Hi Bill, I have seen mention of this Mapei on other threads and did a google search and came up with a lot of foreign-language links. Who makes it? Or better yet, can you give me a link to a website? (Also, I sent you an email - did you get it? I noticed another tile installation disaster today. Our Master Bath floor has been covered for protection until today when part of it was exposed while the double vanity was installed. The large 16" square honed Calcutta Gold tiles are not centered on any of the walls, so there are really off grout lines at the center of the vanity. It is really obvious and when I think about it I literally want to cry :( . This is our forever house and everywhere I turn, a tile job is done badly. I could really use a good referal!)

Traditionally, kitchens are wet areas, and although the better glued laminates allow for moisture and water mitigation by sealing raw/cut edges, in my humble opinion, laminates/woods belong no where near a bathroom, kitchen, or recreational bar/water/utility area. Ceramic, stone, or resilient flooring is best for those areas. I prefer resilient sheet vinyl or linoleum. 25 or so years ago, I installed, at the time Armstrong's highest quality residential flooring, Designer Solarian inlaid resilient sheet vinyl in our kitchen, bathrooms, and behind the bar and laundry room in the basement. To this day those floors are enjoying a good life with no problems other than a minor amount of wear layer abrasion (scuffs and tiny scratches) typical in resilients. Over 25 years and still counting for one flooring purchase. That is value. Flooring is an investment when purchasing top of the line products. Most often you are making a more economical choice for the life of your home because your maintenance and replacement costs are much lower as you will be replacing them MUCH less frequently. They feel better, look better, and last longer.

I personally don't care for laminate woods, because, well, they aren't wood. Of course I'm spoiled - I live in a 120 year old Victorian with original (or near so) floors. The character and depth of color is incredible. Also, laminate floors have an unmistakeable "click" sound to them. That being said, the laminate tile looks are more palatable to me. I don't know why, real tile is real tile, but for some reason I kind of like the look of the laminate tiles - and I like the weight/ease of installation versus tile. But, they still click. I would like to add (and sure hope I don't get in trouble here) that if it were me, I would make sure to buy my laminate from a regular floor covering store, not a big box kind of home improvement or a mega furniture/flooring kind of place. There are various grades of laminate flooring and part of the pricing difference between the big guys and your local dealer is the thickness. Of course part of it is the whole walmart big bulk guy vs little guy, but there is often a diff in thickness/quality as well. I worked at a carpet store for years and we couldn't compete with the prices once a big mega furniture mart came to town. Then we later found out that their laminate was 1/16" to 1/8" thinner. It may not seem like much, but 1/8" on a product that's only about 1/4" is something in terms of quality. We also found out they got a special run of the best selling carpet lines as well - theirs was all about 4 to 6 ounces less per square yard. Again, not a huge diff but just make sure when you're comparing price it's equal apples to apples, not fat apples to small apples.

Here you go, the uppers have the calander hanging on one side and emergency numbers on right door and all the office things live here. There is an outlet for charging cameras and "my" stuff. On the counter is an outlet for the land line. Antique tray is our magnet board. Top drawer has a powerstrip attached to the back for DH's electronics this is "his" drawer for keys and anything else. Bottom drawer is the coupons, and "junk" drawer as I have found it is inevitable! Basket is home for shoes. There is now a cushion on the dog kennel. Once Buddy is no longer we can pop an end panel on kennel and the lid under cushion lifts for more storage. Hope this helps! From Kitchen before and after From Kitchen before and after