My kitchen contractor came by saw my pool and said, "I hope what happened to me won't happen to you" His pool was in my stage, the rain started and didn't stop. His sides caved in and had muddy mess, that the workers had to come with trowels and dig out the mud. The inspection ddin't go well as mud was stuck to the steel frame and the inspector said that the gunite won't adhere. They hhas to wipe down all the steel. I am so so scared right now. The rain is supposed to start tonight. It always rains at night-all night here. I'm so frightened that I'll have mud stuck to the steel frame. MY PB is blowing it off, like rain is not that big a deal. But his story is causing me bellyaches.

Hi Everyone, I decided to mess around with the two longer link rods (the gold rods) that run from the main frame to the rear of the deck. The owner's manual says to set them at a specific length and that's all they tell you. They never say if or when those two rods would ever need adjusted to anything other than their specified length. With nothing to lose, I turned the adjusting bolts on those rods, which tried to push the rear of deck rearward. That provided a similar effect as when the front link bars try to pull the front of the deck forward. I'm not sure if I am explaining that clearly, but the good news is that it worked! The deck is now set with the proper, very slight, slope. I made all my measurements on the blade itself. The results are clear when I cut the grass. It looks great and didn't require multiple passes. I tried to think of reasons that this whole problem could even arise after 16 years when there are no visibly loose or bent parts. My only theory is that there may be some wear in the bushings where the front axle mounts to the main frame. See, the front deck hanger links are attached to brackets that mount to the front axle. If the axle bushings are worn, the axle could tip forward, making the front hanger bolts seem too short. I did not get way up in there to check that - maybe that's a task for this autumn. Thanks for your input. I hope you have a great week. Tom H.

We sell kitchens to everyone. We simply insist that our customers make sensible decisions that we know will work. We won't sell a kitchen if it doesn't work, or is dangerous, or against building code. For example, many kitchen designers and appliance suppliers were guilty for a decade of selling and recommending high CFM blowers without replacement air systems. So they knowingly or unknowingly poisoning their clients. We always refused to do this and require that our recommended appliance sales people insist on selling our customers the replacement air systems they need to be safe, whether they want it or not. I believe all professionals should "first do no harm". Giving people what the want is the easy road. Helping them make good decisions is harder but is also why our company grows at a rate of about 30% per year.

You could probably pass if you install a sheet of 3/4" plywood across the opening on the inside, maybe with some 2x4 braces if the inspector is a nuisance. You'd have to have the screw holes puttied and painted after it's removed later, but it's a lot cheaper than a code-compliant rail. If I'm reading code right, the plywood would only need to be 24" tall.