Contact a different floor guy. We added new white oak right next to 85 year old white oak, oil finished the new and now that it's 2 years into the aging process, you can't tell a difference in the floor's age. Our new floor is taking on the same golden tone of the old. If you need extra old wood to help with the weaving mentioned above, take it out of closets and put new into the closet where no one can see it.

I also left this post over in the remodelling forum since it seemed to fit a thread over there as well as this one. I have been considering this post for a week or so and I wasnt sure if I ever wanted to actually post it. But now that I have seen posts from other folks who are concerned about purchasing Loewen because of seeing specific negative posts on this (and other) forums, I have decided to comment. As usual, it is probably too long. kavo United States  registered on November 18, 2006  birthday June 19. From kavo on November 18, 2006 at 1919 (in the Windows forum)  "A cautionary note...we are having a major problem with some of Loewen windows just installed on a new addition to our house. The service from Loewen has been terrible and their rep is unresponsive." From kavo on November 18, 2006 at 1922 (in the Windows forum)  "We are having a major problem with large french casement push out windows by Loewen. Just installed and do not operate properly -- the rep insists they are fine and is stonewalling us" Kavo has no additional posts on any THS forum pnwarchitect  United States  registered on November 19, 2006  birthday May 19 From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2138 (in the Remodeling forum) "In particular I would stay away from the large casement windows. Loewen uses the same size framing on the larger windows as on the smaller ones, and it is inadequate to support a larger window properly. As a result the windows tend to warp when you close them, if you can close them at all. I had a project in which you had to go outside and press the top corner of two of the windows in to close them at all." From Adrian Justin on November 19, 2006 (not from a THS forum - but the link to this post is in a THS forum post)  "Âthe larger ones are defective. The primary reason for this is that Loewen does not increase the size of the frame in the larger windows, allowing them to warp signicantly when they are closed and therefore not lock correctly. Two of our windows actually require a person to stand outside and push on the window while another pulls to get it to seal correctly." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2303 (in the Windows forum)  "I'm not surprised. Loewen has been going downhill since it (over)expanded a few years ago. Sales have become more important than quality. I think that attitude will catch up with Loewen soon, I've heard many negative stories about Loewen from builders and other architects recently." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2310 (in the Windows forum)  "If you choose to go with wood, I would stay away from Loewen, their large windows are underdesigned and fragile." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2320 (in the Windows forum)  "Some manufacturers do not upsize the window frames for larger sizes and the windows do not function correctly due to warpage without constant adjustment. Loewen windows are notorious for this problem. Whatever you get, make sure that the larger windows have upsized frames." From pnwarchitect on November 19, 2006 at 2326 (in the Windows forum)  "Unfortunately for you, Loewen casements are a problem in larger sizes (small ones are ok). Also, Loewen windows are generally fragile, the douglas fir is a veneer and can come apart easily" pnwarchitect has no additional posts on any THS forum magnum pio  Canada  registered on December 5, 2006  birthday January 6 From magnum pio on December 5, 2006 at 2004 (in the Windows forum)  "I wouldn't waste any time with Loewen (speaking from experience!)" From magnum pio on December 26, 2006 at 2008 (in the Windows forum)  "I'd love to E-mail you some pictures of my Loewen windows (triple glazed units!) with frost/ice build-up on the inside of the glass! Do waste your money on Loewen!" magnum pio has no additional posts on any THS forum My point to all this? In the intelligence biz (my previous occupation before entering the glass and window industry) one looks for consistency and patterns when gathering data. People tend to be creatures of habit  they tend to be consistent in how they do certain activities. Note, for example, that the number/date of registration and the number/date of birthday is the same (once) and one number lower (twice) for these three folks and that for two of the "individuals" the date of registration was also the date of their only posts to THS. Note the similarity of pnwarchitect post and the Adrian Justin post on another website forum  and on the same dayÂnote the timeframe of posts from all three individuals. From all three "individuals"  the essence of their posts is to slam Loewen  nothing else. In addition, pnwarchitect made a number of factual errors and misstatements that have been addressed by others following his posts in the specific threads. Also note that in all three cases the "I live in" was the country US, US, CAN. Again, many people also list their country of origin  many donÂt. Again, there is nothing about any of these comments that cannot be applied to many others who have posted on THS and elsewhere  but within the framework of this particular discussion there are a good many consistencies that seem to add up. I will offer no conclusions since this is simply idle conjecture, but I would suggest some interesting possibilities. Again, while I have debated with myself whether to actually post this thing  and I really donÂt care one way or the other if folks decide on Loewen as their window company  it does bother me when I see other folks becoming hesitant about their potential window purchase based on information in posts that one might consider to be not quite as straightforward as it might be. And as a disclaimer, I certainly donÂt spend my days "analyzing" what other folks post - I really enjoy reading what other people write - but, I was once trained to recognize patterns and I have spent a good part of my life identifying and analyzing consistencies  and in this case the numerous consistencies pointed out a very distinct pattern that I could not help but notice  I suspect that others may have noticed these as wellÂ.

Mayflowers, I'm so sorry-I just saw this question! I updated my alert preferences but I never get email alerts. The pullout access is fine-I'm only using the middle 9" right now and it has drinks in it-tea bags, hot chocolate and cider packets, a box of Caprisuns...I just haven't had anything to put in the other two yet. Well the top one doesn't have a pullout-I do own a pullout for it but it was just too high for me. I may put it in someday though. Here are some updated pictures, THANK YOU to everyone for your help. It's incredibly functional and fun to cook in. The walkways are very wide and I'm really happy with the decision to put the dishwasher to the left of the sink and the trash pullout on the right. I'm waiting for the correct size window grids for the window sink as part of my punch list-so please ignore those! The microwave, toaster oven, keurig, and kitchenaid mixer ate in the walkin pantry next to the kitchen. Love having all of that out of the way and my family hasn't complained (too much) about having them tucked in there. It helps that there's a huge picture window in the pantry :). Sorry these are dark… It's a little overcast today.

"Worm tunnel" from GreenDesigns cracked me up, but ... I wasted several months of my life trying to make myself like the Cambria marble-look quartz patterns, and it seemed like the veining in theirs usually tended to look more parallel/one-directional rather than intersecting itself the way your photo does. BUT I didn't see THAT many full slabs, so could be totally wrong.