So..... I want to update everyone especially because your comments and suggestions have been so appreciated. It touches my heart the way total strangers freely give thoughtful advice on Gardenweb. And the outcome of this story should give all house shoppers everywhere hope and maybe a few chills. We did not get Peggy's house. The why and the various problems with the deal and the communication between our crappy realtor and the listing agent do not matter. We didn't get the house. I cried. I threw tantrums. I gave my husband the silent treatment for a week. I threw my arms up and said 'ok, that's it. I guess we can't move. We've run out of time.'--- I am on a strict timeline because plants have to be dug up and moved before cold weather sets in. I was so bummed. We ditched the realtor. Then... Thursday... a house appeared on mls... on my absolute favorite street in the new city in the very best of neighborhoods... recently renovated at a very high end level with great finishes almost all of which I would have chosen myself. We called the listing agent directly and saw the house Saturday. First people to see it. Met the owner- a wonderful elderly lady who loves the home so much she was in tears about selling it. Her husband (who was a professor at the same University where my husband teaches) passed away and she has health and mobility issues and no family in this town and needs to move near her children. Gardens are glorious... need work but like Peggy's house the structure is there. Very private lot. Floorplan is a dream for how we actually live and use a house. Yard already fenced for our dogs. Truly I could not have imagined a more perfect house. We made an almost full price offer right then and there. (Because we thought the price was fair and we can afford it.) Accepted. Closing set. All of this happened I believe because we were able to meet the owner and tell her about us and assure her that we would care for the home and gardens. I know this is not the norm in real estate transactions but I really think the human dimension matters. I am still shaking. I can't believe this all happened so quickly. I am pinching myself. It doesn't feel real!

Thanks for the thoughts - I've heard too many stories like shappy2 reports, where pocket doors were noisy and problematic - but also that it's the quality of the frame, rails, and installation that make all the difference, so I'm trying to be thorough - but yet not go broke. To clarify - the Johnson frame sets that are vertical metal-wrapped studs, are either the 1500, 2000, or 2500 series units. I had heard that the 1500 was the minimum. The frame the GC has wanted to use is the 2700 (see http://www.johnsonhardware.com/2700.htm), which is an entirely different type of frame that looks a bit like an orange crate, with horizontal wood pieces. It is NOT part of the 2000 series. In some ways, I suppose it helps avoid cave-in, but even when I called Johnson to understand why I'd want one over the other, their tech support folks said it's an older style frame that "we don't like to talk about". That gives confidence... either not enough profit, or really not very good. But which? As I mentioned, we compromised, and so far have the 2700 frame in place, but getting a Hafele rail with slow-close that I found at a relatively reasonable price. Now, we get to see if it all works. Good luck to you, too, anlawin! I'll report when and if we get everything together!

Midland, Texas. My suggestion is to get as many bids as possible on all aspects of your job. The variations from one contractor to another was HUGE. Also, I splurged on important things and went middle of the road on other things. But for this area it is a nice remodel... I live in a nice neighborhood... my house is the smallest on the cul de sac... my neighbors house is well over 4,000 sf on a half acre or more lot. Obviously my house is no million dollar home ;) (there's a few of those neighborhoods here) but I am a perfectionist and it is good. Not perfect... the cabinets are from a local cabinet maker and painted on site with a reputable painter- but it's not perfect but "good" and definitely better than acceptable. I could have easily spent $20k more on the kitchen with little to no additional ROI. We also did some work ourselves... i.e. All the demo, and any other non skilled labor we could do before the pros took over. We are also doing the trim work ourselves (baseboards and door casings). We bargained shopped for the appliances (all new Bosh except for range and bev fridge); new vinyl windows and not wood clad (no one has wood in this neighborhood); buying anso nylon carpet buy using one of the in stock colors; splurged on bath tile; got a good price on wood look tile $3.75sf for Marazzi American Estates for the other flooring; splurged on a few light fixtures but most are pottery barn level. Found a great deal on mosaic tile that's going behind master bath vanities; re-using the master bath mirrors and having them repurposed with bevel edge. We made and have been keeping a detailed spreadsheet of all expenses and making other cuts when necessary to stay on budget (for example, we didn't get the pot filler because we need to shave a little off and we didn't want to spend on the faucet but we have a second sink 2 ft away that can fill pots... tons of little $1000 decisions like that add up! Honestly, I have lost money on being indecisive. We had a general contractor for the kitchen, master bath, plumbing and electrical, but we subbed out all the other work ourselves. Also, we didn't use the highest end contractor, but we also didn't use the cheapest. Just middle of the road people honest people we felt good with and that would work hard and wanted to do good work. They all came with recommendations from friends, our designer, or flooring store sales person.

What I am seeing from @colorblind1961 is zero ownership of her behavior, but instead is talking about "a wakeup call" for people on this forum. No wake up call for @colorblind1961? She has not acknowledged that she escalated the tone of this thread to become what it has. This is why I called her a troll earlier. Trolls cause escalation of anger in a thread, which they enjoy. Then they absolve themselves of everything, and blame everyone else. Textbook. Most of the people who have replied on this thread are extremely helpful to others posting questions on this forum. They will spend huge amounts of time helping people with their kitchens. @colorblind1961, you started by yelling in all caps, using the word "hate" a number of times, being non-nonsensically contradictory (you hate granite, you love granite), claiming in all caps that you are NOT inconsiderate, not answering any questions, claiming to be a longtime Gardenweb person yet not seeming to know anything about Gardenweb, and that your only goal is to hear from people who hate their granite countertops.