Just a couple sidenotes that recently occurred to me: By kitty-corner, of course, I mean wheels that are diagonal to each other, so Front Left and Rear Right. Also, obviously this won't work with single-lever deck-height control. You know, that's the feature some mowers have that lets you change the deck's height with a single lever, instead of forcing you to change the deck's height by having to individually adjust each of 4 wheels. Last year I thought single-lever deck mowers were the cat's meow, but now that I stumbled upon mower wheel interpolating, give me 4 individually adjustable wheels anyday! So many more cutting heights to choose from! Lovez it! In my book, single-lever control is not a benefit (and high-end feature) anymore since it robs you of interpolating. Would you believe even Walmart this year has a mower with single-lever deck control. Saw it tonight. It's called the Brute (that's its brandname) and it has a Briggs And Stratton engine with rear-wheel transmission for $217. Also has a wide 22-inch cutting diameter. Didn't see the horsepower printed on the box, though. Last year, single-lever deck control cost you big bucks and was found only in high-end models, but like I said, single-lever deprives you of many height options. I'm not interested in it anymore. Lawn newbies may be wondering what the excitement is about a change in cutting height of 0.15 inches or 0.25 inches. It's counter-intuitive, but when it comes to grass, a small change in cutting height makes a big difference, even a quarter-inch (0.25). You can visibly see the difference between a lawn cut at 2 inches and the same lawn cut 0.25 inches lower or higher. The eye definitely picks up on the small quarter-inch change in cutting height, and even a 0.15 inch change.

Welcome! I met my kitchen designer through a tile shop, by asking who they worked with. I interviewed several people associated with cabinet shops, and went to home depot. Just shopping around for that part of the project taught me a lot of things and helped focus the vision. The KD I ultimately chose suggested I start by making a list with three columns: Things I love about my current kitchen, things I hate about it, and a wish list. It was a really long list, but helped me think about every part of the kitchen more objectively. I started out knowing what kind of cabinets I wanted (or had an idea) based on a couple of display kitchens. One was at Lowe's, the other at a tile shop. If you don't know exactly what you want the final look to be, spend some time in the Finished Kitchen Blog and mark which ones get your attention. Then figure out what you like about them. Kitchen magazines are also good for this. I showed my KD photos of what I liked, and she translated that for me into cabinets. Sometimes you'll find that the overall feel of a kitchen is more influenced by the countertop and paint than the cabs, eg, and that you really don't care if the cabs are full overlay or flush/inset. Once you get The Vision the notebook of materials and locations is invaluable. Great advice to not buy until you are sure you have all the components set in your mind. However, there is always Craigslist for the items that didn't work out: I sold my shaw's original sink on it after I changed to a black one. I was a little queasy about having it in my basement (so much money, it might break, etc) but it all worked out. Give some thought to your cabinet types as well: How deep do you want the drawers in any given stack, how wide, and how deep do you want the uppers (standard is 12", mine are 14" and some folks have 15": The more the better, imo). Do you want all drawers? Do you have a corner to deal with? When shopping for cabinets, remember to get at least one bid from a custom shop; they are often at or below your budget and can build things any way you like. Even if you really like your current layout, it never hurts to post it here. There are some crazy good people here who will give you new ways of looking at your space and you might find that a few changes will make your kitchen even more functional. The very best idea for my current kitchen came from this board and it breaks my heart to this day that I wasn't able to use it (DH and KD raised legitimate points, but I still envision the radical idea on occasion and dream...!). And when you just can't figure out what to do next, post a message and you'll get a lot of support, some new ideas, and advice. One of the most important things I got from this forum has been mentioned above: Don't settle or assume things can't be done. Investigate, ask here, find out for yourself, stand firm (politely!). It can be a very empowering process, particularly if you are someone who typically goes with the flow, doesn't want to put anyone out. And try to start with your mind open to the possibilites: Things I assumed would be too expensive (new window, eg) weren't, and made a dramatic difference in the end result. If you take your time, don't get in too much of a hurry to start, and feel comfortable with your choices, you will have the best possible solution for your space and for what suits you. And you might get it done before you change your vision and start second guessing! Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Blog, aka FKB

I neglected to add that this builder warranties our home for 3 years. The home is beautiful and well built. But he has always asked for price points on the home before they were completed and he has continued working. We were over at the house yesterday. House has been cleaned up and all landscaping is completed. The painters have finished some major work but the house will still need some minor touchups through out from what we could see. An electrician was there finishing up his work and a glass guy was there finishing up the shower door and mirrors over sinks. Our builder stopped in while we were there and gave us his version of what we owed him for the build. He wanted it by the end of yesterday. Of course he wanted a lot more back from the residual than we had asked for. He didn't budge on even giving us credit for the granite. (nor do we know exactly how much he paid, but we know he made extra back on it for what it must have cost him). My husband caved and said he would pay it. He said they would be having a full crew back tomorrow to finish up cabinets and will install our towel and toilet hardware. I got an email this am that they were all over there now. When were over at the shop yesterday to pay the residual and saw all the cabinet shelves and doors that were to be installed and also the shoe mouldings ready to go. Other than having some paint touch ups and a couple of outlests that need to be complete we will be finished. My husband had contacted a lawyer several weeks ago and he got back and said they could send the builder a letter. But that if the builder walked out on the job there was nothing they could do! So we settled up last night in spite of having our work all completed and have to rely on the builder that he will do as he promised. It sucks that they have the upper hand. We paid too much money into the build and my husband said he just wants to pay and get it over with now. Builder's wife said that they will do a walkthru with us the end of next week 17th. We could start moving some things in to the garage and storage areas before that, however. The builder likes to do his own walk-thru without us first He will most likely do his on Monday or Tuesday. She surmised that everything will be done by next Friday... except to have another cleaning person in there that day. After we move in and are there living a couple of weeks and we find anything amiss then they schedule the plumber or electrician or whoever to come back and fix anything not working properly. I guess we just have to trust him.

Marti, looking at your shower floor problem, when you put in a one-piece shower receptor floor you don't waterproof below it because there is no water getting under the shower floor. With the system I used, and with Swanstone and other solid surface wall systems, you don't even have to waterproof behind the walls. Things interlock at the bottom so that the wall is inside the lip of the shower, and the walls either interlock above or butt so that they have no water infiltration possible or they have a single caulk joint. (Often a cove molding covers the butt and then the cove is caulked, too.) So, if you use a receptor floor and solid sheet walls, no waterproofing is done. Second, the way you set a solid pan is into a bed of wet compound of some sort. Our pan said to use tile mortar. A contractor I saw years ago on Garden Web said, "We always go one step further and set our prefab pans in structolite, which not only provides added resistance to flexing, but also gives you the feel of stepping on a solid surface." MTI says of its roll-in shower floor, "Shower base is designed to be recessed into the floor to create a flat transfer surface. Add bedding compound to fully support bottom of shower base. MTI's optional Pre-Leveled Foam Base requires no additional bedding compound or support." So, there are ways of making a solid surface or even a fiberglass shower pan very sturdy and inflexible, and these are the right ways to install them. As for the foam base, Jim did our tiled bathroom floor as a sloped shower floor using a Kerdi shower floor product that was a kit of foam pieces that you put into place using tile adhesive, then covered with Kerdi membrane, then tiled over. So, my room floor is a shower, too. That is in case the shower over-flows. So foam can be made strong enough to be under the floor of a shower. The MTI company is out of Georgia, I believe, and is worker-owned. They seem pretty innovative. I have a PDF of a shower pan that they make to be sunken into the floor like you had planned, but not so deep. But like mine, it has the entire long edge open and will not accommodate your wall closing off half or more of the front side. These pans are made more for roll-in showers. The pan I am looking at is MTI's MTSB 6036BF. I don't know if it is still made, or if it is an old product. I have the PDF sheet for it that I saved some time ago. My shower pan is from Transolid and is 37.5 x 63. Transolid also makes a 36 x 60 pan with a center drain. http://transolid.com/transolid-F6036-01 Transolid 36 x 60 It also has the entire front open, though, no wall lip. One advantage that it does have for you is that it is 3" deep, so if you put leveling compound into your poured area - or if you centered the drain on this pan onto your drain, then scribed off where your pan ends, you could pour the half inch bottom and the approximately six inches of concrete you need on each side to make a recessed spot for this pan in your shower space. You still would have to have a glass shower wall and door though. Their new construction solid surface walls are pretty cool. Made with an aluminum mesh backing, they go up onto the studs, do not require drywall like a Swanstone sheet or a plain Transolid sheet requires. And they sell a dome kit with LED lights that finishes off the top nicely. Trouble is, this shower type is only 32" deep. To get the 36 x 60, you have to have the drywall. Here is the basic shower. Transolid 36 x 60 Shower This time, I linked you to the place that sells it. There you can see the prices. The white is least expensive. Carrara and Silver Mocha are most expensive. They have a wall extension for taking this model higher on the wall to the ceiling. Wall Extension, but you have to remind them it is for the ceiling and that you need corner trim at the top. If you have questions about how to use the base, call Transolid, at the first link. Again, since there is a straight front that looks meant for a curtain or glass, I doubt you can put a wall there. You can call and ask if that is do-able, though. Have you talked to Grifform.com? They make custom shower pans. Cost a pretty penny. But, when you add up the cost for redoing the shower size to accommodate a pan that won't fit it, it could be worth it. And a custom pan may be the only way you are going to get the 6 ft length that you want. They should be able to accommodate the off-center drain too. They are in far eastern Oregon, so maybe the shipping to you would not cost as much as it did for me. I think it was like $500. Custom pans can be "flimsier" than ones they already have a mold for, because the ribs and such are set and they are just changing some minor things on the semi-custom ones. That is what I was told somewhere. You might want to ask about that. Setting it into wet mortar might make that moot, anyways. I did not look at the MTI site or at Duravit to see if they make 6 ft long pans. You may want to do that. Their pans are only an inch or two high, if I recall correctly, so I did not think it was worth checking. I could be wrong though! There are the Kohler enameled cast iron shower pans to consider, too. Bellweather is one. They are all no more than 60 inches long, I believe. They all may have drains on the end, made to fit where a bathtub was removed. I hope that you find something here helpful!