Slovenly housekeeping - check in here

[fairfarmhand]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-se6grufZs/?igsh=MTV3MmtveW5yN3VlYg==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-5VU_BOOz6/?igsh=OHZ2c3FqZjRuamdi

have y’all seen this lady? She makes hilarious videos about the special touches her familys’ sloppiness leave in her home. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

3 hours ago, marbel said:

 in general. I tend not to see things like cobwebs until I'm getting ready for guests when I try to look more carefully. I don't notice dust on baseboards and don't clean under furniture often enough.

 

Oh I definitely don't notice stuff unless company is coming.  We rarely have company (one of the casualties of having a mentally ill adult in your home).  So, when we do, it is a Herculean task to address all the stuff I didn't notice.  I have been known to go around the house making lists of tasks and asking for family help to attack things on the list.  I have told the kids that if they didn't want to see Volcano Mom, then go do a task on the list and come back and ask what's next.  

[Clarita]

The only way to get rid of the smoker ickiness is to totally repaint the walls. Paint covers it up because that stuff gets into the walls. 🤢 I bought my house from smokers.

[dirty ethel rackham]

55 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I have now just discovered that the word "slovenly" has one of the definitions of "excessively casual." I think I may embrace this as my 2024 theme words, in fact. This will now be an Excessively Casual year for me. This is something I feel I can jump into in an excessively casual way. 😂

I am so stealing this!!

[Kassia]

14 minutes ago, dirty ethel rackham said:

  And now I just noticed a bunch of cobwebs above my cabinets.) 

That's another thing that contributes to my slovenliness.  I can't see well anymore, so I can't even see what should be cleaned.  Or, if I am cleaning, I'm sure I miss so much anyway.  I didn't even think about cobwebs above the kitchen cabinets but I bet they are there.  Something else to think about next time we have people over.  

It really is endless.  Clean one thing and you still see a million more things that need to be cleaned.  "Excessively Casual" is a good goal.  Thanks @wintermom

[Laura Corin]

4 hours ago, Kassia said:

I've decided I'm never cleaning the tops of our kitchen cabinets again.  They don't go to the ceiling and just collect so much dust.  I either have to climb on a chair or something and vacuum them(?!) or try to dust them, which I've done before and it just results in the dust falling all over everything else in the kitchen.  I'd rather keep it all contained to the top of the cabinets and pretend it's not there.

When we redid our kitchen, panels to extend the cupboards to the ceiling were essential.

4 hours ago, mommyoffive said:

I have the same thing.  And then the tops of the cabinets are unfinished so whipping them does nothing because the surface is so rough.  Impossible.

In our old house, the cupboard tops were unfinished and the mice used them as through routes. And still I ignored them until we ripped the kitchen out.

[lauraw4321]

I have given my formal dining room to my husband for his projects. This is the result. I mean, what to even say. 
 

[lauraw4321]

I cleaned off the top of the mantle and put up Fall / Halloween decorations. It looks so nice. 

Ignore the wide angle. 
 

[wintermom]

3 minutes ago, lauraw4321 said:

I have given my formal dining room to my husband for his projects. This is the result. I mean, what to even say. 
 

He NEEDS a man cave is all I can think to say. Top priority!! Reclaim that table for your own projects. 😉 

[Ginevra]

2 hours ago, kbutton said:

YMMV. I find cleaning my walls to be the easiest task in my house, and it definitely contributes to sanitation. I have two people who manage to coat the walls in perpetual grime,

Definitely varied mileage. I have heard people say this before but I don’t understand it. I *do* understand cleaning around a light switch or, say, a little section of wall between the pantry, dining room and oven, which gets food splatters and handprints and other weird stuff on it. But just the whole wall of, say, my bedroom? Office? Dining room? It just 100% does not get dirty. I can never really understand how entire walls would get dirty. Maybe in the kitchen if your cooking vent is insufficient? But in general, no. 
 

I have lived in my house for 21 years and, except for the aforementioned light switch areas and a couple high-traffic food-related spots, no wall has *ever* been cleaned comprehensively except when we were painting or repairing drywall. There are still a few walls that are the original house wall color (“Desert Beige”)  and have never been either painted or cleaned. I am looking at my family room walls right now. They are not dirty. I don’t know what would make them dirty. 

[Kassia]

@lauraw4321I have done the same with our dining room.  And DH has pretty much the whole basement (which upsets me, but he's working on it very slowly).  It used to be pretty much the entire house but I have gotten stricter with what I call the "spread."  Still, every closet has stuff in it we don't want/need and there has been some spread, but the kitchen and family room are pretty much clutter free.  He has a hard time getting rid of things and he's a collector and a "what if we need it someday" and "save it for the grandkids" person.  Ugh.  It's a constant battle and I have to keep it in perspective or it will make me crazy.

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

When we redid our kitchen, panels to extend the cupboards to the ceiling were essential.

In our old house, the cupboard tops were unfinished and the mice used them as through routes. And still I ignored them until we ripped the kitchen out.

This is my plan. Never again will I have cupboards with decorative things on top. Never. Never. Not. Ever. Must not happen.

(Faith reminding herself to put her foot down should the man of the house ever suggest that it would be more "practical" to have shorter cupboards, it should be met with the strength of Attila the Hun!

[popmom]

3 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

I do vacuum and clean bathrooms weekly. But...

-Mopping the wood floors goes on the once-a-year project list

-Washing windows is on the once-a-year project list

-I do not wash walls unless there is something obvious on them or I'm going to paint.

-I think I've wiped the baseboards clean a couple of times in the 20+ years we've lived here.

-We're redoing the kitchen and the cupboards are going to go to the ceiling so that I can drop the once-a-year project of cleaning the tops of the cabinets.

-I'm dreaming of how to redesign the primary shower so that no cleaning would be needed. No glass door. Dark surfaces? Minimize grout lines. And the grout should be dark.

 

3 hours ago, MEmama said:

We have to completely redo our main bathroom and those are my rules, too. It must be easy to clean and it must appear clean even if it isn’t lol. 

We are wanting to redo our master shower, too. We currently have 30+ year old cultured marble which is relatively low maintenance, but the caulk at the seams always gets mildew. I hate it. Dh wants tile. I told him I want one of those acrylic one piece inserts. lol Seamless and no grout! I know it's not an upgrade, but it would bring me so much joy to look at a seamless, no grout, no caulk shower everyday. 

We will probably end up with tile for resale value. Honestly, our 30 yr old white tile bathtub surrounds in our other bathrooms are easier to keep clean. Grout doesn't get mildewy as easily as silicone caulk. And if it does, I can get it clean. The only way to rid silicone caulk of mildew is to rip it out and replace it--which we have done several times. 🙃

[lynn]

I did a partial deep clean the week leading up to hosting an event at my house.  I thought I did a pretty good job until...arrival time and I noticed cob webs at the entry way, okay no big deal people won't look up that way.  Then as we were sitting down I look the the mantel and see more cob webs or dust bunnies.......now I know I took everything off the mantel and dusted at some point during the week but there they were.        

[lynn]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

If you really want to freak yourself out about cobwebby dust then wait until it's good and dark, turn all your lights off, and walk around shining a flashlight in all the corners.

I thought I was ready for our annual pest control inspection for our contract renewal where they walk around shining a.flashlight on the walls......🙄.  That's all

[cintinative]

I bought couch covers (because Amazon lightning sale) for the hole in the couch that has been there for the last two years from our dog. I didn't even bother to vacuum the cushions to remove dog hair before putting the covers on, because I did not feel like lugging the giant beast of a vacuum out and exhausting myself just to put a cover over it.  And, there were crumbs and stuff under one cushion and I just used a dustpan to sweep them out because giant beast of vacuum.  

 

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, Ginevra said:

Definitely varied mileage. I have heard people say this before but I don’t understand it. I *do* understand cleaning around a light switch or, say, a little section of wall between the pantry, dining room and oven, which gets food splatters and handprints and other weird stuff on it. But just the whole wall of, say, my bedroom? Office? Dining room? It just 100% does not get dirty. I can never really understand how entire walls would get dirty. Maybe in the kitchen if your cooking vent is insufficient? But in general, no. 
 

I have lived in my house for 21 years and, except for the aforementioned light switch areas and a couple high-traffic food-related spots, no wall has *ever* been cleaned comprehensively except when we were painting or repairing drywall. There are still a few walls that are the original house wall color (“Desert Beige”)  and have never been either painted or cleaned. I am looking at my family room walls right now. They are not dirty. I don’t know what would make them dirty. 

Oh, I don’t wash every wall of every room, thought I dust mop them all about three times per year. I don’t know anyone who does! I probably wash bathroom and kitchen walls the most—all are small in our house, and two of my people hemorrhage mess.

[MEmama]

45 minutes ago, popmom said:

 

We are wanting to redo our master shower, too. We currently have 30+ year old cultured marble which is relatively low maintenance, but the caulk at the seams always gets mildew. I hate it. Dh wants tile. I told him I want one of those acrylic one piece inserts. lol Seamless and no grout! I know it's not an upgrade, but it would bring me so much joy to look at a seamless, no grout, no caulk shower everyday. 

We will probably end up with tile for resale value. Honestly, our 30 yr old white tile bathtub surrounds in our other bathrooms are easier to keep clean. Grout doesn't get mildewy as easily as silicone caulk. And if it does, I can get it clean. The only way to rid silicone caulk of mildew is to rip it out and replace it--which we have done several times. 🙃

I have to give up my admittedly unattractive but beloved bathtub surround for tile and I am not happy. It was a selling point in the house for me—I hate tile and grout with the burning of 400 bazillion suns, but have agreed to be reasonable and cave to DH’s request for subway tile. We will probably end up with tile on the floor too—I’m anxious and twitchy just thinking about it. I will not promise to keep any of it clean. 

[kbutton]

2 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

I've been accused of being a neat freak, and I've only cleaned walls (as in with water) a few times in my life.
 

Washing with water turns hairy dust into a muddy, much-harder-to-clean mess.

I choose my toilet paper about 75% on how much lint it leaves behind. Small bathrooms plus steam plus lint equals paper mache dust bunnies that do not want to come off and are definitely nasty and obvious, lol! Charmin, I’m looking at you!

[73349]

1 hour ago, lauraw4321 said:

I have given my formal dining room to my husband for his projects. This is the result.

It's a MakerSpace™️.

For my own house... Where to even start?

[kbutton]

2 minutes ago, MEmama said:

I have to give up my admittedly unattractive but beloved bathtub surround for tile and I am not happy. It was a selling point in the house for me—I hate tile and grout with the burning of 400 bazillion suns, but have agreed to be reasonable and cave to DH’s request for subway tile. We will probably end up with tile on the floor too—I’m anxious and twitchy just thinking about it. I will not promise to keep any of it clean. 

I’m sorry!

I find that dish soap and a scrubby that doesn’t scratch non-stick cookware is the easiest way to clean it. Just be careful because it’s slippery if you stand in the shower while cleaning.

This worked even in our previously hard water region (they now do special filtering at the treatment plant, woohoo—hours of my life back!!!).

[marbel]

57 minutes ago, Kassia said:

@lauraw4321I have done the same with our dining room.  And DH has pretty much the whole basement (which upsets me, but he's working on it very slowly).  It used to be pretty much the entire house but I have gotten stricter with what I call the "spread."  Still, every closet has stuff in it we don't want/need and there has been some spread, but the kitchen and family room are pretty much clutter free.  He has a hard time getting rid of things and he's a collector and a "what if we need it someday" and "save it for the grandkids" person.  Ugh.  It's a constant battle and I have to keep it in perspective or it will make me crazy.

You are my soul sister! The cables, the cardboard, the duplicate tools because the tool was lost...  And then found after it was replaced.

My husband has many, many great qualities but managing stuff is not one of them. 

 

[Pam in CT]

**Love** this thread.

My very-beloved but very-different-from-me SIL decades ago asked me how often I vacuum under the fridge. I was so flummoxed by the question it precipitated a much longer conversation, in which I learned that she regularly disconnects and hauls appliances out of the positions into which GOD ORDAINED THEY SHOULD LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES and not merely vacuums, but in the case of the laundry machines, mops and sanitizes with bleach. Why?? I blinked incredulously. It gets caked with soap drips, she replied. IT'S SOAP ELLEN, SOAP IS FAMOUSLY CLEAN.

 

re the walls thing -- no, of course I don't clean WHOLE walls, maybe occasionally around a kid's room lightswitch with a Clorox wipe, the slacker wonder product.  I have noticed (looking at grungy student apartments that my kids have considered or lived in over the years) that they DO get gross if somebody smokes or the house is in an urban environment where there's more air pollution.

[marbel]

3 hours ago, dirty ethel rackham said:

Oh I definitely don't notice stuff unless company is coming.  We rarely have company (one of the casualties of having a mentally ill adult in your home).  So, when we do, it is a Herculean task to address all the stuff I didn't notice.  I have been known to go around the house making lists of tasks and asking for family help to attack things on the list.  I have told the kids that if they didn't want to see Volcano Mom, then go do a task on the list and come back and ask what's next.  

Yes on the lists, and yes on volcano mom.

I do regret though that when my kids were little, they thought cleaning the house was only for company. I had to start cleaning more often and explain that, no, we don't want a clean house only when other people are coming, we'd like it to be nice all the time. Don't think they ever really bought into that.  (Not that I ever did a really good job of cleaning, either.)

My husband has a relative who cleans houses for a living; she is in her mid-50s and has a bad back. We were talking about her expectations for continuing to work at that. I said "cleaning houses is very hard work." He gave me a rather dubious look, so I had to go on "Not that you've ever seen *me* working that hard, but I don't clean like a professional cleaner would." 

He did not go on to discuss my deficiencies, nor talk about adding a cleaning person to the budget. 🤣

I think I said earlier that my husband has many fine qualities, but managing stuff is not one of them. Cleaning is not one of my many fine qualities, but I can manage stuff, and the bills, and I keep him well-fed, so it's all good. 

Edited September 2 by marbel

[Kassia]

35 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

 

 I was so flummoxed by the question it precipitated a much longer conversation, in which I learned that she regularly disconnects and hauls appliances out of the positions into which GOD ORDAINED THEY SHOULD LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES

I vote never ever moving appliances because jostling might cause some problem with the machinery parts and they may stop working.  Way too risky.  😛

Edited September 2 by Kassia

[mommyoffive]

3 hours ago, Kassia said:

I vote never ever moving appliances because jostling might cause some problem with the machinery parts and they may stop working.  Way too risky.  😛

Or you might rip the entire front door off an oven trying to move it.  Ask me how I know.

[Kidlit]

28 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Or you might rip the entire front door off an oven trying to move it.  Ask me how I know.

Might I also include that CLEANING appliances can also be dangerous.  I once dropped a stainless steel oven drawer squarely on my big toe.  I literally saw stars and I ended up finally having to have the toenail removed by the podiatrist a few weeks AFTER my then-two year old *ahem* relieved the pressure under the nail by poking it with his sweet little finger. 
 

ETA: my recommendation: don't clean your oven. 

Edited September 3 by Kidlit

[Kidlit]

9 hours ago, wintermom said:

It's all in how you spin it. I have made friends with my bathroom spider. As long as he/she keeps their webs high enough that they don't annoy me, we can co-exist in this space. I have not named the spider, but I'm thinking that Mackenzie would be a perfect choice. I can pretend it is of Scottish decent. 😉 

I lived peacefully with a granddaddy long legs above my vanity and sink in the bathroom until I noticed an egg sac.  When dh came to dispatch the nursery, it turned out to be a packaged-up ladybug.  Had I known that, I would've allowed granddaddy to stay. 

[mommyoffive]

15 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

Might I also include that CLEANING appliances can also be dangerous.  I once dropped a stainless steel oven drawer squarely on my big toe.  I literally saw stars and I ended up finally having to have the toenail removed by the podiatrist a few weeks AFTER my then-two year old *ahem* relieved the pressure under the nail by poking it with his sweet little finger. 
 

ETA: my recommendation: don't clean your oven. 

I second that .  In the end it cost us buying a new one. 

[SKL]

I'll add my warning about moving appliances to clean under them.

Not sure how I managed this, but one time I moved my fridge and scraped a big hole into my kitchen flooring.

Out of sight, out of mind.

This reminds me of the time a Kirby guy tried to sell us a fabulous expensive vacuum.  He said it's shocking how much dirt people have under their carpet.  You need a Kirby to suck that all out.  I said, "who cares if there's dirt under the carpet?"  He left in a huff.  😛

[Clarita]

1 hour ago, SKL said:

Not sure how I managed this, but one time I moved my fridge and scraped a big hole into my kitchen flooring.

I did this too, when I was moving the fridge in. Thankfully I have vinyl tiles in the kitchen so I just replaced the sliced pieces. Why would you move your appliances just to clean them?? It seems more trouble than it's worth. A slight dislodged hose on a dishwasher or a washing machine and suddenly your floor is ruined; dust won't ruin your entire floor.

[Laura Corin]

Another example. Our house is old and has a weird bannister/stair rail set up. It runs along the landing at the top, then there's nothing to hold onto for the first six winding steps down except a painted wrought iron newel post. It's painted white. And we never clean it.

Right now, I am anticipating a first visit on Friday from offspring's girlfriend. Only repainting would rescue the situation and it's not going to happen. 

[El...]

We used to have to move frequently (military) and we had to clean to near-perfection every time we moved out. One time I moved the stove and freaked out because there were tons of little black pellets all over the floor!

They were fennel seeds. 😳🥴

Am I moving appliances now that I don't have to? No. No I'm not.

[wintermom]

11 hours ago, Kidlit said:

I lived peacefully with a granddaddy long legs above my vanity and sink in the bathroom until I noticed an egg sac.  When dh came to dispatch the nursery, it turned out to be a packaged-up ladybug.  Had I known that, I would've allowed granddaddy to stay. 

What was daddy long legs supposed to do to eat/survive then? I find it fascinating to observe the 'circle of life' within my home (within reason). Mice and other rodents within my daily view are not welcome, but they can co-exist as long as they keep quiet and stay out of my kitchen. I could be exhibiting my 'extremely casualness' with this disclosure of information. 😉 

ETA: Regarding the mice (etc.), it's an ongoing, decades old battle between me and the mice. I've recruited various cats and dogs with little success. There is little hope of sealing all entry points to the basement, so I have aquiesced. 

Edited September 3 by wintermom

[Dmmetler]

I came back from taking L to campus last Wednesday. I did the laundry. And it's sitting in a heap on the kitchen table waiting for someone to fold it and put it away. Or, via attrition, to wear it-I pulled my clothes for work this morning off the kitchen table. 

 

We replaced floors with laminate this summer, and now we get tumbleweeds of cat hair. 

[wintermom]

7 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Another example. Our house is old and has a weird bannister/stair rail set up. It runs along the landing at the top, then there's nothing to hold onto for the first six winding steps down except a painted wrought iron newel post. It's painted white. And we never clean it.

Right now, I am anticipating a first visit on Friday from offspring's girlfriend. Only repainting would rescue the situation and it's not going to happen. 

I think you will be just fine. Who really notices a handrail colour other than the woman of the house (or a woman viewing a property on sale). If you are really concerned, maybe a quick wipe-down with some diluted bleach may help - at least you'll know that it's 'clean.' 😉  Enjoy the visit!!

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, wintermom said:

I think you will be just fine. Who really notices a handrail colour other than the woman of the house (or a woman viewing a property on sale). If you are really concerned, maybe a quick wipe-down with some diluted bleach may help - at least you'll know that it's 'clean.' 😉  Enjoy the visit!!

Thanks.  I'll try diluted bleach.  It can't look worse than it does!

[Laura Corin]

2 hours ago, wintermom said:

What was daddy long legs supposed to do to eat/survive then? I find it fascinating to observe the 'circle of life' within my home (within reason). Mice and other rodents within my daily view are not welcome, but they can co-exist as long as they keep quiet and stay out of my kitchen. I could be exhibiting my 'extremely casualness' with this disclosure of information. 😉 

ETA: Regarding the mice (etc.), it's an ongoing, decades old battle between me and the mice. I've recruited various cats and dogs with little success. There is little hope of sealing all entry points to the basement, so I have aquiesced. 

We have mice seasonally: harvest time (now) and first frost.  I set traps and empty them daily.  They help us to use up any failed trials of new brands of peanut butter.  It's a relaxed relationship in a 227-year-old house.  They were here first.

[SKL]

Yeah as for mice ... we have them.  We live next to the woods.  We have Terminix and they set traps.  But I know the mice are still active.

My position is - as long as there is no obvious evidence in our living spaces, that qualifies as "out of sight, out of mind."

The mice seem to have gotten the memo.  Any droppings have been found in areas of the basement where we almost never go.  We can put shoes on if we are going there.

[wintermom]

5 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

We have mice seasonally: harvest time (now) and first frost.  I set traps and empty them daily.  They help us to use up any failed trials of new brands of peanut butter.  It's a relaxed relationship in a 227-year-old house.  They were here first.

Ours are definitely more visible inside in the winter, too. And also, the mice were here upon our arrival, so they have squatters' rights, I guess. 😂

 

2 minutes ago, SKL said:

Yeah as for mice ... we have them.  We live next to the woods.  We have Terminix and they set traps.  But I know the mice are still active.

My position is - as long as there is no obvious evidence in our living spaces, that qualifies as "out of sight, out of mind."

The mice seem to have gotten the memo.  Any droppings have been found in areas of the basement where we almost never go.  We can put shoes on if we are going there.

Our mice do stay out of sight, at least until the cat brings them to us as a trophy/plaything. At that point, dd brings the cat outside, encourages it to release the mouse, and then presumably the mouse runs back inside through a different access point until the next time the cat finds it. Apparently this is a no-kill zone. 😉 

[SKL]

I mean I'll take those mice over the raccoons and skunks that have moved into my basement in the past.

[dsmith]

I do ok when it's cooler out, at least in the main areas of the house, but when it's hot I just can't do much. Our bathrooms have always been difficult to clean. One is very old, and the other just wasn't constructed well. We had a small half bath in the basement that we recently had updated with a new shower, and I feel motivated to keep that one very clean. We have the one off the kitchen being demolished right now, but it was so bad I had to clean it last night before they came, along with the kitchen that it is next to. It took forever because I'm so far behind with cleaning! In my defense, it just got cooler this weekend.😁

[marbel]

21 minutes ago, dsmith said:

I do ok when it's cooler out, at least in the main areas of the house, but when it's hot I just can't do much. Our bathrooms have always been difficult to clean. One is very old, and the other just wasn't constructed well. We had a small half bath in the basement that we recently had updated with a new shower, and I feel motivated to keep that one very clean. We have the one off the kitchen being demolished right now, but it was so bad I had to clean it last night before they came, along with the kitchen that it is next to. It took forever because I'm so far behind with cleaning! In my defense, it just got cooler this weekend.😁

Wait, you cleaned a bathroom the day before people came to demolish it? Did I get that right?

(I think I would be sure the toilet wasn't nasty, but other than that... but maybe I am misunderstanding)

[dsmith]

10 minutes ago, marbel said:

Wait, you cleaned a bathroom the day before people came to demolish it? Did I get that right?

(I think I would be sure the toilet wasn't nasty, but other than that... but maybe I am misunderstanding)

I didn't do a super deep cleaning, but I cleaned the toilet, sink and floor. I have an elderly man with really bad aim living here, so I was trying to be considerate. I probably could have skipped the sink, but it didn't feel right to leave it out. 🙂

[dsmith]

6 hours ago, wintermom said:

ETA: Regarding the mice (etc.), it's an ongoing, decades old battle between me and the mice. I've recruited various cats and dogs with little success. There is little hope of sealing all entry points to the basement, so I have aquiesced. 

After opening our fridge door and finding a mouse staring at me, even though he was kind of cute, my husband finally sealed off every access point in the basement large enough to fit a mouse or chipmunk. (They used to hide food on our basement stairs through our rusty bilco door.) It took him a while to find all the spots they were coming in, but we are happily mouse free nowadays. I wish I could say that about all the spiders and other bugs down here, but we have a peace treaty going on at the moment.

[wintermom]

14 minutes ago, dsmith said:

After opening our fridge door and finding a mouse staring at me, even though he was kind of cute, my husband finally sealed off every access point in the basement large enough to fit a mouse or chipmunk. (They used to hide food on our basement stairs through our rusty bilco door.) It took him a while to find all the spots they were coming in, but we are happily mouse free nowadays. I wish I could say that about all the spiders and other bugs down here, but we have a peace treaty going on at the moment.

That would be quite a surprise! I've come face to face with a mouse on my countertop. I get the desire to try and prevent it again. All the best to you in this task! It is a never ending battle as those little teeth and claws just keep working away. 

[Ottakee]

6 hours ago, marbel said:

Wait, you cleaned a bathroom the day before people came to demolish it? Did I get that right?

(I think I would be sure the toilet wasn't nasty, but other than that... but maybe I am misunderstanding)

About 16 years ago my house was bought out for a highway project.   I had to CLEAN the house and have it empty….like not even a shelf left on the wall before they would give me a check for the house…..which they promptly demolished.

WHY or WHY did someone decide the house had to be CLEAN to be demolished????

[SKL]

Yeah, the house is cleanest ... and often most updated ... right before (or right after) a move.  😛  The last time my parents moved (1979), my dad had just re-done the whole kitchen among other things.  My mom sighed some.  😛

Since I have no desire to ever move again, my house may never be clean.  😛

Well, to be fair, we did completely clean out the basement a couple years ago.  There is really only 1 room that hasn't been completely cleaned out in the past 10 years (one person's bedroom).  That room's inhabitant gets on a cleaning kick from time to time, but never gets all the way through it.  Too much crap, too much attachment.

I think that when our 3.5yo dog goes to his heavenly reward, we'll have a big project and just clear and rehab the entire house.  I think we will put in some accessibility upgrades at that time.  Hopefully we won't need to do that sooner.

[prairiewindmomma]

On 9/2/2024 at 12:44 PM, popmom said:

 

We are wanting to redo our master shower, too. We currently have 30+ year old cultured marble which is relatively low maintenance, but the caulk at the seams always gets mildew. I hate it. Dh wants tile. I told him I want one of those acrylic one piece inserts. lol Seamless and no grout! I know it's not an upgrade, but it would bring me so much joy to look at a seamless, no grout, no caulk shower everyday. 

We will probably end up with tile for resale value. Honestly, our 30 yr old white tile bathtub surrounds in our other bathrooms are easier to keep clean. Grout doesn't get mildewy as easily as silicone caulk. And if it does, I can get it clean. The only way to rid silicone caulk of mildew is to rip it out and replace it--which we have done several times. 🙃

Have you looked at solid surface walls like the seamless Corian? It’s a way to get a posh shower surround without maintenance. Corian holds its value against basic tile….and the installation costs of tile these days is crazy.

[popmom]

5 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Have you looked at solid surface walls like the seamless Corian? It’s a way to get a posh shower surround without maintenance. Corian holds its value against basic tile….and the installation costs of tile these days is crazy.

I have strongly considered it, but I’m concerned that we’d have the same issue. It would go up just like the cultured marble with silicone caulk. At least I think that’s how it’s done. It would definitely be an upgrade over our cultured marble though.