Businesses deserve the opportunity to resolve customer complaints before their reputations become damaged. From what I could tell by researching the internet before I placed my orders, MariettaÂs Gardens enjoys an excellent reputation among a lot of satisfied customers. Do you suppose that either someone working for MariettaÂs or for the carrier might have messed up? Those things do happen, unfortunately, when employees make mistakes. I ordered daylilies from MariettaÂs about the same time that you did. They were shipped quickly, and all of the daylilies I received from them arrived in excellent condition. I live south of you in Texas too, and in our area near Houston weÂve had an extraordinary amount of rainfall this summer, along with high heat and humidity. Yet with all the orders received this month, I havenÂt experienced anything like you have. So I donÂt think buying daylilies this time of the year was the reason for the root rot and mold. Hopefully, you will find in a couple of weeks that all your daylilies are growing and have recuperated from the stress of transplant during July, as are mine.

Bill V - THank you - that is all I wanted to know. My gut told me the installers were not at fault with the installation - but I do not have your experience to go from. tuesday - When did I ever mention lawyers or legal or imply I in any way planned to go after the installer?! I said I was giving them the benefit of the doubt because I wasn't sure how they could have known before installing given the nature of the tile. I am still very friendly with the rep who sold me bad door trim. Its business - I was fair and reasonable with her and I will still recommend her because she did everything she could to remedy the situation and it isn't perfect but it is acceptable. Mistakes happen. The other day my dh told me my GC paid me a great compliment when the ice stone fabricator came by to talk about the fabrication he - admittedly - totally messed up. While they waited for me my GC said "L is more educated about building than a lot of homeowners and she knows how things should be, but she is reasonable. If you explain what you can do and are honest with her she will work with you." I am not looking to skewer anyone or get something for less than it is worth - but I do want what I - in good faith - paid for. CA - where I live is a no fault state - but I have no idea what that possibly has to do with ordering an expensive custom tile and receiving defective product? the "free tile" is hardly an "absolute gift" nor is it free. I paid good money for a product I saw in a showroom - I did not receive that product and if I want what I paid for I have to pay thousands of dollars to have the defective stuff ripped out and the new stuff installed. Sorry but I don't see the gift in that. Seaglass - I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Oceanside - that must have been very disappointing. While they appear to be much more responsive in this case I still don't really feel grateful or satisfied because I am still out a lot of money and the responsibility for the defective tile is theirs. My rep is a top dealer for Oceanside and said her experience with them has only been positive. I'm not giving up and will be talking to her on Monday and see what we can do. Cheri - thank you for the kind feedback. I also hesitated over that faucet. One reason I chose it was the huge expanse behind the sink - it begged for a faucet of some substance. I personally do not like any kind of pull-out - integrated or on the side - so I love how the sprayer works. I love the backsplash too - from 10 feet away ;-) If it did not look exactly like mold growing behind the tiles I would probably just deal with it - but something that looks like mold in a kitchen is just not something I want to look at every day while I work at my sink. I splurged on my backsplash because I do not have a window and I wanted something light reflective that would be visually appealing to someone working at the sink - not quite happening the moment.

Several things that were covered to a degree. First, the rails (horizontal parts) and the stiles (verticle parts that the hinges and knobs attach to) have the grain running in different directions, as is normal and necessary. So the rails expand across their width while glued to stiles where the grain runs the other way, so unequal expansion = joint cracks. Mitred doors are worse, as the wood shrinks across the width, the gap between the two peices gets bigger at the inside corner. The constant expansion and contraction eventually will affect the joint. They are pretty doors, but they will not hold up like a good old stick and cope door that is properly made. Usually the large companys have well run finishing schedules with step boards to follow. They ought to be able to replace your existing doors and still match the color. It is worth a shot. As to warpage on doors, yes, lay it flat on a known flat surface, pull the knob and lay it on it's back. Now, almost every door company I have ever heard of has a set of standards on warpage, depending on size. A 1/8" warp is usually not considered defective in a 36" long door. Longer doors are more likely to warp, many companies do not guarantee warpage over a certain length. And if these are screwed to the wall out of level or twisted because one side is level and the other isn't, then the door isn't the problem. Get a level and check the front face on both sides. they ought to be level, or at least the same on both sides.

Socal, just for giggles (since you seem to have this issue well in hand), I thought I'd share my dimple experience. I have a shaw's fireclay corner sink 15" square, so two sides are exposed. There was a long vertical dimple, very noticable on one side. I carefully positioned the sink for everyone who came through, so the measurements would be right, so that everyone knew about the dimple, so that there would be no question about which way it went (wrote on the inside of the cab, even). So the day the granite arrives for the island, it is snowing. My driveway is steep and has three switch backs. I have two flights of stairs that the island needs to go up and then there is a tight corner at the top before it goes into the kitchen. It took three granite guys and three football player teenagers to get it in the house. It was a bit of an ordeal. A few days later the plumber comes while I'm at work, and says to my husband, "Uh oh, She is not going to be happy...", and pointed out that the giant dimple runs down the most obvious, best lit side! Mostly it's forgotten, but when I think of it, it just makes me smile.