Glyphosate toxicity Glyphosate has a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxicity Class of III (on a I to IV scale, where IV is least dangerous) for oral and inhalation exposure.[46] Nonetheless, as with other herbicides, the EPA requires that products containing glyphosate carry a label that warns against oral intake, mandates the use of protective clothing, and instructs users not to re-enter treated fields for at least 4 hours.[46][47] Glyphosate does not bioaccumulate and breaks down rapidly in the environment.[48] Human The EPA considers glyphosate to be noncarcinogenic and relatively low in toxicity.[46] The EPA considered a "worst case" dietary risk model of an individual eating a lifetime of food derived entirely from glyphosate-sprayed fields with residues at their maximum levels. This model indicated that no adverse health effects would be expected under such conditions.[46] Effects on fish and amphibians Glyphosate is generally less persistent in water than in soil, with 12 to 60 day persistence observed in Canadian pond water, yet because glyphosate binds to soil, persistence of over a year have been observed in the sediments of ponds in Michigan and Oregon.[46] In streams, maximum glyphosate concentrations were measured immediately post-treatment and dissipated rapidly.[46] Glyphosate is "practically nontoxic to slightly toxic" for amphibians and fish.[49] Wikipedia again. Roundup (Glyphosate) is the least toxic herbicide in the world. This accounts for its widespread use and acceptance for use on food products by the EPA. It is an acid molecule that inhibits plant enzymes (not animal enzymes) and kills plants. In contact it binds with soil and and degrades. Unless you swallow it before it dries it is basically harmless to humans or pets. Organic herbicides would be limited to vinegar or practices such as mulching. All fine for small plot in your backyard, but impractical on a commercial farm. Here is a snippit from the Renegade Gardener that should be mandatory reading for those who rail against Roundup and demand the use of organic pesticides. "You chose glyphosate as your cause? FYI, the most commonly used pesticide in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, copper sulfate, is far more toxic and still widely in use today in the US and around the world. Where? Organic farming. Copper pesticides are organic, understand, and approved for use today in the US, England (well, not for long) and many other countries. Each season, organic farmers spray it by the hundreds of thousands of gallons. It has an EIQ of 47.8! That’s off the charts!!" Roundup has an EIQ of 15.3 Here is a link that might be useful: Renegade Gardener on organic pesticides.

For most trades it's beneficial to them as well as you to stay as close to the work area as possible to save some steps and keep the project at hand and rolling smooth. Sometimes it can be taken outdoors or in a garage area but for the most part, there are elements that require it to be done in place. This means dusts and debris. A good tradesperson will do a quick,daily clean up getting set up for the next day and at the end of the project, do a respectfully decent clean up of the area concerned. It's common courtesy for the client as well as the trades coming in behind them and shows professionalism. You have to expect a certain amount of mess and not all trades people are going to show respect by picking up after them selves. It's the nature of the beast. You should focus your efforts on working things out with your builder "friend" and not sweat the small stuff such as cleaning up after a sloppy sub. I have a friend who did the most clean finish carpentry work i've seen as far as tight joints,clean cuts, right on detailing, but was the biggest slob as far as cleaning up after himself. Finish carpenters are typically clean, organized trades people, but as in my friends case, not always. Your concern should really dial in on the workmanship of the stairs as that is what you will be living with. The dust will get cleaned up one way or another and is a miniscule concern, imho.

I was wondering: can you bring the seller to small claims court for reimbursement of repairs after a closing? the woman we purchased our condo from DESTROYED the carpets, which we were not going to replace right away. During the walk-through, she indicated she "just had the carpets shampooed" and had cardboard box tops or some sort of planks down to walk on because they hadn't fully dried. She also had minimum watt bulbs in the light fixtures so it was really dark. After a week the carpets still hadn't dried and when you stepped on them, water and suds would just come up through the carpet. During the second week, we pulled every single carpet and pad up as by this time, the carpet were STILL wet, AND the musty smell of mold filled the entire unit. We had hughe patches of mold growing on the living and dining room concrete floors. We had to replace over 800 square feet of carpet, which is quite expensive! We contacted our real estate lawyer, who suggested we contact the seller directly, to see if she could provide us with the name/number of the company who cleaned the carpets. We tried contacting her, but no luck. The problem is this: we seriously think she cleaned the carpets herself, either taking buckets of water and detergent or the garden hose and spraying the floor...she was seriously THAT mental...I think she should re-imburse us for the amount we spent to replace the carpets which up to that point didn't need to be replaced (cleaned, yes). My husband feels that 1) it's water under the bridge, and 2) since we closed, that means we accepted the condition of the unit. I'm pretty mad, because she "cleaned" the carpets the day before the closing, not to mention her lawyer pretty much FORCED us to close that week. Would this be a case for small claims court? Any info would be great!

How badly cupped? It is always risky business installing a solid below grade...you can think you've covered all the bases...only to have the floor do some peculiar things anyhow. I once installed an engineered floor in a restaurant over an on-grade concrete slab. The slab tested dry and I figured I was good to go. Well, several months later the floor buckled in the middle and I visited the jobsite to find out what the cause of the problem was (it had to be moisture, but from where?)...I discovered the sources of moisture and it had nothing to do with my installation. Seems there was a leak in an icemaker in another room and a newly-installed graded concrete patio that was not properly pitched to direct water away from the foundation. Perhaps your flooring issue may be due to similar easily corrected circumstances. Was the glue used to fix the plywood underlayment also a moisture 'barrier' type? If so, then plastic would have been unnecessary. The fact that the slab wasn't tested prior to the wood install to reveal moisture vapor levels is not prudent for the installer/contractor, but testing for the presence of rising moisture is a relatively new protocol and not all installer/contractors bother to do that. I've never had to visit small claims court with a customer; there are better ways to work things out. I know this doesn't answer your question, but I hope it is of some help. Best of luck to you.