You are just coming out of a long winter and so grass does tend to look awful at the start of the year. I doubt this has to do with kind of grass that's been laid. It's not the gardiners fault. You have an issue with animals - I can't understand why squirrels or cats would need to dig there. I might suspect a raccoon because they are normally after beetle grubs which come to the surface around thsi time of the year. They tend to rip open grass to reach to this areas. Squirrels normally dig to get to their hidden nuts or to get at tulip bulbs. Cats dig because they need to do their business there. Crows just stick in their beaks to grab the worms. So my thoughts are -- raccoons are doing this. If you pull up a section of your grass and see grubs, that's what's causing the grass to have patches and for holes dug by raccoons. You will definitely see lines along where the tiles of sod meet. I suspect you put down the grass just before fall and before the grass managed to meld into each other. Heres a simple remedy, --detaching - that is scratching the grass to remove the dead grass. Deal with the grubs - in Ontario we can no longer use insecticides. Perhaps in Montreal it's different. Barring insecticides, the organic way is using nematodes (a microscopic worm which attacks grubs and are available at garden centres). Next add good top soil, (if you have a large area to cover, it's cheaper to get them by the truckload. - Next spread it thinly all over the yard like you are icing a cake. I like using the back of my rake to do this job. Next spread new grass seeds. I do this every 2 weeks to ensure the gaps I've missed are covered. New grass will germinate in about 2 weeks and in no time you willhave a great looking yard again. Hope it works.

blue_fastback, you learned a valuable lesson about penny pinching. I suggest hire only reputable flooring establishments where you will have a company with a brick and mortar presance to go to lodge complaints. Most have a reputation to protect, and be prepared to pay for this level of quality and service, especially those with in-house EMPLOYED crews instead of subcontractors. Theirs are generally much more quality control on average, rather than subcontractors who have little to no oversight.. I am not talking about the discount carpet stores either. I will agree that getting CFI-Certified isntallers at Master Level Residential-II or Master-2 Certification, but that isnt always going to guarantee you will get a good job. Some people skate in to get a certification jsut to say theya re certified, never get any further education or certifications, and its still not guarantee they wont cut corners to get off early on a side job. Before i get flamed here, you can also find good independent installers, but reputation goes a long way, so its hit and miss many times. Even for us flooring retailers, it is hit an miss with new independent installers. Get at least 3 references and check them out. As to gettting your money back, file a claim at the local district jsutioces office if he wont reimburse you, but it might be hard to prove without an independent flooring inspection report, so you would probably have to call in the otehr floor man as a witness. Did you take pictures ? to me all that bull isnt worth $175.00. call him and tell him you want reimbursed and hope for the best. Here is a link that might be useful: Flooring Inspectors

chase, I ate that exact dish for dinner last week, when DH was out of town, except I had a blob of yellow mustard to dip my weiner pieces in. I sat down in front of the tv with my bowl; quick and easy dinner.

We have an older treated wood deck that I am patiently (choke) waiting for DH to rebuild. I use solid stain on it (Maxum or Rez) and do have to do touch up areas in spring, typically light ones in walk path areas. Every couple years a good recoat on horizontal surfaces. Railings not so much, they last much longer. However, agree to avoid Behr. I used it on rental property decks (small, one side and one rear). Side deck rarely used, mostly by the mailman. Rear deck was regularly used by two adults who were rarely home. Prepped and applied correctly. By end of that summer (only two months gone by) it was pulling off in walk paths and on top the railing. Then I googled and found a gazillion complaints about Behr stain on decks. Won't waste my time or $ on Behr deck stain again. :/