how funny that i just stumbled into this thread while searching my model # on yahoo for something unrelated. i'll give a quick update since i am here. i've now had my 2754GLS for two seasons and am VERY satisfied with it. it's a great tractor and i have no regrets. i think i did notice the next year at the dealer that the equivalent model had foot fwd/reverse control instead of fender mount - oh well for me but it doesn't bother me anymore. the tractor is treating me very well. i love the 54" cut - it clearly saves me time doing my 2 acres and is great. no obvious wear/damage to the deck or wheels,etc to date - i'm glad to have the extra reinforcement which may be helping. engine has plenty of power to support the deck size. the deck belt tension release lever (which i really like) does occasionally get released if i get too cute mowing into bushes which can hit and release it causing the mower to shut down. it probably left me puzzled the first two times of the 3 or so times it has happened. now i just know better if it were to happen again and its the first thing i would look at if not fuel level. if it were a real problem i could always reinforce it with a simple mechanism holding it in place better. one of my smartest investments on year two was to buy the bagging system (triple bag) which is great. the lack of turbo (ala Simplicity) has never been noticed. it actually clogs MUCH less. while the spinning red air flow indicator does an ok job of telling you when the bags are full once you figure it out, i've found the easiest way to tell is just occasionally poke the top of the far right bag (fills last) to feel if it is getting full. forget the plastic window which clouds quickly with time. if you overfill the bags you risk clogging the tube down near the deck but it's little trouble to clear it out due to the design. i did have the lower shoot begin to fail on mine in year one where a plastic seam began to come apart. it was replaced under warranty and i now have a bungee cord wrapping around the middle of the shoot and the right side handle next to the seat to give it move support just in case. have never had a problem since. bottom line - great purchase and no regrets. beautiful tractor and although i haven't owned a lowes model to compare, i recommend upgrading to a dealer only line with any quality improvements to protect your investment over time.

Presumably spraying the backsplash with great abandon, with a chemical solution or even vinegar and water solution, is a thing of the past? You betcha. I can't remember, though, the last time I grouted a job that had to have the haze cleaned with anything other than water... WITHOUT the vinegar. You just need to take your time. I KNOW you can afford your own labor fees! :-) As for a newbie grouting it, It's not going to be easy to get nice clean lines, even for a pro, but if you take your time, mixing just a little bit of grout at a time so it doesn't "go off" on you, you should be fine. It's not impossible for someone like yourself to grout tile like that.

Thanks for the kind comments. I haven't the slightest idea how to pronounce most rose names & am always embarrassing myself or *relearning* how to say them correctly *sigh*. Forvo is a neat site for pronunciation help http://www.forvo.com/languages/fr/ Melissa: yes! I like plants that show you how the evolution started from one group to another. MAM, more than other teas I've grown, forms those HT scrolled blooms. I like them--and I like the raggedy blooms of cream blushed pink that are thought of as "traditional" tea flowers, also. Marchioness de Londonderry is one of the HPs that in my climate, you can see how they may have influenced the scrolled blooms popular in the later 20th century HTs (dang, I can't find a photo, but it throws scrolled light pink flowers you'd swear were any HT's, not the blousey big blooms I think of when I think "HP") Boncrow, even before I read your comment, I was thinking to myself that everyone I've known who particularly loved Maggie's performance was in east TX, Louisiana, etc. Maybe it's one of those roses that just love heat plus humidity. In Welch's book, Antique Roses for the South, he mentions it was one of the first antique roses he collected & he got it near Mangham, LA, then grew it in College Station TX (also hot & humid) & eventually forwarded it to ARE & others. It should have done well in my first location--probably I mistreated it. That yard was way too shady & I grew a lot of things in pots where I could haul them into sun. For you Old Blush admirers, try Ralph Moore's Pink Poodle! It's from a cross of a climbing mini x Old Blush & really shows its daddy's features--so cute. Not widely available, but I've got it & it roots easily. It wasn't marketed as a mini ogr or mini China because the rose growing public hadn't caught on the the charms of ogrs yet.

Sharing my experience: I purchased a model KRG365-NG from an authorized seller with a good reputation. (A 36 Inch Freestanding Professional Gas Range with 4 Dual-Flow Burner System, 5.8 Cu. Ft. Capacity) Installation date: April 2022. My household's experience with Hestan has left us with a bad taste for the company. (And we are really good cooks ;-) ) Their appliances look beautiful externally; internally... well that's a whole other story: The oven door has been causing issues since nearly the first time it was used. Some of the knobs at the top become extremely hot to the touch (enough that one requires oven mitts to adjust certain knobs while in operation if one isn't excited about a trip to the local ER). Unfortunately, Hestan's service repair technician has attempted to adjust the door but it seems to get misaligned and needs adjustment shortly after or he hasn't actually fixed the problem. Scheduling repeated service repair visits that take several weeks to implement, (no fault to the repair dudes) I assume is a deliberate business decision intended to string along disgruntled consumers until they get exhausted from keeping up with the saga, or they get deported, immigrate to Finland, convert to outdoor brick oven cooking, lose their memory, or other stuff happens making this recede into the background; dragging on the case by scheduling repeated visits for the same issue, interchanged with executing a non-response policy till the pesky issue of a valid warranty expires, is intentional. And brings to Case Closed. BTW: The repair technician is nice, polite, responsive, respectful, and sympathetic -- we're on a first-name level of familiarity at this point, on the verge of sharing a beer every first Tuesday of the month!) Re: warranty service issue, Hestan hasn't been responsive with timely communications (weeks of being ignored or pat emails saying "your request has been transferred to the right dept blah blah" and then crickets...) or been honest regarding honoring their warranty coverage for malfunctioning systems. I have had multiple service requests to fix the oven after it stopped working, always sometime after the oven is used on high heat for several hours. I know. It's an oven, Watson. Foolish of me to expect it to operate on high heat. (Two times it was the internal sensor for the electric stuff - placed in the space between the oven and the high BTU gas range (???!) so when both functions are operating at full capacity, as when preparing a multi-dish formal dinner for many folks, the electric components get hot really fast and shut off to self-preserve - (I respect that instinct) triggering the oven-control shut off. This time the oven electric controls seem to be working but no heat occurs when turning the knobs on. The issue of an internal sensor getting overheated, triggering a safety mechanism, that shuts off the oven function has happened often enough that it reflects a serious design flaw, or a lemon.) To put it starkly: That's a non-working oven, folks, for a household that cooks a whole bunch for extended family and friends and does plenty of hosting on weekends. Significant levels of creativity and a whole lotta flexibility/patience are required to substitute on-range cooking for oven roasting. To be fair: No working oven does increase kitchen storage space when one takes out the racks -- on the bright side of things! Hestan didn't bother responding to a detailed letter sent to their warranty dept. delineating the issues in October of 2023. Nor did they respond to a follow-up letter 2 weeks later. This is the third time the oven has had the same issue amongst others. (Another interesting factoid: In Northern California's Bay Area, home to a population of over 7.5 million eating humans there is a dearth of authorized service technicians vetted by the company. It takes time for them to be available for repairs; anywhere between three to five weeks. Then when a part needs to be ordered -- an often occurence -- add another several weeks to your broken-cooking-appliance-saga aka. buddhist-exercise-in-patience.) Bears repeating: Our model had issues with the oven (whether heating up properly or heating up at all) since a few short weeks after it was first installed by a licensed electrician. As well, the oven door has issues closing fully so as to be flush against the oven cavity interior - to prevent escaping air, uneven baking temperatures, and hot, Hot, HOT, range/ oven control knobs. The gas range, contrastingly, has always worked well, except for one burner whose simmer function has stopped working. Informing others of the company reputation: I am filing a complaint with the BBB. Check it out! Found under Hestan Commerical Corporation, based in Anaheim, CA. (I wish I had read their reviews, and had read this site's threads before choosing the company. It does place the company in an unflattering light). I wonder if the company will magically become more attentive. Also looking at arbitration alternatives (warranty states either JAMS or the American Arbitration Association.) If anyone has gone the arbitration route, please share your experience. CONCLUSION: We would not recommend their appliances to others - based on their awesome lack of responsiveness to malfunctioning parts, coupled with their lack of honoring warranty assurances (by replacing or exchanging the model) in situations where several service repair visits have occurred -- with no lasting fix. I wish I had known that the ability to endure and practice stoicism is a requirement when purchasing from HESTAN. (Apparently, some products have quality issues -- that's to be expected. What isn't expected is not honoring their part of the warranty agreement. It's a lack of integrity and commitment, and feels like betrayal.) ________ I am posting on this most useful thread for other consumers to let them (you, the reader) know that if one is dealt a bad hand with an appliance from Hestan, set really low expectations for warranty fulfillment. Or with timely service visits. (Easily over several weeks, up to 7 by me, until the issue is properly addressed: the repair tech comes, he/ she figures out what part needs ordering, the part gets ordered, the part gets shipped, the part gets delivered and another visit is scheduled, and the repair tech is available to swing by again, the part is installed, and that miraculously fixes the problem, leaving one with a working appliance -- at least until the Gods decide to amuse themselves again.) If you want to play "roll the dice" with individual appliances worth between $7,500 - $12,000 plus installation costs, plus purchase of a (useless?) extended warranty, go ahead: Sprint, don't shuffle, to your nearest HESTAN authorized seller.