This reminds me of the thread not so long ago with the analogy of the children's story, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". This was our $30K faucet-- Our kitchen reno actually started with a basement bathroom--7 years ago! When we moved in, there was just a toilet, and we wanted to make it an actual bathroom with walls and such, since it is a bit off-putting to use a potty just sitting out in the open. LOL. So the adventure begins when we have to dig out all the old pipes and replace them all the way to the street, as our pipes are crumbling and only held together with the tree roots that have invaded. I start to get the idea that a simple stand-up pre-fabbed shower unit was not going to cut it, and I really was lusting after those large, deep soaking tubs. I convinced DH that as long as we were putting in a new bathroom, let's make it a magnificent dream bathroom (or as dreamy as you can get in a basement-LOL). Well, since we have the walls and ceilings exposed, this would probably be a good time to add a bath up-up stairs, and then the boys could have their bedrooms up there. Perfect! Well maybe since we have finished the upstairs bath, perhaps the main bath could use some updating. That looks fabulous, but did you notice how loud it is when someone is upstairs? I think that we should have our master bedroom up there, and the kids can stay down here, but let's move them into the former master and make their room an office. Yes, let's! Ewww, did you notice how positively grungy the living room seems since all the other rooms look so fresh and bright? It really does. You know, now that the living room has a facelift, this might be a good time to take the wall down between the kitchen and dining room. It only makes sense. Well, now that the wall is down, and we will have to replace the flooring, we might as well make some changes to the kitchen... Someday, we will finish that "dream" basement bathroom and come full circle on our home project, but you know if you give a mouse a cookie....

So appreciate receiving feedback It means a LOT to me. God Bless all who have offered their expertise. This was a replacement cafe type door. That is there is a door on either side of the frame that meet in the middle when closed. I see now that with this replacement door there was a space between the tile and the door frame and he filled the space with grout.. Now there is grout between the tile and the door frame and there is some grout under the transition wood piece. Could this be the problem ? I am hesitant to call him back because I am not sure he is familiar with tile/wood flooring. He is primarily an outdoor contractor (septic systems etc.) who does indoor work during the winter. I cannot imagine another busy contractor would be willing to do this small (but important project). Neither my husband nor I are handy.

Oh I’m sorry they put them in the shower. I only have them on my bathroom floors. I am currently using Bona products. They are Ph neutral and readily found in retail stores. When the cement tiles need more help than regular cleaning, you’d be surprised at how aggressive you can get. Both my floors had different installation issues and needed to be restored. In the first bath the installer got thin set on the tiles before they had their first coat of sealer. I had to sand them all down before we could grout. The second bath had sealer, but the navy pigment in the grout stained anyway. In the end Mr Clean Magic Erasers scrubbed them clean without damage (they are chemical-free and made out of melamine foam) You can even use peroxide safely. Check out the cement tile websites for more care tips.

I bought LVT for my home and did not buy it from the first brick and mortar store that I found it and I don't feel that my decision was at all unethical. The first store was Carpet One. The salesperson was nice, showed me where the LVT flooring was and answered questions about the quality. I picked several samples to bring home and was torn between 2 of the samples. One was a national brand, one was a Carpet One Exclusive brand. When I read reviews and did some research I found a review that talked about yellow staining with the light colored tiles. I asked the salesperson and she told me she had never heard of anyone having this issue, and if they did it would be covered by the warrantee and replaced for free. The review had said the warrantee had an exclusion, so I called the manufacturer and found out that their was an exclusion for "environmental staining" (macadam oils getting on your shoes and tracked over the floors causes staining). That left me with the Carpet One exclusive product. I decided to do some more research before committing. What I found out is that the product was manufactured by Coretec for CCA Global Partner stores. (Carpet One, ProSource, The Floor Trader and Flooring America). The same product and color was not sold through Coretec, but was available under different names at each of the CCA Global stores. I checked prices at each of the stores and found very different pricing. Even if two stores were both Carpet One stores the price was different. I decided to get two quotes from two different stores. One for just materials and one for installation and materials. Both stores are brick and mortar stores in my local area. The first store (Carpet One) was charging significantly more for the same product (about $2.00 SF more), but they charged a bit less for installation. Overall price was still higher than the second store (Flooring America) but it dropped the savings down to about $1.00 per square foot. When I asked about installing the product myself they told me the product came with installation instructions and could be installed by the homeowner, but didn't offer any other information. Out of curiosity I did ask the sales person at Flooring America about the staining issues with the national brand product. He was aware of the issue and told me that it was excluded from the warrantee. When I asked him about installing the product myself he not only told me it was not all that hard to install, but also offered several options that would help me with the installation. 1. They rent tools by the day if you don't own the tools needed to complete the install 2. They sold a basic installation kit (Pull bar, tapping block, spacers) 3. You could hire one of their installers for 2 or 4 hours who would teach you the basics and help you get started. It wasn't just the price, although I don't see a reason why I would have knowingly paid more for the same product. It was a combination of price, trustworthiness and services offered that made this a really easy decision.