Here are two possible substitutes for the crushed granite IâÂÂve found near Northwestern Indiana (but they are probably fairly widespread): Nature Wise Poultry Grit -- Rural King (Niles, MI); $6.49 for 7 lbs (~$1/lb) Insoluble crushed granite. Particulates are white-ish and measure 1/16 -" 3/16 inches so a little smaller than ideal. Also, fairly dusty so they will definitely need to be sifted and/or rinsed. (This is just another brand for the same product as from Manna Pro, I believe.) Akasha Natural Coarse Sand -- LoweâÂÂs (South Bend, IN); $3.94 for 4 lbs (~$1/lb) Particulates are more colorful (orange-pink to brown-black with some white) and measure about 1/8 -" ü inches so a little bigger than ideal. It looks pretty clean and consistent in size so IâÂÂd say it is probably good to go without sifting. At $1/lb, they're both fairly pricey in the long run (think $50 to match the same amount of turface from John Deere at ~$20/50lb bag). IâÂÂm only planning a small batch for now to experiment with so I was ok paying a bit more. IâÂÂm definitely leaning toward the sand for the colors, cleanliness, size, and consistency. I hope that since LoweâÂÂs and Rural King are pretty widespread this may help people who are also in the market for making more small scale batches of the mix. Cheers, Nathan

I have the Reward Flooring Costa Collection Rustic Grade European Oak Vela. We like it so far we have had it s year. My only complaint is a couple boards were a little more rustic imperfections than I like. (Pictures attached) The floor was installed in a new house by the builder thus the installer placed the boards with lines in it in front of my refrigerator and the one with the dark spot near my island. I had a independent hardwood guy out and he said the floor is a very good floor he installs it a lot but had his company installed it he would have placed boards like that by the wall where they aren’t seen as much. If you can oversee the install I would say this is a good medium color wood floor.

I am interested in the River Mill line but would like to hear from people that have installed.

"Maybe, many do not want to acknowledge the economic impacts tariffs have." I am beginning to have quite a few questions about many things including "outsiders" purchasing large amounts of American companies. Many of the mills in my area have been purchased by non-domestic companies. Unfortunately, this is outside of my scope of knowledge and understanding. @K H we worked with an Amish mill last year (2020). Phenomenal prices and customer service! I think you have seen my build, and those large corner pieces were custom milled for us locally, last year. Ninety-nine percent of all of our exterior trim was custom milled. And, none of it was from "soft" woods. Also, our siding was a custom mill. The prices were not inflated or high. So, I think that I am going to have to agree with @JAB that this may be a lumberyard (and, big box) issue though I am not completely certain since my GC's go-to lumberyard did not seem to have an issue getting quality lumber to our site with covid. And, I don't recall any significant pricing issue. Perhaps, it may have something to do with proximity to both the mills and logging?