walls separate them from the shower. Our clothes never get damp from the shower. We've never had a problem with mildew in our shower. I clean the shower stall with bathroom cleaner, but the ceiling doesn't seem to get damp. It's a pretty tall ceiling though. Maybe it only happens in certain climates. I live in the south.

I was referring to closets IN the bathroom which is what the person was talking about that I replied to. And a few I have seen on HGTV have no doors at all, open right into the bathroom.

 

[Bluestars]

I was referring to closets IN the bathroom which is what the person was talking about that I replied to. And a few I have seen on HGTV have no doors at all, open right into the bathroom.

Our walk-in closets are in our bathroom, but the closets have doors.

When I walk in my bathroom, the left wall has a walk-in closet, then the toilet room and then the tub. The shower is up against the middle of the back wall and another walk-in closet is next to it. The sinks and cabinets are along the right-hand side wall. We leave the closet doors open though.

 

[tvguy]

I've never understood people who say granite is hard to maintain. We had it in the last house for 7 years, sealed it when we installed it and never got around to doing it again. Yet it looked as good when we moved out as the day it was installed. And if we had resealed it, all you do is wipe some solution on and you're done. Easy peasy.

No cracks, no stains, no problems. I love granite not for any perceived status reasons, but because the exotic granites are beautiful in their wild unpredictability. Exotic granite is like a work of art. I can spend a long time wandering a granite yard in the same way many women can spend hours in a jewelry store.

My neighbor put granite in 2 years ago. Company that put it in warranties it for 5 years. After fixing several cracks, at no cost to him and he just asked them to take it out and replace it with quartz which they are doing with the labor free, and a big discount on the quartz.
As the counter company rep put it, there wouldn't be soo many granite repair companies out there if it wasn't a common issue with granite.

 

[tvguy]

Our walk-in closets are in our bathroom, but the closets have doors.

When I walk in my bathroom, the left wall has a walk-in closet, then the toilet room and then the tub. The shower is up against the middle of the back wall and another walk-in closet is next to it. The sinks and cabinets are along the right-hand side wall. We leave the closet doors open though.

So I would guess that the humidity inside the closets when someone showers would be hire than if the closets were the bedroom.

 

[Andtototoo]

What's up with the House Hunter's Tiny Houses and the building a tiny house shows?

Home owner looks for a 200 square foot shed or less to live in. Now, granted some are made nicely, but $58,000 for something that you can tow to a new site to live in when you need a change of scenery.

Maybe for a single person or a newly married young couple.

There was a family of 6 on tonight that moved from L.A. to New York from a 2500 square foot house to a 1 bedroom home with less than 600 square feet. Immediately, they hadn't moved in and were remodeling to make a loft bedroom for two older daughters and dad was talking about building an office outback for his work as an animator. So that's sort of cheating. 100 square feet per person in a home would be crowded to me.

I admire the desire to save and live debt free, but goodness. I'd think a little elbow room and sanity might be worth a little $. We moved from a 1300 to a 2100 square foot home in 2003. Now, that our own 4 kids are 13, 15, 17, and 20 our home feels small.

THe other thing is that living in a small space might sound great, but you never know how you might react.

I grew up in homes that today would be considered small -- about 1000 sq feet, plus they were all cut up into a bunch of rooms. I never felt claustrophobic in them. When my dh and I were first married we lived in the back of beyond and had to scramble to find housing in this nowheresville town and had to move about every 3 months or so. Most of the housing was TINY. We lived in one house that was 250 square feet. We had no stuff (because we were poor) and the walls were all painted white, so the house felt bigger than it was. (Although having to climb into the tub to close the bathroom door was a bit much.) Never felt claustrophobic in any of them until...

But the house that did me in was 500 sq feet. The problem was that it was completely -- every single wall -- covered in knotty pine. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I had nightmares almost every night we lived there that the knots were the eyes of monsters who were coming out of the walls. I never had claustrophobia until I lived in that house, but I have had it ever since.

So I'd never agree to living in that small of a space unless I'd done so before and knew how I was going to react to it.

 

[aprilchem]

My neighbor put granite in 2 years ago. Company that put it in warranties it for 5 years. After fixing several cracks, at no cost to him and he just asked them to take it out and replace it with quartz which they are doing with the labor free, and a big discount on the quartz. As the counter company rep put it, there wouldn't be soo many granite repair companies out there if it wasn't a common issue with granite.

I'm not trying to be a smart alec, but I've honestly never heard of nor seen a granite repair company. We have six granite countertops in our house (kitchen, two bathrooms, laundry, media room, and bar area) and we've never had a crack, break, or stain on any of them. I've never sealed them, either. I'd say my kitchen and my boys bathroom get the harshest treatment (I've dropped cast iron pans on the kitchen one) and they're in perfect condition after 10 years.

 

[lsyorke]

I'm not trying to be a smart alec, but I've honestly never heard of nor seen a granite repair company. We have six granite countertops in our house (kitchen, two bathrooms, laundry, media room, and bar area) and we've never had a crack, break, or stain on any of them. I've never sealed them, either. I'd say my kitchen and my boys bathroom get the harshest treatment (I've dropped cast iron pans on the kitchen one) and they're in perfect condition after 10 years.

I know a LOT of people with granite, never heard of one needing repair. Mine's been in for 6 years now...never sealed it. Dropped everything on it..not a scratch...and it's beautiful!

 

[Bluestars]

So I would guess that the humidity inside the closets when someone showers would be hire than if the closets were the bedroom.

It seems like it would. Maybe it's not a problem because we have high ceilings and the bathroom is spread out. When we hang wet towels over the shower stall, they never get completely dry in the morning. I hate humidity. If we have dry clothes anywhere in our bathroom or closets, they stay dry. I would imagine if the area was much smaller with lower ceiling, then mildew might be a problem. I don't know.

 

[EMom]

I know a LOT of people with granite, never heard of one needing repair. Mine's been in for 6 years now...never sealed it. Dropped everything on it..not a scratch...and it's beautiful!

Same here. Almost everyone I know has granite (and has for several years) and no one has had an issue. I haven't heard of any needing repair. I have granite in our kitchen, 3 of the 4 bathrooms, and my daughter's desk area. If it was fabricated properly and installed by a reputable dealer, problems will be rare.

We did have an issue with the last house with the fabricator. He damaged our granite pre-installation and tried to pass it off as undamaged. We immediately called the owner, who came over, inspected it, and told us to pick out another slab at his cost and he replaced it. That isn't a granite issue, but a workmanship problem that could have happened with any product. We were pleased with the fix.

 

[barkley]

My neighbor put granite in 2 years ago. Company that put it in warranties it for 5 years. After fixing several cracks, at no cost to him and he just asked them to take it out and replace it with quartz which they are doing with the labor free, and a big discount on the quartz.
As the counter company rep put it, there wouldn't be soo many granite repair companies out there if it wasn't a common issue with granite.

not a wealth of granite "repair" companies around us, however the granite companies do make a considerable amount of money dealing with homes that have opted to use the "granite transformation" type firms. people buy into the commercials that hawk how time consuming and messy counter removal is (took all of 20 minutes and no mess in our very large kitchen) and how doing custom overlays is THE WAY TO GO. what they don't realize is the overlays are thin so they end up with problems full slabs do not, and if they go to sell their home a competent home inspector more often than not finds the overlays make the counters just a smidge above legal code.............so the real granite guys get hired to rip up the overlays (which shatter cuz they are so thin) along with the original counters and install actual slabs at a fraction of what the overlays cost in the first place.

 

[sukhakuli]

The granite in our kitchen is original, and it's fine. The marble in the bathrooms and the wet bar, not so much. It's chipped, cracked, stained, and looks like junk. We would have been better off if they'd used granite because now I have to rip out several bathrooms worth of marble.

We had a house with the master closets in the bath and no mildew problems. There were also no doors between the bath and the bedroom, so when my husband was called in to work in the middle of the night, or had to get up at 4am, I got up, too. I don't know why that is a thing in new construction because it's really dumb.

 

[mnrose]

We have granite which is 8 years old and looks brand new. Never done anything special to it at all.

If you use a reputable contractor and a good thickness of stone, there won't be a problem generally.

Now, we also own a home in California (where we hope to retire). The installer there put in "too narrow" a piece between the kitchen sink and the edge of the counter facing the room (if that makes sense) it's barely an inch wide, which simply is too narrow to properly support the granite. That piece is cracking right in the middle, and we've had to have it repaired. When we finally move in, we are installing top mount farm sink and voila, problem solved.

I absolutely love my granite.

 

[dawnhaze]

I love the tiny house show but I don't understand why people want to raise families in the tiny houses. I would love one for myself, since I'm single/childfree and intend to remain that way, but it seems really weird for a family of 3+ to me.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

I love the tiny house show but I don't understand why people want to raise families in the tiny houses. I would love one for myself, since I'm single/childfree and intend to remain that way, but it seems really weird for a family of 3+ to me.

I think it's about personality. My husband and I and two kids (maybe more?) will move into a tiny space in a few years. Most likely a fifth wheel or RV. For us, it's about being able to pick up and move and take our home with us since my husband has a job that enables him to take work anywhere (and at times that will be a necessity of work slows in our area). It is also about not wanting a brick and mortar house to be tied down to, lowering our carbon footprint (we plan to install solar to use as much as possible, and about downsizing and getting rid of the "stuff" that distracts us. Full time RV living is considered a type of tiny house living. I think it's sorta a different strokes for different folks thing. I can't imagine a big house and having to keep it all clean and having that much STUFF. Even now we are in a small townhome and keep "stuff" to a minimum.