LOL! I feel for you. We had some GC's who had a bid in our hands within days. Unfortunately, those were either seriously unresearched and obviously not very accurate, or they were nothing more than a cut and paste job from some template he had set up. They were not detailed enough and made me very nervous. I don't like to see vague descriptions "like plumbing" on the allowances without some idea of what "plumbing" encompasses. What I want is "Plumbing Allowance: vanity faucets - master bath $xxxxx whirlpool tub - master bath $xxxxx water lines - # of ft of (material) @ $xxx per ft installed" Anyone can throw a number into a bid, but a good GC will "do the math" and show you how he came up with that number. That's worth waiting for. On the other hand, we've waited as long as a month for others. Waiting a long time does not guarantee that those are any more accurate or well-researched unfortunately. It may mean that either the GC is overloaded with projects or that he's a bit lacking in customer service and prompt response. The builder we chose gave us a priliminary "ball-park" estimate based on our wish list and choices within 10 days, then met with us to flesh out the specifics of our plan. Then he gave us a very detailed breakdown within about another 10 days/2 wks of that meeting. He is currently getting 2nd and 3rd bids from different subs for the things we thought to be a bit high. He's very willing to shop around to get his subs to compete with each other for this job. He's also given us suggestions about materials to think about to save money here and there. After hearing about how the housing market is down and GC's are starving for business, I too was shocked about how unresponsive some of them were. You'd think they'd be jumping up and down to get the chance to build on a custom home project, but that doesn't seem to be the case with some of them.

We GC'd our own remodel. Learned a lot in the process. In our bidding process, I made sure to get at least 5 for each aspect of the job. It takes a heck of a long time (took me a full month, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, just like a full time job). You end up sitting around at the job site waiting for them to show up, they are always running late, etc. I would walk each one thru the house, talk to them about my concerns, let them know I knew what was going on, and always ask about their payment policy. For the bigger items, I was able to find/get access to contractor supply houses. We are lucky here in Seattle as there are several companies that sell high end materials such as carpeting, flooring, tile, stone/quartz countertops all at about 50% retail. Many contractors shop there. I was also able to buy my cabinets at contractor prices, as well. And then I worked a deal with many of my subs to purchase materials at their cost with no markup. Usually it means you go to their supply house, pay in one check (no credit cards), pay the sales tax, schlepp the materials back to the job site and have them ready for them whey they come in the next morning. They saved time in not having to shop for me, do the bookkeeping, and not having to transport back to the house. Contrary to what was said by a previous poster, I found my subs more than willing to work for me and do a top quality job. They knew I was going to pay them in a timely manner, I was always available for consult or feedback, and that things were scheduled efficiently to not waste their time. We had only one holdup due to a permitting problem...everything else flowed beautifully on the one year project. I was also very careful to pick the middle bid, never the cheapest nor the most expensive. I also used my gut instincts to judge the sub when they interviewed, and I always checked references. The best subs came referred from other subs...guys they had worked with before and whom they could vouch for in quality work. As you can see, it really does take a lot of time, which gave me great respect for GC's. If you don't have the luxury of time, or can't get away from your day job enough to oversee the operation, then U Build It and their prescreened list is probably a good option. But as I posted elsewhere, we figured out they wouldn't have saved us any money in our job.

Maydl--me too? thank you SO much. this is something I hadn't considered. I had thought the architect would specify everything and/or it would be clear from the plans...but I would rather make triple sure! hhlecraw@comcast.net

I'm getting ready to head out camping with my son for the weekend, but we should be done (minus backsplash) next Thursday! Can you wait for the reveal thread then? All the cabinets are installed. The sink base was a bit of a pain for my contractor because we used a 9" apron sink (not the short apron) and Cliq doesn't have a special apron front sink so it had to be pieced together. It turned out nicely, but I'm sure I would have saved some money in his time if I'd have gone with the short apron and a standard sink base. I've got one door being replaced and they are also sending touch up kits for both colors. I requested the linen because there was a crack in one of the frames that we opted to install and just fix up. I requested those Weds, they shipped today and I'll have them tomorrow. We have one extra toe kick and one extra quarter round. I guess I should have checked that stuff over and done the measuring myself. Not sure how much those cost. I may come up with some decorative project in the future for them since they match the cabs though. I am completely in love with the tea leaf. I'm so glad I didn't go with all linen. It would have seemed so boring and not as warm in comparison. As far as quality goes, my contractor thought they were good and liked that they had nice thick backs. I love the slow close drawers though the trash pullout doesn't have it. I also love that they are full overlay and there are no center stiles. If you have other specific questions let me know, otherwise I'll post full photos, review and cost breakdown of our remodel late next week and link it here to make sure you see it! The granite is going in Weds and the plumber will be back Thursday.