Cohousing-L Mailing List: More Kitchen Questions

[Hungerford, David (dghungerford]

Reply to kitchen questions:

>1)  What materials did you use for counter tops and floors?  Would  you 
>choose them  again?  
Formica for counter tops.  Okay except near sinks (already have bad 
damage near sinks)--easy to clean, be sure to have an ethic against using 
knives on counters, or using abrasive cleaners.  We originally had a 4 inch 
formica backsplash all around (standard formica counter design) with regular 
textured drywall above.  bad mistake because, for some reason, cooking for a 
lot of people is messier than cooking at home and the walls behind the 
counters became gross quickly.  Our solution was to sand down the texture, 
slap on a *smooth* coat of mud, then repaint with oil-based (easy to clean) 
paint.  If we wanted to do it all over, we'd have the backsplash cover the 
wall up to the upper cabinets.

>2) What did you do (if anything) about the noise from dishwashing?  Our 
under-counter Hobart isn't really that noisy, but it's on a wall against the 
dining room (high counter, dishwashers look into dining room while working).  
But dishwashing/cleanup usually doesn't begin until about 45 minutes after 
meals are served, and people tend to leave when it starts.
 
>3) Did anyone NOT use a dishwasher (wash by hand)?  If so, how is it?
Don't tell the health department.

>4) Can you FAX us kitchen plans? (201) 763-0829 (Gasser Fax) 
I believe there is a plan view and a photo in the newest edition of the 
Cohousing book.

>5) What do you use for lighting in the kitchen, 
recessed halogens above bar/dish counter (nice, warm ambiance--if memory 
serves, they're on dimmers); under-cabinet fluorescents above the prep 
counters; and overhead fluorescents over the whole room--different people 
like different kinds and amounts of light, and different uses require 
different kinds of light.  In other words, we're glad we can use different 
combinations of lighting for different circumstances.

>and in the dining area? 
Warehouse lamps above the tables hanging from a cathedral ceiling with "warm" 
fluorescent bulbs, on dimmers.  4 circuits so we can vary the amount of light 
in different parts of the room

>6) How is your kitchen in the Common House defined by the Health Dept?   
Shhhhhh!  but seriously, only building and planning had any input ($3000 
vent hood with fire suppression unit, which requires regular inspections)
--we don't get visits from the health department because we don't "sell" 
food.  I don't know exactly how they define us, I'll check.

>7) Did you get new or used appliances?  If you got used, what criteria did   
>you use for buying them? 
Hit the archives, from about May 1994, I wrote a fairly long treatment of 
this topic, and many comments and suggestions followed from others.

>8)  Do you have a person designated as the Kitchen Manager?  
not exactly, we have a kitchen committee who split up the functions

>Who handles broken appliances, etc? 
Maintenance committee/or whoever stumbles across the problem first

>9) Do you use your common house for other types of activities (outside 
>parties, etc), and how do you handle this? 
yes, big issue--still working out some details regarding "public" 
events such as folk music concerts with paying attendees--private parties are 
frequent, (e.g.  soccer team parent meeting; elementary school class "cooking 
activity"; large family get-together; private dinner party; slumber party; 
high school play cast party;  pass the hat "contra dancing"(sort of like 
square dancing--with a band and caller); political meetings; yoga 
classes--but the measurement criterion is that someone in the group MUST be 
involved in the activity.   We didn't allow a fundraiser for a local city 
council candidate.  We handle it by signing up on the calendar in advance, 
often the organizer will put up a note explaining the event and defining 
limits (e.g. is it okay to wander through or do they want some privacy).

 
>10) How many washers/dryers do you have, what types, do you have service 
>contracts on these 
2 maytag washers, 1 kenmore washer, 2 hotpoint (gas) dryers and many 
clotheslines

David Hungerford, Muir Commons