>>It just feels blasphemous to block a single ray of light when it's so damned cold most of the year! It is not just about heat. Your statement makes the assumption that everyone with greenhouses only use the greenhouse to grow light-lovers in cold regions. A greenhouse can perform more than just cold protection in winter. * Light protection for low-light plants. * Humidity enclosure for dry regions. * Cool house for non-warmth tolerant plants. * Miscellaneous environmental protection for seedlings and starts. For me I use the greenhouse to grow orchids and start seeds. Without any shading, direct sunlight here can reach up to 10,000fc. Compound that with summer daytime temperatures of 105F and very low humidity and most orchids sitting unprotected will end up being a pile of dried leaves within a matter of hours. And the bugs outside will make quick work of the unprotected seedlings. The greenhouse for me provides an effective single structure that can support the shade fabric, maintain decent humidity and keep the temperatures down. Of course, frost protection in the winter is also a must. If I lived in a more humid region where the duirnal temperature variation is regulated year round closer to the 85F:65F range, then I would probably not need to use shade materials. Heck I might not even need a greehouse at all.

Snooze alert, long post: Judith, a follow-up for you. You wrote: "Hi brickeyee, there is definitely only 1 layer of plywood beneath my tile. One layer of plywood with SLC poured over that and tile over that. No second layer of plywood or cement board product." A little background for you. There are two areas of delflection that need to be considered when tiling; the deflection of the joists along their length, and the deflection of the plywood between the typical 16" on-center spacing between adjacent joists. The joist deflection is usually not a problem for ceramic tile 12" square and smaller. It certainly can be, but other things are usually at fault. A single layer of plywood, however, does not have enough flexural resistance across the 16" joist spacing to properly support tile. That's where the two layers of plywood come in, it's typically 3/4" subfloor covered with 1/2" underlayment, with the panel seams offset from one layer to the next. The SLC could have then been poured over the plywood underlayment, and then tile over the SLC. As brickeye mentioned in his previous post, cement board over a singe layer of plywood is no good either. Cement board is not structural. It simply acts as a transitional material when going from plywood to tile. But it does not add strength to the floor like a second layer of plywood. What your guy did, which was SLC over a single layer of typical plywood subfloor, and tile over the SLC, does not meet and industry standards. It's inadequate. Any flexing in the subfloor may cause the SLC to fracture. Any further flexing, when you walk across the floor for example, will cause the fractured SLC edges to rub against one another, causing the crunchy sound you hear. As you've discovered, the grout and tile can look perfect, the floor can feel perfect underfoot, but the installation is nonetheless broken. To tile over a single layer of plywood, like 3/4" plywood subfloor, you'd first need a membrane like Ditra. Ditra is an uncoupling membrane, meaning that it acts as a go-between when transitioning from the plywood subfloor underneath the Ditra to the tile on top of the Ditra. Ditra is about 1/8" thick and it has a 3-D waffle-type pattern on it, you can sort of think of it as a shock absorber. The 3-D waffle structure absorbs minor flexing from the subfloor below the Ditra, and by absorbing those flexural stresses, it does not pass them on to the tile and grout above. For your floor, assuming your joists are properly sized, I'd want to remove the tile and the SLC. The tile could be cut flush at the base of the vanity, the vanity would not necessarily have to be pulled. Since your subfloor will be somewhat ratty after the demolition, I'd then install new plywood underlayment over the subfloor. Then either cement board or Ditra over the underlayment. Most likely Ditra to minimize elevation gain. Then tile. Adding 3/8" plywood underlayment over your subfloor to provide a clean working surface, followed by Ditra over the underlayment, will raise your floor height by about 1/2" less the thickness of the SLC that was removed. So if you had 1/4" of SLC over the original subfloor, your new tile will be about 1/4" higher than your existing tile. 3/8" ply for underlayent is about the thinnest I like to use, I'm not a big fan of 1/4" due to it being too flimsy. But that's personal opinion. If you can cope with that added height at the door threshold, as well as coping with your vanity countertop essentially being lowered a bit (because the floor surrounding the vanity was raised), terrific. That's just one option and my personal opinion.

Looks like my clipping link didn't work so well... so, here is the content. The following text is copied from a PDF I received from the Charlie's Soap people (topic = hard water) ***excerpt*** Water Quality and Laundry Problems Ann Vanderpoorten Beard Extension clothing and textiles specialist, The Texas A&M University System This paper has been altered (....) by me, Charlie Sutherland, only to clarify some terms and show how our Charlie's Soap relates to the report. Research on laundering has shown that many factors affect the cleanliness of the wash. One often ignored factor is the quality of the water used. Several laundry problems are directly related to minerals, organic matter, and other impurities in the water supply. Some laundry problems may have similar symptoms but more than one possible cause. To determine if a combination of factors or water quality alone is responsible for your laundry problem, consider your equipment, water, products and procedures. Problem: Hard Water Laundry Symptoms: Dinginess or graying, yellowing ÂGeneral soil build-up ÂStiff, harsh feel to fabrics ÂWhite or gray streaks on colored fabrics Calcium and magnesium are usually the minerals that make water hard. The greater the concentration of these minerals, the harder the water. Hard water doesn't clean as effectively as soft water. In hard water much of the detergent added to the washer goes to soften the water instead of to clean the clothes. This means that more detergent must be used than in soft water. Softening water by using more detergent has two drawbacks; it is expensive and if the detergent contains phosphate it can add to water pollution. Heavy duty liquid detergents will remove soil in hard water almost as effectively as powdered phosphate-built detergents and they do not contribute to water pollution. Normally, non-phosphate powdered detergents and soap do not perform satisfactorily in hard water. (Charlie's Soap is generally quite good, but very hard water needs some extra attention.) Solution: To prevent the problems caused by hard water, First, use water as hot as recommended for the fabric since all detergents perform better at higher temperatures in any quality water. Second, soften the water. Water may be softened in the washer with nonprecipitating ion-exchange water conditioners* (these are the phosphates you were just warned about), commonly sold in grocery stores simply as water conditioners. Water softener systems which exchange sodium for calcium and magnesium may also be connected to the water supply lines for the washer, the kitchen, or for the entire house. However, persons on sodium-restricted diets should consult their physicians before adding a water softener system to lines that supply water for drinking and cooking because the sodium content of the water will increase. To remedy problems that have already occurred, fill the washer with the hottest water appropriate for the fabric. Add (a double scoop of Charlie's Soap Powder) and one cup on nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner. Agitate just long enough to wet the clothes. Soak overnight or for about twelve hours. Drain and spin without agitating. Launder, using regular cycle, no detergent, and one cup of nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner. If needed, repeat the launderings using one cup of nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner and no detergent until no suds appear during the rinses. In order to remove all dinginess it may be necessary to launder with one cup nonprecipitating *(phosphate) water conditioner and chlorine bleach if safe for the fabric, following package instructions for the amount of bleach to use. ***end of excerpt***

The most inexpensive way to have a vinyl rug is to order online from a big box home improvement store (Lowe's and Home Depot offer free shipping). Look in the sheet vinyl flooring section. The width is usually 12 feet. Order the length you need. You can always trim width to size with a good razor knife and straight edge. I have a dog who ruined my rug by stealth peeing in the dining room on cold days. Perfect solution and it looks great while protecting my hardwood flooring.