Thank you all so much for all the advice and reassurance(s)! I'm going to call both the BSH showroom tomorrow as well as Gaggenau. (Although my experience with Gaggenau has been less than satisfying: before I received the ovens I called them asking for the 30" double wall oven specs [for the cabinetmaker] and they sent me the specs for a Thermador double wall oven. When I called / e-mailed back, they were genuinely bemused: "what's the problem?" is a direct quote. Ahem.) You know, I haven't run the self-clean cycle because the interiors (neither) are dirty. (We're vegan, so no meat spattering or whatever.) Good thought. When the first repairman came (to clean the few pieces of styrofoam fluff from in between the two panes of glass) he checked everything to make sure no other shipment damage had occurred. There was a problem with the vents (on the bottom of the two ovens), but he replaced the gasket (I think it's called), tested it and said it was okay. But honestly, what do I know? I'm not an oven specialist .... Good question, homepro: I have not baked in the bottom oven because that's where we have the trays (not racks). I've pretty much solely used it for proofing (I bake our bread). I'm making pot pie tomorrow so I'll try baking that in the bottom oven. Of course, for me it's cookies which give the truest indicator of the uneven baking (in the top oven). Even with my moving the sheets midway through baking (from bottom to top rack, turning them around, etc.), I still find the cookies unevenly baked / colored. It's harder to tell (I mean it's harder for me to tell) with my other baked goods. I'm not sure where our (independent) oven thermometer is ... excellent suggestion! I do use the Gagg "info" feature (which tells me the oven temperature at present), but if the sensors are off, then so are all bets. I didn't think the altitude could be a factor but, you know, grasping for straws to explain why I'm having problems when everyone else has written how their Gaggs are baking nirvana. And mindstorm, you are v kind. I assumed you meant something with the ovens, but I have thin skin. (I know! I have no business in this medium.) I'm usually able to keep it in check when online (where it is way too easy to misconstrue others words), but I was at a weak moment when reading your penultimate post. Thank you for making the time to respond instead of rolling your eyes and saying "get over yourself!" I am really encouraged about tomorrow (Monday), calling and hopefully getting somewhere in ensuring an even bake. I know it sounds slightly churlish, but after spending so much money on these ovens (and I think they are v. expensive) it's ticked me off and disappointed me that the top oven bakes unevenly. I do still think it's ridiculous that they don't have the smooth-gliding racks and that for two ovens they only provide two racks, but I'll tell you I am still gaga for Gaggenau's side-opening feature! Thank you everyone for all the information and encouragement that I can have even baking! I appreciate it so much. I'll post back to let you know what I find out. Fingers crossed. Thank you.

I have purchased much of the accessories and lights in my old home from Rejuvenation, and luckily they are just a few blocks away from me. Their products are beautiful and well made. They are also very expensive. I only shop their clearance sale in January as a result of those prices, and have gotten most everything on at least half off sales. You just can't compare the quality to the big box stores at all. They have good customer service and go out of their way to make things right. I did order a light from them, only to find some scratches on it when it arrived. They took it back and re-ordered it. Then I saw the same light in the clearance section a few weeks later (the special orders have the person's name on the tag). So, I have been pretty happy with them overall. Can you order this and return it if it's not what you thought it was?

We had a plumber come out to give an estimate to fix a leaky toilette and a leak in a basement ceiling. He wanted $1,100 to fix two leaks with the toilette being about $400. I did get some lower offers for about $300 to $400, but even at that, I have several more things to fix and at that rate it was going to be pretty costly. And I've read some other people's here and their prices are pretty high. Like $180 for ONE outdoor faucet. Before trying shark bite, or gator bites, I taught my self to weld pipes with a torch and solder etc. I did a couple and was pretty proud of it and saved like $400 for a water heater pipe repair. The reason I didn't try the shark bite at that point is that I couldn't find them near by so tried using the torch that time a year back or so. But now this week I noticed shark and gator bites at Lowes and Home Depot and decided to try them out. I had to go to both stores since some parts were sold out. I used it to replace the outdoor faucet with a washerless, ball faucet in the front of the house And was amazed. IT WORKED! And even though I knew how to use a torch, felt like it was easier. Besides I would have had to put something flame retardant in the basement to weld because there are wooden beams there. Or at least spray with water. But now I didn't even have to worry about it. I only had to cut the pipe in the basement, and use a gator bite coupling and push the two pipes together. Then I did the same for the faucet by screwing it onto a shark bite part and then pushing it onto the pipe. It was easy. I was worried about it leaking, but I've checked and no leaks. Not even a drip. Nothing. It sealed perfectly. Now tomorrow, I am going to replace the other out door faucet on the back of the house. No more miserable, leaking 20 year old faucet. And now I have 3 or 4 more repairs I've been putting off all lined up. Over all, I like Shark Bites. You can also get Gator Bites at Lowes or other places.

All of the "sandwich stations" I have worked with have been commercial, I never seen a residential one. That being said, when building a new home you design what you want. If it were me I would go with a True Remote Condenser unit (remote allows you to run a line set to the compressor assembly which is plate mounted, this can be located outside near your a/c units), the remote will keep the unit silent and insure you don't have heat build up problems associated with sealing one of these units up, which is what I would do. I would take a True 60" or 72" or what ever size you are thinking, and I would have my cabinet maker make me door covers, and then remove the wheels these units normally come equipped with and have the finish carpenter close in the bottom and mount the unit as a cabinet would be. The True units seem to have the lowest tops, other units like beverage airs I have seen have a larger dome top that can make it unsightly in a home atmosphere. I like the idea, and I am confident for under $5K you can have it custom covered and installed depending on the cost of your woods and stone... good luck, I would love to see pictures, BTW, you would get the lower refer part of the unit, so if I were doing it I would pair it with a built in chest (or stand up )freezer, a built in undercounter ice maker and a water cooler filter system with counter mounted dispenser, and at that point you may as well go with a co2 tank and carbonator to have on demand seltzer water.. (We installed a carbonator pump and co2 system in our kitchen, it is amazing, best seltzer water, from our filtered well system.) Our kitchen is half and half commercial-ish, we buy commercial small appliances like a 10 qt Hobart mixer, robot coupe 3hp food processor, Hobart meat slicer, doyon dough sheeter, etc.. Actually looking into our first 36 or 48" commercial stove now...