Great Forum! I am a new poster so bear with me. This will also by my 1st lawn/garden tractor. I have 8-1/2 acres but intend on maintaining nice grass on between about 2-4 acres total (varying areas around the house/property). Much of this land is sloping heavily with several washout areas. Not only do washouts exist but lots of leaves and limbs but am more worried about the deck plowing into the dirt in these washout areas. I have been researching used farm tractors with implements such as box blade and bush hog for some time now. I realized that I couldnt get anything decent in my price range (or too large of payment). I then decided I would evaluate garden tractors. I am looking at either one of these garden tractors with mulcher. #1 - Craftsman 26 hp 54 in. Deck, DGS 6500 Garden Tractor (w/ Kohler) DGS 6000 Garden Tractor (w/Kohler) = or = #2 - LA175 Lawn Tractor LA175 Lawn Tractor Here are some photos of my property. + Hope to put gravel down on drive and grow grass/mow around trees + Hope to get grass growing in shady areas too + Some sloping and poor water run-off areas. Not sure how a garden tractor will handle water ruts I would appreciate any feedback at all. Thanks, Jack jfobel@msn.com

We bought a new construction house in 2008 that has all Newport Brass fixtures and decorations. - 5 bathrooms, a three sink kitchen, and 2 wet bars. And I mean it is all Newport Brass - sink handles and faucets, towel bars, toilet bowl handles, etc. And here is what has broken, starting in less than one year: bathroom tub diverter handle, kitchen sink mixer cartridge, shower head, bathroom sink faucet connector, another shower head, shower temperature mixer valve, and another bathroom sink faucet connector! The parts are insanely expensive to replace, it is difficult to make sure that you have the correct model, and even harder to make sure you have the correct finish. The most frustrating thing (and why I am writing this up) is because one of the broken bathroom faucets is now discountinued, and I am stuck with the a bathroom that has a dozen plus Newport Brass installations that I will not be able to match. Ever! The "help" that I have received from Customer Service is a joke. They cant help identify part numbers or finishes, and dont seem particularly interested in the fact that there stuff keeps breaking. I have taken to proactively switching out parts, especially shower heads, with stuff on Amazon and which I feel is better quality and much, much cheaper. Do not dare install this overpriced garbage in your house!

Using a preformed niche might add a couple of hours to the process. Maybe 30 minutes to install and waterproof, and 90 minute to tile? And that's a generous guess. I framed and Kerdied niche would be a bit more. Maybe 20 minutes to frame and install, an extra 30 to cement board, an extra hour to Kerdi, an extra hour to tile? Maybe 3 hours extra? Much depends on the size of the niche and how it lays out with the size of the tiles that are being used. If I can lay the niche out to match my tiles, I can tile faster. If I have to cut the tiles to fit the niche, then it might slow me down a bit. So...it depends. But if you want one, get one. It's your shower. But all you can really do is tell him what you want and he'll give you a price. Preformed niches can run $40-$100 or so, they get popped in the wall and then get tiled right over. Easy. You should be able to get one tiled for an extra $50-$150, so a niche, installed, could run an extra $100-$250. That is a guess though, as all mine were custom framed and kerdied. Mongo

Regarding the refrigerator -- we have just under 33" b/w the refrigerator handle and the counter edge across from it - and it's much too shallow an aisle! We were stuck with it b/c of the numerous measuring errors on the part of our KD. While it's something we've adapted to - if someone is in the refrigerator no one can pass by - it's not what I wanted! (I was aiming for 48".) . However, it's your home and Kitchen - so it's your choice how to handle it. We're here to give you advice - with no financial benefit accruing from specific designs/appliances/etc. - and it's your choice whether to take it or not. I understand that you're used to what you have and you can't imagine anything better - but keep in mind that: Human beings are very adaptable. We can adapt to anything - good or bad - even the worst layouts! We adapt so well that we tell ourselves it's fine the way it is - we cannot imagine doing it differently or making it better. But, what if it could be better? If you ask just about anyone here who took our advice and changed their layout to make it better, they will tell you they never realized it could be so much better and wondered how they had lived with the issues for so long! (The answer is back to the adaptability of human beings!) Human beings are resistant to change. Even when something can be made better, we resist change. We like what we know and we have a hard time seeing other ways to do things - even if they could be so much better! And, as I mentioned before, we've adapted to what we have - both the good and the bad. [This is not specific to you - we are all resistant to change to some extent!] Once we get past that resistance and start opening up to new ideas, though, it can be amazing what we can come up with - and I don't mean just the people here helping you, I mean you and your family coming up with new ideas as well! So, why not at least try for something better and give others a chance to come up with a better design? If you are not open to looking at other options, then so be it - as I said before, it's your Kitchen, so you can do what you want with it. Good luck with your remodel!