muskymike

I leave for 8 months or so, and this is what I come back to. Should have figured Muskymatt would be all over this. haha. I wish we got AM640 out here, instead of the Team1200. Apparently Erik Karlsson is the best player in the league (yes, better than any other player) at least thats what the Ottawa media says, and his coach. Pot - Stirred

Nice Matt. Went out on Big Rideau for the first time on Monday, no map, no GPS, was LOST! Nice fish for all.

That's the one I was referring to

D, Head north on the water to the McCoys or out to Twin Sisters, you shouldn't have much trouble locating bass and pike at all. Should be about a 15 min boat right from there. Or fish the sound for Trout

That was VERY impressive. Well said and a good catch.

HAHAHA Adam, Thank you for making this site better. Some of your posts...funniest on the site.

Agreed, that is incredible!

Possibly

Its a little tight getting from their dock to the bay, but not bad. Follow the markers and you are alright. Out into the sound, its different. Get some charts and you will be fine. Tons of fish, Pike, Bass, Cats and even some Musky if you can figure GBay out. Wayne and Terry should be able to help you out if not, or Gbay, or gbfisher. Lots of guys from the board in this area. There are actually a ton of us that fish that area. Not sure about the boats, but the owners are very nice people. Never stayed, but know people who have, said the facilities are clean, remember, its not a 5 star but good to go.

Primrose....

Quartz = product Cabria, Caesarstone, Silestone etc are all brand names of Quartz. Most all of them are made in the same manufacturing plants and sold to whomever. Quartz is crushed stone and epoxy compressed together with a few more additives. Firstly, throw the "stronger, more resilient" catch phrases out the window. Take care of your products and you will NEVER have a problem. Drop a bowling ball on a corner from 3' above the surface and yes, IT WILL BREAK. So will granite, so will laminate, so will Corian. Good new, Quartz, since its man made, can be fixed if damaged. Will it stain? YES. If you leave a highly acidic product such as mustard or wine on it and leave it for a few days, the epoxy will stain. Good news is it can usually be removed. IF you put a boiling pot directly from the stove onto it, yes, the epoxy will boil and pull the glue to the surface. You will then have blemishes. If you cut on it with a knife, press hard enough and yes, it will scratch. Granite - natural stone and as noted above, is porous. It has capillaries or veins and will absorb liquids such as wine or mustard and it will stain. If you look at eye level, you can see the pits on the surface. If you don't wash it, yes, it will absorb the smallest of food particles. If you dont seal it twice a year, is it the end of the world, NO. Just make sure you hit it good the following application. It will stain easier then Quartz though. Can you cut on it and not damage? Yes, can you put a boiling pot on it? Yes, if you break it can it be repaired? No, unless you glue it and are okay with a seam. Marble and soapstones can and are used in a lot more kitchens now then in the past. There is a buffed (glossy) or honed finish. Yes they are soft, if you use a cutting board, you can enjoy the natural stone at its finest. If you spill, wipe it up, it will not stain immediately. Softer stones can be buffed out at a later date as well. If you choose soapstone (LOOKS INCREDIBLE) please take care of it and treat it as per your installers direction. Therefore, put it in a kitchen if you like it. 98% of people DO NOT have issues with softer stones. 3 points: Granite - EVERY slab is different due to it being natural. Sizes will be smaller then other products. Quartz - EVERY slab is the same. Consistency throughout your kitchens and islands. Larger standard sizes if you have oversized islands/peninsulas Corian - Depending on color/selection can be either the same throughout or different per piece. Craig also said what I mentioned above. Laminate is not a horrible product by any means. As for price, Granite and Quartz should be relatively the same price. When companies mark them up, they are directed at you the buyer, the higher priced product is what they can sell you. They should be the same price or within $5/sf of each other. Other then a few choice colors in Granite such as Black Galaxy, or Antique Brown and a few others, all other surfaces should be under ONE price level. DO NOT believe that there are 3,4,5 or 7 different pricing levels. Its PURE markup. If they tell you different, its a lie. Stoneworx is an Okay company. Personally, I would go to Maple Group to purchase (in Bolton). They are one of the largest distributors in the GTA. They will stand behind their product, stand behind their pricing, and their service will not be poor. There are a ton of Granite companies based out of Concord. Oakville has a few as well. (this is more for Canadians, sorry Blaque) Some points to consider: Most granite companies will include an offshore undermount sink in their price. Check the steel gauage. Some companies give you 3 free holes in solid surfaces, others charge per hole. Some make you pay to polish edges, on sinks and for slide in ranges. Some charge for baguettes (pieces behind stove). Some companies reinforce with rebar and epoxy in front of sinks standard, others only when its considered a weak point. Manage all seams, plan your kitchen so slabs fit. Ask for birdsmouth seams, and not straight butt edge. consider buying boxes from a box store/ikea and doors from a custom company. There are many different methods of construction of the drawers as well. Some use think mel, some use thick, some have metal sides, some are double fronts. The more expensive the cabinets, the better the hardware. Top line (drawers at top of every cab including false drawer fronts) are a nice addition but cost money. Some custom cabinet companies include this, others do not. I want to finish with, I DO NOT work for a kitchen cabinet company, nor do I work for a solid surface company, I just like the buyer to cover all of their tracks before making a decision. I am not posting this to step on anyone's toes, and I hope others can add to what I have put here, sorry for the longevity of this post as well. I am not discrediting anyone's information either. Feel free to correct anything I have said that is not accurate as well. I am open to it. There may be spelling mistakes, I apologize, I did not re-read my post. If you want any more info Blaque, PM me. Mike

Wonderboard is fine, so is 5/8" ply, rhinoboard, gatorboard or any other substrate as long as its installed according to either the manufactures installation methods or minimum code ie. 5/8" ply. What is the structure under your underlay? Depending on the doors you buy, you can purchase a foil door from HD/Ikea or one from a "custom manufacturer" and they will be pretty much the same. This is where it needs to be specified a bit more. A solid door from HD or Ikea or any other box store for that matter will be made of lower grade material then a custom cabinet company. Now, this doesn't mean if you buy a custom kitchen from company X it will be great, there are some shady companies out there. A good custom cabinet company will you very high quality wood, their joining will be done by hand on a machine, not automated, every door will be assembled and visually inspected before getting to you. Production cabinets, even though follow the same process, there is 80% less care taken. Best answer. Its really the smartest idea as well. There is no commitment on your part. Go see 3 or 4 places, get their idea's and from there, plan what YOU want. Crappy cabinets are just that. Due to poor planning, rushing, bad installation, and poor care and use. All boxes from the box stores are made pretty much the same. They are all doweled, you choose to glue and they all will be the same cheap plastic/metal parts. Doors will be similar at whatever box store you buy them from, be it wood or foil. Again, very true. You can not buy a kitchen unless you are ready to customize them yourself, if you go with a box store. They are meant for simple kitchens. Now, you can make whatever you buy into a dream kitchen, which is solely based on your own perception, but they are traditionally available for a standard Galley, U-shaped, single wall, L or infill walls. If you have angles, you want to shorten cabinets for OTR's, stagger uppers, have a non-standard crown and valance, jogs in walls where you will have varying depths of cabs, go custom unless you are very handy. Counters, DO NOT BUY from a box, you will save by going direct. Unless its bundled in, do not purchase stone from them. Uncoupling membranes, if you have a sound structure, not needed, but fantastic building practice. All Schluter products cost more, but are great, handy systems but definitely not required. Laminates are not junk, they serve their purpose, they are durable, come in a variety of colors/finishes and last. Yes, they are not as nice or classy as stone, but they are definitely not junk. 80% of the market is still laminate due to cost. It will date your kitchen. Its no longer used in kitchens for the most part. There are exceptions always, yes, but its not the counter of choice anymore. Its predominantly used in bathrooms now. Some things to consider, if you cut, scrape or scratch Corian (brand name, not material, made by DuPont) it can be buffed out and repaired. All these points above are only valid on how you read them. Just like statistics, they can be spun however you want them. Most is due to poor planning, not poor kitchens. Some maybe bad kitchens but planning is key. Doors just dont open into other doors, interfere with appliances, or generally do not work well. All of those points could have been mitigated with proper planning. Also, mold doesn't just grown on natural products, it needs sources. Moisture. Do not take this as all stone products. I have seen literally hundreds, if not thousands (and no, I am not exaggerating the numbers) of granite counters installed and never in the last 10 years have I heard of anyone having mold problems in a residential setting. Maintain your kitchen and you avoid problems. Let it fall to the wayside, and the mold on your stone will be the last of your worries. tbc

Please do some more research or shoot me a PM before making choices based on what everyone is saying in here. I am not trying to discredit anyone's information given, but there is a lot of false information flying around in this thread, especially with counter materials. There are holes in almost every reply. Please send me a PM.

Is this true? Their wings...the location...damn Oakville waterfront.

And that does it for this thread folks. Phil, I hope you got your answer. If not re-post or have Kevin edit his comment before its locked/deleted. Hopefully he will out of respect for you seeing how he is not the OP and this discussion can continue.