Kashrut

The following Hechshers have been granted to our sponsored company Sukkah Depot:
BEIT DIN ZEDEK of all Ashkenazic Congregations in Jerusalem.
In our presence the Schach for the Sukkah named" Knay Soof" was manufactured under the supervision of a mashgiach appointed by us. We therefore certify the above-mentioned Kney Soof covering and regard it as Kosher even for Mehadrin.
The Hechsher is only for the Schach that is sold in a package with a yellow stripe with the printing "Kney- Soof" on the packaging.
Central Rabbinical Congress of the U.S.A & Canada
We hereby certify that the Schach  for the sukkah that is called " Kney Soof" and "Kney Bamboo" were produced from vegetation grown outdoors specifically for Schach. Under the supervision of the Rabbis the Gaonim Shlit"a, members of the special Beit Rabbanut for Hechshers , they are kosher and up to standard as Schach even for the strictest Mehadrin standards.
The Hechsher is on the Kney Bamboo product sold in a dark green bag or in a orange bag  on which is printed the stamp of the "Beit Din", and to the Kney Soof product sold in a green bag with a yellow stripe on which is printed the stamp of the "Beit Din".
Hechsher given by Beit HaHoraah Hashem Daat of The Rishon le Zion Rabbi .Ovadiah Yoesf HaGaon Shlit"a
We hereby certify that we inspected the Schach named "Kney Mehadrin " made of natural reeds attached to each other with a natural plant called "Gavee". In the opinion of Maran Rishon LeTziyon Shlit"a this Schach is Kosher without a doubt ( Sho"t "Yacheve Daat", Helek Alef Siman Samch Dalet).

Hilchot Sukkah

Sukkah4U.com brings you the basics of Hilcot Sukkah:
The Sukkah mitzvah Dwelling in the sukkah is one of the mitzvahs of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
It is a mitzvah to dwell in a sukkah for seven days.
It is written in the Torah (Vayikrah / Leviticus 23:42) "You shall dwell in Sukkot for seven days; every inhabitant of Israel shall dwell in Sukkot. In order that your generation shall know that I caused the Jews to dwell in Sukkot when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your G-d." In commemoration of this we are commanded to build a sukkah in order to remember the great and wondrous deeds of G-d

When should you build your Sukkah?

Optimally, one should start to build the sukkah immediately after the Yom Kippur fast in order to fulfill the commandment "Yilchu michayil le chayil – “They go from strength to strength" (Tehilim/ Psalms 84) - From the mitzvah of Yom Kippur to the mitzvah of Sukkot..
Don't forget "Zrizim makdimim le'mitzvot" (Psachim 4) – It's good to be an early bird for a mitzvah!

Where should you build your Sukkahh ?

The sukkah should be built under the open skies. If it is built under a porch, tree or roof, it is not considered a kosher sukkah.The size of the Sukkah:
There are no limitations on how big a sukkah can be. However, the schach should not be higher than 20 Amot, or approximately 30 feet from the floor. On the other hand, the minimum size of the sukkah is 24.5"x24.5"x35" (length*width*height).

The walls of the Sukkah:

A sukkah may be kosher even if it has less than three complete walls. It is customary to build a sukkah with four complete walls.
The walls may be made from any material. The walls should be strong enough to stay in place even when the wind blows. When the walls of the sukkah are made of cloth, the cloth should be firmly attached on all sides.

The height of the sukkah walls :

The walls should be a minimum of 80cm high. They do not have to reach the height of the schach. It is permitted to support the schach on wooden posts. The remaining space may be left open. The schach should preferably reach the line directly above the wall. The walls should not be more than 24 cm above ground.

Schach for the sukkah

Most of the sukkah roof must be covered with roofing material that is kosher according to the halachic law of the sukkah. One should have more schach than open space. The way to determine if there is enough schach covering is to look at the sky through the roof: if you see more sun than shade then the roof is not kosher.

What is the Schach?

The schach must be made from something that grew in the earth but is no longer attached to the earth: trees, reeds, branches, etc.
Mats made of reeds (kaynes, soof), or bamboo are acceptable for schach.
One should not make the schach for a sukkah from branches with falling leaves as it will be unpleasant to sit in the sukkah.
The raw material of the schach is something that used to grow in the past, but it has to be especially prepared for use as schach: a broomstick or wood from an old wooden fence are no good.

Halachot Of The Schach And Walls , The Schach Mat :

It is the minhag today to use schach made out of mat reeds (this could be either bamboo or slats) which are attached together by strings. Using such a mat has certain problems: halachik
Problem #1: Under certain conditions this mat may be considered to be a utensil, and as such a utensil is pussel as schach since a utensil could receive tumah.
The Mishnah states that a large mat which is made for lying down on is susceptible to tumah and may not be used as schach. However if an identical mat was created for the purpose of schach then the mat is not susceptible to tumah and would be permitted to be used as schach.
However the Mishnah Brurah was strict about this and states: "You should know that in these places all mats are used for (the purpose) of lying down on. If so even if the mat was created for the purpose of schach – you still may not use it as schach." (In other words, The Mishnah Brurah held that the intent of what the mat was made for is irrelevant, and is always forbidden to be used since the world at .large uses it for the purpose of a mattress to lie down on)

Problem #2: The mat has the appearance of having a regular ceiling (Gezairat Tikra). When all the slats are attached to one another, this mat (according to the Rashba) would be considered one unit, and a ceiling - and it is pussel..
Problem #3: Because of gezairat ma'amid - which is that the Chachamim prohibited tying the schach to the beams underneath it or tying the schach to the sukkah itself, using anything that can receive tumah (such as ropes). Overall they prohibited tying the schach down with anything that is not gedulei karkah (natural materials that grow from the earth); as such even strings of metal would be prohibited as they are not gedulei karkah.
The reason for this gezaira was that one should not come to use the tying materials (i.e. the rope or metal) as schach itself. Therefore a problem arises with the strings which one uses to tie the mat itself.

So Why Can We Use Mats?: Despite the problems listed above, many of today's poskim permit the use of a mat, since nowadays a mat is rarely used for the purpose of sleeping and therefore it does not attain the identity (or status) of a utensil and as such is not susceptible to impurity.
Also the poskim state that the mat can not be compared to a ceiling since the mat is soft and folds up (it is flexible) and as such it is also not comparable to slats (This was the psak of both Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurebach zt'l and Rav Vosner .shlita.)
Regarding the problem of gezairat ma'amid (Problem #3 above): the mats that have a mehadrin Hechsher are strict to only use fiber or strings from materials that grew from the land and that did not go through any processing or restructuring. This way the strings do not receive tumah and using them is kosher.