Have fun. The shpeel is pretty long and involved, and covers alot of the "why use us and not them" talk, and does describe the wood and finished product very well. My advice would be to do what you should do with any contractor, ask to see local work done and really do go look at it. (Not that you would John, but for regular customers). I just could not stay working for them, knowing that they were not good at production (in my area), so I could not do a good job convincing myself that they would do a good job. Customers would call me when there was a problem, so I was busy trying to follow up, which became too much. Plus the prices, YIKES. That is what scared most people away. I built my IPE deck for 1/4 the cost of what they were going to charge me for the same size. ONE QUARTER the cost, and they only offer the pt panels or trex panels.

I agree with hamptonmeadow that you meet the best people here. Indeed Window_guy and Oberon were both terribly helpful to me when I was trying to sort out french doors for our house. Well, based on their excellent advice, we went with Loewen and after the requisite 12 or 13 weeks, we got our Loewen door in at the very end of March. We had it installed just a couple of days ago and although it is still unpainted, we are delighted to have gotten it. Its great looking, very well put together, very well sealed - it is quieter and much tighter than the old door that it replaced so we feel no more draughts from the doorway. Just really happy with it all. So thank you Window_guy and Oberon, from me too. That said and done, I wonder how window_guy likes being called a "dumpling" :-) I am having to recharacterize you - somehow my previous associations do not admit dumpling. ;-) Ok, ok, I'm just teasing.

The advantage to having Wolf's certified installers do the install is that it adds an additional year to your warranty. At least, that was the case a couple of years ago. Having someone else do the install does not void the warranty. We installed our own range and it was still covered (but we didn't get the extra year). Their customer service department is extremely helpful; give them a call to find out if the additional warranty still applies.

Sounds like mostly labor. Just because people who mow lawns doesn't necessarily mean they are skilled at other things. But on the other hand, a professional who runs a business is in it to make money vs. a "non-profit". Since you have experience and seem quite detailed, I suggest you act as your own contractor and supervise them. Buy all the materials yourself and just pay them by the hour, but also have a not to exceed so they are not tempted to try to stretch the number of hours. The other redeeming point is that you already sort of know them vs. someone new. If you want a more detailed quote in writing just tell them what to specify. Hiring unlicensed people for contracting gives you no recourse if something goes awry. On the other hand, people who knowingly hire unlicensed people that should be licensed for the type of work often end up in the penny wise pound foolish category.