I found this thread because I just got off the phone with my wife who informed me that replacement slings for our set of six Telescope chairs will be $780.00! That is a very tough pill to swallow, and like many here we weighed this heavily against just getting a cheaper set from HD, Costco, or any number of stores. Our set is about 10 years old to date (purchased summer of 2010) and the aluminum frames, table, and umbrella have held up extremely well (we do store them inside for winter though). Ultimately, I decided to stick with these and pay the exorbitant price for a few reasons: - The rest of the set is extremely high quality. I feel good each year when I pull it out of storage - heavy duty powder coated aluminum construction that has lasted well and still looks 9/10 after a spring wipe-down. - It does bother me how much importation has changed - pushing us toward a throw-away-away-and-buy-another culture. I do feel like we enjoy additional quality on these American made items (not always the case). - Less and less stuff is American made any more. As an engineer and a maker, I miss the days when we made most of the best stuff here. This set still exemplifies that quality. It's a little thing, but something I rarely get to enjoy these days. - After 10 years, with very little degradation (other than the fabric slings), I know what to expect from this set, and feel confident that they will last another 10 years easily with new fabric. The convenience of going 10-12 years between having to think about this, or take a gamble on something potentially less durable is worth something to me. Surely, I'll be feeling the sting of this bill in about a month (so good thing I'm writing this now!), but I thought I'd share what tipped us to reinvesting in this very expensive set. Pic when new April 2010:

I can completely relate to you as my husband and I are finishing a gut renovation of an 1890 brownstone. We looked at many older homes prior to purchasing this house and all too often found houses completely stripped of any original details that had been renovated during the 70's or 80's. Our philosophy was: why buy an old house if all the original elements have been removed? We were somewhat fortunate in that many (but certainly not all) of the original elements were still remaining. Although the house had been completely neglected for decades we were happy that someone had not done a 70's renovation. We at least felt we had something to work with and "restore"/renovate. Most contractors we interviewed, however, would much rather take the easier and faster approach at ripping out everything (doors, trim, floors, walls, etc.) original and replacing it than to take the extra time and effort to try to salvage and restore things. While it is definitely a faster and cheaper approach, I feel that many of the original elements are irreplaceable and priceless. Although we were not "purist" in our renovation efforts, we certainly tried to salvage and restore as many original elements as possible. At some point, however, one has to decide how far they will go with restoring things and if it is worth it in the end. While we were able to save many of the original doors and trim some of the doors and trim had to be replaced with new matching reproductions. We also decided to paint all the trim and doors white, rather than strip literally centuries worth of paint down to bare wood, especially since much of the wood work was not in the best condition to begin with. We also tried to be thoughtful when installing a new HVAC system and searched for an HVAC contractor that would not be placing duct work with bulkheads throughout the house (part of this utilized radiant floor heat). I think it is possible to maintain some of the character and charm of yesteryear while at the same time still upating to some of today's modern conveniences ( a great example of this is documented at the following blog: brooklynlimestone.blogspot.com). Compromises must be made in any renovation. Indeed, a true purist would utilize the original gas light, coal heat and and maybe even an out-house which may be appropriate for a museum, but not a modern residence. We tried to do this by keeping our old clawfoot tub but also installing an all marble and glass shower, installing glass doorknobs throughout, and some antique/reproduction light fixtures. For our kitchen we have 110 y.o. exposed brick walls, soapstone counters, chisel edged travertine floors, and paneled appliances to try to keep a somewhat old world feel. Since our house is in a historic district so I feel it is our responsibility to honor the house and it's historical elements. If a person does not have this desire then I think they should purchase a newer home (i.e. circa 1960's and beyond) rather than "strip mine" an old house in a historic district . There are plenty of newer houses on the market. Unfortunately many contractors buy older homes and do a quick, fast, cheap renovation to maximize their profit margin. If everyone that purchased an older (historical) home did this there would be nothing historical remaining. -Just my two cents.

Oh ... Old fashioned apple butter cooked in a big copper kettle over an open fire. DH's grandfather in WV used to make the most awesomely amazing apple butter. Never had anything come close since his passing :-( and nobody knows what happened to the kettle.

I think this plan is pretty good. Trust your tile guy (but have him do a sample first). Remember that stone (especially marble) is much easier to cut than tile. It is softer and you don't have to worry about the middle being a different color. It's going to look nice. I would have ordered the tile trim but I think this is probably better when you have two very different tiles--you don't want too much fussy stuff going on. Love the tile samples...nobody is going to think twice about your tile interface. (Schluter is usually kinda ugly.)