Bestyears - You are so welcome. I must confess that I am thankful that I'm finally out of the college search process. All 3 of mine have finished college, one added an MBA, one went to law school and the third went Ivy League and is now an apprentice in stage production in Philly. If your DD ends up there I'm only about 20 minutes away - I'll met you in Center City for lunch! I've always liked Drexel although none of mine went there. My kids drew a circle around Philly and then looked for schools outside that area. Part of that is because their high school was fairly small - they had about 150 in their graduating classes and they wanted a broader life experience. But many of their classmates did graduate from Drexel and most of them enrolled in the co-op program. And for trips back to Texas - it's an easy commute to the airport. My brother lives in Houston and he used to fly up to visit our parents often. Even though I grew up on the other side of Penna. after living here for 30 years I've become an unabashed supporter of Philly. It's just so darned convenient. The Jersey shore is 60 miles away, New York City is 90 and there are several ski areas within a 2 hour drive. When my DD was at Columbia I'd hop the train and in 90 minutes I'd be in Manhattan and we'd met up for a day of shopping or a Broadway matinee or just lunch. I'm not sure where you are in Texas but we do get snow here!

Plume I just got finished reading this thread - my mouth hanging open, - Difficult to even know where to begin. First - God Bless you for your fortitude and relative good humor in this whole debacle - It causes my blood to boil and the severest nausea to say the least. For those of us homeowners that have made it through a large renovation, we are thicker skinned in general and have learned much along the way. That said, our hard earned money goes to products carefully, even lovingly selected, and to the skilled hands (we believe) of those whom we offer a leap of faith and trust them to do diligence in having a dream come to fruition. Unfortunately for you, your dream has turned into a nightmare - sucking time and money as well as causing emotional and psychological distress. Time you will never get back, and the time spent is on something you are outside the realm of your expertise, trying to find solutions to ever mounting problems created by those of whom you entrusted. While this has taken far too many twists and turns along the way I believe all the above posters are well intended and feel your utter frustration with the lack of skill and lack of responsibility from anyone you have entrusted. The difficulty is standing back & seeing the "forest for the trees" - You want your home and life back, you want a quality finished kitchen that you paid hard earned money for - each day presents yet another challenge in which you spin without getting a result. My business experience coupled with a novice interest in building leads me to believe your best interests may be served by cutting out ALL middle men and going to the top. It seems your Wood Mode rep & distributor have no interest in ponying up - the response of holding you hostage at this point is black mail - totally illegal. Wood Mode has built a sizeable company in the past several years, I think Robert Gronlund Chairman & CEO needs to lend an ear to see in real life how is company is being represented in the field. Let's see if Mr. Gronlund is "hands on management" as he purports. You have done a great job at documenting the issues now is the time to carefully craft letters to the powers that be. My rec is to craft letters to: Mr. Gronlund Chairman CEO President: Fred Richetia CFO: John K. Fairis Nat'l Sales Mgr - Frederick Donohue I would send same to all the above - certified mail return receipt as well as faxing to all - Keep the company's feet to the fire - I would rec being as succinct as possible - including $ spent, time-line, issues met - "fixes", permit etc. Let them know you have photos and would forward upon their request. I would follow up w/a phone call campaign to all the letters were addressed to - keeping logs of dates/times/rep you spoke to of all communication. Additionally in the letters I would state that you are bringing this to their attention in hopes for a remedy to your dire situation. The dealer/builder (be certain to name) was trained by Wood mode and if he has done this on your job, you can only imagine what he has done on other Wood Mode jobs as well. You are hopeful for a quick response and remedy as you are no longer willing to be dealing with the dealer/builder who is literally black mailing you at this point. I would ask specifically if they have any other complaints about this builder/dealer. I would also add: While I prefer finding a solution directly with Wood Mode, you have considered seeking other authorities that may be of help. "other venues" - may be: Dept of Consumer affairs-http://www.consumeraffairs.com/, NKBA-http://www.nkba.org/, congress reps, 7 on your side-http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/channel?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7109212, BBB -http://www.bbb.org/ http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cfocus/cfcomplaint05/focus.htm quote from Wood & Wood Products March 2002 " To often these days, the terms "loyalty" and 'business strategy" are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Another quote: 2005 "recently earned its 12th consecutive 'Masters Award' for outstanding sales in 2004 from Wood-Mode. The firm ranked number one nationally in Wood-Mode sales among more than 1,000 dealers," But not at Wood-Mode Inc. Nestled in the little town of Kreamer, PA, this custom cabinet giant has built a 60-year legacy based upon loyalty - to its dealers, its workers and to its customers. And it's paid off. In the last decade alone, Wood-Mode increased its sales by 200 percent to approximately $180 million, while simultaneously doubling its employee size to 1,700 persons, 1,475 of whom work in the factory. Currently, Wood-Mode produces an estimated 1,600 units per day of kitchen and bath cabinets, as well as cabinetry for other rooms." Link to upset consumers re: Wood mode, Brookhaven http://wood-mode.pissedconsumer.com/wood-mode-brookhaven-corporation-smells-20100116167998.html Wood Mode was founded in the 1942 by 4 guys who were selling white metal cabinets in the 30's when the production of steel would be shifted to the war effort, leaving them with nothing to sell. The four founded Wood-Metal Industries, Inc. in 1942 in a small lumber-planing mill in Kreamer, Pennsylvania Officers: Chairman: Robert L. Gronlund President: Fred Richetia CFO: John K. Fairis http://www.answers.com/topic/wood-mode-inc Reporting a $258M in sales 2008 over 2,000 employees I searched on EDGAR US GOV SEC site for public company's and did not find Wood Mode - http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml So they are a private company and can conduct business the way they choose, which it appears the Execs are not reachable - HAVE FAITH & PERSEVERANCE! Wood-Mode Incorporated 1 Second St. Kreamer, PA 17833 PA Tel. 570-374-2711 Toll Free 877-635-7500 Fax 570-374-2700 It seems in my brief study here, the private company grew rather large, very quickly - perhaps the foundation began to give way with the tremendous growth it experienced. My very best to you!

Jam: The Lugano floor by DuChateau was wonderful! It hid dents and dog scratches and the color was exactly what I loved...and it was a great price! If you are fine without sand-in-place flooring (expensive!), then you should go ahead with this flooring. I am definitely going to have exactly the same brand/color when we re-do our new house in April. It got raves from relatives and friends, and while that certainly wouldn't be my deciding factor whether people thought it was beautiful, the fact that it was so darned great for our common area IS the most important thing. The variation in color didn't bother me...as you saw from the pictures, once installed they blended pretty well. Admittedly I did "throw out" three boards that were too dark. During install the workers put one in and immediately I saw it and said, "Not that one!". The rest were all good. I did find another oak flooring that came close to the color I wanted--it was a white oak with an oil finish but was more than twice the price. Since I had a 42 x 22 ft room, that added up pretty quickly and I opted against it. I think it was a custom stain too. They also needed 3x the amount of time to install since it was not engineered, but full wood. I can look back in my files and see what the name of that company was if you are interested. We didn't have the budget, but you might.

I wasn't going to comment - she didn't seem to be happy with my earlier one- but as long as you brought it up, lars, I found the info she posted a bit odd. I'm not sure what the credentials are for the site or the author she linked to, but any "survey" that determined that moscato is the most popular white wine makes me wonder. Can't imagine what market that might be. I've only had it a few times (thankfully) but it reminded me of carbonated Kool-Aid. Rarely see it, rarely hear anyone talk about it or bring it along for a social visit or dinner. The muscat grape is has an odd flavor, no good can come of it. ;-) Maybe for those not put off by the muscat flavor, it might be for a fresh and cold appetizer but for the many who view "wine as food", it doesn't fit anywhere nor can I imagine what kind of food it would complement. Other than peanuts or chips. Those looking for a refreshing, bubbly, less inexpensive wine made from decent grape types should be happy with a German sekt or, indeed, an Italian prosecco. .