Underground terra cotta - in my area, the entire run is typically made up of 2 ft long pieces that fit together in a male/female type of connection. The depth is dictated by the frost line - ours are about 4 ft deep. When problems arise, as columbusguy said, the cause is usually one of 2 things - tree roots or disintegrated/broken pipe. As trees grow, the roots work their way into the male/female connection of the pipe pieces and create blocks in the pipes. Or, the pipe pieces break and collapse into themselves. If you are in an urban area, the terra cotta runs from the house to the city sewer system. The terra cotta system includes both the pipe you mention as well as the sewage outflow that typically is under the basement floor of the house. They link up underground. If the city sewer, which starts out near the street, has been modernized, it could be a galvanized system or pvc, depending on when the modernization was done. A good plumbing company can run that camera into the pipe and run it all the way to the city sewer - last summer we became the proud owners of a video showing the 90 ft underground journey. My community used to run downspouts into pipes underground (the storm sewer system), but that was outlawed some number of years ago. Our downspouts now are connected to above ground gutter extensions that run out into our yards and then stop at least 10 ft away from the foundation. The terra cotta opening right at the foundation is not used. We still have terra cotta running under the house to the street. You're going to need to identify the cause of your blockage.

arcy, I can reposition the island. Funny you mentioned that because my mom hopped on the wagon to help me figure out what to do with the kitchen and she, too, suggested I reposition it. She also pointed out that the otherside of the island is much more attractive than the side that's exposed to the dining room. I will turn it next time I'm at the house and see what it's like. Thanks! Also, thanks for the wallpaper suggestion. I'll check out the collection at SW for ideas just in case. :) annkathryn, your cabinets are GORGEOUS! Thank you for the inspiration photos. They are gentle reminders of ways I can live with what I've got for now until I'm able to do what you did with transforming them. Great job! As promised, here are better photos of the kitchen: Here you can see the two green samples as well as a TINY bit of the Toasted Cashew I tried to sample peeking through Backsplash details (there is some splattering from cooking, that's not the tile) Close up of the tile in the kitchen (the grout will be cleaned when we move in so it'll lighten up a bit, the tile that will be installed in the dining room and living room will be similar in color to the lighter tile in the dividing strip shown here) Looking into the kitchen from the DR Someone requested a photo of the view from the back of the kitchen looking out to the DR -- pardon my lovely SIL, she was rinsing paint from her hands and the mini rollers, and my hand wasn't very steady here My mom suggested I take advantage of the side of the island shown in the above photo and turn it outward towards the DR. She also mentioned the idea of painting the island as some suggested here. I really like that idea! Hope this helps you all more than the previous photos did.

your samples seem a bit too cool, both whites and grays..which can also be my impression because they are against much warmer yellowish background. I found for myself the recommendation to make samples on paper(2 layers each color), that one can move around and look at them under different light, very helpful. i usually leave thin white border around too, on each sample. For me personally, makes it easier to see the color. I also have saltillo in the entry, and other flooring is very warm colored too..I went with greenish off white in my case, in main rooms, I like subtle grayishness next to reddish tones, but that's me. And it's much much more subltle. it's a white with tiny bit of green in it. The darker the brown in the flooring, the more "cool" one can go next to it in paint, at least that's what my feeling is. But I think you need something warmer. Saltillo is more yellow-y-orange-red. Too warm to pair a cool bluiesh gray next to it. And you need to take your warm granite into account too. Since it's semi-open plan and all. I can see white..deep, rich white..off white or cream..now the question which of them because there are so many..and each one will look different depending on a room, light, etc Which one you tried already? Nice house.

Oh, your floor is so beautiful! And, your dogs a re so cute. How do you clean the grout? Is it time-intensive? What type of maintenance do you have to do for your floor? Thank you for the suggestion about Arto. Their tiles look a lot like the reclaimed French tiles I've found. I'll have to dig through their site for prices.