My guess was wrong. The water softener is installed. The cold side tests soft. The hot side is still hard. So I put a T in the line out from the softener, and ran it to a T just in front of the water shutoff on the water heater cold side. Still no joy. So I pondered, and then the light bulb went on. I need to just plug the line coming from the wall, because that is tapping off hard water only. And it is not accessible. So I will get rid of the T in front of the water shutoff. Replace it with an 90 elbow. Plug the line coming out from the wall. Then the only water that can go into the water heater is the output from the softener. That should do the trick. Soft water on the hot and cold. Don't ask me how they ran the outside hose bib connections. No clue. I am assuming they did it correctly when they built the house, so soft water won't be coming out of those, but who knows. It all depends on where they tapped in from.

The young people I know have a very different idea about what "entertaining" is than we do. They need the space because their version (and ours, when we were young) involves a whole bunch of their friends, lots of drinks and snacks and music, and general horsing around. We are more sedate about the whole business. But I disagree that just because you do things only once a month, you shouldn't have a house that supports them. I have four people at my table as often as once a week, six once a month, and eight or ten three or four times a year. Then there's the occasional cocktail party for 20 or so, which is about all this house can handle. I want all those groups to be comfortable, and to feel that we made an effort on their behalf. I want to be able to handle them all relatively easily, which keeps it fun for me. But back to the molding - I don't think it's necessarily about showing off. It's about an old-fashioned level of formality, and a signal that life is lived a certain way in the house. And it's also a pleasure to look at. I don't think anyone should feel uncomfortable in beautiful surroundings, even if they aren't part of one's everyday life. The best advice I ever heard given to a young person about to be entertained in a place that scared her to death was this: "Don't worry about not fitting in. Just stand up straight, smile at everyone, and speak clearly, softly, and rarely."

The least expensive fix is for you and your neighbor to be on the same page (as the second step) -- even you buying him an oak sapling to be planted wherever he wants you to dig a hole for it )if you need to do so), including his agreeing with and being on the same page for the third step -- building the wall. If and when the two of you are on the same page, then next step is for you to build your wall (or have it built.). It may be cheaper for you dig a ditch alongside the embankment and mix concrete in your wheelbarrow for a footing, then you mix cement in your wheelbarrow to build a concrete block wall atop the footing as close to the embankment as practical -- maybe three blocks high with a cap block atop that -- and then you level or gently slope about 16" above/behind that wall and plant your ground cover there to "hold" any dirt above your block wall, filling in any spaces left between the block wall and embankment with the soil you remove to create a mostly level ( in all directions) planting area above/behind the wall for what you plant to prevent erosion.. The first step is you researching how to build a three block concrete block wall (w/cap block) as a retaining wall and you knowing how to do it yourself and you knowing what is involved, including costs. Do contact that same landscaper that created the problem and and get a (?discounted?, hopefully) price for him to build a three blockhigh (with cap block) concrete block retaining wall as a part of your research in costs. Note: If you end up building a tall wall, you may need some rebar inside the blocks to help hold them in place and even curved pieces ("L" shaped) to set in the block and to be hammered into the wall and even adding more concrete behind the wall between blocks and dirt to help hold those blocks in place.

Zak, I guess you mean that the house is vinyl siding and its color will never change. OK, it's combination with the walk is not that bad. The bigger problem is the wall and it's jumpy appearance (dark/light grey) and its clash with the walk. I think that is an absolutely terrific idea that Rev mentioned, to change out the wall cap to match the walk edge color. That would really help these two elements coordinate. It doesn't look like you could change the light colored block to match the main grey block color, outside of faux painting or something that might produce a surprise result, and be entirely dependent on someone's artistic skill. Just rely on plants to cover some of it. It will not take that long. And don't use that blotchy scheme at a future house. :-)