Well..you are right about the summer maximum but to call this a monsoon....BEtween 2000-3000 m etres, where P. martinezii grows they get 680mm on average. So the circulation may well be that of a monsoon but the result is unlike what the word monsoon in general seems to imply. I also found out that the average temperature is a staggering 14 C (annual average). That is really high for a spruce. The climate is classified as oceanic. Okey, more like Southern France oceanic or NW Portugal Spain Oceanic. But than with less rain. Summer precipitation is probably 200-300 mm but the growing season is much longer. Probably all year round or at least march-november. This means that growing season precipitation is lower than that of most parts of NW Europe (much lower). It may succeed in the eastern US, but not where temperatures can drop to -20 or lower I think. I guess this spruce is may be a zone 9 one. But unsure.

Oh, and I can't forget my friends over at Wallingtons. I went to the one in Fairfield, which may or may not be close to you, but they also have other shops. W's is more a "to the trade'' kind of place. Reminded me of the bare-bones auto supply stores my dad used to take me to when I was a kid, where you walk in and there's a big counter where the customers stand on one side and the clerks/salespeople on the other, and only they can get to the "supplies'' piled on high shelves behind them. I was the only female in the place, every time I went there. The only problem with them, is that they only sell a few brands, primarily Kohler. A guy there basically helped me design my showers and tub fixtures. Very helpful, even to a lady!

The "better warranty" they are referring to that you are paying more for by using the plumber's/GC's vendor has to do with coverage on more than just the fixture itself should it fail. When you buy online/at a non-preferred store, the only thing the plumber/GC will warrant is the install. When you use their supplier, they warrant the fixture, the install & any damage that may occur to surrounding flooring, cabinetry, etc. So let's say you buy your bathroom sink faucets online, they are defective and fail within the first year of install flooding the vanity cabinetry, warped the custom tub deck, and soaked the carpeting in the adjoining bedroom and closet & destroying the bathroom floor. You call the GC/plumber & they say the install was not to blame, it was the fixture itself. You are now on the hook to contact the manufacturer, handle the warranty replacement hassle yourself + the cost of removal & re-installation of the fixture + repairing all the collateral damage that occurred at your own expense. Now if you had bought the same fixture through the GC's/plumber's supplier, they would immediately replace the fixture & take care of the warranty paperwork hassle for you with no waiting, they would re-install at no cost & cover the costs of repairing all the collateral damage. So the next question is, how often do fixtures fail within the first year? I can't say for sure. What I can tell you is that my DM & DD bought all of their fixtures for their5 bd/3.5ba home online & none have failed. We bought most of ours through our GC/plumber's supplier + 2 fixtures online & only 1 has failed --the handshower (supplied by the plumber's supplier) started leaking out the sides of the twist control. It was promptly replaced within a week (it was special order to start with so we felt a week was reasonable). That leaves the final question of what level of risk are you willing to take / is the 20-30% higher price worth the peace of mind of knowing you're covered in the event that the worst happens? Only you can answer that one. You may want to do a search on the 'Bathrooms' forum on this topic--there are plenty of threads on there discussing this very topic. To answer your actual question of where we bought our fixtures--the ones we bought ourselves were purchased from www.irawoods.com. Hope this helps! This post was edited by mydreamhome on Wed, Jun 5, 13 at 23:35

I was going to order through appliancesconnection.com because they are an authorized online dealer according to their site. I figured if ANYTHING at all went wrong, the extra money spent at an authorized dealer would pay back in spades! I just completely freaked out this week about hypothetical broken sinks, issues with the granite place if they break it (I could have ordered through them, but at full retail, so I'm supplying the sink), what I would do if I had to replace it after install since I'm putting a 33 inch sink in a 33 inch frameless cabinet, and many other reasons. I can't take that ball of worry on top if everything else as I need to order everything this week. And I would completely lose it if things went completely wrong, I planned for a whole year to make this happen in 3 weeks (minus granite). I'm getting a Franke Orca now from my local plumbing supply. What a sense of peace! I'm not trying to discourage you, just sharing my neurotic experience. I am sourcing almost everything myself for my GC. And I'm trying to avoid a complete meltdown on DH's part from having construction go too long. And I tend to be that person that has the worst possible thing go wrong at just the wrong time! I'd suggest purchasing with at least enough time to reorder if needed, with a week or two to spare. My silgranite quote from the local place was a little above authorized online dealers, but way below retail. I didn't pursue it further as I decided in the meantime to switch to the Orca, which they priced the same as online authorized dealers, and when I asked about it, they said they will let me purchase through my contractor at contractor pricing (not a whole lot less, but still...) I'll shut up now. I really shouldn't be allowed online unsupervised after a relaxing cocktail!