fruitnut, that rundown was actually very helpful. That was a concern of mine, if it would grow new ones from the top of the 'trunk' or if it would keep expanding on its last years wood. Tart cherry - I hear they're *slightly* more hardy than the sweet. My citrus is already incredibly finicky, so I'm hoping the experience there can help me out. From what I understand they're prone to mildew, but I've gotta look into it some more. And thanks for the Double A recommendation, I found a few varieties that are well suited as table grapes to the bitter zone 3 climate and winters. Can you tell me how large/old they are when I would get them? I can't imagine they'd produce yet this year, but would I get grapes next year? It might say on the website, I'm on mobile so I may have missed it. They're very affordable, too! I'm leaning towards the St. Croix variety. Edit to add: the wealth of information on their "Learn" area is astounding! There's a whole power point like thing about pruning from just a cutting through the third or fourth growing season. This is exactly what I was looking for. This post was edited by cfox248 on Wed, Jul 16, 14 at 20:03

No, no no. Assuming your panel will have 8 zones, you will end up with either one expander, leaving you one zone short of your 17 zones, so I guess they're proposing TWO zone EXPANDERS which will give you a total of 24, so there will be 'spares.' A zone expander is about the size of a small paperback novel so you are not going to get 17 of them, or one per room (although if a room had a lot of devices - remember - 1 window or door switch = 1 device, one motion sensor or smoke detector = 1 device) That many zone expanders would also require a lot of power, more than the panel could supply. 17 zone expanders would give you 136 zones! (17 x 8) The installer has probably determined you will have 17 devices - how many doors or windows do you have? This will also include the motion sensors and any other gadgets you'll have. As a trainee/assistant, I'm not that knowledgeable but I guess motion sensors CAN share a zone- but it's not desirable. More common, doors and windows can share a zone, less desirable but common and ok if they're preferably close together - say, two adjacent windows, or, more commonly, french doors - I'd probably put the two doors - which would both have a switch, on the same zone. Like I said, just look at the quote - it will say "1 x xyz control panel @ $ x 2 x brand x zone expanders @ $ dollars. Anyway, it's not something to get too concerned about unless you really like technical stuff. You want your house protected, and a good price. Does the proposal meet your needs? Of course, getting a couple of competing quotes is a good idea. You may find the big 3 letter company quotes cheap but you may not find their coverage as good, and you may not like their service as much. You get what you pay for. On the other hand, you might find it totally adequate. Personally, if/when I get my setup, (plumbers and their own leaky taps, you know) - my wife wants me to finish a few jobs first - I would not have a system without: 1) an external siren and strobe, so the neighbours can see it, 2) fire/smoke montoring, 3) low temperature warning (since we get below freezing winters) 4) flood alerts in case of burst pipes. Now this is a purely personal choice - I will probably NOT opt for a monitored system, ie one that calls a staffed monitoring centre, but will opt for a setup where the panel will email and/or call my cell phone (despite what they may tell you, the latter is certainly possible but it will have to be set up in "pager mode") - just because I don't want to be saddled with a monthly fee, I live in a smaller city and have an excellent support network of neighbours and relatives. That's not for everyone. If you want to get the insurance discount, you probably need the fully monitored system. I'll do the math on that one when it comes time, anyway.

To help, we need a more detailed layout.... From the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread: Please post a fully-measured layout of the space under consideration and a sketch of the entire floor. Both can be either hand-drawn, computer generated, or drawn up with computer/app tools. By "fully-measured", we mean a layout with the widths of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances between each wall/window/door/doorway labeled. See a sample below. If something cannot be moved or changed, label it precisely on your layout (see post in sample) and tell us why it cannot be moved/changed -- we may have some ideas for you. The sketch of the entire floor lets us see how the Kitchen relates to the rest of the home. It doesn't have to be to-scale, but it should accurately show how the rooms relate to each other and should include all interior & exterior doors. In addition, it will help us see how traffic flows in, around, and through the Kitchen. Label the front entry and family entry. The family entry is usually a garage or side entry, but it might not be. It's helpful to know which door you use to bring in groceries. Regardless of how you draw it up (by hand, computer, etc.), please be sure all measurements are labeled. (Note: Computer generated layouts often lack key measurements and, sometimes, measure to/from things like the middle of a wall or the middle of a window. Neither are useful. Measure each item and the distances between each item.) Other questions... Tell us about you and your family and how you plan to use your Kitchen. All-adults? Empty Nesters? Children (now or in the future)? What appliances (& their sizes) do you plan to have? Where are you flexible? Can walls/windows/doors/doorways change (move, change size, add, delete)? Do you have a basement under the Kitchen or are you on a slab? The above and more are discussed in the Layout Help FAQ. Layout Help FAQ: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5500789/faq-how-do-i-ask-for-layout-help-what-information-should-i-include Ice.Water.Stone.Fire, a humorous discussion of Kitchen design: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2699918/looking-for-layout-help-memorize-this-first Also see... Work Zones, What Are They?: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5500762/faq-kitchen-work-zones-what-are-they Aisles Widths, Seating Overhangs, etc.: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5500771/faq-aisle-widths-walkways-seating-overhangs-work-landing-space-etc Storage Planning: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5500787/faq-how-do-i-plan-for-storage

I'll avoid the discussion about whether this is the right look for your home. But I have Coretec LVT (tiles, travertine-look) and can speak to the installation and durability. Surface prep was not easy. I live in a 100-year-old house with wavy subfloor, and my contractor installed a few hundred pounds' worth of leveling compound to get to within the manufacturer's recommended tolerance of "flat". Install was very easy. We did floating, no glue, because we have radiant in-floor heat and didn't want to worry about subfloor temps getting too warm for the glue. The durability is fantastic, and I'd do it again for that reason. We have a 100-pound dog, a puppy, three cats, and lots of muddy hiking and skiing boots, and the floor looks as good as it did when it was installed 3-1/2 years ago. We use a mini-mop with a spray bottle of floor cleaner, and a handheld steamer for deeper cleaning.