As a dog owner, whose dog had a torn ACL, who opted not to have surgery, and we did do the "conservative management" technique (though I didn't know it was called that at the time we were doing it), whose dog healed just fine, I am surprised how many people have said that their dog had the surgery. Now, I also know that there are many factors.. the size of the dog, the job of the dog, the age of the dog, the severity of the tear... etc. etc. But really, for most pets, whose life it is to do pet things, like walking on leash, running in the yard, and sitting on owners lap... do they really need a surgical repair? I often wonder how many vets really explain the function of the ligament and the probability of healing without surgery?

Yes, three months of new work was ripped out. It's a long story that hinges on the fact that our General is really good at some things, but not at others. The real "Tile Guy" that we were expecting never materialized and it turned out that what the "All Around Guy" was doing in the bathroom was critical critical stuff and he didn't know how to do it. When the tile started going up and looking crazy we said STOP. Anyway--I've spent probably 100+ hours in tile showrooms. Yes, I'll go back, but I wanted another perspective.

actually when my contractor tore out the old cultured marble tub running along the same exterior wall he found good and bad... the termites had not done any damage to the exterior wall behind the tub like they had to the shower wall (which I was really afraid of--that the entire wall would need to be replaced including some of the attic support) but he found that the original builders had left open dirt where the tub drain was---he said that normally roofing tar or mortar is usually poured around that to seal it off..no concrete because it would be too difficult to take out if they had to work on the drain...but those guys just seated the drain and left it on original dirt... so the combination of the water in bottom of shower stall that could not drain out and the open dirt right next to it was lure termites could not refuse...especially in this part of TX what killed the termites was probably fire ants--there was old and large fire ant dirt pile right next to the roman tub drain area--abutting the shower he figures that the termites came in and started feeding... that drew the attention of the fire ants who love to feed on them... then the fireants were probably killed when the Orkin extermination happened... I know that city inspectors are usually pretty worthless but I thought even they would have seen there was no plywood between the brick siding and the interior walls of the shower (just some type of insulation board--but not plywood)... contractor built a shower stall that is strong enough now to be a safe room--except for having that shower door...

Fantastic! If I don't go with white cabs that is exactly the color scheme and look I want. Come to CA and do mine! Absolutely beautiful. I love everything and your pendants are so different. Unless I missed it up thread, can you please provide a style # or name and the source for those and your drum lighting fixture? I'd love to see how those pendants look turned on. So cool. Also regarding your layout, can you provide more info? Sounds like you knocked out some walls to make one room, but I'm having difficulty visualizing what was where. Can you elaborate and were the walls removed load bearing? I ask because we have a similar situation. Kitchen with a nook to one side that's all windows and both seperated from the family room by a half wall at the sink and "behind" the kitchen a seperate small dining room we never use. I'd love a more open floorplan and great room effect like yours, but we have lots of structural issues and still trying to decide if it's doable. So I'm just trying to visualize your before and after layout. That info would be helpful if you're willing to share. Thanks! Again, outstanding kitchen!!