Lyndhurst Garden House

Lyndhurst Garden House
Lyndhurst Garden House

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Birdbaths

The front lawn has now been mowed this year twice.  The second time, March 29, was just a touch-up around the big tree where the remaining crab grass grows quickly.  The first time, earlier in March, my 5 year old Craftsman lawn mower died after finishing the front and just as I was starting to work on the back yard.  It had been "stalling out" (weird for an electric mower) more and more and finally wouldn't spin up at all.  I got a new Earthwise 20 inch electric lawn mower with metal deck, only available as a special order at Home Depot (also available through other stores).  This is much smoother running than the last Craftsman mower, though possibly made in the same Chinese factory, they're just finally making nice mowers now (but strangely requiring special order).  The last Craftsman mower was the most noisy and buzzy mower I've ever had.  I had 3 Craftsman electric mowers before the previous one (going back to 1986 or so) that were quite smooth, and were made in Canada instead of China.  Oh, wait, the first one was actually Black and Decker, but it seemed very similar to the second one, which was a Craftsman (and entirely unlike the 3rd buzzy one).  I haven't owned a gas mower since about 1986 and I hate them.  I also once bought a plastic chassis electric mower and decided it was more like a toy but my mother liked it.

Palmie, the little palm tree which grew large leaves but never seemed to get a secure rooting, wobbled all the time and finally fell to a 45 degree angle, probably due to poor planting and location (it bore full brunt of sprinkler but didn't drain well), was removed a few weeks ago by me and my friend.  I was surprised she was finally resolved to remove it (she had wanted to save it in one way or another which seemed impossible).  It sat on the lawn for almost two weeks, and then just disappeared.  Somebody must have taken it…but for what?  Anyway, like all the chairs and bed that got picked up by strangers rather than being collected by Bulk Waste Services, I'm glad that somebody took it, it seems more likely it won't be simply wasted.  But are they going to plant it or turn into some kind of decoration?  I also thought of them eating it, heart of palm stew.  My friend did not want to think about that at all.

But what she has gotten me thinking about is another step in landscaping: the bird bath.  Here's an inspiring article about how bird baths should be designed (and/or made).  So they should basically have as much shallow area as possible.  This got me thinking about the most functional bird bath designs.  What you really need is a large shallow area surrounding or on the side of a slightly deeper well.  As the water dries up it recedes back into the well and ultimately the well itself becomes the shallow part.  Better yet perhaps would be some kind of bladder that inflates in the well and maintains the same water level.  Well I haven't seen anything like that.

Here's a nicely finished concrete bird bath with a nice style.  But I think the perimeter is not as bird friendly as it could be.  The surround of a bird bath should be a place that gives birds a place to perch.  So as nice as it looks to me, I think this is not the best design.  Most bird baths you see now are also considerably less expensive.

I was just at Home Depot where I saw a 2' high bird bath made of concrete.  The bottom pillar was $14 and the dish was $14.  That sounds like a good starter kit and would be especially good for the front yard where concrete is heavy to carry and wouldn't be a big loss if someone did take it.

There are several varieties of automatic bird feeder online.  There are many devices that add water, including KozyFill, a remote tank which refills the bath to the correct level (it must be mounted at the correct height to do this, and connected to outdoor water faucet).* There are gizmos that stir up the water, and actual fountain equipped baths.  I saw one fountain equipped bird bath which was solar powered, for about $129.  But it warned that the pump would burn out if the water was too low.  (They should make such pumps to withstand running out of water and far worse IMO.  Or be easily replaced).

(*Unfortunately KozyFill was discontinued by manufacturer and gets bad reviews for construction quality and engineering.  Most unfortunate was inability to handle water pressure…with supply line coming loose, according to bad reviews on Amazon.  The auto fill bird bath also got one bad review, though it didn't sound quite as bad.)

But even with auto filling just filling isn't enough and it isn't even the hardest work.  It's cleaning the bird bath which is the hardest work, and must be done almost as much as adding water.  There is one self-cleaning bird bath I've seen online, and it's very plain and doesn't come with pedestal and requires timer water hook up and is over $200.  It's basically a water nozzle in the center that spins around with water pressure once a day to clean the bath.





Sunday, March 22, 2015

New Mower

My corded electric mower died last Sunday, just after I finished mowing the front and was starting on the back.  It had been resetting itself more and more frequently.  When it shut off, I'd wait a few seconds and restart.  But finally the time between shutoffs was nil.  It was about 5 years old.

Online searching suggested there were no corded electric mowers with metal decks.  All the electric mowers sold at Lowes and Home Depot and Sears and stocked in stores seemed to be plastic based on what I saw online.  So I bought the only metal corded electric mower from Home Depot online.  The mower gets good reviews and looks similar to my last one.  UPS attempted delivery on Thursday--ahead of schedule.  I had them hold it for pickup because of a rain forecast for Friday.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

New Driveway Light

Vaxcel Lighting T0108
Happy Trails Sconce I've ordered for Driveway Lamp


My home has always had two front lights, a front door light and a driveway light attached to the front of the garage on the right hand side which leads to the front door.  (The front door is 20 feet behind the front of the garage…a typical 1960's design which my small and inexpensive 1983-built home emulated--and I like because I like having my living spaces far from the street.)

Bronze Flourex Wall Light
Lights of America
Not long after buying the house in a government auction in 1992 I replaced both of these lights, and the back patio light as well, with identical photocell controlled fluorescent security lights from Lights of America.  These photocell controlled security lights have very powerful lighting thanks to 27 watt compact fluorescent bulbs which are still available at Home Depot.

The 27 watt LOA units did exactly what they were supposed to.  The security light is very bright, and has reliably come on every night (sometimes staying on during cloudy days).  The light definitely has a blue-ish cast typical of fluorescent lighting, and that's fine for visibility and security, though it doesn't make your home seem nicer, just safer.   Brand new, they look utilitarian at best, cheap at worst, and over time the clear plastic shield turns yellow and the inside tends to fill up with dead bugs.

Since the first install in 1992 I've replaced the front and back lamp units one time each after the internal ballast died.  So they don't last forever, but during the typically 12 years or so these units lasted they were perfectly reliable, and that's about all you can ask from any photocell controlled light.  The bulbs go for about 5 years, which is excellent for bulbs running an average of 12 hours a day.  (Often you see "20 year" lifetimes calculated for running the lights 3 hours per day.  Well that would be the same as 5 years running 12 hours per day.)

The primary fault with these lights is that they attract bugs like a magnet.  I think fluorescents do that generally because of the high UV or near-UV content of the light.  LED lights, at least running at very low powers like 12 watts or less, don't seem to attract many bugs, though the 3W Miracle LED "Bug Lite" is the best of all for not attracting bugs due to low power and lack of higher wavelengths.

Anyway, the one LOA lamp that hasn't yet been replaced is the one in front of the Garage Door.  I haven't used it in so long I can't remember how long it's been.  I quit using it around 1999 or so because then I was parking my car in the driveway, and I had to walk past this light (where bugs were swarming) to get to the front door.  There are some months when we are inundated with bugs, so I think that must have been the last straw.

I pretty much forgot about the driveway light because the front door light is so bright that in my opinion there is plenty of light in the front yard, and now it is further augmented by a city streetlight at the corner which is just one house away.  But the lack of a dedicated light for the driveway has been a concern for my friend, who has often seen strangers walking down the street when she goes to her car parked in the driveway.  So, for some time, a new light has been called for, but I only got around to ordering one this week.

I spent many hours over many days looking at lights online.  I found the Happy Trails Sconce in about the middle of my searching.  It has the basics: a photocell (very rare in sconces generally), wet certification, takes a single E26 bulb up to 100W, covers the bulb up (so you don't see a bare bulb), diffuses the bare bulb light but doesn't reduce it much, and has some charm, I think (unlike the charmless but practical LOA units).  I think I'll be lucky if it holds up as well as the LOA units.

I do not plan to use an incandescent lamp, but now that LED bulbs are infinitely available with edison bases, an E26 base is the best thing to have.  That was the biggest problem I found with other lights.  I was very much attracted to the more expensive looking (and more expensive!) lights from Murray Feiss, for example, the OLPL7000:


Murray Feiss OLPL7000

I love the "Modern" style, with apparently very solid construction.  However this is set up to use a GU24 fluorescent light bulb, and has no photocell.  Very many of the more expensive light fixtures I looked at were set up to use GU24 or similar fluorescents.  Now that we have LED bulbs with Edison bases, these are anachronistic.  Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, have a less pleasant light, are not as reliable, and are incredibly attractive to bugs compared with LED lights.

I'm not sure about adding photocells to fixtures that don't have them.  That *might* be possible, but sounds risky (to buy an expensive fixture without knowing whether it can be so adapted) and is at least going to take some work.

Beyond the fact that the Happy Trails light is less impressive looking than other outdoor sconces, what actually bothers me the most is the acrylic shield.  This is an east facing garage door and the morning sunlight can be very intense.  I have little doubt that the acrylic shield in the Happy Trails sconce will eventually get ugly and possibly even useless as a result of exposure to the sunlight.

An acrylic shield is a common feature of the less expensive sconces ($100 still being in that category).  The more expensive sconces, including the Murray Feiss shown above, tend to use glass.  With glass there need be little concern for long term stability, so I really wanted to find a better sconce with a glass shield.  After many more hours of looking, however, I gave up, and decided to go with the Happy Trails.  When the Acrylic wears out, perhaps I'll find a way to make a glass replacement, or just get another light.

Another issue with most sconces is the size.  My garage front is unusual.  The lamp is wedged between trim pieces on a very narrow side of the garage door.  There is about 5 inches between the trim pieces, which stick out about 1 inch.  The trim pieces themselves are about 4 inches wide.  So there is plenty of overall width, but "hanging" sconces which have a back plate might not do well if the back plate is wider than 5 inches (as they almost all are).  And even then they might not do well.  It occurs to me that a hanging sconce (whether freely hanging or rigid) is going to apply more force on the base.  If the base is wider than the gap between the trip pieces, it will need to rest on the trim pieces themselves.  And because of extension, it will be applying a lot of force to the trip pieces, which is not good.  Even entirely within the gap, this extra force might not be good.

The way the LOA lights "fit" is that they are wider than the gap, so they bridge across the gap, and an extra trim piece was added on top within the gap to keep water out from the center.  That's what I'm planning to do with the Happy Trails light, which is a little bit smaller but still not narrow enough to fit within the gap.

I also didn't like lights that are freely hanging.  That worries me.

Finally, given the compact space in the driveway and the walkway along the side of the garage, it's good to have a light with minimal extension.  Happy Trails has a 5 inch extension.  All of the hanging style sconces have a greater extension, up to a foot or so.  ADA requirement is for 4 inches extension or less.  Very very few sconces meet the ADA requirement.

I found several interesting places to look for built-in light fixtures.  The most unique and interesting lights were at Hansenlighting.com, though the average price was high and many lamps cost more than $1000.  They seemed to have not just hundreds but thousands of lamps, and at least some were affordable.  In the end, however, I didn't find any lamps that worked for me.  A major brand featured at Hanson is Meyda Tiffany and they have amazing lights…some that are remarkably inexpensive relative to the very high class looks and apparent construction.  I'd be tempted to get a Tiffany tulip sconce for inside the house because they are so cool looking at yet quite inexpensive.  The downside is that the electrical installation would likely be very expensive or maybe not possible.

Another interesting place is Bellacor.com.  Second most interesting collection after Hansen.  They had the Happy Trails, but not in stock, and it was not the first place I saw it.

Murray Feiss has their own website with an amazingly large collection of Murray Feiss lights.  I was especially tempted by the Costa Del Luz, a very nice looking and apparently well made light on sale at a remarkably low price.  But it looked like it would be a very difficult install for me (see above) because of the wide open part coupled to relatively narrow backplate (the specs don't seem to match the picture…it lists overall width as 8.5 inches with backplate width as 9.5 inches).  Anyway, it also lacks photo sensor (but I'd be tempted to try adding one).

CarolinaRustica.com has an interesting collection of Meyda Tiffany featuring the animal figure lights.

Also of course Build.com (excellent selection and searching), ATGStores.com (owned by Lowes, but far bigger selection than any brick and mortar store), and lightingdirect.com.

I looked at the Craftmade brand since I liked their outdoor floodlight better than two others I ordered in 2011, but didn't see any suitable lamps for the garage door location.  Here's one that seems just a bit too wide at 5 inches width and 6.5 inches "backplate/canopy" width.  Since the backplate and canopy represent the entire piece, the two width specs should be the same.  It might fit if the backplate width is actually the smaller number (though from the photo, it looks like the backplate might be wider than the canopy, which is quite unusual).  However this has another rub that I've seen in many other lights.  The extension part of the light doesn't extend at all from the backplate, there is only a tiny gap between the two.  That means that both the backplate AND the extension (canopy, etc) have to fit in the gap.  That clearly won't work for my location.  If I'm going to have a lamp with a wider canopy than the backplate, the canopy will also have to extend out at least 1" from the wall side of the backplate.  Here's a Craftmade light with a small backplate that would fit the gap OK, and it looks like the extension is large enough to clear the trim, but it takes two candelabra bulbs instead of one E26.

Here's a light at Signature Hardware that looks nice, and the backplate would fit in the center space.  Takes E26 (medium Edison) bulb.  But doesn't have photocell.




Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Vinyl Shower Floor ?

I am now starting to think about the future design of the hallway bath.  My friend wants to convert it to a shower "bathroom" which is fine with me.  But do we go with a prefab shower box (I'm thinking not) or make a custom shower on site (this is what I'm thinking).

One way to have custom shower is to have the entire bathroom floor covered with the same covering (usually 1" square or hex tile) as in the shower.  I like this unified floor idea, but in my version I would have vinyl flooring, as I think it gives better slip resistance.



Friday, March 13, 2015

Reveal makes the Grass Green

LED Reveal light is great as outdoor security light.  It makes the grass green, looks less yellow than incandescent lights, and far better than typical even-more-yellow looking LED lights, and blue looking fluorescents.  Incandescent lights make the grass look yellow (highlighting the thatch) and even incandescents may not make the lawn look as nice as the Reveal does.

(Corrected.  Reveal light doesn't make a punchy green as many incandescent and LED's do.  What it does is suppress the yellow.  So if you have a lawn which is 50% yellow thatch or winter die-off, Reveal suppresses that and makes the green relatively but only relatively more prominent.  I think this looks nicer and richer but YMMV.  It does tend to make the green/yellow lawn look darker overall and whether this is good is a personal judgement.  My real message here is "It's worth it to use a tailored light to make your yard look nicer at night."  Reveal may not always be the answer, and I intend to try different things.  I'll have more to say about yard lighting in future posts.)


The BR30 bulbs however aren't nearly as solid looking as the weather rated 95 watt PAR38 Halogens they replaced.  The electrician installed the halogen lights in preference to standard 150W PAR38, which also generally come with a weather rating.  They don't fit the flood light holders as well as PAR 38 which is probably a disadvantage from a standpoint of keeping the bulb safe.  I do wonder how long the Reveal BR30's will last outdoors.

Here's a comparison of BR30 and PAR38.  If GE ever makes weather rated Reveal LED in PAR 38 in a modest output like 75W or 90W equivalent, and I think they should, I'll buy that.  






Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Quick Notes

Lots of stuff is being thought of, anyway.

The Shower Curtain Rod

The King's Bathroom is a triumph, if I do say so myself.  But I still have to buy the new shower curtain rod.  Many have been considered.  I saw an angled shower curtain rod, and realized that might be the best.  But it's only made by one company, and they don't stock the 5 foot size.  So back to curved rods. I've decided on the Proflo curved rod in brushed nickel.  Unlike the Kohler and Moen shower rods, the Proflo rod is a single piece, so no transition in the middle (ever notice how makers of these rods also try to sell you ball bearing style shower curtain hooks…you might need those).  There is a bit of adjustability in the end pieces, which are relatively large.  Fortunately, the large end pieces also have a bump beyond which you can hook the last curtain hanger.  It looks well designed, and in addition to coming in the Brushed Nickel finish I like (many others only offer stainless finish) it comes in two model numbers, one having 304 stainless steel and the other using 445 stainless steel.  This was an interesting opportunity to learn about stainless steels.  Mico Metals makes 445MR and discusses it here.  The 300 series (304 and 316 manly) have the largest amount of nickel and are non-ferromagnetic.  The 400 series have more Chromium and are mostly magnetic.  It is sometimes claimed that the magnetic stainless steels aren't as resistant to rust, but it varies by the exact composition, and recent alloys are getting better.  Stainless in the new 440 range has so much Chromium that it may be better than 316, which is better than 304.  (Here's a another discussion of all types, though not including 445 specifically, only 446 which has the max processable chromium.) So I chose the 445 stainless over the 304 stainless model on the belief that it is better (despite less of the now expensive nickel).  The 445 stainless is also "more like steel" though I'm not sure if that means it would be stronger.  But overall the Proflo rod looks as good as any.  Commercial supplier Bobrick makes straight 1 piece shower rods in 304 with simple end pieces.  FWIW Signature Hardware (a retailer) also has a one piece curved rod, but with much smaller end pieces than the proflo--which is possibly an advantage.  It almost looks like they just simplified the end piece of the Proflo (or took part of it off).  With that unit, they say you may have to cut the rod, equally on both sides, to get it to fit any particular shower.  While my builder might do that OK, he might also be angry about having to do it.  I've also seen a number of other rods that look similar to the Proflo, but usually more expensive.  I'm beginning to think of Proflo as one of the best brands btw, even though it is "just" the Ferguson house brand.  My builder says he can install the rod for me this month.

I've started the bath and shower a little even without the rod.  The 32x60 Bellwether is the perfect size for me, at 5'6" tall, and it is wonderfully comfortable for me.  But unlike my previous thinking, it might not be so good for someone just a few inches taller.  I can spread my legs out flat but only if I'm sitting somewhat up.  So if you are 5'9" or taller, you might be well advised to get the 32x66 Bellwether.  And if you're over 6'3", you'll have to get a 72" Tea for Two.

The Delta shower head is all I hoped for.  It gives marvelous wetting without being too harsh or sloppy.  It doesn't have a needle adjustment AND it doesn't need one--it's just right.

The Delta controls are nice, but the shower control is adjusted so I can just barely get the water hot enough.  If I replace the water heater and go for higher temp (I don't think I should change the temp in my 8 year old water heater for reliability reasons) it would be just right.

The Bathtub Spout

When the bathtub spout is run the water goes straight to the drain.  At first I was very disappointed and was thinking I might get a shorter spout.  But when taking bath you put in the stopper anyway, and the metal stopper I have is ideal.  The water hits the tippy top of the stainless stopper…and spreads around like a daisy.  It couldn't be better than that.  If I had a rubber stopper, however, I worry that the water might leach out oils in the stopper and pollute the bathtub a little (probably too small to measure with the most sensitive instruments).  When I was first obsessing about this for a long while, I then laughed "and to think I'm not worried about the miles of scale the water travels past in the water piping!"

Anyway, I removed the lift-and-twist stopper (ProFlo) from the tub by turning it.  So I can put a drain strainer over the bathtub drain as I usually do.  Then I removed the stem from the stopper, and now I can use it just like a regular stopper.  It works great…kept the water in the tub for a whole day without losing an inch.  However it's slightly unstable when you are in the tub, and a glancing brush might cause it to tilt enough to start leaking water.  Also I'm slightly worried about dropping the metal stopper on the tub…that could cause a nick.  But I plan to be very careful with it.

My intent was that the water would shoot past the stopper.  I had been thinking about a straight line from the spout (which tilts at a 30 degree angle from vertical).  But the water doesn't have enough pressure to travel in a straight line…it curves down right into the drain.

Anyway, with the spout like it is now, the spout can also pour water on my feet, which is nice.  If I got a shorter spout, I'd have to stretch to reach the water flow.

LED Lights

I've been playing a lot with LED lights.  I got a set of hue adjustable and color temperature adjustable bulbs from LimitlessLED.  They work very well, and I can adjust the color temperature to something I like better than most LED's.  But the 9W Dual White was not really bright enough for the single lamp in the living room (though it didn't seem much different in total light output from the Verilux 20W fluorescent it replaced).  I'd often noticed during my parties that when the sun goes down and the living room light automatically switches on with the Verilux bulb, everyone's faces looked even harder to see.  The Limitless was a bit better, but not much.  So then I got a CREE 100W equivalent LED (less than 20W actual) and immediately it was a revelation--so much brighter mainly--and it outputs as much light to the ceiling as around which is more helpful than anything (since the lamp is in a frosted torchiere).  I think the Verilux output too much light to the sides and not enough to the top.  I didn't really like the yellowish tone of the CREE at first.  But my friend loved it and insisted that I keep it.  I've be studying spectrograms of light bulb outputs and hope to write an article about just that.  Bottom line, neither color temperature nor CRI as usually stated are as useful as I used to think.  Pure incandescent bulb output (which has CRI of 100 at 2700K, fwiw) actually isn't as bad as I used to think.  The CREE seems to have a much better spectrum than the first generation Philips LED bulb (which I hated), though I didn't think so at first.  Funny the Home Depot website said they were Outdoor rated…it doesn't clearly say that though it does say they are not to be exposed to water or the elements.  Inside a pair of floodlight shields…I think that's not considered "exposed to the weather" though you might also argue that it is.  Only the 90W equivalent Philips said it was designed for outdoors on the box…and it had an awful plastic looking top where the GE is glass.  They are wet rated but not to be "exposed to water."  I may be pushing it.  Once again I think that's true of most bulbs put into floodlight holders.  The base of the bulb is protected from the elements by the enclosure and a rubber boot, pointed downwards.

For better security, for both me and my outdoor cat, I've changed the motion detector light on the north side to dusk-to-dawn.  I'm replacing the halogen bulbs with 12W GE Reveal BR30 floods.  These get higher marks than the CREE flood lights for reliability.  I know the Reveal method doesn't actually give you anything like daylight (nor do "daylight" bulbs, though at least they try in a straightforward way) but I find I like what the Reveal does, and a less yellow looking security light is a plus IMO, I think it may make the yard look better inside and out at GE but I can't seem to link to it (combined sun and sky peaks in the blue green, very unlike incandescent which rises from blue to red in a straight line…and of course on into infrared with even more output), compared to Reveal, which is weird looking, but closer to sunlight than incandescent in having yellow about the same rather than vastly above blue green.

I finally ordered some Solux 3000k halogen edison style bulbs for the house.  These might be great for vanity lighting.  I had been thinking about trying the living room also.  But I wouldn't go through very many for routine dawn-to-dusk security use as the living room lamp does now.  An LED of some kind is bar far the best choice for that.  Possibly I could have a separate fixture for the Solux.

Cat Safety

I've been making small changes to make the house more cat safe.  I removed the old AV wires that used to run underneath the kitchen cabinet (cat liked to mess with those).  Actually, they hadn't been used since I installed the new whole house A/V/D networking in August (!) 2013, but it just took until February 2015 for me to get around to removing the old wires.  I also removed the package opening knives I used to keep at the bottom of the living room bookcase.  I put those inside the kitchen HVAC cabinet.

I've discovered the need for locks for the bifold closet doors in the Queen's room, as the cat opens them when left in there.  Kid'sRUS has nice bifold door locks that go at the top of the door.  But my closet doors are actually much thicker than those must have been made for.  Even adjusting the knob to the widest depth, they still fit too snugly to be moved easily.  So I took out the inner adjusting piece, and replaced it with one or two strips of Velcro, which has about the right thickness and slides easily but not too easily.

The precarious "system" I had of "temporarily" suspending the Ethernet-to-HDMI extender from the TV via a pair of rubber bands gripping around the extender and through the hooks of the release cables of the TV wall mount…failed spectacularly, then was recast and kept losing one or the other bands due to slippage under consistent cat play.

My computer club friends came up with the solution…velcro.  Actually I used the strongest grippy fasteners from Scotch, which seemed appropriate to simply holding something on hard (though, I did spend a lot of time pressing on the plastic of the TV…maybe Velco would have been as safe with less pressing, enough so I might have pressed less).  I had to buy more because I mounted in a bad spot for attaching TV to wall.  On Monday I reattached and rewired the ethernet and HDMI cables.

Kohler Toilet Seats…that sinking in feeling.

I love my new Kohler toilet with Flushmate.  But the seat is horrible.  It makes me feel like I'm falling in to the toilet, which raises my legs (the front edge of the toilet being the fulcrum) so that my legs can barely reach the floor.  (After writing this, I decided the worst aspect of the seat is actually the raised front part because it hurts my legs, not the sinking in behind.)

Now I recall the plumber asking if I was sure I really wanted at comfort height toilet.  (Of course…what a silly question.)  Well perhaps Kohler designed these seats so it's almost like having a 2.5 inch taller toilet.  So many people could get away with the shorter toilet with these seats.

But what a way.  I hate it.  The perfectly flat, thin, and smooth seat on my American Standard Champion 4 is far superior.  I ordered a special Kohler "ergonomic" seat.  It seemed better but still too edgy and falling in.  So I ordered an American Standard, in the "Bone" color which Terry says is the matching color to Kohler Almond.

Update: The American Standard seat is everything I hoped for.  The Bone color matches Kohler Almond perfectly.  It fits OK though seems a mm or two smaller than the Kohler seat, which is fine. The seat is perfectly comfortable with no gratuitous slope.  It seems like American Standard has not changed the design since I bought the Champion 4 toilet in 2009.  And that's good, because it is just right.

I previously complained about how seats (the old wood and plastic kind) could have a bottom inward edge, and how that would hurt.  Well, now, it almost seems Kohler has gone over backwards to avoid that…the bottom edge is a wrap around curve.  But way way too much of a good thing, and it really isn't an issue with plastic toilets anyway due to the edge rounding.

Notably I started the King's Bath upgrades over a decade ago with a Kohler faucet, and now I have Kohler tub and toilet.  But if they can't do the seat right, and I know American Standard does.  At least I hope they still do.

Otherwise I like the color, style and massiveness of the Kohler toilet.  It reminds my of a rich friend's house in the 1960's.  But also, the detachable tank rests on the bottom plate leaving a 1/4 gap underneath the tank.  Crud might build up under there and never get cleaned out.  I like one piece toilets which avoid this issue (my plumber chose this toilet model after I told him I wanted comfort height and elongated bowl).  Apparently my plumber likes two piece toilets and isn't worried about cleaning the gap--that's a customer issue. In the two-piece American Standard Champion 4 in the Hall Bath the back edge of the bowl rises so that the junction between seat and bowl is elevated and tight, removing the cleaning issue.  Though for actually cleaning what's visible, the Kohler gives you a nice space to clean, and in use the bowl tends to stay cleaner than my Champion 4 (the Kohler has Flushmatic).  I think the Kohler has a better porcelain.  But no reason not to have better toilet seat design.

Here's an interesting Shaving Mirror.

















Sunday, March 1, 2015

Simple Green and other Bathroom Cleaners

Simple Green All Purpose cleaner doesn't mention bathrooms on the bottle but I thought I'd take a chance and brought it home.  In fact it is a strong (though non-sterilizing) cleaner.  Strong yet easy on the hands, and not as bad as some on the eyes and lungs.  This is a very strong cleaner full strength when you actually need serious cleaning.  The nicest thing of all is that it doesn't run when you spray it full strength.  I like it.

The Green in the name refers to the fact that the product is (highly) biodegradable and less toxic than some (no bleach, ammonia, or similar harsh chemicals).  Virtually all bathroom cleaners are biodegradable now, and many are little harsher if any than Simple Green.*  However the Simple Green actual ingredients appear to be anything but "natural," so don't think of this as a natural or organic product.  It's not really simple either, a better word would be sophisticated.  The main surfactant alcohol, 2-butoxyethanol, has been used in many cleaning products since the 1930's.  A better way to think of this is as a thoroughly modern cleaner made of a cocktail of modern synthetic ingredients that do the job well without being harsh or toxic, and is not too bad for the environment.  Some other (now less common) bathroom cleaners contain little more than citric acid and may actually be simpler and greener.  But whenever you have special lime or soap scum removers or sterilizers you do have something more harsh.  Strangely, despite the essential claim of environmental friendliness, the inclusion of a phosphate means that it has some potential ill effect through the creation of algal blooms in waterways. But here, the Tetra Potassium Pyrophosphate is a secondary ingredient, in relatively small amount, so it has much less algal bloom stimulation as, say, pure TSP (which is also used as a cleaning compound--when you need serious cleaning).  Phosphate containing cleaners are best dumped on one's own lawn after use. It looks like Simple Green is well disposed of this way since it doesn't seem to contain anything that would hurt your lawn, even the TKPP is potassium rather than sodium based also, which would generally be better for lawns.  (TKPP is a well known industrial cleaner with similar performance to TSP.)

UPDATE:  The web is full of websites blasting Simple Green's claims to being not toxic, largely on the basis of the ingredient 2-butoxyethanol, less than 5%.  In 2012 Simple Green finally (after how many years?) decided to remove the 2-butoxyethanol.  While it had that ingredient (click for MSDS), it had a 1 safety rating for health (1-0-0).  The new formula (click for MSDS) has a 0 safety rating (the best) for health according to the newest MSDS and is not expected to cause respiratory, skin, or eye irritation, so the rating is 0-0-0.

Likewise, the standard for environmental friendliness has moved on from "low phosphate" to "no phosphates--long ago actually, and finally the new Simple Green formula has done likewise, taking out the TKPP.

The new main surfactant is Ethyoxylated Alcohol, which is notably less toxic and irritating than 2-butoxyethanol.  Some of the other ingredients change also, possibly to compensate for the loss of the original somewhat harsh surfactant.  There is now citric acid in addition to sodium citrate.

So you read it here.  Simple Green was actually a slightly irritating and toxic and phosphate containing cleaner until 2012 when it decided to clean up it's act.

*Mainline bathroom cleaners are subject to fads and the formulations change every few years.  Some years they contain simpler and less toxic formulations.   Not long ago Lysol Bathroom Cleaner used only dilute Citric Acid.  The recent fad is for bathroom cleaners to have bleaches and/or other sterilizing agents as well as specialized cleaners.  Simple Green is safer for users and the environment than these pumped up cleaners.  In anything other than a hospital environment, sterilizing agents are unnecessary.  While common, bleach is one of the most toxic substances found in a home and should be avoided if possible.  Cleaning agents with bleach or sterilizers may not be good for your lawn.