Jeff, Thanks for your input. As far as I know, the stair construction continued as planned today. Any more delays and we will lose a fully mature birch tree on our lot. DH was on site to manage the contractors doing the steps. We already have the slab and steps pre-cut, finished and ready to install, and it would be costly and difficult to alter them now. The grading issue is not really a stair issue, but a problem at the man door. The stairs we are now building with natural stones are precisely the same size steps as we had in that spot with pre-cast when the house was first built. We could solve it by adding a step and cutting the size of the landing, but we do not want to do that. The man door would be much better raised as there is dirt and moisture washing into it. The biggest issue is to be sure we get the mason and concrete guy to do the repair/alteration right. Safety inside the garage with a ramp/step or what have you will be a priority. There is room in this part of the garage for a step or ramp. We will see what is needed. Sometimes, you just have to accept that mistakes need to be fixed and it will cost you. Probably, the level the foundation guy set for the man door was too low. It is tricky when you are dealing with a sloping lot. Somehow we thought a bit of dirt moving would solve the issue, but we now know it won't. Carol

We just got the Electrolux wall oven and microwave. I like the wall oven, but so far, I've only baked pretty short things--cakes, cookies, etc. Anything tall, and I'd have to remove a rack. Frankly, I should just remove one permanently bc who needs 3 racks in an oven? One thing that bothers me about both the microwave and wall oven is how quiet the buzzer is that let's you know that your food is done. It is sooooo quiet that often I don't hear it. There is no way to adjust the volume. We solved that problem by buying a separate timer. Also, if you are considering the mw, one really dumb design is that you cannot turn on the microwave if you have the microwave timer going. So, if you are timing something on the stove using the MW timer, you cannot heat something up in the mw. What genius designed that?

After a lot of research, reading everything I could get my hands on here on the forum and elsewhere, changing my mind a dozen or more times, I finally bought the GE Cafe dual fuel range and refrigerator at the end of 2009. I had used an all electric range for over 40 years so buying a range with a gas cooktop was a huge leap of faith for me. I was so sure I would NEVER buy or use gas but I have to say that I am absolutely crazy for the Cafe dual fuel! I love everything about it--the powerful front burners, the small back burner for simmering or small pots, the center griddle, the convection oven, the lower warming drawer that can also bake up to 450 degrees, the big beefy professional looking knobs. It is only 36 inches wide but looks so much bigger. There was a bit of a learning curve for me in using gas for the first time in my life but once mastered no problem. I like the Cafe refrigerator as well because of the clean uncluttered front--didn't want water or ice in the door--wouldn't use it. My only whine is that you must open both doors to access the full width bottom drawer. There is only two of us so size isn't a problem but for a larger family, it might be. It can be overwhelming with so many brands and features but do your homework and I think you'll feel more confident in your final choice.

Guessing you have decided by now, but if you didn't do and still think you might want to have someone come install one, or if someone else is trying to make this same decision, maybe this will help. We built our home about 20+ years ago and installed a Moen soap dispenser at every sink--bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen! It's a must have IMO. It prevents soap dispensers from dripping all over the countertop and sink and saves a lot of money on hand soap, because large soap refill containers are more economical. My dispenser holds much more soap than the little ones that float around, so I refill much less often as well. Refilling from the top is super easy if you hold the large refill container close to the sink mount's opening to prevent soap bubbles from forming. Also, I hated the way those countertop soap dispensers always tipped over when they were getting low on soap! We bought sinks that had a pre-drilled hole in the kitchen (white porcelain cast iron) and laundry (stainless), and we had a hole drilled into one side of the back flat area on our drop in solid surface bathroom sinks, so there's no hole in our counter top. My builder thought the latter idea was brilliant! I hope it all works out for you. Your husband probably won't care once it's installed, as long as there's soap to wash up with IMO! We put in Moen, and they still work. Make sure you get a kind that is easy to depress, because some of the Moen ones have a different kind of pump and are harder to push down and get the soap out IMO. We have and love Moen model #3910-A. Love the long soap dispenser nozzle, as it hangs over into the sink, so any drips get washed away when you wash your hands! A few years ago, we replaced only 3 of our 8 hand soap pumps with newer versions that I don't like quite as well as they have stiffer pumps (may last even longer). The newer models are #3942 and #3944; so if you like a soft east to depress the soap pump, maybe ask Moen which of their models has an easy to depress pump mechanism if they aren't still making this model. Also, I have been reading about the toxic chemicals (carcinogens, skin irritants, etc.) that are in many of the liquid hand soaps on the market at Awakening Willow's site. http://awakeningwillow.com/2011/07/27/get-toxic-chemicals-out-of-cosmetics-safe-cosmetics-act-of-2011/ There are probably other safe liquid or bar soaps, but with researching ingredients that I've done so far, I believe the following hand soaps are among the safer ones: Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap (find at Thrive Market.com, the company's website, Target.com, Walmart.com. etc.), "Mrs. Myers Hand Soap"- Lavender oil or Lemon Verbena (find at Target - on cleaning aisle), "Kirk's Original Castile Bar" made with coconut oil (find at Walmart.com), and of course there's always old fashioned "Ivory Bar Soap." (Dove Bar Soap had some toxic chemicals I wasn't comfortable with.) The soap industry isn't very regulated and I found the simple "Members Mark Aloe Vera" Hand Soap" I have been using was filled with toxic chemicals, aka carcinogens, skin irritants, and deep penetrating agents. I was appalled, so please use safe soaps in your soap dispensers. A foaming soap dispenser would make the more expensive Castile Soaps more cost effective. Recipe for the dilution found at wellnessmama.com. http://wellnessmama.com/8631/foaming-hand-soap/