My advice, based on experience as a homeowner: When comparing bids, be sure you're comparing apples to apples. Looking back now, we chose our GC for other factors in addition to price, but he definitely low-balled his original bid to look more appealing. A common tactic, but one that's often not realized by consumers until after the fact. (We did go into this project knowing this, but I believe it's worth repeating here. Again.) Meangoose summed up my feelings precisely: "I think homeowners get kind of a raw deal in these discussions sometimes. If they watch the workers like a hawk, questioning the productivity and methodology of the workers, they're being unfair and unrealistic. When they get out of the way and assume that the GC has things under control (seeing that is what the additional 25% or whatever is supposed to be for) then they're not being active consumers." "I GC'd my own reno, mostly because of these types of discussions on GW. I just couldn't understand why I'd pay a GC a premium when I'd still have to manage everything anyways and educate myself on every task well enough to direct it if not do it myself." I work from home, and my GC doesn't realize how much money I SAVED (and I will emphasize again: SAVED) him by pointing out to his subs along the way when they were doing things wrong, like installing the wrong type of electrical switches, or stopping a caulking project because they were doing such a messy job on my brand new cabinets with 1/8 gaps in the trim, that I'd rather do it myself. I can give example after example... crooked backsplash, trim that didn't match... and so on. I checked on the work periodically throughout the day while the subs could fix legitimate errors on their parts while they were here--and the errors were fixable. Had I worked outside the house, and come home each evening to the errors that were made during the day, they would have been more costly to my GC to fix. Admittedly, I'm writing this with some bitterness, facing a 10% change order increase when we had written into our contract that all change orders needed to be in writing (and we had only received written notice of change orders for less than 5%). Not the end of the world, but this is my second experience with a GC, both were researched and recommended. And it's my last experience. I'm done being duped. I managed the day-to-day of this project, not my GC. I acknowledged and paid for each time I cost him more money; but I should have kept notes along the way of when I saved him money. So, my main piece of advice: If you work outside the home and cannot be there, in person, when work is being done in your home, you must thoroughly, completely trust your GC and each one of his/her subs. Or, you must be flexible and accept subpar work along the way because it is up in the air who pays for things to be done right. This post was edited by peony4 on Thu, Oct 3, 13 at 21:25

Our gc has given us credit when we supplied something he was going to buy or for labor we are not having him do. We also intended to have him do tile floors for us, but will go with Marmoleum instead and get a certified installer for that. He said he will credit us for not doing the floor install, but joked that would be $1 off. I am very interested in how much per square foot that will be and when we figure that out, I will post here. I can't wait to here how much it was for others and where they are located. I am in NY so labor here is not cheap. I am sure we will come to an agreement as he has been fair with us so far. Now, he did mention the bs labor was not in the contract, so whatever he takes off per sq ft for installing tile for the floor, we will add back for the bs. Would the labor charges for a floor be any different than a bs? Hmmmmm...

I agree, talk to a good HVAC contractor. Finding the good ones is the key point. I'd question if what you are asking for makes sense for your house (how new and how tightly, or not. is your home sealed). Do you want unheated/unconditioned air coming directly into your kitchen, do you want to stand under that supply of air when it is 32 degrees outside? Qualifier: I'm not familiar with Fantech products. What is used in newer, well sealed homes are devices knows as HRV or ERV (Heat Recovery Ventilators or Energy Recovery Ventilators). What these devices do is get any heat from air being exhausted from the structure (cooking, bathroom exhaust, clothes dryer exhausts, etc.), and exchange the heat to add it to air coming into the structure (some do exchange of moisture along with heat). In some areas, northern and colder climates and Canada, these devices are required by code. If your structure is older and enough makeup air comes in through door and windows seals, mail slots, screen doors, garage entrances, dryer and bathroom exhausts when not in use, etc., etc. then you don't want this arrangement. A good HVAC contractor will have someone on staff who understands all this stuff and can tell you what options make sense for your house.

I'm not sure about the cabinetry, but the flooring issues can be inspected by a National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) Certified Flooring Inspector. You can find your closest inspector by using the website: www.nwfa.org You need to document all phone calls/contact with the contractor. You need to WRITE to them (emails are fine) telling them the EXACT problems (photos work) and that you will be withholding their final payment until EVERYTHING is resolved to industry standards/best practices AND your satisfaction. To ensure you have the correct information before you, you will require time for their work to be inspected by 3rd party professionals. You will inform the company as soon as possible regarding the results of the findings. Any and all payment issues will be resolved once the installation issues are resolved. I will leave the cabinet installation/inspection suggestions to those who are better qualified to comment...but the flooring stuff is easily dealt with by using the NWFA Certified Flooring Inspector. There will be 'up front' costs (a couple hundred dollars or a bit more) for the inspection and the report...but once paid for, the report will be good enough for court. Do NOT share the ACTUAL report. It is yours. You can QUOTE from the report (ie. in an email) regarding the issues found...but the report itself is ALL YOURS. You paid for it, you own it. And if it is found the company owes you more work to correct the issues, then they should pay for the cost of the report...because their mistakes caused you to have to pay for an inspection.