Moving Out - Some Random Questions

5. steam cleaning will not adequately clean the carpet nor remove the smell. a steam clean will probably only clean the surface. the carpet needs to be replaced along with the padding. that many times and it is likely contaminated for good.
 
Vivi said:
2. I try to avoid things with unnatural ingredients. I was going to buy toothpaste today but it seemed like most everything the store carried had all sorts of additives. I plan to just research and learn to make my own toothpaste, which I already plan to do... I could use some tips.
Click to expand...


Tip: Start at the top and work down. Toothpaste is very near -- if not on -- the bottom. Ignore toothpaste for the time being.


4. I've never done any plumbing work. The garbage disposal is broken. I have a book that shows how to replace or fix one. Anything I should know before I actually attempt this?
Click to expand...

Garbage disposal is easy, but it's a two-man job because one person has to hold the unit while the other tightens the bolts.




5. The people who currently live there have a dog that's pissed on the carpet upwards of a hundred times since they got it. They're planning on renting a steam cleaner to use on the carpet. Anything else I should do to clean and sanitize it so it would be suitable for laying on?
Click to expand...


Sanitize? It's sanitized now. Mammal (including human) urine is sterile.

But, the odor is another matter and Mr. MORIMOTOM is entirely correct on that point. The odor is due to uric acid (same thing that makes it sterile, btw). And Uric acid is hard to get rid of.



6. I want to grow my own food, but I really don't have any land to speak of.
Click to expand...

And I want a toilet made of solid gold... but just ain't in the cards, baby.

Growing food requires land.



I might be able to plant a few things in the front and on the side of the house (8 x 1 foot areas approx.) and the rest would have to be indoors. Is there anything edible or useful I can grow with these limitations?
Click to expand...

Plant an herb garden and use those plants to enhance the flavor of other things. Tomatoes are a good crop for the area they take up too.




8. Any other tips in general for being more self sufficient and conserving water / gas / electric besides the obvious like turning electronics off when not in use.
Click to expand...

Stop posting on the internet; your computer is a big user of energy.
 
Since this is community, I'll keep it clean.
Vivi said:
1. I was looking at water filters today while getting groceries. I want some sort of filter for my water but wasn't sure which is most recommended. The kind that attach to the faucet, the pitcher types etc. Any specific brand I should look for or avoid?
Click to expand...

Depending on where you live, you may not need to. Most US water is of very good quality.

Vivi said:
2. I try to avoid things with unnatural ingredients. I was going to buy toothpaste today but it seemed like most everything the store carried had all sorts of additives. I plan to just research and learn to make my own toothpaste, which I already plan to do with other things like soap and bread. Has anyone here done this before? I could use some tips.
Click to expand...

You can make a simple saline solution and use that. Hopefully there is enough fluoride in your tap water to help keep your teeth healthy--but you should check.

Vivi said:
3. General tips on reducing heating costs would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

This is an easy one. Put on some clothes, for all of our sakes. And if you can't follow that advice, make sure that you have curtains. Heavy, opaque, curtains.

Vivi said:
4. I've never done any plumbing work. The garbage disposal is broken. I have a book that shows how to replace or fix one. Anything I should know before I actually attempt this?
Click to expand...

Unplug the unit first. Keep your fingers clear of the hole.

Vivi said:
5. The people who currently live there have a dog that's pissed on the carpet upwards of a hundred times since they got it. They're planning on renting a steam cleaner to use on the carpet. Anything else I should do to clean and sanitize it so it would be suitable for laying on?
Click to expand...

Get a couch. Why are you laying around on the floor?

Vivi said:
I want to grow my own food, but I really don't have any land to speak of. I might be able to plant a few things in the front and on the side of the house (8 x 1 foot areas approx.) and the rest would have to be indoors. Is there anything edible or useful I can grow with these limitations?
Click to expand...

Given some of your other posts, I hesitate to give you any advice at all about what plants to grow in your own home. Especially if you take my advice about those heavy opaque curtains.



Was that of any help?
:D
 
First place on your own will always be "interesting". You are leaving yourself open to grief with this one, though.

1) Your friends are unreliable. They will leave you to clean up the mess, so if you do go through with this, resign yourself to it. You will be doing the repairs and you will replace (not clean) the carpet. All at your expense.

2) Absentee landlord. Pay the rent or move out. That's all the landlord wants to know.

3) Their bad habits will become your problem fulltime now. The dog may even decide he wants to piss where he always did, so keep it locked up tight. Their cigaret smoke will seep up through the walls and floor. Love it or leave it.

4) You want to grow food? Outside? For them, right? You'll never eat it.

Herbs, bell peppers, and tomatoes will grow well in window boxes, depending how sunny the windows are. The tomatoes will require bigger boxes, of course.
 
Vivi said:
I get my first place starting Feb. 1st. I'll have the top half of a large, old house to myself. I had a few questions about some random subjects though. If you can answer any or all of them please do. I know this probably isn't the best place to ask about this sort of stuff, but I'd like to see what sort of information I can get while I look for other forums to join.

1. I was looking at water filters today while getting groceries. I want some sort of filter for my water but wasn't sure which is most recommended. The kind that attach to the faucet, the pitcher types etc. Any specific brand I should look for or avoid?

I use a Britta pitcher and have for years. No complaints.

2. I try to avoid things with unnatural ingredients. I was going to buy toothpaste today but it seemed like most everything the store carried had all sorts of additives. I plan to just research and learn to make my own toothpaste, which I already plan to do with other things like soap and bread. Has anyone here done this before? I could use some tips.

Tom's Of Maine is a common brand of natural toothpaste, soap and other body care products and are readily available at the grocery store, especially somewhere like Whole Foods.

3. General tips on reducing heating costs would be appreciated.
Of course make sure you don't have any drafty windows or doors but I can't stress enough that just turning the heat down makes a huge difference. You *can* get used to keeping your thermostat on 65 degrees. I did and still do.

4. I've never done any plumbing work. The garbage disposal is broken. I have a book that shows how to replace or fix one. Anything I should know before I actually attempt this?
Uhhhhh

5. The people who currently live there have a dog that's pissed on the carpet upwards of a hundred times since they got it. They're planning on renting a steam cleaner to use on the carpet. Anything else I should do to clean and sanitize it so it would be suitable for laying on?
Unless you are also replacing the pad beneath and checking the subfloor thoroughly, expect to smell piss forever.

6. I want to grow my own food, but I really don't have any land to speak of. I might be able to plant a few things in the front and on the side of the house (8 x 1 foot areas approx.) and the rest would have to be indoors. Is there anything edible or useful I can grow with these limitations?
There is so much wonderful organic produce available nowadays, it doesn't make sense to try to grow the bulk of your food in a small space. My best advice is grow things that are expensive at the store, and that can grow upwards. Various bell peppers are the perfect example. Tomatoes, as well.


7. Any other ISP's besides roadrunner I should consider?
I use and love comcast cable. Whatever.

8. Any other tips in general for being more self sufficient and conserving water / gas / electric besides the obvious like turning electronics off when not in use.
Here's an interesting tip. The various chargers that we use for our phones cameras, etc actually take up a fair amount of energy, even when they aren't charging anything. When you finish charging your phone or other eletronic device, unplug the charger from the wall.
Click to expand...

Good Luck! Let us know how it goes.
 
Good idea. A lot of devices only need to be plugged in when actually in use. Put them all on one (or more) surge protector strips, and turn the whole thing off when you're out of the room.
 
3.) Go hardcore. Seal windows with heat-applied plastic shrink film, then hang old blankets over the film. Invest in an oscillating fan and electric oil-filled radiator heater. Use the two items together, moving them with you as you move through the apartment. I run this in leiu of gas and see an increase of maybe 40$ on my power bill instead of 120$+ for natural gas. Whatever space I'm heating warms up to about 75 degrees in a little under an hour. Combine this with good socks, a hat and good wool sweaters and you save a lot.

5.) Get some Arm & Hammer carpet powder. Shake it all over the carpet, let it sit overnight and then vacuum. It won't take care of all of it but it will reduce the smell greatly. Combine this with some large area rugs to lay on and you'll be good to go.

8.)I am wicked poor, here's how I save water/electric.

Water: Take "Navy/Marine" showers. Water on for 15-20 seconds, get all wet. Water off, soap up. Water on, rinse. So forth until done.

Electric: Don't just turn off your appliances, unplug them from the wall. Most things that get plugged in suck small amounts of energy even when off. During summer months my power bill runs @0.70$ a day.
 
Many of us use straught baking soda for toothpaste .It's a common ingredient in many prepared ones.....Replace the carpet with SOMETHING ELSE. New carpets are loaded with chemicals which have caused many problems for people !!
 
Of course make sure you don't have any drafty windows or doors but I can't stress enough that just turning the heat down makes a huge difference. You *can* get used to keeping your thermostat on 65 degrees. I did and still do.
Click to expand...
Are you growing orchids Danelle? My heating is set at 58 degrees. I wear 2 jumpers if I feel cold.

There are ways of growing quite large amounts of potatoes in a small area if you want to try it. One way is to place a succession of cylinders of some sort, say about 15" to 18" internal diameter, around the young growing plant, building up as the plant grows. Some people use old car tyres for this. Regularly put soil/compost into them. The buried stems will produce extra spuds instead of leaves. Use plenty of liquid manure and your potato towers should produce an abundant crop.

You need to get rid of that carpet and underlay. To save money you might want to see of the floor underneath can be made to look presentable and just throw a couple of rugs down.

Andy
 
Tom's of Maine toothpaste -- but Danelle already said that. Welcome back! :)

Pitcher water filters are more effective than the little ones that clamp on the faucet. Pur is good -- initial cost is a little higher but the filters last much longer.

Throw out the carpet and have a floor for a while. You might find you like having a floor. It's a lot easier to keep clean.

Tomatoes. Google "porch garden" and things like that.

Think about priorities. You have limited money (I presume) and the time you have available in the first few days is very limited. You want to make the place livable quick. Refinement can come later. What do you need right away to be comfortable? Obviously you need to eat and sleep, but what that entails can take some thinking about -- you need a working sink to wash dishes (dish detergent, sponge, dish drainer, etc.), refrigerator -- think it out and figure out what you're missing. You will be surprised how much money you'll have to spend on little things -- you may have them but packed away and who knows in what box so you run to the store and buy stuff....

You'll need to relax when you take a break from all the work you'll be doing. Some people gotta have the tv set up, others gotta have the computer running and on the net, or a book and a mug of coffee -- everybody has different priorities.
 
Vivi said:
I was going to buy toothpaste today but it seemed like most everything the store carried had all sorts of additives. I plan to just research and learn to make my own toothpaste, which I already plan to do with other things like soap and bread. Has anyone here done this before? I could use some tips.
Click to expand...



Vivi said:
They also smoke cigarettes heavily, which I don't really react very well to. Last time I slept there (3 hours) I felt like complete shit when I woke up.
Click to expand...


Wait a minute. You are worried about toothpaste which you swish around for a minute or so and spit and rinse out, but you're not put off by breathing in cigarette smoke 24/7? You complain that the toothpaste as "all sorts of additives," FDA approved "additives." Have you ever seen a chemical breakdown of the hundreds of substances in cigarette smoke -- the majority of which have never been addequately investigated?

I stand by my original conclusion on the subject:

Gollnick said:
Ignore toothpaste for the time being.
Click to expand...
 
My advice...Knock your "best friend" slacker over the head with a large hammer, then bury his body in the back yard...Then take over his girlfriend...She seems to be a "keeper". After that, everything else will fall into place on its' own.:D.:D.
 
IMO the first thing you should buy is a couple of smoke alarms. My reasoning is the downstairs people sound very irresponsible and setting the place on fire sounds like something they'd do. Also being it's an old house and sounds like the owner is not keeping the place up.

Other thoughts, you're not gonna fix the the carpet, pull it up and get rid of it with all the padding as well. Refinishing existing wood floors as long as they are not damaged will be $650 to $1K per room.

Garbage disposal is a landlord issue, not you. So is water landlord pays for water.

In fact, before I'd move in I'd ask the city to recertify it for occupancy. I'll make a guess that the whole house isn't up to code. Of course that would screw up your moving plans.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top