Some basic questions as I have recently replaced the older appliances in our home. What type of range are you currently cooking on? Do you already have a gas range/cooktop? The reason I ask is that when your used to one type of heating switching can be a surprise. I've had the Frigidaire FGGF304DLW (in white) all gas double oven range. I've only had it for a week so I'm still getting used to it. So far I really like to double oven feature. We've only used the larger oven once, but the small upper oven preheats quickly. Can't really comment on temperature uniformity/accuracy but the temps don't seem far off. The one surprise is how much heat is 'wasted' on the cook top with the sealed burners. We had an older (not sure how old) coil top electric stove before. If I try to boil a cup and a third of water in a 6" diameter pot (an AllClad) it seems to take longer than the old coil stove. Also we've found out that our over the range microwave has a overtemperature feature that turns on the exhaust fan. It had never gone off before. I'm still on the learning curve so I won't give a full review. Just to let you know if your going to a different system, you may be surprised at how different it is. If your already using a sealed gas cook top, it might not be that different. The Consumer Reports appliance review did mention that even the electric smooth top ranges are more efficient than the 'consumer' gas ranges they reviewed. In terms of your other selections, we have Kitchenaid DW and cabinet depth french door fridge that we are happy with. Also look at the 'distributor's' in your area. These are the companies that sell directly to builders, they may also sell to consumers. I'm in Cincinnati and the one I've dealt with has come close to on-line prices (definitely beats big box stores). Also see if there are stores that have scratch and dent show rooms. Often the slight damage is in the unexposed area.

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.

The difference is usually very visible, between hand made and machine made. Maybe not if you look at tile X vs tile Y. (Even though I am usually good with seeing it) But when you have a wall tiled-it will be quite easy to see the difference. Together with that, I'd base my decision (after budget considerations, of course) on the style, yours and the house. Couple pics, here in the thread, show exactly how beautiful simple tile can be. There are homes where machine made tiles will look classic and right for the space. I think-more modern kitchens/bathrooms, East Coast, urban homes, Cape Cods, Victorians maybe..? And there will be houses that will beg you for the handmade tile. It doesn't mean you have to cave:) But styles that heavily used handmade tile for years and years-they'll benefit from handmade tile. I think: Craftsman, Spanish.. As for difficulty of installation-I have no idea. In our case, heavily depended on an installer)) Some places are picture-worthy, some ..you're, like "well okay"..some were redone(very nicely I must say)/some will need to be redone. Not everybody can do the same job. Also, some places are trickier than the others, and require more skill. Luckily the trickier tile was done by better installers. But I'm paying for everything to look good..)) The amount of money that goes to compensate for spoiled material, and to purchase a new one, is much more than I ever imagined, and frankly-it's quite maddening. Also, with handmade tile-you have to wait. Sometimes for weeks. Take it into consideration too. Daltile will always be there I suppose, if you encounter a problem..3 days, and you're getting it. Handmade-consider yourself lucky if it's 3 weeks. Lastly, I wouldn't worry what people will say in 10 years. People say so many things about so many things..their opinions about somebody else's tile should be our last concern.))) Just make sure you consider your choice, and love it enough.

The (super old) house my husband and I recently purchased came with a stove and a fridge, both lower-end and pretty ugly, probably from the early 90s. Because they have no bells and whistles (stove doesn't even have a clock) and no microchips, there's not much on them to fail. They still work perfectly fine. We will replace them when we remodel the kitchen (though I might put the fridge in the basement for beer storage). I'm worried that we're just not going to find the sheer simplicity of our old grody stove in a new, high-end model. Not sure if I'll be able to convince hubby to go with a refurbished 50's stove (which will outlast anything built today, even though it is already decades older than the new stuff). My favorite appliance is my toaster. It'll be 85 years old this summer. They don't make them like this anymore, not even the expensive ones. Toasters were better before they put microchips in them. A modern toaster is not going to be working 85 years from now - it'll break because it's made out of cheap plastic and/or the chip will get fried/bug out. My parents have had luck with their mid-90s appliances - the Viking range has had one issue (oven wasn't heating past 120), but it was solved by minimal investigation and fixing by my dad. The integrated Sub-Zero fridge is still going without issue. The dishwasher has been replaced because the original one was some small European brand and getting parts for it was nigh impossible. I might go with Viking and Sun-Zero because I've actively observed those work for 20+ years. At the end of the day, I'm willing to spend lots more on appliances so that I can buy once and not think about it again. The thought of having to buy a new toaster every two years and a new washing machine every five years and a new dishwasher every seven years and so on sounds absolutely miserable. You'd basically always be at some stage in the process of researching/buying appliances. Ack!