Guest room painting and IKEA coffee table mod

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Admin

The guest room project has been postponed for several years, finally Deb and I got some pressure to finish it because we have friends coming over in a few months.  The cheapest and fastest way to renovate the room is to fill it with IKEA products!

BEHR Premium Plus Ultra (Paint + Primer in one) Review

Before visiting IKEA, we needed to paint. In order save time, we bought a new kind of paint from Home Depot which does NOT require primer.  This new BEHR paint (see references section below) actually saved us quite A LOT OF TIME and it does exactly what it claims and covered the builder’s yellowish paint with 2 coats, but smell was quite strong though.

If you have read my old blogs, you knew that I used to love Benjamin Moore paint because of its thickness and I used to do 1 coat of primer + 2 coats of top coats.  This new BEHR paint has the similar thickness as Benjamin Moore and it did save me so much time –  I strongly recommend.

LACK Coffee table – It’s too high, let’s cut the legs

We bought everything from IKEA. After we assembled the LACK coffee table  we found that it didn’t have the proper height.  Originally Deb wanted to return it,  but since it was so cheap I decided to shorten the legs to give it a try.   Using the precision Japanese saw,  I cut around 4″ in length (in 2 cuts). Well, I didn’t expect to find solid wood in IKEA products, however I didn’t expect all legs were hollow!!!  At the bottom of each leg, there was a 1/2″ particle wood for reinforcement.  No wonder IKEA can price their products at such a low price point, indeed I have to say it’s pretty smart since it’s very light weight and still strong.  To re-assemble the strength of the original legs, I had to move the particle wood and hot glued them back to the shorten legs.

Finally, the room’s done and Mythos was having fun! Now, it looks like an IKEA show room. (Working in progress photos were taking using iPhone so quality were quite poor,  but the final photos were taking using DSLR obviously)







Reference:  (Total spent = $830 CAD)

  • IKEA TULLSTA Armchair, Ransta dark gray $99 (601.008.79)
  • IKEA GISLEV Rug, low pile, gray $29.99 (101.778.85)
  • IKEA BEDDINGE LÖVÅS Sofa bed, Edsken dark gray $379.00 (798.853.80)
  • IKEA Bedding cushion $39 x 2
  • IKEA FILLSTA Pendant lamp, white $29.99 (401.550.09)
  • IKEA LACK Coffee table, black $24.99 (000.950.36)
  • IKEA ALÄNG Floor lamp, nickel plated, white $39.99 (800.291.51)
  • Accent wall: 1 x BEHR Premium Plus Ultra, Base: 2753  U-260-21 Antique Tin (Eggshell) $49.99
  • Other walls: 2 x BEHR Premium Plus Ultra, Base: 2754  U-260-8  Perfect Taupe (Eggshell) $49.99 x 2
Posted in Home Improvement | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Mythos and Rini’s Birthday Party

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Admin

This post combined both Rini’s birthday party on Jan 10, 2012 (4 year old) and Mythos’s party in Dec, 2011 (3 year old).  They got a new scratching post as birthday gift and as well as special treats!  As for the cup cakes and French patisserie are for human consumption. Sigh… those pets bakeries in Toronto only make cakes for dogs,  there is none for cats.










Posted in Our Cats | Tagged | Leave a comment

Home Depot Clearance – Bought brand new sink for only $30 (Reg: CAD $234)

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Admin

One night after having dinner, Deb and I went to Home Depot for a walk looking for some ideas on powder room vanities. At sinks and vanities department, something on the floor caught our attention – there were 2 unopened boxes with yellow clearance labels on it for $30 each. Out of our curiosity, we opened them and thought it was just some cheap sinks, we thought that the regular price would not be exceeding $50 CAD each. After checking the SKU on our cell phone, we were SHOCKED to learn that they were selling for $234 CAD at HomeDepot.ca and $182 US in the States.

We were a bit surprised that no contractors picked it up yet perhaps it was late that night,  so I talked to an HD associate in that department and he told me that it’s a “Special Order” someone paid for the deposit and backed out from it. He said that the SKU was NOT even on their store computer, they just marked it whatever price to get rid of them – Nice! So we took both of them to the cashier and spent at least 10 minutes because the bar code or SKU was not found (not surprised). They ended up calling the manager to override it and we paid $60 CAD for both. What a deal! With tax, we paid $67.8 ($30×2)  vs $525.5 ($234×2) value, saving of  $457.65!!!!

Ref: AMERICAN STANDARD – Studio Above Counter Rectangular Vessel Sink in White (Model: 0621.001.020, SKU:1000678551)

Shopping for the Faucets

Since we got such crazy deal on the sinks, we wanted the same on faucets too. We looked at various brand names including Delta,  Kohler and Price Pfister but they were way too expensive.  So, we ended up buying the faucets from Costco for around $65 each, it’s made by “Water Ridge” which I have never heard of. One thing that looked promising was that it uses ceramic disk supposed to be more durable, but who cares since it looks good and it’s cheap. It also comes with 25 years warranty (if you are able to get hold of them).

Installation – 6 hours for 1st and 3 hours for 2nd

Installation was not that difficult, although there were some challenges. As you can see in the photo of 1st sink installation, because the new sink is 4.25″ above the counter top, I had to extend the copper pipes as well as the ABS drain pipes. On the copper pipe, I put additional shut off valves to make future maintenance easier.

My soldering skill was still pretty good, since I haven’t done it for at least 4-5 years, there was no leaking at all when everything was completed.  It took me half a day for the 1st sink including 2 trips to home depot to get parts. It was a bit longer than I expected and for 2nd sink, it took half of the time.  We are very happy with the result,  we just love this contemporary above counter top rectangular sink design. Too bad it’s not on  granite counter top, otherwise it would look even better.  Finally,  Rini jumped up onto the sink to examine it.












(All working in progress photos were taken using iPhone, so quality wasn’t that good –  photos were mixed with both 1st and 2nd sink installation. Rini photos were taken using DSLR)

When to use Telfon tape or pipe compound?

The installation manual of Water Ridge said you need Teflon tape or pipe compound on the water line connectors - That is wrong. Since the flexible hoses come with rubber gaskets,  it uses compression on the rubber to make it water tight, there is NO NEED to use tape or pipe compound on thread level, similar to your garden hoses or washing machine. Google it yourself, pipe compound on rubber gaskets will make situation worse.  Note: With rubber gaskets, never over-tighten.

So, when to use Telfon tape or pipe compound? Basic rule of thumb: Anything without rubber gaskets.   For example, if you are using olive brass compression fittings in toilet supply line (non-flexible one), then you would need.  In the photos, I have shown the old faucet where it didn’t have any rubber gaskets, therefore pipe compound was used.   Another example is that fittings without rubber gaskets I fixed in Rancilio Silvia V3 pump leaking on my espresso machine.

American Standard Overflow Flaw

As a Software Engineer,  I love put stuff to the test and push them to the limit.  See the last few photos?  The water could not drain fast enough through the overflow hole, I think that’s a serious flaw because I tested my old sink and it didn’t have this issue. The problem was caused by the plastic decor thing where the hole is way too small, workaround is to remove that and no more overflow! Perhaps someone from American Standard needs to take a “Water Overflow 101″ course.

Tips:

  1. Since one of the copper pipes was way too close to the panel at the back, I wrapped a stack of wet paper towel with some aluminum foil. So the flame would not burn the back during soldering.
  2. Use Plumber’s Putty around faucet head to create watertight, anything else please use Silicone II caulking, including the drain. As you can see in one of the photos, Water Ridge has a YELLOW warning sticker telling you DO NOT USE Plumber’s Putty  on drain pipe – Only Silicone can be used.
  3. For the tight space where the caulking gun couldn’t be reached, extend it using a small plastic tube, it worked.
  4. Water Ridge gives you a very unique tool to open the front of the faucet, there is a filter you may need to clean after several years.  It’s a good idea to keep everything with the manual in a zip-lock bag and tie them under the sink. Also, wrap the hot water line with foam.
Posted in Home Improvement | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Year British Short Hair

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Admin

New Year wish for 2012…  play, eat and sleep.




Posted in Our Cats | Leave a comment

Meowy Christmas 2011

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Admin

This year was in a rush taking photo of Mythos and Rini in the basement, so that quality wasn’t as good but thanks to Photoshop for post-processing. Mythos and Rini were moving around so much and it was so difficult to capture a good shot, as you can see their poses were a little bit odd. I didn’t have time to do another session, so here we go – Meowy Christmas and Happy New Year!

Posted in Our Cats, Photography | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Mythos and Rini in 2011

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Admin

In Year 2011, we haven’t posted any photos of Mythos and Rini on this blog – that’s pretty horrible! Now, it’s almost the end of 2011, so we decided to post all the photos taken during the year. In about a month,  Mythos is going to be 3 years old and Rini is going to be 4 years old soon.  What’s up recently? Not much, just enjoying life – sleep and play as usual.














Posted in Our Cats | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Subaru Impreza DIY – How to replace front signal light

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Admin

We love our 2011 Impreza, it’s an excellent car!  However, at around 8500 KM under the sudden change of temperature,  the left turn signal light died (you can tell from the rapid relay sound when using the signal).  Okay, I flipped through the user manual and found this, quote “Front turn signal light: It may be difficult to replace the bulbs. Have the bulbs replaced by your SUBARU dealer if necessary.”

Note that they used the word “may be” and “if necessary”, what does that mean?  It means you can DIY for sure.  Since I only got the left signal problem, I am going to show you how to do it on left side only, go figure it out yourself if you have the other side problem.  Quote “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”



 

Wanring: Do not perform the steps if you are have big hands, you will get stuck. So, put your cell phone in your pocket just in case you need to call 911 for fire fighters to save you.

  1. First you need light bulbs,  1157NA is the bulb you need, around $5 CAD for 2
  2. Disconnect the battery negative connection by removing the screw
  3. Remove the battery holder bracket (you need a long socket)
  4. Move the battery aside (towards the engine) to make space and locate the bulb
  5. Stick your hand there and remove the bulb holder by turning counterclockwise
  6. Replace the old bulb with new one
  7. Put the bulb holder back carefully, make sure the rubber seal is tight when you secure the holder back to the original position
  8. Put everything else back (bracket and negative battery terminal)
  9. Done

It took me 20 min to do it for first time, I am not sure why the manual said it’s difficult and it didn’t even tell you how to do it. The simple description on the manual should be:  The bulb is hiding in tight space and it requires the removable of battery.   Do it at your own risk.

Posted in Car | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Subaru Impreza DIY – Changing snow tires using center lifting points

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Admin

Subaru is very similar to stupid Toyota/Lexus, they have the pitch rail design on the side of the lifting point. Read my Venza snow tire article for more information. I am sick of this every time I need to lift up the car, so I need to find the Center lifting points for Impreza.

Before doing anything, detailed research MUST be done properly. So I downloaded the Impreza Mega Manual from Internet, search for “Impreza 99-01 mega manual.pdf” on Google.  The manual is for older model 1999-2001 but it’s good enough for reference since basic lifting points does not have major change even for 2011.

There are two major benefits of using center lifting points, first you don’t need that pitch rail adapter which saves you some money, secondly you will be lifting 2 wheels at the same time and this will speed up your tire changing process a lot more. You need to get a good 3-ton floor jack, although 2.5 ton will work on small cars like Impreza, but 3-ton is strongly recommended for safety reason.

If your floor jack does not come with rubber pad for the saddle, you can do one of the following:

  1. Cut a piece of 2×4 making sure it is perfectly level sitting on the saddle without gap otherwise it will crack
  2. Buy a piece of rubber called ‘prothane jack pads’ Google it
  3. Get a hockey puck

It is very important to do this, because bare metal contact will damage the protective coating of your car and it will rust. Since I don’t play hockey and I do have some extra 2×4 around, so I went with the first option.







Tips: If your floor jack is not a low profile model, you may not have enough space to lift up front (back is fine). For workaround, I had to drive the car on a 2×6 to make 1.5″ more space in height. As you see in the photos, this makes swapping summer/winter tires easier.

For snow tires, we re-used the rubber 205/55/R16 from Deb’s old car (which we traded-in for the Subaru), as you can see in the photo of the golden color alloy rims were really old and it had bolt pattern 5-120 mm which does not fit the Impreza, so I had to buy the steel rims to re-mount them. Sigh…. Well, you definitely don’t have to follow what we have done, it will be way cheaper if you go with 15″ instead. Usually it will be better to go smaller size for winter tires -1 (15″) or even -2 (14″) would work provided that there is enough space for the rotor. Read the articles and forums on why smaller size is better in snow.

2009 – 2011 Impreza Information

  • Tire pressure: 32 psi front, 30 psi back
  • Wheel torque: 65 ft/lb (88 NM) – In user manual,  there is a  +/- 10 ft/lb range given, 65 ft/lb is the best, read the forums yourself
  • Bolt thread size: M12 x 1.25 (Canadian Tire – “Mr. Lug Nuts” for snow tires)
  • McGard 24152 Wheel Locks (Tips: Buy from Amazon.com cheap $16.67 US, ship to CBI USA, pick it up when you have time. Hard to find locally coz of 1.25 thread)
  • Snow Tires: 205/55/R16 Michelin Primacy Alpin
  • Steel Rim: Costco X41657  16″ x 6.5″, Bolt pattern: 5 bolts 100mm (5-100)

Most photos were taking using iPhone resulting in poor quality, some were taking using DSLR as you can tell.

Posted in Car | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rancilio Silvia V3 (Part 4/4) – Tools and Latte Art Practice

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Admin

After PID upgrade, I don’t have to worry about the temperature and I can finally focus on Latte Art and taste improvement. I will keep updating this, come back to see my progress especially on latte art.  If you have invested so much money on Rancilio already, you may as well get the best of all the accessories. Here is the rest of my upgrade:

  • PID with steam control - Strongly recommended, read my previous article
  • Reg Barber Espresso Tamper + Rubber mat – Total around $100 Zuccarini (Toronto) It is strongly recommended
  • VST Precision filter basket 18g (double shot) - $29 CAD Social Coffee (Toronto)  To improve the taste of the latte,  I bought a VST Precision filter basket (Google it) – It DOES make a HUGE DIFFERENCE  in taste by making the espresso less bitter and smoother, it’s absolutely amazing.  VST is a must buy.
  • Espro Toroid 591ml, 20 oz. milk pitcher $38 CAD + Thermometers $15 CAD Green Beanery (Toronto)  It is called a CHEATER pitcher,  I didn’t know until I bought it home.  It is designed to cheat by just hold the steam wand right in the middle for the whole time due to the special design at the bottom.  Well, to me it’s a marketing gimmick since you can’t skip stretching (sucking air) step, and you will lose the real Barista skill if you use this all the time.  I bought it because of its built quality and I just use it as a regular stainless steel pitcher using the traditional milk steaming method.  Do not buy, way overpriced and it’s a gimmick.
  • Brew head flat shower screen – $19 US PID Silvia (online via Bonanza.com) I would say this is totally optional if you have the VST Precision filter, since VST doesn’t leave a lot of residue on the screen. However, if you are using 40-100-102  Rancilio stock filter, this would make cleaning much easier
  • Naked Bottomless Portafilter – $59 US PID Silvia (online via Bonanza.com) This is an excellent tool for troubleshooting the espresso extraction, then adjust other variables based on the color and flow of the extraction. The pattern you are looking for is called  “tiger stripes”.  It is strongly recommended, this is an excellent article “Troubleshooting Common Espresso Problems“.






 

Adjustment after Upgrade

Because of VST filter + naked bottomless filter + flat shower screen upgrade, the extraction time changed a bit. After making 20+ espresso and latte, I re-adjusted everything and I can make pretty good shot consistently.

  • PID Temperature: Original setting: 222 F. New setting: 223 F
  • Rocky Doser: Original setting: 5. New setting: 4  (finer grind – also depends on beans some needs 3)
  • Tamper: No change with 30 lb
  • Extraction Time: No change at 25 seconds
Posted in Food & Cooking | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Rancilio Silvia V3 (Part 3/4) – Water Pump Leaking and PID Upgrade

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Admin

Week 5: Rancilio Silvia V3 – PID Upgrade

I only had Silvia V3 for about a month and I decided to unleash the ultimate power of this machine. There are  reasons behind the upgrade,  first of all temperature surfing in both espresso and steam are totally fine if you have read my previous blog Temperature Surfing and Microfoam (Part 2),  but it’s very time consuming.  Imagine you have friends at your place, it will probably take 1 hour just to make 5-6  latte because of the boiler cycle. The other reason is the temperature control of PID is way more precise than surfing, so you can have more consistently perfect shots . Lastly, it looks cool with the digital thermometer display.

Choosing the PID for Silvia

There are so many PID kits on the market for Silvia,  there are certain criteria I had:

  1. Safety and Reliability:  Major parts of the PID kits such as  SSR (Solid State Relay) and digital temperature controller must not be Made in China. If I am spending the money on the Italian made machine, why would I want some unreliable or low quality parts on Silvia?
  2. Void warranty:  Any PID kit requires soldering, drilling or cutting existing wires are not in my consideration. The whole kit should be reversible in case of warranty work
  3. Steam Control:  Without the steam control, PID kit is much cheaper because you will still be using the factory thermostat. In that case, you can read the digital temperature display and determine when to start steaming right before the indicator light turns off. However, if you miss it you have to wait for another cycle. With steam control, you will never miss the cycle because PID turns on the boiler automatically when the temperature drops
  4. Timer Control:  For me, PID should only control the boiler/steam temperature, not the time of the extraction. Some PID kits let you preset as 25 seconds for extraction by clicking a button, personally I don’t like this. So, pre-infusion is not on my list because I want to keep the machine as “manual” as possible – I only need PID to help me to narrow the “deadband”.
  5. Looks Good:  It has to look good overall by matching Miss Silvia high fashion sense in stainless steel.  No aluminum case.
  6. Power supply:  No additional power supply needed

There are several famous PID kits for Silvia V2 or V3:

PID Kit Arrived and Installed

Well, you may not have the same requirements that I have,  for me I chose MLG PID Kits. The kit arrived and everything (controller, SSR and even all the cables)  was in extremely high quality build and installation guide included were very clear and detail.  Notice that the photos in the instruction were for Silvia V2, but it applies to Silvia V3 since Ranchilio has not change one thing. Both Watlow controller and SSR were Made in U.S.A. with hard copy manual included.

Installation was pretty easy, it took me 4 hours to install. It should not have taken that long but I just wanted to make sure everything was  perfect without breaking anything,  see the photos below for my installation in progress, the step-by-step installation guide was in color PDF and I loaded it on my iPad.

Water Pump was Leaking

Notes: Water Pump leaking has NOTHING to do with MLG PID Kit, it was Rancilio crappy quality control and/or parts. Perhaps, they fool customers by giving out refurbished machines and sell them as new.

At the end of the MLG PID Kit installation, I did a test run.  I was shocked to see that the joint between the metal and plastic fitting of the ULKA EP-5 was leaking whenever the pump was on.  No wonder why in the past weeks,  I got some water on the table! Originally I thought I didn’t put the drip tray properly, now this explained why.

For minor leaking like this, it can be fixed easily.  Since I didn’t know if that fitting was a forced fit or it was a threaded fit,  I couldn’t find any information on the Internet. So, I tried using the “Nashua Stretch & Seal” (or “Magic Wrap”) and it failed so badly. I think the powerful pump produces quite decent pressure, this type of seal has NO WAY to hold the pressure of 10 bar (145 PSI) or above.

The seal used by Rancilio was hardened on brand new machine?

Next, I tried to unscrew them – Yes it was a threaded fitting.  Then, some green stuff (see in the photos)  felt off from the threads! It is very hard to believe the seal has already hardened because my machine was brand new. Now it makes me think that Rancilio or the store sold me a refurbished machine and charged me the price of a brand new one.   This really bugged me.  Anyways, life goes on…

Fixing this was extremely easy,  I used a product called “Pipe Stick” (or any pipe joint compound, even teflon tape would work too) because I used that to fix a swimming pool pump before. Also,  the product claims it can withstand up to 2000 PSI.  Everything was fixed after an additional hour of work and no more leaking!

Using the PID

PID is extremely simple to use,  the preset temperature by MLG for espresso brew was set to be 106C / 224F  (for cold machine starts).  The instruction suggested if you have warmed up the machine for 30 min or above, you can set the PID to be 105C / 222F (This is the latest notes provided by MLG, the older note said 226F as default) .   As for steam mode, the preset is 146C / 295 F meaning that if the boiler temperature drops below that point, the boiler will start again in full power. The temperature usually will keep climbing till  148C / 300 F  to 154C / 310 F at max.

Conclusion

PID makes life so much easier by saving time and water, most importantly it gives you repeatable good result consistently.   I strongly recommend to get one for your Rancilio Silvia,  you paid for what you get for MLG PID Kit although it is a bit expensive but it does worth every penny.






Posted in Food & Cooking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment