kayskats - Yes, the "police" do show up at farmer's markets and farm stands, the state Dept of Ag can show up anytime (and have for several other vendors) to do a "surprise" inspection at your home kitchen, and yes, I do have to show my certification before I can sell at my quite small market (less than 30 vendors on any Saturday). The state also shows up to ensure that weighing scales have been calibrated within the last year, but that is another story. If you are caught selling BWB canned acidified foods when you do not have the cert. or are selling other stuff you shouldn't be (low acid, pressure canned, refrigerated, etc.), the Dept of Ag and the FDA could inflict very severe penalties on you and your market. We homegrown sellers have to follow pretty much what the rules are for commercial operations. One size fits all, US wide, but some states have lesser rules for farm stands and farmer's markets than my state does. Best to check with your Cooperative Extension office in your county and if they don't know, go on to your State Dept. of Ag. One comment one of my co-student's made was that if he didn't know what the rules were he would be safe from penalties. I don't think I'd buy anything from him, would you? Yes, please ask the sellers HOW their stuff was processed and if their kitchen was inspected, etc. We are consumers and should protect ourselves from bad stuff we might ingest. I even walk out of restaurants with a food grade less than "A". ksrogers - I think dry cured meats are regulated by another mega agency, the USDA. One of the vendors at my market raises cattle and hogs for cuts of meat he sells. He threw up his hands at the regs for slaughtering, curing, and/or freezing and now has a co-packer do it for him and THEY have to handle the USDA inspections and process filings which are really intense. >>I wouldn't go so far as to say that cured meat has no safety issues, because they do!Yes, I know, I make regular strawberry jam that is heated, but sadly it is not nearly as tasty as freezer jam. Horseradish, a low acid food, is not exactly stable and the pH acidification cannot be measured outside a food science lab according to my instructor, and that is why I can't sell it. It is not heated or pasteurized to eliminate bacterias, molds, and toxins, and "sealing" only means screwing on the cap. Refrigeration and acidification keep it stable and unable to grow the bad stuff because of refrigeration. That is also why it is sold refrigerated and you are admonished on the label to keep it refrigerated after opening. Commercial processors ship in refrigerated trucks from refrigerated manufacturing and storage facilities, and they go directly to the refrigerated section of the grocery store. That is something that can't be duplicated in a home processing environment or at an open-air market. Also, adding more vinegar doesn't necessarily make it safer because we can't measure the pH of the horseradish's vegetable interior at home, and with pH meters and test strips all we are doing is measuring the vinegar's pH. BTW - shelf stable jams and jellies are exempt from these regs because they have low water activity and a low pH. Since they are also packed at high temperatures, they are not likely to harbor harmful food borne illness organisms. Molds are the most likely bad thing to form but that is usually from not having sterilized the jars or not heating the lids enough (or, dirty hands packing them, airborne dust in a room with a fan, using overly ripe or moldy fruit, etc. etc.). I can sell as many variations of jelly and jam as I want at market. Without a cert. but with a kitchen inspection. Nancy

I thought you were in MA, not ME. The good news is that if it's the PT that shrank, it's done. The bad news is that if the soil is undergoing expansions and contraction cycles...it's unstable. I don't have a vast amount of experience working in clay, but I had a big bucks job in clay years ago. We actually set up something similar to a drip irrigation system around the perimeter of the foundation. The purpose was that the drip irrigation would keep the clay continually moist so it wouldn't undergo movement cycles as the clay dried and rewet. It'd essentially stay permanently wet and not move. Any excess moisture was removed by foundation perimeter and footing drains. Now, you wrote that the crawl space is sealed up... 1) For clarification, I'm assuming that there is a concrete foundation around the perimeter of this addition? Or is it built on piers? 2) If it's a poured foundation, was a rat slab (thin 2" poured slab) or a full slab poured in the crawl space? Or is the bottom of the subfloor open to soil on the ground? 3) With the clay, did your dad have any engineering analysis done with regards to soil movement or stabilization? As to "what now"...was this a Kerdi shower? Or did it have a topical membrane (HydroBan, RedGard, etc)? I remember your shower but forget the specifics of how it was built. If Kerdi, the cracks are sort of inconsequential when it comes to water penetrating into the walls. The cracks are more cosmetic unless they really open up. I'd get in touch with your installer regarding the details of the walls. Depending on how the walls were detailed/waterproofed might give you a warm fuzzy regarding letting things sit as they are while you see if movement has stabilized versus taking action (caulk the crack, etc) if water penetration may be a concern. I'd mark the ends of the cracks with blue tape and keep an eye to see if the cracks extend or if the movement has stopped or stabilized.

Shrinking wood is nuts - all wood shrinks a bit as the moisture leaves it. Settling over time is normal with any home. Yes, you can jack the floor up from underneath. Some people choose to leave the jacks in place. Others install new joists and remove the jacks. If you do jack the floor up, it needs to be done pretty slowly so that you don't crack the plaster walls above unnecessarily. You may end up with cracking anyway. You could also leave the sagging and call it character. If you don't learn about the process in a fair amount of detail, it's not a job I would recommend you do yourself.

Good Morning! Can I just state again that you guys here are all the absolute, very, very best!! I appreciate all the advice and encouragement, it matters to me. Last night was a gut wrenching OMG moment and I automatically came here to sob out my misery to the board and you did not disappoint :) To put it in perspective, it basically looks like a cotton ball exploded in my kitchen. The ceiling is white and brand new since it was raised a foot. The DR walls were opened up so I have more light in the kitchen and they are a freshly primed white. My old medium oak cabinets were painted..... white! Our old floor has risen fron the dust and is finely covered in white from the spraying of the bottom cabinets. My old appliances are (you guessed it) white. My brand new recessed lighting gives off a heck of a lot of light as opposed to the lovely flourescent big box it replaced (the electrician is coming back to put in dimmers) and all that white is really startling to me. Granite goes in on Thursday then floors can be selected, which I know will help. I just had a real brain freezing moment last night and all that I have learned here just flew out of my head. As many have experienced and stated here as the planner, designer, whatever we call ourself, most times we are too, too close to the intimate details and we imagine all who see our choices must be thinking "whoa, what the heck was she THINKING??" DH came home and really thought it all looked great. He didn't want me to paint his solid wood cabinets and I was so certain he would regret letting me have my way. I think he likes it more than I do! We now have crown moulding from keeping old, shorter cabinets and that is an adjustment to see open space. Oh so many other things I can beat myself up about in the moment, so I better stop. I told DH at least I have digital pictures of what was.... so I can look back and remember why we wanted this change. Back to the boards, so many pesky details I haven't dealt with yet and I need inspiration that I find here so often. *Deep breath and pulling up my big girl pants* Time to get back to work! Thanks again, this has helped more than you can know :)