Hi Bill, I have seen mention of this Mapei on other threads and did a google search and came up with a lot of foreign-language links. Who makes it? Or better yet, can you give me a link to a website? (Also, I sent you an email - did you get it? I noticed another tile installation disaster today. Our Master Bath floor has been covered for protection until today when part of it was exposed while the double vanity was installed. The large 16" square honed Calcutta Gold tiles are not centered on any of the walls, so there are really off grout lines at the center of the vanity. It is really obvious and when I think about it I literally want to cry :( . This is our forever house and everywhere I turn, a tile job is done badly. I could really use a good referal!)

I have bought many appliances at the Sears Outlet stores. I always choose the ones labeled NEW meaning it was opened or cosmetically damaged. My Jenn Air french door fridge was listed at $1600 due to a tiny black mark on the top of the door. It retailed for $3200. Within 2 weeks of getting it home, my kids scratched it anyhow so the black mark is barely noticable. I think it is a great place to get refrigerators, washers, dryers and basic ranges. They have probably 150 each of refrigerators and washing machines at any time. They tend to only have a dozen dishwashers. Occasionally you may luck out and get a pro style appliance there too like my sister did. I have in the past been impressed with Sears warranty policies however, it has been a few years since I have bought any appliances so things may have changed. You have to go often if you are looking for a particular model. If you are looking for a particular item, the salespeople may take your name and call you if one comes in. As far as warranties go...it is just like buying it at Sears. If you don't want to deal with a broken machine, just make sure you buy one that was not used. The labels are very informative and tell you the history of the appliance. Good luck

I second stw's thoughts...blame Bill LOL Really though, it's a horrible tile job. I've had jobs not as bad removed because of errors, but that job is terrible. Try to explain to DH about your kitchen value. Obviously you've put together a lovely new kitchen, which is great for resale value, but you took a very visual portion of the kitchen and basically wrote grafitti on it. So when you enter the kitchen to buy it...what will you see? The beautiful kitchen or the grafitti...when "F" is written on the wall...your eyes see that first. This is the tile equivilent to "F" written on the wall of a gorgeous kitchen. It's really bad. In addition, it will likely fall off eventually due to the luan...sheesh what a dork. I'd never use him again...I would let a good guy redo an error, but this guy went wrongg on so many levels (alignment, substraight, grout application, caulk application) that you're just going to be throwing good money after bad if you reuse him. I learned that the hard way, trust me, you don't want to let him anywhere near your walls aside from the removal process, and frankly, I wouldn't even allow him to do that in my home. I have to ask...because your kitchen is so gorgeous in all other finish choices....why the shiny white grout? Is there a white element to the kitchen I'm missing??

DH and I bought a 1960's fixer-upper. The money we saved on the home's purchase price (compared to homes in the area in better condition) went into improvements, including the kitchen. But we were on a tight budget with the kitchen, and I watched every penny, and tried not to get carried away with all the stuff available out there (reading this forum makes that hard!). We also stayed within the original kitchen's footprint, since moving walls, plumbing and electrical really add enormously to a renovation's cost. Neither my DH nor I are any good at DIY stuff, so we did pay for outside contractors for the work. But I purchased almost all items myself from appliances to granite to sink and so on down to even the xenon undercabinet light bulbs. Although I did not put in actual labor, I put in plenty o'sweat equity in the form of hours spent on the internet looking for deals. As others have said, when you shop via the 'net, you save the tax, and usually get free shipping (if a website did not offer free shipping, I usually moved on to the next one). But it was hours of my time, plus the time spent tracking everything once ordered, awaiting deliveries, and inspecting everything upon arrival. So I saved dollars by not having the contractor do that, but used up a lot of my time. I did have the contractor purchase all building materials like drywall and the like cause that is beyond what I could do. I also saved money in small ways, like I chose almost all white appliances, saving with each one a couple of hundred dollars over stainless steel. I sold my old appliances on Craig's List, and maybe made a few hundred there, but hey, it all adds up. Without all the work I put in, we couldn't have managed it without going into debt. And we did not want to go into debt.