Our entire house is 12x12 light colored ceramic tile and I use a Floormate to clean it. I love this piece of equipment and cannot imagine having to go back to the old way of cleaning (vacuum, mop and dry). It does it all, and is easy to use and handle as well. When I bought it, the sales person cautioned that it is designed for cleaning hard flooring, but NOT necessarily grout, unless your grout is high enough so as to be nearly level with the tile. According to her, as long as the grout is no more than a fingernail thickness from the surface of the tile it would get it, otherwise it would not. So my expectations were realistic to begin with. What I like best is how well it cleans the tile and how dry it leaves it. For us there are zero marks or streaks, though this may be floor specific. I can imagine that anyone that has a shiny floor might get streaks no what they use to clean it. I do prefer my stick vac for dry vacuuming, so that is what I use most often, but when the floor needs mopped, I get out the FloorMate. To do the kitchen takes about 15 minutes. The hall about 10, and the MBR another 10. The hardest part is getting all the junk off the floor and out of the way--that takes longer than the cleaning process. I guess the only trouble free way to clean is to hire someone else to do it, but until that day comes, I will remain a satisfied FloorMate customer. Lynne

My Swanstone tub/shower surround is pictured in the thread kitchenkrazed posted and we are still really happy with it adn how easy it is to maintain. Our contractor gutted the room (removing all old tile) down to the supports to reinstall new drywall (and greenboard--not sure what name of that is) so the Swanstone kit is installed on to supports based on the installation instructions that came with the kit. I suggest meet with a remodeling contractor for a quote just to remove the tile and install a Swanstone kit that doesn't adhere to old tile. Swanstone has a communications contact named Jenny Baur who helped me with two big questions -- new color selections and a big delivery issue. She was so helpful that I later emailed the company to commend her customer service. Why don't you email her with your concerns and questions. I suggest you ask what are the recommended preparation steps for that kit you are considering. Maybe she can email a pdf to you of the installation instructions. And ask if they recommend this for long term quality/moisture control issues. Her information is Jenny Baur jbaur@swanstone.com

I have the 36" Kitchenaid cooktop with touch controls and it's black with speckles. I absolutely LOVE it. I know most people will say "get gas, gas, gas" but from reviews I've read, my cooktop is better than other electric models because it reacts similarly to a gas cooktop. To stay at medium, some electric cooktops cycle between hot and cold, whereas this one stays at an even medium. It turns red when it's on. The touch controls are so cool and easy to use. Cleaning up is easy - DH uses this cooktop cleaner that he sponges over and wipes off. I can honestly find nothing wrong with it, I just love it. I've only used it for 2 months but so far it's been very reliable, easy to clean, cooks well, etc. I had some doubts on whether we should have gone gas, but now that we have it I'm so glad we went with it. Here's a close-up view: Here's a further shot. It's nice not to see any knobs popping out. Good luck with your choice!

CEM TOSA, I appreciate your experience and knowledge. I’m sure your home will be beautiful. I will do the best I can with mine. We are not rushed at this time to build. If we proceed with building now, I do realize the prices/economy will not allow the size or everything I love. But to dream and plan is the most enjoyable thing to me. We will see in a year or two what will be then.