thanks for the ideas. after a few days of work heres where I am at. I fixed the curves and made them larger more "sweeping" ... It looks better on the eye. I also got a cubic yard of eggrock and filled in the bed against the house. heres the left section of my driveway where I have 5 italian cypress trees planted along the fence. I put the rest of my eggrock on this narrow planting bed. The trees are evenly spaced although the camera angel is playing tricks. As far as the far right corner of the eggrock bed where the banana trees are. Next month I am gowing to my grandparents farm down in south florida where he grows washingtonia palm trees. I am hopping to bring one back with me (8 -10ft) or so. If i can get it up here, i will be relocating the banana tree and elephant eears and the misc lirope to the rear house (next project). that why that lil corner doesnt have egg rock down yet, plus the rock looks funny comming to the base of a banana tree. plus after the fisrt freeze in winter it turns to mush and a washingtonia palm would be great there. I do have a few places in the rear of my yard that will have plenty of palms though.

Well, it can't hurt to give Mr. Eraser a try, or any other things for that matter. I looked for some ideas elsewhere and one said to use a vinegar and salt solution. If nothing makes it more presentable, I might just spring for a new door handle--I'll just have to make sure it's the same as the current one because I don't want to have to paint the door too! Seems one thing always leads to another..... Thanks! Tracey

lkremodel, which style and finish did you mean? I went to Lockhouse but didn't see anything different. I went to 3 Emtek dealers today. I saw your Rectangular Full Length one. Did you know how massive that thing is? It's really big and heavy. Make sure you see one in person first. I'm considering the smaller rectangular one, the rectangular monolithic. But it's so plain! Plus it has a curvy handle, and my door is all straight lines. I saw the Arts & Crafts one, the one I wanted, but the ORB finish is just not going to go with my black-leaded glass. It's way too reddish, and the hammered texture in the middle really shows the brassy color. About the texture: depending on the method of casting, some have more texture than others. So, the sandcast bronze ones have kind of a rustic look, not totally smooth. The Wrought steel have the roughest finish, like pebbly, but on a small scale. Those are the ones that come only in black, rust and satin steel. The cast brass ones are all smooth. I'm really striking out here on Emtek. I will have to look further to find an Arts & Crafts one in black, or get the Wilshire in Pewter. It's not black, but it's at least a little darker. Sigh.

I actually used that exact brand and glass knob on my exterior french doors, but they're from the bedroom to the back. this is about 4 years later. interior is still fine. I will say, this matte black finish doesn't hold up very well on the exterior. you can see from the photo how the finish has 'faded' or grayed? The door knob itself is fine. (and I don't get freezing weather)