I sure have!! Grew heirloom scarlet runner "Insuk's Wang Kong" in Calif. on my chain link fence as an ornamental edible and LOVED it. It's even prettier and more productive than Scarlet Emperor, in my opinion. Attracts hummingbirds and produces some very big, tasty beans. I highly recommend it and I have some beans I don't need- want them? :) I used to have Swiss Chard Bright Lights, Osaka Purple mustard, Udmalbet eggplant, purple basil, variegated ginger and some pepper plants on my front porch along with my flowers because they are very attractive plants. Sadly, some thief kept stealing the healthiest and best of those plants out of their pots anytime I was out of the house for a weekend. Now, I grow them in my backyard patio garden instead. I also have grown mizuna mustard, red orach, tiger eye amaranth, and Mantovana chicory as ornamental veggies. Their foliage is pretty, in my opinion. Currently I have Rotonda Bianca Sfumata di Rosa eggplant growing in a 7-gallon pot on the back patio, and I believe its fruit are very ornamental. :) My front porch now has some more boring looking edible stuff on it- Lucullus (green) swiss chard, Komatsuna (green) mustard, plain-leaf ginger, and Cicoria Catalogna Rossa which looks a lot like a dandelion. So far, none of these have interested the local thief. Those of you who can actually grow pretty edibles in your front yard without any of them being stolen, have a big blessing to give thanks for. Remember that. :)

It's not just the "levelness". It's the support under the floor that keeps it rigid. Any flex at all, and it will crack. It doesn't matter if it's smooth and totally level. It's all about your joists and subfloor. Your joists need to have the right spacing, the right depth, and not span too long of a length. Plus the subfloor needs to be the right thickness. A lot of time, this add considerable height to the installation in order to add rigidity. Your expert should be fully knowledgable about how to do the math to calculate whether or not your home can support such large tile without cracking. If he doesn't mention or understand how to calculate your existing space's deflection, then he doesn't know enough to do the job. Period. Move on to someone who does know how to figure this information out. Or, perhaps DIY it with the help of the pros at the John Bridge Forum.

I'm going to disagree with echo here in practically only, as I am not a wood floor specialist, I do not make, sell, distribute, etc any flooring product. I am just a homeowner who initially installed prefinished, engineered veneer oak flooring. The veneer of wood was 1/8 inch thick. I will qualify this by saying that it was 1998 (and I am sure they are much better made now) when we installed and it was an expensive floor and costs us several thousand above our builder allowance for wood floor. We had a newborn, a 20 month old, and a almost 4 yr old at that time. This floor was in the entry, a path separating living/dining leading from one end of house to another, kitchen, and 2 baths. Within months, the baths were ruined from water splashes (and we were ogre diligent)and within 2-3 years, the kitchen ruined by the dishwasher drips, and the finish destroyed by daily wear and tear. In 2006, we went with a finish on site hand scraped, stained and sealed red oak that is also a veneer but the veneer is much thicker than the factory prefinished stuff. As for the seal, 3 coats were applied and 4 years later, it is still beautiful. Those little kids are now teens (or nearly) with lots of friends coming and going, plus 4 cats and 2 dogs. Minor scratches are covered with a sharpie or furniture pen and those we miss, are not noticeable. My favorite thing, is the joints got filled with the sealer. Things have been spilled that have not penetrated through the joints. Just this past April 2010, a hot water heater went out and emptied its contents onto this floor. Water flooded the hall 20-30 minutes before discovery. The water traveled under walls into another room (tiled bath and carpeted closet) as well as the boys carpeted rooms. The carpet was ruined. The wood floor stayed intact with no buckling, warping or damage to the finish. And this was HOT water. Go figure. Long story short, I am not against engineered veneer (ours was made by corning which is not longer available but similar through Shamrock wood flooring) but I do not like the pre-finished stuff at all. Finished onsite, imho, is the only way to go.

No idea how much to suggest for you to use, but we salted our pool and used water softner pellets by just throwing them in and playing in the pool. Took about half an hour for them to dissolve. Just be sure that your salt source has nothing in it but salt. Some softner salts have other "stuff" in them.