"But after a few years in a non-dehumidified basement, the distinctive musty smell of mould is pervasive" What if a dehumidifier was running as well as the central AC? Both of those should pull a lot of moisture out of the basement and keep the air moving. I'm going to toss a curve ball into the factor... doesn't the temps have to be above 50 for mold to grow? The basement is naturally cooler (58-60 year around with heat/AC running)... but the concrete is very cold which would also make the padding cooler. If the concrete/padding stays cool (lets say under 50) wouldn't this help prevent mold? I'm reading so many things about the padding/no padding question... here's one I found about delta-FL... "I know they claim their product allows air flow, and to a certain extent it does. However, it is not adequate to allow wicking unless you have something pulling or pushing air through the cavity. Otherwise the air is stagnant and moisture will be trapped. I have removed floors with Delta's systems and others. I am about to rip up another next week for the same reason...trapped water led to stachybotrys" Originally, I was going to do no padding and just have carpet. Then my dad told me to get padding because I wouldn't like the feel of carpet/concrete and it'll make it last longer. Then I started to research the subject and found that others said the carpet would bubble up in places, in particular where the doors are. That would drive me crazy. We did a very high quality job in the basement... archways sconces, French doors, oak trim, etc. I definitely don't want the carpet to look like it's flat or if it starts to bubble. I've never seen carpet without padding... so I don't know if I could tell a difference or not. We've finished the entire basement ourselves (it's been a huge learning process)... but for the good. It taught us a lot of stuff. But I think the final step, the carpet, will be one of the toughest decisions

Carpetgirl, We have bought a 10 yr old house and are changing all of the flooring before we move in. Our first major challenge is selecting carpet and this thread has been sooo helpful in understanding the options! We are definitely going with SmartStrand and we want the saxony plush. We expect to be a "shoes off" house with no pets but several young grandchildren. Kind of wanting the more formal look of the pile cut but don't want to end up with a fuzzy mess in 5 years, so we are willing to spend a little more on the best quality Smart Strand. We have found the following examples of this style in SmartStrand and are looking for the most dense, highest twist. Each dealer provides different information and it has been really difficult to compare. We have narrowed it down to: Horizon New Sensations and Alexander Smith Kingsley Palace. They have the EXACT colors with different names but the Kingsley Palace carpet appears to have a longer fiber. I don't have the face weight or twist ## to compare. Can you tell me which product is considered to be higher quality..Horizon or Alexander Smith? Not much information about Alexander Smith out there, though lots of great history lessons about the company. (We also looked at Karastan's Enviable and to our untrained eyes and fingers, it did not seem as dense and cushy as these others.) We sure would appreciate any information you have on this..we have reached a brick wall in our research and we need to make a selection this week and move on to paint colors! Arghhhh. Thanks!

OK, I have an issue that does not allow me to purchase without over researching a product. So I did consider a few brands. I really like Miele, and they do have a larger unit. Nothing like the size of these, but I don't think you need something as big as these Samsung units to wash a comforter. Although I keep going back to Miele, the issue of their warranty and the lack of local people to sell and service the units takes them out of the running. I did look into Asko, but the small size and the bad reviews (over many years) makes them just an interesting read. I had a hard time deciding between LG and Samsung. I chose Samsung because of their Diamond drum technology. Although I was unable to find out much about it, it was similar to the honeycomb drum idea of Miele. That really closed the deal for me. I really felt that more manufacturers should have put more into their drum designs and make that information available. Sadly, only two lines have taken drum technology seriously and serious enough to flaunt it to the public. I ended up with the largest Samsung units because of the steam and the internet connectivity. (And frankly the deal I got.) I was hoping that if there was a problem, Samsung could just hook into the machine and tell me what is wrong. I'm not sure they can do that, but they can certainly update the units over the wireless. I would say that I was also impressed with the anti vibration technology. I wish they had explained the difference between the regular antivibration and the upgraded antivibration of these units. I imagine it is some computer sensing thing. I was also impressed with the warranty on the motors and the 2 year warranty. Oh, I just registered my units and got an additional 3 months warranty for registering. Thanks Samsung. I would add an extra year on my own by purchasing with Amex and eliminating the purchase of extended warranty. I looked into Speed Queen because they are American. Solid units but lack the modern technology and efficiency I was looking for. Rough sturdy brutes was all I could imagine from what I could find out about these products. I think the companies do themselves a disservice by not putting out all the information they can on their products. This is one case and point. I went as far as looking into purchasing commercial units, but when all is said and done, I felt that the Samsung units were a better deal. Service and warranty work is much different for commercial than on consumer models. Here is a really cool washing machine I found that I really wanted to get. I have a friend in CA who used to own Laundry Mats. He said, "That's a commercial unit. What do you need a commercial unit for?" Well, it looks so cool and is so well engineered etc. It was too much of a machine for my needs, but I really would have loved to have one. The Crossover Washer. (http://www.laundrylux.com/crossover.html) The world's first small chassis washer engineered to commercial laundry standards for your business needs. I think for the person who wants to have what no one else has, these units would be an interesting choice. Here is some more information on the Crossover: 3 Engineered to be superior to all competitors 3 15,000 cycle machine life design 3 3 OPL liquid chemical injection ports and signals 3 3 compartment soap drawer 3 4 professional wash programs + 2 cycle options 3 Field adjustable water levels 3 Top quality SKF bearings in heavy duty assembly 3 3 seals with 5 lips 3 Professional grade 8-point suspension 3 Pump-drain standard 3 Solid steel counter-weights�no concrete 3 Energy Star compliant The costs were about 2,000 a piece or less from what I remember. Stunningly beautiful beasts these are. They are made I believe by LaundryLux. I also looked at Miele Little Giants. Just amazing little laundry units, but way out of my price range for what I want to spend. I think these are made for people with yachts. These are also stunningly beautiful. The bottom line is I spent months looking at units. For me, with the space that I had and the money I wanted to spend, I settled on the Samsung. I had to use my Samsung units again tonight as the baby had an "out of diaper" experience. Not something for the faint of heart. Loved I could go and select sanitize on the computer screen and choose extra rinses and steams and prewashes and super hots etc. If they had nuclear radiation I would have chosen that too, but as of now, it is not an option on my units. I got a 3 hour cycle and trust me that is exactly what the job called for. I think I'm very happy right now with what I purchased. Look, as long as the darn units stay working without needing service etc, anything you buy will be fine. Again, I'm not happy about having to stand on a stool to see the dryer screens, but it really is not a big problem. The anti vibration on these really works great and the noise level is very good. The calming music the machines play to signal the end of the cycle is still OK with me and I'm not ready to beat the machine to death if it plays that tune one more time. Just if anyone wants to see how these machines do on a soiled white one piece baby garment, here is how it just came out of the washer. I don't think I can believe how clean and white this is. You cannot see where the mess was. I have had experience in the past with my other machine where the white clothing was stained yellow after such an incident. All I used was about 1/4 of the recommended amount of ECOS plus natural liquid from Sam's and a tiny amount of delft liquid softener. No bleach. I did hit it with some Oxy prewash spray before putting it in. Look, I have a laundry upstairs that I am doing. I decided to make it a "sound proof" room because of my experience with my old front loader. It was loud! Probably had gotten worse over the years because the bearings were going. So I double sheet rocked with green glue and put heavy clay on the backs of the electrical boxes. I put in a sound proof floor which I am waiting to tile right now. Well, I did all this because of my fear of the noise I would get from the front load machines. I think had I placed these Samsung units upstairs, the sound proofing would have been overkill. I'm hoping the GE unit I have for upstairs will be as quiet. I bet most of the better machines will be quiet. I think that the other companies caught up with Meile and have incorporated many of the concepts and bring these machines at a value price. Will they last the 20 years Miele says theirs will? I don't know, but these machines have a longer warranty then Miele and they can be found everywhere. This means that your chance of getting service should be good.

Yes Mazer, thank you for posting this. I would like to think I know more than a little bit about this subject, and for me, it's very well put. But for someone with a 4 month old pee and poop factory, not to mention chewing, running all over the house, cooking, kids, running around, etc. etc. it is probably going to be to much to take in. All the person with the peeing, pooping puppy wants is to fix things and have a pleasant experience with their dog. The very bottom line I see in this, is: Relationship with your dog = success. If you don't have a positive relationship AND assert your authority, you have problems in all potty areas. I can't tell you how many people I have encountered who: #1. Don't research the subject before they get started and just dont know what they are getting themselves in to. #2. Think they know how to deal with it, but just don't. #3. Proceed to quickly, expecting way to much from their dog to fast, thereby confusing the dog and making things worse. #4. Are not successful, get frustrated, don't know what to do, and the dog winds up back at a pound or worse. #5. Fail to realize from the very beginning, that the training and work that goes into it, is temporary. All of these are very important things to consider, unfortunately, lots of people don't. Making the potty correction properly also helps with other negative behaviors, instills confidence in the dog (and human) and should eventually lead to the dogs unsupervised freedom, assuming chewing and teething are under control. Potty issues can be difficult to correct. Enter a medical issue such as a UTI, and if it's not recognized, the experience can be absolute hell. Ask me, I should know and I had all of the experience, and a wonderful vet completely on top of the situation. *I spent 6 months getting the job done. (long story, dog was 4 months and traumatized before I came along). The key is to be able to target what is not going well, including medical issues, backing up and starting over, and proceed, making corrections along the way, in a way that is not to much for the dog or human doing the training. Then, building on success. SG