Consumer Reports: For certain items, their advice is good (things like digital cameras, cordless phones, some appliances, etc.). The advice seems unbiased and reliability data is gathered from consumers. But for things like cars, I believe the editors have a strong bias against US manufacturers and the "scores" in their ratings include subjective categories like how the car feels and its styling---things that don't mean a hill of beans. Somehow, someway, an imported car (typically Japanese) will always "perform" the best in their tests, even if objective data like 1/4 mile times and braking distance is better on the domestic. The overall score ends up lagging if the GM product is "long in the tooth" or has "shiney plastic on the interior trim" or other nonsense. Honda somehow does everything perfectly as far as CR is concerned. It cracks me up to read their ratings of wine and ice cream---things that they have no business rating since it's all a matter of personal taste. Then for something like a mattress---part of it is comfort but part is price and how well it's made---they seem to have no opinion at all. Decking? Well, I think they pretty much admit that they don't know it all. I evaluated a bunch of them for a deck and screened porch I'm having built. For a variety of reasons, I wanted composite on the deck portion instead of wood (wood in the porch). In the end, I settled on Fiberon Professional Series with the slots to accommodate hidden fasteners. The contractor I hired seems most comfortable with this particular material as he has specified it many times before and seems to have satisfied customers. I liked the darker brown color enough to go with it. I tested it against the Fiberon "Tropics" which looks nicer to me, but I didn't like how easliy "Tropics" scratched. Pro Series took harder keying before showing gauges. Also, he gave me a better price on Pro Series. One material I liked is Pro Cell which I guess now is called Azek Deck. It's lighter weight and I think all plastic with no wood fill. The colors were a little light in shade---like pastel---but the material was nice looking, like painted wood. Evergrain was nice, but not reversible. I heard good things about Geo Deck, but didn't like the look as much as the Fiberon, and it didn't feel as substantial. I might regret not picking the Azek Deck because over the long haul, it probably ages better than the Fiberon, but I do think the Fiberon is a good product in its own right. "Veranda" is made by Fiberon and appears to be the same product but with the HD label on it. Fiberon is 2nd to Trex in Sales, but has not had nearly as many issues reported as Trex has.

We had American Woodmark at our old house for a couple years before we moved. We didn't have any problems with them. We upgraded to the full extension undermount glides, which to me was a worthwhile upgrade. I did not like some of the grain/knots in the Maple Spice wood, so they sent me new doors right away. We kept the old ones in the basement as spares...never needed them. We briefly considered AW for our new kitchen remodel but they just didnt offer as many options and cabinet sizes as Kraftmaid. For instance in AW, our 36 inch pantry would have that "flap thingy" on the double doors so you have to close one door before you can close the other (I think it is called a mullion?). Since we know we are going to be in the house for a long time, I did not want to have to deal with that forever. However, I think as long as you stick to basic cabinet sizes, you should have no problems. I agree that AW and Shenandoah are the same company so go with whichever store you like better. HD and Lowes will usually work with you to beat each other's prices so get a few quotes from different stores. Some people have suggested "Just Cabinets" or buycabinets.com, but I have no experience with either of them. Good luck!

After a lot of research and agonizing over our cabinet decision, we finally ordered Barker RTA in natural cherry with conversion varnish. In doing so, we saved thousands over our other quotes which will allow us to purchase higher-end appliances. We have already assembled them, and are in the process of hanging them this coming week (knock on wood on the timing). Based on our experience, I can say without reservation that Barker cabinets ARE definitely top quality USA made cabinets and are VERY easy to assemble.

@B Wen @Keely Adams @HU-106101956 Currently looking at this plan to tweak myself... Would love to connect to see photos of a finished house and curious the tweaks you guys are making.