I'm glad I found this thread! I have wanted a Duet washer and dryer for three years now. We'll be buying a house / condo after the beginning of the year and was basing my desire for the Duet on my father-in-law's set that I've used. Sounds like the Duets were "de-contended" over the years to reduce their "cost" to produce. What a shame. I certainly have noticed FL washers becoming more popular over the last two years or so. After seeing people mention Bosch in this thread, I've decided to jump ship before I even board it. I've been looking through the Bosch and Lowe's web sites, although there are a number of Bosch dealers here in Anchorage. My two requirements in an appliance are A) Energy Rating and B) Noise. Our Kenmore (really Whirlpool) fridge was actually below the U.S. Energy Guide rating a few years ago. It was almost to the bottom of the energy usage on the Canadian guide, even. I don't mind mixing brands. Just as with employers, there's NO reward in brand loyalty. They can change design or build quality practically overnight to satisfy the holly stockholders. Now to go try to dig up some 'dirt' on the Bosch white goods. We use a Bosch dishwasher at work (residential level machine) and it's shockingly quiet. The prices are in line with Duet-class Whirlpool goods and the energy use seems quite low (not to mention attractive styling).

Lowes. OK - they brought the units out, put them on the platform we made, we assumed they did what they're suppposed to do & left. We didn't stand there watching because we'd just moved into the house & had plenty to do elsewhere and, hey, how hard can it be? Later that day - excited to see the "bubble show" through that big, beautiful window - I attempted a load. NOTHING. Not to panic - it just was not plugged in. Also, while my husband had it pulled out to plug in, he found that the dryer vent was not attached to the dryer - the wall, yes - not the back of the dryer. Turns out there is sort of a "cone" where you attach to & the hose slid off. (Not sure how he fixed that) It's at this point that we realize that they did not leave us a manual for the washer. We call & they say they'll get us one. In the meantime, we go online to find out what else needs to be done - like LEVELING. My husband does that and finally we're good to go. The story is a lot longer because we have a BIG mix-up with the refrigerator but at some point in there we get the manual - but not before I have to call the store manager a couple of times with questions about error messages (we had a problem with some sediment causing E02 errors - now fixed) for him to look up. SO - in the end, we love the machines, Lowes tried their best to make things right - it was just a series of freaky problems that weren't their fault - and we are happy customers. OH - the platform works like a charm - no vibrations & the additional height is great! Good luck with yours - great design!

Since it sounds like the engineering work has been done to ensure that the addition will have the necessary support on the first level & in the basement I guess there are a couple of ways to think about this. 500 sq ft of sheetrock would be about 20 sheets (factoring in waste). Sheetrock would cost about $10/sheet & then assume $25/sheet to hang & finish. That amounts to about $700 not including the new ceiling texture or replacing any crown moulding, etc. So maybe the engineer is thinking in the scheme of things what's $700. However, from the sound of it busdriver's suggestion seems totally feasible. Since the roof is being taken out I don't see any issue with running the I-joists from front of house top-plate to the back of house top-plate (again assuming the I-joists are sized for that & the support underneath is sufficient). Since you have that middle wall running perpendicular that means the I-beams are only spanning 15'. I'm not sure why I-beams are required as 2X12's (SYP #2) on 16" centers easily meet the 15' span) so you may want to inquire about that. Personally, I like the I-beams but if this is being done on a strict budget you might save a few bucks that way. I would not sister (make a connection) the I-beams to the 1st floors 2X6 ceiling joists. I would keep them isolated so as to keep the 2nd floor addition forces (live & dead loads) away from the 1st floor ceiling. Sounds like TOH ran another plate around the perimeter & where internal load bearing walls were & then placed the 2nd floor joists on top of that. I would think you could install (lifter plates for lack of a better word) which would be 2x4s 22.5" long installed on top of the top plates between the 1st floor ceiling joists and the I-joists would sit 1.5" above the sheetrock thus isolating the forces on those from the 1st floor ceiling sheetrock. You would need to make sure that would pass code.

If you want the STRONG GREY colours shown in your photos, you will need to work with factory finished. If you like the liming or cerusing effect (the white in the grain) then you will need to work with the factory finish. I've heard of a small handful of HIGH-END professionals who can achieve these looks on a site-finished floor. If you think that the population of the US+Canada is around 375,000,000 that is a SMALL amount of humans....like 100-150 professionals who can handle a job like that. Imagine the price tag! We will see this level of workmanship on $25Mill homes. The price of the professional is not at issue in a home that has multiple millions of dollars in financial backing. I understand your Project Manager's concerns. Repairing damage to a factory finished floor isn't fun...but it isn't difficult either. The worst case scenario = cut out the plank and drop another one in. A bit of glue...a bit of waiting and everyone's happy. I'm not sure why the push back is so hard (the PM has probably had something go wrong in the past and had it bite him/her in the arse pretty hard). So long as you assure him/her that you will pay for all the damage control (ram board, etc) you should be fine.