Get tough... do it in writing... sounds like phone calls haven't done any good... play hard ball... use legal terms and threaten legal recourse under the Magnusan-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 (see link below). Deal with Toro's warranty company directly rather then Toro or the dealer. Sounds like you are caught between the dealer and Toro. They are just trying to stall you in hopes you will give up... I bet the dealer is hiding something... like the mower was sold to you with you believing it was under warranty... but maybe it really wasn't (re sale, old inventory, etc). If the dealer wanted to... they could easily code the labor/parts as warranty work and get paid for it from Toro Warranty... granted the dealer would get paid at a lower rate then what they would get from you. Try another Toro dealer in your area. The warranty company is likely a third party. I had an issue like this with my Saturn car... I went round and round with the dealer to no avail... then escalated it to Saturn... they sided with the dealer... finally got to the warranty company... they said... my claim would be covered with in 10 seconds of hearing the issue. The warranty company said... the dealer had to cover my claim because the dealer could not prove the item that went bad was due to my neglect or lack of routine maintenance. It took me a couple of week's a couple of letters and countless phone calls to get that situation squared away. From the get go... the dealer was against me and told me to bug off. When I went to Saturn corporate... they sided with the dealer too. Toro and their dealer network are going to stick together. Not sure... maybe Toro's are sold through a three party system... Toro, Distributor, Dealer? If that is the case... the distributor is likely the one not playing nice. Here are a couple of web sites that go over some of the warranty laws. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/products/warrant.htm http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss It is very hard if not impossible for the Toro dealer to prove that the failure of the piece in question was due to any lack of routine maintenance by you. If they think that is what it is... then have them prove it. Have them show you where in the warranty the part/item is not covered. I looked briefly at the Toro Warranty... pretty straight forward and brief. Don't let them tell you... if you had the work done at their shop or by Toro everything would be fine... that is against the law (as stated in the Magnuson-Moss Act). As long as you have the preventive/required maintenance done... you are set. The only preventive maintenance on a barely used lawn mower is changing engine oil... pretty hard for the dealer to prove that you did or didn't do it. Depending on what state you live in... you could take it to your state consumer protection office. Here in New York State... http://www.consumer.state.ny.us If the tactics above don't work... and you purchased the mower with your credit card or debit card with MC/V logo and signed for the purchase... you could seek recourse through MasterCard/Visa purchase protection... or though a charge back from your bank. I had an issue with a local retailer... they wouldn't work with me... called MasterCard... issue couldn't be rectified with them... went through my bank and disputed the charge. After two months... the retailer refunded my money... as they bank reported them to the better business bureau. Best of luck... don't give up... if you are truly in the right it will work... if you keep fighting. After all... what you are asking for is with in your warranty rights and certainly reasonable given the situation. It isn't like you are trying to be fraudulent.

Thank you so much for your reply! I brought out the tape measure and I would still have 15 inches from the center line of the toilet to a theoretical 36" width tub, but I wouldn't have more clearance than that. As far as room to get out of the shower, the way we're laid out, we'd still be ok on that front (see link for layout style, just everything is on the right side instead of the left). We would use either a European style shower screen or sliding glass doors, to avoid issues with shower door clearance. Any idea how much it would run me to move that drain a few inches? Would moving it cause any problems with function? As far as the other option of doing the larger shower without moving the drain, I would love to see an example of the issues you are talking about with the shower grading and get feedback on people's experiences, with both the feel of the tile while showering and the look of the tiling with a similar modification. GreenDesign, when you say it makes the tiling look strange, are you just meaning the floor having more of a slope than usual and the hole being off-centered? What are your thoughts in general on the project? Are you suggesting I do the tub? Here is a link that might be useful:

Ajsmama, that trim looks great. Yes, DH gets OT. I think his job is pretty safe. But you never know. I'm back in school working toward a degree so I can go to work FT in a few years just in case! Update on my cabinets. My replacements came today. Everything looks good, except the replacement door came in without the drillouts for the hinges. Hey, I'm good, but not that good! I can't hang them by magic! Just met with my KD at HD on another issue. This guy is a doll. We designed something that the system took and charged me for, but didn't deliver. It can't be done. He figured out how to do what I wanted and they absorbed the cost. The fix was closer to what DH wanted to do anyway, so that worked out! Told the KD about the door and he said that was the wrong door then. I should get pre-drilled. Also brought in another door that I found a problem on at the hinge when I removed it from the box that was getting replaced. He agreed that needed to be replaced. Then I brought up about the hinges not sitting flush to the frame. Showed him what I meant and told him a number of them are so far out that I was able to put an envelope with two pieces of paper triple folded behind them. Others are out, but not as far. They are adjusted back as far as they will go. He is having the rep come out. He said there are too many issues with my job and he wants me to be happy. It seems to be largely the wall cabinets with issues. My custom sizes (made deeper) are fine/perfect. I have 3 3042 cabinets. Two of the boxes had to be replaced (chips, cracked frame). One door is now going to be replaced. The other box has hinge issues. The 3642 had to have a door replaced (our only finish issue) and 5 of the 6 hinges are markedly out of place. And so on. I am pleased with the customer service response. However, if we were on schedule with our reconstruction (and we aren't because we are fixing work previously done on the house) the cabinets would have needed to go in by now. We've got a little over two weeks before we're ready. Hopefully this will all be resolved by then!

This feels like a six-figure list, but hard to say much beyond that to price. Don't understand Sophie's dismissal of solar -- ours has a 10-year payback estimate, and that's before we sell any credits. It's great to have zero heating costs at some times of the year, to feel like we're decreasing our environmental footprint, and to hope someday to run our car off the system too. For your project, agree with aprilneverends about just getting some contractors to walk through it with you. It will clarify some things (probably none of them have solar connections, or you'll find out there are zoning issues, or whatev.), it will give you some numbers, and they may have advice about how to think about the projects in the sense of logistics (can you live there, etc) that will help you plan and even assess your enthusiasm. For sure, I wouldn't sweat a designer yet, although you will probably want a kitchen specialist to help you get the most from your enlarged kitchen space. Are there some parts of this project that are needs and others that are wants? because you might decide you don't need to do it all. Your kitchen looks pretty great for a family of four, for example, and I'm not sure you'll ever get back the (extravagent) cost of getting an extra 3-4 feet in each direction...