Speaking from my personal experience - it pays off to be careful and read what other people think regarding the appliance you wish to purchase. We wanted an open burner range and bought a premium BlueStar six-burner. When I turned on the oven there was a strong smell of unburned gas since day one. After I complained about this the factory phoned and told me to adjust the air-gas ratio. I decided not to touch anything. The flames were okay. I just didn't want to insert myself into the repair process. The problem got progressively worse and one day the range had caught fire while I was cooking and I had to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. First BlueStar wanted to dispatch a local technician who would repair the range in our kitchen. I refused, on the grounds that the problem was pretty serious and the factory should take the range back and find out the cause of the fire. They said that this kind of a problem has never happened before. They offered to replace the range, which was still under warranty. But we discovered that there were numerous complaints about BlueStar ranges leaking gas and some customers have indeed experienced fires as well, contrary to what the factory had claimed. Someone else had an ongoing problem that never got properly fixed, and when the warranty expired he was basically told that his warranty had, well, expired. From reading about those complaints and realizing that what BlueStar told us ("This kind of a problem has never happened before.") actually wasn't true, my wife thought it would be foolish to accept a replacement. What if the same problem appeared again? Could we trust the quality of their products, as well as their word? We thought that the best and most simple solution would be to get a refund. They wouldn't have to build a replacement unit and we would be free to purchase something else. But BlueStar flatly refused. Finally, under duress and with no other option to speak of we decided to take a gamble and take them up on their offer. Finally, some two months after the initial fire in our kitchen the replacement unit had finally arrived. We went to the showroom and realized that what BlueStar had sent us had a different color from what we ordered. At this point we were fed up with their attitude and decided that we would find our own solution to this. We ordered a different range, a Culinarian by Capital. The dealer had agreed to put the newly arrived replacement piece up for sale in their showroom, so that we could get our money back that way. When the new range by Capital arrived, we removed our original BlueStar, the one which had caught fire from our kitchen and replaced it with Culinarian. The old BlueStar, which I called Godzilla was taken to our dealer, where I thought it would be picked up by BlueStar for a transport to the factory, so that they could find out what the cause of the fire was. But it never happened. BlueStar wasn't interested in doing anything else. The range was sitting in the showroom for a while and ultimately was scrapped by the dealer. This told us something about the manufacturer. I decided to share my experience with other people, figuring that some potential buyers might be interested. I posted the story on Chowhound, where my post was removed the next day. I posted it again, just to have it removed again. I also posted the story on GardenWeb, where it inspired over 85 replies. Prominent among those was one particular person who also posts here, who immediately launched attack directed at the post and my person. Among other things, he blamed me for not following the repair instructions by the factory (adjusting the air-gas ratio) and so on. This generated more exchanges and finally the post was declared disruptive by GW staff and removed. Later there were some new developments and I posted Part Two of my original post. Again, I was attacked by the same person, called names and accused of having a nefarious agenda. I tried to support my case with pictures, but was accused of manipulating the scene through fiddling with distance, angles and the flash settings, although no flash had been used. All this resulted in having my post removed a second time, which was probably the goal of this other person all along. Newsflash! Mojavean, another senior member here was booted from this forum by GW staff for having the audacity to come to my defense. His was the welcome voice of reason and now he's gone. This is inexcusable! Anybody interested in more details can follow the story on wwww.iwvnews.com in Appliance Talk. So, as for purchasing any appliance, do your homework. Don't believe everything you read or hear, but if there are enough people complaining about something, they probably have a reason. Check from various sources and think before you jump. We wanted open burners and have no problem with our Culinarian so far. It is a refreshing change, after what we had with BlueStar by Marcus.

There is more to a kitchen than a stove, a fridge, a place to rinse things and to chop - I want a place where it is comfortable and efficient while I do those things, where I can store the tools for it, that cleans up easily and is safe. I can't understand her taking out a hood to put open shelves right over the range. In addition to grease and dust collecting on them, it seems like an opportunity for a grease fire to spread quickly. Our old kitchen had artistic bumpy 70's tile with wide grout so I never felt like it was a clean food safe surface. A kitchen redo can make the kitchen a lot more comfortable and usable for a family without being a luxury remodel. My son and DIL remodeled the kitchen on the modest house they recently bought. It is difficult to extract the exact cost because it was done along with non-kitchen remodeling like taking out a wall and fixing code issues with the electrical in the whole house but the kitchen costs were much less than 10% of the house cost: The old cabinets were maple with a light finish. They were able to find the same color and a close match for the door style in frameless cabinets so they kept the sink run of cabinets but replaced the range run which became an island with a lot more storage and added cabinets including a pantry cabinet on one wall of the dining area. It cost about: ~ 10K for new cabinets including the installation ~ 4K for granite including fabrication - a glimmery slab of galaxy blue for the island and prefab white with black markings for the rest including fabrication. ~ 3 K for an induction cooktop, a GE single double wall oven (a scratch and dent discount model) and a hood. plus something for plumbing, electrical and lights that is lumped in with costs for other rooms - say 1-2K. They got something that looks nice, provides the function they wanted (including separating the burners and oven for nights when one is baking something like nan or pita bread while the other is using the burners), has a lot more storage (and easier to use than the old cabinets with a stile down the middle) and more work surface. They didn't want the expense of a tile back splash and went against current fashion by using a 4" granite backsplash. It ends up looking right in their kitchen.

I think a big part of the original concern was whether photographs of the OP's kitchen implied her endorsement of specific workers who contributed to the finished product. Ultimately, I believe that it's the responsibility of the prospective client to do the homework of asking for references when they see finished products they like. I wouldn't worry about someone looking at a finished kitchen and assuming that the person showing them the picture was responsible for every aspect of it. If they do, that's their problem. My GC, whose work I was mostly satisfied with but have reservations about recommending, asked for pictures of my finished kitchen, and I provided them. Upon reflection, I found it amusing that the pictures showed almost entirely the work of other people he had no hand in hiring--the cabinets and the soapstone counters, in particular. Yes, the GC's plumbing, drywalling, carpentry, and electrical work made the total kitchen possible, but the very few of the aesthetic aspects that make the kitchen appealing had anything to do with the GC. I designed the kitchen and I found and hired those craftsmen, and they did the beautiful work. Still, I'm fine with him using photos of my finished kitchen to show a project he has worked on. He doesn't present himself as a KD, cabinet maker, or counter installer, and few people want to see photos of plumbing and drywall anyway. Again, if the people he shows my pictures to don't understand all that, it's really their problem for not doing their homework. Several people, after seeing my kitchen in person, have asked me who my GC was and if I would recommend him. I have always been honest about my reservations, but knowing how difficult it is to find someone good in my area, I have not said I wouldn't hire him again and, in fact, I have hired him for other projects. I just know better what to be careful about. Two friends have also hired him, based on my recommendation with reservations. One was completely satisfied and the other experienced the same issues I did, but at least she felt duly warned. Interestingly, I haven't had any calls from strangers asking for my endorsement of the GC. Perhaps he knows what I would say. The people responsible for my cabinets and counters also have photos of my kitchen, and I assume they have shown them to prospective clients. When others ask whether I would recommend those two, I do so enthusiastically and without reservation. I can count at least seven people who have hired the cabinet maker as a result of my endorsement, and several others have hired my soapstone guy. Ultimately, though, it's recommendations that matter far more than pictures.

Michigan occupies building climate zones 5 - 7. Zone 5 is the warmest zone that can still comply with the R20 cavity-only requirement. It looks like Ontario has adopted similar IRC mandatory exterior insulative sheathing. We use the performance compliance path on every home, one of the many advantages to including a third party energy rater. Most raters are not keen on getting too far away from code prescriptions. For some of the prescriptions, like blower door minimums, it's cost-effective to exceed code. Most high performance builders are exceeding code with exterior insulation as code encourages risky wall strategies, hence the recommended minimum table I first posted about. Even leaky, all natural homes can have poor indoor air quality. Outdoor air ventilation is now required by current IRC codes and a smart idea for any inhabited enclosed space. It's a life-safety requirement and long overdue measure for modern homes.