Okay, so back to the other choices. I got a very good deal on white delicatus granite, but they will polish, but not seal. I’ve used Porous Plus on my bathroom marble and unglazed porcelain, but am torn between what seem to be two choices right now for the kitchen: StoneTech BulletProof and Dry Treat Stainproof or Stainproof Plus.
In either case, I’d apply myself with protection from fumes. Leaning toward Dry Treat, though the warranty is void if you don’t use a professional applicator person.
Experiences with granite sealers, especially Dry Treat?
I just saw this thread and it reminded me of all my experiences doing my kitchen remodel!
I used StoneTech BulletProof for my marble backsplash. It worked perfectly. When I asked around I got pretty consistent feedback from installers that BulletProof is very high quality. If you use a water-based sealer like BulletProof, most of the issues with poor sealing have to do with the way you apply it (especially, make sure you don’t overapply and make sure you don’t leave residual sealer on the stone to let dry). And also, do a small test before applying it everywhere, just in case you have the 1-2 types of granite that might not work well with your particular sealer.
I don’t think there is a consensus opinion on whether water-based sealers (like BulletProof) or impregnating sealers (like StainProof Plus) are better.
I’ve been using 511 Porous Plus on my bathroom marble, maybe should switch to one of those? Dry Treat does seem to penetrate better, and maybe need repeat applications less often. I’m just shy of ordering it… planning to apply it as DIY.
I think I mentioned earlier (maybe in another thread?) I loaded up on disposable dishes at Tuesday Morning, and paper napkins (we only use cloth ones). Definitely do not want to try to wash dishes in my small powder room sink downstairs! I can’t stand plastic ware for eating, but that’s easy to handle, I think. We also have an outdoor shower that’s turned off due to freezing temps, but may be able to use that to rinse out something large, like the InstantPot liner or a lasagna pan.
I don’t normally mind eating out, but keeping food histamine levels predictable and under control is still something of a concern for me, the only reason I’m so focused on prepping and deep freezing and cooking what I can from very fresh ingredients and non red tomato sauce, frex, for lasagna.
We’ll lay in a big supply of macadamia nuts from Costco, the Official House Snack here, and Armenian string cheeses, and very fresh mozzarella, etc.
It’s probably easiest to just test. I think you can look up the water absorption rate of your granite, which should give some kind of clue. If it is comparatively high that may make it harder to seal.
Thanks, I checked. Seems like white delicatus is pretty impervious, as granites go. Maybe I’ll see what sealer the stone place uses, or use BulletProof, since one can add Dry Treat to it, but not BulletProof over Dry Treat.
Turns out they do seal. Don’t offer Dry Treat. I can do it later, I’m used to sealing my bathroom marble every six months. Maybe will consider Dry Treat there next time.
Stuff’s getting real; my kitchen is empty except for coffee pot, we removed the cabinet doors and shelves, sealing up for dust prevention and masonite going down on the floors tommorrow, demolition to be done on Saturday, plumber arrives Monday a.m. I visited my cabinets and they’re even better than i’d hoped, especially the lowers, where I was worried a bit about stain shading.
Kitchen lighting, anyone? We have hanging from the rafters, 6 6" recessed cans retrofitted with LEDs from Feit, warm white, that we love the brightness and warmth of. 4" cans are more attractive, but don’t throw as broad an area of light. I’m in an 8.5’ wide kitchen, so that wouldn’t be much of an issue, but the new recessed lighting in the living room is 4" LED cans and the light is pretty specific to a narrow area, more so, maybe, due to sitting so high up inside the can.
If I choose 4", would lowering the bulbs and using 8 instead of 6 give me the brightness and area of lighting I want? The length of the room is 12’ and it would be 4 per side, just a few feet between the two rows?
Anyone dealt with this issue successfully already?
I"m a big fan of lamps on counter tops. (By lamps I mean the kind with a base and a shade). Before you say that’s just weird or worse, give it a try with a couple of cheap small lamps. The glow from lamps is beautiful and lamps provide plenty of task lighting. I’m talking about lamps as a layer of lighting with your overhead/ambient. Yes the shades get grungy and have to be replaced but so what? That’s part of the fun. I have four lamps in a kitchen that’s 15x12. It’s pretty! The vent-a-hood task lights illuminate the stove top and a pendant gives a boost over the sink. I think the lighting people call this ‘layering’ the light. They usually counsel against relying totally on overhead light, which can be slightly depressing to some people (and I’m one of them). Think of lamps as a replacement for strings of LEDs under your cabinets (or those CFL bar lights of yesteryear).
Thanks for your reply, I love the warmth of layered lighting everywhere, and I’m including it in the kitchen with undercounter puck lights and warm LED tape inside two glass front display cabinets. I have such a small kitchen and have managed to squeeze about 13’ total of counterspace into it, the largest two areas just over 5’ each. I want everything uncluttered when it comes to countertops, and designed my storage so even cooking utensils in a crock will not be on display. Only a toaster oven and some fruit and veg and a small TV will be on display, mostly, in addition to colored glass art or drinking glasses in the two display cabinets.
I’m really torn between the sizing of 4" vs. wider area lighting from 6" cans… 4" are prettier, wondering if I bump it up from 6 total to two rows of 4 4" ones with an 8’ ceiling, that will do, mostly.
have many rows of fixtures installed on separate circuits so you can make it as bright or less bright as you want. there’s no reason it has to be one-switch-all-or-nothing.
you could even mix warm and icy white bulbs circuits . . .
a pricey but ultra-flex option would be low voltage switching - that would allow you to modify/change which bulb/fixture/placement comes on/off with multiple circuits. you won’t need a lighting engineer to ‘predict’ how it works out - put in in, change as needed.
My neighbor, who is doing demolition, sheetrocking/construction for me is actually a licensed electrician on big commercial and residential NYC jobs. I’m just not sure my 8.5’ x 12’ galley requires more than three types of lighting. I loved the warm white LEDs we had and everything in my house is on dimmers, except for a CFL shower light. The pucks on each side have their own switches, the LED tape lights inside cabinets will have their own, and the ceiling lights will all be on one switch.
I do wonder if having 4 4" on each side would mitigate the spread issues and/or if I should get them with adjustable trim?
I went with 4" recessed LEDs using Cree. When I did this a couple years ago, Cree was a lot brighter than the other LEDs on the market. They are resold at Home Depot as EcoSmart.
On what used to be the GardenWeb forums (now Houzz), there is a lighting forum that has a ton of information about how to calculate how many lumens you need to properly light a room. For me the 4" were great for my 8’ ceiling.
I took a look at the photo from my inspiration kitchen and at my SIL’s ceiling at Easter, and chose to stay with 6" using the Feit Electric 650 Lumens with 3000k for warm white that I loved from my old kitchen. I still have some of those in the basement. Once they’re gone I’ll experiment with some Cree, which I have in some other fixtures in my house. I believe I read on GW, too, which is how I was sure the bulbs I had were exactly what I wanted, but there was not unanimity on 4" vs. 6" so I chickened out about making the switch.
I find choosing LED lighting to be an ongoing challenge. Truth is, you’ve got to be a rocket scientist (or at least a lighting scientist) to figure it all out. Lumens, watts, K-value and Color Rendering Index are among the variables, and various combinations will yield major differences not only in how bright your room is, but what color your walls and furnishings appear. When we remodeled our kitchen two years ago, the LED bulbs in the recessed fixtures turned my pale gray walls to a sickly-looking khaki. “Warm White” doesn’t mean a whole lot; that usually refers to a lower K value; “Cool White” is more likely to be a higher K value. In reality, “warm” tends to be yellow and “cool” tends to be blue. And don’t even get me started on dimming features. I tried one set of bulbs that dimmed to a garish pink (I think it was a Sylvania bulb that dimmed to a “sunset” effect.)
My suggestion – buy your bulbs from an electrical supply store that will allow you to return/exchange them if you’re not pleased with the resulting effect. It cost me $$$$ to replace 18 LEDs.
I know, it makes my eyes glaze over. It was just dumb luck that I knew I loved the Feit LEDs I got from Costco. I found the light temperature and wattage stuff overwhelming, especially the fact that the same wattages turned out so different for folks from different bulbs. I’m really glad I ended up not changing up the lighting arrangement except for the addition of undercabinet puck lights over every countertop. I hope those don’t turn out to be obnoxious.
My Feit overhead bulbs have an unattractive groups of 6 LED circles on the surface, but at least they’ll be up in the cans. I hope I like the LEDs in the undercounter puck lights.
You can’t go by wattages when looking at lighting because wattage is a power measurement rather than a measurement of light output. Different technologies (e.g. LED vs CFL) put out different power to give you the same light. You should look at lumens.
What’s worse is that lighting stores (and also electrical supply stores) often don’t carry the best brands of LED lights. They tend to carry whatever is setup in their supply chain. The best lights to get are often bought online. I had to do that for my GU24-base LED cans (which are required in California) and for my under-cabinet lights.
