I've had good luck with regular, "plain" blue Dawn (no bleach, enzymes, etc.) but it does require that it sit a while (30 minutes+) to work. I've also had luck getting oil-on-cotton (just vegetable oil, though) stains out with the spray Tide pre-treater and with Persil Color Gel, both of which seem to work a bit quicker than Dawn. I would be interested to see your results with the Tide pre-treater in particular.

Thanks for the good thoughts, guys. They are NOT going to use Fiber-Fix to repair the spigot. I am quite sure there is nothing wrong with the spigot. They just turned it off to make my gardening life difficult. I am trying to find a good home for my Nelly Moser clematis, which is growing like gangbusters right now. I was really looking forward to placing my coir-lined wire basket on a 15" plant stand in the garden, it has a cute wire cat face. But now I see that this idiot manager will call the cat ears "pointy" and demand I get rid of it. He also told me I have to put all my mulch and stuff in my storage area (that I pay extra for), and anything I leave out, he will throw away. I guess I will keep a plastic garbage can in my storage area that will fit in my shopping cart. I will fill it up with water a couple times/week from the spigot in back of the building, then find some sort of hand-held pump to get that water onto my garden. I'm thinking Round-Up on the model apartment's lawn, that's for sure. In other news, I am ordering replacement hostas for my MIAs Gypsy Rose, First Mate, Rainforest Sunrise, and Country Mouse. I will get a Hyuga streaker for one of the 2 MIA First Mates, I will get another Rainforest Sunrise (they are soooo purty!), and First Frost (?) was suggested as a replacement variety for Gypsy Rose. Any other suggestions for a small hosta with distinctive markings? Thanks.

Tricky? Not really. Place one or two squares of nylon window screening in the bottom of the inverted top. I use such in regular pots without issue. For stability, rocks can be placed in the bottom section. Furthermore, if this is just to test the media, the weighted bottle could sit in a terra cotta pot or a shallow hole in the ground, or braced with bricks, or any number of other cheap, down and dirty solutions.

If you keep the stairs as is, you might consider using the entire space beneath them as storage space -- even the steps can be made into drawers facing the person walking up them and/or the storage can be accessible from the side. Consider the possibility of adding a shelf (with or without a hinge top door) around the room(s) above the windows for lesser used items (you'd need to have a (folding) steps tool or step ladder to access) -- books in open shelving in the living areas and, in the bedroom areas, winter items in summer and vise versa; holiday items; travel accessories, etc. BBQ tongs can help you retrieve a blanket from such shelves as fall turns to winter ... no step stool needed. Choosing vertical furnishings can give you more storage for less floor space used. A storage ottoman can do double duty as can some coffee tables. Using upscale wood filing cabinets for end tables and side tables can give you lockable storage.