You could have the water tested and find out if there is contamination of some kind. These days, there is a wide variety of things in water: excess farm chemicals, toxic waste from old mines or manufacturing upstream, parasites like giardia and cryptosporidium from wildlife and livestock, etc. Some (like lead and other heavy metals) can be absorbed by the plants, others could be just surface contamination (like parasites). Call your local Cooperative Extension Service office, and talk to them about what you want to know. EXACTLY what you want to know. Don't just say you want to have your water tested, or they'll charge you about $8 and just do a bacterial or coliform test. If they don't do it, they will know who does. Then talk to THEM about what you want to know. If the water needs some sort of purification, ask if a simple slow sand/charcoal filter would take care of most of it. They will know what these are, as many municipal water companies use them. You can make a simple one yourself fairly cheaply, I think. Just google 'slow sand filter' and consider including a couple of 3-4" thick bands of charcoal embedded within the sand. Sue Here is a link that might be useful: U.S. Cooperative Extension Service offices

CatherineT, hi to you too. I can tell when they've laid their eggs in the grass because its all torn up. Unfortunately in the garden I'd let the weeds take control and had some monster ones I had to dig with the shovel. That's when I ran into the eggs buried deep. No mulch in the garden so its just the bare soil. We've always had lots of turtles around, our cocker spaniel would go foraging in the woods and bring them back to us in his huge mouth as presents. One year we started numbering them with nail polish on their shells and stopped when he'd brought back 33. Mostly just regular garden variety turtles although one time there was a monster snapping turtle laying eggs in our yard. The scariest thing I've ever seen. As for the beavers, the good news is I think they are GONE. I pretty much enjoy having any sort of wildlife in my yard but your comment about it being difficult to live in harmony with them hit the mark. Besides chopping down a brand new and expensive crabapple, cherries, and dogwoods they dammed up the creek behind us, flooded our yard, and killed many of the huge trees in the marshy area behind us. I'd see them swimming in the creek and they would actually come up into the yard in the evenings but I haven't seen them at all this year. Guess they've moved on to other areas.

I have been looking at laminates that look like wood and have decided to go that route. The look I want is an old pub - so I need flooring that looks like old wood. I just started looking and saw some products at Lowe's that looked nice - commecrial grade flooring that runs about $4 per sq ft for the planks - then add extra for underlayment etc. It has a surface that feels like hand sewn wood and from a distance of about 1 foot away, you cannot tell it is fake. I looked at the vinyl that looks like wood - but it looks like vinyl to me. It is cheaper (in the 2-3 range per sq ft) but for the extra dollar or so, I would rather have the laminate. I like the Dricore product BUT do not like the cost. Also - it is not true that "whatever flooring you choose can be laid right over the dricore". If you read the instructions for vinyl on Dricore, they tell you to put down a layer of 1/4 inch smooth surface underlayment on top of the dricore. When you add up the cost of the Dricore plus the cost of the underlayment - it is more than the cost of the flooring. This was the subject of another post on this forum and the person who posted it was shocked to learn (after he put the Dricore down) that he then had to put this 1/4 inch underlayment on top before he could lay down the vinyl. I went out to Lowe's and looked at the prices - it was 5 dollars per Dricore 2' x 2' piece and 14 dollars per 4x8 sheet of the underlayment the manufacturer recommends. That comes to 34 dollars for a 4x8 section - or 4.25 per sq ft. If you do carpet or laminate over Dricore - then you can install right on top. But not vinyl.

Everyone keeps telling us it is a construction zone and can not look "pretty". True, but that doesn't mean it has to be a nasty health hazard. Workers who relieve themselves in the shower or the neighbor's backyard or wherever, are demonstrating their contempt for the owners and neighbors. As in "I'll show those hioty toidy rich bast@rds." If you're finding waste in inappropriate places, like your dry plumbing or duct work, complain dircetly to the builder. If he tries to laugh it off, or gets condescending, tell him you'll call the department of health yourself. As for the OP, complain one time and one time only to the builder. Give him a chance to get the area cleaned up (INSIST that the area be cleaned up and if there are damages, restored) If it doesn't stop, go straight to the building inspector and the County Health Department. Police/sherrif's department can be good too; even in the country, many areas have anti littering laws and no dumping ordinances. (yes, they apply to *that* kind of dumping as well.) Years ago, when my Dad was the city inspector in a local town. One summer, I had someone drop me off at the library and planned to ride home with him at the end of the day. We left his office early so he could check something at a new development and he found that, although the builder had a Pot O' Gold on every block, the workers were trotting back to the dry, woodsy creek that ran at the back of the property to do their business. The on site foreman knew what they were doing, and didn't stop them because the workers were complaining the porta potty was hot and nasty, and not in a good way either. This "creek" broadned out as it meandered through town and eventually became a mowed swale that ran through people's backyards and a city park. As it turns out, both the builder and the foreman were there, and he told them the situation was unacceptable, and that it needed to be stopped immediately. He was polite, but firm. Instead of apologizing and promising to get "the boys" to behave as if they really were potty trained, he acted like a jerk. First he tried the "boys will be boys" argument (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and then he did the "poor me,those porta potty rentals are so expensive...", and when that didn't fly, the builder got all angry and red faced and started yelling "Why should I waste time cleaning it up?! How do I know *my* guys did it?" Never raising his voice, my Dad said he didn't care if it was dog poop, if it wasn't gone when he came back, they would all be going home. Told him he had 24 hours to see that EVERY pile of feces, toilet paper and napkins were removed, or he would shut them down. (Meant it too.) I didn't get to ride with him that day, but they had picked EVERYTHING up (the area also had some miscellaneous trash; with disposable cups and plastic bottles and whatever), and the builder had more of those blue rooms installed. My Dad was just an average sized guy, but he carried alot...