Yes, I am using the Poetry Stones kit. I inaccurately described them earlier. They are more like cobblestones. I did, however, make some stepping stones the other night that turned out nicely. I got the mix too wet and couldn't press the letters well so I decided to just make stepping stones instead. They look great and just a spot or two of efflorescence on each of them. I think pure water will take it off. The two that I made had no impression in them.

I never have been able to post pictures but would love to try again. I couldn't find any instructions on how to do it last night, and I'm not a real computer whiz either, not smart enough to just figure it out on my own. If anyone has concise instructions or can tell me where to look for them in GW I would appreciate that very much. Cheryl

Time-wise, they are both at the extremes. In reality, it should take somewhere in the middle. But I have more faith in contractor #2 for a more realistic/gracious timeline than in contractor #1 for his slash and burn, in and out timeline. Allowances: Be careful with the allowances! An allowance simply means that you haven't picked out specific materials, but he's including an "allowance" in the bid so that he can give you an overall $$$ for the job. The allowance should also just be a FINISHED MATERIAL allowance, not a FINISHED MATERIAL AND LABOR/INSTALLATION allowance. Meaning, you have a 100 sqft bathroom and a $500 allowance for bathroom flooring. That works out to $5 a sqft. That $5 should be for the cost of the tile only. The labor to install, the cost of the underlayment or menmbrane, etc, should be buried in the overall cost of the job. If you chose a tile that cost $7 a sqft, you went $2 a foot or $200 over your allowance. The contractor will bill you for the additional $200 at the end of the job. If you chose tile that is $4 a sqft, you should get a $100 credit at the end of the job because you can in under the allowance. Be careful with allowances. $500 for "finished electrical/lighting" might sound fine until you realize you need two lights in your shower, a ceiling light in the bathroom, four sconces in the walls, a vent fan in the shower as well as another over the tub, and fancy wall dimmer/timer switches to control them all. So try to break allowances down into specific things; flooring, countertops, wall coverings, lighting fixtures, vent fixtures, etc. And make sure that the shower glass allowance is JUST for the cost of the glass. Not the cost to install it too. If installation is included, then break out the labor cost in your head so when you get the final bill there are no surprises. And for things like tile or hardwood flooring, break those down into square foot pricing. It makes it much easier to shop that way. Your contractor might have an arrangement with a local supply house or two. You can shop there and "get his price" or you can shop on your own and buy things on your own. Just ask him if he has any additional mark-ups on things you get through him or things you get on your on. It's always better to ask these questions now rather than later. It's simply good business. Mongo

southernsticher, the Never MT is basically a long tube with a one way valve on it that attaches from the soap dispenser to a large bottle of soap (dish soap or hand soap.) It takes the place of the plastic soap reservoir that comes with the dispenser. The soap lasts a lot longer between changes and changing is easier since bottles are just swapped out instead of having to pour soap from one container to another. In my case I just have one dispenser at each sink and these dispensers are hooked into my hand soap bottles with the Never MT (tube.) The Never MT comes with different fittings for different size soap bottle mouths. Our soap dispensers were purchased separately from the faucets and don't tie into the faucet in any way. I have a pull down faucet with a single lever handle. We had 2 holes cut---one for the faucet and one for the soap dispenser. Some people do have 2 dispensers--for hand and dish soaps. Our dispenser isn't long enough to reach the plastic tub I put in our single bowl sink for washing dishes. I wouldn't want a long nozzle sticking that far out into my sink because I would probably keep knocking into it with large fry pans and stock pots. Since I only use dish soap approx. once a day, it's not a problem storing it under the sink. Here is a link that might be useful: Never MT