I devoured this thread for months and finally went to Lowe's to look at these planks. When I first looked at them in the store I thought they looked so fake and cheesy that I almost gave up, but I brought a few home and set them on the floor. They looked good! It seems that most people have good results as long as they follow the directions really carefully and don't use professionals to install the floor. It also seems that the trouble comes when the climate is really hot or humid. But, just to make sure that we weren't the unlucky ones, I installed it in my entryway first to see how it would hold up on our concrete slab. I pulled up sheet vinyl and scraped off the remaining mastic, used the Henry's and it went down and stayed. I am a dog walker/pet sitter and we board dogs, all different kind of dogs, at our house and we needed something durable and easy to clean and this has fit the bill. I installed it in our entire downstairs myself. Everyone loves it and thinks it's either wood or laminate and several neighbors want to put it in themselves. I've noticed vinyl flooring everywhere now, including high end stores. Thanks to everyone for recommending this flooring and for the terrific tips. Here are a few of my own: 1) Definitely prep, prep, prep the floor. I scraped up mastic and glue from the carpet pad. I didn't use adhesive remover because one site I saw said it may soak into the concrete and interfere with adherence. The key is clean, dry and smooth. 2) The instructions on the box and the Novalis website recommend the self-stick tile primer. It is a must - it goes on really thin and dries clear in about half an hour. 3) Take your time when laying the tiles and get them as tight and straight as you can. 4) I found some walnut wood filler that I used in some of the tricky spots and it worked great. 5) Definitely let the planks sit in your house for 48 hours before installation. 6) I ordered OOPS! Painters wipes which Novalis recommends to remove excess adhesive. They also recommend them to remove the white "scratches" which Novalis calls scuff marks. I found that the wipes didn't work on the scuff marks, but time does. They eventually wear away. 7) I didn't use a rolling pin, but did baby steps on the tiles once they were down. There are a few that I missed and they sound funny. I have not had any scratches from dog's nails, but we did have some from broken dishes. It's not as noisy as laminate, but it is hard - almost like walking on concrete. I love this flooring and am so glad to have put it in. I am a middle aged woman and did it by myself. I took my time and did one section at a time and it came out great! Here is a link that might be useful:

This should not be too bad. I was in a similar position to you. My doors were very similar. Not sure how sturdy they are, but we had builder grade doors that felt flimsy to me. I did a complete rebuild as I wanted nicer and wider appliances. I was able to keep my same floor as I did not change the toe kick layout - I just changed the cabinets which sit on top of a toe kick ladder. But I think you can easily order new doors/drawer fronts without a complete rebuild. To give you an idea, I ordered paint grade maple doors and drawer fronts for around $2,700. I had them all predrilled for concealed hinges and also routed with finger pulls (overkill, but I think the finger pulls give the doors a nice rounded look). I think I spent another $1000 on hardware - clip hinges/slow close mechanisms, and knobs/pulls. My kitchen is a similar layout but wider - so, hope you might be able to get the doors cheaper. I'll echo the paint - I think that might be the easier route than a reface. You are probably going to need a good two coats of primer. We hired a painter (I hate painting and it hates me, lol) But, if you DIY'd the paint, it'll will be time consuming but much much cheaper. I would say not more than $4-5K to change the look completely (not including your countertops or changes to appliances) Below is a link to my kitchen before and after. We did a swiss coffee finish with ORB fixtures. Best of luck to you, Eric Here is a link that might be useful: DIY Kitchen Reveal

My granite is called Golden Oak. My kitchen is long since finished, but the best photos I have of my granite are from the "during" phase. Here is an after (though I don't think the outlets were set). There is a backsplash there, it is Corian routed to look like tile. It looks better in person, but photographs like unfinished drywall.

There are 2 garbage slide outs. One under each sink. The single can one is 19" wide and the double can is 16.5". Door drawer fronts and the face frames and cab boxes I bought came from cabinetmakers choice. http://cabinetmakerschoice.com/ You can buy these things from a lot of places. This place was very helpful and extremely responsive. In fact when a face frame arrived broken they sent me a new one withen a week. Building is straightforward IFF you have a table saw, router, chop saw and most importantly and pocket hole system. Prefinished plywood also helps. There are links on the web for how to make cabinets but the most important thing is the confidence to try. Keith