So after a little more research I am thinking of sistering up the floor joists with a true 2" 2x ( for 3.5" x 9.25). This boosts my Deflection up to L742 if I am using the calculator correctly. If i were to go with dimensional 2x 10s Its looking like I am at L636. I am wondering how close you really need to be to this magic number. Are there any other suggestions that you experts might have? Is the 3/4 ply with 1/4 hardibacker solid enough or am i looking at putting additional plywood down too?

Water popping is a fairly common practice. It will make Maple more uniform but not like an open-grain wood. It will not eliminate all the splotchiness in a stained Maple floor. I'd frankly be more concerned that they're going to pick a color that you don't like, or one that is impractical (ie hard to keep up). As hollysprings points out, you can change the color. That's one of the bigger selling points of wood flooring. Is it absolutely necessary to finish the floors before the sale? Can you negotiate a deal to buy the house with unfinished floors, with a credit applied to the purchase price? Some finishers buff the floor before applying the stain. To me that defeats the purpose of water popping. To combat the "fuzziness" caused by water popping, we apply three coats of oil poly at a rate of about 400'/gallon. We sometimes add UP TO 8 ounces of stain per gallon of poly to the first two coats to add uniformity and deepen the color. The top coat would be clear. They should sand very lightly after the first poly to avoid sanding through the color, then a little more aggressively after the second coat so the finished product is nice and smooth. For clients on a budget, we have buffed with a soft nylon pad between the stain and poly to smooth it out, then applied two poly coats. In a kitchen I would do three coats. I am not a fan of wood floors in kitchens but there are pros and cons. I only sell wood floors but I have 16" multi-color slate in my kitchen. Maybe when it's time to jackhammer up that slate I'll be wishing I'd put in wood!

I would definitely check out the kitchen forum thread. I'm not sure what they have suggested, but for a warm white, I would suggest taking a look at Benjamin Moore White Dove. I also always suggest painting out big samples and looking at them in all lights and against all other material selections (including the existing counter if you are indeed keeping it) before choosing a color. As far as the white counters go, I like the white on white kitchen look. Especially with the island and the floors for contrast and warmth. It may not be your taste though. Lots of images on Houzz or the kitchen forum gallery to give you a better idea of whether you would like it or not. On the wall color, what colors are the adjacent spaces? Any artwork you want to use? Anything else to take into consideration, like a kitchen aide stand mixer that sits out all the time?

Contact the manufacturer or distributor. I installed my own and used a "Loudmouth" alarm while doing any work on the floor. My cable is Elektra, made in Poland. To my eye, it looks like superb quality. The heating conductor is insulated and then spiral wrapped with a small gauge grounding conductor. Patching would be difficult.