So glad this thread is still here. Did a whole house renovation 8 years ago and just bought a new (to me) house, and about to do it again. Stuff that has held up well and I will definitely be looking at closely again this time around are: - Rohl fireclay sink (nice and quiet, plenty big to hide lots of dirty dishes in the sink; I might get 2 this time!) - Pacific Crest cabinets (despite some issues in their shipping (some banged up cabinets when they arrived), the company stood behind their product and made things right and they have held up quite well -- and everyone comments on how nice they look) - Prefinished hardwood floors (wouldn't get Brazilian cherry again because they are too sensitive to light, but with two 50-60lb dogs running around, they have held up remarkably well, especially compared to friends who had site-finished floors. now I just need to find another wood species I like as well) - Kohler Vinnata faucet (after all this time, I looked around at faucets again the other day and this is still the most gracefully sculptural faucet profile; also I had no problems with this at all.) - GE Monogram 36" range, 30" fridge, island hood (the range cooked great and was a breeze to clean, the fridge had no issues whatsoever with the icemaker/water dispenser, and the range, though a real b*tch to install has been a real workhorse around our house; surprisingly had very few issues with these appliances) - Miele dishwasher (this is the one with the top silverware rack; it was called Incognito back 8 years ago and don't know what it's called now. It cleans great and once we figured out how to use the salt/softener thingy left no streaks on our glasses) - Kinawa white granite (husband likes the veins in this and I like whiteness, and we this is as close as we can get to white carrara w/o the maintenance headaches) - Never M-T soap dispenser (what a great tip I got from this site 8 years ago. I give this to friends now, and they think it's genius) - Air Switch for disposal (another great tip I got from this site; likely ubiquitous now but it's still wonderful) - Kohler's Memoirs collection stately pedestal and drop-in sinks, and toilet (very classic looking) Looking forward to another fun remodel

This post has some misleading comments regarding ecocork. I am investigating underlayment for vinyl plank. If you look at the actual test results from NGC testing services for the delta IIC of quietwalk LV, floormuffler lvt encore, and ecocork, they are all tested using the same 6 inch concrete slab (not 8 inches). The IIC and STC have other included materials in the test like insulation, gypsum ceiling, etc. But the delta IIC has only the concrete slab and measures the difference in sound dampening with and without the concrete slab in place telling you the true dampening of the underlayment itself. By this measure the quietwalk comes out on top with a delta IIC of 28, ecocork at 23 and floormuffler at 22. If you look at the frequencies, you can see that the quietwalk is the only material that has some degree of dampening of the lowest 100 hz tested around 5 db. The testing is slightly different in that the quietwalk was tested with a 5 mm vinyl plank on top whereas the ecocork was tested with a layer of engineered wood on top. The thickness of the engineered wood was not given. Floormuffler does not have a link for the actual test results. This article has a helpful explanation: https://arcacoustics.com/2016/08/23/stc-iic-delta-iicwhats-this-all-about/

***CROSSPOST from Finished Kitchen: Circa 1840 Farmhouse*** Hi all, Well, we've finally got a (mostly) finished kitchen! This kitchen's been in the planning stages for 8 years and I've been in and out of this forum for just about that long-- wow, time flies! Whether I've posted or just lurked, the information I've gotten here has been INVALUABLE. I can unequivocally say that my kitchen would not look anything like what it does without this Forum, and for that I offer my profound gratitude-- there is, quite literally, no way I could have done it without all of you, past and present. So, here are the photos of the finished result: For the entire album with detailed photos, just click on the link below any of the photos above! Here are the details: Cabinetry: IKEA Lidingo White (with glass uppers) for the perimeter, Tidaholm Brown/Black for the island Island Knobs & Pulls: Anne at Home Farm Collection and Lewis Dolin Glass Cup Pulls (from Myknobs.com) Perimeter Knobs and Pulls: Anne at Home Horse Collection, generic polished chrome knobs, cup pulls, and bar pulls (from Myknobs.com) Wall Paint: BM Revere Pewter Trim, Hood, and Fireplace Paint: Valspar Bright White (from Lowes) Perimeter Counters: IKEA Butcher Block, stained Black with India Ink and sealed with Waterlox Island Counter: IKEA Butcher Block, sealed with Watco food safe butcher block sealer Main Sink: Whitehaus 36" farm sink (from Vintagetub.com) Island Sink: IKEA single Domsjo, undermounted instead of the usual overmount installation Faucets: IKEA Hjuvik Refrigerator: Because we grow a lot of what we eat (so we don't need to store much) and have a large fridge in an adjacent laundry room, we chose a generic small undercounter fridge (Home Depot, off the shelf) Wine chiller: Sunbeam (Home Depot, off the shelf) Dishwashers: Kenmore and Hotpoint, both existing and 5-7 years old Microwaves: 8 year old Kenmores Island Oven: IKEA Datid 30" Hood: ProLine 36" range hood (from eBay) Range: IKEA Praktfull Pro A50 Backsplash Behind Range: Handthrown Williamsburg brick (local brickyard, left over from another project) Flooring: Lumber Liquidators, Hand Scraped Teak Island and Sink Pendants: IKEA Ottava Cabinet lights: IKEA Grundtal single puck lights Chandelier over the Table: Progress lighting, black 5-light chandelier (Home Depot, off the shelf) Fireplace: Style Selections 36" Vent Free LP fireplace (LoweÂs, off the shelf) A few notes about the remodel, just to hit some discussion points I see come up a lot in this Forum: Our kitchen lives in a big old 1840 farmhouse, which has been part of a working farm since the day it was built. Originally it was soybeans, but now it's part of a gentleman's farm (horses, heritage gardens and poultry), so everything has to be hard wearing and practical. It needs to stand up to heavy traffic, mud, hay, tools, and the occasional chicken (though usually when they wander in, they don't go much further than the family room, because they like the television). That definitely informed our choices for surfaces-- they needed to be hard cleanable, and ultimately easily refinished or replaced down the line. Because the entire house already has strong architectural elements (huge moldings and built-ins), we worked within the style we already had-- all the kitchen moldings, mantels, panels and cabinets match (or are closely styled after) what already exists in the house. We definitely didn't do a period kitchen (we wanted a 2010 layout with all the conveniences), but we wanted the kitchen to look like it belonged in the house. The big thing for us was budget-- believe it or not, the entire kitchen was done for UNDER $20K. Four big things contributed to that: 1/ We DIY'ed the ENTIRE project, start to finish. The only thing we hired out was the gas line install for the fireplace and range, because state law requires it. Other than that, all planning, demo, sourcing, and construction was on us. Might be why it took us 8 years. . . 2/ We reused what we could, and scrounged a lot, especially construction materials (which could have been buckets of money, considering all the custom work we did in the space), and kept what appliances we could. It was also a great way to be environmentally responsible on a project that, let's face it, has a lot of non-necessities involved. 3/ IKEA, IKEA, IKEA. If you're anywhere reasonably close to an IKEA, and you're on anything approaching a budget, go check it out. The cabinet quality for the price can't be beat (except for a few pockets of custom cabinet makers), and there are a lot of great accessories, appliances, lighting and other things to be had for a terrific price. As always, you have to pick and choose your items for quality and value, but at least in our experience, it is definitely there to be had for the buyer with a good eye. 4/ We didn't go for major appliance upgrades. Our whole family LOVES to cook (and eat!), and we wanted a great looking, functional space to do it all in, but we just weren't convinced that we needed more than the basics right now. If we want to upgrade down the line, it's easy enough to do, but right now our Wolf budget is standing in our barn eating hay, and our LaCanche budget is steered towards this Show Hunter prospect I have my eye on . . . So there's our formula for a great kitchen that works for us considering the (kind of odd!) parameters we had. Hope you all can take at least something useful away from our experience. I've submitted the kitchen to the FKB, and I'll answer whatever questions you've got. . . Thanks again, everyone!

Sorry that I'm just seeing your post. Wow,those are gorgeous! Congratulations on your dream floor. We hit a huge bump in the road . Our Shaw Vicksburg was in the house ready to be installed. As the old floor (laminate)was being taken up we found moisture along the floor plates in our concrete slab. Obviously we couldn't install hardwood. Fortunately we bought from a local retailer and they could accept returns. Of course we pay a restocking fee and another freight charge on new floors. Now,we are installing lvp. Not what I had dreamed of but at least no worries. It is pretty realistic looking.