Me again. Finally, we're back in working order. The local service guy and I both learned a few lessons. He learned not to assume that the valve that failed is the cold one, when the customer can't shut off hot or cold supply independently. I learned not to assume he would assume either or both and so order both parts. We both thought about that whole situation a few times since Saturday and both of us realized we should have thought further about where else we could turn off cold or hot supply separately - just the fitting at the wall by the washer, or could we have tracked back further? I'd forgotten that I'd insisted the plumber put in additional shut-offs earlier in the line, in case we ever needed to shut these lines down, without impacting the rest of the household! I also learned that the people at Bosch (where you end up when you schedule warranty service through the 888-77LOWES number) vary wildly in their knowledge of how to proceed. The first one I spoke to misunderstood me back on the weekend I initially posted. He thought I said I was OUT OF WARRANTY so he sent me direct to the local authorized service guys (Scott's Appliance Installation and Repair). Scott and I muddled through trying to get the part ordered over a couple days, and then trying to get it expedited. Once we got through that, Scott came on Saturday (a week after this all began) only to discover in the meantime, that the bad one was the hot, not the cold. He scoured the New England area this morning, found a source, worked out whatever deal he needed to get it in hand today and replaced hot and cold fill valves this evening. Although I'd have been happier if he'd done a more thorough job of troubleshooting me in the first place, I truly like this independent authorized service provider. He works alone - so I'll never see some clueless idiot with an attitude. I like that he completely owned up to making a mistake in troubleshooting and that he made it right, and did a late appointment today, rather than making me stay home from work tomorrow. (On his first visit, when we realized we couldn't make the Bosch functional that day, he fixed a couple dopey* things wrong with my old machine for free, to make sure I could do a couple loads on Sunday, too.) He also helped me put the Kellett ShakeAway Pads I ordered a while back under the machine, even though his experience with various pads said I'd be unhappy because it might cut the sound but the machine would be jumping around more visibly. When we tested them, he said, "I have to admit, I'm impressed!" I'm happy... and the Bosch is humming away upstairs, and my whole house AIN'T shakin! (*hubby put new hoses on the old machine on Friday and ran a load or two. I found them dripping on the basement floor and he'd hooked them up backwards, hot for cold. Good thing I didn't run a load of undies in "cold" or my unmentionables would have also been my invisibles!)

Just checking on the cherry. Can't say I'm too fond of oak myself. There are few instances where balustrade removal and replacement work out too well unless you're disassembling the stair re-milling and reassembling it. Even then unless you are talking about a stair that's made out of a rare or exotic lumber that would exceed the cost of the time and labor of doing so It is not often the best practice. I would still use care taking it apart and use it to make something else. How solid are the newels, are they loose surface mount or do they go into the floor? Iron is nice. You can either use a metal rail or wood on top of it. For a long while iron/steel balusters were a bit less expensive than wood but now they are comparable. The wood rail will usually be less expensive than the metal and easier to install. Newel posts can be either as wood newels match the iron quite well. A few of the things I was mentioning about not being correct in the drawings were the balusters and newels. The newel is an Arcways product whose turning is sized for the 30" rail heights of days long gone by. Note the extremely tall base. The balusters are StaiParts Inc. made for the same. The upper turnings don't even come close to matching the rake of the stair which is common for too many stair part manufacturers. Even with the stair and balcony rail set to the highest height in order to use a closer matching baluster combination to make it less noticeable. Arcways however does have some fabulous rails and fittings, checks their small orders for matching, offers cherry as a stock item and will sell directly to homeowners. They also carry iron and steel balusters. I believe OakPoint sells direct and Crown sells through Brosco/Brockway Smith, 84 Lumber and even a few Lowe's locations as well as numerous stair companies. Use the dealer locator on their website. Both have a good selection, have cherry as stock on some of their profiles, good quality and a product line that looks correct for todays codes. "Solid" or one piece treads sound nice but they are not really what you want unless they have relief milling on the underside and even then it's not much of a guarantee against checking or cupping especially if they are only 3/4 thick". How will the 1 1/4"+ overhang hold up? Construction adhesive and a finish nail through the top of the finish isn't going to last too long and will squeak like crazy after a while. A typical tread is 1 1/16" thick and will be made of three to 5 pieces. Cherry treads are most often made "in house" from random width/length material and a good stair shop will cut out any sap wood, match the grain and the leading piece will be well beyond the riser. Engineered treads are also available but like everything they have their pros and cons and I think the cons still outweigh the pros. The open left end should have a return nosing mitered into the front left corner and extend past the next riser by the same distance as the overhang with a scotia below. That is the dark piece I am showing on the edge of the tread in the image above. If you go through your phone book or search for stair companies or stair manufacturers and not stair part manufacturers you should find a few. If you call a stair parts manufacturer they will direct you to someone in your area that they sell to. I was looking for the dimension of the face of riser to face of riser or the run. I'm assuming 7" is the height? Floor to floor height. From the top of the plywood where the upper stair lands to the top of the vinyl on the landing and from the top of the vinyl on the landing to the top of the vinyl(?) in the basement. If the vinyl is flat I would agree with keeping it in place if the glue has failed and it's lifting remove it and in either scenario use a quality felt paper underlayment. Did you already place the order with the millwork shop? How soon do you need to get this done? I really think it would be in your best interest to explore all avenues and plan out the whole project before you buy anything. As Casey noted above it is often cheaper to remove all and replace. It would take you less time to install the two units than it would to even do one single tread.

"No, they have to build to code. When it comes to stairs, approved drawings are more like suggestions." Well, they should be accurate, but I really do not see many architect drawn plans that are. Case in point, ILoveRed's plan is only accurate on the 2nd floor plan. Appearantly, you are allowed to loose a tread for each lower level you draw. It also bugs me that they tend to spec stairs at code minimums. I have never drawn plans with less than a 10.5 inch tread run, 10.75 or 11 when convenient. I am also almost always able to stay under a 7" rise because I simply figure out how much room is necessary before I draw the rest of the house. If I were actually involved with this plan as a GC, I would have made sure the plan was corrected to a max 7" rise, and min 10.5 run before it was finalized. If I was not involved until after the plans were approved, I would have drawn out a few alternatives before construction started to explain what can be done at that point to fix the steep stairs, and most of them would have proper winders that feel good, not that 45° corner nonsense.

Answer to question 1) You can paint them white or you can match the stain and get veneer of the wood of your stairs. them glue down and can be stained and sealed with polyurethane. It depends on what you like. i did the later but its all preference. you can also get riser fronts in oak (if that's your wood and you want something a little thicker) or have them ghost/faux coated to match on the side that is white. Answer to question 2) Technically you can do anything but different wood colors in bedrooms looks disjointed/not cohesive. If you want wood in the upstairs to be different than the downstairs you can, but that usually starts at the stairs and goes into the rooms. as you just did the rooms, I'm assuming you don't want to so that. Also if the house is smaller, keeping the same wood going the same direction helps the space look larger. Instead consider a good area rug if you want to bring in a dark floor color.