Thanks for the comments. Terrybull - maybe I shouldn't have said A1's SWC mix.. I'm basically using A1's 5:1:1 standard mix. But A1 stated in a thread that if you're using that recipe in a SWC, then up the Peat to 2 parts. So basically what I've got is a 5:2:1 (Pine bark fines - Soil Pep, Spaghum Peat moss, and Perlite. with Lime added) EG - I guess my problem with the finger test is that I'm not sure of the results. This "soil" has a bit of a different feel, and it's hard for me to determine the proper moisture. It's funny, I've been growing veggies and herbs for several years, but this first year using new soil and in SWC's, I feel like I'm just beginning all over again. I'm doing all of my fertilizing with Foliage Pro which feels different also. And since I'm not sure if the SWC's are wicking properly (and if the roots are reaching deep enough), I'm not sure whether to fertilize the reservoirs or top water-in the fert. I've been doing a little of both basically. But all in all the plants are not looking too hot, and I don't know if it's the extremely wacky weather we've had here in Boise, ID or the fact that my greenhouse went down a few weeks ago in a windstorm and dumped every container upside down.. Not a good season so far..

@Pam Sessoms I can't believe this thread is still going after all these years, but I'm also not surprised that it is. Q: "Is the Safe n Sound in a full sheet sitting on the floor and then the fridge wheels and legs are ON TOP of that," A: No!!!! Do not compress the sheet in any way, it is most effective when left uncompressed, you do however have to cut it thin enough to be able to slide it under the fridge. For the rest of your question, the most important part is to cover up as much of the floor gap as possible, it is not necessary to have 100% of it closed off, it may not matter that much. What matters is you are trying to stop sound from the compressor bouncing off the floor outwards into your living space. Don't forget you can also place a thin sheet behind the fridge which may help as well. Read again my original comment on how to do it, make sure to leave enough air gap for hot air to escape or you'll be causing more problems than solving. One more thing to make a note of is that there's two kinds of rock wool insulation, one is for thermal insulation, the other is for sound absorption, make sure you get the sound absorption version. I had such good results with the stuff for sound insulation I used it to insulate the outdoor walls when I renovated, in that case I used the thermal insulation, it's definitely not as good for sound absorption, I tested it out myself. I have only 4" thick walls in the old home so it was the same thickness in my case. I have to mention one last thing, our new F&P we got is still chugging along really well, it has no noisy compressor issue, but we have a new issue with noise coming from the ice maker. It worked really slowly as I said previously, and later on started making loud grinding sounds when it dispensed new ice. We called in a repair costing us $480 CAD (ouch!) to replace the ice maker, after that it worked much faster making ice and was quiet (happy!). Fast forward 1.5 years and guess what? Yes it's making the same grinding noises and is slow making ice again (very sad!). So now what? I bet a second repair will cost $1000 because everything is now a lot more expensive. I figure I'll take the ice maker out myself and try to figure out why it's malfunctioning, not much to lose at this point. Stay tuned, I may be back with a report on the results, the refrigerator challenge is never over lol

"I don't know that one would get the laundry any cleaner than the other...which is really the ultimate goal here". You might have heard the principle that cleaning is based on four factors: mechanical action, chemical action, time, temperature. So how do the SQ and the Miele compare on each factor? Mechanical action: Pretty much the same, I guess. Chemical action: Depends on the products you use, not the machine. Time: The general-purpose cycle on the Miele W4840 has a somewhat longer wash portion than the general-purpose cycle on the SQ. And there's an option to roughly double the Miele's already-longer wash. So Miele has the advantage here. Temperature: The Miele has five evenly-spaced temperature selections, boosted by its heater if necessary, and maintained by the heater. Even its "cold" setting is at the full 30degC (86degF) allowed for garments labeled for cold wash. The SQ, if equipped with heater, has four selections, of which only one is heater-boosted and heater-maintained. Its hot and warm settings may start out at 120degF (if domestic water heater set to 120degF and no heat loss in pipes) and 100degF respectively, but they'll immediately drop because of heat lost to the load and the washer itself. SQ cold setting is 60degF. Miele has the advantage here too. So I would conclude that the Miele can clean better than the SQ FL.

This thread is great...both the topic and IglooChic's stories! This is definitely a keeper (and maybe I can sneak it into the "Read Me" thread...???) On topic... In our old kitchen we had an eat-in kitchen that could seat 6 - if you didn't need to use the kitchen for anything else! Even just 4 became too many when our children outgrew the booster seats! (Both my children are very tall & long-legged for their ages...and probably will be as adults as well!) We also had a formal DR that only got used at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...at least for eating. The rest of the year it was home to all our mail (junk & not-junk) as well as a sewing room when necessary and a place for my computer when I worked from home. This DR is rather small...13'8" x 11'1" and really doesn't have room for a large, formal DR set (table, chairs, china cabinet, buffet). Since we couldn't afford an addition on the house, even just the kitchen (which is what our KD really wanted us to do, but EXPO wouldn't let her...no modifying external walls, load-bearing walls, or roofs was their "rule"), and we knew we needed more table space for everyday as well as more counter & cabinet storage, it became a no-brainer (for us, anyway). We converted the Formal DR into what I call an "Informal DR/Formal Kitchen" dining space. We took down the wall b/w the DR & Kitchen to open up the DR b/c it was so small. We put in a peninsula b/w the rooms for some separation (we had seen another house in our development w/a similar floorplan remove the wall completely and the combined rooms looked like a bowling alley...we didn't like it at all!) We didn't want to give up seating in the kitchen totally (especially my DH since he likes to watch TV at breakfast), so we added two seats at the peninsula. Yes, the two seating areas are close (a little too close, if truth be known), but they're rarely used at the same time. We totally eliminated all other seating in the Kitchen and doubled the amount of counter space and cabinet storage. Taken together, these changes were a huge improvement on how our Kitchen & DR work and fit together in the rest of the house. I do find that I occasionally miss the DR "drop zone", but I'm trying to train everyone to use the "one touch" strategy...touch an item once & either put it away or throw it out...especially effective with mail, btw! I haven't been totally successful yet, but it's getting better. So now, we have: Two seats at the peninsula A DR table that seats 10 - 12 (or would if we had enough surviving chairs...it's an old, inexpensive set we inherited from my in-laws when they sold their house & moved into an apartment. The chairs are slowly breaking one-by-one and aren't worth fixing. Someday I'll have my "dream" DR set...but not until the kids are out of college...8 years from now *sigh* Well, not too heavy a sigh as I'm not looking forward to them leaving home!) I've gotten many, many compliments from family & friends about the new kitchen, the open feel both the kitchen & DR now have, and the fact that we now use all the rooms in our house all the time!