Join your local club and beesource...lots of information there and instant reply. Read allot. Konrad Here is a link that might be useful: Beesource

Mike, I'm going to have some seeds for the fall swap. I got my cleomes from Wally for just $4 each a couple months ago and they got to be about 3' tall. I don't have too many seeds, but I'll reserve some of them for you if you want me to. Cheryl

@CharlesRossHomes & @Virgil, Unfortunately there is little to hold people in residential construction accountable. There are a plethora of stories of architects designing structures well beyond client's stated or even stretched budgets. This happens when the plans are being developed independently for competitive bidding and when a specified builder is involved. Our first attempt came out 60% over our stated budget that the architect & builder had agreed to and our builder's detailed estimate was then 17% over the stretch number that they'd both asked us if we could do only 6 weeks prior. "I absolutely guarantee you that the contingency number is enough to cover all unexpected costs so you can absolutely rely on this estimate." This was obviously excepting changes that we made. Over and over we were assured that the estimate numbers and contingency were conservative enough that we could count on our builder's estimate. We are not even to to insulation yet and are already 5x that contingency. And that doesn't include $70k in concrete work for a terrace wall that kind of suddenly appeared without notification or discussion to us (and that will require another chunk of $'s for stone). The quality of work has so far been good though we have concerns with what we've seen so far from the insulation contractor. We are trying to be patient. We still believe that the end result will have been worth it. That said, we've no more money left so any cost overruns will mean having to reduce costs elsewhere. When the builder said that they'd now need to do Tyvek + Rainscreen we had to eliminate a couple of light fixtures that my wife really wanted and replace them with less expensive and less appealing fixtures. Hopefully once we move in those lessor-than-we'd-chosen fixtures will disappear in to the background and we'll be happy. But what else is coming? What other lighting fixtures will have to be downgraded because our builder's estimate was so inaccurate? How many bits of furniture will we have to notify our designer that we can no longer afford because of costs our builder didn't anticipate? How much of the landscaping plan will have to be reduced? Will we even be able to use our chosen landscaper or will we have to go with a lessor landscaper and lessor plan? ---------- The residential construction industry in the U.S. is getting an increasingly bad reputation. It's an industry that requires a great bit of trust and that trust seems to increasingly be violated.

Do you know what is included in either of these quotes? What specific details do you know about what was bid in each of the following categories: Foundation Insulation Damproofing Wall Construction Wall Insulation Wall Sheathing Air Barrier Roof System Roof Sheathing Roofing Materials Siding Material & Color Masonry Material & Color Window Brand, Series, Exterior Color, Interior Color, Type, Sizes, Install Specs Exterior Door Brand, Series, Exterior Color, Interior Color, Type, Sizes, Install Specs Soffit & Fascia Gutter & Leaf Guard Exterior Concrete layout, color, stamping Deck Paver Patio Retaining Walls Surface Landscaping Seed/Sod Additional Grade Work (Beyond dig & backfill) Utilities Hookups Electrical Outlet Details Lighting Locations & Fixtures Drywall finish Misc. Wall Finishes (I.E. Shiplap) Floor Coverings Interior Base & Casing Interior Railing & Stair Treads Misc. Trim Details (Wainscot, Ceiling Beams, Crown) Interior Doors Kitchen Cabinets Bathroom Cabinets Other Cabinets (Built-ins, laundry, ect.) Kitchen Countertops Bathroom Tops Misc. Tops Backsplashes Custom Showers Plumbing Design Heating & Cooling Design Ventilation Design Humidity Control Wall Paint Colors Ceiling Paint Colors Faucets Toilets Sinks Appliances Home Automation Security System Home Audio/Entertainment Permits Expected Timeline I'm not asking you to post answers to these. But ask yourself, do you know what is ACTUALLY being bid? Very well drawn plans will only dictate about half of the list above. For example: Sinks: "He has an allowance for $2,200 for all the sinks". Ok.. Are they stainless? What style? What thickness of material? $2,200 is a nice allowance if he's marking them up 15%, but at 40% it could be really tight for what you want. Look at the items I've listed and ask yourself if you really know what is included. 95% of what I see (both here on this forum and in my job) the homeowner doesn't dig into these details until after the contract is signed. If you do it before, you won't get change-ordered to death, and you will know what you are getting. The builder has an easier time too since he doesn't have to wait for you to make as many decisions. So to the original question: "Am I getting gouged?" The answer is maybe. You need to dig-in and find out. The bid from December isn't relevant anymore, see what's included in the current bid. **Note** I probably missed a category or two. Didn't write this from a list, just memory. Best of luck