Well, you found what some suspected, that it wasn't an extremely "good" set. Now, Costco/Sam's Club furniture can be just what the doctor ordered and many people are quite pleased with their purchases. I have a tv armoire in my bedroom that was an 'assemble it yourself' piece from Sauder I bought ten years ago for like $99 new. It has worked fine for us for many years. But right now, I would love to find a good solid wood piece that will stand the test of time and fit my style better. For that, I must do used, like CL or estate sale or garage sale. The great thing about going to check on something like that (overpriced!) bedroom suite, is, that it gives you a better feel for the next one you find. It helps you know what questions to ask and to price things out in your head better. I rarely feel a trip was not worthwhile, even when it's a No-Buy. Usually, if I spend the time to travel across town for craigslist stuff, I only feel cheated if the seller badly misrepresented or if I didn't ask enough questions first. And sometimes, I do ask, "So do you remember where you bought the armoire?" or "how long have you had this piece?" If someone tells me Costco or JCPenney, I know it's probably not just what I thought from the photo. If they just bought it, then, why are they selling it? I hope your next set is the real deal. And while you do NOT want to haggle down the price on the phone, it's still ok to just ask, "Before I come see, is your price real firm?" or "I do want to see it, are you negotiable at all on the price?" Don't make an offer, just feel them out. Red

so you're saying that this grade difference is across the WIDTH of the walk (as in, if you walked down the path right now you'd be tilted like you didn't have a V8)? Is this how I'm reading it? Only an idiot would lay a walk like that, which leaves us with two possibilities: 1) you screened poorly and hired an idiot, or 2) you didn't hire an idiot and the contractor is raising the grade appropriately, which involves adding gravel, compacting in 2-4" lifts, adding more gravel, compacting again, and so on till the desired grade is achieved. Depending on how many people are on the site, perhaps they only got but so far and will continue raising the grade tomorrow. Since you provided no pics and I can't read your contractor's mind, perhaps asking the person to whom you're writing checks is the most expedient solution here. I know that if something was freaking *my* client out, I would rather s/he called me and said "this is freaking me out, what's going on?" instead of going online and asking people who have no way of knowing what's going on. If you hire someone, they have a duty to answer your questions and make you comfortable with what's going on. The flip side is that YOU have a duty, when you have a big question that's worrying you - your duty is to ask the contractor asap. We live in this chaos and confusion and destruction every day and we know what the steps are that will get us to an awesome result. It's easy to forget that our clients do not. So don't be shy.

Picture would help: don't pay the balance yet. 1. New Venetian Gold (several crystals) 2. Light granite with garnets (round dots of red/purple)you: large really dark cluster with lots of little spots (could be mica: will be more ruff feeling to the touch and less polished) 3. tearing out granite 'could' effect any other granite touching and/or splash touching 4. Seal~Seal~Seal with a VOC compliant granite sealer: not water based: clean granite with only true granite approved cleaners & polishers: usually commercial brands works very best. 5. I guess you were unaware that you are allowed to see slab before being cut with templates layed out on the slab at cutting time to approve placement. Facts: A characteristic referred to as "pitting" is normally due to the fact that granite is a natural product that has a crystalline structure, sometimes resulting in small spaces between the varying mineral crystals. In some cases, certain tiny crystals may also be removed during the polishing process, causing the pits to become more visible. Various steps are taken during the finishing process to reduce the visibility of these pits, but they cannot be totally avoided in all granite types. Pitting will not become worse with regular use or with the passage of time. Many types of granite have small "fissures" or hairline cracks on the surface of the slab, usually more visible in the larger quartz crystals. These surface fissures should not be confused with structural cracks that permeate the entire slab. Fissures are a natural result of the heating and cooling of the stone during its formation millions of years ago. Fissures will not grow or expand over time. I hope this helps. Posting picture might help.

romeotybalt, I went through a similar situation. I searched and searched to find a stock plan I really liked, then paid $3k to buy it and make changes to it (designbasics.com). I will say that the lady at designbasics making the changes was very good at her job and had a really good ideas for modifications on the plan. We had just moved to the area from out of state, I talked to a realtor friend here whose husband is in construction and went by the square footage rate that she told me to expect when designing the plans. I thought she was as reliable a source as they come but the rates were not correct. The 2800 sq. ft. house I thought we could afford, I quickly learned we couldn't after I got 7 bids with about the same price. That was when I learned that I should have first found a builder who could help me with plans within my budget. I'm working now with a general contractor who is also an architect. We are re-doing a set of plans and the cost is $1/ square foot so I'll end up paying another $2500-$2700. So yes it's annoying to start all over again and pay the fee again but it's not $9k so maybe yours won't be as much as you think. For me the TIME all of this is taking is worse than throwing the $ out the window the first time. The original bids were from January-April of this year, and I've been working on these new plans since May. We live in a crappy rental house across the street from the property and it feels like this will never get started let alone finished. So to answer your question, I know not every builder has a background in design but you can find an online source to help you make changes to a stock plan if you know the general price per square foot in your area (obviously keeping complicated rooflines and finishes in mind) or talk to a few builders in your area who have access to a CAD program and have plans of other homes they've built that you can then make changes to. Best of luck, I feel for ya.