In my estimation, the only case to be made for reusing container soils is one of economics, and you'll never find me argue against making that decision. If you can't afford, you can't afford it. That said and setting economics aside, you might decide to reuse soil for reasons other than economical. Perhaps the effort involved with acquiring (or making your own) soil is something you might not wish to go through or be bothered with. In any case, it would be difficult to show that soils in a more advanced state of structural collapse can somehow be preferred to a soil that can be counted on to maintain its structure for the entire growth cycle. So, if the economic aspect is set aside, at some point you must decide that "my used soil is good enough" and that you're willing to accept whatever the results of that decision are. All soils are not created equal. The soils I grow in are usually pine bark based & collapse structurally at a much slower rate that peat based soils, yet I usually choose to turn them into the garden or give them over to a compost pile where they serve a better purpose than as a container soil after a year of service. Some plantings (like woody materials and some perennials) do pretty well the second year in the same bark-based soil, and with careful watering, I'm usually able to get them through a third year w/o root issues. Watering habits are an extremely important part of container gardening. Well structured soils that drain well are much more forgiving and certainly favor success on the part of the more inexperienced gardeners. As soils age, water retention increases and growing becomes increasingly difficult. If your (anyone's) excellence in watering skills allows you to grow in an aging medium, or if your decision that "good enough" is good enough for you, then it's (your decision) is good enough for me, too. The phrases "it works for me" or "I've done it this way for years w/o problems" is often offered up as good reason to continue the status quo, but there's not much substance there. I'm being called away now, but I'll leave with something I offered in reply on a recent thread: "... First, plants really aren't particular about what soil is made of. As long as you're willing to stand over your plant & water every 10 minutes, you can grow most plants perfectly well in a bucket of marbles. Mix a little of the proper fertilizers in the water & you're good to go. The plant has all it needs - water, nutrients, air in the root zone, and something to hold it in place. So, if we can grow in marbles, how can a soil fail? Our growing skills fail us more often than our soils fail. We often lack the experience or knowledge to recognize the shortcomings of our soils and to adjust for them. The lower our experience/knowledge levels are, the more nearly perfect should be the soils we grow in, but this is a catch 22 situation because hidden in the inexperience is the inability to even recognize differences between good and bad soil(s). Container soils fail when their structure fails. When we select soils with components that break down quickly or that are so small they find their way into and clog macro-pores, we begin our growing attempts under a handicap. I see anecdotes about reusing soils, even recommendations to do it all over these forums. I don't argue with the practice, but I (very) rarely do it, even when growing flowery annuals, meant only for a single season. Soils don't break down at an even rate. If you assign a soil a life of two years and imagine that the soil goes from perfect to unusable in that time, it's likely it would be fine for the first year, lose about 25% of its suitability in the first half of the second year, and lose the other 75% in the last half of the second year. This is an approximation & is only meant to illustrate the exponential rate at which soils collapse. Soils that are suitable for only a growing season show a similar rate of decline, but at an accelerated rate. When a used soil is mixed with fresh soil after a growing season, the old soil particles are in or about to begin a period of accelerated decay. I choose to turn them into the garden or they find their way to a compost pile. Unless the reasons are economical, I find it difficult to imagine why anyone would add garden soils to container soils. It destroys aeration and usually causes soils to retain too much water for too long. Sand (unless approaching the size of BB's), has the same effect. I don't use compost in soils because of the negative effect on aeration/drainage. The small amount of micro-nutrients provided by compost can be more efficiently added, organically or inorganically, via other vehicles. To boil this all down, a container soil fails when the inverse relationship between aeration/drainage goes awry. When aeration is reduced, soggy soil is the result, and trouble is in the making." Al

Oopsie, I plan on talking to him. Because I have seen his temper I'm afraid of what he may do, not sure why? When he let me know that the wood grain was going to show thru in the front of the cabinets, said how that wasn't included in the sanding and spackling, I agreed to give him 200 extra, even though DH and I knew it was included, wanted it done right. When he let me know his estimate for painting skylight, sofit and walls didn't include ceiling, he thought it was going to be another extra. Who would expect a job with (new lighting,under counter lighting, granite counertops, carpentry, crown molding, floor, added pull outs, new appliences)not to have ceiling painted? At this point I just want to pay him for what he has done and get him out of my house. If I have to stay home with him while he paints the inside frame with 2 coats of paint, I will sit in the kitchen and watch. Is there anyway of me telling if he did the agreed on 2 coats of paint on the front part of my cabinets? Since he told me several times it wasn't necessary to give 2 coats of paint, I feel he didn't do it,even though he said he did, obviously I don't trust him any more. When he paints the frames he will have to cover my granite, and will also have to take the doors off (inside hindges), do I tell him this, or assume he will do this the proper way? I'm afraid the quality of this work won't be the same, which is why I ageed to the price he gave me. My mistake was looking at his own house as an example of his work, in my home he cut as many corners as he could, in his own home he cut no corners. He has also told me several times that for the "money I paid him and for my doors I could have had a new kitchen", till I asked him never to say that again. He has made other comments, which have done what they are suppose to do, shut me up and get me out of the kitchen! Thanks in advance for your help.

I tried checking him out online. He does not have a website. Angieslist only has one review on him which is positive. Livewire I'll ask him some questions. What about putting color marker on cut seams? My cabinets are painted. I've seen some guys use furniture markers (if stained) on the edge of the cuts so bare wood does not show. He is supposed to come out to do the template next week. This is just to verify the measurements. Then it is Lowe's problem if a measurement issue arises. I also get a one year workmanship warranty. I had to pay $75 for him to do the template, but it will be deducted from my final invoice if I use him. There were a couple of reasons I decided to go with him instead of DIY. -Tax savings is the biggest. I would have to pay $800 in taxes. I realize I still have to pay $1325 for the install. I'm still debating on if it is worth it, since I have all the tools and like working with wood. -1 year warranty. I know I would level the base cabinets completely level. I just worry that some warranty issue with the granite countertop will arise, and they will say that it is a base cabinet issue. -If he makes a wrong cut, it is on him. He will need to replace the piece. -TIme involved. I would likely spend a lot of time making sure everything is level, plumb, square, etc. If he does it for a living, I would assume he would be able to get done in a day or two. Does anyone know if the Lowes installers install the cabinets at Lowe's showroom? If so, I would not be happy with the work.

Thanks so much for the suggestions and advice!! Chicoryflower .. no laughing here :) If I was in a different house, I'd snap up some vintage MCM metal cabs and have them painted at an auto body shop in a super fun color. I love colorful kitchens and MCM design, your mockup is great! Mclark and Littledog, a base cabinet that had dividers to hold baking sheets, pot lids, etc is a super idea! That would be an excellent use of space. Thanks so much for the suggestion, I'm going to investigate if some of the 'after market' places ( like rev-a-shelf ) have a comparable unit. Live wire oak and Kabergs, the refrigerator and dishwasher will both be stainless, so I'm hoping the hood will help tie it all together. I have thought that if I get the hood put up and don't like the look against the stove, then I would have it painted by an auto body shop. We know a guy that does great work and is very reasonable. Unless anything changes between now and then, what I'm planning for the kitchen is to use IKEA cabs. We will be doing some carpentry work to them, so they look a little more custom. I've seen the Tidaholm painted and they look just like frameless shaker cabinets, we'll be painting ours white. I'd love to have custom shaker cabinets, with inset doors, they would go better with our older home. My DH is too busy to make them though and after pricing them out it's just not what I want to spend right now. I'm fairly certain we'll be using soapstone counters, we are in the process of looking into Alberene soapstone up in Virginia. We'll probably buy/pick up honed slabs from them, transport them home and then we'll(DIY)fabricate them on site. I already have a soapstone farm sink here waiting, it was a super good deal off of e-bay. The floors will be salvaged heart pine that matches the rest of the down stairs. That's going to be a bit of work, we need to take up layers, upon layers of old floors, put down plywood and start fresh. Right now the kitchen is the highest part of the downstairs. *LOL* We've been working on and off on a Mahogany unit that will be a storage/pantry area. Here's the doors just set in place ( they aren't hinged, just setting there, so the reveals are/look off ) we still have to make the sides of the unit. This is just the raw wood too, it hasn't been treated with a top coat yet. We'll probably waterlox it and let it age naturally, no stain. Cruddy picture, but ..