Sorry for the delay Tom. We were cutting trees with stumps from one-inch to four- or five-inch. We cut large branches off of a tree that has a trunk that's kind of uneven, so it doesn't really have a normal diameter, but is easily a foot across. We couldn't take it out, for fear of the neighbor's guest house. and we weren't comfortable poisoning it for the same reason. The one in front that doesn't threaten anything was poisoned. And it's rained a lot here, meaning, I fear, that the poison just washed into the ground-water and out to the Bay, instead of killing the tree. It's a poison that is at its most useful on a new cut - so we painted quickly before the sap could seal that up. It's also a poison that is really bad in ground water. So I'm not sure that we did a good thing - no matter how good the intentions. We're going to use the rest of it on cherry stumps, hoping for a dry weekend soon (not this one!) to drill the cherry stumps. Grrr. I'm a little bit frustrated that I gave in and bought poison and the unseasonably early rains may have thwarted my efforts to keep that poison out of the groundwater and Bay. And Cathy, one of the reasons why it's prohibited for landscapers to give me mulch chipped up from stuff they cut is because of Brazilian Peppers and Melaleuca. The danger with chipped mulch is seeds in it that will spread the bad stuff, so in Miami-Dade, landscapers can't even go and cut down my neighbor's oak tree and chip it and give the chips to me. They can only chip on site, so the bad stuff - if there is any - stays put. Makes me sad, because I could totally use free mulch, but I understand the reasoning. We put the pepper branches out for bulk pick-up. I'm not even willing to compost that stuff.

"We have decided to pay for the remediation of the mold ourselves, but I was surprised that there are no regulations about using dry wood". Since you have already taken action to have mold remediation performed, you have wisely decided your health is more important than other concerns in this situation. If you spent an enormous amount of money for mold remediation and health treatment, you may wish to consult your attorney to see if the framer is liable to reimburse you for these costs. The remaining long post below is for others who wonder what is all this hype about mold. I am a licenced contractor who deals with mold issues in connection with water intrusion damage to homes. In my years dealing with mold problems, I have come to understand mold from a different point of view than the average contractor or homeowner. To start, some background about mold. Mold is any of the thousands of kinds of fungus which inhabit the earth. Most mold is parasitic, and feeds off wood or vegetable matter that is found in nature. For various kinds of mold, there are different environmental conditions that promote their growth and survival. We usually associate warm, damp conditions with mold, but mold can live in many conditions from very wet to nearly dry, cold or warm. As partr of their reproductive cycle, molds create spores which are released into the air and settle on new surfaces where they can grow as new molds if conditions are favorable. Mold spores are microscopic spheres which can become airborne. But these airborne spheres usually have a coating on thier surface consisting of myotoxins -- (poisons that can cause allergic reactions or severe health problems when inhaled, or adhered to your skin). However, some mold spores are more toxic than others, and some people are more sensitive to these myotoxins than other people are. So we see a vast variation when we read reports from different people that mold is a health problem. Also note that theses mold spores are in the air even when there is no known mold that can be seen growing nearby. Mold spores are as common as dust in the air. Most people are acclimated to the normal levels of mold spores that are suspended in the air that they breathe. But if there are places that have a heavy mold growths, we often hear complaints from people that they can smell the mold, or they are experiencing allergic reactions. Perhaps I am one of the lucky people who is more resistant. I have been in areas with heavy mold growth which have caused homeowners to move out of their home because of their severe reactions, without returning until our crews removed the contaminated materials and treated the mold. On the other hand, I have seen most of the mold testing usually shows that penicillin is one of the most common molds found in most homes. This is known to be a kind of mold that is used as a medicine to fight bacterial infections. Because of the undefined health risks of mold, there have been no laws that specifically determined what levels of mold are acceptable, or what methods must be used to treat the mold to make a home safe and habitable. It seems to be more of a personal choice for each indiviual to determine what is acceptable or not. But there are certain established methods of mold abatement which are accepted in the industry. Before we get into the mold abatement methods, let's take a look at the other side of mold problems with wood. Some kinds of mold can attack the wood in a manner that makes the wood weak, so it does not serve its function as a structural member. But other kinds of mold are relatively harmless to wood or to people who are near the mold. As an example, some new lumber at the lumber yard has a spotty black coating on the surface when you buy it. These black spots are mold, which is usually found on "green lumber" which may feel wet or damp to the touch. But they are not generally harmful to the wood structure, because they are only growing on the surface, and they usually stop growing after the wood is nailed in place and has a chance to dry out. But if wood is stacked so it does not dry, then other kinds of mold can grow which appear often as white webbed strands on the surface, that can weaken the wood so badly that you can break it by stomping on a board. This usually takes some time for mold to penetrate that deep into the wood, so it is rarely seen home construction because the construction wood has a chance to dry from the time it is nailed in place. A second kind of mold damage to wood is seen in exterior wood that is exposed to the weather, especially in decks and in outdoor patio covers and trellises. It is usually called dryrot, but it is actually a mold which grows in wet conditions. The dryrot mold grows when the wood is drying after becoming wet. The mold likes the damp wood fibers, and will penetrate into the interior of beams and deck planks, especially in corners and seams where water is trapped so it cannot dry quickly. Dryrot mold can destroy the fiber strength so it is so soft that you can push your finger into the surface of a board. This is the reason why deck planks are usually spaced at least 1/4 inch apart, so the water can drain, and air can dry the space between planks. So we see there are two problems with mold -- a health problem and a structural problem. The structural problem can be solved by replacing the contaminated wood members. But if the wood has not lost its strength (no soft spots), then there is no reason to replace it. You can simply kill the mold so it cannot spread, then take precautions so new mold will not grow on the wood. How to remediate mold that is causing health problems? For the health problems, the usual method is to first remove all the mold from the surfaces that you can find. Then kill the mold with a fungicide. Ordingary bleach (sodium hypochlorite) will do this (You can also buy a commercial fungicide to kill the mold instead of using bleach). Dilute your bleach with half water or use your fungicide and spray all the surfaces that were contaminated, where you removed the mold from. Be sure to scrub the surfaces with a green kitchen scrubber or brushes soaked in the bleach solution. Then after everything dries for a day or two, paint it with primer paint like Kilz to encapsulate any microscopic mold spores that may be remaining on the surface. The primer will coat these remaining spores so they cannot escape into the air where you can breathe them. Note: These mold spores still contain the myotoxins even after you use the bleach or fungicide to kill the mold, so they are still a health threat. If you are sensitive to mold, then be sure to wear a mask with a filter so you don't breath the spores while you are working. Also wear rubber gloves, and even tyvex overalls taped at the wrists and feet to keep the spores from getting on your clothes. You can throw the overalls and gloves away when you are done with the mold abatement. This is the general procedure that people pay thousands of dollars to hire a professional mold abatement company to perform. About the particular problem of mold from the porch header circulating through the house, here are my thoughts: Generally speaking, there is no code that specifies when a piece of lumber has too much mold on it to be used for construction. There may be some local codes, but I can not imagine how they could specify the exact dividing line where the amount of mold or type of mold is acceptable or not. Ususally, if there is an ugly mold growth, a framer will discard the contaminated lumber and replace it. But this seems to be a judgment call by the framer. From the scenario above, I have visions of a framer who was thinking that its a whole lot of trouble to dig that header out and replace it, so it is good enough to leave it be. If the mold was really bad, the building inspector could tell a framer that the wood he used is not in good enough condition to pass the inspection, and require that he must replace it. I have never seen this done, but then I have never seen a framer use lumber that had mold actively growing on the lumber that he used for his remodeling other than that black spotty mold we often see on new lumber. If your building inspector has no problem with the header, then the only remaining objection is the objection that you raise. Your concern may be that you simply don't like the idea of using moldy wood to enclose inside your home -- (an objection which I agree with). Or maybe someone in your home is having health problems because of the increased mold spore levels inside the home. In any case, this is a problem you need to address with your framer, because there are no laws I know of that require him to remove it. It is best to specify that all the moldy wood is to be removed before any work starts, and have the cost of remodeling include this work. Otherwise, you are dealing with problems that could have been solved in the beginning instead of later. Some other notes about remodeling and mold: The mold from new lumber is not as toxic as some varieties which grow when persistent water is leaking onto surfaces in your home. Any surface mold on the studs is contained within the walls, and will stop growing when the wood has fully dried (less than 90 days). I doubt any of the spores will find a reason to move from the surface of the lumber past the drywall or to the ductwork where they can migrate to the interior of the home. During the remodeling, there may be higher levels than normal for mold spores and dust levels. But this will subside to normal levels after the construction is done. Unless someone in the home is super-sensitive to the surface mold that sometimes is found on new lumber, it does not seem like it will be a problem after the construction is done. You can take precautions if you are concerned, such as special air filters fitted to the furnace or even an electtrostatic collector to remove tiny particles suspended in the air stream. To answer the question: Is the framer required to use new lumber instead of lumber that was weathered outdoor for years? Probably not. It depends on local codes and what your local building inspectors will accept. Hopefully your framer will replace old weathered lumber it to keep you as a happy client and reference for future work he does. You can read here to learn a little more about residential mold problems: http://www.cdc.gov/mold/stachy.htm con_j

Welcome Barbara1NC, it is great to have you join this supportive, fun, and informative forum. Ya, I took them all apart. No it did not come in a herringbone at the store I was working with. Early in my search all the tiles I liked were at specilty shops and were $30=50/sqft. I was looking a veined silver travertine mosaic running bond, and larger tiles. I wanted to spend a lot less money, so I went the the big DIY tile shop in town. They had plenty to choice from. I looked for a tile that I liked and it took me 3 trials before I settled on this one, the running bond marble mosaic. I had always figured I would do a running bond. But I just love herringbone. So I gave it some thought from time to time over the months that I had the tile, waiting to get to the installation stage. I was warned off of doing it by friends and family because there would be so many cuts. I agreed and would just assume I was going to put the 12x12 mosaics up until the moment I went to pick it up to install it. I just decided that I was going to cut it up and put it up in a herringbone pattern. I have done a lot of "making" in my life. I used to sew as a child and young adult. I have sculpted and fabricated all kinds of things in college in the art classes I took. I'll tackle anything if it's not too heavy to lift. So it was not a stretch to take the tile and redesign the layout. Tonight I am doing the other wall and it is a bit larger than the tiled wall pictured above. It is still taking me about 2 hours/1sqft. Its very late because time has just gotten away from me. I said this earlier but I have to say it again - my grout looks like the color of stainless steel. Isn't that cool?! I have stainless steel sink and faucet, etc in the kitchen and it just matches my grout! Then of course the marble tile is so beautiful. Even though this is not high end tile I think the mix of so many light whites and tans and grays is very nice. Marble is translucent, and very soft focused. Looking at this installation is like watching clouds in the sky.

And the other thing you said is that her services are "relatively frivolous". If what she is doing is indeed frivolous, I would pass, and rely on advice and opinions on GW, which are valid and helpful but also too numerous and varied and need to be sorted through. But the idea that you think her services are frivolous is the reason why you don't want to pay her what she thinks she's worth. I agree that some sorts of design services can seem frivolous, unnecessary and a luxury. I would never pay someone a high hourly rate to help me pick out clothes for example. I probably wouldn't pay someone a high hourly rate to help me pick out throw pillows. (If I wanted custom it might be different, but shopping, not so much). However all design services aren't frivolous in this way, particularly in a construction remodeling context. They can be very important. Every single man-made article we touch, every built environment we inhabit or utilize was designed by somebody. Is that frivolous? Yes? Well what about when you are using something that is poorly designed? What about using a kitchen that's got a lousy or dangerous layout. Is good design frivolous then? Yes, ellendi the designer can be used to "assist" (which I think it another word that diminishes designers, to some extent. No one says their physician assisted them or their hair dresser assisted them with their haircut). But it's not going to be the same job he or she could do, if it was a complete job. That's perfectly fine. But don't expect at 100% job with 33% input and then blame the designer solely for the parts that you don't deem perfect. It's not fair to do that and I think people do that a lot. "Are you saying that if Daisy doesn't agree to the original proposal than anything less will be disappointing?" Not automatically, not necessarily. But it won't be the same as the original proposal, and for some people that's automatically a disappointment.