How can you find a commercial kitchen willing to let you use their facility.

By on September 20th, 2010

I want to make toffee to sell but wouldn’t be able to pass inspection due to living in a duplex. I want to be able to sell at farmers markets and online.

kitchen countertop removal.

By on September 19th, 2010

i have a normal formica countertop that i need to take out completely. i have a (GE) gas cooktop that sits on top of the counter. right below it is a (Kenmore) single wall oven. so there is no cabinets or empty space below the cooktop. i dont know if i can remove the cooktop on my own or do i need to hire a professional for it. if this is something i can do on my own, can someone please guide me as to how i should proceed with it. do i need to first take out the wall oven. does the cooktop just sit on the counter or is it glued. do i need to disconnect the gas/power from the cooktop or can i just raise it even while it is all wired up. help or directions would be greatly appreciated. thanks

little black bug on top of my bed.

By on September 18th, 2010

I live in the basement of my home. Its not like dark and gloomy or anything it has lots of windows, a drop ceiling, and a nice floor. earlier today i had taken all my sheets off my bed to get them washed. After i removed the sheets i found a little black bug that seemed dead laying on top of my mattress. i got a papertowel and threw it in the trash. Later today while i was reading, sitting at my kitchen counter, i noticed the same type of little black bug crawling on the top of my bed. At this time my puppy was sleeping on it. I captured it and this time put into a plastic container with a lid on it. I showed it to my mama and I really don’t know what it is. I’m officially freaked out. I’ve looked up all the information i can about bedbugs but it just doesn’t look like the pictures online. It’s black while the pictures online are brown. I don’t know what to do

raid fogger. what to cover. will it leave sticky stuff or anything.

By on September 17th, 2010

i want to use raid fogger for a condo i just bought. i have 2 rooms and kitchen and living room are connected. So 1 in each room and 1 in living room and 1 in kitchen with the bathroom open as well. i want to know do i leave the cabinets, drawers, etc open. so when i move in it is safe to put the new dishes and stuff right.

im just making sure that the fog that will go in cabinets and draws will not contaminate the dishes, bowls, spoons i get.

I have a question about installing a laminate kitchen countertop.

By on September 16th, 2010

than on a diagonal (45 degree angle) cut.

I need to install a cheap counter top in my kitchen until the summer when I will have my kitchen remodeled I don’t want to put alot of money into this temporary countertop, so I’d like to install it myself. I can’t get a long enough piece of DIY countertop from the Big Box stores to install it and seam it to a joining perpindicular piece correctly with a 45 degree angle (diagonal) cut on one end

Can I seam straight cut lines for this temporary countertop.

How do I keep my kids out of the fridge.

By on September 15th, 2010

My 2 and 3 yr old are constantly getting into the pantry and fridge. I do online classes so I am home but am usually on the computer and I have to get up 20 X in an hour to chase them out of the kitchen, it is getting really frustrating. I feed them regular meals and fix them a snack- but they want to get into everything and just create messes.
A fridge lock would be fantastic. I take them to daycare while I am in physical classes but to save money I keep them with me when I am at home.
I tghink you are right, I know they are bored out of their minds. usually they are very good girls and they do listen most of the time, they just don’t when it comes to the fridge and the pantry for some reason. So many wonderful exiting things to look at I guess. I really need to have them in a fun pre-school during the day, one I can afford.

Help. How on earth do I redo a kitchen. Where do I start.

By on September 14th, 2010

Hi, we’re moving into a new house that we’re buying. The structure of the flat is good, but the inside is disgusting. They’ve treated it really bad. As such, I need to re-do the kitchen and the bathroom completely. Keeping in mind that we don’t have an endless budget, so I need to be mindful of money, where on earth do I start.
I’m useless at DIY and work in a health setting so have NO idea about building, plumbing, etc. All I’m looking for is a kitchen that works - nothing over the top - just sensible - and the same goes for the bathroom. The kitchen is approx 3×3m and the bathroom 3×1.8m.
Do I visit a big shop like Ikea first and choose the stuff. how do you know what you need. Or do they sell packages of everything.

OK - you can see I’ve got NO idea, so any pointers I would really, really appreciate.

thanks, Miranda

PLEASE ALL ANSWERS WELCOME. Who should pay for remodeling the family homestead kitchen.

By on September 13th, 2010

ALL answers are welcome and I hope to hear from everyone with an opinion, but I’d be especially grateful to hear from people who are experienced with inheritance situations. Here’s the situation:

My father is 96 and has just entered assisted living, probably for good this time around as it is unlikely that his health will improve enough for him to come home.

Here’s the thing: There are 4 of us children (Mom passed away years ago). We all know that my youngest brother [I’ll call him Joe here] who has lived in this house, with Dad (and Mom) for almost his whole life (he’s 50 now–BTW, he also is Power of Attorney for Dad) will inherit the house, which is probably worth about $120,000 on the market. The rest of Dad’s assets–his stocks and bonds, etc.–will be divided 4 ways among us children–at least I think this is how Dad’s will reads, I’m not sure. That would come out to, say, $200,000 for each of us 4 children, which includes Joe. So effectively, Joe would inherit $320,000 while the rest of us would inherit $200,000.

I’ll add that my brother has lived there rent-free all these 50 years and has not had to pay for any of the utilities or taxes, either, or even for groceries.

The house is 50 years old and really needs to be upgraded, particularly the kitchen–say about $20,000 worth of work (new floor, cabinets, appliances, everything. It needs to be gutted and redesigned). My younger brother wants to be fair about it, so he asked us other siblings what we thought.

WHAT MY BROTHER WROTE:

>”Last spring I launched on an effort to get the kitchen fixed> up. Of course in the interval dad has ended up at the care facility and> prospects for coming home are not certain [ie., highly unlikely].””I am picking up on the kitchen again but I am not sure about what is fair if dad is not able to come home and enjoy it. Perhaps I should cover the cost or maybe it is fair to split the cost with dad as basic maintenance of 30 year old kitchen. I thought I would get your advice as to what is fair under the new circumstances. Thanks for the help.” [signed Joe].

SO:

If Joe takes the $20,000 directly from Dad’s estate to remodel the home then it will reduce the amount of inheritance the rest of us siblings will get. Joe’s getting married in a couple of months and plans to settle in this house–so, in a sense, given that Dad isn’t likely to come back home, the house is already my brother’s and anything he invests in remodeling it will be for his own benefit.

So what is fair. For Joe:

1. To take the $20,000 from my father’s money now to remodel the house, meaning that us siblings would get less inheritance money.
2. To “split the cost with dad as basic maintenance of 30 year old kitchen” [as Joe suggests] meaning Joe would pay $10,000 and take $10,000 out of my father’s money now, before it’s passed down to us children.
3. Or for Joe to pay the full $20,000 for the remodeling himself–which would effectively be the same as waiting until my after my father passes away and then using $20,000 of his $200,000 inheritance to remodel the kitchen for himself and his wife.

I realize that $20,000 is not a lot of money, especially when you split it 4 ways, but for me it’s a matter of principle. It can see it leading to bad feelings among us children.

1. So how do you think MOST families would handle this situation.
2. What do YOU think is the fair thing for my brother to do.

Thanks in advance.
Dear “Pissy_’Ol, you really gave yourself a good name because that’s EXACTLY what you are–”pissy,”ol,’ and I’ll add totally IGNORANT AND a “Judgment-Passer” of the worst kind. I have NO intention of suing my brother–and guess what, “Pissy ‘Ol.’ Regarding ‘taking the time to love and care for my father.’ We’re WAY AHEAD OF YOU ON THAT ONE. Over the last 6 years that my father has been in and out of hospitals, SEVERAL nurses have commented–3 of them in my presence with my siblings, have said, “In all my years of working in a hospital, I have never seen a family as loving of a parent as you are of your father.”
Go chew on THAT one for awhile, Pissy_’Ol. I’m glad I don’t know you, Pissy_Ol, you sound sour to the core.
To everyone,
This is not a ‘need-a-lawyer’ issue. All I need do is TELL my brother that I feel he should pay for the remodelling himself, and he’d do it–I’m positive of that. But I want to know how other people see the situation first. This will NEVER be a legal battle, but it could potentially lead to bad feelings between me and my brother. I don’t care about money–heck, it’s only a piddly $5,000/child. Heck, Dad lost tons more money than that overnight when the stock market crashed and I’ve been matter-of-fact about that. But it’s the principle of the thing in this case.
There’s also more to the story, but it’s too long to get into.
PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THE COMMENT I WROTE TO ‘PISSY_’OL’ ABOVE.
I appreciate all of you who are giving good faith answers. Another point is that my father has been legally mentally incompetent for several years, which means he cannot alter his will.

PLEASE ALL ANSWERS WELCOME. Who should pay for remodeling. Inheritance Issue.

By on September 12th, 2010

ALL answers are welcome and I hope to hear from everyone with an opinion, but I’d be especially grateful to hear from people who are experienced with inheritance situations. Here’s the situation:

My father is 96 and has just entered assisted living, probably for good this time around as it is unlikely that his health will improve enough for him to come home.

Here’s the thing: There are 4 of us children (Mom passed away years ago). We all know that my youngest brother [I’ll call him Joe here] who has lived in this house, with Dad (and Mom) for almost his whole life (he’s 50 now–BTW, he also is Power of Attorney for Dad) will inherit the house, which is probably worth about $120,000 on the market. The rest of Dad’s assets–his stocks and bonds, etc.–will be divided 4 ways among us children–at least I think this is how Dad’s will reads, I’m not sure. That would come out to, say, $200,000 for each of us 4 children, which includes Joe. So effectively, Joe would inherit $320,000 while the rest of us would inherit $200,000.

I’ll add that my brother has lived there rent-free all these 50 years and has not had to pay for any of the utilities or taxes, either, or even for groceries.

The house is 50 years old and really needs to be upgraded, particularly the kitchen–say about $20,000 worth of work (new floor, cabinets, appliances, everything. It needs to be gutted and redesigned). My younger brother wants to be fair about it, so he asked us other siblings what we thought.

WHAT MY BROTHER WROTE:

>”Last spring I launched on an effort to get the kitchen fixed> up. Of course in the interval dad has ended up at the care facility and> prospects for coming home are not certain [ie., highly unlikely].””I am picking up on the kitchen again but I am not sure about what is fair if dad is not able to come home and enjoy it. Perhaps I should cover the cost or maybe it is fair to split the cost with dad as basic maintenance of 30 year old kitchen. I thought I would get your advice as to what is fair under the new circumstances. Thanks for the help.” [signed Joe].

SO:

If Joe takes the $20,000 directly from Dad’s estate to remodel the home then it will reduce the amount of inheritance the rest of us siblings will get. Joe’s getting married in a couple of months and plans to settle in this house–so, in a sense, given that Dad isn’t likely to come back home, the house is already my brother’s and anything he invests in remodeling it will be for his own benefit.

So what is fair. For Joe:

1. To take the $20,000 from my father’s money now to remodel the house, meaning that us siblings would get less inheritance money.
2. To “split the cost with dad as basic maintenance of 30 year old kitchen” [as Joe suggests] meaning Joe would pay $10,000 and take $10,000 out of my father’s money now, before it’s passed down to us children.
3. Or for Joe to pay the full $20,000 for the remodeling himself–which would effectively be the same as waiting until my after my father passes away and then using $20,000 of his $200,000 inheritance to remodel the kitchen for himself and his wife.

I realize that $20,000 is not a lot of money, especially when you split it 4 ways, but for me it’s a matter of principle. It can see it leading to bad feelings among us children.

1. So how do you think MOST families would handle this situation.
2. What do YOU think is the fair thing for my brother to do.

Thanks in advance.
Dear Tax lady, Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear. This isn’t about whether my brother inherits the home or not–that’s a given–it’s about whether he uses my father’s money to fix it up (NOT for my father’s benefit because my father no longer lives there) but for himself and his bride-to-be. The house is NOT going to go on the market or up for sale, my brother is going to keep it.
To tax lady again: You say ‘don’t invest any more money in the house’ but that has nothing to do with my question because $20,000 IS ABSOLUTELY going to be spent to improve this home for my brother and his wife’s sakes. Joe has Power of Attorney. He can take $20,000 out of my father’s money today if he wants, to remodel the house for himself. Question is, is it fair.

DIY Ikea storage solution.

By on September 11th, 2010

I have a cubby hole in our wall that is about 5 feet tall, 2 feet deep, and 4 feet wide. I need a shelving unit with doors to put in there to store baskets of household items that are cluttery. I want it to look like a built-in, if at all possible.with legs, if at all possible. Ikea customer service pretty much blows, unfortunately, so I can’t find a real person there to help me find what I’m looking for. I’ve looked under their kitchen cabinets and wardrobes, but can’t really find something with doors AND shelves.
Does anyone have an affordable suggestion or another place I could look. Thanks.