I am not the person to be responding to this, BUT, if you spend any amount of time in a Books a Million, there are several books on homesteading that can tell you exactly what you're asking and more. I just don't know the answer! Sorry.

Hi home4all6: Congrats on your new (to you) house! Very exciting. We went through a major renovation 2 years ago. (It started as just a mudroom, and grew to be a 2 storey, ~ 1100 sq. ft addition, plus we demo'ed and reno'ed the kitchen and 4 bathrooms.) So, here's my 2 cents from what we went through: - The addition might grow. We had several "while we're at it we may as well..." moments. It meant that the addition and cost grew significantly, but we also got a house that will suit our needs for a long time. (We both work at home, so we're here alot.) It's a balancing act between thinking long term and sticking to a budget. - Live-wire is right about remodels being costly. You never know what surprises they might uncover. - We got quotes from very different types of firms: design/build, and a GC builder. It was hard to compare apples to apples, partly because the design/build firms here are known for high end work, and partly because the d/b firms we worked with guaranteed the price no matter what surprises would happen in the reno (and therefore priced on the high end.) In an attempt to compare apples to apples, we hired an independent architect to draw up plans, and gave the plans to our top 2 choices: a GC firm and a design/build firm. Turns out that the d/b firms won't bid on plans done by someone else -- they have their own in-house architects and draw up plans as part of their fee and contract. So much for comparing! We ended up going with the GC, but know many people who worked with the same d/b firm and were very happy. It's just 2 different approaches to pricing and building. - There are some economies of scale when it comes to an addition. For example, the cost per sq. ft. was much higher when we were considering just a mudroom and a bumpout above it to expand an upstairs bath. The tiny bathroom bumpout alone was priced at something like $44k (for a space that held a bathtub and toilet and that's it)! We learned that was because it required a new roof and plumbing (among other things), so a small space doesn't necessarily mean a comparatively smaller price. On the other end, when we changed our plans to bump back 2 more feet than what we thought was the final plan, the extra square footage didn't add that much to the cost because the major factors were already in there (foundation, roof, etc.) - Fancy rooflines are more expensive. One of my (many) plans had a few angled corners on the back. The roof lines to accommodate that were kind of complicated, and added to the cost. (We ended up with a different plan.) - As part of the contract, ask what allowances cover and then go look at those things in person. For example, we exceeded our granite budget (didn't like the basic granites that were part of the allowance), carpet budget (ditto) and lighting. Probably others as well like tile. We found that what the builder considered 'average' we considered not so great. (e.g., builder-grade lighting. no thanks.) We chose and paid for our appliances separately by our choice; not sure if that's standard or not. - We found it a bit more costly but very helpful to work with our bank on financing the renovation. I don't remember the details, but basically the builder was paid by the bank, not by us directly. That meant that the bank would do an inspection before paying, and that we were covered in the event that the builder didn't finish work, or the builder didn't pay the subs, etc. It was slightly more costly for us and slightly more work for the builder to get paid, but we liked the security of that arrangement. - your contract should be very detailed, including things like who pays for permits, how to handle change requests, how payments will work, and down to details like what brand and style of windows will be used, etc. This was another area where working with our banker was helpful, because he had seen hundreds of contracts and this was our first. - We asked alot of questions about who they use for sub-contracting. We also had some rules, like the workers couldn't smoke in the house and had to keep their shirts on. - We spoke with and visited references in our area. (That was pretty easy in our case, because the builders we spoke with all had several references nearby.) Phew! I guess that was a really long-winded 2 cents. Sorry! We've only been through this once, so I'm probably just scratching the surface here. But those things above are some of the things that we learned while going through this. There are a few things I would do differently, but overall it was a very good experience for us and we in turn have been references several times for our builder. HTH!

I pot them up in the house, place in a sunny windowsill or under growing lights (my seed starting cart) and wait patiently. They make take a while to show growth -- they need to grow roots then they will sprout, but should be up and growing within 4 weeks or so. Do keep an eye on them to make sure the growing medium does not get too dry. I do not (repeat: DO NOT) cover the bulb completely with potting mix, as they are vulnerable to rot before roots are established - exposing the top of the bub helps prevent this. Once they sprout, I just keep them growing in the pots until time to harden off/transplant outdoors. I would definitely start indoors instead of waiting until the weather warms to plant the dormant bulb outdoors -- you'll get a big head start that way. They are super-easy to grow, you shouldn't have any trouble. I just bought mine today, so potting them is on my to-do this for this weekend.

Good God, you guys!! Wait until you see the rest of the house!! HA HA! Thought about answering you all one by one, but going to cherry pick before ending my lunch break! I'm 40. I owned a house before with my now ex-wife, moved into an apartment and now moving into a house. So, I've got all the control of what color to make things, how to set it up, etc. without really knowing how to do that. I can hold my own with repairs and my dad is a contractor who translates my "You know, we could..." to "This is how you do it," which ultimately turns into "Hold this light while I do it." I'd like something better than not, but, it seems a lot of you are saying that I should get used to the space first and then tackle it. With an entire house to do this to, this makes a lot of sense. I've picked out appliances that'll run about $1400 for a fridge (skinny enough to fit), a stove (gas) and a dishwasher (my first!!). I did think about used to just tide me over in the short term and still might. I've got 2 weeks to decide. Didn't think about the fire hazard thing and moving things over. A pair of 9's for an 18 makes sense and just slide things over. Not sure how the gas line would effect that, but, that's easy enough to fix. A lot of you said things about budget. I'd like to keep it low, only because I've got the whole house to think about and paint was the cheapest option to give it a different look because the cabinets do like jainky. But, they hold dishes and pots and pans, soo.... could be future Paul's problem! @P M That looks really cool! That's a good luck for the pantry! Also, I work in IT for a university, so the school provides the grant. I have to stay five years and that's it. After that, I can do with what I want. It's not that they approve the changes. They had an inspector come thru and he comes up with a to do list of things that have to get done in a year. My list is 23 things long, but, some of those are super easy (reseat the toilet) and others are more complicated (rewire the garage). They don't have a say in what I do day-to-day, but I have to fix what they want fixed before next September. Again, thanks everyone! Sorry i can't respond to you all one by one, but I've read everything you wrote and provide updates! :)