While 1% slope theoretically will drain, in reality it won't do a very good job unless it's a hard paved area, which this isn't. It would be to your benefit if you can increase the overall slope. Some situations aren't perfect so we make them the best we can. If the side yard gets a little soggy after a long rain it's not the end of the world, but you should make sure that there is sufficient slope away from the structure so that there is no chance of any pooling water reaching it. If it will be spilling over the lot line along the way, that will help. IF you can add a little elevation at your starting point (near the deck as you mentioned) that will help your result down the line as well. I converted your measurements into elevations starting with 0" at point H (so we won't need to deal with negative numbers.) Point K is 28" above this. I added proposed elevations (both 1% and 2% ... I see in the preview that the dark red--2%--looks almost black, but I think you can figure out which one it is) at point C and point O. This makes it easy to see what your goals could be. While it might be difficult because of obstructions, to achieve a 2% slope swale, it would be better if you could. Because of the greater slope in the front yard, you wouldn't need to encroach too far into it. You might end up being able to create a compromise and achieve more than 1%; the more slope you can incorporate, the better. Rather than starting at one end of the swale and dig its entire width all the way to the other end, it would be better if (once you determine the route) you carve out only the center of the swale. You could do this with a pick/mattock. It only needs to be about 3" wide ... just enough so you can observe how its grade will relate to its surroundings. After the center line is carved you can easily appraise whether the swale grade will be ideal or if it needs to be altered. Make it to your liking and then, once it is, you can excavate from the center outward to each edge, blending it into the flanking grade. While creating the center line you'll need to double check that the elevations create a satisfactory slope. But for the rest of the excavation, you'll be able to eyeball that the swale profile is adequate. Creating the center line first like this may prevent a lot of wasted digging if alterations need to occur. As far as cutting tree roots, I'd be inclined to cut through them without much reservation up to about 5" dia. (This is pretty easily done with a 10" folding pruning saw once you remove most of the soil from around the root. Just cut out a section.) For larger roots, you might post a photo of the root and the surroundings, including the tree. My math is not double checked and certified so could have errors. But it's just to give the general idea. If I've overlooked something key, hopefully pls8xx or someone will jump in and bring it up.

it makes no sense, since at times its going to be your subfloor with the unevenness not the wood. The whole point of sand on site is to achieve a flat surface and allows you to fill any cracks and voids before you put the finish on. Otherwise you should just buy prefinished and forget about on site sanding.

Hi Everyone, Thank you all for your very wonderful and positive postings! I've appreciated your suggestions too! Yes, it is a wonder when I wake up and see it in the morning sun, and yes, we finally are getting some sun up here in the NW - it's been a long winter! You all have made me feel better about spending the extra money for this material. We had no idea when we picked it that it was 4 to 5 times the cost of Carrara material only! But, my husband and I both knew we had found a special lot and when we received the pricing back, he was the one to say -"we need to go for it!" In his mind, he felt we would be crazy to spend less money and think about what was missing (what could have been) every time we walk into the kitchen. We plan on staying here at least until we retire and probably longer, so we could pro-rate it in our minds. taliaferro, egganddart49 - As for the origins of the stone, here's what I know from the professionals who've worked with me on this project and what I can remember from Arch History.... Wikipedia "Carrara is a city in the province of Massa-Carrara (Tuscany, Italy), famous for the white or blue-gray marble quarried there." I was told that Calacatta comes from one particular mountain and that the Gold is quarried in one area and the Classic in another. The Classic is what was used for the most famous of the "white" Roman statues. It typically has a white background with black and grey veining. Mine has a little more of the gold-brown tones and the fabricator thinks through the years the Gold and Classic quarries are getting a little closer to each other. It is not from the same quarry as Carrara - it has the pale blue-grey background that the Wikipedi definition mentions - and that was why we spent the extra $ for the Calacatta. mustbnuts - I think we may have found a hardware solution, but I'm going out today to confirm. The finish we selected is called old silver and it looks like a well used piece of silver with a bit of tarnish. As soon as I know, I will post a picture. Claybabe - "next to it" syndrome, understand that, we lived it for 16 years at our old house - and, I'm in the business! No, we actually have the rest of the main floor done. The kitchen was the last piece after moving here three years ago. I was really only referring to some furniture in the family room that is a mishmash of a couple new pieces with leftovers from our last house. The remodeling "c'est fini" on the main floor, but I need to spend some money on the interior goods. Oofasis - Yes, I will post photos of the stained cabinets soon. I have some good points racked up with a client of mine who is a prof. photographer and he is going to shoot the kitchen when done. Oofasis, jkom51, amanda-t - I have selected the backsplash, even before the slab and we are going to stick to it. It is a Thassos (white sparkly marble) 3" x 6" brick with beveled edge. http://www.pentalonline.com/swatch/akdo/akdo.html They also carry it in Calacatta, but we want the focus to stay on the counters and cabinets. It will be clean and simple. RMKitchen - Brooke, are you feeling better yet? Hope so, 5 days is too long! Thanks for your comments, as always! If you ever make it out to the Seattle area, you are welcome in my kitchen anytime! rachelen - We got rid of our nook - that's where the bay window is, they were tall windows and we raised them up to counter depth. I love looking out at the backyard instead of the front while I'm at the sink. The overall dimensions are about 12' x 19'6" and it's wonderful! The island is plenty of casual dining area for us and our dining room is really going to benefit from being used more - regular weekday dinners are now going to be in the the dining room - fancy that! lagrant - LMAO - kitchen porn, now there's a potential thread title for you! The cabinets came from Canyon Creek in Monroe, WA. They have grown to a fairly large company and may be available in other locations. We also looked at Omega and KitchenCraft, but I also didn't care for their distressed black look and the charcoal stain was too transparent for what we wanted. The Canyon Creek is an ebony stain on maple and is available in a solid body stain with satin finish, burnished and distressed. In the end, we chose to go with the burnished, which is almost solid black, but a small amount of wipe through on the last coat of stain. We figured it would be a bit more forgiving of dings - we do not and will not live in a museum! The only other option we considered was a custom paint grade cabinet and painting them ourselves - my husband has some history of painting and we did it before at our last house, first painted the kitchen white - then 9 years later painted them ruby red. But, we really didn't want to take on that project if we could avoid it! kitchenkelly, houseful,jaedwards, trudymom, lnersesian, marthvila (plain brown paper wrapper - LOL), cat-mom, loves2cook4six, napagirl, nuccia, susan4664 : Thanks all of the kind words! You can't know how many of your posts on other threads has helped me make decisions on my own kitchen !

Hmm I would say first for tiles etc, but for a lay down click or slot or whatever you want to call it, floating floor, I'm told you should NOT run the flooring right under the cabinets. I was told this by my ex boss who was a moron in many regards but knew what he was talking about in this regard. Apparently you get too much movement if the cabinets sit atop this type of floor. He recommended that you lay the floor AFTER, also eliminating risk of damage to floor, naturally you have to make height allowances, but get kitchen installers to leave the kick panel off - then you have open space under cupboards. Flooring is laid up to - but allowing space around - the plastic leg things that hold kitchen cupboards up these days. Then, once floor is in place, kickboards are put in, so they run flush to the floor. They look just as good as floor will continue some distance under kickboard, but your cupboards will be sitting on a solid, stable floor, where they won't move - movement would cause problems with your splashback joints and possibly with any tiling.