4 ms·

Sounds like someone should try to revive this. The "fog gun" should certainly find a lot of supporters today. A bathroom that is specifically designed to be eas

by xg15 4y ago

Sounds like someone should try to revive this. The "fog gun" should certainly find a lot of supporters today. A bathroom that is specifically designed to be easy to clean might also be attractive for single households. This might actually be more in demand today than when Mr. Fuller originally invented it.

canadianfella 4y ago
[dead]
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
mhb 4y ago
Indeed, the fog gun sounds like magic. Great tech for a dishwasher too, though.
CrazyPyroLinux 4y ago
I can't say enough good things about a steam shower
- 082349872349872 4y ago
  Do you have personal experience with one? Please say a few good things, then.
  - CrazyPyroLinux 4y ago
    Personally I like to take long hot showers to relax and think. (See recent related https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34289138 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34289138 ) This would otherwise be expensive and wasteful of water and energy, but it doesn't take much of either to keep the shower flooded with steam. Plus I'm not drying out my skin while trying to stay warm with too-hot water; cool water in the hot environment feels great for wash 'n rinse. It also feels good to breathe the steam.
qwerpy 4y ago
The emphasis on easy to clean and maintain is something that I wish houses today had. To me it seems new houses are optimized for fast and cheap construction, but as someone who actually lives in the house and wants to continue to do so for the next decade or two with minimal hassle, there are so many design problems. Part of the problem is that like clothes, houses and exterior/interior design follow fashion trends which have nothing to do with utility and maintenance. And like the tax prep industry, there is incentive for builders/contractors to make houses fragile and hard to maintain so they always have (expensive) work to do. The HN thing to do at this point is to believe that I, a software engineer, can do better and then fail spectacularly in doing so because building houses is different than writing code. So instead I will sit here, fume about the state of things, and throw money at problems when they arise.
- pengaru 4y ago
  > The HN thing to do at this point is to believe that I, a software engineer, can do better and then fail spectacularly in doing so because building houses is different than writing code. So instead I will sit here, fume about the state of things, and throw money at problems when they arise. The thing is, you probably can do better, you just can't do it both better and as fast or faster. It's totally worth doing it better for your self to utilize and enjoy. The calculus is entirely different vs. a business effort needing to turn a profit. Most people have plenty of hours they'd otherwise spend unpaid wasting time they could instead be investing in improving their homes while learning new skills.
  - qwerpy 4y ago
    Yeah you’re right, I was just making fun of software engineer hubris. I’m slowly learning some of those skills on my own because it’s fun to learn and not be blocked on finding a dependable contractor. Nowhere near the point where I can do new construction but maybe someday.
- maxerickson 4y ago
  A lot of building techniques seem hard but are really faster/cheaper/easier than a seemingly more maintainable solution would be. Drywall, mud and paint seems like a lot of work, but imagine making a room 30 feet long where replaceable panels actually looked good and fit well.
lucb1e 4y ago
> This might actually be more in demand today than when Mr. Fuller originally invented it. We're also some 4.5× more people if I remember historic figures correctly, and presumably the number of households increased even more. Particularly with urbanization as well as lower transportation costs, might be a lot easier to find buyers even if the per-capita demand were to be equal or lower. I'm intrigued enough to want to try one out if I can reasonably get to it (perhaps as part of a bigger trip), though as someone who doesn't plan to own a home in the next decade or more (I'm 30) I'm not really in the market.

by xg15 4y ago

canadianfella 4y ago

[dead]

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

mhb 4y ago

Indeed, the fog gun sounds like magic. Great tech for a dishwasher too, though.

CrazyPyroLinux 4y ago

I can't say enough good things about a steam shower

082349872349872 4y ago
Do you have personal experience with one? Please say a few good things, then.
- CrazyPyroLinux 4y ago
  Personally I like to take long hot showers to relax and think. (See recent related https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34289138 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34289138 ) This would otherwise be expensive and wasteful of water and energy, but it doesn't take much of either to keep the shower flooded with steam. Plus I'm not drying out my skin while trying to stay warm with too-hot water; cool water in the hot environment feels great for wash 'n rinse. It also feels good to breathe the steam.

qwerpy 4y ago

The emphasis on easy to clean and maintain is something that I wish houses today had. To me it seems new houses are optimized for fast and cheap construction, but as someone who actually lives in the house and wants to continue to do so for the next decade or two with minimal hassle, there are so many design problems. Part of the problem is that like clothes, houses and exterior/interior design follow fashion trends which have nothing to do with utility and maintenance. And like the tax prep industry, there is incentive for builders/contractors to make houses fragile and hard to maintain so they always have (expensive) work to do. The HN thing to do at this point is to believe that I, a software engineer, can do better and then fail spectacularly in doing so because building houses is different than writing code. So instead I will sit here, fume about the state of things, and throw money at problems when they arise.

pengaru 4y ago
> The HN thing to do at this point is to believe that I, a software engineer, can do better and then fail spectacularly in doing so because building houses is different than writing code. So instead I will sit here, fume about the state of things, and throw money at problems when they arise. The thing is, you probably can do better, you just can't do it both better and as fast or faster. It's totally worth doing it better for your self to utilize and enjoy. The calculus is entirely different vs. a business effort needing to turn a profit. Most people have plenty of hours they'd otherwise spend unpaid wasting time they could instead be investing in improving their homes while learning new skills.
- qwerpy 4y ago
  Yeah you’re right, I was just making fun of software engineer hubris. I’m slowly learning some of those skills on my own because it’s fun to learn and not be blocked on finding a dependable contractor. Nowhere near the point where I can do new construction but maybe someday.
maxerickson 4y ago
A lot of building techniques seem hard but are really faster/cheaper/easier than a seemingly more maintainable solution would be. Drywall, mud and paint seems like a lot of work, but imagine making a room 30 feet long where replaceable panels actually looked good and fit well.

lucb1e 4y ago

> This might actually be more in demand today than when Mr. Fuller originally invented it. We're also some 4.5× more people if I remember historic figures correctly, and presumably the number of households increased even more. Particularly with urbanization as well as lower transportation costs, might be a lot easier to find buyers even if the per-capita demand were to be equal or lower. I'm intrigued enough to want to try one out if I can reasonably get to it (perhaps as part of a bigger trip), though as someone who doesn't plan to own a home in the next decade or more (I'm 30) I'm not really in the market.