Kristin Acker's Discussions

Hi sas912,Boy you're right about older homes. We spent 4 years gutting and fixing a home built in 1900 (ancient by Seattle standards) and it definitely had its challenges. I'll keep that in mind as we contemplate the future. Please keep the ideas coming y'all. -Kristin

Hey again. I received a couple of interesting responses from KonaKid and sas912 on the thread I started last week (http://www.zillow.com/forum/site/ViewThread.htm?tid=12356), but it?s a little quiet there. I thought maybe a survey would help us find out more. If you are interested, please dive in. It?ll only take a few minutes. Here?s the link directly to the survey ? https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=p0zLS9zPbz3T15R6QI0SUw_3d_3dThanks for your help! Kristin

At Zillow, we're researching the home improvement/remodel/repair space, and we?d love as much feedback from our users as possible in terms of features you would find valuable. There are a lot of great sites outside of Zillow which we've been exploring (and likely some cool ones we haven't found).There?s a discussion thread running on this in the home remodeling and repair category, but it?s a little quiet, so we thought we?d take a survey to see what we can discover. So if you are interested in helping design our feature offerings for the home improvement space, please dive in. It?ll only take a few minutes. Here?s the link directly to the survey ? https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=p0zLS9zPbz3T15R6QI0SUw_3d_3dIf you want to give feedback without taking the survey, feel free to leave a comment on the following thread - http://www.zillow.com/forum/site/ViewThread.htm?tid=12356Thanks for your help! Kristin

At Zillow, we're researching the home improvement/remodel/repair space, and we?d love as much feedback from our users as possible in terms of features you would find valuable. There are a lot of great sites outside of Zillow which we've been exploring (and likely some cool ones we haven't found).There?s a discussion thread running on this in the home remodeling and repair category, but it?s a little quiet, so we thought we?d take a survey to see what we can discover. So if you are interested in helping design our feature offerings for the home improvement space, please dive in. It?ll only take a few minutes. Here?s the link directly to the survey ? https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=p0zLS9zPbz3T15R6QI0SUw_3d_3dIf you want to give feedback without taking the survey, feel free to leave a comment on the following thread - http://www.zillow.com/forum/site/ViewThread.htm?tid=12356Thanks for your help! Kristin

Thanks mpal & JSegress, I'm psyched to see the results. I'm a data junkie and I love learning this way.

I'm a long-time USAA member (thanks to my Dad who served) and have found that in every case, they are superb. I don't know the specifics of this program, but they seem to do a fabulous job vetting every program they offer (I've used them for insurance, lines of credit, and credit cards). I love having an insurer who calls me to tell me they have found a better rate for me.  Good luck.

On the subject of cabinetry. I just finished a remodel where I installed a stock vanity. I had previously installed custom cabinetry in my previous home. I wish someone had warned me to look carefully at drawer space. I'm very disappointed in the one we bought. In a kitchen, maximizing drawer space matters even more. Turns out that these manufacturers (or at least the one we used ) make it efficient by make a limited number of drawer sizes (say 12", 18", 24") and if you need a slightly different width, they give you the drawers the next size down. So if you needed a 17" width, they give you the 12" drawer with a 17" face plate on it. That means there's 5" of deadspace. Custom cabinets just leave room for the drawer slides. I think they maximized the height & depth better too. So just make sure you're getting all the drawer space you can.  Good luck Ozzie! By the way everyone, you can now upload pictures directly to the discussion thread instead of just a link. We just rolled out that feature to the Discussion boards last night.

We just tore out tile flooring in two bathrooms In one of the bathrooms, it was hideously ugly (dark brown grout with beige/brown tile - I should've taken a picture). In the other it was white on white (aesthetically fine) but showed every speck of dirt that my 3 sons trekked in. There is gorgeous tile out there though. If you like low maintenance, just keep dirt in mind. The main reason I steer clear of tile on floors is that it's cold on bare feet. Admittedly, I live in Seattle, so it's chilly most of the year. If I lived in Florida or Texas, I'd feel differently. But I hate waking up at night and getting out of my toasty bed and stepping onto cold tile. We put in Marmoleum in both baths and just love it. The marbled patterns hide dirt or hair (don't worry, we clean the floors, but not daily) and seems to be about the same temperature as the room. No more tiptoeing to the toilet.

We've had so much fun getting Dueling Digs ready. Hopefully, you're enjoying wandering thorugh all the cool homes on Zillow. We've hada few ideas we haven't built yet, but we'd love to get your feedback to help us decide what to do next. Thanks and duel on!

We've had so much fun getting Dueling Digs ready. Hopefully, you're enjoying wandering thorugh all the cool homes on Zillow. We've had a few ideas we haven't built yet, but we'd love to get your feedback to help us decide what to do next. Thanks and duel on! - Kristin