Lynn, Thanks again for the compliments. The would is 3/4 x 3 1/4. The wood is Santos Mahogany select from Lumber liquidators, it is the Bellawood select prefinished. I read up alot about lumberliquidators quality problems but after inspecting and installing the product I didn't find more than 5% wood that I did not install or just installed in a closet. I was fortunate to find wood from a local fellow off craigslist selling 1500 sq/ft. I got an unbelievable price and jumped all over it. The sheen is just the prefinshed stuff they use at the factory. I think you can read about it at their website. Overall I think it is a great product even though I have read some horror stories from people on the internet dealing with LL. I think that the horror stories are from people trying to glue down a 3/4 solid to a concrete slab and watching it buckle from moisture. Let me know if have anymore questions or need some more pictures! Take care.

They are pretty much in all the production built houses in our area now. I am very traditional, so I wanted wood balusters even though we built 4.5 years ago and our builder was still putting the iron ones in custom homes. Now, I am seeing mostly wood in custom homes as people in our area are getting away from that Euro/Tuscan type look. The wood ones look appropriate in farm houses, colonials, and if they are simple like the pic above, even in more modern decor.

I consider myself a messy cook and always wait until I am finished to clean up my mess/dirty dishes; but, seriously, how messy can cooking and clean-up get?!? I would make that overhang one level without thinking twice. It is a more modern look, gives a huge prep space, counter-height stools are more comfortable to sit at for young and old, and people sitting at the counter will not feel like a barrier is in front of them when talking to those in the kitchen. You are going to lose your outlets when you make the top one level unless you put in pop-up outlets in the counter.

Hand scraped is has a 'dished out' look which is already dated by 5 years (so out of fashion most companies are selling it off at huge discounts). The handscraped also means you have zero chance (or near zero) of refinishing it. That means the 'hand scraped' has a life span of roughly 15 years and then it is rip it out and start again. For me that is a nightmare/waste of wood. The wire brush is a finish that 'feels' great underfoot but it increases the surface area of the floor by 5 times (or more). What that means is there is A MASSIVE surface area (think 5 hills and valleys for ever 2mm of floor). Like all hills, the water/finish is THINNEST at the top (easier for liquids to soak past the finish and stain the wood) and thicker/deeper at the bottom (water runs down hill). Now imagine you are cooking up a storm and chatting with friends (covid makes this seem like a dream...but it will happen again...I promise). You've got lots of cooking oil spraying into the air...maybe some dropped bits that fall out of the pan...normal cooking events. Now imagine you don't get to clean up the floor until the next morning ('cause who's going to break off a GREAT dinner to go hands and knees on the kitchen floor???). Oh NOOOOOOO....the oil has STAINED the floor!!!! How can that be????? You will clean and clean and every time the floor dries you can see the splatter pattern of oil on the floor! Nothing works! You have just discovered the 'nightmare' of the wire brush finish. The THIN coating on the top of the hills means the oil EASILY SOAKS into the wood. As in "in side 30 minutes". That is the night mare. Far too many people have discovered this...only to find out the writing in the warranty specifically denies coverage for this type of issue. The Belair Ancient World collection looks to be a lower grade of product. It is 9/16" thick with a wear layer of 3mm. Because of the hand scraping/detailing it is highly unlikely you can achieve a sand/refinish. Ocean Breeze - Bel Air Flooring (belairwoodfloor.com) The 'urethane lacquer' with Aluminum Oxide. Not many US born writers use "lacquer" in the description. Most use urethane. Period. Check out the grammar and punctuation and spelling on this page: About us - Bel Air Flooring (belairwoodfloor.com) It is not written by a native English speaker. And the other issue I have: they state they are CARB II certified and have FloorScore and are NWFA affiliated....but NONE of the links work! Go ahead and ask for the most recent 'certifications' or 'test results' they have for your product. I can almost guarantee the certificate will be under another company's name from another country. CARB certificates are 'good' for 6months - 1 year. Anything older and the company isn't keeping up with the EXPENSIVE part of doing business = $10K for each sample tested.