My wife has a few 'plastic' pots that she uses for herbs, and places on the deck outside our kitchen. My biggest use of them is in starting the seeds each year. I used peat pots for many years, and was always annoyed at the amount of failures, and resulting re-plants. I have found a better way, especially for my tomatoes and peppers. I use these bio-sponges to germinate the seeds, and then when they have about 2 or 3 leaves, I move them into small plastic pots(square) that are almost 4 inches deep, and 3 1/2 inches square. (with potting soil filler) They have consistently done much better than the peat pots ever did. Some suggests that the peat absorbs too much moisture, maybe. When it comes to planting in the garden, they pop out of the plastic pots quite easily, with their roots well developed and holding it all together. This year, I tried using these foam shipping trays for wine bottles. I buy a case of wine, now and then, and when they are shippped, they come in foam formed containers for the bottles. I realized they are not too wide, but nice and deep, so thought I should try them for my seedlings. I lined each cylinder shape with wax paper, then put in the plant which grew in the biosponge, with the soil filler. I'll be putting them in the ground later this week, so will be anxious to see if they pop out easy enough with the wax paper. They also grew very well from the seedling stage. We'll see!

While it is true that all mortar joints will allow water to enter the cavity the type of mortar and how the joint is tooled will make a substantial difference in the amount of water that enters the cavity. Because the escape of water from the cavity depends so much on how clean the cavity is, the type of brick ties and how carefully they were installed, how well the cavity was flashed, and how good the weep holes are, it is best to minimize the amount of water entering the cavity. There can be no disagreement regarding what kind of joint limits water in the cavity.

I put in Forna engineered cork flooring 5 years ago in my kitchen. I chose the interlocking planks because I could not find anyone to install the tiles in the area where I live. Cancork supplied the planks I bought. It was sold as a possible DIY, but I had a remodeler do it anyway. The floors do dent, but it hasn't bothered me at all. It is a busy pattern and the dents are really not ugly. Of course, we have a more rustic style in our kitchen. The thing that bothers ma A LOT, and that I would be careful of is that the cork surface chips off and it's apparently not covered by warranty (although reading the warranty, you wouldn't know that--it's only when you ask that they "interpret" the warranty to exclude the chipping and flaking issue.) These are not gouges, they are chips. We used the very expensive Lobo polyurethane that they recommended and applied it exactly according to directions and it immediately peeled up and hasn't protected the floor like they said it would. Disappointed with Cancork and their product, but I still really love the cork. I like the way it looked, the way it felt--just think this is a poor example of the material.

I was hoping that you would get more responses because I'm in the same state of confusion. We don't have dogs, but live in a rural area with dust, dirt, snow & temperature extremes. I've had wood laminate for the past 13 years (Wilsonart from when it first came out). What I really want is tile; however we're in our 50's and I have concerns over how hard it will be as we get older. So I'm leaning toward the Duraceramic or back to laminate possibly in a tile look. A young neighbor with small children put in the real tile & said it's hard to walk on so she's wishing she did the Duraceramic. I'm a little hesitant on the laminate because what we have looks fake, more plasticy, plus, it's peaked at the seams from the initial installation. We get a lot of sunlight so every seam is very evident. Have you checked on the differing needs for underlayment? That might influence your decision.