Hello! So sorry for my long post! You are smart in getting the extended warranty for whatever you buy! We did that when my family members and I bought my grandmother a Maytag Bravos washer. By the way, the Bravos has been wonderful for my grandmother so far! But you are right! No matter what appliance you buy nowadays, it most likely won't last as long as appliances that were made in the 80's and earlier, so it's best to cover yourself. At least that is how I feel. But being that you stated you are doing heavier loads of towels from an animal rescue group, (which is so wonderful that you volunteer your time to such a cause, by the way!), the new Bravos with it's heater, sanitary cycle and ENORMOUS capacity may suit you well. I would use either the "sanitary" or the "sheets" cycle on the Bravos for those. As for Maytag's bad reputation, they did have some bad products but that was when Maytag was their own company. Since 2006, they have been bought by Whirlpool. And since that takeover it seems their products have improved a lot, at least based on the user reviews I've seen. I believe the Bravos is made in a Whirlpool factory but a word of caution I'm pretty positive the parts are made by Fisher & Paykel. Figured I'd warn you based on your last experience with F&P. But all in all, my grandmother LOVES her Bravos and the owner reviews of the Bravos have generally been very positive! You mentioned the GE Adora and GE Profile machines. The only washer I'd buy from GE is the Harmony. I work in a high school special ed. classrm and we have the Harmony in our room for our students swim clothes and soiled clothes, for which the sanitary/super wash cycle on the Harmony works well for. It is also an excellent machine, very similar to the Bravos in that it has a heater, has a HUGE capacity and it is also an HE TL like the Bravos. Other people here on the laundry blog rave about the Harmony and Bravos as well. If I were buying today, those would be my 2 top choices, even though I like my FL's as well. As for FL"s, I have had 2 (a Danby FL and my current machine, a Maytag compact FL) and NEVER had a problem with mold! I do wipe down the rubber gasket with a towel and keep the door open a crack and that seems to eliminate any musty smells or mold from occuring. An occasional hot wash with bleach or Affresh tablets while the machine is empty helps as well. I think if you complete those steps you should be fine. Some FL's I've heard very good things about are the Whirlpool Duet HT, which has had a few negative reviews but mostly glowing reviews, The Maytag Performance Series FL's, which is essentially the same machine as the Duet HT, the Bosch Nexxt, which has a feature list that I like, the Samsung VRT FL's, which many owners that blog here seems to rave about, the Frigidaire Affinity, another machine people rave about here and is the least expensive of the bunch I am listing, and the Electrolux FL's which are new (and expensive) but a couple of recent reviews I've seen seem to be wonderful! But I have not heard stellar reviews on the Adora (circular window GE FL) since it came out, which was over 2 years ago. Other GE washers besides the Harmony do not seem to get the best reviews as well. Well I hope this info helps as it was a lot! Good luck and do keep us posted on which machine you do purchase! :o) Kevin Here is a link that might be useful: Maytag Bravos with heater at Lowe's

I also think there would be a tendency, in this market, to contract it out more based upon return on investment (or less loss on investment) than on how you might do it if you were staying. I put in a perfectly fine new bathroom to go onto the market.(it was absolutely necessary). If I had been staying, I would have gotten a cast iron tub, I would have done a hex floor instead of octagon and dot, and I would have had the vanity professionally painted. I just wasn't going to treat someone else to the bathroom as I would have done it. The house I Bought had a really Horrible bath put in for sale (a conversion of a half bath to 3/4). It was not near done when I made the offer and I actually asked if they could please just Stop and put it back, or plug up the destruction and call it done. I bought a house knowing that this bathroom would hit the dumpster as soon as I had a new plan drawn up. It is so bad, and so cheaply done I hope it lasts while the renters are there and until I am least there for a few months. Lastly my Realtor knew someone who put in a $50K kitchen and immediately had to put the house on the market. The new owners told my Realtor that they loved everything about the house except the ghastly kitchen. It could have been fine, I dunno, but it is hard to predict what someone else wants, and in this market I wouldn't try especially if it involved spending money.

I'm finally back! We actually changed the floor plan from 1 1/2 story to a single story which I'm happy about. Funky camper- LOVE those pics. What lovely windows and views! We got this new plan 2 days ago and see several things we want to change then hopefully we can move forward. Changes: Move the entrance of the school room/office to the long blank wall around the corner. Move the DW to the other side of the sink so trash can be to the left of the sink and closer to prep area. Add 2 narrow windows - one on each side of the range. (We didn't care for the look of that side of the house exterior and it's the side that will be seen when driving past the house. We feel this will not only add light but 'up' the exterior look.) After looking at the entry to the schoolroom off the kitchen we think it's better to move the door/entry to the long blank wall around the corner from the kitchen and put the closet where the door was. This will do several things: closer to rest room 2. can be classified as a bedroom for re-sale better layout and more space in school by removing the jutted out closet 4. some wall space in kitchen to hang cute things!!! :) The school room can get messy if we are doing projects so with the door around the corner the mess won't bother me as much 6. I did not like the main bath layout as the architect had it so this simplifies it and makes it like our previous bath which we really liked. How is this?? Does it seem better and more functional? Here's the kitchen layout (remember we will add 2 narrow windows on range wall and change DW location) Questions: 1. Should the main sink move down a little towards the "L" corner and the windows be placed closer together to have an upper at the end next to the coffee bar? 2. It seems a LONG way from the sink to the fridge. Will I get used to this since I'll have a prep sink? 3. Would you put a wall oven and a smaller pantry or leave as is and have range/oven in one unit? I'm really loving the pantry!! DH is considering an induction but we would need to look at the new induction range/oven. 4. Does this seem to work?? The appliance garage will have an actual cabinet door to house my large mixer and food processor. Probably one or 2 shelves about that then open shelving above that. We think this layout will work but are there any small things that you all think could be changed or made better? Getting closer! Sunny

I suggest you save the swiffer and the pinesol for tiles. That's all they are allowed on. And yes, pinesol will STRIP the finish off of your floors in a heartbeat. I've seen instructions for water based finishes (Loba and Vermont Natural Coatings) state "Wait 14 days after final coat before installing area rugs or 'wet cleaning' products." My suggestion would be: wait 14 days before attempting a wet clean. I like to see rugs put down around 30 days after the final coat...just to be sure. This time frame will give you lots of time to investigate and to purchase the recommended cleaners for your finish. Please do not use wet swiffers (or even dry swiffers), pinesol, steam cleaners or (heaven to bed sheets) Murphy's Oil. All of these products have ruined hardwood floors.