We've been in our Ravenna for 3 whole months now. Our awesome PM continues to work on fixing some of the minor issues we are having and is always in touch with us about what he's working on. The second to last house is under roof - one more house and then Ryan is done with the 15 homes they built in this neighborhood. And we are done with dump trucks and early morning hammering!
We still have not met many of our neighbors, mostly I think because we were the second ones in and aren't directly adjacent to any of the new homes. And because everyone else moved in during the colder and dark months. I hope that as it gets warmer and the days get longer, we'll be able to get to know each other a bit better.
Yesterday, I washed my car in the driveway for the very first time. And realized we should have gotten an extra hose bib near the garage. :) I'm always realizing things like this.
Today, as I was cleaning the kitchen (how does it get so gross?), I realized that the house isn't new anymore. The cabinets have fingerprints and food smears on them, there are crumbs that I can see just under the stove that the vacuum doesn't suck up, there are dings and scratches on the countertops... These aren't major, but are in stark contrast to this picture of perfection I have in my head. The picture put there by that damn model house that always looked perfect and clean!
So, my question to my Ryan friends, what is the best way that you have found to:
Clean the cabinets? I am afraid to use anything for fear of messing up the finish.
Clean the hardwood floors? The vacuum is great, and we've got this little mop shiner thing, but I think its time for something a bit stronger.
Shine up the sink? Man, its already got those rust stains in it.
Did I mention that the elderly cat has also had several "accidents" (accidents in quotes because I'm pretty sure he is doing it on purpose) on the hardwood floors. A little Fantastic and Nature's Miracle has done the trick so far, but I am not a happy camper. Neither is BF. But the cats, they seem to be pretty happy.
Not so new anymore, but we are still loving our new home.
I use Murphy's Oil Soap on my hardwood floors and Bar Keeper's Friend or Bon Ami for the stainless steel sink. If you have never used those cleaners on the sink, just be sure to rub in the direction of the grain of the sink.
ReplyDeleteAt least the cat is having accidents on a hard surface. Mine prefers a spot along the baseboard in the dining room :(
WOW!! The time goes by so fast!! We're in the same boat, finding our new house is losing its newness luster :-( We have also used Bon Ami on our sink and it works awesome! To clean our cabinets we have used Method Wood for Good wood surface cleaner, and we have also used good old fashioned pledge as well which seems to keep everything nice and shiny and polished. As far as cleaning hardwood floors....we don't have hardwoods in our new house but we did in our old house and we used one of those floor steam cleaners like shark or h2o mop etc. and it worked awesome. Every now and then to add some shine we would use orange glow for hard wood floors and that kept them very shiny and new looking. Well I wish you the best of luck in trying to hold on to the newness as long as you can. Our 4th bedroom is the guest room (of which no guest has spent the night yet) so its still the newest room in the house in terms of use. Every now and then my husband and I will walk in and just breath in that new smell it still has....love it!! Just wish it would last forever!
ReplyDeleteNot sure if the hardwood floors in your area are the same pre-finished type that we get here. If so our flooring rep gave us a big thing about how they have to be cleaned differently than old hardwood floors because they aren't sealed after they are put down like old style were. They strongly suggested never using a steam cleaner, and staying away from any type of cleaning that used a large amount of water as the floors will absorb it. They recommended the stuff that is sold at bed bath and beyond I think it's called bona or something like that.
ReplyDeletewell, I would first throw the cats outside.
ReplyDeleteWith that out of the way, I would use Murphy's Oil on the cabinets. We used to have Pergo Wood floors and used Murphy's on them and it worked great. My friends that we are staying with just use a wet swiffer on their hardwood with satisfying results.
Not sure about the sink, we plan to ditch the shit steel sink quick and go with a Cast Iron or Composite.....rather soon after move in.
Good luck
Thanks for all your ideas guys! I will put some of them into effect as we clean up the place for our "official" house-warming party this weekend. I'll be sure to report results, good and bad.
ReplyDeleteBar Keeper's Friend works great. The guy who came in to do some work on our vanity and other surfaces uses WD40 to clean the stainless appliances. It is amazing! Just spray it on a paper towel and wipe it with the grain on the appliance and it comes up nice and shiny...just like new...who would have thought. He also said to forget all those fancy granite cleaners and said to just use soap and water and make sure it is dried real well after cleaning...so far ours continue to look great. Can't say the same about our hardwood floors. Still working with the flooring company and Bruce Flooring rep to figure out what the solution is going to be to all the cracking boards. It may come down to tearing it all out and reinstalling from scratch
ReplyDeleteThanks BD. Tell us more about your floor problems! I have noticed a few small cracks in a couple boards but just accept that as a reality of using natural materials. All in all the floors still look gorgeous. You upgraded to the wider planks, right? We did have ALL THAT RAIN right around the time that our houses were getting flooring - I wonder if the humidity did them in? Let us know what's happening!
ReplyDeleteWe have been cooking every single day and I have been obsessed with cleaning! lol. We wipe down the stove top after every meal (we take the grates out and wipe the stovetop). I have just been using soap and water and will have to try some of the recommendations here. For the hardfloors, I have been using the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop and I love it! It uses washable microfiber cloths and it comes with an empty bottle where you can use any type of cleaner. I followed the advise of the flooring reps and used Bruce Hardwood cleaner. I was told not to use anything else as it would void the warranty (this could be bluff though, so I'm not sure). For my granite, I have been using Granite Gold (from Bed Bath & Beyond) and it has been working well.. no streaks. However, it's a little pricey and I may need to find a cheaper alternative soon.
ReplyDelete