I’ve had a 30” Shaw at a second home for 10 years and still love it but decided on the 33” Kohler Whitehaven for our new kitchen reno at home - it was such a price difference and looked so similar. I actually like it better! I especially like the slight slant of the bottom to the offset drain. Much easier to rinse scraps into the disposal. It’s still new but it does seems like the Kohler finish is easier to keep clean. We removed the Kohler logo (which was crooked anyway) so it’s just all white and looks great!

WHOA! I was curious about Whink, so I just googled for their MSDS (which must tell you the ingredients). The active ingredient is hydrofluoric acid. That is a serious and dangerous acid. It dissolves glass (so it may not be good for your sink). More serious, it is harmful to YOU. It does not "burn" your skin, like hydrochloric or nitric acid. Rather, it is more pernicious. It penetrates your skin and does nasty things to your innards. From: http://web.utk.edu/~ehss/training/has.pdf Hydrofluoric acid (HF) differs from other acids because the fluoride ion readily penetrates the skin, causing destruction of deep tissue layers, including bone. Pain associated with exposure to solutions of HF (1-50%) may be delayed for 1-24 hours. If HF is not rapidly neutralized and the fluoride ion bound, tissue destruction may continue for days and result in limb loss or death. Full disclosure: I may be overly strident about this warning because I have a minor, but permanent, disfigurement on my hand, and lingering pain in my thumb, due to unrecognized exposure to HF about 30 years ago.

Sorry Bungalowmo, I was unable to save the window sashes in our home despite our best efforts. Most of the sash frames had been neglected for too many years and the mortise and tenons were completely rotted. Most of the windows fell apart as we tried to remove them. We were able to restore the original front door and the entire shell of the home. I was also able to save a bunch of chestnut and elm timbers from the renovation that I plan to use when I build the farm table and chestnut accent details in the kitchen. I made a new 8/4" mahogany jamb and threshold for the front door and purchased great period hardware to hang the unit in the new frame. The overall design of this home has taken a bit of a turn over the past year and we chose to build up some of the exterior trim layers. My guys and I spent weeks developing mockups and fabricating the exterior trim on the home. I posted a question some time ago looking for ideas to vent our porch roof and I think we found a creative solution that blends in with the home. We milled ventilation slots in the V-groove soffit that runs around the outside of the porch and glued screens to the top side of every slot to keep critters out. I will then use the two outside gable walls of the porch to exhaust the soffit vents. I plan to install a screen against the outside of the gable wall studs and then install the clapboard siding over the top with 1/4"-3/8" thick spacers behind each course of siding so that from a distance the gable at the end of the porch will look appear to be sided like the rest of the home. The 1/4" spacer helps create a gap between each course of siding for air to flow. If it doesn't work I can always remove the small amount of gable siding and build a custom louver panel. We also ordered fiberglass gutters for the home that look like crown molding so that they blend in with the trim.

My sister put in a lux vinyl. It looks like stone yet has that bit of give that a wood floor system provides. You can't tell from looking if it is stone or porcelain? I've heard that ceramic or stone can be hard on the back or legs when standing in the kitchen.