I had in-ground garden beds (made from trex) that were invaded by tree roots. I dug out the beds and sifted the soil to get rid of the roots. I then put down cinder blocks, 9 in a 4'x4' garden bed, with their top surface level with the top of the in-ground beds. I then put down two layers of 1/2" cement backerboard which is supported by the top of the cinder blocks and perimeter of the in-ground garden bed. I drilled drain holes about every 12" in the cement backerboard. Now I have a 16" air gap between the new bottom of the garden bed and the old bottom of the in-ground garden bed. I build a raised garden bed perimeter and set it on top of the cement backerboard. I'm hoping the tree roots won't reach up through that airgap into the new garden bed. We'll see... Don't use the Hardie cement backerboard that has grooves to help you break it to size. I tried that first and it broke at some of those grooves. Dug out beds and used thicker double layer of cement backerboard.

As to the statement re: hood loudness: Would I agree that a single measure of an 8db difference would be "louder," from two different sound sources in two different kitchens? No. Wrong measure and flawed methodology. First, decibels don't measure loudness and second no conclusions could be drawn from a single person's report comparing the loudness of two different sound sources in two different settings. Perceived loudness is measured by multiple subjects under highly controlled conditions and is highly variable across individuals. Decibels are a physical measure of sound pressure; loudness is a psychological/perceptual measure of individual judgments. Decibels don't measure loudness for the same reason temperature doesn't measure warmth and weight doesn't measure heaviness. 85F in NOLA and 85F in Phoenix will not be perceived as equally warm because you already know that humidity, wind, clothing and your own individual body's response to these factors will vary. If we were to put a group of people in a controlled room and vary humidity, air circulation and type of clothing while varying temperature and ask them when they perceived a noticeable difference we would find that we would get the same report of perceived warmth at very different temperatures. In this case a decibel is a very similar measure to temperature and loudness is similar to perceived warmth. Depending on different sound pressures (decibels) your perception of loudness will vary significantly by the sound's frequency, if that frequency modulates, if the db level modulates, your proximity to the sound source, how reflective surfaces shape the sound, your individual hearing capability and sensitivities and (unfortunately) your age. If you look at a graph of where subjects perceive different sounds as pretty much equal in loudness while frequency and db levels are varied you'll find that sounds that at least half the group find equal in loudness can vary as much as 10 db or more. Human ears are very frequency sensitive. So, if a single observer's reported that 2 different sound sources were 8 db off in two different environments I don't see how any relative judgments could be made (and most kitchens with tile, polished wood surfaces, relative hard floors and glass windows can be expected to reflect sound in very different ways.) I won't speculate on all the methodological issues present to make a valid comparison of two different hoods' loudness levels in two different kitchens but a decibel meter would be largely irrelevant to the experimental design (you don't care about decibels, you care about perceived loudness). And to add insult to injury, you might well find out that even when you hit the standard that over half of the subjects agreed on the loudness findings you would still find other judges insisting some hoods were louder than others. That's pretty much how perceptual judgments tend to go. . .

BY THE WAY.... shocking comment.. but beware of stainless steel in some situations. If anyone out there is building a structure, porch, arbor, awning or such... please consider the galvanic chart. Stainless steel is made up of a few substances and needs oxygen to form it's protective film. Meaning... if you are building by a pool or clean your structure with a chlorinated cleaner.. it will react with the stainless steel.. pitting and corroding. A few structures have collapsed killing people because of this reaction. Stainless steel can be passive and active at the same time.. The top part gets air, the bottom doesn't.. add chlorine, or chlorinated vapor..(heat rushes it).. and it begins the corrosion process. So do your homework if you're using stainless with parts that hold things up... and watch how you clean them... remember chlorine, chlorine cleaners don't like stainless steel.

Schuler aka Medallion: Center panel can be either a thin, plywood veneer or a SOLID wood panel aka reversed raised panel. A reversed raised panel is a raised panel put on backwards, so the flat part is exposed. When you open the door, you'll see a raised panel. Omega Dynasty: Center panel has a thin veneer panel....and with painted or opaque cabinets, it's MDO (not real wood). MDO has less expansion and contraction with fluctuations in humidity. Drawer box for Schuler is 3/4" thick wood Drawer box for Omega is 5/8" thick wood Schuler GT is an all wood cabinet...no particle board...no vinyl interiors. The interiors are wood veneer. Omega interior is melamine...not real wood veneer, like Schuler. Schuler has a better box. Wood interiors. Some would argue that MDO center panel is better with paint. But solid wood and veneer center panels have also been painted by many companies for years. HTH Kompy