Audited 4/10/03

See Also::

Zillow - Your Edge in Real Estate

Notes: 

GE has several lines of appliances.  Their regular line is branded as GE, the next step up is branded as GE Profile, and their top of the line appliances are branded as Monogram (www.monogram.com).

Bosch makes the Thermador dishwasher, but they offer more options in their own brand so go with Bosch over Thermador for the dishwasher.

Induction cooktops are probably the best, but the pots and pans must have certain conductive properties.  It cools immediately and would probably be the best choice except for the following issues.  It is new and you might not be able to get it serviced as easily as other kinds.  It is also expensive to purchase the equipment. 

Consumer Reports had good things to say about:

Grohe faucets were our selection.  It was the only one that had a spring in the pull-out sprayer that made it easier to retract.  The hand held part of the sprayer is a different material to reduce the heat on your hand when operating the sprayer.

Lighting:  When selecting the lighting a number of things come into play.  The lumens is a measure of the amount of light produced by a light bulb.  The life of the bulb was important to us and the Xenon Bulbs last about 5 times as long as a Halogen lamp.  In addition, the Xenon produces much less heat than the Halogen.  The CRI is a measure of the ability of the light to recreate the exact color match.  On a scale of 1 to 100, the incandescent and the Xenon bulbs score significantly higher than the fluorescent bulbs.

Lumen output of Xenon bulbs appears to be:

    5w festoon bulb = 50 lumens

    10w festoon bulb= 120 lumens

    18W. wedge bulb = 264 lumens

Dimmable fluorescent requires bigger ballast and bigger bulbs.

Per Randy Jordan (lighting designer) at International Lighting:  Halogen has a glare, fluorescent produces streak effects in the lighted area and people are moving to Xenon.  He indicated that he would NOT mix fluorescent with incandescent lighting in the same room. 

When mounting under-cabinet lights, mount them at the front, not the back of the cabinet, but be sure the light dispersion covers the front of the cabinet as well as the back.

Outdoor Lighting:

Appliances

    Appliance Sources

   Appliance OEM's

    Appliance Ratings, opinions, buying guide

Carpet

Note:  there are a couple of things to keep in mind when finalizing your carpet purchase.

1) They make carpet rolls in 12 and 15 foot widths.  You should layout your house both ways to determine which is best.  This difference can be key if there is one area that you want to avoid having a seam.

2)  You must layout each room in the same direction of the carpet to keep the nap the same at all seams

3)  Discuss the cover for any floor safes before they start the installation process.

4)  Throw away as much stuff before hand as possible.

5)  Cover all hard surfaces with cardboard or padding because the installers will sometimes have tacks stuck in their shoes.

6)  Color code all electronic connections before they get there. 

7)  If there are any heavy, expensive objects such as piano, safe, pool table, make sure you know what the installer is going to move and make arrangements for a professional mover to handle the other parts.

Carpet Cleaning

Closets

Faceplates (custom stone)

Faceplates (stock)

Fire Escape

Fireplace

Floor Protectors

    Glide-n-Guard

Foundation Repair

                Robert Brown  /  Glen

                972.271.2621

                Mudjack01@aol.com

Furniture

Garage

Grommets

Pavestone

Realtors

Sinks and faucet

Stone

Stone Mason

Windows

Last updated 08/30/2007