On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 07:15:19 GMT, wrote:

Friend of mind asked me why didn't I get the cheap Home Depot $1.99/sq
ft Oak and save myself a bundle. No way I'm going to get those paper
thin wood that cannot be refinished with a filmsy finish. And that
once the wood goes down, it's probably not coming out for the rest of
the life of the house. You might actually be spending more and
getting less with those cheap wood.

Good thinking. Unfortunately, during my house renovation I've got too
many war stories about buying cheap and paying for it heavily at the
other end.

The worst was a Jacuzzi I bought online and tile I got cheap at a
contractors' salvage yard. That story is he

http://www.magpie.com/house/bathroom.phtml

And just to demonstrate that I don't learn from my own lessons,
another one was just yesterday. I needed some wallpaper to finish off
the guest room I'm building. I spent an afternoon hitting local
wallcovering stores and the Borgs looking for something I liked which
was also in stock. Nothing. I found a yellow pages ad for a store in
Boro Park which claimed to have a million rolls in stock. As soon as
I walked in the funky place, warning bells should have gone off.
There were disorganized boxes of wallpaper all over, none of it with
so much as a manufacturer's label. There was also a large pool of
water on the floor in back from a leaky roof. The owner said it
always happens after a heavy rain.

After an hour, I found some prepasted stuff which was acceptable,
feeling victorious about saving $5 over what I would have paid
elsewhere. I hung it last night.

This morning, it was curling up and falling off the wall. It's not
like I haven't successfully hung a lot of wallpaper in my life. This
stuff was damaged goods. I tested a piece and found that the paste
was almost useless. In a side light you could see where some of it
was dusting off. Then I thought about that pool of water and what the
recurring humidity may have done to it.

One of these days I'll learn the wisdom of "Cry Once", I hope.

Steve Manes
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.magpie.com/house/bbs