At Home Living 050518

ATHOME

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REMODELING

Mid-century with modern twist Kitchen gets new appliances, more storage, Page 6 TOMATO PLANTING TIPS, PAGE 2

FLOORING OPTIONS ABOUND, PAGE 4

[LINDA A. DITCH/SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL]

PROLONGING AN APPLIANCE’S LIFE, PAGE 7

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2 Saturday, May 5, 2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com

Get to know your tomatoes before planting Fruit-or-vegetable debate continues to linger

wonderful, as the season progresses these tomatoes often are small.

Indeterminate variety examples: Beefmaster, Beefy Boy, Big Beef, Cherokee Purple, Early Girl, Jet Star, SunSugar, Golden Rave, Italian Gold, Super Italian Paste, Plum Dandy, Super Marzano, Esterina, Juliet, Suncherry, Supersweet 100, Chef’s Choice, Jetsetter, Amanda Orange, Black Krim and Mortage Lifter.

Ariel Whitely-Noll

T

omatoes are one of the most popular vegetables in the United States, second only to potatoes. Although this is partially thanks to ketchup, garden fresh tomatoes have a special place in many of our hearts.

When purchasing tomato plants, labeling often can raise more questions than it answers.

What is an indeterminate tomato?

Are grafted tomatoes worth the expense? Hybrid or heirloom?

Indeterminate A plant with an “indeterminate”

Tomatoes are second only to potatoes when it comes to popular vegetables in the United States. Be sure to understand the labels on tomato plants before purchasing them to plant in your garden.

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label will grow continually throughout the season, reaching heights of 4 to 6 feet. This height requires the gardener to stake the plant as it grows.

The side branch will produce blooms and set fruit. The result is a plant loaded with tomatoes.

Although plentiful fruit sounds

Determinate A plant labeled “determinate” will produce a limited number of side branches, bloom all at once and produce an abundance of fruit in a short time frame, with similarly sized fruit throughout.

Determinate variety examples: Amelia, Bush Early Girl, Crista, Roma, Florida 91, Mountain Series, Margherita, BHN 871, Sweet Tangerine, Little Napoli, Plum Crimson, Tumbling Tom, Sweet Olive, Carolina Gold, Florida 47, Primo Red and Scarlet Red.

Grafted Grafted tomato plants are an attempt to fight off soil-borne diseases like fusarium and verticilium wilt, which can persist in the soil for 10 to 15 years. This is done by combining a disease-resistant tomato root system (rootstock) with the desired tomato fruit on top (scion).

The plants are wonderful for gardeners who don’t have the space to rotate their tomato plants.

Because of the high input costs for this method, grafted plants are very expensive. Grafted plants are not resistant to foliar (leaf) diseases. Whether a grafted plant is worth the cost is a determination each gardener must make.

Grafted variety examples: Numerous graft combinations are possible. If you’ve experienced soil-based diseases in your garden and can’t plant in a new location, grafted plants may be a good choice, even with the increased cost.

See TOMATOES, 3

The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com Saturday, May 5, 2018 3

TOMATOES From Page 2

Hybrid Hybrid plants have been carefully cross-bred to produce desirable traits. Often these traits are diseaseresistance, but hybrid tomatoes also have been bred to taste better and some are bred to be more nutritious.

The process of crossbreeding takes years of research and work. Once a hybrid variety is established, it’s very consistent — what you buy is what you get. Hybrid varieties can be determinate/ indeterminate/semideterminate or grafted, but they can’t also be heirloom.

Unlike heirloom plants, if you save hybrid seeds, the resulting plants may

not have the same desirable characteristics.

Hybrid variety examples: Little Napoli, Plum Crimson, Plum Dandy, Pony Express, Margherita, Super Marzano, Esterina, Juliet, Mountain Belle, Sun Gold, Suncherry, SunSugar, Supersweet, Tumbling Tom, Sweet Olive, Amelia, Beefy Boy, Big Beef, Carolina Gold, Celebrity, Chef’s Choice, Floralina, Florida 47, Florida 91, Jetsetter, Jet Star, Mountain Fresh Plus, Mountain Spring, Primo Red, Scarlet Red, Sun Leaper and Sunmaster.

Heirloom The definition of heirloom varieties is debated among many gardeners. For most, it means varieties of tomatoes that were around prior to 1950, because hybrid varieties made an appearance in 1951. Essentially,

these varieties are all old.

The plants are openpollinated, meaning they are pollinated by insects or the wind. This pollination method means you can save seeds that will grow true to their parents, unlike hybrid varieties.

Heirloom variety examples: Roma, Amanda Orange, Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Italian Gold, Martino’s Roma, Super Italian Paste and Chocolate Cherry.

To address the final, and quite possibly most debated tomato question: Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable? The answer is both.

Botanically, when you’re looking at plant parts, the tomato is the fruit of the plant. It’s the seed-bearing structure of a flowerbearing plant. Cucumbers and squash also would be fruit by this definition.

So what is a vegetable, botanically speaking? A vegetable botanically is considered

the other parts of the plant. So when you eat celery or rhubarb, you’re eating the stem of the plant. When you eat lettuce and spinach, you’re eating the leaves. With broccoli and cauliflower, you’re eating developing flowers.

So if botanically tomatoes are fruit, why classify them as a vegetable? “Fruit” in horticulture terms is considered those plant parts typically eaten for breakfast or dessert, while vegetables are eaten with lunch or dinner.

To clear up the confusion, in 1893 the tomato was classified by the U.S. Supreme Court as a vegetable. This judgment was made for tariff purposes, but despite the ruling, the debate continues today.

Ariel Whitely-Noll is the horticulture agent for Shawnee County Research and Extension. She can be reached at arielw@ksu.edu.

4 Saturday, May 5, 2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com

Pros, cons of popular flooring materials Lifestyle, type of home influence choices

also will increase the resale value of your home.

By HomeAdvisor

Carpet

Choosing flooring can be intimidating. Not only are there dozens of options to choose from, but there are also a number of important factors to consider with each material.

This summary of the pros, cons and costs of popular flooring types will help you choose the best option for your home and lifestyle.

Carpet is comfortable and easy to care for, making it a popular choice for bedrooms and living areas.

One benefit of carpet is there are many styles, colors and textures to choose from.

Another benefit is it provides increased insulation and helps to minimize sound.

Disadvantages of carpet include its vulnerability to stains and water damage — it’s best not to install carpet in bathrooms — as well as its tendency to collect particles known to aggravate allergies and respiratory conditions.

The average national cost to install carpeting is $1,595. The cost of your carpet installation

Hardwood You can’t beat the beauty, durability and versatility of hardwood flooring and its engineered counterparts. Not only is hardwood flooring easy to maintain and restore, but it also can be styled and stained to complement every taste.

The best flooring for your home will depend on your budget and style. This home has a mix of hardwood flooring and carpeting. [DREAMSTIME]

The downside to solid hardwood is it’s highly susceptible to water damage.

Also, softer varieties may scratch easily, making them less practical for households with dogs and kids.

Perhaps the greatest

downside to hardwood flooring is its cost.

According to HomeAdvisor’s True Cost Guide, homeowners report spending an average of between $2,545 and $6,480 to install hardwood flooring.

The cost of your hardwood installation project will depend largely on the type of wood you choose and the square footage of your flooring area. The good news is that, in most cases, hardwood flooring

See FLOORING, 8

The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com Saturday, May 5, 2018 5

Should a kitchen faucet pull out or down?

Choice comes down to personal desires

By Ed Del Grande Tribune News Service

Q: Hi, Ed: We want a new trendy faucet for our kitchen, the type that has a built-in spray head. But, I’ve noticed that some of these faucet spray heads pull out of the faucet body, and some heads pull down. Is there a reason to choose one type of these faucets over the other?

— Linda, Maine A: This is a popular question. Pull-

out and pull-down kitchen faucets are similar, and why one type may be chosen over the other can come down to three preferences: vessel filling, cleaning tasks and style. Let’s explore.

• Vessel filling. Pull-down is nice for filling large pots in the kitchen sink bowl.

A pull-out faucet has the edge when filling things like dog dishes and coffee makers outside of the sink bowl.

• Cleaning tasks. A pull-out spray head has a larger hand grip for easy control, but a pull-down spray is great in tight spaces.

A pull-out faucet has the edge when filling things like dog dishes and coffee makers outside of the sink bowl. [KOHLER]

• Style. Finally, it may just be the high-arch style of the pull-down or traditional-looking spout style of the pull-out to pull you in the direction of the kitchen faucet you desire.

Master contractor/plumber Ed Del Grande is known internationally as the author of the book “Ed Del Grande’s House Call,” the host of TV and Internet shows, and a LEED green associate. Visit eddelgrande. com or write eadelg@cs.com. Always consult local contractors and codes.

6 Saturday, May 5, 2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com

REMODELING

New kitchen with Mid-century Modern style Top priority was creating more storage

By Linda A. Ditch Special to The Capital-Journal

For guests new to Jackie and Bob Sommers’ home, they would never notice the kitchen has been updated recently. Well, the slategray finish on the appliances, quartz and granite countertops and blemishfree cabinets might give away the newness of the room, but not the style.

The kitchen was designed to fit perfectly with the 1969 home’s Midcentury Modern look.

“The house dictates the look. I don’t want to do things to a space that you will want to change in five years,” said designer George Steele, who worked with Jackie to create the new kitchen’s style.

“This kitchen is Midcentury Modern because the house is. I just took it to a higher degree from what it was originally.”

Jackie had one primary goal in mind for the remodel: “Masses of storage.” She described the old kitchen as having “junk” everywhere, because there was nowhere to store it away. When she unloaded the cabinets and packed everything in the room to prepare for the remodel, she dropped off nine boxes of stuff at Goodwill.

The new kitchen not only has a pantry and cabinets for storage, but it also features 28 drawers. That includes big, deep drawers, which are perfect for pots and pans.

Jackie opened one to show it full of linens that didn’t have a space in the old kitchen.

Once Jackie and Steele had

The island, with its dark granite countertop, is the focal point of the kitchen. The countertop echoes the tones of the home’s slate entryway floor. [LINDA A. DITCH/SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL]

Bob and Jackie Sommers decided to update their kitchen with a look that fit the home’s Mid-century Modern look. The home was built in 1969. [LINDA A. DITCH/SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL]

the design set, they turned to Kendall Construction to do the work. Project manager Roger McKinley had worked with Steele many times in the past. The company started about 26 years ago and primarily worked on commercial projects.

About four years ago, the company expanded into residential construction.

Kendall Construction does most of the work on a remodel project themselves.

The only subcontractors needed are for plumbing, electrical, tile and HVAC

work. The company even started its own cabinet division; it built the modern, wooden cabinets installed in Jackie and Bob's kitchen.

The old cabinets were repurposed in the laundry room.

Kendall Construction also built an overhead hutch to match an existing sideboard in the dining room.

An inset was built into the wall to hold that piece and make more room around the dining room table.

In the kitchen, the island See KITCHEN, 7

The kitchen’s appliances have a slate-gray finish, and the modern, wooden cabinets have plenty of storage space. [LINDA A. DITCH/SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL]

The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com Saturday, May 5, 2018 7

Routine maintenance prolongs appliance’s life Still, equipment will need to be replaced eventually

By Paul F.P. Pogue Angie's List

Your appliances are some of the hardest-working components of your home.

Constant moving parts, hundreds of RPMs, the occasional high temperatures and thousands of gallons of water pumped over the course of a year. We run our appliances like workhorses and still expect them to work at the flip of a switch.

But that wear and tear builds up over time, and we expect them to keep working right up until the moment they don’t. Never fear. With a little regular maintenance, you can fend off that dreaded “clunk” of a failed appliance and add years to its life.

How can I keep my appliances working longer?

Keeping appliances clean and attending to routine maintenance can add years to their lifespan. Regularly clean your appliances — in particular, keep the condenser coils in your refrigerator free of debris. A condenser coil brush, available at any hardware store, works well for this purpose.

Regularly check the seal on your refrigerator door.

If you can slide a piece of paper between the seal and the door when the door is closed, hire a professional to inspect the unit and replace the seal. Otherwise, your refrigerator will work much harder to keep food cold.

Regularly scrub your oven and never let food debris remain on burners.

Experts advise avoiding the

To prolong the life of your appliances, take care not to overload your washer and clean your dryer’s lint filter after every load of laundry.

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self-cleaning feature on ovens. Instead, just keep it clean as you go along. If a pie spills over, using a quick dab of oven cleaner right away is better than waiting for debris to build up.

Scrape off as much food as possible into the trash before putting plates in the dishwasher. Food debris can clog up the pumps.

Keep an eye on your dishwasher’s filter, and remove debris and hardwater deposits. Check the sprayers, screens and gaskets for particle buildup.

How can I maintain my washer and dryer?

Heavy loads, lots of water, thousands of revolutions at high speed — it’s hard to imagine a harder pair of workers than your washer and dryer.

Don’t overload your washer — that wear and tear builds up over time.

Make sure you empty

pockets before running a load; pennies, lint and paper clog up the drain lines.

Take seriously your dryer manual’s admonition to clean the lint filter every load. Otherwise, it will have to work harder each time.

And if your dryer still dries slowly, consider cleaning out the dryer vent.

KITCHEN From Page 6

stands out with its dark granite countertop, which picks up the tones of the home’s slate entryway floor. The remaining countertops are a light quartz that extends up the wall to form the backsplash. Steele prefers this European approach to backsplashes.

“It doesn’t have a cluttered look you get tired of in a few years,” he said.

One thing the homeowners, Steele and McKinley agreed on is the more planning that takes place before the actual construction starts, the better. Jackie and Steele started talking in August about the design. Not wanting to live through construction during the holidays, work began in January and took just seven weeks.

“I want everything to be 99-percent picked out and onsite before beginning the work,” McKinley said. “That way, once we start work, there are fewer delays. I’ll have my guys on the project every

day until it’s finished. I spend a lot of time on the front end, putting some thought into the project so I can give my guys a list of what will happen when. If the front-end work is done, you won’t have change orders to slow down the project.”

McKinley also recommends having a designer on the project.

In fact, he won’t do a project without one.

“A designer can think outside the box. It takes a designer to create, and then I make it work,” he said.

Jackie agreed with how a designer can think of style details a homeowner might not consider. An example she gave was paint color.

“I expected a neutral beige, not a green. But I love the results,” she said.

While they both love the new kitchen, Bob has one complaint.

“When I unload the dishwasher,” he said with a grin, “I don’t know where to put things.”

Linda A. Ditch is a freelance writer from Topeka.

She can be reached at lindaaditch@gmail.com.

Should I repair or replace an appliance?

The older your appliances get, the more likely it’s a good idea to replace it rather than repair it to keep it going. But don’t jump to replace your refrigerator just to get the attractive newest model. Often, the fix might just be a short or a bad connection that can be replaced for a nominal fee.

As a general rule, if the repair is more than half the cost of a new appliance and your unit is more than 6 years old, go ahead and upgrade to a new model.

The kitchen countertop is a light quartz that extends up the wall to form the backsplash. [LINDA A. DITCH/SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL]

8 Saturday, May 5, 2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com

FLOORING From Page 4

project will depend on the quality of the carpet you choose and the square footage of the carpeted area.

Another often overlooked cost consideration is carpet padding. While installing new padding will add to the overall cost of your project, it also will add to the comfort and longevity of your floor.

Ceramic and porcelain tile Ceramic and porcelain tile are well suited for any space. In fact, with the introduction of wood plank tile — tile that resembles hardwood — they’ve become increasingly popular for use in main living areas.

The upside to ceramic and porcelain is most options require little maintenance — apart from regular mopping and occasional repair. The downside is they can be

cold on bare feet. Fortunately, the installation of radiant heat below ceramic and porcelain tiles can make them a warmer and more comfortable flooring option.

The cost of your tile project will depend on the tile you choose and the square footage of the flooring area. Additional factors, such as subflooring and the inclusion of intricate patterns or designs, also may affect your project cost. The average national cost to install ceramic and porcelain tile flooring is $1,757.

Natural stone Natural stone flooring — including granite, marble, travertine and limestone — is as classic and stunning as it comes. Unfortunately, natural stone is high-maintenance, too.

While extremely durable, natural stone is both soft and porous, making it susceptible to scratching and staining. But when well maintained, natural stone materials will preserve beautifully for decades.

The cost of your natural stone installation will depend on the square footage of your flooring area and the material you choose. Like ceramic tile projects, natural stone projects may require strengthened subflooring and consideration of extras such as intricate patterns or designs.

It’s also a good idea to consider the cost of ongoing upkeep when considering natural stone. The average national cost to install natural stone tile flooring is $1,588.

The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com Saturday, May 5, 2018 9

10 Saturday, May 5, 2018 The Topeka Capital-Journal | homes.cjonline.com

TIP OF THE WEEK: BUZZ OFF

Mosquitoes love to breed in stagnant water, but their larvae also can be found in other places around your home. Check these areas to prevent a pesky infestation: • Tarps covering woodpiles or swimming pools should be shaken off once a week to get rid of rain that has settled in creases and folds.

• Tall grass should be mowed and maintained throughout summer.

• Sandboxes should be placed in a sunny area, rather than a shady place where the sand can remain damp and attract bugs.

• Dump dog dishes and refresh with clean water daily. And while you’re at it, dump stagnant water in planter saucers.

• Clean gutters in the spring and check regularly to see if water is standing.

Source: goodhousekeeping.com/home

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