Thank you everyone! mydreamhome our neighbors have 5 GPM and they drilled down only 320 ft. but we are higher up on the mountain. The neighbors across the neighborhood on the other side of the pond from us actually had to dynamite to get the well. I have no clue what was done to find the spot for the well. We also had 4 geothermal wells done too, and all the wells are in one spot on the side of the driveway. Our lot is very very hilly so there was a limited area where the wells actually could go. We are paying the extra cost of this because we just had a well allowance and between doubling the cost + putting in the geothermal wells, we've got a shameful amount of money invested in wells already and really do not want to spend any more! Our inclination is to just go w/ the 4 GPM and we have 800 gallons of storage + a 150 gallon water heater, a 75 gallon water heater and a 50 gallon geothermal water holding tank. If we have an issue w/ water, our builder said we can just drill down deeper later, although it will cost more. GreenDesign, someone else on the other forum said that too. I wonder if it differs from place to place. I can't imagine our builder would have done something wrong, he is wonderful and extremely well respected here, everyone we talk to from the bank to accountants to tradespeople to random strangers we meet comments on how well built his houses are. And to answer the tub question, we went w/ the MTI caribe. I loved the customizability of being able to pick exactly what features we wanted and I loved that it was cheaper than the kohler! Did you get the kohler sok or a different one, I'm not sure how many there are on the market? Thank you bus_driver, that was very helpful!

At the end of every job there is a "punch list" that are all the fixes necessary. With what you're describing I would do a written list, room by room, and hand it to him before the walk through. Even better, if you have time, is to take pix of everything and illustrate the list (even if only for youself) so you have something to compare the fixes to. Finish work -- the fine points of carpentry that you're discussing -- is a relative thing. By which I mean that one contractor's evaluation of good may not be the same to another. If you can see gaps in corners, uneven baseboards -- anything were there is a gap of space that should be tight -- needs to be fixed. But whether it's worth removing and replacing vs having the painter do a proper job of caulking and repainting is your call. Paint not coming down to baseboard and bad taping is something that I would go after. Because, later on, when the house settles, a bad tape job gets worse. The drywall seams can become visible along with indentations if they've used screws. The original builder here did a bad one and we had to remove some drywall and redo it. Our contractor had a great taper (not the easiest thing to find it turns out) so the differences could be seen. Nicks can be repaired by sanding or with caulk, then primed and painted over. Holding back money is the smartest thing. In the end, if you don't get things to a point where the finish work is really acceptable to you then I'd look at taking a hefty deduction in the final contract price, particularly in any area where it would be necessary to find someone else to come in and remedy or redo. This is awful and tedious to have to do. But I'd spend the time now even though it seems overwhelming. No job is perfect -- not saying it would be. But I'd go for the stuff that would bug me when I got in there and things that might not be expensive to repair now but would be if you have to find someone to come in later to do little jobs and fixes. I was so overwhelmed when we moved back into our apartment that I didn't catch everything and ended up with little dust-trap holes on the sides of baseboards and raw plaster edges (untaped) around an inset closet, which they just painted over as if it was OK. Those never stopped bugging me.

OK it's a moot point now but for future reference and other readers... Yes the definition of clean fill in many places (statutorily in my state) is clean soil, rock, gravel, sand, brick, concrete, but with NO decomposable content such as wood and roots. If you get that when you ask for clean fill soil you are really getting 'miscellaneous crap fill'. And yes soil will settle particularly if it's not compacted when put down. Probably far more than what a few chunks of wood would lead to. Best to compact the subsoil in layers less than a foot thick. Topsoil you don't want compacted quite as much but it does need to be firmed a bit to make a solid and smooth surface that won't settle into bumps and dips.

but last summer I grew almost 90 for my daughter's wedding and felt compelled to save them... ===>>> your second mistake ... lol ... gift them all to her next spring.. let her throw them all away .... as to weather.. it was mid 70s here yesterday.. today a chipper 43 ... enjoy the warmth while you can .... or.. just leave them there in the box .. and let them rot the whole batch ... then you wont have to worry about separation anxiety next spring ... because the smell of rot will make you throw them all out ... now thats a nightmare i recall once ... canna left my garden vernacular.. that same fall ... who cares you good for nothing high maintenance plants ... pshaw on you and your progeny.. of which there wont be any next spring.. so there .. adios ... now.. what to do with all that new garden space for next year ... better start ordering stuff that will just sit in the ground.. all next winter ... im getting to old for all this tuck you in for the winter nonsense ... oh.. and your are not a houseplant.. so stay the hell out of my house .... lol ... hows that for a random diatribe.. lol ... dont let your tubers dictate your life .... omg.. what does that mean ... ken ps: bet my shiny penny she tells you to throw them all away ... so much for sentimentality ....