Craftsman style house goes with my cottage style of gardening. One of the two blue spruce in the pictures, the one on the right, came down in a big rain and windstorm early this spring. So there is a lot more light in the front. That side is now in full sun. As to lots of land, I don't have it. I have a typical suburban size lot. What makes it all work here as far as everything I have planted is that the yard is all multilevel. Harder to deal with but more things can be squeeezed in. It would never all work if it was just level. The parking lot you can see across the street is to a 16 acre park and beach so its really very nice here in the summer. Its for our City residents but never crowded just afew people arounhd weekdays and not that much more on weekends. Next to it immediately adjoining so you can walk from one into the other is a large county nature preserve, this time all wooded. Also with shoreline accress. I remember going fishing there with my dad when I was a young child. Well, I went with him. He fished, I played around.

M y 7 year old quartz finish has veining all over and nodules. I posted this originally 7 years ago. It has gotten worse every year and is now rough like a sandy bottom. it started on stairs but has covered entire bottom. The contractor blamed me for not keeping chemicals right, therefore nothing was done. I kept everything recommended and closed the pool after about 2 months. I regrettably, did not check chemicals after covered. So I accept some responsibility. I wish we would get some answers on this forum. I know at this point contractor and manufacturer won't do anything, I've written two letters with return letters stating nothing they would do about it. Now I'm trying to find out what to do with the rough finish. I have heard I could use a diamond sander, but afraid to do it. Any advice?

Hi all, While I certainly love the idea of bluestone/brick or bluestone/cement combo, it will really add to our costs (it will also need a foundation wall and footing). We feel quite stretched with this project already. I wondered if we did wood steps for now, and when they look worn we could replace with stone and bricks (or concrete). So, any chance you could help me choose a less costly step idea that will look decent (albeit not as nice as the stone/brick combo would have looked)? Here is what I wondered. We have a large quantity of 2 X 6s leftover from the siding. Perhaps the siding wood could be the risers, and we could use a cedar wood stained dark brown like the door for the treads. We could use the same bronze colour (dark brown) for the railings to match the deck railings. We would add grit product to the treads so the wood would be less slippery. Our interior steps (in case that is relevant) will also be painted risers and dark treads. Any thoughts on this idea? Should we consider using wood at all? Or will we need to find a way to pay for nicer stone/brick steps? Carol

PPF: All materials have a coefficient of linear thermal expansion. Coefficient of linear thermal expansion for concrete is roughly the same as for iron which is why it (rebar) works well with concrete. Expansion/contraction is significant for long linear surfaces such as the large concrete slab with the crack OPs thread. Though there is a much more to material science, especially concrete and types of concrete, hopefully the following excerpt provides an adequate explanation. THERMAL EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION Materials expand or contract when subjected to changes in temperature. Most materials expand when they are heated, and contract when they are cooled. When free to deform, concrete will expand or contract due to fluctuations in temperature. The size of the concrete structure whether it is a bridge, a highway, or a building does not make it immune to the effects of temperature. The expansion and contraction with changes in temperature occur regardless 0of the structure’s cross-sectional area. Concrete expands slightly as temperature rises and contracts as temperature falls. Temperature changes may be caused by environmental conditions or by cement hydration (the exothermic chemical process in which the cement reacts with the water in a mixture of concrete to create the calcium silicate hydrate binder and other compounds). An average value for the coefficient of thermal expansion of concrete is about 10 millionths per degree Celsius (10x10-6/C), although values ranging from 7 to 12 millionths per degree Celsius have been observed. This amounts to a length change of 1.7 centimeters for every 30.5 meters of concrete subjected to a rise or fall of 38 degrees Celsius. Thermal expansion and contraction of concrete varies primarily with aggregate type (shale, limestone, siliceous gravel, granite), cementitious material content, water cement ratio, temperature range, concrete age, and ambient relative humidity. Of these factors, aggregate type has the greatest influence on the expansion and contraction of concrete. Severe problems develop in massive structures where heat cannot be dissipated. Thermal contraction on the concrete’s surface without a corresponding change in its interior temperature will cause a thermal differential and potentially lead to cracking. Temperature changes that result in shortening will crack concrete members that are held in place or restrained by another part of the structure, internal reinforcement or by the ground. Forexample, a long restrained concrete section is allowed to drop in temperature. As the temperature drops, the concrete tends to shorten, but cannot as it is restrained along its base length. This causes the concrete to be stressed, and eventually crack. Joints are the most effective way to control cracking. If a sizable section of concrete is not provided with properly spaced joints to accommodate temperature movement, the concrete will crack in a regular pattern related to the temperature and restraint directory. Control joints are grooved, formed, or sawed into sidewalks, driveways, pavements, floors, and walls so that cracking will occur in these joints rather than in a random manner. Contraction joints provide for movement in the plane of a slab or wall, and induce cracking caused by thermal shrinkage at preselected locations. One of the most economical methods for making a contraction joint is by simply sawing a continuous cut in the top of the slab with a masonry saw.