My bathroom gut job was 15% under even with all my "while you're here" additions, which was amazing. I wish that would happen more often. The contractors I have spoken to here for kitchen have built in 15% contingency to their bids. Is this practice widespread?

I could have written waterdamage's post. Add to the fact that DH has been white-kitchen-hesitant. So darker counters make more sense to me now. And now that I look through the kitchens that I feel the most warmth and comfort from. I knew I didn't want a country-vintage vibe. I want light yet comfortable. Yet I want something to be grounded in a way. As I went through the HUNDREDS of photos I'd saved...yes, hundreds, I also noticed that the ones I liked the most had either darker counters or dark perimeters and a light island top. So that's where I am. I'm heading to slab yards this weekend. If I see a light slab that knocks my socks off, then I'll go that route. If not, it's dark all around. I'm not stressing about it until I start looking in person. Like you, my inspiration comes from a combination of kitchens, not just one. Here are my most loved and why. This may help you... 1) Katieob's kitchen. I like the light island top and outer dark perimeter. And although she has an industrial hood (I'm doing a white arched hood), her white cabinets and polished nickel hardware and the overall feel are really nice: 2) The cabs don't go to the ceiling as mine will not. But I can picture how my hood will look extended to the ceiling even though this one isn't configured as mine is. I like the fel of this kitchenn as well. The window that comes low to the sink, the white hood, darker countertops... 3) Again, darker counters. This one made me realize I wanted polished nickel hardware as the dark wasn't my taste. I saved this one as our range is a little offset like that so we're doing a similar thing with our glass cabinetry and flanking the range with solid on each side to create symmetry by the range. Another low window by the sink. 4) This one has a nice feel to it because of the warmth brought by the dark top of the island. I could imagine the perimeter being dark also. The backsplash was nice. 5) There are elements I've always really liked about this kitchen though it's darker overall than I ultimately want to go with my own (the hood and the island, etc.) But it's stunning and I do refer to it. 6) More country/vintage than I prefer but I like the dark perimeter with the light island countertop as well as the polished nickel hardware on the perimeter. I like that she did ORB for the lighting accents. It seems to work here and I may or may not look at doing that. We're flanking our 6 foot window with glass cabinets. I love this window treatment (though the kitchen itself has a different feel than the above b/c of the different floor, etc): Misc (counters, lights): Anyway, my purpose wasn't to give you inspiration photos but to show you what you can take away from photos. Like I said, I started with tons. And one day, I sat down with them all (online, magazines, printouts, etc) and started eliminating based on initial reactions. I started realizing the super light, white ones were too stark for us. Once I got a feel down, I then could get nitpicky about other things...hardware (polished nickel and not ORB), etc. I have several photos which may be too many for some. For me it works because I've taken elements from them that I look to. But I'm very visual and like that reference. Others may get confused with a wide scope. If you have lots and need to narrow it down to three, then do so. But it doesn't have to be just one.

"Are GC's hesitant to give firm numbers for remodels? I understand that unlike building a new home, remodeling projects can have surprises discovered after demo, but would a 15-30% contingency cover us in such cases?" As a GC, I'll step in. Depends on the GC and how well they research the job prior. When I first started in this business, I felt pressure from customers to hurry and a get a number. That usually led to overlooking major problems, or not giving ourselves enough of a margin for an 'oops' factor. We learned the hard way and had a few very patient customers allow us the time to fix mistakes. As a contractor, I'd make sure the timeline penalties allowed for extra time incurred due to change orders or unforeseen circumstances. That being said, at this point I am done trying to please people who are completely focused on price with unrealistic expectations of what they can get done. So think that, yes, all contractors are scared to death of having a major setback during a job set them back, but those who learn from their mistakes, learn through experience what things can go wrong when, what to look for ahead of time and plan/price accordingly. We stick to our budgeted contract amounts, excluding change orders. I think its a part of doing good business. If we screw up or something doesn't go as planned, we fix it at our expense. Poorly capitalized businesses fail everyday because they cannot afford to fix their errors or better yet, avoid them. I have a problem with someone mentioning a change order over $500. I always put in my contracts that change orders will come with anything and a 50% deposit with a signed agreement is required for anything over $100.00. Change orders can kill a job if all parties involved aren't watching the total dollar amount. If we cannot continue the project because an issue has come up (structural for instance) that has arisen due to existing conditions, we will not continue the project until the customer is given notice, a decision made and either approval or sign-off of a change occurs. I'd suggest making sure also that all installed fixtures are spelled out in the contract in detail. Also, who is responsible for purchasing what and during what phase should also be spelled out.

I am guessing there are different types of loans and different processes out there. We are just getting started on our build, but my lender said that 45 days prior to occupancy permit we can lock in a lower rate if one is available to refi the construction loan to a conventional (construction loan rates, for us, were about .5% higher than prime conventional rates). If lower rates are not available and we do not want to refi, our construction loan is interest only for 12 months then automatically converts to a conventional at the same rate. Our lender allows the same appraisal of land + project to be used if we want to refi the loan. If you can get a better rate with a refinance, simply calculate the yearly savings in interest vs your closing costs to refi the loan to find out a "break even" analysis - how many years will it take for you to break even on closing costs vs interest savings. If it makes sense, do it...interest rates likely will not be going anywhere but up in the next few years.