I agree that the builder should not ask what your budget is before he bids your plan. But many do because they're trying to get an idea of how upscale you'll want your appliances, fixtures, countertops, etc. to be. The problem is that, even if a builder gives you a bid within your budget, you still won't know what quality of materials the allowances he gives will really cover. One builder will bid the plan based on the cheapest "builder grade" carpet, tile, appliances, countertops, fixtures, etc while another will bid it based on an unspecified level of upgrades. To the extent that there are any "allowances" within the bids you receive, you are not comparing apples to apples. And, unfortunately, builder "allowances" are almost never set high enough to purchase the quality of finishes you really want. Sometimes they're set so artificially low you can't possibly purchase anything for the amount set - much less anything you would want to have in your home. Rather than paying attention to my specs, one of the builders I asked to bid tried to put in an allowance for plumbing fixtures of just $5000. My home has three full baths (one with a claw-foot tub, one with an extra-long garden tub, and one with a particular neo-round shower available only from one manufacturer) plus two powderrooms. Since I had already priced claw-foot tubs ($3000 for the least expensive one I could find), garden tubs ($1800 for the one specified), the neo-round shower unit ($1600), the toilets I'd specified ($300 each X 5) plus the sinks and faucets for all of the above and kitchen and laundry sinks, I knew his allowance was ridiculously low! His lighting fixture "allowance" was equally low-balled. I handed his bid back to him and told him I had specified exactly the fixtures I wanted and that if he was willing to contract that he would supply the specified items for the allowance amounts, we would talk but that he might want to do a bit more research. He revised his bid upward by nearly $25,000. The best way around this issue is to specify as many of the details as you possibly can BEFORE you send your plan out for bids and then only accept bids that do not include "allowance" amounts. I.e., the builder agrees to include everything specified for the bid amount. Some of the items you should specify in detail - by manufacturer, design/style, color, item number, size, and so forth - include: 1) Roofing material (Do you want asphalt shingles? 30 year architectural shingles? wood shakes? clay tiles? metal?) 2) Siding materials (brick? stone? hardi? aluminum or vinyl siding?) 3) Windows and window hardward 4) Doors and door hardware(don't forget the garage doors and door openers) 5) Flooring (carpet/carpetpads? tile? hardwoods? stained cement?) 6) Wallboard and ceiling finish level (Level 5 smooth? knockdown? orange peel?) 7) Paint, primers and stains for each part of the house(manufacturer, quality, number of coats to be applied, and method of application. You should probably also figure out how many different colors of paint you're going to want to use and specify that. The exact colors can wait till later.) 8) Millwork (crown molding, baseboards, chair moulding, etc.) 9) Stair parts (newels, balusters, treads, risers, handrails.) 10) Plumbing fixtures (tubs, shower units, toilets, faucets, kitchen sinks, laundry sinks, bath sinks) 11) Lighting fixtures (don't forget ceiling fans) 12) Built-in cabinetry (kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, mudroom, plus bookcases throughout the house) 13) Kitchen appliances 13) Fireplace and mantle 14) HVAC system 15) Hot water heaters 16) Prewired audio/video systems 17) Rain gutters 18) Decking materials 19) Mirrors, towel bars, toilet paper holders... all the little "finish" stuff. 20) Landscaping (watering systems, how many plants and what types, etc.) I'm sure others can and will add to this list but don't despair. You'll have to make all these decisions eventually, you might as well do it up front. Plus doing research to decide on all these details ahead of time will also give you a chance to get a feel for what items really cost and help you determine whether or how much you need to cut back on your desires. Ultimately, unless you have an unlimited budget (HAH!) there will come a point when you will have to compromise and purchase something less costly than the item you'ld prefer to have. Better to shave costs as you go along on items you don't really care all that much about than to get to the end of the build and discover that your budget just won't stretch to cover those gorgeous granite countertops that you really really really want and have been dreaming about since you first started talking "new home". Besides, "allowances" are bugbears in residential construction contracts. They are the basis of more disagreements between builders and owners than anything else I can think of. See the link below for some examples of issues. Trust me, the more you specify details ahead of time, the happier you will be with your new home and the less problems you'll have with your builder. Here is a link that might be useful: Avoid Contractor Allowances

Allowances are in effect miniature Cost Plus contracts inside of a Fixed Price contract. They are of no benefit to the homeowner and can be a major benefit to the contractor. Allowance are found primarily in home construction because larger projects must be designed by architects and therefore it is possible to get everything into the bid documents; this is more difficult when the designer is the builder or the owner's draftsman. There are 3 issues associated with Allowances. 1) An allowance should not include labor or installation costs. For instance specify the quantity of the light fixtures so the installation can be in the base bid and only the unit cost of the fixtures is in the allowance. Or also specify the fixtures and revise them later. If labor is unavoidable ask for a unit cost in the base price. Get as much as you can into the base bid price! 2) Homebuilders are notorious for under estimating allowances and then marking up the higher final cost with their normal OH&P %. Their project OH should have been adequately taken care of in the Fixed Price so ask them to only mark up the overage by their Profit % or ask them to lower that % or even eliminate it. 3) Often homebuilders have a favorite material supplier and will require you to select the allowance items from that source. This can lead to "sweetheart" deals. I'm not saying that every builder gets a yearly kick back from their favorite suppliers but it happens more than you might suspect. I like to add to the Allowances contact clause the right of the owner to choose the material supplier or even supply the material themselves and have the allowance removed from the contract price. This can lead to the loss of a warranty from the installer but it is important to have that power. It is usually more important to save money up front than down the road.

Hi. I'm new to this forum, and thought I might contribute something on this subject. I am a practicing veterinarian and a dog and cat owner. The issue of feeding a raw vs. commercial pet diet is like any other issue -- you will find people who are for it and people who are against it. Personally, I do not feed my dogs and cats raw meat, nor will I ever do so. I feed them a high-quality commercial diet -- and one of my dogs is a 14-year-old, 80-pound Golden Retriever mix. The last time I did bloodwork on him (about three months ago) the results were absolutely normal. My other (younger) dogs are also completely healthy. However, if DONE CORRECTLY, I do not see a problem in feeding a raw diet to pets. Having said that, I'd like to address the question that was actually asked by the original poster: Do parasites increase when dogs/cats are fed raw diets? And the answer is: There is a greater RISK of parasites when feeding raw diets. No, not all dogs and cats are going to contract parasites when fed a raw diet. But there is certainly the possibility. Someone said that tapeworms are spread by fleas, and that person is correct. SOME tapeworms are spread by fleas. But there are many species of tapeworms, including beef and pork tapeworms. Some species of tapeworms are spread when a predator (such as a dog or cat) ingests the tapeworm cysts that are imbedded in the raw meat. These cysts (called hydatid cysts) are absolutely disgusting, and you can see them by simply Googling "Beef tapeworm hydatid cysts". One of the jobs of meat inspectors in processing plants is to inspect the meat for tapeworm cysts. If any cysts are found in the meat, the entire carcass is condemned. Most of the beef and pork produced in the United States now is tapeworm-free. I heard the radio interview with the raw-meat proponent who said that feeding dogs commercial kibble is the same as a human eating nothing but Cheerios. And I have to say that this is complete crap. It made a good sound bite, but the analogy is nonsense. There are a number of commercial pet foods available that provide pets with a balanced diet, including digestible proteins, vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc. They may cost more, but they are available. Feeding a raw meat diet is very complicated because simply feeding raw steak or raw chicken to your pet is not enough. Pets have specific needs, and some of these can only be fulfilled with special types of foods. For example, cats have a requirement for a substance called "taurine" in their diets. Cats with taurine deficiencies develop retinal degeneration, heart problems, problems with their white blood cell function, and abnormal growth and development. High-quality commercial cat foods contain taurine that cats are able to absorb and use. Cats in the wild obtain their taurine from ingesting the abdominal organs of their prey. This means that if you are feeding a raw meat diet, in order to provide your cat with taurine, you would need to feed all of the abdominal organs as well. Pieces of raw chicken, steak, fish etc are going to cut it, so to speak. All I'm saying is that the diets should be well-researched. I would also highly recommend, when feeding raw meat diets, removing the bones. Large "soup" bones from beef are the only bones I would ever give my dogs (I actually don't give them any bones at all). I have seen too many dogs die of peritonitis from punctured intestines, obstructions from swallowing bones, and impactions from pieces of bones that become cemented together in the colon, causing severe consitpation. Someone said "Vets benefit by animals eating food not designed for them, increased sickness in the way of urinary tract problems, obesity, colitis, diabetes, skin disorders, allergies, etc, etc." I find this offensive and mystifying at the same time. If this is how you feel about veterinarians, how do you trust any of them to care for your pets? Surely you have found SOME good, responsible, ethical vets out there. Personally, I do everything I can to ensure that my patients grow up healthy, and stay healthy. I would MUCH rather do preventative medicine, such as vaccinations, dewormings, prescribe heartworm preventative, etc, than to try to save one of my patients who is extremely ill. When a client brings in a seriously sick animal, I agonize over it, just as I would agonize over one of my own dogs or cats being ill. I beg my clients to keep their pets in good body condition, to keep them on heartworm preventative, to vaccinate for parvovirus. I tell them not to feed poor-quality foods. They don't always listen, but when they do, their pets are generally much healthier than those pets of the people who do not listen to me. So, as far as veterinarians go, my suggestion to you is this ... if you do not trust your veterinarian to give you the best advice, to take the best possible care of your animal, to do what is best for both you and your animal, then you need to find another veterinarian. There are good ones out there.

I don't know...here it's 2cm. granite. I bought 2 slabs of Crema Bordeaux for $2230. Then I paid separately for fab/install. I DID NOT choose the lowest bid but rather went with my gut feeling AND looking at showroom kitchens where those that I had bids from had done them AND what I heard from the stone/granite stores. Also, the place I choose did not require any money up front - just that I paid for my granite slabs. They said they didn't want payment until "There was a big smile on my face". I also got a fancier edge - ogee straight - and I love it. Your price for Crema Bordeaux is just a little more than I paid.