Four hours? Good grief. I'd be lucky to last half that before my back gave out and I just said forget it. That takes some serious patience.

Read somewhere that stores actually bank on less than 10% of people ever using these warranties, so they're basically just free money for them. The mattress one is extra shady because normal wear and tear is literally what you're trying to protect against, but they word it so vague you don't realize until too late. Friend of mine had the same thing happen with a couch, paid for extra coverage and the cushion foam flattened out after a year. They told her it was "expected settling" or something ridiculous like that. Makes you wonder why they even offer these plans if they're gonna fight you on every single claim.

I mean I actually read something about this on a city planning blog last year, apparently the loophole doesn't work everywhere because some towns have rules against any elevated structure over a certain height even if you call it a play set. It really depends on the local zoning codes though, some places are super strict about anything over like 6 feet off the ground regardless of what you name it. Honestly that guy at Lowe's was probably just talking out of his own experience and not actual law.

Hang on, are we sure concrete is actually better though? I mean yeah it doesn't warp like wood, but once it cracks it's not just weeds, it's water getting in there and freezing, making the cracks worse every winter. At least with a deck you can replace a few boards here and there and it still looks okay. Concrete is a huge pain to patch and never matches right after. Plus with wood you can stain it a different color whenever you get bored of it, concrete is pretty much stuck looking like concrete forever. Not saying decks are perfect, but people act like concrete is this magic bullet and it's really not.

Ketchup with potato chips is the move, sounds gross but the sweet and salty combo SLAPS.