This is a fantastic thread and thank you to all of the contributors! I find mason bees fascinating. I would like to expand my mason bee housing, I only started last year. I have a couple of questions for DIY houses. I think I would like to go the paper tube route. It seems parchment paper seems to work perhaps better than brown paper bag? I have bags but easily can buy a roll of parchment if it fairs better with moisture (pacific north west). Drilling hole size if I used a solid wood block: If I use parchment, do I drill 5/16" still. With paper bag, do I drill 3/8" as the paper takes up space or still go 5/16". I am going to buy a long drill bit (about 16") and use my drill press to get deep holes. Don't really want to buy 2 bits :) . My other option is to rip 5/16" square grooves in 1" think boards and then line with tubes. The tubes will prevent the spread of mites etc between wood layers correct? This is far faster for me (rip the grooves vs. drilling a solid block) and I already have the dado blade and table saw, as well as the wood. Comments and suggestions greatly appreciated!

We had cultured marble in our last home for 13 years, and it never cracked, crazed, or otherwise fell apart. It still looked new the day we sold our house. Even with teenagers. Cultured marble vanity tops will get what I call a patina. In other words, cultured marble will scratch if you treat it harshly, but so does corian, soapstone, etc. In the shower it was never an issue. It can also be buffed out if desired. It is extremely easy to clean, no fear of leaks, and can be very pretty. It does not have to be plain white. We are almost finished building our new home and I was almost swayed by pretty tile. Then reality hit and we selected a nice cultured marble with a bit of wood tone swirled with pale gray on white. Our trim carpenter thought it was real stone. It looks beautiful with our tongue and groove cypress walls. I have opted for a freestanding style Porcher console sink because I like that look. Be very caredful whom you select to make your shower if you go this route. We tried a comapany close to where we live now and they did a horrible job that resulted in us having to tear it out and start over They were both incompetent and unethical. Be sure to check their reputation first....we didn't. There is a company in Thomasville, Georgia...do NOT use them. Fortunately, Southern Marble (who did our previous home) agreed to make the lengthy trip to install a new one for us. It is perfect. The best part is not having a cleaning nightmare. Hot water used in the shower or sink will not crack your cultured marble. Harsh cleaning chemicals and abrasive scrubbing will ruin it, but normal cosmetics and soaps will not. If hot water is causing cracking something is wrong. It will never need abrasive scrubbing....it cleans up easily with mild cleaners. The shower pan should be set in "mud". Don't let anyone tell you it doesn't need to be. It does, or it can flex and crack over time. The shower pan of a cultured marble shower does not have an applied film. The texture is cast into it, and you will not harm it if you need to take a nylon scrubbie to it from time to time. I agree with doing what you want and not what some designer dictates. You're the one living with, and having to clean this shower. We once rented a home with a tile shower while our house was being built and I would never consider having atile shower and dealing with cleaning issues. While I will rinse the shower down when I am done, if I've splattered shampoo or conditioner, I will not ever resort to squeegees, wiping it dry after each use, or any other ridiculous measures to keep a shower looking presentable. Life is too short. The shower material should look nice without having to do all of that.

I normally reserve all of my stupidity for silk. I love silk. I have a silk fetish probably, but I also have a small child.... Silk covers on the dining chairs. We eat in there a lot. They looked awful in about a month. Silk sofa in the family room. Gorgeous in pictures, but it's been barfed on, wet dogs and cats lay on it, spills of every type....it's gross frankly. I clean it regularly but still the stains just linger in their horrorific state. Silk pillows for my son's room....ok what the hell was I thinking? Small boys, felt pens, greasy gold fish and silk...ya that made sense. DId I mention I did his baby room in all ivory, gold and chocolate silk dupioni??? Major baby body brain fart there!! I should also bring up the gorgeous fluffy sheep skin rugs I put in the living room...while pee training a puppy....enough said if ya'll have dogs! As to the dark floors...mine are ebony in alaska. That was fine when we lived there, but I just visited recently after a long absense and I can see where DH walks regularly due to the footprints in the dust!!!! Never dark floors in a home that is not regularly cleaned by a professional!!!!! Would this also be the place to discuss glass doors on cabinets???? :p

Well sure, nobody can predict the future. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try! Our first home was intended to be short term. It was in an area with questionable schools, but we didn't have kids yet. Our plan was to be there 5-10 years and move before we had a kid in kindergarten. We were there seven years and moved when our eldest was four. Our second/current home was intended to last us "until the kids were in college" but we lacked the foresight to know we'd LOSE OUR EVER-LOVIN' MINDS and decide to have two more kids. And we realized when our dog developed a disability that it's extremely unfriendly to the mobility-impaired. (Plus side: she weighed 100 lbs so we got a LOT of exercise the last year of her life. :/) So we're moving forward and applying what we've learned over the years towards our best guess is about what will work for us. What more can you do? Important to note: I've come to love this plan (which isn't very bright, not yet knowing if the BRs will fit upstairs yet, but what can you do?) The only reason I wanted a first floor master was for eventual mobility issues (3/4 of our parents have health problems which make stairs difficult), not because I want my bedroom on the main floor now. The major drawback to the rough sketch we started with http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4345095/floorplan-feedback-very-early-stage is a lack of playroom space on the main level which means, IME, all the toys will end up in the living room. A main level master would make an excellent playroom/craft room. It's close enough to the action that it would actually get used, plus there's a door. At this point the biggest drawback I see is the possibility that both we and an elderly parent might need to avoid stairs in which case either a small guest room on the main or planning for a future elevator might be a good idea. (Could whoever has the crystal ball please pass it my way?)