I don't think you did anything wrong regardless of what they say. Her died pure and simple, he needed an ambulance immediately. I don't care for hospice organizations. Some are good and some are not and you can't tell the difference until you have experience with them. one thing I do like is that you can fire them with a 30 day notice. I would not pay the bill, I would call again and leave a message if they won't talk to you and tell them the next call will be to your attorney. I had a similar problem with a care home. About a year after my husband died, I got a bill for $500 and some for an ambulance. They had a van they usually take people to the hospital in. They said it was my responsibility. I thought about it for awhile then called the home and asked for the location and the phone number of their corporate offices. They told me the same thing, I had to pay. I Told them I would see them in court. She said that will cost you more than what is owed. I said, yes, but sometime you do it because it is the right thing to do. She said wait a minute, she returned and said don't worry about it. We will take care of it. This post was edited by EmmaR on Sat, Sep 28, 13 at 19:07

While I can't be 100% positive in your situation, my educated guess would be that, like on my system, the tan wire is probably the 24 VAC common wire, i.e. the "other side" of the 24VAC transformer. The white wire completely controls the heater strip. When the thermostat decides that aux heat is needed, it turns on the heater strips (white wire = 24 VAC) while the compressor stays on (Yellow wire = 24 VAC). The "emergency heat" switch simply turns off the compressor (removes 24 VAC from the yellow "compressor on/off" wire) and turns on the heater strips (applies 24 VAC to the white wire). You can easily verify your situation with a voltmeter.

With large format tile and the modified thinset, there was a pretty good chance that the thinset had not created a strong enough bond where the Kerdi would be damaged when the tile was removed. Without a doubt, float out the wall prior to continuing. A good foundation will improve your chances of success. I've used Versabond quite a bit over Kerdi, but I don't use it with large format tile because the tiles are so large. Modified thinsets need air exposure to completely dry and develop a complete bond. Thinset sandwiched between a large format tile and Kerdi will not see much air, especially the thinset away from the perimeter of the tile. If you're using Versabond, I'm guessing you bought it at Home Depot? Custom's unmodified thinset is Customblend. I'm not a big fan of Customblend right out of the bag, but if you have to use it, I'd recommend picking up a bag of portland cement and adding a margin trowel or two of portland cement to each batch of Customblend thinset that you mix up to fortify it a bit. Definitely change to a larger notched trowel to apply thinset to the wall, and definitely burn in and back butter the tile prior to setting it. It will help immensely with coverage and adhesion. The gap under the bottom row of tile? It depends on how inconsistent the floor/wall junction is as you go around the room. If it's wonky, with the floor already tiled? I'll toss out rough numbers for this example: Let's say your tiles are 16" square and you had a 3/8" gap in some spots between the bottom of the wall tile and the top of the floor tile, and in other spots they touched. Your best bet may be to strike a level line across the four shower walls about 15-5/8" above the highest spot on the perimeter of the floor. With a 3/8" variance in elevation around the perimeter of the floor, that line will be 16" above the lowest spot on the perimeter of the floor. You then scribe the bottom edge of each tile so it conforms to the floor tile, so when the tile is set in place the top edge of the tile will be on the line you drew on the walls. Some tiles may fit without having to be cut at all. Others may have up to 3/8" taken off their bottoms. Others may vary, you'll have to trim a bit here, a bit more there, to follow the contour of the pebble floor tile. A pain? For sure. But that'll solve the uneveness of the wall-floor intersection, and with the top edge of your bottom course of wall tile now being spot on perfect level around the entire shower, you've created the proper foundation upon which to tile the upper walls. An overall generic lesson? First thing I do in any shower is fix the framing. With square and plumb framing I get square, plumb, and flat backer board and plumb and square wall corners. With good backer board I get a good tile installation. Fight the framing at the start and that's the only battle you'll have to fight. Everything else will follow smoothly. Good luck!

The "why" of uniform wood flooring in a typical American house is definitely not for mindless conformity. It is to allow the floor to be a canvas for the major decorative elements - furniture, rugs, and art - without calling attention to transitions from room to room, which can tend to chop up the space visually and make it look smaller and cluttered. A small number of houses can have varied floor surfaces and have it look good, e.g. if all of the following is true: * The house is much larger in square footage than typical * The house has high ceilings (10 ft+) * Rooms are well delineated with walls and doors such that each different flooring is well closed off from the others * Each flooring is coordinated with its neighbors as to scale, color (warm vs. cool), mood (formal vs. rustic vs. ??), texture, etc. * Each flooring change is made with a clear purpose based on a logical factor (this is why tile entryways in a wood floor house look fine - it's logical to have a water-resistance material at the front door, or in a bathroom) If the ground floor flooring materials are very grand as to formality and large scale - say polished marble slabs - you're right, they should not be used in smaller- scale rooms upstairs. But a beautiful pale oak 5" or 6" plank would look awesome on both floors. The unity of flooring would provide a calm continuity. You can then layer furnishings, rugs, accessories and art of the correct level of coziness or grandeur in various rooms as appropriate. And that's why we are all giving the same, overwhelmingly good advice.