I see. I looked on Home Depot's website for weed barrier and it is all poly. I think I'll just take my chances with the plastic. What is the best way to get a good seal around the edges?

Some type of edging that will hold up to your trimmer. Metal isn't great but it holds up to trimmers. I'd recommend stackable pavers but the price isn't right on those either.

I'd advise against the plastic. The reason for landscaping fabric is it let's rain water through, but holds the water beneath it for your plants.

If you're worried about weeds poking through, I'd check with a local landscaping company about commercial grade landscaping fabric. Probably costs though.

Good point. If it's up against your foundation, it's even worse. You want your foundation to be properly moist so the earth supports the concrete.

Mmmm...moist...

I hate when we have a detector that starts chirping because it takes me damned-near forever to figure out which one it is. Apparently that particular frequency can sound like its coming from everywhere at the same time.

When I have one start chirping, I change all of the ****ers batteries otherwise another one will start doing it at 3AM.

it's not a smoke detector -- it's an asshole detector :D

Is it a CO2 detector? If so, they have a filter on them that you might need to blow out.

I was having phantom smoke detector issues a few months back. They were just going off (like full on going off, not just chirping, which is also annoying) at like 4am. Scared the shit out of us. It was the CO2 thing.

the landscape cloth works because it keeps the weed seeds from reaching the soil and taking root.

I'm looking for some informed opinions on cabinets and hardwood flooring options.

Are Thunder Bay cabinets from Menards Junk or nice budget cabinets?
Also looking at Merillat Classic Hickory.

My intention has been to put in quite a bit of hickory hardwood, but some of the engineered laminate hardwoods look like a decent option. What do I need to know or keep in mind for cost comparison.

Merillat cabs are good stuff. Heavy markup though. Don't know squat about Thunder Bay. Considerations on hardwood for me would be;
1. How many sandings are in the product.
2. Where is is going, ie: is moisture a concern?
3. Who is the company and what is their warranty?

Do you know of a comparable quality cabinet(hickory) to Merillat that would be a better buy?

Basically I have an interior blank slate to fill..........soon...and I'm still open to suggestions.

Any budget conscious counter top recommendations?

Most my cabinets are either Merillat or custom. Frankly, I think the best budget countertop available currently is granite. It's half the price of butcher block, concrete, or stainless. It's only like $10 more per sqft than laminate. That's a no brainer for me if you're on a budget. It's by far the best choice in the $40-50 range.

Don't buy anything from Menards. They generally sell two qualities of product. Good, and crap. Any cabinet named "Thunder" makes me nervous. Check Home Depot and Lowe's. Not only do they carry higher quality products, but employ adults, whereas Menards employs as many high school and college kids as possible. They are the Wal-Mart of home improvement stores. Not only b/c of those policies, but many others. John Menard is known as being generally a shitty person.

Look at it this way, the low end store brand tools, Husky (Home Depot) & Kobalt (Lowe's) > Tool Shop/Master Force (Menards).

As for flooring. Lumber Liquidators is great and they have many higher grade cheap options. Also, check with a local wood mill and see what it would cost to buy solid Hickory flooring direct from them.

Hope this helps.