Seattle Home Show Review

You might have seen or heard ads for the Seattle Home Show. If you haven’t, it’s basically a gathering of all things home related (builders, remodelers, landscapers, roofers, window..ers, decking, hot tubs, pool tables, sheds, air conditioning, closets, etc. etc. etc. The show runs till Feb. 25 at the Qwest Field Event Center. $10 admission + whatever you pay for parking. I went to my first home show I think back in 2002 and thought it was mildly interesting and thought it’s been 5 years ..maybe it’s different. It’s not really. One part of the home show is the vendors selling stuff like unique paint rollers, or paintings, crafts, etc. stuff. The main showroom floor is the big stuff. My take on the whole thing is, unless you have a specific remodel project in mind or shopping for, ..the home show is just a big demonstration of stuff you probably can’t afford or don’t want to afford.

Fortunately, I went to this one with a different purpose. I went in to try and learn about the latest trends and what’s hot. I left there a little bit more educated than when I walked in. Here’s what I learned.

Roofs. There seems to be a push for rubber roofs. A number of vendors were pitching rubber roofs. My first inclination was ..omg, ..rubber roof..what happens if your house is on fire ..it’s gonna burn for days! But of course, they apparently put some sort of fire inhibitor into the rubber so it doesn’t become a fuel for fire. Metal roofs are also getting fancy. Of course both are gonna cost more than a composition roof. The vendor that specializes in cedar shake of course says shake is still the best. I’m partial to composition, higher end composition. Cedar shake roofs require too much maintenance and cleaning for my taste and the orangy brown (or weathered gray look) doesn’t appeal to me. The comp roofs with definition (thickness) look sharp to me and they last a looong time.

Builders/Remodelers. There were a lot of them there. Only a few seemed actually interested in being there. Funny…one vendor was telling a guy who was looking to buy a house in Seattle to not use a real estate agent…’just do it yourself.’ Call a bunch of agents to get the info, but just do it yourself. Then turned to me suddenly and said…uh..you’re not a realtor are you? I just smiled. I don’t know what kind of advice that is. Using a buyer’s agent is free to the buyer. But anyway, ..I digress. So many to choose from, prices should be competitive.

Countertops. The current market wants to see granite. Granite granite granite. A lot of the granite counters are ones with big swirly designs. I’m really afraid the gaudy granite patterns are a fad and in a few years they’ll look as good as flower patterned wall-paper (no offense to those that like that kinda stuff, …just know that you’re in the minority). What I came away with is Quartz (aka, silestone, caesarstone, etc.) is cool. I’d take a hard look at quartz for my next counter remodel. The thing about granite is sealing it is a pain in the ass. Once sealed you can’t use certain things to clean it. Granite tile (which is what I have) can have two tiles next to each other that don’t quite match in color shade. I have one piece that’s significantly more black than a tile next to it. One advantage granite has over quartz is that you can apparently polish granite until it’s got a mirror shine. Quartz can’t get that shiny. But the stuff can get pretty shiny already. Definitely consider it when you do your kitchens remodel.

I got into a small debate (argument?) with one vendor. They’re called Aqueous Solutions and they were pitching a product called the CleanSpace Crawl Space Encapsulation System. To my understanding, they encapsulate your crawl space in a thick (20 mil) plastic. So I had to ask…why bother? Well, it’s to keep moisture from entering your house. Their flyer says it this way, “The earth in your dirt crawl space is the major source of moisture in your home! This moisture is carried up into your house from the natural upward air flow created from rising heat. CleanSpace is the answer.” I’d agree that moisture in your crawlspace is a bad thing, but as they were showing me what and how they did the encapsulating ..they said they’d cover up the support posts as well. I asked them, ..well doesn’t the wood need to breathe. The answer I got was …no, house shouldn’t breathe, you don’t want that. You want it sealed. That got me going. Told the lady that I totally disagreed. You need fresh air flowing through your house. Stale air bad anywhere. Why do window manufacturers build small vents into the windows and new homes have automated systems that create periodic air flow through the home? Cause you need to keep fresh air coming in. New homes are built so air tight already that you have to create the systems that allow air flow. So about now, a guy steps in and takes over for the lady. I step back and ask him what they actually do to encapsulate. The essentially cover the ground, posts and foundation walls and block off all the vents. …..uh..say that again? You block all the crawl space vents? Why do they have building codes on how many vents you need per linear feet? To make sure enough air and cross-ventilation gets into the crawl space. This company or this CleanSpace product is solving a problem IT creates. They want to prevent moisture from getting into the house by completey SEALING OFF the crawlspace so you have nothing but stale air in there. Moisture will NOT BE A PROBLEM if you have proper air flow. Totally bizarre and totally against what I believe and understand.

One place I found useful as an agent is NVL labs ..they test for hazardous materials like lead paint and asbestos. The funny part was they told a lady next to me who wants to get her popcorn ceiling tested. I asked her when her house was built …1991. Wasn’t asbestos use regulated and/or abandoned in most home uses like in the late 70’s? The vendor encouraged her to still get it tested…i guess better safe than sorry, but if I was buying that house…I wouldn’t have been too concerned about it at all.

Lots of high end appliances. I left with aching feet, a bag full of flyers and brochures that I’ll probably never look through and a sort of empty feeling like…wow..I just wasted 2 hrs. Again, …if you’re looking for something specific, …this would be a good chance to see a plethora of options at once. But for the casual visitor … hard to see the value in it.