The Good Banter Thread

[j.w]

I'm still using my mother's old Revere ware pots and pans. My hubby says get new ones. I say why?

 

[sissy]

For some reason cast iron pots did not work on mine and hated it because I like making corn bread in a cast iron pan .it tastes better.maybe they have improved on induction since then .I know they have come down in price a lot

 

[CometKeith]

We had to change the heating element in our bosch dishwasher three times because it overheated over a 10 year period. I guess you are supposed to run hot water in your sink for a while so when the dishwasher calls for hot water the incoming water is hot and it doesn't have to work so hard. Finally we switched to a dishwasher about half the price. it's a little noisier but it works fine with no hassles.

 

[sissy]

I run the hot water before I run my dishwasher ,but I don't waste the water that comes out before that .I keep a milk jug by the sink and use that water to water my plants .My dishwasher is a kenmore and I got the extended warranty and glad I did the motor went out 2 times .The range is a double oven frigidaire model and it is great because you have two ovens .I did like the lg one better because one of the ovens was smaller and for retires it was great ,but I got a lemon and the first 6 months the repairman tried to fix it 6 times and then told them he gave up .Replaced every part for the cook top and it still did not work right .One burner would work and the other would not

 

[addy1]

Our ge stove is working fine, but with our kitchen redo I need a flat top one for the bar. So figured why not go with something new it is rated very well on consumer reports, has a convection oven, which I have never used before.
The ge will head to our penna place if we every build a small cabin up there, or to a rental if a stove dies.

I always run the water to hot before we use the dish washer, right now I boil a teapot of water on the stove use a dish pan, since we still do not have hot water in this country living house................no fridge, no hot water.............sigh

 

[MitchM]

I think domestic appliances are designed to run either 10 years or 25 years.
Commercial appliances have less bells and whistles, are more expensive and you need to go to a restaurant supply store to buy them but they can last a very long time.
That's what I like.
I can't figure out half the bells and whistles on modern appliances anyways, lol.
I have a portable induction hotplate, love it.

 

[sissy]

Mine is convection and it is still hard to figure out .It has a recipe convertor but it never looks like a enough time .You just put in the time the recipe says and then you press the button to convert it to convection .My bottom oven is not convection .Hard to get around a big 15 lb turkey getting done in 2 hours and still being moist and not burned .A roast gets done in less than an hour .Only thing about commercial is they all eat a lot of electric

 

[CountryEscape]

When I got married in 1981, we got Maytag washer and dryer. Not top of the line, just what you needed. Loved it and only had the heating element go out in the dryer once in 25 years. When I bought this house, same WD units! Washer started leaking, had it fixed, cost me maybe $200 total. Guy said this will probably outlast you! LOL Love the dryer, use it in permanent press most of the time. It's not huge, but right now I have 2 fleece blankets (5'x6' size), a fleece padded dog bed, full size towel and another pillow dog bed. They will all get dry just fine. I know what you mean, JW, about it balling up, though. Larger items do that, like comforters. I have 3 clean tennis balls in laundry room I toss in to help that.
The dishwasher is a Maytag, too, and I swear it's the exact same model had when I was married. So, if that's the case, it is over 30 years old, too. Runs just fine. I always run water to hot before starting the dishwasher, and sometimes again in the middle, when it's going to run more water.
My fridge is old, probably same year as the house, 35 years old. I need to replace all appliances (stove is smooth top, probably as old or older), because of energy, but hate hearing how the new appliances last maybe 5 years! Geesh ... For the extra you will pay for new appliances, maybe it's cheaper to pay the extra electricity! What to do ... what to do ... I have a galley kitchen, which is the one room in this house I like the LEAST. Only way to make it wider is to build onto the house, as stairway is on the other side. That would be really expensive, I know. It would mean adding onto the kitchen and also the back bedroom. Never would get that money back if I sell, so leaving it as is. Cabinets are original, too, but solid wood, so better than some of the new ones out there.

 

[sissy]

My sister had a galley kitchen and when I helped them remodel it we took the wall out and made an island there and opened the kitchen to the living room .The wall was a load baring wall so we had to support both sides and since she did not want a beam showing we had to get a glue lam beam and raise it up to the attic and use joist hangers .We were lucky on one side because that was where the old carport was before they expanded the house so the concrete block was still in that wall to support the beam .The other wall we had to cut a notch in the wall and add extra 2x4's to support the beam .I hate those pressed board cheap cabinets and cheap drawers they come with .Plywood is better and nice wood doors and face frames and dove tail drawers will last a lot longer and take abuse .

 

[CountryEscape]

In my kitchen, one length is the outside wall (deck on the other side of that wall) and the stairway is the length of the other side. So, short of moving the stairway, my only recourse is to expand toward the deck. Ho hum ... it's fine for just me and one other person, but get 5 people walking in to eat when I set all the food out on the stove or counter, and it gets VERY crowded. That's really the only time I notice the lack of space between sides. I have quite a few cabinets, but closed end of the kitchen has nothing. They stopped cabinets with the fridge, and there could have been far more cabinets added to that corner. I have a china hutch and my microwave table in that area, but still too much wasted space IMO. I would like to remove the door that is in that corner, too, as I never use it now that I have the sliding glass door in the dinette area, but again ... too much money for what I will achieve.

 

[sissy]

My NJ house when I remodeled the kitchen I moved a door from one side to the other side and flipped my kitchen to the outside wall which meant moving everything .I had a guy build all the solid oak cabinets for 2000 dollars .He built 15 uppers and 8 lowers since 1 of them was a long cabinet for an island .He also built doors with almost all glass in the doors for uppers .Only 2 cabinets did not have glass 1 over fridge and 1 over microwave .I could not believe that was all he was charging me ,but he had made cabinets for several of my friends I knew he was cheap and did great work .He was Fernadez custom cabinets .I heard he still has his shop as he just did cabinets for Pepe and Maria friends of mine .When they mentioned his name I said he was the same guy I used ,they were worried since he was so cheap how good could they be .They signed the contract and now have a great new kitchen .Years ago the kitchen was a place to cook and not the place we expect it to be these days CE .Not it has become the jewel of the house and there is more than one cook in the kitchen and it becomes a gathering place . .

 

[addy1]

When we moved in here the kitchen was one of those skinny L shapes, stuff on both sides, There was a hallway at one end of the L and a door at the other end of the L The kitchen was dark, isolated, yuck. We were in the house 24 hours and we dropped two walls, which meant going from two walls of cabinets, stove, sink room to one wall. We took the one hallway and made it a built in fridge area. Around 12 feet of kitchen, minimal counter space. Biggest counter piece is 24 inches. Cabinets, pressed wood, not really able to strip and restain/paint.

I made the comment that our rentals had nicer kitchens than we did, while we were working on one of them. Dear honey said don't we put in a new kitchen! That started it. Once done it will be a big U, counter and cabinet bases below the front windows, 6 feet. The long wall, will have 5 feet of cabinet and counter to the door, then 8 feet of cabinets, dishwasher, sink. The other leg of the u will be island type, cabinets on both sides, flat top stove, all facing our 33 feet of windows over looking the back yard and ponds.

Can't wait! I had a HUGE kitchen in arizona, the island alone was 12 x 6 granite. The lack of counter space has been a real pita. One of my biggest complaints.

Of course we are doing all the work, except setting the counters.

 

[j.w]

Big job but well worth it. We have lots of repair work here. Someday we will get it all done................well there is always something after the thing before gets done.

 

[mrsclem]

Addy- WOW- what a kitchen plan. We had ours re-done about 12 years ago. I had painted our cheap cabinets and tried to tie everything together. Finally decided to order new cabinets and counter tops. Way over budget so went from hickory to maple to be able to get granite. They even put an island into what I thought was an already crowded kitchen. We did demo, paint and floor. Love it! Just had the floor redone as the floating tile floor didn't last. Would love to have a larger window.

 

[addy1]

We bought the cabinets from cabinets to go, they come in pieces, just have to put together, saves a lot of bucks.

They are birch, mahogany color, dove tail construction, solid wood, soft close drawers. Picture is from their website.

Already have the tile floor, did that years ago, still doing great. We put a glued, screwed hardibacker floor over the wood subfloor, the tiles are still anchored well, no grout cracking.

We had to pull the tile off the wall, the cut tiles did not match the new cabinets lay out. Now need to decide what to put back on the walls. Suggestions welcome! lol

We went to a granite store near us, picked up a really neat pattern. I was actually surprised at how cheap it was, compared to florida. Over inch thick. The price included the edging, undermount sink back spash no hidden add ons.

This is the part of the kitchen, the door is right next to the stove. We are going to have cabinets below the windows (need to store bee food dog food ) So looking forward to not having to empty the oven every time I use it. A place for the pots and pans, some of the cookers etc will be now have a place to be stored rather than on a kitchen table or in the basement.

Tore out the chair rail, repainting from basic white to that tanish color get to paint just the parts that will show.lol

This the other part of the kitchen. after the tear down of the upper cabinets. The window is going away, the previous owner made the car port a garage, so the window just looks at the garage wall. Going to put up a 18 inch cabinet over the window, then some shelves below. The window will be removed, eventually..........lol when honey gets around to it, maybe before we start the cabinet install.

The cabinets will go to the ceiling.

This small wall is what was left of the door that was there, we are leaving it for the corner cabinets. The granite will wrap around it, back to the wall behind the cabinet.
It will be a eating bar. The flat top stove will be in the bar , one reason I went with induction, no hot surface to burn your hand on