I had site-finished walnut floors with a natural satin finish stain. I loved them the first day we moved in because they were beautiful, but I would never get them again. They dent and scratch so easily and show every spec of dust. I would sweep in the morning and they would look dirty again before lunch time. Also, we are not hard on our floors but they looked awful after just a few months of living there. There were little dents everywhere from high heels and scratches everywhere from pets. As a side note, I have had hardwood floors before (oak and hickory) and had no problem maintaining them and keeping them looking new. We had to have them re-finished before listing our house for sale because they looked so bad! They did look beautiful again after the refinishing, though. We chose not to live in our house while it was on the market just to keep the floors looking new! The hardwood floor finishers we received quotes from all said that walnut floors are very hard to site-finish because of the smooth grain they show everything.

Sorry - wasn't on all weekend till now! We used Garrison II Walnut. I LOVE it and wouldn't change it - but it does seem a softer wood. I think it scratches pretty easily (but it's our first wood floor so have not much to compare to). But since it's the hand scraped look so the scratches don't really show that much and if they are bigger I take a black sharpie and write on the line and then wipe any excess away and you don't really notice the scratch again. We have 3 kids and a dog and the floors still look amazing in our front room and hall (had them done 6 years ago) so we had no second thoughts installing in the kitchen when it was time to re-do it and get so many compliments on it. Here is a link that might be useful: Garrison II Walnut

I'm very interested in this thread, as we're considering cork for our family room remodel. I am not a fan of carpeting or tile. We have laminate in our kitchen & entry and do love it. If the same laminate was still available, I would put it in our family room and add a large area room. Alas, it is discontinued, so I have been hunting the past 2 wks for other options. I've looked at the corks from USFloors. They are a good company; their products are "green" which appeals to the earth mother in me. :) We put USFloors bamboo in an upstairs office last month; love it. Wicanders is another good brand. While my family is fine with carpeting in our family room, I'm not. I want something cozy, warm, green, easy to clean & unique. Enter cork! However, I want an area rug as well, so I don't want to break the bank with the cork since a fair amount of the flooring will be covered. This week I went to Lowes & Home Depot; they have a similar selection. We really like the Sage Cork at Lowe's (similar one at Home Depot). It's more of a beige, not as "amoeba like" as a lot of other corks, and doesn't look like a bulletin board. If we get it, we'll try to install it ourselves & save $600. It's $3.99/sq ft. The least expensive one I found from USFloors is also $3.99; colors don't work as well though. Laminate is another cost effective option we're considering. So many laminates these days...patterns in wood, tile, slate, bamboo, marble, etc. I brought home samples today. Nice, but I love the comfy, softer feel of cork. I do worry about scratching it (moving furniture around, dog, etc.) but we would use pads or cups under items. Honestly, I am so overwhelmed today with all the choices that I'm thinking about just picking the wall color (another overwhelming task!) and taking my time. I will try & post a photo of the Lowe's cork a little later. Wags

The photos are very hard to see detail for sure. Uba-tuba is generally a stone that can be spot polished on -site. Repolish the entire piece-no way. First -off any fabricator who says a type of stone will be the same or cookie cutter doesnt know stone. Every slab I have ever seen is a unique piece period.I never call features on a stone defects but for example a fabricator friend of mine who regularly gets in containers of slabs examines each and every one that comes thru the door. He notes any marks(eyesore)(damage) with a wax marker.He documents every single feature on every slab. In your case he probably would have rejected this slab or tryed to refinish it if it wasnt resined(dyed). To me and again it is hard to see the details in your slab. I see some marks that look like someone tried to repair the marks or scratches on the slab but couldnt match the original finish. Maybe the slab was purchased from salvage but it doesnt look good even in the blurry pics. If the damages on the slab are not all over the place and the slab hasnt been resined a bonafide stone refinisher that is familar with polishing granite on site could probably repair this including the holes. A good refinsher will use a clear adhesive that will not be noticeable after the repair. A color matched blob of polyester epoxy will stand out if not properly done. Go to another fabricator and take a look at their slabs and you will see the difference. Talk to them and I think you will see a difference again. If you arent happy let your present fabricator or installer make it right. If you could send in better pictures that would be great. Stu Rosen www.mbstonecare.com www.stoneshine.com