OT: Selling the House and The *Current* story of my life -- LOL

Sorry to hear that, you are probably doing the best thing. Relax and you will always be able to think of them cursing the fashionable granite tops. My mother, when living in Spain, had marble because that was what was available. We always hated it - drop a plate and it's not coming back, spill red wine and clean.

It will sell now the others have gone. It's no use fretting about things you can't control. Put all your stash under your bed and hey presto ! Insulation.

C'est la vie lol Have a glass of red wine TM, it works.

Sympathies and hugs Sheena

Geez Sheena, I have my summer clothes under my bed -- to be used as insulation (gmta)LOL. I do have a few shelves with decorative stuff on them. I suppose I could recycle some of that stuff, rearrange what's left along the top shelf (too high to reach easily) and use the rest of the shelves as "storage" space. OY the pain -- LOLOL. OH, and I DO NOT like wine of any color or vintage -- I'll have a nice shot of Amaretto or maybe a touch of McCallan's :-))). CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary /\__/\

Whatever floats yer boat ! I am having back probs too, lumbar 1,2 &

One of my grandsons lives close by and would like me to call him for any lifting, but that in itself is such a pain, I hate feeling dependent.

However, what I want to say was rather that I have found those Advil Liquid Gel 500mg very effective for quick relief. If you've never tried them, check them out. I think all these things work for some and not for others and you have to check them all out to find the best one for you.

Take care of yourself !

Been there, done that Tia - and what a drag it is trying to sell a house. I agree with you - I hate the buzz words *granite counter tops* and *stainless steel* - hate them both. Makes me laugh on those programs when couples walk in & that's all they seem to notice. Doesn't granite have to be treated every few months with something ... if so, who in their right mind would want that in a kitchen?

Sharon (N.B.)

Yes, granite has to be treated periodically. Not monthly but 2 or 3 times a year I think. With my solid surface counter tops, I just used a bit of Soft Scrub for stubborn spots and that was all -- SOOOO easy! I have the sink that is part of the counter top -- seamless so very easy to keep clean AND white to boot! Now there will be a stainless sink and faucet, too! I'm not sure which I hate more -- granite counter tops or stainless appliances, etc. LOLOL!!! Thank heavens I don't have to live with it & DH doesn't mind. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary /\___/\

Actually, no it does not if it is handled correctly. I only treat mine once a year. But - I do not use caustic cleaners on it, just a soapy rag. I also still use hot pads and cutting boards (as I've always done). You get into trouble when you break down the finish. I've had, over the years, linoleum, wood, granite, and tile countertops. I hate tile the most, followed by wood. Linoleum (or equivelant) and granite have equal amounts of pros and cons to them, to me.

True about the kitchen amenities. When we built this house we didn't really love any of the builder offered granite, so decided on very nice laminate, and that we'd do our own eventually. Which we picked, paid for 60% of, & then the small company went off the grid... Eventually meaning the guy told us that he had our granite in his garage, but had just done a clear-out and let some guys haul it away. All cut, a huge amount. So, we're trying to see if taking him to small claims court is doable/worthwhile, as we're out about $ 5K.

Around here, in the more than moderate houses, you do need to at least have something like the Quartz/solid surface stuff or Granite. Simple corian, unless you've done some of the striping, etc - is just ok. So, I understand your frustration. My grandmother had marble counters on part of the kitchen, and it was so nice for baking, but you totally had to be careful. The other tops we've seen are custom concrete, stainless, and some limestone/sandstone. But the limestone/sandstone - which looks lovely, matte finish is too soft if there's a lot of use in the kitchen. FWIW, all our neighbors have granite, and with the newer finishing products, the upkeep is pretty simple. There honestly is some truly beautiful stuff out there - doesn't have to look like the neighborhood diner, or a bar.

This said, I haven't broken anything on our very hard tile floors - yet. Well, except a piece of old corelle that DH dropped on edge.

LOL - love the insulation idea. Mary, keep your chin up - you're coming back into spring, and if you do this bit with the kitchen, and your plants are blooming -the house will sell. Around here our development has been selling pretty quickly recently. We're working on this stupid re-fi, had to wait hoping for the appraisal numbers to come up. One of the neighbors on our cul-de-sac did a short sale, which hurt everyone - but no foreclosures in this 'hood. And this sale was still well above our mortgage, but nonetheless, not as much as we'd like. The neighbor 2-up from him (we've 4 homes between us & the short sale) is still so mad it's almost funny. The original owners moved into a large townhouse, about 1 mile away, in the same development. Our friend won't even talk when she runs into them

- evidently they had an ARM with a balloon & chose to walk away essentially rather than pay it, even though they had the $$. Oh, well.

For us - we also have to finally get the granite or similar into the kitchen, as it'll affect the appraisal and we're on the edge. Plus, lots of clean-up, and finally getting the upper level blinds up in the 2-story height family room (meaning hiring someone to come & do this as 1 person on a ladder isn't sufficient to the task).

Ditto - on all of the above.

Ellice

Yup - I hated my tile countertops. Would never, ever do that again.

The cleaner for granite has become readily available in the grocery stores, so you just don't use scrubbing things on it, but can spray & wipe it down to keep clean. Then, as Fran said, depending on what product/process your finisher used you just do a reseal treatment either once or twice a year. I think you can tell when the sealing is starting to break down. It cleans up pretty well from what I've seen.

FWIW - the stuff we had done was essentially whitish with a flowing blue, gold & purplish veining running thru - the deep blue kind of opened up as ponds from a stream. I'm still pissed off about this fiasco. But, it'll be okay.

Ellice

(with some snippage)

When we did the kitchen, we used a quartz countertop (Zodiac), which I believe was slightly cheaper than granite, and takes NO maintenance. And available in a wise assortment of colors. I love it!

Many of the "designer" photos I looked through in catalogs showed light cabinets with black granite, and I kept looking for the Bunsen burners, because it looked to me like a high school/college chem lab room!

Tia Mary, I share your frustration with people buying houses and wanting everything to be perfectly to their liking immediately. What ever happened to looking at the "bones" and making the home your own, by yourself? Using some of your *own* imagination? Replacing things over time? Some of the designer shows on TV feed false expectations for immediate gratification.

sue