There is miss information every where online. Mistakes in cross sections and install advice easily found online. Differences of opinions around North America depending on whats used locally and what's viewed to be the best vary depending on the posters expierence and prior training. I have been doing research. I had Bob Weins from Schulter at my house - on my deck and asked him the best install. I called Dave from Custom Building Products as well. Surprise surprise I got two different opinions. You (Antss) yourself suggested I call the tech departments - I did. These men and their companies position themselves for market share - each feels their products are the best. How do they install? Best to ask the solidiers who do it every day I think. Is it wrong to discuss new ideas? Should we all just quote specs? If you read everything blindly and follow all the rules - who pays if it goes South? I have found mistakes online and have contacted the companies directly about their over sights - I'm working with two of them as we speak on revisions for their installation guidelines and specs. What if I just followed their advice? What if their advice is wrong? Internet advice is hit and miss. I have found and studied most of the top internet posters advice online and there is among these men differences in opinions - items for debate. I do not think of myself as "The Next Mike Holmes" and do not think I'm smarter than the engineers at these respective companies. But why do they keep talking to me? Why do they send me drains for testing? Why is it that one drain company all ready started working on new drawings? I know - I started the ball rolling... I want to discuss these points online. I think people enjoy reading about their options and hearing from Contractors who actually get paid to install these products. I don't like change and need to understand the science on a new product and then test it before I own the install. Ditra has been around for half my life. I have been installing it for more than 7 years. Why are the install specs slightly different in the UK than North America? Makes me wonder... I seek and crave knowledge. I love what I do. I'm am trying to be the best! I have not build many exterior decks. I am educating myself on the finer points of exterior deck construction and have always seek'd out the best advice online. My own drawings where approved from the District of North Vancouver for my home renovation. Why is it that the framing spec'd for my decks construction would fail a deflection calculation for exterior stone? Why is that? Code is code but this code many times is not good enough by my standard, Mongo's, Bill's and Mike's... Why can't we all build better. Why do we have to build the same way all the time. I have been teasing Mongo that I can't find out any information on him - but reading his posts for over a year I know he knows his stuff. Bill and I have battled online and yet he still offers me help. This shows his character and the simple fact that he tells me that he does not care what the techs tell me and that he uses this and that and this is the best way to do it - is exactly the type of "Solider Advice" "Solid Advice" I'm seeking. I bet Bill and Mongo have seen between them hundreds of exterior decks over living space. I build fireplaces and bathrooms. i am not a spec builder or custom builder. I'm a small fish in the Bathroom Fireplace renovation game. I have never built a home, a large addition or any project over $250,000 to date. Now I'm building my "Palace" "My Castle" "My kids home". Is it wrong to want the best for them? Is it wrong to seek opinions and advice from seasoned pro's? is it my fault that someone reading this thread does not do their own home work? I take my advice my spec sheets and I go to city hall - I ask my inspectors is this OK. Sometimes they say No and sometimes they say Yes. Most times they say "yes" if it is installed as per factory spec. I'm returning my CBU and installing more plywood. I have used Ditra in 95% of my projects and am sold 100 percent on the uncoupling properties of Ditra. I read in Fine Homebuilding years back about a builder in Chiacgo who switched to Ditra and his call backs went from 15% down to 1% in regards to tile installs. I was like wow! I researched Ditra. I paid for training. I talk to Bob from Schulter 2-10 times a year and have every year. Bob is a great guy. So is Dave. These men help me but I cross check their info with you men online. I have never had a callback since I switched to Ditra and started complete waterproofing of my projects. Not one call back in over 6 years! This is my process. If you want me to write these ideas in a new section of this site please suggest one for me. If you have a disclaimer you would like me to add to every post in this "Gray" area please forward it to me to attached to my posts. If you are so confident of your abilities and your finished projects please post some of your work for us to see. I know I would respect your advice more if I could view your work shots and know for sure that you are in the trades and can offer me first hand expeirence. Perhaps you can offer me some insight into my channel drain installations. Perhaps you would like to test one of these babies for me? I will stick my neck on the line and offer up my insight - I have a thick neck and am not afraid of looking foolish online (this I have proven I think in the past time and time again). I am far from perfect but strive to be the best in the industry. I produce job after job of 5 star finished projects. My home will be my best work. I'm looking for help - I'm looking for knowledge - I'm looking forward. Things should be built better, stronger, greener. This is something we can all do. Something we can all do better.

Jay, thanks for the Green site. I'll have to sit down and take my time going through it. marti8a, that is quite the house. It looks huge! It looks like they have implemented some good ideas, but the absolute true cracker style is very simple compared to that home, in the general style. However, whose to say if those early settlers were still around they wouldn't be trying something new, right? There were a few around with a cupola in the early days, but they don't seem to be common. We were going to put one on the house originally, but they can be hard to maintain and is another area for a potential roof leak. My husband said with the proper vents the house will perform the same as if it had a cupola. Some of the older homes have vents on the gable ends. I can't even imagine having a cupola with windows. I've seen a couple of them on modern versions of a cracker home. For one thing, who would ever want to clean the things? No one. So then you see dirty windows all the time. The other thing is the sun would be beating in and making the house extremely hot. There really isn't a practical way to cover them. Some cupolas do not have windows, but anytime you make a hole in your roof for something...... As people settled here from different areas they gradually brought some other styles with them. There are a few old homes in town that have been restored, and they have a more victorian look. There are also a few southern plantation styles that are old. The most common style still standing here is a two story "I" house with the added addition(s) on the back of the home. They had their kitchens outside the main living area for heat and safety reasons. They also added on as their families grew. The area that we live in is so cool because we can study these homes everytime we go into town or for a ride on back roads. We had a composting toilet in our "little house" (about 400 square feet) that we lived in while we built the main house many moons ago, when we were first married. I love the idea of composting toilets, and would have no problem with one in an outbuilding, but I didn't enjoy having one in my home. I'm not a squeemish person either. It made me feel like I had an outhouse in my house. They also have to be delt with properly or you can end up with odors, flies etc. I didn't get bugs in the house, but sometimes the venting fan froze in the winter and then pee you! The shower we build will most likely have a lip as well because the roll in ones can make a mess. I guess if one of us ever needs a wheelchair we'll have to remodel the shower. Hopefully, it'll never happen. My big thing is no shower door to clean and no shower curtains to deal with either. I'm still feeling really good about my loft. I won't be changing my mind again. Gee, I sure wish all of you were my neighbors. We'd have such a good time! Sandy

Twomartins, It's companies like the one your dealing with that give our industry the Black Eye! The lack of craftsmanship and professionalism has gotten so far out of control it sickens me. If any of my installers even did one of the complaints you have posted, they would know I'd be coming for them with hell right behind me. This is your home and they are guests. The disrespect of leaving their mess and expecting you to clean it up is mind blowing. I tell all my installers that the area they're working in better be cleaner after they're done than it was before they started. That's totally unacceptable. You should have left the mess until the next day and made them clean it up before they started anything else. It's understandable if something might have been overlooked or dust settling on furniture, but that should be the extent of anything left behind. Some bigger replacement jobs may have dust settling for a couple days after the job's completed. This is an acceptable occurrence in the industry. All other debris from the job inside and outside should have been cleaned up and hauled away. If we install any window that would have a fastener located in the face of the frame, it would be recessed for wood putty. After the window is set, all the holes are puttied over and sanded smooth. Whether they are being stained or painted we finish them the same way. We go to great lengths to hide all the fasteners inside the sash pocket or an area not visibly noticed. Leaving exposed screw heads and cracks is careless and unacceptable. The exterior caulking should be eye appealing whether it's ten stories in the air or at ground level. Any spillage should be immediately cleaned up, especially anything on brick. I recommend you calling Marvin and have the area representative come out and look the job over. You need to make sure these windows are still under warranty and properly installed. Make sure you get his review of the job in writing if possible. Don't ever think your better off because others have it worse than you. You should be totally satisfied and happy with the entire job no matter what. Stand up to these fly by night hacks and make them accountable. Nothing else is acceptable!!!

emagineer... We have checked the restore and the cabinets they had were even worse than mine! They were absolutely horrible and ugly. Nothing new in that store, everything was used. Its about 45 minutes away, so not something we can frequent often. We had actually originally stopped in because we are trying to put a corner shower into our master bath (there used to be one but the po took it out and put in a huge hutch). They had one but it was 4 inches too big. I could probably go once a month though. Ill have to look in Feb. Electrical is going to have to be upgraded.. it drives me crazy when I cook. Thanksgiving day, dh just stayed downstairs so I could yell at him to fix the breaker again lol. And with 4 children... I could use a dishwasher!! I had thought of painting the cabinets white.. the big hutch is very close to me taking a sledge hammer to it. Whats interesting is the old stove plug in sits there. I can see why they moved it... since it would have put the fridge right next to teh stove. I would also like to put my new fridge over there again.. and I do believe that would make it fit though Id have to check height (just leaves water line to redo lol). Nope no Ikea close by :( But I have seen an island somewhere around here like that. I do have white curtains up now, but they arent doing anything for me. Hmm.. silver accents.. didnt think of that. And I can find ads online and print those off and frame those. The old walls are yellow... one of the many many paint colours in there (currently there is white that is peelign off, with the yellow under it, then theres the inside of the cabinets in an ugly olive green, and behind the old fridge is another green. I just dont love being in my kitchen, and seeing as I spend a lot of time in there, I would like to love it!! I could easily paint the walls yellow... but would that be too much? Ive gotta paint soon. And then of course look for new hardware for the cabinets.. and I do love a lot of the ideas!