After many years of graduate school followed by teaching university environmental science courses I'm pretty comfortable in my understanding of how wood in the forest gets digested, and my ability to interpret observations in the field. What we are talking about here are fresh wood chips coated in wet clay if they are dug directly into the clay soil. This will seal off a good proportion of the surface area of the wood to microbial action and microbial spread. If composted a bit first the situation will be reversed and the clay lumps can get coated in fine particulates and humics, and fungal threads will be able to grow around the clay in a more or less contiguous organic environment rather than be blocked by walls of clay plaster. If you are refering to deep incorporation of organic matter down into the soil... if worms etc could break up clay through the addition of organic matter on the surface you would not see the fromation or persistance of the natural soil horizons we are dealing with (the clay fragipan in the B horizon). I would not have a clay problem because I have had grass growing on my lawn for 42 years since the house was built. This means not only 42 years of root penetration and worm activity on decaying roots, but also 42 years of grass clippings from a mulching mower. Still, there is a claypan nine inches below the surface. The yard is home to a good population of night crawlers. Sure the top nine inches is wonderfully mixed topsoil (due to worms and moles), but that doesn't do my tomatoes any good once that top nine inches dries out at the end of June and the clay blocks deep root penetration to subsurface water. Surrounding the yard is a secondary growth forest that is over thirty years old. Plenty of time for soil life to mix decaying organic material into the clay...it just hasn't happened. And here is what I have observed with brush piles sitting atop clay soil for 20 years (total decay of the brush)... a couple of inches of rich black compost over top of clay (the same with old manure piles). I have cut and developed garden plots out of both the yard and the wilderness areas. This includes deep digging down to 2-3 feet by hand to break up the clay and mix in organic matter so I am intimately aware of the soil structure, root pentration and wildlife penetration. Worms do not live in the clay layer other than for a few permanent vertical burrows, and plants do not put roots down into the clay to a great extent. In a forest, subsurface clay is broken up by penetration and decay of large woody tree roots (over centuries), not from branch and leaf litter. Invertebrate activity will mix surface material into the nooks and crannies left by decaying roots. Most tree roots are on the surface in the nutrient rich layer, with very few deep verticals, which is one reason it takes so long for deep rich soil to form. Darwin's estimates of soil turnover by earthworms as so many tonnes of soil per acre per year (in an English cultivated and/or garden setting) seems impressive until you convert it to inches, which turns out to be something like 1/8 inch of soil brought to the surface each year, so over 8 years you could get an inch of soil covering your wood chips, but even this isn't going to happen in worm depauperate clay.

Oopsie, I plan on talking to him. Because I have seen his temper I'm afraid of what he may do, not sure why? When he let me know that the wood grain was going to show thru in the front of the cabinets, said how that wasn't included in the sanding and spackling, I agreed to give him 200 extra, even though DH and I knew it was included, wanted it done right. When he let me know his estimate for painting skylight, sofit and walls didn't include ceiling, he thought it was going to be another extra. Who would expect a job with (new lighting,under counter lighting, granite counertops, carpentry, crown molding, floor, added pull outs, new appliences)not to have ceiling painted? At this point I just want to pay him for what he has done and get him out of my house. If I have to stay home with him while he paints the inside frame with 2 coats of paint, I will sit in the kitchen and watch. Is there anyway of me telling if he did the agreed on 2 coats of paint on the front part of my cabinets? Since he told me several times it wasn't necessary to give 2 coats of paint, I feel he didn't do it,even though he said he did, obviously I don't trust him any more. When he paints the frames he will have to cover my granite, and will also have to take the doors off (inside hindges), do I tell him this, or assume he will do this the proper way? I'm afraid the quality of this work won't be the same, which is why I ageed to the price he gave me. My mistake was looking at his own house as an example of his work, in my home he cut as many corners as he could, in his own home he cut no corners. He has also told me several times that for the "money I paid him and for my doors I could have had a new kitchen", till I asked him never to say that again. He has made other comments, which have done what they are suppose to do, shut me up and get me out of the kitchen! Thanks in advance for your help.

How is the existing pipe in the floor vented? If it was properly installed it should have an vent that runs up to the roof. You show a new "green" vent line, but no existing vent. I would try to reuse the existing vent system if its within the distance and size limitations for your new fixtures. You could certainly use an AAV to vent the sink drain on the left, but you still need a drain pipe. Are you going to cut the studs to fit the drain pipe into the wall? Also what is under this room? If its unfinished you might want to run that drain under the floor. Bruce

Sharon has a good suggestion to use fabric. My third color is usually black. The style of the room, will determine where and how much, but here are some suggestions. Use a black frame instead of white on art, add black shade (two if you have a pair of lamps) and a shot of black in a blue and white pillow.