Techno, it was actually cultered stone and its by Owens Corning. In my area its considered a "local delivery". (it doesnt go thru the corporate office) of direct buy, so we were able to go direct to the stone place and pick out what we wanted at the direct buy price. We just ordered thru direct buy. You can also do it with pavers, but Im not sure if that is Ownens Corning or it has another brand name. Just ask your local direct buy about their cultered stone. They may send you to their distributor which is what they did in our case, thats how we found out we could do the pavers too.

If to be painted, I recommend checking out TruStile. Great product, can accommodate nearly any style, and they in fact stand by their work. I have them in so many different forms- pocket doors, hinged doors, even a couple of heavy sliders (very tall, due to ceiling height) and they're the least thing I ever worry about. During the build, we had a couple that showed up a bit warped. Not to worry- they made them again, expedited the shipping and boom- we still stayed on schedule. Yep- my GC had a lot to do with that, as he has a relationship with the local supplier of the doors, who in turn has a big relationship with TruStile. By myself? Who knows who would have listened to me/responded that well? Get pros on this. EDIT: I should also say that I live in a fairly high humidity area. MDF solid core is very stable in this environment.

we've done a few butcher block tables and kitchen islands now. For anyone looking to build their own get a set of these clamps from Shopsmith. They really make the panels flatten out nicely and it helps to reduce the amount of finish planing you have to do at the end. They are relatively easy to set up as well. Make sure you use at least 3 clamps for a decent sized table. This is an edge grain butcher block table we are currently building. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RedDogsCrafts

@Karen Lee regarding the "oaks" it just depends what you're looking for. Both are used for flooring. Red Oak has a redder color, and a more elaborate, wilder grain pattern. White Oak has a more subtle, finer grain pattern, and a lighter warmer color. If you're planning to stain, Red oak might take stain slightly better. If you want a natural finish like polyurethane, White Oak looks very beautiful finished naturally. They are both hard and durable for flooring use. Of course with all wood species there is variation depending on the part of the tree it's taken from, etc, but here's a quick comparison pic of Red Oak vs. White Oak to show the differences between color and grain. (Red on the left, White on the right).