I'll chip in because I've been fighting with my garden, and came to a few conclusions. For those of us in "rich" soils, i.e. clay or anything fairly high in organic matter, our drainage seems to be our downfall... I personally mix in mulch and peat to get a little organic material to provide a good starter soil for the bugs/worms to break down, then continue mulching to keep the organic material adding. Sand can be a solution, but more than likely we'll never be able to really improve drainage by just adjusting the top foot or two of dirt; the real action is down below and most of us (including myself) will never change that. So we have to deal with that top 2 feet and moderate our watering accordingly. The #1 most important thing with any plant that needs "sharp drainage" is Air. I know, you're thinking, well, duh... but if you think of it in the reverse, it makes more sense... water inhibits air, so balancing air is much easier if you know your water input. More than anything else, soil needs to exchange air. If you have a clay soil, organic material will be your best bet for the long term in fluffing. Until you hit like 30% sand by volume in your soil, it's not making much air space. Unless you're bringing in for beds, It's probably not worth the effort of adding because you'll need so much. Or at least this is the conclusion I've come to. Different soils and sands depending on their chemical composition can solidify into a hard pact material. A higher pH soil will run the danger of hard packing, or if your soil sometimes water logs. The ebb of acidic rain through high pH sand can harden the sand into a cement like material. If you're going to amend with sand, try to find some that is not calcium/magnesium based, i.e. no shells or anything that would bubble with vinegar. Play sand that is silicate based is usually fine. But the real thing I'm surprised about is that more people don't use an automated watering systems. I know in the west a lot of people do, and I get fantastic results with my drip irrigation system, even in my clay soil that I have ammended with peat and mulch. I find a small amount of water correctly placed on a regular basis can grow just about any plant. If you're placing just a small amount around the base of the plant, it can drain quickly and get air. Roots are more like lungs than anything. If you haven't looked at drip irrigation, it's hugely successful, and can mitigate poor soil by letting you apply water in a very targeted way instead of flooding the entire bed. Just my $.02 Here is a link that might be useful: Drip Irrigation Link

You all are the best! My husband was so adamant about doing the fireplace in stone but I flat out told him that I think it would be too much for that room. Then when I showed him the stone fireplace mantels, he fell in love with those! Thanks for the plaster lesson, Allison & lagom (no worries about the McMansion comment - I'm not offended at all!). I think my builder was already doing a plaster finish on the walls now that I understand the difference. But I made an appointment with a decorative painter for the morning to get his ideas on what to do with these spaces. I'm excited to see what he comes up with!

Fascinating! Could you address slab thickness? We mostly are seeing 2 cm, but at one place that both sells and fabricates slabs, they carry 5 cm and say thats better for the edge. Prices seem to be about the same.

Antartide quartzite slabs - do you know anything about this type of quartzite? I can't find information anywhere on line. The slabs show alot of mineral and have some sparkle; ranges in color from white/gray/tan to faint greens, blues and deep burgandy. Thanks.