Is the reason for digging to keep them blooming? This Sat I will be with a bunch of folks who grow daffs to show and will try to remember to ask about the 3 year digging rotation schedule that so many try to follow. If I remember correctly, it had to do with them needing to be lifted/dug so the surrounding soil in the holes could be amended. Over time, the blooms, of some cultivars anyway, will decrease in size if they do not have proper nutrients. I'm not sure, but lack of good nutrients 'could' also affect the bloom color. Don't hold me to that though as I will try to verify that. Usually too, when daffs are planted for growing and showing, I 'think' no more than 3 bulbs are planted, spaced out in a hole. That allows the bulbs to multiply without becoming crowded, thus smaller bulbs, and smaller blooms, or no blooms at all if they are entirely too crowded. Some daffs are a lot more prolific than others and seem to multiply a 'lot' more than others. In my opinion, Ice Follies is a great prolific daff. On the other hand, 'Mount Hood' still has the original patch I planted with fewer and fewer blooms. I wonder if they are crowded or if they are lacking nutrients. Some cultivars are just by nature bigger bulbs, so it could possibly be that they are crowded, regardless of how many were planted in each hole and how they were spaced. Do you plan to dig them next year? I'm not suggesting that diggings one's daffs every 3 years is for everyone, because I don't see it as necessary at all, unless one is considering entering them in competition. As far as the FAQ go, I feel they are to be geared toward the casual gardener, growing daffs, or whatever for their own enjoyment in their gardens. Sue

I devoured this thread for months and finally went to Lowe's to look at these planks. When I first looked at them in the store I thought they looked so fake and cheesy that I almost gave up, but I brought a few home and set them on the floor. They looked good! It seems that most people have good results as long as they follow the directions really carefully and don't use professionals to install the floor. It also seems that the trouble comes when the climate is really hot or humid. But, just to make sure that we weren't the unlucky ones, I installed it in my entryway first to see how it would hold up on our concrete slab. I pulled up sheet vinyl and scraped off the remaining mastic, used the Henry's and it went down and stayed. I am a dog walker/pet sitter and we board dogs, all different kind of dogs, at our house and we needed something durable and easy to clean and this has fit the bill. I installed it in our entire downstairs myself. Everyone loves it and thinks it's either wood or laminate and several neighbors want to put it in themselves. I've noticed vinyl flooring everywhere now, including high end stores. Thanks to everyone for recommending this flooring and for the terrific tips. Here are a few of my own: 1) Definitely prep, prep, prep the floor. I scraped up mastic and glue from the carpet pad. I didn't use adhesive remover because one site I saw said it may soak into the concrete and interfere with adherence. The key is clean, dry and smooth. 2) The instructions on the box and the Novalis website recommend the self-stick tile primer. It is a must - it goes on really thin and dries clear in about half an hour. 3) Take your time when laying the tiles and get them as tight and straight as you can. 4) I found some walnut wood filler that I used in some of the tricky spots and it worked great. 5) Definitely let the planks sit in your house for 48 hours before installation. 6) I ordered OOPS! Painters wipes which Novalis recommends to remove excess adhesive. They also recommend them to remove the white "scratches" which Novalis calls scuff marks. I found that the wipes didn't work on the scuff marks, but time does. They eventually wear away. 7) I didn't use a rolling pin, but did baby steps on the tiles once they were down. There are a few that I missed and they sound funny. I have not had any scratches from dog's nails, but we did have some from broken dishes. It's not as noisy as laminate, but it is hard - almost like walking on concrete. I love this flooring and am so glad to have put it in. I am a middle aged woman and did it by myself. I took my time and did one section at a time and it came out great! Here is a link that might be useful:

Scott & Jerseypool, Thanks again. You are both much better than seeing a psychiatrist. Now for the longest post in Gardenweb history: This builder has been doing fiberglass for 18 years. He in my opinion has the most experience and was able to show us many example projects within even 5 miles of my home. Very comforting in that respect. All the work looks top notch (level, etc). They have also been doing work in our town forever so they can get building department issues moved quickly. Now the downside, he uses many subs but he is insisting that I work out all separate contracts and proposals through them. He is always there when they come but when I started this process, I really wanted to one stop shop. I don't mind him using subs, I just don't want to be paying 8 different people. For instance, even when I brought up negotiating price, he recommended I deal with each person separately. I really don't have time for this. To be clear, he said once work started, he would work the project, but I still feel like I have to keep talking to different people about patio design, electric, pumps, etc. The upside is I met each of these subs and they are all good at what they do, at least visually. My opinion is that with each of the subs having their own business, each of them must "eat" and in my neck of the woods, contractors have the biggest and nicest homes. These are not guys that are just getting by. I don't blame them for doing well for themselves of course, it just doesn't help me for the pool install. This manufacturer reps viking pools. The list I posted earlier was done by me, not him. They are the compilation of all the numbers I received from him and his subs. We called A&S and oh my Lord, the sales person was absolutely the worst at what she did. Rude and obnoxious. 2 minutes in she started to push gunite. Then she wouldn't even start the process until I got a septic feed moved (not a field - a pumped line). I told her I didn't mind getting that done myself but I need to work out a design first to know where to move it. She said she doesn't work that way. I can't believe how bad they were. No other contractors had an issue with this. Now, back to the prices: 1. What kind of Fencing - This is for black aluminum fencing. I don't know the brand but it looks like what I normally picture when I think of a pool fence. Nothing high end that I can see. 2 fencing companies here both are in that range. One said $28/LF and the other said "Under 7k" for 200' ($35/LF) 2. Does the excavation include hitting rock? No. $1,500 per day if we hit rock. 3. Equipment - Does not include pad. That is under the $8,500 excavation contractor's number. 500 sf Sta-Rite cartridge filter (Pentair I believe), Hayward Super Pump 2 HP (I know you do not like Hayward), Raypak 400k propane heater, Goldline 25k salt generator and controls. Install Mechanicals I guess is to install the heater, pump, and filter. 3. Electric - I have a 40 pole (I believe) panel already in my house but believe it or not, I am out of circuits. They would need to add a sub panel in my house and then run power out to the pump and a couple of lights at the pool. He also bonds the wire mesh in the concrete ring around the pool. I didn't think $3,500 was a lot for this, only because I know in the NY suburbs, you can't get an electrician or plumber to come to your house for less than a grand. 4. He mentioned the 3' concrete ring, although he uses the mesh, not rebar. It looks like from Viking's install instruction that is ok. I did not ask about the blue stone. 5. Tile - We really want it. I've seen fiberglass pools without it, and it just looks a bit "cheap" to us. I will ask about winterization in this case. Thanks for the heads up. 6. Coping - Similar to the tile, we like the look of the coping. The pools that he showed us didn't have any cracks that we saw. Is there a right way to install the paver coping so that it doesn't crack? The paver contractor has done these in almost all the pools he showed us. He even said the coping look is what he finds to be the most important to make a pool "pop". Anyway, any input here would be great. 7. Flex pipe - From reading here, I was uncomfortable as well. For sure, this is to speed up work on his end. I asked about hard pipe, and he just said that they haven't ever had an issue with the flex pipe and it helps with the winters and movement of the ground. Another contractor we are waiting for now only uses hard pipe. All piping is 2". Once again the pricing for the pipe if from the "Mechanical" guy. His price had the pump, heater, pool cleaning, and piping. 8. Water feature - Made of pavers (similar to techo bloc mini-creta) with caps on top. Nothing like a waterfall here. Just something to add some sound and visual appeal. I think they included a light in the water which we most likely will take out. 9. What kind of fire pit? Similar to the water feature this will be built up with unilock/techo bloc pavers. Caps on top of the Techo Bloc Mini Cretas and similar half circle seating around. Wood burning. No fancy controls. 10. Why is the walkway split from the rest of the patio? No idea. Probably to bump up the price. It's all $14/sf basically. 11. What brand and model is the cover? He didn't tell me. He said Viking makes them to fit their pools. Sorry for the long post. One last thing. One of the contractors coming back to us was a mason for most of his career and then started installing pools about 6 years ago. He's more sophisticated in that he uses a computer, 3D design, has a blog, etc. He follows alot of the good advice I keep reading on line (no flex pipe, recommends VSDs, uses some type of gravel instead of sand for backfilling, etc). The downside to him is that we don't like his pools as much (he reps Leisure and the colors don't seem to have as nice a pebble finish as the Vikings) and of course his limited experience. I guess everyone has to start with a smaller resume and his activity online (videos, etc) seems to me that he is serious about doing a good job. I've only seen one pool he installed and it was still not finished (in terms of patio) but used only concrete, no water tile, etc so it didn't have the same higher level look as the ones I had seen with the other contractor. Anyway, we haven't seen his price yet, but when we told him we wanted to be between $65k-$90k, he seemed to infer that he could do what we wanted. Thoughts?

I spent the better part of the weekend tiling in order to fill most of the void, so I can check this one off the list! Waiting to hear from KD re: cabinet installation. We've done all the prep work on this end -- wiring for UCL, wiring for new appliances, painting, sheetrock repair, etc. However, life did come to a screeching halt today...I'm posting this from a hotel room 2.5 miles from our house. Earlier this evening, DH shut off the main breaker to the house to replace one of the other breakers...routine stuff. But when he flipped the main breaker back on, nothing...nada...crickets. (Yes, he did flip the switch to full off, then back on again several times.) With 95+ degree days lately, no way we could stay in the house for very long, even in the evenings. Emptied the fridge and freezer contents into coolers, and off we went. DH is surfing the net, trying to find a local electrical supply house that carries one of these breakers; scheduling the electric company to come out and disconnect the power is a whole other matter entirely. Sigh...one step forward, one step back.