Thanks! Happy holidays to you, too. Heavy rain is soaking my sleeping bulbs right now. At least it's not snow....yet. Of course, when I say "I'm done," I am not counting the tropical summer bulbs, not hardy in my zone, that I never got planted at all. I brought a few bags of those into the house, not knowing what else to do with them, and saw they were sprouting in the bags. Maybe I'll throw them all together in a pot indoors, and see what happens.....

Hey everyone I live in Ontario Canada and I fall in hardiness zone 5. What I'm wondering is how do I get my plumeria cutting to grow ? I have it in a cactus mix in an 6-8 inch pot. What I'm finding is I have small leaves starting approx 1 inch long but fiND the plant sort of stalled there. What is the hottest it should be before moving to shade ? I have been told too use high phosphorus fertilizer and water once every 2 weeks. Does it require a lot of sun or humidity ? would you guys mind giving me some pointers please My email address is maverick2003357@yahoo.com

Like hard boiled eggs and peeling it sometimes ends with some !x%'beep!. I've not had much trouble in years with the x method, until this year. Like dcarch mentioned, some are just troubled by their growing environment. That was my thought as mine would not cooperate at all. Fortunately i bought a dozen twice, from too different stores just in case. Made no difference if they sank or swam in water... I do know that if they feel hollow in the store, with a shake, meaning they are loose in the shell, they are dried out and not good. I should have photographed mine. They had such deep crevasses full of gunk surrounding the meat...impossible to use. Nothing like these delights on every other street corner in Manhattan...

Ok...here's what you can do: reach out to the original Contractor and tell him you need to bring in a flooring professional to deal with the issues left behind by his subcontractors. In building law (please consult your own state/provincial laws before doing anything...ahem...caveats are all over the place) the rule of thumb is the ORIGINAL installer (General Contractor) is allowed ONE attempt to fix an issue. After that, the homeowner is then allowed to bring in another professional to fix the issue...at the ORIGINAL installer's (GC) expense. But how does that work? That's the $64K question. How do you get the original GC to PAY for your flooring professional? That's where the communication with the GC comes in. That's up to you to negotiate how this works. Anyway, the board that is popping up is a concern for me because a well installed floating hardwood SHOULD BE super happy. Regardless of a 'fix', it should stay happy and stable. But the same 'spot' is having issues even after a few board replacements. That tells me there is SOMETHING ELSE going on. A wood flooring professional (www.nwfa.org to find your local certified flooring installer/inspector) will have the right knowledge to LOOK for the REAL reason why this same area keeps getting upset. It could be the subfloor is still wet. It could be the door is still leaking. It could be so many things...which a high-end professional will know to look for such things. The splinters in the wood are concerning as well. The one that STARTED OUT as a splinter can be repaired (wood glue) or replaced. I would start with the repair. As for the plank that has the veneer missing, I personally would leave it be because it is doing its job. But if you have left over product AND you are SUPER CONFIDENT in the professional flooring installer's abilities, then go ahead and replace it now. But here's my other concern that has NOTHING to do with installation: new splinters emerging. These floors are several months old and NEW splinters are emerging. The product you have chosen is a thin engineered hardwood. It is 9.5mm thick. That's considered 'thin' for a laminate floor let alone a hardwood floor. That means the veneer (the pretty top wood that has the stain on it) is going to be SUPER thin...and super thin veneer can have issues with stability (depending on the core it is sitting on). That's why most wood professionals like to see AT LEAST 3mm of wear layer on the top of the plank...because of stability. I would start looking at the indoor living conditions (humidity levels, AC control, heating system in the winter months, etc) when looking at NEW splinters. Splinters often indicate a dry climate or a climate that keeps shifting parameters (inconsistent humidity control, etc). Or if the entire board is splitting (the splitting goes PAST the wear layer) then the subfloor becomes a question once again. How 'flat' and level was the subfloor at the time the floor was installed? Was it 'wonky' and needed fixing? Or was it beautiful at the time the old floor was removed?