I was plucking what I think is nutsedge out of the edges of my lawn when I noticed that the weed was growing ON TOP of the soil, suspended by the sod! Each weed would have about an inch of pure white roots, followed by another 1/2 inch or so of dirty roots. I was reading that nutsedge primarily propagates through tubers, so maybe what i have isn't nutsedge at all?? Here's a typical one (that was growing out of the soil):

Understanding about sedges can help in controlling them some. Sedges evolved as wet land plants and althouigh theuy have adapted to growing in drier areas they still need that wetter than normal soil to get started. Mulches provide the ideal habitat for Yellow Nut Sedge to grow in, the cool, moist, soil they evolved in. Correcting the soil conditions is one method of control and digging the "nuts' the rhizomes that produce the plants is another. There are poisons that you can spray that will kill the Yellow Nut Sedge as well as any other grass it contacts, but unless the soil conditions are corrected new seeds ,brought in by the birds, could germinate and grow to replace what you just killed. I see Yellow Nut Sedge growing in lawns and gardens that are sprinkled every day but do not see it growing where the lawn or garden is watered only once a week or so.

Good luck with your project - you'll need it ... just kidding. Many more decisions will be dropped in your lap as this begins to move forward. We have just completed (well almost) our kitchen renovation after about a 2 year contemplation and 3 + month construction phase. One item I was adamant about was an effective range hood. We suffered for years with the integrated vent on an Advantium. This thing is useless as a hood - see earlier posts by me in archives.?? Great appliance however and we would never be without it - 220 model. We just moved the thing to another area above our countertop and bought a real hood. Don't fret too much over the cost. You'll regret it later if you cheapen out. As my dear old dad always says - "It's only money, doesn't hurt you here or there, only in the back pocket for a while". The time you are spending coming up with ideas and making selections plus the labor cost or your time if DIYing it, is more than the added cost of getting the better appliance - IMHO. Plus once you finally get through this you will not want to do anything again to make changes. We did decide to go with a Best by broan Model UP27E (inline or external fan) since our range is only a 30" - we kept existing range since wife is happy with it and fairly new GE Electric Profile. 30" range has only 4 burners plus a bridge but not the btu of your 36" . We have the 600 cfm inline fan using 10" duct. It works marvelous and do not see the need for more as of yet. Summer may change that but I doubt it. We vent through a sidewall in attic space so no pentration in roof which I would advise against roof units. SLight vibrating noise from unit however and I will try using rubber isolation mounts on inline motor unit in attic which should help minimize that. Motor itself does hum somewhat also and I believe that is a function of the type of motor/speed control. Best should offer an option to upgrade fan motor to a better style of variable speed type control. HOod design is something I looked at before making decision since I belief these flat bottom screen types are not near as efficient as the baffle / capturing designs. IF using a less efficient hood design up the blower cfm. Also the greater the cfm the larger the ducting will need to be. These are low pressure blowers which need a large surface area in duct size to move enough air. And yes you should consult mfgr specifications for proper cfm to btu of range. Remember you can always turn the speed down but you can not make it flow more than it can handle. Regarding cost - remember that the biggest part may be installation not the price of the unit! So if a contractor is giving you a price for the unit and installation then of course it will be much higher than what you can purchase it for yourself. these remote blower units are much more work than an integrated hood. Electric must be run to 2 locations as well mechanical work on 2 locations. MAke sure HVAC guy does install properly - not too long a duct run and minimze turns. Also ask him to use rubber isolation mounts for you under blower :) I'll try posting elswhere on this forum some of our other experiences during KR. Here is a link that might be useful: Best hood UP27E

I have a lot of white (calacatta) marble countertops, but only two little children (four and two), so they're not the ones messing up the counters (that'd be their daddy and me!). I just turned 39 (I mention this for perspective), and I remember being in junior high school (so I was like twelve or thirteen) and seeing a raspberry pink bijou (as in teeny-tiny) kitchen with white marble countertops. It became my dream. For 26 years, I dreamt of a kitchen with white marble countertops. Nothing, no slobby husband, no potentially messy kids, were going to stand in my way. (I gave up on the raspberry pink cabinets years ago, though. I realized that while I love raspberry in doses, it would just be too much in a kitchen of any size.) I think you'd be better of with just your baking stretch of marble (and not the whole island). Every other marble person here I "know" (you know what I mean) is like me: it was going to be marble or nothing. We couldn't envision our kitchens without the marble, and nothing and no one was going to prevent it. I would hate for you or anyone to have any material in their kitchen which leaves you holding you breath, as in holding your breath when your kids are in the kitchen to see if they're doing to ding / stain the countertop. I'd love for a material to take your breath away, but that's totally different! A kitchen is supposed to be a workplace; I know many have made them showplaces (and those are the ones we tend to see in magazines, right?), but it's like having a living room with those plastic runners on the floors and plastic covers on the furniture. Then it's not a room for living, is it? Going through a kitchen remodel is a wonderful thing, and you are so lucky to get to do it. I want you to enjoy your kitchen and I want you to be able to enjoy your kids enjoying the kitchen!