Hi everyone, thanks for your comments. Kate, I think you'll find it will be great with the kids. A friend has kids and a couple of dogs running around on hers and it looks great - very sturdy. I do agree the step definitely needs redoing. I'm going to walk him around the house and point out anything I think doesn't look professional. And I do agree, mistakes can happen and as long as they are rectified I can accept that. The guy we're dealing with is part owner of the business and was a layer for 10 years before going into the sales side. He has offered to come and do the fix up himself so I'm happy with that. Re the colour, I originally thought that we'd end up with a timber shade of some sort, but the house is small and I like the white washed, light beige look of the Ashland. I'll be interested to see what you choose. Very exciting times ahead, lots of work but it will be lovely to have a new house! Best of luck, Trish

Hi painters are like any other trade, in that they quote based on how many hours of labour they are going to spend on the job and this dictates the price. We have painter's that are award winning and put a lot of prep in both before and in between coats, and everything is 3 coated. That's reflected in a higher price. We have an even more expensive one who is an absolute craftsman and the work he does is both amazing and expensive. We also have a painter that prices based on just coming in and pretty much spraying everything and minimal prep. It's a cheap and cheerful job that some people want for either budget or purpose (eg selling). As posted above, if you have a few quotes and ask questions about the prep you can make a better informed decision. cheers

leftover Modwood from our balcony was used as decking for a jetty on our farm dam and despite being camped on by ducks and kangaroos the surface of the balcony and the jetty were both ok with bare feet and although the ducks did leave some staining and the surface did get hot it wasn't slippery when wet and i understand that newer Modwood colours are better and i can't believe that a toddler's bike or dogs would cause any more harm than the average adult shoe and having never used any other decking product i can't compare

i have a Miele dishwasher with a flat tray for cutlery... does the job but always get better results with rinsing and careful stacking and would like to hear about other brands