I think this is the MOST well-designed conspiracy ever formulated and I’m really sick of it:

Plumbing and all those ‘accessories’ like pop-up stoppers - create a huge petri-dish of sweltering, everyday bacteria, fungus and other assorted allergins, these things are nearly impossible to clean and maintain, are a nuisance and I’m in a quandry as to why on earth they were ever invented - BUT they keep plumbers working

Carpet and all the accessories like stripping and padding - once installed they imprison the entire flooring of any building providing again, a huge petri-dish of sweltering, everyday bacteria, fungus and other assorted allergins, these things are nearly impossible to clean and maintain, are a nuisance and I’m in a quandry as to why on earth they were ever invented BUT, they keep carpet cleaners in business including the manufacturers of sweepers and all those accessories

Cupboards - which were apparently designed by 6’ 6” CRUSHER men mainly for women who must use ladders to reach.

Windows made of plastic springs and hardware that crack and crumble as soon as the weather changes or that are FAR too heavy or wedged too tightly to lift and keep clean (I like cottage windows that wind outward)

These are just a few of the most heniously devised inventions that I believe are subversivly marketed as being time savers, energy savers, economically viable etc. but the true intent is to keep the various sub entities deliriously happy because we have to keep buying ‘other’ products to help us use the first ones or keep them maintained.

Meanwhile, all those jars of goodies I’ve just purchased from the grocery are still unopenable and can’t even be budged with the wedge-design-super-dooper-open-anything thingy.  Give me a hammer and I’ll just carefully either remove the glass shards or learn to eat them.

why do I all the sudden have the “heebie-jeebies?!?

If you have allergies, hardwood floors are definitely the way to go. You’re absolutely right about carpets being sweltering petri-dishes full of bacteria, fungus, and assorted allergins.

You should also add venetian blinds to your list. A nightmare to clean and they trap huge amounts of dust.

Oh, and also shower curtains. All kinds of fungus and molds grow on them in the warm, wet conditions of the shower. And then, each time you take a hot shower, all those fungi are aerosolized and swirl around you. But I have yet to find an easy way to clean a shower curtain.

bleach can take care of many things in your sinks and toilets.  ammonia too.  use glass cleaner on shower doors.  basicly, clean like a mother and you can kill just about anything

You’d think bleach could reach everything, but, it can’t.  Inside the stoppers that run down through the pipe, debris that not even draino or liquid plumbers can break up or dissolve.  In fact, you are advised to lift the stopper as high as you can (carefully) and use a screwdriver or wire to dish or try to pull the stuff out (hair doesn’t dissolve, it just keeps wrapping around that stopper band that goes all the way down the pipe.

Bleach can’t be used on carpet padding that is trapped under the carpet which holds any moisture in the pad (no matter how much you may be advised otherwise) and under the pad to the subfloor as well.  Unless you remove the carpet from the strip, pull it back and lift the pad (which by now has become adhesived to the subfloor), in which case you might as well rip it all out.

For some things or on some surfaces, bleach can be hazardous as well and you need to be careful to get it up once wiping down.  In order for bleach to be truly effective, it needs to sit for a time before wipping it off. 

If you examine your house closely, there are areas where water actually sits hidden from view too, until it has caused great damage and has enticed mold and other kinds of ‘stuff’ into an almost sewer quality.  Usually we only go hunting when finally we smell a foul order coming from ‘somewhere’.

Alex - 06 June 2006 04:18 PM

Oh, and also shower curtains. All kinds of fungus and molds grow on them in the warm, wet conditions of the shower. And then, each time you take a hot shower, all those fungi are aerosolized and swirl around you. But I have yet to find an easy way to clean a shower curtain.

I buy the “industrial strength” (they have metal grommets and are made of thick vinyl) shower curtains, and put them through my washing machine on delicate cycle with plenty of bleach when I need to clean them.

Works pretty well, and the curtains hold up to the abuse.  I wouldnt try this with anything but the plain white ones, Im sure even colored plastic bleaches.

Just dont put them through the dryer… hang them out on the line or back on the curtain rod when youre done.

I’m sorry, but shower curtains are the LEAST of anyone’s worries….. they can be thrown away like any disposable. 

My concern anger and rage is directed toward structural designs and products........  the stuff put into NEW homes that are inadequate, poorly designed, manufactured from pieces and parts that cannot be reached to be repaired or clearly designed to be unrepairable at all. 

I remember being in a couple brand new homes where carpet was actually placed OVER the bedroom thresholds to HIDE the fact that the subflooring left a 3 inch gap before it met the threshold meaning the gap went all the way through to the NEXT floor!  THE ONLY thing preventing a foot or anything else from sliding down through that gap was the carpet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In another house carpet was used to conceal cracked stairs leading from the first floor to the second….the owners kept ‘tilting’ and feeling movement beneath their feet on specific stairs in their brand-spanking-new home so they called the carpet installers since they didn’t want to disturb anything themselves.  The stair was nearly cracked entirely across the middle.  I believe I’d call these desguised things DANGEROUS???  And bleaching them won’t fix them.

Believe it or not, these homes actually passed inspections and codes!!!!!

Are buildings actually designed to disintigrate within a specific time span???

http://www.dcd.com/oleary/oleary_nd.html

I don’t want to sound “infomercial”....But my dad installs Simonton windows & maybe it’s just b/c of newer technology but they are FANFREAKINGTASTIC.

I love ‘em.  Whenever my dad goes to bid on a job, he tells the homeowner that even if he doesn’t get hired, they should make sure the contractor is using Simonton.  My parents have them installed in their home - all different kinds, too.  They’ve not had them long - a few years…but in Florida, we get nasty weather enough to give our windows a beating pretty quickly.  When I get my own home - we’re installing Simonton as soon as we can.

A lot of people have tile, wood, vinyl, etc… for floors. 

If we all lived in mud huts, Im sure we’d be worried about different things.

spam spam spam spam . . .

Maegan - 07 June 2006 01:58 PM

I….....................They’ve not had them long - a few years…but in Florida, we get nasty weather enough to give our windows a beating pretty quickly.  When I get my own home - we’re installing Simonton as soon as we can.

A lot of people have tile, wood, vinyl, etc… for floors. 

If we all lived in mud huts, Im sure we’d be worried about different things.

Maegan, I looked Simonton windows up but can’t tell much about them online.  I would have to be concerned about the materials surrounding where the windows themselves were to be mounted and who is supplying that material and work.  If the surrounding material is not adequate, there may be eventual damage to how the very best window functions. 

If I lived in a mud hut I could be fairly sure that I was the construction’er so I wouldn’t be expecting much and certainly would not expect permanence or much protection…...my worries would be that it’d eventually collapse but I’d also be aware that such collapse would probably not kill or even maime me much since there would not be very much falling down. 

In new houses here (even when purchasing from those selling their homes) it’s common routine practice to lay new carpeting.  I agree with you, I like solid surfaces under my feet, (EVEN if it’s just the subfloor that I can paint murals or designs on - yes on the floor - I’ve done quite a few in many residences) and can’t tell you how many times I have ripped up carpet. 

It’s my belief that there are too many fingers in the cooking pot when buildings are erected:  there are varying grades of materials used by so many different contractors who have little knowledge of one another and are only connected by the bids they’ve put in for contracts. 

I have also discovered, from many people I’ve known, that pre-fabricated structures are often sealed better and at least materials are more unified as far as grade since it comes as a kind of ‘kit’ apparently put together at a single factory (like a car?).  THAT seems a bit sad but maybe it really isn’t.