I have owned a B&S 20 HP Intek I/C for about 12 years. It started to burn oil at 1 year, started to leak oil about the same time from the valve adjustment cover because they mounted a very large heat shield between the valve cover and the engine obviously because it was cheaper than to make seperate mounts. The vibration keeps the mounting screws comming loose, I had to use a thread locker on sheet metal screws to keep it from comming loose. The air cleaner is designed so it picks up a large amount of grass debris so I have to replace the filter every other mowing. The rods started to knock at about 5 years and the carburator requires a kit every 3 years because the diaphrams cannot hold their shape. I will never buy another. P.S. This unit had cast Iron sleeved cylinders.

*SIGH*... Y'know mownie, I really do think that the hard-to-turn-the-engine-over syndrome is related to the starter. Now I can't get it to turn the engine more than a single revolution at all even when it is cold (I have it uncovered so I can see what it is doing when cranking it), let alone turn it over to fire. This is what it was doing when it was hot. So can't try out the carb adjustments yet since I can't get it to turn the flywheel fast enough to fire the engine at all. What HAS been happening is when you turn the ignition key, the starter driveshaft pops up, the gear engages the flywheel, then it stops wmmph at a high compression point in the engine or something, and then labors and can't turn it past that point, like something is jamming up somewhere. At least once tonight though it cranked the engine a couple revolutions without incident but it wasn't seeming to get any firing action; that was right after I put the battery on the charger briefly. THEN, after that a couple times the starter drive shaft (or whatever it is) did not pop up at all upon turning the key; it sat there and spinned....so we know it is getting current. Tried a little WD-40 to the shaft under the silver disk-shaped part below the gear but did not make much difference...a and finally another time the shaft popped up, engaged, stopped (when it stops it is engaged with the flywheel and stays there after releasing the key; you have to turn the shaft to make it come back down), and then there were a couple of clicking noises coming from inside the starter too when the key was held in start briefly past the jam-up point. That also happened on one or two tries. Sooooo....Battery? Starter? Neither? Both? lol. I replaced a broken plastic part at the top of the drive shaft on the starter season before last; will have to look up what it is called but remember removing and replacing the pin that holds it all together to the drive shaft was next to impossible...so kind of hesitant to try to tear it all down again because it was such a pain. Way easier to just buy a new one, albeit a lot pricier.. Might make more sense just to put the battery on the charger to be sure it does have sufficient charge before blowing $125 on a new starter but will it hurt the battery if it DOESN'T need charging to do this? Can't afford the starter at this point anyway. Sorry to change this thread so late in the game, if you think I need to start another let me know. Dang dinosaur...it just doesn't want to do any work, that's all... :^\

bodica -- Definitely DO think super carefully about the placement of everything before you start, or before it's too late. I think most of us here would consider ourselves "fussy" (although I'd prefer the words "precise" and "thoughtful"), but even still, everyone makes mistakes. It's inevitable in the process. My biggest bete noir is the placement of an undercounter light switch. I so carefully thought about the placement for all the outlets and switches and I was so proud of myself! Hubris, thy name is ME because what I'd neglected to think about was where the toaster would end up living (on our countertop). I'd thought of all our other countertop appliances and the outlet placement / light switch placement is perfect everywhere else ... but where our toaster sits is right in front of a switch. It's totally picayune, admittedly, but aggravating nonetheless to have obsessed over every little detail (your "fussiness") only to have neglected the toaster. The toaster! We've tried moving it but the spot where it just makes the most sense is right in front of that farchadat light switch. In my finished kitchen description that's one thing I harped on, about if I can help anyone else with their future kitchen it's to think about where all your countertop appliances will live so as to avoid light switch fiasco like mine. (We cannot move the light switch as we have a full marble slab backsplash.) Also, I totally second your unplugging everything when not on use! We had one of those energy surveys and our particular countertop appliances don't use energy unless they're actively on -- I want to be careful in my wording because all appliances are different.

Hi Brianne, we have the smaller version of this tile with Silverado grout in our shower. Our tile looks the exact same as yours. Did the grout colorant that you painted on help and last? I bought some but I’m scared to use it. The grout is so splotchy now it drives me crazy!!