I hear ya. Except that for us, I was the one who sledged the old do, not DH. You know the saying. There's nothing to it but the doing it. As faucets go, we went for polished nickel (Riobel), a 12" rainshower, and a handheld installed so it can reach down to wash the dog. No fancy schmancy water jets in the shower even if our plumber was raving about them. We had to special order these things and I was concerned this would delay the rest of our project. Knowing what we know now, I would not have worried so much. But you do need the roughs of the faucets installed before you close up the walls. Which bring me to this little piece of wisdom. You mention that this is your one and only full bathroom. This was also the case for us. Do yourself a favour and get yourself one of those little modular inexpensive showers you can rough install somewhere in your basement or garage, for you to have while you are renovating. It'll make life so much easier in the long run. Cheers!

Wow! You've all given me a lot to think about. Thanks! Ionized--my fuel source is electricity. Very few people use any kind of gas out here because it's a lot more expensive. After rewiring the house and doing whatever I decide to do with HVAC, my next project will be a wood burning stove. I hope for it to be our (my adult daughter lives with me) primary heat source, as well as our emergency backup for power outages. It will be another expensive upgrade, as I have to use a stove specifically approved for use in a mobile home, and it must be installed by a certified licensed contractor. A county inspection has to be done at the half way installation point and at the end. Don't get me wrong--I'm very glad these safety regs are in place! It just makes it expensive. Oh, and ducts are mostly inside, but in a manufactured home they have to get to them from under the house, as I understand it. That means crawling under the house, which is no fun. I hear you telling me maintenance is required and I will make sure that's done on a regular basis. Klemperer, thanks for the reassurance. I'm not sure if we'll have to move out for HVAC install--I know we will for the rewiring. As you probably know, these old mobile homes were wired with cheap aluminum wiring that isn't even legal anymore. Even if the system wasn't failing, I'd still rewire just for safety. It's wired for 100 amps; I'm thinking I should upgrade to 200 amps, to meet the demands of a future kitchen remodel and our modern electronics. Thoughts? SnidelyWhiplash--Love the name! Fond memories of watching of watching cartoons--Wacky Races!-- with my brothers back in the day! You are right--I'm dumping a lot of $$ into a 37 year old manufactured home. But I have my reasons. I cannot qualify for a conventional home loan, and I hate debt of any kind. I decided to buy an old manufactured home from a close friend for cash. I'm refurbishing it subfloor to roof. Without going into a huge long story, I'm an academic researcher and I have a research grant (private, not government) whereby I get a chunk of money three times a year that I can use however I want. I've designated $6,000 each trimester for home refurbishing, and the rest I live on. The home will never be worth what I'm putting into it, but at the end of the day, I'll have a well-built, comfortable home that I own outright. I will live here the rest of my life, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, and then it will go to my daughter. So ROI is not a concern for me. Money, however, is, so I want to do the smart thing financially. homepro01-- I agree. I'm sure the window unit in the LR is not well sealed. Luckily, we don't have a mosquito problem here, and really not many bugs. However, it certainly is insecure in terms of an access point for bad guys. At the moment, the unsealedness, if I may make up my own word, is the least problematic of my insulation concerns, but I'm going to buff up the insulation substantially when I put in new flooring, siding, and roof. Nevertheless, it is a point well taken. Thanks. HVAC consulting--Thanks. I know I can get a mini split that does heat (heat pump), a/c, and dehumidifying, although as one poster mentioned, humidity is not a big issue in my neck of the woods. I hear what you're saying--how "big" I want to go will affect what other choices I make, and of course, my costs. And you are so right about mobile/manufactured homes--there are differences that must be taken into consideration. Based on everything you all have said, I think it would be prudent to get estimates for both central heat/air and the mini-split, which all things being equal I think I'm leaning towards. Since I will have to replace the furnace and the window a/c within a couple of years anyway, I think it makes sense to do it all in one shot. Once again I thank all of you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to answer my questions! :-) I truly appreciate it. If anyone's interested, once I get estimates and make a decision, I'll let you know what's happening! Thanks! Have a great day! :-)

Joseph Corlett hit the nail on the head. Choose your appliances in advance, but don't buy yet, and look at the specs carefully. Do not buy until near to installation. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the clock starts ticking on the warranty upon delivery, not upon installation. If you buy your appliances too far in advance of installation, you will be foregoing one, two, or more months of your warranty. Since the warranty is built into the price of your appliance, it is like throwing away money to forego it. Furthermore, if you need a repair more than 12 months after delivery, but it's only been, say, 6 months in use, good luck on that expense - it will likely be high. P.S. Echoing what Anglophilia wrote, take extra care with the dimensions of the fridge. We have had a number of threads on this forum with people not realizing that their fridge is deeper than expected, and that it's sticking out from the cabinetry much more than they'd planned. Or, conversely, the cabinetry was made an inch or so too deep so that the fridge doors can't swing open fully.

@jellytoast and others who point out that basically I’m not qualified to act as my own GC and am not saving money by trying to do so: There’s truth to that. Ultimately I’m responsible for not verifying the install was plumb and square, and you have a valid point. I knew the installation itself was critical, and I knew the cabinets need to be square. I totally dropped the ball on verifying that they were. On the other hand, as Sammy pointed out, some GC’s are no better than what I wound up with. This could have ended up a non-issue, or the same way – or even worse. In any event we’re dependent on (1) our own knowledge + information from the GC or (2) our own knowledge + information from the installers/tradesmen. When we bought the house 2 years ago we hired a GC to install hardwood floors (in ½ the house) and to handle what was going to be a much larger kitchen remodel (bump into the garage and tear down another wall instead of keeping the same footprint). It was a really bad experience. First, we paid a premium for sub-par hardwood floor install/finish. Had I learned more on my own about HW floor install and finishes rather than relying on information from the GC and his sub we would have done the floors differently. It was a disappointing and costly mistake. I learned there are risks with a GC as well as without a GC, and that hiring a GC doesn’t guarantee desired results. We did get a bid from another GC to handle the scaled-down kitchen redo this year. Ultimately we weighed the risks vs costs in either scenario (GC vs no GC) and decided to GC ourselves. This isn’t the right decision for everyone, but I still believe it was the right decision for us despite the situation we’re dealing with. The KD came out yesterday along with one of the original installers and an install project manager. The project manager recommended tearing out the counter that has ½” shim, and install the cabinets correctly. Also tear out the crown moulding where it’s bad/ugly and re-do. All doors that have cosmetic imperfections will be replaced. At this point we are satisfied with the proposed solution, although it’s certainly not over. I can’t say how much I appreciate all your comments and help! Thank you!!