Please allow me to explain some facts about the different types of sand. As a contractor and someone who has worked in a concrete plant you better know what type of snd you need for the job you are doing. With that said lets began. Sand is either dug up in a quarry or dredged from a pond, lake or a sand quarry that they hit a spring in and filled with water. All commercial sand is washed so it can be graded for size and type. You have to go out and dig up your own if you want to get unwashed sand ( which is not recommended for landscaping ) to be used as fill sand or what we call sandbox sand. First thing to fall out of the washer is mason sand. Next is concrete sand followed by fill sand which contains some clay. Next is gravel base and is made-up of lots of clay and small gravel.This is what you typically find on ball diamonds and clay tennis courts or as a base for a gravel driveway or path through your garden. It can be packed down so hard you would think it was concrete with a colored dye in it untill it rains. Dogs, cats, kids and husbands get in quite a bit of trouble when it rains because of this stuff. Next is pea gravel. This can be used to cover the gravel base or partly fill holes like lateral lines where you need good drainage or placed under downspouts to keep the water from making a canyon of you lawn and it gives it a decorative look. Just remember to use something to keep the gravel in place or your mower becomes a machine gun when you mow around It. A lot of people use it in flower beds and around the base of trees too for decorative look. Rock gardens look neat and pea gravel mixed with river rock works well for this. Next comes river rock. Used as I just mentioned in place of the pea gravel ecept not on lateral lines or sewer pipes or any other underground lines and pipes. Although it does work well for drip irrigation or soaker hose. Then the last is river stone. Good for decorative landscaping and filling in wash outs or anywhere you need the water not to erode the ground beneath them.

9.5 sones is definitely too loud for conversation (around 3.5-4 sones is the threshold for getting uncomfortable). However, in this price range (~$300-$400), it's pretty much par for the course. A low-power blower running "at redline" is always going to be louder than a more powerful blower running at a fraction of its speed. In other words, a 500-CFM blower producing 500 CFM (full speed) will always be louder than a 1000-CFM blower producing 500 CFM (1/2 speed). Unfortunately, with under-cabinet range hoods, there's simply no room to equip a large blower - you need a full-size wall range hood for that (or a remote blower, which would add to the cost). So, the entire category of under-cabinet hoods is stuck with either very low performance, or high noise, it's not a Broan-specific issue. In addition, the filter area comes into play. The smaller the filter area for a given airflow, the higher the speed of the air being pulled through the aperture. Higher speed = more noise.

In my last house i had the Franke Orca and used it daily for 17 years. When we sold the house it was still beautiful. The bar sink in that house was an Elkay, not as expensive as the Franke, and not used any where nearly as much. It was OK, but took a lot more effort to make it look nice, It was a lot more prone to water spots. The Franke didn’t show nearly as much, and was less effort to buff up. Now I’m doing the kitchen in my new house, deciding what to do. The Franke’s are expensive. But, the sink is the one thing that gets the most use. Considering the total cost of the kitchen, i wont base my decision on price, but is the new Franke Orca2 the same quality as the one i had? Why would they change it if it isn’t for cost reduction? I found an Orca2 on Amazon that was supposed to be ”like new” for about $495 less than the ”new” one, but it is not like new, clearly damaged in shipping, so its going back. Debating whether to try again or look at other brands.

Based on your focus of Disease Resistance & Fragrance, then own-roots are best. Deep & long-stick Dr.Huey-rootstock doesn't do well in poor-drainage clay. More than a decade ago Tammy in TN with over 1,000 roses noted that grafted-on-Dr.Huey doesn't do well in her red acidic clay and high-rain. I notice the same in my poor-drainage alkaline clay and heavy rain. Multiflora-rootstock from Palatine is a cluster-root and can take tons of rain better. Dr. Huey-rootstock is best for dry climate and alkaline soil. I lost countless of roses grafted on Dr.Huey when acidic rain could not drain well in my zone 5a freezing & heavy rain and spring flash floods. VIGOROUS own-roots can bounce back after drought or flood better. I'll rank below OWN-ROOT roses on fragrance and disease-resistance: Peter Mayle - very vigorous and healthy as own-root & never see blackspots nor mildew as 6th-year own-root. The scent is amazing eucalyptus and rose, no other rose can smell like it. Narrow & tall & doesn't occupy much space. Bloom best in hot & dry above 90 F. Buxom Beauty - Strong perfumy rose scent, glorious with many blooms in hot & dry but it's a blackspot mess & lost all leaves in rainy weather. WIMPY as own-root, can't survive many zone 5 winters like Peter Mayle. One needs both, since the colors and scents are different. Yves Piaget: best as grafted & wimpy as own-root, best in hot & dry and alkaline clay. Princess Charlene de Monaco: Fades to white in hot sun, plus less petals if hot & dry. It's HUGE as own-root in my zone 5, like 10 feet tall by 3 feet wide in late fall. Scent is worth buying, unique pear nectar and rose. Health is impeccable: NO mildew nor blackspots in its 6th-year. Savannah: Only if you have room and plenty of rain. It's a huge bush at 6' x 4' as 8th-year-own root in my zone 5. A 10 in health with super-glossy foliage. Needs partial shade since it consumes ungodly amount of water. Blooms well in rainy climate, but stingy in hot & dry. Scent is nice, but far below Peter Mayle & Buxom Beauty & Princess Charlene's quality. Low-thorn Poseidon is huge as 9th-year-own root, like 5' x 3'. It likes tons of rain water. One bush is enough since it gives tons of blooms. Scent is noticeable only in cold weather, but zero scent in hot weather. A 10 in health for rainy climate, but a 6 in health for dry climate (leaves turn yellow & drop off if too dry). Low-thorn Sweet Mademoiselle: biggest rain-hog like Poseidon. Bush is huge as 6th-year-own-root at 6' x 3.5' wide. A 10 in health for rainy climate, but a 6 in health for dry climate (leaves turn yellow & drop off if too dry). Scent is myrrh and rose, blooms last very long in the vase. Needs soaking wet soil to bloom well, best in partial shade and high calcium & high potassium clay soil for its deep cup and many petals.