Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
SOLUTIONS: Itsy, bitsy spider plant etched treasured vase
QUESTION: I enjoy your tips immensely and clip your column or parts thereof frequently. I have a problem I fear does not have a solution but here goes anyway. In starting a new plant off the mother plant and in letting roots grow on a baby spider, I foolishly used a small treasured crystal vase of my mother's. When I tried to clean it, there were etch marks that don't want to come out. Any suggestions? By the way, my current baby spider is sitting in a small leftover jar. Suzette, Winnipeg
ANSWER: I agree that the vase is etched; this may or may not be reversible depending on how deeply the etching has set in. Soak the glasses in hot vinegar or run citric acid through the dishwasher with the vase inside. Both options are effective solutions on etched glass. Another option (and this is my favourite) is to drop a denture tablet into the vase with a quarter teaspoon of dish soap and water. Leave overnight and rinse in the morning. You may need to gently rub the interior with an abrasive cloth.
QUESTION: I spilled oil-based paint on leather upholstery. Is there anything that will get it out? Thanks. Rick, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Paint that has dried for more than six hours is difficult to remove. There are commercial paint removers for leather but the success rate is not great. Some people have removed oil paint with pumice-free waterless hand cleaner or paint thinner while others say WD-40 and fine sandpaper is the best. In any case, use all solutions with caution; be careful that the leather dye is not disturbed.
QUESTION: My father recently handed down the bone china he and my mother received as a wedding gift. We used to live on an acreage and the water was iron heavy and stained some of the pieces. Is there a trick to removing it? I have tried scrubbing, but am scared I'll break the heirlooms if I get vigorous. Please help me out. Jesse, Winnipeg
ANSWER: Soak the dishes in the hottest water you feel comfortable putting them in with 3 cups vinegar and 2 tbsp. citric acid. Citric acid can be ordered at your local pharmacy. This recipe is similar to the recipe in my second book for discoloured Corelle dishes, Corellabunga. You may need to gently scrub the stain with an abrasive cloth after it has soaked for an hour.
Feedback from Smart Manitoban:
Dear Reena,
With regards to your article on borax. In an older book about agriculture put out by the University of Manitoba, it states that most diseases of vegetables are caused by lack of boron in the soil. This is remedied by spreading one cup of borax in your garden. Fruit-tree growers use it when trees fail to produce fruit in a similar way. Taxidermists use it to dry out and preserve pelts before mounting on foam supports.
Louis, St. Claude
Reena's Note: Thank you for the great information, Louis. Just want to caution readers to use borax at your own discretion and remember that borax on grass will kill it.
Fabulous Tips of the Week:
-- Soak fabrics in white vinegar before laundering to lock in colours. Submitted by: Margret, Winnipeg
-- Books and bookshelves infested with ants are difficult to conquer. Place a cotton ball soaked with lemon juice onto the shelf; the ants do not like the smell and will leave. Submitted by: Margret, Winnipeg
Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org. You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., ROA 0C0.
Renovation & Design
How to obtain those renovation dollars
If you've found a great house but it needs a bit of work before becoming your dream home, one option is to finance the renovations at the time of purchase by adding the cost to your mortgage.
Buyers who are putting less than 20 per cent down and need a mortgage, which is covered by loan insurance, can apply for a loan to cover up to 95 per cent of the value of the home after renovations are completed. However, mortgage advisers say read the fine print of deals such as those covered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's mortgage loan insurance.
"The one catch about the CMHC product... is that you still have to have the money to do the renovation before you get it funded to you," says Jim Rawson of the Invis mortgage brokerage.
At the time of purchase, you make an application to the CMHC, providing an appraisal of the current value of the property, quotes from contractors for the renovations and an appraisal of the value of the property once the proposed renovations are complete.
"Then they'll give you a mortgage commitment for 95 per cent of the value after the renovations are done, but at time of closing they only will fund 95 per cent of your purchase price or the value as it is today," Rawson says.
"You still have to have the cash to get the work done, and then have another inspector out to take a look at the property and then they'll refund you that money toward the mortgage."
If the increase in the market value of the home is 10 per cent or less, then the lender can advance the funds once the renovations are completed without further authorization from the CMHC.
While you may qualify for the mortgage loan insurance, a lender will want to be sure the proposed renovations will really add value to the home.
"A lot of times the bank will look at the house and say, 'No, we're not willing to offer that type of loan,' even though you qualify," says Jeff Mayer of Mortgage Intelligence. "That 'location' might not warrant that extra amount of money for renovation."
Mayer says the lender will want to make sure the renovations add value to the property straight away, but he also says homebuyers need to carefully consider if the renovations are a good investment.
"Ask yourself, 'What's my plan and how long do I want to live here?' Whatever renovations you're doing, make sure they're tasteful, make sure that the house would be able to be sold afterwards. It's not a renovation that only caters to you."
Rawson says if you have taken out a line of credit to cover the renovations, rather than, say, borrow from a family member, adding this amount to your mortgage on completion may not make financial sense.
"It's probably just as well that you leave that renovation cost on that line of credit. Instead of amortizing that debt over 25 or 35 years, most people will pay a line of credit down faster than their mortgage, so even though the interest cost might be slightly higher on their line of credit, they'll pay less interest by paying down the line of credit faster."
-- Postmedia News