I could certainly be wrong but from the sound of your post you sound like someone who has "aspired" to have a SubZero fridge not necessarily for a functional reason but to have the brand. It sounds as if you're going all out - two Miele dishwashers, etc. - so why not just go for the SZ? If you think about all the people who have been keeping their food chilled without investing in SZ, there has to be something people "value" about SZ other than it's functional ability to keep food chilled or frozen that would make them pay the premimum price. Could be appearance, appeal of saying you have the brand, etc. In any case if you want one and want to spend the $ go for it. It seems you can count on repairs with any brand these days - kind of like luxury auto brands. Just because you spend alot doesn't mean it will be trouble free.

Thanks to all for your insights and experiences. It really helps. This post is a bit long because I thought I'd share more about our build and our decision-making process. The builder and I made some progress yesterday. I discovered he did bid out the pieces and had three quotes on each major component from various subs he has worked with over the years. We reviewed them together. He went with the lowest. However, he had miscalculated the overall square footage (100 sq feet too much). Now, after talking to the subs, the bid is a bit lower. The GC had also added an extra 5% for each line item to cover problems which might arise plus included a separate reserve fund. Actually, that's ok with me as I would rather estimate on the high side than be surprised and be forced into a home equity loan. We're doing the remodeling, addition, and pool in cash and I want to keep it that way. My big cost concern was the framing labor. The framers are doing more than just framing. They'll also be installing all the windows and doors, inside and outside trim, and painting. I don't know why he didn't communicate this during our earlier discussion. The current house is a combo of brick/wood and we're using Hardi-Board as our siding choice, a more expensive choice. We hope to replace the wood siding on the rest of the house with Hard-Board as soon as our budget recovers. We also cut the roof budget and the HVAC budget. As recommended here, I pulled out some pieces of the job that I can GC myself...mainly finishing work. I found flooring at half the estimated cost so we're going with my guy. I cut the paint budget to builder's white and will go back and repaint with my chosen paints. We can paint. The closet finishing was cut to the bone, as in "give me a rod". It's one thing I know how to do myself. I have no confidence in my ability to GC framing or plumbing and other big pieces and am not sure I can learn enough fast enough. I started this project with a very clear idea of what I wanted. I want this to be my last house. Of paramount importance was to build a house that was aging-friendly and could be retrofitted easily to accommodate age-related disabilities. For example, the walls in our separate toilet area are being reinforced now for future grab bars if needed. No steps and all transition areas incorporate universal design. Layout, doors, faucets, laundry...almost everything has been designed for age-related disabilities and keeping a person in the home, as long as possible, with the aid of home health care services. The toilet area is placed very specifically to ensure an easy transition from bed to bath in the middle of the night with few risks for accidents. Having moved and nursed two sets of aging parents into nursing homes, we have a pretty good idea of what it takes to keep people in their homes as long as possible. It goes beyond traditional universal design concepts. Now, watch me get taken out by a bus. We've been planning this for three years trying to decide between a new build or adding onto an existing house. This spring the right existing house, in the right location, at the right time, at the right price made the decision for us. Our next decision was to go with an architect or go design/build. We interviewed two architects. One of them scared the hooey out of me. He was very focused on redoing the entire facade of the house with stone work and a turret! I felt he had not listened to a word I said and would be very intent on fulfilling his vision instead of mine. The other architect spent more time talking about all the permitting problems we might encounter than the actual design. By the way, our permit sailed through, with one minor delay. Cost was also a factor. The architects quotes were 15-18% of the total cost for a small addition plus $175-250 per site visit. I do see the wisdom of using an architect but the price made me very nervous. Maybe that was a mistake on my part but almost everyone I know here goes design/build. That's what we decided to do. The architect fees for design/build ran about $4000. This included using an expediter to get the permit through. One of the problems we ran into in our initial planning for this project was the lack of timely responses from the builders we interviewed.. We are working within a certain time frame. I wrote a very detailed scope of work and prepared a super-detailed spreadsheet for my interviews. The three contractors I interviewed pretty much quoted the same price per square foot. I understand that talking price per square foot isn't completely realistic and that adding to the current can be more expensive than building new. I gave each one my spreadsheet and asked for a detailed estimate. The GC we are working with was the only who got back to us within 30 days. Given the downturn in housing, we thought we'd hear back from everyone pretty quickly. That didn't happen. Still hasn't. This GC has an excellent reputation and we have a pretty good rapport. We haggle and disagree but it's always civil. He's been working on some remodeling of the existing home and the work has been high quality and on budget. I also like and trust the subs he's employed to date...except that they keep drinking the bottled water in my fridge when my back is turned. If that's the biggest problem I have, then I have no problem. Many of the same crew will be working on the addition. Over the weekend, I had a pretty frank conversation with a builder/friend who couldn't take our work due to his schedule. He feels the cost of the project with the current cost cutting is about 10% more than he could deliver if he could take it on. He said our GC has an excellent reputation for quality work, tends to be more expensive, but does deliver on budget, once we've haggled our way through it. My friend also said that many of the custom builders here are still running very high in pricing and if they come in low they'll likely play games to make up for it. He did remind me to keep in mind that I'm building a single story addition which always costs more than a two-story. My friend also agreed with many of you that I should pull chunks and take care of it myself. We halted the remaining remodeling work in the current house which I'll finish off plus cut out chunks of the addition project. My time and labor is worth the dollar savings up to a certain point. The decision my husband and I face is to stop the process, go out to other builders, hope they respond, and blow our time frame with hopes for a better result or pay (literally) for our time constraints and continue with a reduced budget. We're leaning towards the latter. The DC housing economy has slowed but incomes are very protected here from recession here compared to the rest of the country. We are also facing a builder backlog because the weather has been so miserable with rain for the last couple of months. The one thing I don't get is why all the building folk talk about price per square foot on initial interviews but don't give you all the caveats. I think that's why I was so stunned when we actually looked at hard numbers. Even during this downturn, it's hard to get return calls. We've now got the cost for the addition down to $140,000 from $160,000 which is $213/square foot. Given our high-end bath, we may be approaching reasonable. The good news is that we are increasing the house from a 3 bedroom/2.5 bath to a 4 bedroom/3.5 bath which should increase our value (and tax assessment). Although, I hope to stay in the house until they carry me out. I must admit the Master Bath is driving up this price. It is the only area we planned to truly splurge. For those of you who are interested, here is our budget. Due to health reasons, neither of us can use a hot tub to relax those old muscles so went with a steam shower to help with muscles, allergies, and skin conditions. Master Bath 12'x12' Overall  5'x5' Steam Shower  5'x5' Separate Toilet Area  Separate Vanities. - No Bathtub- One Window, Main Entry Door, Another door to the very large combined Master Closet/Laundry space. Steam shower Generator/Control Kit  Mr. Steam - $3200 Stream Shower Lights  Mr Steam - $600 Rain Shower head  Moen - $600 2 Hand Held Spray showers - $700 Glass Door with seals - $1200 2 Grab Bars - $200 Kerdi Moisture Proof Barrier Kit - $900 2  36" Vanities with Medicine Chests  Merillat stock - $2000 Vanity Tops  Blue pearl Granite - $800 2 Faucets  Moen - $700 Tile  entire bath - $4300 Tile/Labor - $3000 Plumbing - $7000 (to bring from main house  most work done in a crawl space) Total Bath - $25, 250 Live wire oak  if you've made it this far, thanks for the reality check. You're right on the money. MyDreamHome  I agree with the difficulty figuring out the home building business. I'd rather face the dentist without anesthesia. If I had infinite time, I'd run down more of this myself but between work, kids, other family, life stuff, there's only so much one can do. Luckily, I work from home and can take on the smaller components. Actually, we're not in the house yet. We wanted to finish the current remodeling work and get the addition underway before we move in. We sold our other home in 2005 and have been renting and saving for this home. Our lease ends in August. Sniffdog, Congratulations on making it through. I'm so glad you like your steam shower. We've rarely used used the jacuzzi tubs in other homes and hope the steam shower is a good idea. The Bathrooms Forum was invaluable when we started thinking about the shower. Thanks to all....now over to the Pool Forum

Robyn, If you're still out there... the process to which you are referring (we call it "getting dry" here) is actually becoming quite common, given the current market and people becoming more money conscientious. My builder, a good friend (and I used to be his bookkeeper) does this sort of thing all the time. You do have to realize that he will make a good 15% - 20% regardless of how much you want him to do. However, if you are feeling uneasy and "taken," you really should look elsewhere... you need to feel comfortable with your GC and have a level of trust established. Now I'm not sure where you are located, but ALL of those numbers look right on to me. That framing number must include the labor as well though. Around here they tend to charge $7 - $8 per square foot (labor only). And my husband is a plumber... that rough-in plumbing number is incredibly reasonable. I know you want to save money by purchasing your own materials, but that's just not feasible in the early stages. For instance, you would have no idea how many studs, nails, joists, etc. to buy. You wouldn't get the same contractor pricing either (we get a HUGE discount with our plumbing supplier). This is something you may want to take on further into the project for finish materials (i.e. cabinets, countertops, flooring, fixtures, etc). Hope this helps :)

Hi all, the OP here, sue36, thanks for the great advice about going to see job sites! You wrote: Most guys in construction have "idiosyncracies". Actually, I think most people do. Is it something that could materially affect the job, relates to honesty and hard work, or is just annoying? Yes, I agree that most people do--I certainly have them! In my original post, I was trying to be succinct (because I usually write a lot and didn't want to overwhelm in the initial post), and I used that term instead of going into more details. I actually meant idiosyncracies about how they ran their business, more than the men themselves. From what one described, it sounded like he had way too much on his plate already, and one of his references confirmed that. So yes, you're right--I should keep in mind that aspect of whether it's material to doing a good job. (just curious, what specifically do you have in mind when you say your BIL "can be a pain" to work with? I don't mind if someone's grumpy--it's about when he gives me that "don't you worry your pretty head little lady about all this, let me handle it" message when I ask a question that makes me wonder.) Hi newyorking, thanks for weighing in about this ( GCs are used to doing multiple bids and not getting jobs - its just the way it is.). One of my best friends said something similar, adding that for some, doing the bids might be practice that they need to get better and better at estimating. I honestly don't know if that's true--or how many manhours it is that a GC puts in to do a bids. Part of the bid process is for them to come with their subs to go through the job site, so certainly that is some hourly time that they aren't compensated for. Hi texasredhead, were you responding to my original posting, or to one of the others? You did point out some key things to keep in mind--do you think I should continue to interview more potential GCs if I do already have an architect who's done a plan (for new walls and roof) and a KD who's done the kitchen layout? I am curious about the comments that implied that license- and reference-checking would be done after the bidding. I was thinking that I wouldn't even invite someone to bid whose references I hadn't checked or whose license I couldn't confirm. Do you all normally do those steps after the formal bid process?