The badly needed kitchen renovation of my New York City apartment continues into day eight. I continue installing our new cabinets from Ikea in the new space.

Here’s today’s progress report:

The remainder of this project will revolve around installing the cabinets, finishing trim details, and hooking up the plumbing and appliances. I’ve got one more day before I have to go back to work. After that, things will slow down a bit as I finish things after hours (but hopefully I’ll be able to rest up a little.)

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: DIY home renovation, ikea kitchen, kitchen renovation, sears kitchen appliances

The badly needed kitchen renovation of my New York City apartment continues into day seven. I’ve been at it one full week now and today I began installing our new cabinets from Ikea in the new space. Oh, and the appliances arrived from Sears.

The appliances arrived promptly at 8am:

The installation work goes much slower than all the rest of the prep. The hand plastered walls in an older New York City apartment are never square or level, so there are lots of little tweaks and adjustments that need to be made in order to fit everything together. But, things are finally coming together.

Here’s today’s progress report:

Tomorrow the installation work continues.

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: DIY home renovation, ikea kitchen, kitchen renovation, sears kitchen appliances

The badly needed kitchen renovation of my New York City apartment continues into day six. Today was the mad race to finish patching up all the holes that the electricians and I made in the walls. I also dry fit some of our new cabinets from Ikea to see how everyhting would fit in the new space. The new stove, microwave range hood, and a dishwasher from Sears are scheduled for delivery tomorrow and I got a confirmation call today - 8am!!!

Here’s a progress report for the day:

By the end of day six I had to have the wall repair work finished because the appliances are coming the next morning between 8 and 10 am. They have to go into their final spots in the kitchen, because I don’t have anyplace to put them and won’t be able to move them by myself anyway.

I worked like a madman to finish the wall repair and somehow got everything done. I was able to put up a coat of primer over most of the patches and only have a little work left in the morning before the Sears delivery shows up.

One little bonus today is that I ended the day by dry-fitting a few of the cabinets in place to see how well everything fit. Ellen did a remarkable job putting this all together, because the fit is perfect.

Tomorrow starts very early and promises to be very busy.

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: DIY home renovation, ikea kitchen, kitchen renovation, plaster repair

The badly needed kitchen renovation of my New York City apartment continues into day five. Today was the day to start patching up all the holes that the electricians and I made in the walls. I also started to assemble some of our new cabinets from Ikea delivered yesterday. The new stove, microwave range hood, and a dishwasher from Sears are scheduled for delivery on Friday.

I spent much of day 5 waiting for the delivery of the drywall and other supplies for patching the holes. While I waited, I put together some of the cabinets.

Here’s a progress report for the day:

The delivery came around 3:30pm. Building supply companies aren’t like Ikea - they don’t bring the stuff inside. The delivery guy dropped things in front of the building (in the rain) and I had to get it all inside myself.

Progress was good today, but I’m getting nervous about getting all the wall repair done by tomorrow. I didn’t factor in enough time for the plaster to dry and to put a coat of paint onto everything.

There’s nothing like the rising feeling of panic to focus your attention and get you working!

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: DIY home renovation, ikea kitchen, kitchen renovation

The badly needed kitchen renovation of my New York City apartment continues. Today was electrician day and they came to replace the fuse panel and completely rewire the kitchen space. We also got our new cabinets, counters, refrigerator and a sink from Ikea delivered in the  afternoon. The new stove, microwave range hood, and a dishwasher from Sears are scheduled for delivery on Friday.

Yesterday I opened up the walls and pulled the copper tubing for the water supply line to the new fridge. I didn’t have the right kind of gloves to give the grip and flexibility I needed while pulling the tubing and this is the result:

Day four was focused on getting the electrical work done. The electricians were extremely efficient and got the entire kitchen rewired in less than 1 day. The new breaker box is installed and all the outlets are in place. Once I finish repairing the walls, they’ll come back and hookup the outlets and put on the covers.

Here’s a quick shot of the guys hard at work pulling the new wire in the kitchen:

Ikea also delivered the cabinets and sink today. It’s very important to do a complete inventory when you get your order to ensure that you have all of the parts and don’t find yourself in the middle of an installation and missing something important. Our order checked out 100% - very happy about that.

Finally, I also went to the building supply company around the corner and ordered the materials for closing up the walls. It gets delivered tomorrow. While I was there, I picked up the parts to hook-up the ice maker’s water supply line.

When the electricians left I hooked up the water supply line to the main water connection and tested for leaks by running some water into a bucket. No leaks! Everything looks good.

Here’s the recap of the whole day and a look at what was accomplished:

Tomorrow, I start patching up all the holes in the walls and putting together some of the base cabinets.

Stay Tuned,

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: DIY home renovation, ikea kitchen, kitchen renovation

The badly needed kitchen renovation of my New York City apartment continues. On day three I opened up the walls and pulled the copper tubing for the water supply line to the new fridge. I got a call saying the delivery of the new cabinets, counters, refrigerator and a sink from Ikea will be coming Tuesday afternoon. The new stove, microwave range hood, and a dishwasher from Sears are scheduled for delivery on Friday.

Here’s a little video update of the progress today:

The electrician confirmed he’ll be arriving tomorrow to start work. The debris removal folks came today and took the old stove and all the debris from the demo.

Bummer, the ceiling fixture died today. It’s fluorescent, and I think the ballast went bad. I’ll ask the electrician.

Here’s a video taken at the end  of the day:

We’re still on schedule and on budget. If the electrician doesn’t need to redo the wiring back to the main panel, we’ll be golden!

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: DIY home renovation, ikea kitchen, kitchen renovation

My New York City apartment is getting a badly needed kitchen renovation. I’ll be tearing out the old cabinets and appliances and replacing them with cabinets, counters, refrigerator and a sink from Ikea along with a new stove, microwave range hood, and a dishwasher from Sears. We also have an electrician coming in to replace the fuse panel and completely rewire the kitchen space.

This wave of the project is focused on the basics and the electrical work. Later I want to dress things up with a tile backsplash, a new floor, and some under-cabinet task lighting.

This is the before shot of the kitchen. The new fridge is already there, but the rest is heading to the dumpster. I’ve got to box up and clear out all of the contents of the shelves and cupboards.

I spent a few hours boxing up and moving all of the contents of the kitchen into the girls’ room where I’ll leave it until the kitchen is finished. As small as the kitchen is and with as few cupboards as we have, I was a bit surprised at how much we had crammed in there.

Once the contents of the room were safely stored away, I took the doors off of the cabinets and took the wall cabinet and vent hood down.

Here is my progress for the day.

So far I’m on schedule for my expectations on this project. I’ll have all of the demolition work completed tomorrow and be ready to open up the walls a bit to get ready for the electrician. I also want to see if I can pull a water line across the room to connect up the ice maker on the fridge.

Now it’s time for a little rest.

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: DIY home renovation, ikea kitchen, kitchen renovation

The roach killing tactics that worked best for me…

When you first see the roaches, your instincts say, “kill, kill, kill!!!” But, the best and least toxic solution comes about after the initial panic ebbs and you can think about the situation a bit more clearly. After I calmed down and stopped spraying RAID everywhere, I did a bunch of research and devised a plan of attack. My goals were to limit the amount of poisons used, make quick improvement in the living conditions in my home, and implement a long-term roach management solution that uses natural, non-toxic materials to keep roaches out of our home for good!

To achieve these goals, here is what needs to be done:

1 - Locate where the roaches are entering your home and cut off their access

2 - Cut off their food supply with a thorough de-greasing and cleaning

3 - Use baits, traps, and other products to kill the roaches back inside the walls as well as remaining roaches already inside the living spaces

4 - Create barriers to roaches coming inside in the future and repel roaches from entering closets and cabinets

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How Would You Like To FIRE YOUR BUG MAN…

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I tried so many different tactics and products that it is hard to say if any one is ultimately responsible for ending the infestation. But, I know that I saw dramatic results after thoroughly caulking and sealing every crack and crevice in my kitchen and bath (I had also been using baits, poisons, and traps for several weeks, so they contributed as well - just not as dramatically.)

On the same day I caulked and sealed, I also aggressively cleaned the kitchen with a de-greaser. The amount of cooking grease that coats the cabinets, walls, and vent hoods in a kitchen is remarkable. Scrubbing with ordinary cleaners isn’t enough, you have to pull out the heavy guns. Don’t forget to clean out the oven, under the stove top, the back and sides of your stove and the walls and cabinets surrounding the stove. If you have a self-cleaning oven, run it through a cleaning cycle according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The high heat will kill off any eggs or live bugs inside the stove (but you still need to de-grease everything afterward.)

Glue traps were effective in both capturing the roaches that were running around the house and also in helping to identify how and where they were entering the rooms. These clues made it easier to find the spots requiring further treatment.

To keep the bugs out in the long-term, I used several tactics. I placed cedar products in the closets, cabinets and drawers. The natural oils in the wood repel roaches. I’m planning to line all of the closets in cedar eventually, but placed blocks of cedar on hangers there for the time being.

Moth balls are also a good deterrent to keep the roaches out, but they are toxic and smell pretty bad. Your application options are limited. One folk remedy is to drop a couple behind the stove every few months to ward of roaches.

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How Would You Like To FIRE YOUR BUG MAN…

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My most aggressive long term tactic was to drill holes in the wall cavities around the kitchen (the source of our worst infestation) and blow a combination of Diatomaceous Earth and Boric Acid into the walls. Both of these products work to kill the roaches through mechanical means rather than poison. Neither product loses potency over time and the roaches cannot become immune to it the way they can with many poisons. In my view, the walls are now a highway of roach death which will stop future roaches before the ever manage to get inside. Small amounts of both products were dusted under the stove and refrigerator.

The Diatomaceous Earth is non-toxic and has a very mild ‘earthy’ odor. This is good with a baby around the house (Boric Acid is toxic, but not nearly as bad as the poisons in most roach sprays.) I also added a few cans of a mint oil based bug spray into our cupboard to handle future sitings. Unlike poison based sprays, I’m not scared to use this around the kitchen. It works a little slower than poison sprays, but smells better and won’t hurt you if a little overspray gets on your dinner plate.

I never had to resort to bug bombing. I think I could have handled the situation effectively if I had used nothing more than the Diatomaceous Earth, mint oil bug spray, glue traps, silicon caulk, expanding foam, and boric acid coupled with a thorough cleaning and degreasing of the entire kitchen.

The roach sightings have dropped dramatically in the past couple days and I’m looking forward to many roach-free days in the near future.

The Go-To Guy!

P.S. Do you have any tips or techniques for effectively killing roaches and treating an infestation? Leave a comment and let us all know!
[nms:cockroach,3,1]

Technorati Tags: boric acid, diatomaceous earth, how to kill cockroaches, killing roaches

In my earlier posts about my roach killing expedition, I mentioned my discovery of Diatomaceous Earth. This non-toxic powder has the ability to kill roaches (and a whole bunch of other things) without poisoning them. It is microscopically abrasive and cuts and scratches the roaches inside and out. Since it’s not a poison, it doesn’t lose potency over time. So, one good application will last a long time.

With a baby in the house, I was looking for non-toxic options for long-term use. This seemed like a very good product, so I started to hunt around for a local supplier. In New York City this wasn’t readily available (I didn’t have time to search around at gardening centers) so I ended up ordering it from Amazon. They also had a mint oil based non-toxic spray, so I got a couple cans of that as well.

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How Would You Like To FIRE YOUR BUG MAN…

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When my 4 pound bag of Diatomaceous Earth arrived from Amazon I immediately set out to using it. I discovered a few things about how to best use Diatomaceous Earth in your roach killing efforts.

The first important thing to note is that, while Diatomaceous Earth is not poisonous to humans, it IS an irritant. It will get on your skin and dry it out like a mudpack. It has a mild, but noticeable, odor and it can irritate your eyes.

The second important thing to note is that Diatomaceous Earth will easily disperse in the air and form a cloud of fine particles that hang there a long time and then settle on everything in the room. This is not necessarily a bad thing!

Where To Apply Diatomaceous Earth For Effective Roach Killing

The goal with a product like Diatomaceous Earth is to get the roaches to track it back into the walls where it kills the roaches in the nest. A common application is to dust it under sink cabinets, stoves, refrigerators, and along baseboards. It is also good to spread it around outside if the roaches are coming from there (the powder in an outdoor application needs to be re-applied after rain.) I wanted to be even more aggressive.

If individual roaches tracking the Diatomaceous Earth into the walls was a good thing, I reasoned that coating the interiors of the wall with the powder would be even better - like a giant roach roadblock in the wall. I decided to drill small holes in the space between the wall studs in my kitchen and bathroom and blow the Diatomaceous Earth inside to coat the interior surfaces. A little drywall patching and paint afterward and I could relax in my own home instead of constantly scanning for roaches.

Applying Diatomaceous Earth For Roach Control

I got a plastic bottle with a cone shaped tip like those used for Boric Acid. Once filled with Diatomaceous Earth, I set out to dust under the refridgerator, stove, and along the baseboards in the kitchen. I tipped the bottle and squeezed it quickly to ‘puff out’ a little powder.

I was concerned early on that the Diatomaceous Earth would clog up the bottle, but the fine powder dispersed nicely. However, I got a little aggressive trying to blow the powder back under the fridge and, when I looked up, I noticed the cloud of dust hovering in the kitchen.

Blowing the dust inside the walls turned out to be a much easier task than originally anticipated. Only a small hole was needed to get the Diatomaceous Earth inside and some vigorous work with the bottle created a cloud of dust inside the walls which coated every surface with roach killing powder - sweet!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Wear a mask when applying Diatomaceous Earth.

One nice thing is that the dust clings easily to many surfaces. So, the sides of the stove and lower cabinets are now roach death traps. In fact, the vast majority of the kitchen surfaces are now inhospitable to roaches.

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How Would You Like To FIRE YOUR BUG MAN…

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I was pleased to discover that the following day the number of roaches spotted in the kitchen had declined noticeably. And, I saw a couple of them moving slowly with a coating of the Diatomaceous Earth on their bodies. I found a few more in the glue traps around the kitchen coated in dust.

Unfortunately, new horror kicked in when I realized the roaches were moving into the living room looking for new hunting grounds. The bedrooms were sure to follow. This was not good.

New glue traps were quickly placed in the major roach pathways in the living room and Diatomaceous Earth was dusted under some of the larger furniture and along some of the hidden baseboards to keep the roaches contained.

The second day after applying the Diatomaceous Earth, we had almost no roaches in the kitchen at all. I did the usually rattling of dishes and opening of cabinets designed to flush the roaches out of hiding and found nothing. This was all the more shocking given the fact that I had fallen asleep leaving dishes in the sink and before taking out the very full trash. While washing the dishes, one lonely baby roach came out of hiding and I quickly dispatched him with a shot of my mint oil spray!

If you have any tips or special techniques for killing roaches using Diatomaceous Earth, leave a comment below and let everyone know!

The Go-To Guy!

Technorati Tags: boric acid, cockroaches, diatomaceous earth, killing cockroaches, killing roaches, mint oil, orange oil, roaches

My success with banishing cockroaches from our new Manhattan apartment is still modest. We’ve seen some ebb and flow in the total number of sightings in the past week, but we are still finding roaches daily. Many of them are dead or dying, but they are not gone and not all dead either.

In my first post on the subject I mentioned an electronic device that my wife had ordered as a possible long term help with keeping roaches out of the apartment without chemicals. The specific name of the device is the Flowtron Bugfighter Plus model number PR-2. It claims to work by sending a magnetic signal through the wiring in our home which agitates the bugs and drives them away along with an ultrasonic sound that does much the same thing.

Our PR-2 arrived in the mail today!

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How Would You Like To FIRE YOUR BUG MAN…

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It may be a longshot that this has any effect, but (for $15US) I’m willing to give it a try. We had a similar device in our last apartment and I never saw a roach there the whole time I lived there. According to what I’ve read, one of the ways you can determine that the device is working is by a temporary increase in roach activity due to them leaving the nests and looking for new nesting places without the irritating magnetic waves and sounds.

I’ll be plugging the Flowtron Bugfighter Plus into the kitchen outlet tonight and watching closely for changes in the roach activity in that room.

Over the weekend I also ordered some Diatomaceous Earth to use as a non-toxic long term solution to the problem as well. I will be opening up holes in the stud cavities in the kitchen walls and blowing in a mixture of this product and Boric Acid. The expectation is that this will create a very hostile environment within the major pathways the roaches are traveling along and kill them before they ever get into our home. Since these products don’t lose potency over time they should help combat future infestations as well. (One of the primary benefits of both of these products is that the roaches track them back into the nests where they kill others.)

My quest for a roach-free home continues.

The Go-To Guy!

P.S. If you have an idea I haven’t mentioned, leave a comment and let me know. I’m looking for a long term and non-toxic solution to killing the roaches and keeping them from coming back. Organic is even better. (I also ordered some mint oil based roach spray to replace the chemical sprays I’ve been using.)

Technorati Tags: boric acid, cockroaches, diatomaceous earth, flowtron bugfighter, killing cockroaches, killing roaches, mint oil, orange oil, roaches