I had the same plastic tile in a rental! After I took it off, it took about a gallon of joint compound to level the walls, and even then...those were my newbie days. So dumb I used ready patch instead of mixing up some good stuff that I could breathe while using. The house had been moved three blocks in the 50's and the walls were really off, above and beyond anything my simple patching could do, so I added textured wallpaper in a nod to the lincrusta/analgypta style (except it was the 12.50/roll stuff from HD because my landlord was thrifty-minded): Wish I had a picture without the sagging oak leaves and with the chair rail we eventually added. We enjoyed that bathroom for a good three years until we finally bought our own fixer. And I was glad for the practice on that place; gad what a newbie I was (and I'll be saying the same thing of myself now in 5 years). but at least thanks to casey, worthy, brickeyee, and macv, I use the right stuff on plaster now (bonding agent, durabond, and sometimes easysand, depending on the situation). Anyway the lincrusta look worked very well for us. We painted it with BM blue lapis, then bought the bottom of the color strip (darkest, I think it was simply called Navy or Blue), mixed 50/50 with glaze, and rolled on, then wiped off with paper towels until we had the tone-on tone look we were going for. Man I loved those walls, and got lots of compliments. They were inspired by the bar in the the British show As Time Goes By, if you ever saw that one. Except those were a brownish red instead of blue.

Careful of the All-Clad handles on the fry pans and saute pans. They are oddly shaped, IMHO, and because of that, if the pan is heavy, the handles are difficult to hold. Go to a store and lift an All-Clad 12" fry pan, or a 10" saute pan, and you'll see what I mean. I think All-Clad is great for the cookware that does not have the long handles, like a stockpot, or a roasting pan, or you can get the 8" fry pan and the handles aren't a problem cause the 8" pan is small and therefore lighter. I think you should go to a store like BedBath&Beyond, Bloomingdales or Macys. Those stores have a varied selection of brands and price points so that you can look at different pans, lift them up, and see which ones you like. Also, don't get a set, get just the individual pans you use the most, and get different brands since some brands are better with some types of cookware than others.

I have decorative old roofing tiles that I want to use on a small portion, just around my front porch, of my house as exterior siding not sure if I need to remove the rust and materials on the back of them or how to do that and what I need to put under them.

Thanks, Millworkman. We live in Oklahoma so I will call the local stone yard to see what thickness the quartzite is. I think I saw 2 cm and 3 cm slabs the last time I visited a stone yard. I got lucky, and found quartzite and marble remnants that will work for my bathroom cabinets. The marble will cost me $25.00 per sf plus $75.00 for the cut outs. The quartzite will cost $40.00 per sf. What a deal! Celadon, we had an L shaped cabinet in there that was built in the 90s by a local guy. That same cabinet guy built us a new cabinet that is not L shaped. We had him build a new cabinet, but unfortunately, he did not look under the cabinet to see where the plumbing lines came out of the concrete. He brought the cabinet, and I noticed that the plumbing lines would come up about 1.5" in front of where the new cabinet will be. He took it back to his shop to fix it. He brought it back when I wasn't home, and my husband paid him. I noticed later that he did not fix the problem. I called him, and he had moved to Florida. He said he didn't know how to fix it. So, I took off the finished side panel, and bought oak plywood, stained it, and attached it to the cabinet side. Now, the cabinet is 25" deep.