I thought I would give a dishwasher update... - We decided on a self-install. My husband (and I) decided to do away with the hardwired set up that we had with our useless GE Profile and install a GFCI receptacle in the adjoining undersink cabinet. Plugged it in as was intended. Looks and works professionally. - We swapped out the shut off valves under the sink for newer/better ones because the hot water one began leaking with all the new activity under the sink. No more leaks. - Attaching the hoses was nothing at all, because we had already had a professional installation on our last DW. - Leveling and screwing in the dishwasher was a breeze. Very easy to do on the Miele. Total cost of install including new shut off valves and GFCI receptacle- $35. No paying top dollar for bad installers, no damage to anything, no waiting for installation, etc. MIELE OFFICIALLY (as of about 2 years ago I was informed by Miele) NO LONGER GIVES THE EXTRA ONE YR WARRANTY FOR CERTIFIED INSTALLATION. I will take the year to decide on the extended warranty. I doubt we'll get it. I decided to use Finish Quantam tabs and will use neither salt nor rinse aid. If Miele suggests putting in some salt, then I'll do it. I RAN MY FIRST (waaaaay long) CYCLE last night! Woke up this morning to CLEAN dishes. Imagine that! No white spots all over the silverware. No rewashing at least 5 or 6 items- or the entire load (often by hand!!). No tiny ground up particles stuck all over every piece. No having to manually align the top plastic spray arm "tube" to the back wall of the dishwasher...and on and on. I am elated. Everything was dry except for some small plastic items that had overturned!! How I love that silverware rack...I did miss the ability to glance at the top of the DW to see how much time was left without opening it, as on the GE. It seems I have to open the Miele in order for the readout to come on...or am I doing something wrong? Also, even though the detergent dispenser was dry, my Quantam tab barely made it into the bottom of the tub. Nothing was in the way of it dropping. It had stuck mostly out of the way of the water, but I caught that in the first part of the cycle because I kept checking for problems. Any tips on that? I didn't have much luck with these tabs in my other DW either. A note on Miele service: So far, corporate office (Princeton, NJ) has impeccable service. As per a supervisor, they are shipping me a new handle free of charge because the included overly large and bulky handle clashed with the fingerprint-free stainless panel- and with my other appliances. It took one phone call from me. The supervisor wants to make sure that I'm happy with the DW and has already called me twice. And for $1100, I got the G5575SCVi that INCLUDED the SS panel and the handle. From what I gather from the web, the going price seems to be $1699 BEFORE adding on a few hundred dollars more for the panel and handle! Guess we did get a good deal. So far I am thrilled...not only with the quality of the dishwasher itself, but with Miele as a company; especially after living in DW hell for over two years...LOL. I wouldn't have been able to make the DW decisions that I did without all of the input! Thank you all!!

I bought a very expensive Therna Tru front door with frosted side windows and the finish started to disintegrate on the door. That is because the sun hits it in the mornings and the finish just did not hold up and began to disintegrate and come off. First contacted Lowe's who I bought the door through and Lowe's passed me off to Therma Tru. Contacted Therma Tru and it started to weasel out of any responsibility on its 10 year warranty and gave me a hard time. I assume Therma Tru has had other problems with its wood look finish disintegrating. i am going to keep posting wherever and whenever I can about how Therma Tru does not honor its 10-year warranty on its expensive front doors. I am a service-connected totally disabled homebound Marine Corps veteran who paid over $5,000 for the Therma Tru front door. Bought it along with Pella windows through Lowe's on North Shådeland Avenue In Indianapolis Indiana, Richard Bovey Indianapolis Indiana

Quote with minimal comment: (Be sure to read the results on Helmsman!) "In a recent post my friend, Steve, made reference to my tests of doggie sprinkling on exterior finishes. I figure after almost a year of testing it is time to post some interesting discoveries. As a preface, allow me to set the stage. Almost daily there is a posting about clear, exterior finishes for doors, chairs, signs and such. Responses run the gamut from diehard marine finishes to apply a coat of primer and then paint. Each of these has a bit of a problem. Marine finishes are not always the easiest to find and it grieves me to think of a lovely oak, teak, mahogany, fir, redwood or similar nice wood door painted in mauve goop. Bob from Fl inspired me with his continuing and accurate statements about the failings of a clear coat and the advantages of a good quality exterior paint. I decided after lots of reflection that he really was right but there was always the picture of mauve in my mind. Sooooooooo, how could one take advantage of his advice and yet capitalize on the beauty of a nice wood. I began to reflect on the characteristics of paint. Now, comes the boredom. There were several things I knew about paint. Exterior paints contain a mildewcide and a fungicide that a varnish does not. The best quality paints will contain a UV protectant and trans-oxide pigments in very high percentages. Almost all paint is custom mixed by the store. The retailer maintains a large supply of base products that are used to achieve the desired color. There are generally 4 base products and the specific one for your paint is determined by your color choice. These base products are either named or numbered. They are named pastel, deep, tint and neutral. If numbered it is cleverly 1, 2, 3 and 4 with the exception of Olympic who numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5. Olympic is unaware that 4 comes before 5. Pastel and/or 1 is virtually a pure white and used for the lightest of colors. The others are slightly color altered from white and more translucent than pastel. These are used for succeeding deeper colors. All of this comes to neutral, 4 and/or 5. These are clear and used for the darkest colors. In the can they are somewhat opaque but dry more or less clear. Now comes the testing. I bought 4 oak exterior doors. Each door was given one coat of the same Minwax Stain. On 3 of the doors, I applied 2 coats of "base" to the 6 sides of each door (3 coats on the top and bottom edges). Each of these three doors had a different type of exterior neutral, 4 or 5 base. The fourth door was finished with a consumer "spar" varnish [ed. note: later identified as Minwax Helmsman] from my local friendly paint/hardware store. The bases for the 3 painted doors were an exterior semi-gloss acrylic, an exterior semi-gloss oil based polyurethane floor paint and a semi-gloss oil based trim and siding paint. The doors were set up, slightly inclined, in mostly direct sunlight under a pecan tree in the backyard. My wife just loved that one. Daily, the sprinklers managed to hit the doors. The birds in the pecan tree used the doors for target practice. And, yes, the dogs did anoint the doors on a regular basis. My blonde Cocker, Zazu, was particularly enamored with the doors. Over the course of the test the doors experienced lots of Texas sunlight, rain and snow. The temperature went from below freezing to over 100. The advantage to the inclined position of the doors was the snow, ice, water from the sprinklers and the rain tended to collect in the raised panel areas. I feel these doors were subjected to far more severe environmental conditions than would be expected from normal use. The results were interesting. The "spar" varnish looked fabulous but after about 2 weeks it began to develop small cracks. In rapid order the door began to turn black, started to mold and the smell was enough to knock a buzzard off of a manure wagon. The water-based acrylic is milky in the can like a water-based poly. It dried to a more or less water clear surface but was a bit cloudy. It tended to wash out the stain a bit. Over time it became cloudier and ultimately become almost white. But, it remained solid and protected the wood. The oil based bases are also a bit opaque in the can but dried to a clear finish that is almost identical to a spar varnish - they added an amber tone to the doors. Both the poly floor paint and the trim and siding paint remained "clear" over the entire test period. The testing came to an end with a bit of encouragement. My wife said something clever like, "Get those damned doors out of the backyard?". She does not understand science. The floor poly had some minor checking and a thinned coat of the same base over the surface made that disappear. The door with the oil-based trim and siding paint was perfect other than it had lost a bit of the gloss. So, I am with Bob - paint the door. My preference is the oil-based products. If you are predisposed to a water-based use an acrylic rather than latex. One thing you will find when you go out shopping for your product is a lack of knowledge on the part of the salesperson. Not many of these folk are aware that their neutral or 4 base will dry clear. If you want to have some fun, spring it on them. They will suggest you are full of Donkey Dust. Ask them to shake a can and put some on a stir stick. Dry it and voila, it is clear. " Comments: The most-often recommended choice is Olympic #5 deep base trim and siding, available in the cage at Lowes. The aforementioned "Steve" said he was planning to redo his door that he did 7 years ago using the above. It is in full sun.

Thanks very much! In response to your points: - One reason we concluded the threshold was the problem, is that I took a Pyrex glass measuring cup of water, and carefully poured water just onto the threshold to see what would happen. The water came in through the top frame of the ground-floor entry door directly below as if being poured through a sieve. - Just some background: I have lived in this house for several years, and this has not happened before. It is a new problem. So if the sliding glass door is being overwhelmed by my conditions, wouldn't it have shown before now? I had been assuming it's just wear and tear of the threshold - you can see how the threshold looks in the pic. But I am wondering if I will need to replace the whole unit or not. P.S. I am outside of Chicago, so conditions are not the easiest. But this door is rarely used - a Juliet balcony is always kinda useless, but it came with the house.