Consider Water Quality When Choosing Materials
Fitzpatrick—This article was spawned, out of order of our repartee, by my own, current, epic-poetry-worthy search for a whole-house water filter. Apologies to Peg, and more on the Beowulf, Gilgamesh and the Odyssey/Illiad-meet-the Internet struggle to come.
Water filters are not only for health—bad water can harm the long-term appearance of your materials (white mineral scale in your walnut travertine shower) as well as the performance of high-dollar fittings (the ceramic disks on that pricey faucet), fixtures (the water inlet on that pricey toilet) and appliances (clogged water lines to your Subzero refrigerator or built-in Miele espresso maker).
For instance, several years ago, my parents built a new house near Paso Robles, California. (They farmed out some trades but did much of the labor themselves. I don’t know if Peg feels this way, but I’m royally annoyed with people who claim to be building a house when a general contractor and a slew of others are performing the work. In that scenario, they are having a house built.) Even in their late 60’s my parents were inveterate DIY home improvement demi-gods from before the affliction became widespread. (I’m positive we kids suffered juvenile brain damage from sawdust and paint fumes; proof—I became an interior designer, the middle son installs solar and the baby is a general contractor). My mom chose white mosaic glass tiles, mosaic porcelain tiles and grout in her bath. Those were great choices for where she used to live, in the San Joaquin valley, famous for its hard-as-diamonds water and accompanying mineral scale problem. Her new water has a yellow component, iron or sulfur I assume. You can imagine how this affects her white materials.
Then there's my mother-in-law, also in the San Joaquin valley, who I understand spends a large portion of her day wiping up water spots on her black granite kitchen countertop before they evaporate and turn white.
Understand the quality of your water before you select finishes for your bath or kitchen. Then choose accordingly, or install a filter to mitigate the effects.
Water filters are not only for health—bad water can harm the long-term appearance of your materials (white mineral scale in your walnut travertine shower) as well as the performance of high-dollar fittings (the ceramic disks on that pricey faucet), fixtures (the water inlet on that pricey toilet) and appliances (clogged water lines to your Subzero refrigerator or built-in Miele espresso maker).
For instance, several years ago, my parents built a new house near Paso Robles, California. (They farmed out some trades but did much of the labor themselves. I don’t know if Peg feels this way, but I’m royally annoyed with people who claim to be building a house when a general contractor and a slew of others are performing the work. In that scenario, they are having a house built.) Even in their late 60’s my parents were inveterate DIY home improvement demi-gods from before the affliction became widespread. (I’m positive we kids suffered juvenile brain damage from sawdust and paint fumes; proof—I became an interior designer, the middle son installs solar and the baby is a general contractor). My mom chose white mosaic glass tiles, mosaic porcelain tiles and grout in her bath. Those were great choices for where she used to live, in the San Joaquin valley, famous for its hard-as-diamonds water and accompanying mineral scale problem. Her new water has a yellow component, iron or sulfur I assume. You can imagine how this affects her white materials.
Then there's my mother-in-law, also in the San Joaquin valley, who I understand spends a large portion of her day wiping up water spots on her black granite kitchen countertop before they evaporate and turn white.
Understand the quality of your water before you select finishes for your bath or kitchen. Then choose accordingly, or install a filter to mitigate the effects.
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