Drip Path and other Gutter Alternatives

I've been fed up with gutters ever since the gutters I had installed in front of my house in 2002 started clogging.  I managed to get them cleaned with a power washer in 2020.  It was not easy because the crud had solidified like concrete and also plugged up the poorly angled downspout.  I need to get the thing refurbished or replaced but Gutter Experts charge a  fortune, and handymen (like the one who installed the current gutters) usually get it wrong.

I put in Rain Handlers in back and I'm not sure they've ever done very much.  I can see heavy rains just passing right through them.

So now, after the foundation repair (piers) installed on the south and west sides of my house, the compacted earth was torn up and replaced by new dirt, which is now just washing away under critical parts of the roof overhang.  I filled a big hole with new dirt in April, and that just washed away in May.

So now I'm going to fill the hole with rocks.  It appears you need the bigger rocks (not pea gravel!!!) to get decent drainage, so I got nice big rocks.  I may put pavers and other things on top of the rocks too.

It turns out this kind of approach has a name.  It's called a Drip Path.

 

Pipe Insulation Sizes

It's that time of year again, and the temperature is expected to drop from 65F this afternoon to 19F at dawn tomorrow morning.

I decided to replace the pipe insulation on the 2 inches of exposed pipe in the back and 8 inches of exposed pipe in the front.

I took out my calipers and measured the pipe as almost exactly 1 inch.

But I get to the hardware store and first they hardly have any pipe insulation for 1" piple (one piece left) and it looks too big anyway.

I ask the assistant and he says a little air won't hurt, I should get the correct size for my pipe.

I ask some customer whether pipe is determined by the inside diameter or the outside diameter.

He said "I wish I could figure that.  I'm just a carpenter.  It makes no sense to me."

One little clue was seen in the online descriptions.  A particular size was good for one size copper pipe and another size iron pipe.

How can that be, if it's determined by outside diameter?

It's because pipe people have long had "nominal" sizes, which are "determined" by the outside diameter being some predetermined difference from the measured size.

So a "1 inch pipe" would actually have an outside diameter of 1.315 inches...regardless of the inside diameter.

So when I measure an outside diameter of 1 inch, which is determinative, and it's iron pipe, that means it's a 3/4 inch iron pipe.  (To be exact, 3/4 inch iron pipe has an outside diameter of 1.05 inches.)

These numbers almost look like the inside diameter, and that's how I'm going to think of it (as almost looking like the inside diameter).

Fortunately I also bought the 3/4 inch pipe insulation, which fit snugly as it is supposed to.

https://www.atc-mechanical.com/tube-pipe-101/tube-pipe-size-overview/#:~:text=Tubing%20is%20measured%20by%20the,NOMINAL%20PIPE%20SIZE%20(NPS).

Keeping Up

2022 has been a big year not so much for new home projects as trying to keep up fixing things.

First, a gang shootout at the nearby cross street using an automatic weapon that sounded like a jackhammer made several holes in my garage, garage door, and one of the bullets penetrated my garage and broke a side window of my car and lodged itself in the corner of the windshield frame, cracking the windshield too, as well as damaging the glove box.  The bullets were .223's.

It took a month to get my car hauled away and fixed by the more recommended shop my insurance deals with.  A month of making a lot of phone calls, even just trying to get my car picked up.  I didn't want to drive it because that's not good with broken windows that can injure people inside or outside the car.

Then it took many months for me to get around to having my contractor come and repair the bullet holes in my garage and garage door.  I spent days ahead of time doing the paint matching, which took two trips to Sherwin Williams (they gave me a color fan on the first trip to enable me to match 3 different faded shades of the house color, and I had one big piece of paint from the trim).

I tried to get a prior estimate, but that contractor (recommended by a friend) looked at everything carefully and made measurements but never called me back, despite repeated attempts to reach him.

During the bullet hole repairs, they also patched a bit of the trim and siding that had rotted.  So the garage front looks better than ever from the street.

***

Just a few days before the shooting, someone twisted the metal of my garage front lamp.  I carefully twisted it back.  They may have been trying to figure out if the lamp had a hidden camera.  It has a metal motif that looks like The Lone Ranger somewhat suspiciously.  But there's no camera there.

*****

After the shooting I added a new little Wyze camera, notably on the south side right above where the bullet hole was and facing the nearby street corner.  The Wyze does have audio.  Previously I had only used one Wyze camera to monitor the outdoor cat (who now has indoor privileges, but I still monitor the cat house).

I bought a new wired camera with audio to replace the one on the north side (and give my camera DVR at least ONE audio source) but realized I'll have to move massive amounts of stuff out of the way and back.  It will be a week's project at minimum, and I haven't had time.

After a second gun firing incident (low power gun, I've seen no holes) I started working on an outside mount for a solar powered high resolution camera good enough to read license plate numbers as cars drive by.  But this project has stalled too.  I have the solar powered camera, made by Reolink.

*****

The front door lamp was flickering because the LED bulb was going bad.  But I couldn't unscrew it because the lamp socket and the bulb had fused, AND the lamp socket had come unscrewed from the frame of the lamp.  This is a very nicely styled lamp with replaceable light sensor which was rare and expensive.  I removed the lamp and socket and got the bulb removed, then I re-attached the socket (which was a fine ceramic socket) using the original nut and Red Loctite (the permanent kind).  The factory should have used something like Red Loctite.

Prior to fixing the lamp, I had been getting by with some little power hungry incandescent bulbs around the door, donated by a friend.  She bought them because they were cheap...of course they were cheap because incandescent bulbs were cheap to make, suck a lot of power, and are generally being discontinued.

****

The laundry room lamp had a similar problem.  But I still haven't fixed, because I planned a new elaborate installation with an Insteon occupancy detector.  But Insteon products became unavailable (probably because of chips) and then I bought used Insteon stuff on eBay to do this, but then discovered the stuff I got was the older kind which doesn't combine RF and line carrier control and is hence less reliable than the newer kind I would have bought directly from Insteon if they hadn't run out of stock.  I've been afraid to test it to see if it would work.

****

The main drain seemed to be sticking and a plumber came out and cleared it.  They advised me I had roots and should get the main drain replaced where it goes down about 3 feet from the house.  For replacing that three feet, they quoted me $3000.  I declined.  My regular plumber had not been available.

I got my own fiber optic camera and took a look, where I saw how close to the house the problem was.  There are no plants in the area, I had long ago removed all plants from that area to prevent root problems.  But one potted plant nearby had grown long roots into the ground.

I put large pavers underneath each large potted plant in front to prevent that from happening in the future.  There have been no more problems and I don't expect any for awhile.  The last "root" problem was about 10 years ago.

I also got a small router I could use to clean the roots.

*****

The master bedroom toilet started flushing more and more, ultimately every few hours.  I bought a new valve to fix it, but then realized I needed to remove the bowl to do that, a big ordeal.  Then I found out the usual cure for American Standard toilets is to merely clean the valve seat with a brush.  Actually I used a cloth soaked in vinegar.  That mostly fixed it, I could do some more of that at some point.  It still may ghost flush about after 15 hours or so but I rarely leave it that long anyway.

I did replace the upper part of the valve though that probably wasn't necessary.

I applied similar treatment to the hallway toilet and mostly stopped its ghost flushing problem too, which had been worse then the master toilet until a few months ago.

*****

I had a melanoma which was removed.  This was the biggest skin surgery I've ever had, and required stitches which needed to be in for 2 weeks, then further healing for 2 weeks.  I was not permitted to get "sweaty" during the first two weeks,  and the bandage made moving my arm difficult anyway.

*****

I had a bad tooth which resulted in 5 appointments before I got it pulled.  One dentist and then also the Dental School wanted to me to see an endodontist before pulling the tooth but the original endodontist who worked on this tooth 6 years ago told me it was problematic and the root canal would only last 5-7 years and it might be worth considering other options even then.  I chose to go ahead with the root canal because I already had the crown.  But I believe the root cracking had already started, which is why the endodontist warned me about it.  Finally when I went to an Oral Surgeon, he did a panoramic X-Ray and concluded the tooth was bad.  I had it pulled on the next appointment.  And then after seeing the first dentist the first time, I got a professional night guard on another appointment.  I decided (even before the tooth was pulled) that the night guard wasn't all that comfortable.  I tried to reshape it a bit with hot water, but it seemed to me it would always be more tight than I'd like.   I tried making some Oral B night guards, but I didn't like them either.  Now that the bad tooth is gone, my teeth don't bother me in the morning.

General rule: If you see someone who does X they are usually going to recommend that you need X.  So it's always up to us to choose who best to go to, at least if you are not constrained by Managed Care, and I insist on not being so constrained with straight Medicare and D and G Supplements.

Sadly, for Dental I'm on my own, so all of the above and more (actually the crown from 2015 itself had been replaced last year, because the Dentist said I needed to) was on my own dime.  As would be Implants and a Partial.  I've decided for now I can live without the tooth or any kind of replacement.  It appears that many many people opt for that option.

The remember-nothing anesthesia for the tooth extraction cost $1299, all out of my pocket.  The actual extraction was only $350.

*****

That came to mind when I started seeing cracks bigger than 3/4 inch between the ceiling and the wall in the master bath and master bedroom.

I had convinced myself since the remodeling in 2013 that there was no significant cracking.  And everything was patched up anyway.  But then there was a bit of summertime opening in the master bathroom.  But nothing near as bad as it has been this year.

Thinking this was a roof problem and not a foundation problem I got a home inspector to check it out.  He convinced me it was a foundation problem.

So I called one of the highest rated foundation repair companies.  As I asked, they gave me several choices.  I could add 5 piers mainly to the back of the master suite and around the corner, which was needed most.  That would cost $9,000.  Or I could add more piers to cover all the bedrooms, which also had significant problems.  That would cost $14,000.  Or I could add piers all the way around the Garage.  That would cost $27,000.  Or the whole house, which they said would be best of all, for $39,000.

I first chose the $9000 option.  But looking at the situation more carefully, I decided the entire south side of the house plus garage needed doing, but NOT so much the rest of the garage, where there is concrete driveway and walkway preventing erosion.  (And I've gotten better at sealing the gap between walkway and slab with self leveling sealant, but I haven't yet gotten around to doing the front of the garage).  Anyway the entire south side is eroded (despite all my efforts to prevent that) and in many places you can see right under the foundation.  I'd sometimes believed that it was foundation falling on the south side that caused the roof to tilt and therefore lift on the back side where the biggest cracking is.

I gave the estimator a call and he made a new estimate including the west side as before AND the entire south side.  It was necessary to have one extra pier on the front side of the garage because they must always wrap "corners" like that.  So I needed to add 6 more piers in all to the original 5 (for $9000) bringing the total price to $19,000.  Once this is done, I will no longer have to worry about erosion, or "dampening" the soil with soaker hoses (which never seems to work for me or help, and often seems to make matters worse) and all the tricks like that, which obviously haven't been successful.

I'm taking most of that out of a special fund I reserved for major construction projects.

I now notice that there is a notable depression you can see from a ways back for a few feet on either side of the wall water spigot.  For many years I avoided this, but recently I had to drip the faucet during the Deep Freeze of 2020 and then later a few times in 2021 and 2022.  I sometimes did let it run longer than necessary.  I had no actual splash block but sometime added an 8x16 paver underneath the faucet and parallel to the house.  That obviously did little good.

I've purchased a 3 foot splash block online because I could not find such a thing in local stores.  There used to be a grand landscaping supply company close to me where I once got the 30 inch splash block I'm using for the A/C runoff.  They moved far out of town less than a decade ago, and sadly last year they closed altogether.  That was the one place you could find all sorts of cement and stone things.  The selection at both Lowes and Home Depot is very limiting.

I found a 3 foot splash block online, but it requires being coated with a protectant, which I also bought.  I haven't gotten around to do the coating, and now I think I need another splash block for the front gutter.  It has an inadequate 1 foot splash block.

*****

I already cleaned the A/C condensate drain twice this year, to prevent a repeat of the short shutdown from drain backup I had the previous year.  I cleaned it before and after the official AC service.  I don't think the AC company cleans it well enough...in fact I know they don't and no company ever did.  My particular pipes are so small and silted up they need a lot of cleaning.

For the cleanings I let it soak in extra strength vinegar overnight (with the outside stopped up)  and then attached wet/dry vac to the condensate drain and let it run while I poured more vinegar then purified water down from the inside.  That really cleans it well and better than the professionals do.

*****

Speaking of purified water, the RO system was producing less and less at a time because the tank was not pumped up.  I pumped up the tank in March.  Then I also replaced the carbon filter cartridges in May.  Now it looks like it needs pumping up again.  I should probably install the replacement tank I bought several years ago but never got around to install.

******

Right after accepting the $19,000 foundation repair estimate, my Whirlpool Front Loading Washer from 2010 stopped working, with an error code which I looked up on the web.  It means "communication error" and suggests that either the central controller or the motor controller board needs replacing.  This will cost $280 for one board or $480 for both, according to estimate by Whirlpool website.

I seem to recall that I replaced one of these boards in 2016 for $280 or thereabouts.  That was just after my 5 year extended warranty ended, of course.

I initially still though it was best to repair the washer if possible, and set up an appointment through the Whirlpool website.  Then I got texts from the local company.

My appointment was set up for a week later.  But just before the appointment came up, I got a text saying they hadn't gotten the part.  I didn't look at it more carefully.  I started researching other washers and in fact decided to buy one.

Then when I checked the emailed copy of the text message, I realized it said I should make a new appointment.  I emailed back saying they should cancel the service call but the email just bounced.

So two weeks after I called in the problem, I got a text saying that they still hadn't gotten the part but would keep me posted.  Two days later I called to cancel the service call, which can only be done by actually calling them and choosing the Other option twice.

I was first interested in finding a similar Whirlpool model, with sterilize and fan features, and did, and it happened to be on sale for only $780 at Lowes with 1 in stock.  It was also on sale for $780 on the Whirlpool website.  But I'd also need to buy a $299 pedestal if I still wanted a pedestal (I do!).  And then Lowes charges $40 to pickup the old washer and another $40 to pick up the pedestal (I worried about what would happen if I didn't pay that second $40) and $30 on new "required" installation parts.  Then if you add the $250 5 year service contract, it all comes to about $1500.

Anyway, I then started looking at other models.  As it turned out, LG also had a model for about the same price, with all the other things priced similarly too.  And it has steam, fan, and possibly even more features.

Then I found the Consumer Reports handout that rated front loading washers, and LG's are now in the top category for reliability, with Samsung and Speed Queen in the second category, and Whirlpool in the 3rd category (and no longer recommended).

Well that was pretty convincing.  I found a website that talked about longevity, and they also recommended the LG 4000 model as the best front loader, but they specially recommended the top loading Speed Queen for ultimately longevity and serviceability.

I decided to go with the LG 4000.  I tried ordering both from Lowes and directly from LG.  Because Lowes charges for pickup of both old items and LG charges nothing for that (special limited offer) and because LG doesn't charge for extra required parts, and perhaps other things, I saved nearly $200 by buying direct from LG.  BUT I have to wait until mid November.

So meanwhile I'm doing laundry at the laundrymat my friend likes which is indeed very nice but 20 slow miles away.

****

The electric range burner that I use to heat my medium pot for making spaghetti noodles was getting more and more wobbly then finally died.  I bought a new burner not so carefully and it ended up being the wrong one.  I bought a second burner that was the right one and got it installed.  One thing about these old GE range/ovens is that they are fairly easily serviceable.

*****

I finally replaced the sliding screen door to the patio.  It had big holes which were patched up with white Tyvek tape.  It had been that way for years.

I first called a company that does both glass and windows.  I told them I'd like to have them come out to refurbish the screen and then the wheels on the sliding glass.  They never called me back.

I called another place, and they said it would take two weeks.

So I simply brought my screen to the first company.  They told me they would have it measured and estimated soon.  A few days later they called to say they couldn't get the wheels but were waiting on that.  A week later they called and asked if I could do it without replacing the wheels, since they couldn't get them.  They said they would estimate that.

Several times I tried to call I got no return call.  Finally they called me with an estimate asking for my approval.  I missed that call until Friday evening.

I called back on Saturday (website said they were open) but the person then told me that screens were taken care of by the person who was only there on weekdays.

By Monday I called and told them I was picking up my screen.  They said OK.  I took my screen straightaway to the other screen specialist.

Despite the first person saying it would take two weeks, now the assistant said they'd have it by Friday or Monday.  And they gave me a price including the bottom wheels, which was a bit more than half as much as the glass place had quoted me without the wheels.  This place had no problem with having the wheels, but insisted I only needed the bottom ones replaced (they were quite broken).

Indeed they had it the next Monday but I missed the call.  I picked them up on the following Wednesday.

Is it any wonder that I never got stuff like this done before I retired?  It was not easy to get this thing in my car and I ended up making 3 trips with it.

*****

The Insteon 8 button pad that was mainly just a switch for the garage fan was switching on and off by itself.  I replaced it with a simple Leviton lighted decora switch, with the light ON when the switch is OFF (so I'd remember to turn the fan back on if it gets accidentally turned off).  This time I wired the decora correctly with solid 14g wire and not the stranded wire ground which I cut off the old Insteon switch (it had a stranded ground wire soldered to the switch).  Previously when I re-used such a stranded wire with an X10 switch my Electricians scolded me for it when they replaced that with Insteon.  But the only 14g solid wire I could find was teflon insulated and silver coated.  My ultimate hifi speaker wire.  But only a little bit was needed.

*****

The patio steps were getting more and more wobbly.  I figured out a solution.  I cleaned out all the dirt which had accumulated underneath and between them, and then applied several beads of mortite sealant (never hardening) under each paver.  It works great.

Sink Options

 I'm getting serious about the bathroom vanity upgrade.  I want to do this soon, next few months if possible.

Not only is the existing acrylic since sink scratched so that it can never be completely cleaned, and difficult to clean even ignoring that.  The vanity is too low and I'm hurting my back using the sink and faucets.  The faucets themselves leak water when running and need to be replaced, but why do that when I need to replace the entire sink and vanity too?

Here's a farmhouse style vanity from Home Depot.  I like the farmhouse style because it will catch all the drips from your hands.  But in this case, the farmhouse sink does not extend far enough out to cover the handles on the doors below.  It does look like it offers SOME protection for the wood doors below, but drips may still roll down the porcelain to the horizontal beam supporting the sink.

Plus it's not wide enough (I need 60 inches) and looks a bit cheap.  So I'm not seriously considering the above but posting it as a reference point.

Here's a more conventional vanity, but a nice one that seems to get some details rights.  (It's available through Build.com/Ferguson and possible could be ordered elsewhere.  I wonder if Ferguson has a display or at least the surface colors.)  

Here's the link from Build.com.

Cleverly, and fairly unique to this one model, the center of the vanity is recessed inwards a couple inches in the center where the sink is.  Meanwhile the top extends out above this recess, providing some protection from drips on the cabinet doors and handles.  This this accomplishes the drip prevention better than the farmhouse sink above.  (But there will still be drips on the quartz top in front of the sink.  Those should not be hard to clean.)

It's made out of "birch and birch veneers."  Birch is among the best woods for vanities and doors.  But what is "birch veneer"  veneered over???

I also like maximizing the drawer space.  I've come to the conclusion that drawers are far more useful than cabinets, but you still need (and will almost always get) at least one door for taller items under the sink.  Most vanities give you as much door as drawer if not even more, which is wasted space.

Like most premium vanities, this one is pretty high at 35 inches, about 5 inches higher than my current vanity, and one inch lower than my kitchen counters.  I was thinking I wanted even higher, but this might actually be the perfect choice.  Most cheaper vanities are shorter, 32 or 33 inches.

IMO the electrical stuff, barring a more complete electrical solution (like for example 15 outlets) is simply a waste.  I will continue to use a wall mounted strip like the Tripp Lite I have right now, connected to the GFCI bathroom circuit.  I probably won't even hook up the electrical and USB outlets offered by the vanity as that would be a significant expense by itself and just wasted.   James Martin doesn't seem to offer this same vanity without the electrical features.

The price is pretty high as these things go, but it looks like about the best quality you can get at normal "premium" levels.  I'm considering it as an "acceptable" choice and have chosen the Pearl Jasmine Quartz top and wider mirror.

I like the way this fully covers up the floor, just like my current vanity.  Most other premimum vanities don't cover the floor anymore.  That means you'll have to keep it clean, which may be difficult.  Plus having the floor open means I'd have to replace the entire bathroom floor

The problem however is that it's white and my bathroom has gone for "almond" and similar colors.  White wouldn't really work.  Here's a different James Martin vanity in a color I'd like.  But I'm not sure about the rest.  It's an inch shorter (less optimal).  It has a wood backsplash (bad idea IMO).  It doesn't have the special recess for the door under the sink, but it helpfully looks like the entire top has about a one inch overhang over the cabinet, which is decent.  I think I like the 6 drawers of the DeSoto better than the 4 drawers, including deeper ones, of the Bristol, but deeper drawers might have some use too.

So it might work, though I like the DeSoto design better, just not the one color it is offered in.

The other James Martin vanities lack the "full plinth" covering the floor which I now think is essential.

 

Sun Power vs Sunrun

 Two leading residential solar providers in USA reviewed below.  (I've long planned to consider Sun Power first because of their recommendation by Sierra Club.)

https://ecowut.com/sunpower-maxeon-solar-vs-sunrun/

Bathroom Sink

My bathroom sink has needed replacement since I bought this house over 23 years ago.  The plastic one-piece sink and vanity top is scratched right around the drain, therefore always in the process of growing black stuff which needs to be endlessly cleaned off.  And the sink cannot be replaced without replacing the vanity top.  This has been the hardest thing for me to envision.  Unlike my bathtub shower "design," the bathroom sink requires a lot of thought.  There are a lot of ideas as to how to do this.  And I think they're all wrong.

The correct approach would combine such features as:

1) Pretty much self-cleaning.  The sink and vanity top should be designed so they pretty much keep themselves clean, or as clean as possible, simply using a smart geometrical arrangement.  I've now seen an actual self-cleaning sink system.  In fact it's a flat countertop make of a flexible material with hidden motors that pulls itself down into a bowl when you need it, then afterwards raises itself up to be flat and a wiper cleans off the surface.  It's a miracle.  But I would expect such a miracle to last very long.  Geometry, on the other hand, is forever.

One issue here is "drip."  While and after washing your hands there will be soapy drip, and then after you have rinsed your hands there will still be water drip, until your hands are towel dried.

Another issue is "splash."  Especially while filling a small cup of water for rinsing, water may splash back onto the countertop and spread...soiling much of the countertop.  Splash may also occur from putting your hands in running water.  Splash is reduced by making it easy to turn on the faucet to low levels.  Currently splash is a big problem because my old faucet sticks and is hard to turn to precise small levels.  Possibly a faucet could have fixed levels for each function, or even separate faucets.  Faucets could be found with the required flow rates easily achieved.

There's also "spit."  To minimize this falling on the faucet the faucet should be high.  A wall mounted faucet has always been an appealing idea too...so the faucet doesn't bathe in a pool of hand drip, splash, and spit, thereafter being permanently scaled.

2) Height .  I've been noticing that my own vanity top is quite low, and the level in the recessed sink is even lower.  I'm short and I can hardly get my hands down to the bottom of the sink standing straight up.  Strangely, I think this vanity level was intended for a taller person with longer arms.  Anyway, both the vanity top AND the sink need to be in easy reach.  I now believe an elevated sink is maybe not a bad idea.  Except...

3) Cleaning.  Things should be as easy as possible to clean.  This also means a minimum of joints and concave edges.  Or none if possible.  This is where my plastic vanity top sink must have seemed like not a bad idea.  The problem was the material, and the lack of care tailored to that material.  A similar sink made of something like Quartz maybe not a bad idea (my brother in law has that, in integrated sink vanity top made of Quarts).  Except it may not solve the above problems.

4) Storage.  Every modernist designer seems to want to throw this away.  But it's essential.  There are cleaning supplies, personal supplies, more soap and toilet paper.  One shouldn't assume that a home even has (or requires) a large central storage are for everything.  It is suitable to store bathroom stuff in the bathroom.  And there will be bathroom stuff.  (Though, indeed, I probably have more than needed in some cases.  I have stored bathroom junk.)

5) Handy provision of tools, including blow dryer, shaver, water pick, electric toothbrush, manual tooth brush, and safety scissors.  And toothpaste, mouthwash, alcohol, etc.  In the best design, there is a "place" for everything, right at hand.  An extra shaver mirror would be handy too (I don't have that now).

The geometry of the sink/vanity should be such that it extends sufficiently beyond cabinetry below that any drip from the sink edge does not fall on cabinetry, or even the "pulls" of cabinet drawers.

All the raised sinks I've seen have the misfeature that they create a joint and a concave area around the sink to accumulate drip and crud and need cleaning.

I saw this kitchen sink, and I like how the design reaches beyond the countertop edge so that drip falls on the floor and not into a hard to clean area on the counter, and mostly just back onto the sink itself.

This would not be applicable to my bathroom vanity at current (and typical?) heights.  The kitchen countertop is higher.  Which now begs the question in my mind...why is the bathroom vanity so low???

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0848HYPRG

The Kardashian sink seems to be an answer to near flatness and therefore cleaning.  But I worry that it creates a large above-trap area to accumulate mold and crud, and which you may not be able to clean easily.  In a conventional drain, there's a narrow metal tube virtually self-cleaned by high throughput water going down.  Though there is also the overflow...which in many cases does seem to accumulate mold and crud and be a problem.  But if the sink never fills up, there should never even be anything in the overflow, ever.(except when there is a plumbing problem, and then it fills up with crud from the plumbing problem, you see, probably why so many overflows stink).  And I haven't "filled a bathroom sink" in as long as I can remember.  I wet cloths and things directly in the clean flowing water.  I've never trusted "bathroom sink" water.  Perhaps a stop isn't even needed (and, in fact, I haven't had one in my bathroom sink for 20 years because it never worked right).  The only danger then is that something sizeable might fall down.  I live with that danger, though it might be best not to.  A removable screen would be sufficient.  But sadly code would not allow us to remove the overflow because someone might still use a stopper, or a washcloth were in the bottom of the sink.  Perhaps the only solution to the stinky overflow problem is to remember to thoroughly clean out the overflow after a pluming problem has caused the sink to fill.

The Best Backyard Water Feature

It looks like a pool is not going to happen.  Even though retired, I do not feel I have any more time or inclination toward pool maintenance than I did as a teenager.  Nor a strong desire to swim.  If I want to exercise, I can use my air conditioned Gym, right off the living room.  And even that I don't use enough, struggling for the past year to ensure I do at least one exercise per day, though I find it easy and enjoyable.   My best friend uses my Gym too, making it a social feature just like my living room.

Nor do I forsee a hot tub of any size.  Even when I hopefully return to once or twice per month parties, I find it hard to imagine many of them progressing to the hot tub.  Or me wanting to use it much other than that.  And then, all the maintenance!  I'm also glad I gave up my wish for a whirlpool bathtub.  Years go by between times I've needed to use the tub, though I find my Kohler tub with curved shower curtain rod makes a very nice shower too.

But I'm really really glad I added what is certainly the most cost effective backyard water feature a few years ago.  It causes many moments of joy every day, and takes only a few minutes  to hose off and refill.

Of course, I'm talking about a Birdbath.  I got a fairly plain vanilla concrete birdbath a few years ago, but least year moved to be in easy view from the kitchen through the sliding glass window.

I would not have imagined seeing so many kinds of birds.  They are beautiful and look appreciative.

I don't try to polish super clean.  (Birds actually seem to prefer dirty.)  I blast big crud off with the hose each time before refilling, and that leaves only some residual staining which is further bleached and loosened by the sun when it becomes dry.