Sin City Living » 2007 » June

We need more of these signs here.
A friend from San Diego sent me an article today detailing the health of Las Vegas area residents. The lead-in pretty much says it all:

The health of southern Nevada residents is poor, with more people smoking, drinking heavily and using hard drugs here than elsewhere in America, according to a report by the Southern Nevada Health District.

As a result we have a shorter life expectancy of 76.7 years compared to the national average of 77.9. Party hard and die early I guess. Good news? There was some but all of it is tinged by bad news as well.

Despite easy access to 24-hour dining and a city chock-full of buffets, the obesity rate here is 21.4% vs. 24.4 nationally. We are getting fatter though with this percentage up from 18% just a few years ago.

Local high school students are less likely to drink and smoke. Come to think of it, I have not been approached to buy cigs or booze for any kids since moving here so I believe this. Maybe the teens aren’t so dumb after all and see what these vices are doing to their parents. Or maybe they are just too busy smoking crystal meth. 12% of teens do – double the national rate!.

As the summer heat starts to kick in, everyone in Las Vegas is looking for ways to stay cool. Today Lifehacker featured a roundup on ways to beat the heat. The focus is all about staying cool without breaking the bank. You can learn how to make your own air conditioner, improve your home’s insulation and keep your car from getting unbearably hot. There’s also a list of ten summer cocktails to keep you cool and refreshed.

Personally, I prefer not to use the AC unless it’s absolutely necessary. A well-positioned fan usually does the trick and I like the idea of saving electricity. And then there are my afternoon naps. I have started taking siestas in the late afternoon and wake up to cooler temperatures and nice mountain breezes.

Just barely. There was an excellent discussion about employment in Nevada today on KNPR’s State of Nevada program. Recent data showed that Nevada’s unemployment rate exceeded the nation’s average for the first time in years: 4.6% of Nevada residents reported themselves as out of work last week compared to 4.5% across the country.

So what’s driving the current rate of joblessness? The answers are not surprising but understanding the dynamics between industry and employment in Southern Nevada helps to explain the anticipated recovery. Two of the three biggest employers in Nevada, Gaming and Construction (Government is the third) are each in involved business cycles that are curently pushing up unemployment numbers.

Gaming
There have been no major casino openings since Red Rock Casino and Resort, which opened in April of last year. So, we have not seen any significant increase in gaming jobs in over fourteen months. But construction of new mega-resorts and the expansion of properties on the Las Vegas Strip (Wynn, Venetian) will create thousands of jobs in gaming and hospitality. Beyond the increase in jobs, these resorts will further diversify corporate revenue streams into entertainment, dining and retail, which is good for Las Vegas long-term.

Construction
The residential housing bust is no doubt hurting construction jobs. Builders have slowed development in response to tepid sales. As inventory catches up to the lower demand, construction jobs should reach a new equilibrium. Business and government construction should continue to grow modestly as well.

While on the surface a 4.6% unemployment rate may look bleak, the explanations seem reasonable and we can be confident that developments currently underway will improve the job market in the years to come.

I received a small pamphlet from the Las Vegas Valley Water District today which contained some helpful reminders and tips for saving water as the summer heat kicks in:

1. What is the best time of day to water? Before sunrise.
2. How long should I run my sprinklers for? 4 minutes at a time for three cycles, with an hour break in between.
3. How many days should I run my drip irrigation system? 3 days a week.

The pamphlet also reminded me to water my lawn only on my assigned day of the week (Group B: Tuesday). The restriction, enforced between 5/1 and 8/31, is new to me but makes sense. In Los Angeles we were in perpetual droughts but no one ever seemed to do anything about it. I can live with watering only on Tuesdays.

Being an apartment-dweller for many, many years made me soft and unwilling unable to do anything around the house. With our fresh start in Las Vegas and having sunk most of our savings into the downpayment, I’ve been forced to do things on my own. Future posts will be categorized under Home Ownership. For today, I offer a few simple truths that really sank in for me:

DIY Tips

1. Get the right tools. I was amazed at how many specialized tools and gadgets are available. Obtaining and using the right tools makes a project easier and ensures that you at least have a chance to get things right
2. Learn the right methods / Don’t take short-cuts! There is generally a right way to do things and for good reason. Straying from the correct methods or trying to change a process usually means poor results.
3. Take your time. It’s not a race and you will do a better, more thorough job if you work slowly. Giving yourself lots of time will remove the stress of a hard deadline and will give you time to get things done properly.

I missed the implosion of the Stardust Hotel and Casino back in March but I’ll get to witness the rise of a new hotel in its place. Construction began today at the former site of the venerable Stardust. The 87-acre project, dubbed “Echelon”, includes a posh hotel, luxury condominiums, convention space, entertainment venues and retail space. Projected cost: $4.8 billion.

You can watch a video of the Stardust implosion on the Las Vegas Review-Journal website. It’s quite a show!

This article from CNN Money lists hot areas of the country that have experienced housing downturns – the idea being that these markets represent good buying opportunities. The Las Vegas luxury condo market is discussed and a few important facts are discussed:

1. Only 10% of the condo projects that were planned actually got built.
2. The condo projects that did see the light of day sold out quickly with 30% going to foreign buyers.
3. Most of these condos are located near the strip and fetched prices over $1 million.

While this does mean that in a few years there will be ample units in resale it does not mean that prices are going to be any better. Las Vegas is hot (today especially at 108) and those luxury condos will appreciate with time, making them virtually inaccessible for most of us.

Nevada was listed as one of the four states with the most foreclosures in the first three months of this year. California, Arizona and Florida were also mentioned.

People who have taken out sub-prime loans, especially adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs), have been clobbered as rising interest rates and weak home prices have made it increasingly difficult for them to keep up with their monthly payments.

The resetting of monthly payments on ARMs, coupled with recent increases in credit card minimum payments, makes it hard for those with fixed incomes to keep up with their debt obligations. Some argue that these folks should never have been approved to buy homes in the first place.

I feel a little silly writing a guide to hardwood floor installation because I’m hardly an expert. But hey, if I can pull it off – so can you!

Before

Here’s what our living room looked like in it’s fully-carpeted glory. The rest of the house is carpeted wall-to-wall, so we decided to lay hardwood throughout the first floor.

Step One – Carpet Removal

Your first step is to get rid of the carpet. All you need is a sharp utility knife and lots of patience. Start by pulling the carpet up from one corner. Cut the carpet and padding underneath into 18-24″ wide strips and roll it up as you go. Big rolls of carpet and padding can be heavy and bulky so cut smaller strips for easier carrying and disposal. This is what our living room looked like with the carpet and padding taken away:

Step Two – Sub-floor Prep

Think you’re done prepping? Not just yet. Next you need to remove all of the molding and tack strips. The right tools are essential for this step. Buy yourself a good pry bar and a heavy duty floor scraper.

Use the pry bar to carefully remove the molding. You may need to run your utility knife along the top edge of the molding if it was painted while on the wall. Otherwise, you’ll tear pieces of paint off the wall above as you rip it out.

Next, use your trusty pry bar to remove all of the tack strips. Tack strips are pieces of wood with nails pointing up and in all directions and are anchored to the cement floor. These “shark teeth” as they are sometimes called, are used to hold the carpet in place. The nails are sharp so be careful and wear thick gloves to protect your fingers.

Finally, take your floor scraper and remove any and all gunk from the sub-floor. If your room is anything like mine you’ll find glue, plaster and gobs of dried paint. Keep at it and scrape it all off and then finish by sweeping and thoroughly vacuuming the sub-floor.

Step Three – Divide the Room

It is important to properly measure and size up the room before you go about laying the first plank. Your goal is to start with as straight a line as possible and to use the most full planks as possible.

Measure and divide the length of the room in half using a measuring tape and chalk line. See how many full planks will fit on each half. Adjust from your centerline enough so that you get full planks along the most visible side of the room (usually on the side where you enter). Start from your centerline and measure in towards the wall. Lay your first plank 3-4 planks width from the wall and work towards the wall.

Notice the words I emphasized in that last sentence. Do not trust walls! They are not your friends. Walls are crooked and angled and bumpy. If you try to lay the wood by starting against a wall I can almost guarantee that as you move towards the other side of the room your planks will start being diagonal instead of parallel to the length of the room.

Step Four – Lay the Wood

Once you’ve got your first row of planks down you’re in good shape. Continue laying planks in rows, several plank widths at a time. Laying rows only a few boards deep at a time is easier to manage and will give you more working room, time for adjustments, etc. Our planks were 5″ wide so we worked on rows that were either 15″ or 20″ wide. Keep the cardboard boxes clean and use them to protect your virgin hardwood floors as you work. Tools, boots and glue can damage your new floors before they are even done!

Step Five – Done

So beautiful. It took us about two days to finish the living room. You can see two big pails of paint in the background. We did glue-down installation which I highly recommend. Gluing is much easier than nailing and ensures a nice solid and stable floor. This prevents that hollow sound you get with a floating floor installation. It’s also a great way to make less expensive engineered woods or laminate floors seem higher quality.

After

Here’s our floor, all done and with our new couch moved in. Notice the rug and the remnant cardboard boxes by the window. It’s important to keep any parts of your hardwood floors that are exposed to direct sunlight covered. We get lots of sun all year round in Las Vegas and you don’t want your floors to fade prematurely.

Tools Used
Here is a laundry list of the tools used in my hardwood floor installation. I had almost nothing when I started and made several trips to HomeDepot and Lowe’s to buy what I needed.

• utility knife and extra blades
• pry bar
• hammer (one of the few tools I had!)
• heavy duty floor scraper
• measuring tape
• chalk line
• miter saw – for cutting planks to the right length
• table saw – for cutting planks lengthwise
• undercut saw and chisel – for cutting the bottoms of doorways
• safety glasses and gloves – safety first!

One of my favorite weekend activities is to have a completely chillaxed Sunday. My wife and I like to spend the afternoon just laying around, reading or watching a movie. We only leave the house to get wine and snacks from Trader Joe’s. There were always several to choose from when we lived in SOMA in SF and West L.A. so locating one here in Las Vegas was a top priority.

There are three Trader Joe’s stores in Las Vegas. As you might expect, there are locations in Summerlin and Henderson. The third is located just north of Charleston on Decatur and this might be my favorite Trader Joe’s yet! It’s not the largest store we’ve been to (limited wine selection, fewer choices in the deli, etc.) but all the familiar hand-written signs and Hawaiian shirts are a nice contrast to the sterile florescence that is Vons. You’ll find the store uncrowded on weekends with ample parking available. This makes it easy to drop in and pick up some goodies to enjoy while lounging around on your lazy Sunday.

Trader Joe’s
2101 South Decatur Blvd., Suite 25
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 367-0227
Open from 9 am to 9 pm