When it's where it supposed to be for growing plants and the like, it's soil. When it get's on other things (you, the kids, the dog, your tools, your vehicles, the carpet, etc.) and is viewed as a contaminant it becomes dirt. Same stuff, but a different word to describe a different feature. Add enough water to soil that it becomes fluid you get mud, which then can also become dirt when it ends up where it's not supposed to be. Then, just for fun, there are soilless growing media, which is never soil but when they get on things as a contaminant also become dirt. So, dirt is a contaminant that detracts from cleanliness. Works in politics too. :P

I had a *complete* pet peeve with one set of grills on my front windows. I paid extra to have beautiful black aluminum clad windows with 1/3rd-2/3rds grills and when they arrived I discovered the kitchen one was 1/2-1/2! I was DEVASTATED! It's the first thing you see and made the house look completely mismatched! You could just see the flaw. And it looked dumb in the kitchen too, as the grills came down into your viewing space. I was so sad. And because it was in the order sheet this way (I triple checked sizes but didn't notice the grills stupid me), there was no warranty :( I called the window company but the cost to change them was supposed to be really high because it's labor intensive. I'm a young, single woman building her first house with NO sub contractors (just ma dear ol'dad), so it just wasn't in the budget. ...until the window company came out last week to fix some mis-sized screens and a broken pane. It actually bugged the repair guy enough that he fixed them!! At no cost! I was stunned and happy and thrilled and could've hugged him. It was such an ease on my mind to have those grills match the rest. How's that for piddly things you hate?!

I am amazed at how few errors or disappointments those above have had to deal with. Our build has been fraught with many more than described above. It seemed almost daily we would find something wrong (either completely wrongly built, or just misguided such as the vents in awkward spots). When we were hiring subs (we are DIYing the second half so far fewer errors in this half), we would come home and brace ourselves as we knew something would not be to our liking. We just did not yet know what it was. Some of the bigger, harder to fix errors were: 1)framers did not use a level when they set the roof trusses so all the walls were off centre in our upper level -- we did not find this out until after they had bricked, 2)The masons did not clean up all of the mortar spills when bricking so there are still mortar stains on our bricks 3)Having no HVAC plan with agreed upon locations for duct runs, vents, etc set us back months as we had to go back to get a HVAC design done and start with a different HVAC plan and contractor,4) the foundation was not level in all spots, and some spots did not have a brick ledge where brick was planned. I did read an ebook before building that is all about typical building errors to watch out for (or poor design decisions made by builders). I highly recommend it for those seeking more answers than provided by this thread. Good luck all. Most mistakes can be fixed. Find them as soon as possible. Assume every time you visit that mistakes have been made in your absence and measure and check every single thing. Work out in advance the locations for everything (esp HVAC items) as builders will not usually make good aesthetic choices. Not sure why so many of them think a thermostat should be centered on the largest display wall in your house. Here is the ebook I mentioned that deals with typical errors to watch out for and hence avoid. I found the fee for the book to be well worth the price. Sorry it is not free. I have no association with the author. I just found the book helpful. I imagine the book would be more useful to those at the planning stages, or early build stages. Carol ebook

I'm suprised the flipper marketed the house before the flip was finished. A friend is a builder and usually does a flip every year too. He lives in the town he does flips in, so his reputation is very important to him and it shows in his projects, BUT he never markets a flip before it is done as he simply doesn't want to deal with the choices/changes/headaches/timeline of a buyer. I would expect to pay more to have a builder alter his finishes/fixtures and be subject to buyer inspections on a planned flip. Anything can be negotiated and the builder might be happy with not having the risk of having to carry an unsold flip for months. Get a good lawyer to protect your interests in this transaction, and things should work out with a win/win for everyone.