Although this question is about red mulch - we feel the need to express our experience with red treated cedar wood, just in case they are similar. We had an unused red wood treated unused swing set in our back yard for at least 6 years that we should have torn down. The wood had fallen apart and all, but we just kept up - not thinking it would impact anything. I noticed recently the changing color of the blades of grass (red splotches) around the playset area - that we believe is due to leaking from the old set. Prior to noticing this grass discoloration we had a tree (10 feet away) die that had brown blotches on its leaves. Also prior to noticing the grass members of our family have had bloody noses, light sensitivity, migraines, runny noses, ringing in the ears, rapid heart beat, & muscle spasms (of and on). Initially, we had the house tested for mold - which returned normal. The investigator described it as an “air quality” issue. I begin to take the swing set down - just in case it was causing our challenges (w/out gloves) & only the rapid heartbeat returned - conforming to me that we might have identified the root cause. We are preparing to call & request for soil testing. Even though a swing set has much more wood & ours had much more time exposed to the environment then typical mulch - we wanted to post just in case someone searched this topic as we did to learn of others experiences. If you have concerns, search for soil testing in your area. Ours will be done by the local university and is free.

Thanks for the help. I talked to the dealer again yesterday. He agrees that the membrane should not be necessary as we never get a hard freeze here and our concrete was poured almost a year ago so any settling has probably already occurred. On grouting he did say that some people prefer not to fill the holes with grout and just hose down the porch when they fill up with the local sandy dirt. On the other hand he said that in picking a grout color we might consider getting something that blends with the local dirt as well as with the travertine. That way, in his opinion, the holes won't fill up with dirt and the grout will never look dirty. At first I thought he was kidding but he was serious. What do you think of this idea? SALLEN, I should have mentioned that the tile is 1/2" thick and I was calling it tile to distinguish it from the travertine pavers I've seen that are much thicker. We looked at everything from ceramic and porcelain tile, to slate, to Pennsylvania bluestone and even considered just painting the concrete. What finally pushed us completely to the travertine was the natural beauty of the stone and how cool it feels underfoot. (I actually took off my shoes and walked on a sample patch that was sitting in the sun). It was also in our price range---around $4 sf. Hope this helps.

It's funny to read this thread from 5 years ago hearing people talking about travertine as dated. My wife and I just bought a house and it is a pretty big upgrade to go from the included tile backsplash to a travertine backsplash. I guess my point is, and I doubt anyone is even reading this anyway 5 years later, but my point is that I agree with the people that say go with what you like and don't worry about anyone else's opinions. It's your house. Why do people always concern themselves with how other people will like their things, when they are not the ones spending all their time there.

Your ideas are possibilities, Funkycamper. We talked about doing glass over the beadboard, too, but I do wonder if it would look funny.(?) I also wonder how successfully we could blend "real" beadboard with ceramic beadboard. That's part of why I was considering transitioning to a totally different medium behind the range, so that it wouldn't be real and fake right next to each other. Thanks for your vote of confidence! I revel in all of the possibilities, LOL, it's making a "final" decision that's tough! Thanks for sharing the tile you got, iroll. Since you did the beadboard only behind the range, I'm curious what you did elsewhere. I don't think crackle snaps or pops for DH, unfortunately. I found some gorgeous (or so *I* thought) crackle tile by Enser. DH response was "Oh, yuck! What's wrong with that tile?" So much for that, LOL. Your question of how much the eye "needs" is a good one, Rococogurl. I don't know. I love color, and I like neutrals, too. I'm not sure how much my eye, or the eyes of my family can handle. I also know that I love to change things around, so committing to a color feels a bit constrictive. I get you on the difficult appliance choice. So glad to hear that your final decision is made! You must be relieved. I was talking to a friend whose son works in China. He said, "Mom, life is so much simpler over here!" She visited him and saw that they don't have much kitchen to speak of, they wash their dishes in the bathroom. She questioned his idea of "simplicity", but he then explained how if they need a fridge there are only 2 choices at the store. A big fridge or a little fridge. That's it. There is no agonizing over which thing to choose. I don't care for the medallion/mural in the picture I shared, either. I didn't associate it with a certain era, necessarily (says the girl who just put her 1997 Chevy van to its final rest...) but I think I'd tire of the same picture back there, day in and day out. My daughter and I were talking about how we can't wait to turn the calender to see the new picture each month because we're tired of the old one. So, no stone murals for this household! : ) I don't mean to be a tease! ; ) Let's put it this way, right now I feel like I'll be as surprised how this kitchen looks as you will be, if that's any consolation. I plan to post pictures, no worries! Thanks for sharing the picture of your beadboard tile combo, diymom79. Both my mom and my MIL have the vinyl beadboard in their bathrooms and love it, too. MIL has hers with the wide plank look. It's very pretty. I feel like I'm at a beautiful beach cottage when I'm in there. : ) I picked up some fabric samples today from a local store. They are quilt fabrics, so I don't know if they'd be a good choice for curtains, but they do give me an idea of how the colors work with the cupboards. Fun! I like them both--Oops. One is light colored background with blue flowers, and the other one is a black background with pink and cream flowers with green leaves. Maybe I could make both summer and winter curtains?? I need to go to the city to find decorator fabric, but the weather isn't being very cooperative for that endeavor. So, if I must, I'll stare at the cotton samples for a few days. Here's a picture, so that I'm not teasing, LOL. This post was edited by laughable on Fri, Jan 30, 15 at 23:10