The vapor trails make for most unusual photographs. All are pretty but the first one with the X reflected on the surface of the water is really neat. Wonder if it would have any relation to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Anybody want to go diving where the X marks the spot and find out? ;-) As always -- thanks for posting your wonderful pictures.

Original poster here....again.... I have an update...but unfortunately, no solution to the spotting problem. It's been a while since I've posted, so let me give a quick summary of what I've done. Over the last couple years, I've had 3 water quality professionals come to my house to help me diagnose my water spot problem. The first guy (a Kinetico rep) had no idea what the problem was but offered a solution: install a Kinetico system and if the problem goes away, then great! If not and the spotting problem still exists, then he will uninstall his Kinetico system for $200. I passed on that offer. The second guy was unsure of what the problems is. I mentioned I had some silica in the raw water (lab tested it 15.9 mg/L) and he suggested utilizing polyphosphate/siliphos. Although he said it was food grade and harmless, my wife and I weren't so sure about adding that to our water supply, so we passed on that too. The third guy pretty much said "it is what it is"....he said they installed a whole house RO system for someone with similar problems....obviously, i declined that expensive proposal.... I contacted another water professional. He's a little far from me, but he helped me over the phone. He had me do a Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) test with a local lab. The results were a -1.5 (serious corrosion) on the LSI Index and the lab stated "Water is undersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. Undersaturated water has a tendency to remove existing calcium carbonate protective coatings in pipelines and equipment." So, the professional had me use a blending screw on my softener to leak a little hardness into the treated water (approx 1-2gpg of hardness). Well, I still got spots unfortunately...and the water is no longer slippery/slick. I gave up on that idea. As far as the silica, does anyone have any input on that? Are the levels (15.9 mg/L) high enough to cause issues? Has anyone used any siliphos or polyphosphate treatments? Are they safe? Do they work? One other thing: I have noticed that I have some etching/pitting on the glass shower door chrome hinge and chrome screws....Not sure what would cause that....and I did have that before I tried the blending screw.... As I said previously, I've been trying to get to the bottom of this spotting issue. Up to this point, I have been merely wiping down the chrome fixtures after each shower. But, that doesn't fix the problem..........that's the same thing as just adding oil to car that's losing a quart a day. Plus, I can see where spots are starting to accumulate on the tile walls of the tub....and on the sink bowls....and bathtub.... So......fast forward to the past few months: In order to try to figure out what exactly the spots are made of, I took the lid from one of my wife's stock pots (I think it is aluminium?) and filled the lid with water.....about an 1/8" inch or so. Then i put the lid on top of my wood pellet stove. The heat caused the water to evaporate leaving only the white residue (and some wood pellet dust). I attached pictures of the lid for all to see. I did this for a few days and then I took the lid to the local lab and had him test it. Here are the results of the tests on the residue on the lid: Copper: 3.16 mg/L Iron: 10.29 mg/L Manganese: .96 mg/L Hardness: 64 mg/L Sodium: >1265 mg/L Just for reference, here are my water specs (from my original post): Here is my raw water analysis: Hardness - 21 GPG (grains per gallon) Iron - 0.05 mg/l (ferrous) Manganese - ND (not detected) pH - 7.3 standard units TDS (total dissolved solids) - 472 ppm My treated water analysis : Copper - none detected Iron - none detected Manganese - none detected Chloride - 11.9 mg/L Hardness- none detected Sodium - 110.7 mg/L Nitrate as N - none detected Nitrite as N - none detected Color - 0 Odor - 0 PH - 7.8 Turbidity - 0.3 NTU Sulfate - 40.5 mg/L TDS - 364 ppm Silica: 15.9 mg/L My existing water treatment setup: 1. Big Blue sediment cartridge filter 2. Autotrol 255/762 48K water softener (installed in 2006) 3. Big Blue RFC cartridge filter I confirmed that the treated water is at 0 gpg hardness at all fixtures using a Hach 5B Hardness Test Kit. On the stock pot lid, there is a bare spot. I was able remove some of the spotting build-up with CLR. BUT..............and here is the big BUT............the CLR will NOT clean the sink stoppers that have the spotting on them. The only thing that cleans them is my Never Dull chrome cleaner. NOTE: I was also able to clean additional sections of the stock pot lid with water, vinegar, and Clorox cleaner... I attached pictures of the sink stoppers also showing the spotting accumulation. I had nothing to do with the clean spot in the center of the stoppers....i think it's because the stoppers are slightly rounded, no water sits there, so no spotting accumulates. I also attached pictures of the chrome cover piece for the bathtub overflow. There is some slight spotting there. I usually wipe it down after each shower/bath....but some spots have still accumulated. CLR or vinegar will not remove them.....only the Never Dull chrome cleaner. So, in summary, I'm still at a loss. Thank you in advance for helping. mm

jtcm - I both glued up 1"X10" garapa plus bought glue ups from East Teak. Both failed in spots. If you are going to do that, make sure the PT is fairly dry. Otherwise, just rip the bullnosed edge off the boards that you will use for facia on the open stringers. In that way, it will not be so obvious that they are deck boards. BTW, on your stair treads, if you have a router, consider putting a bullnose edge (1/2") on all exposed sides. Has a real good look (tip from brooklyn decks).

I took a few moments to look at your little area. While scale was hard to determine, it looks like you have a fair amount of shade and that you have, or plan to have a lot happening in a small space. Shade is the harder one for the color you desire. My two top recs for the shade would be the sandcherry or the red baron crab. Corylus, Physocarpus, Sambucus, all are going to green out where they don't get enough sun. The Cotinus may be worth a try, for this reason: If you are hesitant to bite on a Emp. I because of exposure and price, try the Grace. The colored Cotinus are not necessarily as winter tough ...in particular wind exposure... as advertised. And if you have a Cotinus, you either need to have perspective (distance), or prune it regular to keep it looking full. What I have learned is this...we'll try to negotiate what is enough sun. The plant will tell you, and you'll learn something. Would your desire for red/purple color be able to be redirected? Rather than use it as a vertical accent behind, a flat carpet in front? I'm thinking specifically of heuchera. Or would other herbaceous perennials be able to provide the color and some height...I'm thinking perhaps hibiscus (shading issues), cimicifuga, eupatorium perhaps? If you have the time, check out Schulte's in St. Michael. Sometimes with the varied demands of the Twin Cities market, and all of the varied little microclimates that develop, not to mention dedicated enthusiasts who think nothing of moving their precious jap. maples into the garage each and every winter, there can be distortions of what is actually "proper" to grow in the area. Err on the side of caution and get a little north and see what's offered, and Schulte's has about as good a selection as you'll find north of 694/494.