i just got a order in from burpee and they are 2009 seeds. i just put them in a hydro-sprouter i made. i will try to post pictures later on.

blumz: Thanks for commiserating! Get it now; don't wait 12 years. I have a hard time imagining how to attack those roots mechanically and still get them all so they don't lie dormant for a while and pop up later. That's what led me to posting this in the first place. So far, I've put down THREE applications of RoundUp, each one week apart, and the little boogers,as you politely name them, still show signs of some life. Comatose maybe, but I cannot yet pronounce them dead. Everything else was totally dead after the second application. I've found a product called Ortho Poison Ivy and Tough Brush Killer that contains 8% Triclopyr. Haven't tried it yet, but I understand that it would be comparable to killing a gnat with a sledge hammer. Also I would need to wait a month or two before planting the grass, as opposed to several days for RoundUp, but I'd be willing to wait. As for what has already encroached into your "good plants", I don't have much to offer. One approach, however, might be to zap them all in order to get the BSC, then start anew. I think the military calls it "collateral damage". Hopefully, someone else can offer some useful suggestions.

What to look for in a typical shower flood test. A typical shower built today in Vancouver or any city in North America for that matter is most likely a version of what you see above. The shower shown not one I tiled nor one that I waterproofed but a pretty good example of what you should look for and what many plumbers strive to achieve. The flood test above was at about the seven day mark. The shower’s inflatable test plug connected to the yellow extension hose was left in place for about two months and it took about 6 weeks for all the water to evaporate. This shower is in a basement and part of a rental suite in the home. We can learn some basics from studying this picture. For one the shower liner is installed with no wrinkle, no bulges or creases. But is that perfect? Had a proper periscope been installed under the liner the shower’s waterproofing liner would show signs of crinkling a bit. There was a pre-slope but not one that provided a 1/4” of drop per foot away from the drain. This is the minimum you should be searching for. Something that someone is going to need to do and something most likely not included in your budget. The inside corners on this shower where well glued and pressed tight. A good job there and I like how high the plumber brought up the membrane on the walls.The shower dam had no Outside Dam Corners and this is the huge mistake made by the plumber of this shower. Hard to blame him though since most stores in Vancouver selling the liner do not sell the outside dam corners. By the time the tile setter showed up to this shower a comedy of errors had taken place. The shower space was used as storage. I found nails, screws and all sorts of other HVAC wire and off cuts. The drywall crew used their ladders in there and screwed right through the shower dam’s rubber liner to install Denshield. Again, this is not the right way to build a shower but it is the way showers are being built all over North America. Next in was the tile guy. He gets paid to add concrete (4-1 mix or something like 3701 if the client is lucky) to the inside shower floor only and then the tile and grout. All the other work done by other people. So you have a framer for building the walls and setting the shower dam. Who’s fault is it if this shower fails? Who should be to blame? So the shower above was flood tested but the test itself only proved that the shower liner did not leak when tested. It did not prove that there was enough pre-slope but looking at the liner one can tell if you have seen enough done right prior to this one....

We have a contemporary house, the entry and steps and the patio/deck are concrete. We would like it to match the house style, but the finish is terrible, uneven and not square/plumbed. (See phots). What would be the best way to re-finish it? (We are in Northern California, so no freeze problems.) Thanks in advance for all suggestions. Mimi