Proudmama: Yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for in a light maple. Puppy farms? Egads, just another category of purchases to feel guilty about.... I can't buy anything from China without a twinge of guilt either.... Ellen: Thanks for the insight into Amish business practices. I'm glad they've found a way to survive and still hold their belief system together. I admire those people for their lifestyle and discipline. Thanks again for all of the replies!

Generally speaking, LVP is a real victim of supply chain issues. I think it's pretty much across all brands. I ordered Coretec last March or April which was supposed to be here in early June. It kept getting pushed back, late June, July , and then finally in August we did get it and I am thrilled. I am just sharing that the availability is a real issue and people in a time crunch should be aware. It will come through but it may be delayed (and this seems to be all brands pretty much). I think for Coretec there are some that they have in more plentiful supply and they have indicated that on their Facebook page.

Because of our terrific experience with our current kitchen, we are using Scherr’s for our next one (new construction). Leon is fantastic to work with - we give him the basic layout and appliance models # and he makes it all fit. None of those issues with fridge doors that won’t open and improper spacing and such. I wanted lower wall ovens than “standard“ and slots for sheet pans and pizza pans and cutting boards above, shallow drawer below for pie pans. The best best cabinet in the kitchen. We are doing 30” deep custom cabinets along one wall and the island (30” counters are the best thing we did in our current kitchen) and they found us 27” blum soft-close rails, so our drawers and pullouts are huge. The other “custom” cabinet makers would build 30” deep boxes, but all the pullouts (all the bottom cabs and pantries) would only be standard 24” rails, so the drawers and pullouts would all be short. There’s no point in paying extra for that. Better to pull standard cost cabinets 6” away from the wall to get the extra counter space. What I also love about Scherrs is my mixed-hardwood drawer boxes. They are made from cast offs or short cuts from all kinds of beautiful woods, but they are only seen when we pull a drawer out. They have all sorts of material options for drawer boxes and cabinets and doors, including making door fronts for IKEA cabinets. Many woods, many finishes, many styles. Totally customizable for a very reasonable price. The biggest drawback is that there is a long lead time right now. Get your deposit in early for your place in line. You can work on the details and finalize later. And Made in the USA in Minot, ND! Scherr’s Website with excellent cabinet FAQ

@Mrs. S Thank you so much, this was very helpful! I didn't realize 8mm was thin for a top layer. We are not limited to one store. It's just where our contractor suggested we go. I think this place is easy for him to work with, but the flooring material appears in our contract as an "allowance" and can be from wherever we want. We aren't limited to 3.99/sf -- actually our contract has a $5/sf allowance for the materials and I'd happily spend a little more for quality. We're only putting down about 500 square feet here so an extra dollar or two per sf is not really a concern against the overall cost of this project or value of the house. Two years ago we dropped 14k to run site-finished white oak through the upper two floors, so while i am budget conscious I am not a cheapskate about flooring :) Our basement will contain a rec/tv/play room, laundry and guest space. It won't see heavy traffic the way our kitchen would, for example, and we are a no-shoes house (normal in our region, guests always remove shoes without being asked) and don't have pets, but our small child(ren) will do rambunctious things down there for years to come. We've got radiant hydronic heating in the slab. I suspect not all the brands available in the US are available in Canada, or some might be available here under different brand names (this turned out to be the case with our bathroom tile, for example -- turns out the tile we fell for in a local show room is the super-popular Cloe tile, rebranded in Canada). This flooring business is well-reviewed and popular (tonnes of customers in the show room when we went) and friends have bought their flooring through here as well, so it's not a random sketchy spot -- one of the top flooring businesses in the city, I think. But I realize that doesn't mean this specific product is much good. What are some of the top high-quality brands you'd recommend hunting for? Is Coretec (mentioned by eld6161) a good one to look for?