I am a door and window dealer. Home Depot and Lowes will usually sell stock items for less than I am willing. If the item is special order I can easily beat their price, but more importantly I go to the jobsite and I confirm dimensions and code compliance for no additional cost. Windows and doors can be very complex and expensive and they cannot be returned. This is an area where unless you have had a bad expierence you cannot fully appreciate the value of that service. If the cost from a window specialist is even close to HD or Lowes it's a no brainer. After all if you can't trust them to mix paint correctly how can you expect them to understand Egress codes, Jamb widths, Sight lines, DP ratings, Solar Heat Gain, Structural mulls, flashing details or Temper codes. All of these details must come together in order to ensure a proper fit not just in the opening but in reference to the application. Vinyl windows are not as tricky but they still require more knowledge than their employees usually have. The simple rule of thumb for the big box stores, if you know exactly what you need and where to find it on the shelf, buy it and you probably saved some money. If not, find a professional that you trust.

"... Her house build demonstrates that. She described the floor and stair riser issues in her first post ..." She does not go into detail on why the condition of the construction is the way it is. You are assuming it was all the gc's fault. While I am certainly not going to defend the GC she fired, I will say part of that condition might have been from the house being open to the elements for a period of time. ANother part was that she never gave the original GC the opportunity to make the work that was done ready to be installed over. The GC did not complete the project and was removed from the job before he could finish his work, so of course it was not ready to be installed over, because the work was not completed and the original GC did not have the opportunity to make sure the stair system or any other part was in a ready state to be installed over. She very well may have had just cause to remove the CG, but nevertheless she took on the GC responsibility on herself to ensure it was ready for finish trades. I believe it is apparent that this house was not ready to have finished trades in it performing finish work, and it was her responsibility as GC to make sure it was unless soneone else accepted that responsibility by contract. "...A person does not require a GC to have a floor put down. ..." The problem with this is that it was not as simple as getting a floor put down in a home that was ready to have finish trade present. Again, we do not know what caused the stair issues, which could have been: Framing problems caused by the GC's incompetance, or being open to the elements, which flooring installer holds no responsibility for because its a hidden condition, unless it was a tile contractor who must check for build stability, and deflection and rigidity requirements. You might not be aware that carpet, wood, and resilient installers are noit trained for, nor do they hold any responsibility or liability for framing issues. All of which she holds responsibility for as the project GC. The only way the flooring installers would hold liability and responsibility for framing (hidden conditions) issues is if it was addressed on their bids that they agreed to do the work. Any flooring installer would address this in their bids if they elected to take on the added responsibility and liability from stair framing condition and height requirements she may ahve had which could only ahve been taken care of with additional prep they should have addressed in their bids if they wanted to take on the additional responsibility and liability for an added fee. Additionally, she admitted she has no local building codes for such things as stair height. Could they have done better...sure. But it begins and ends with who is liable and responsible. She took that on by electing to be her own project GC. "... While it might have been possible for her to have stepped in earlier to babysit the install where she would have seen that they weren't able to handle the job, stopping it sooner than what happened, that doesn't relieve that company of their total responsibility for having installed a floor over an (obviously) unsound substrate. You can't remove prep from the flooring equation. The flooring company is the professional here and in charge of their own work. It's their job. Once they start putting the floor down, they have accepted the substrate as sound and taken ownership of the results. They did not act responsibly or professionally. Period. Doesn't matter who did the hiring. They and they alone are responsible for their own incompetent work ..." Again, (and again, and again, and again) an installer absolutely is responsible and liable for the surface they install over. However, I will disagree that prep cant be removed. It very well can, and often is removed. While most professional flooring installers do much surface prep, others do not, and FEW, if any, will concern themselves with framing issues AT ALL. I do, but most do not. It all boils down to what was included in the bid. Flooring installers have no responsibility to do added prep work unless they agree to be contracted to do it. They ahve every right to stop work, tell the GC this or that prep needs done before continuing, and tell them to give them a call when its ready to be installed. Lastly, you seem to be taking everything she says as gospel. I dont. I have alot of experience with customers, and customers lie alot... and often. Mostly to save face, save a buck, and/or to shirk their responsibility. The customer is not always right. Thats a falicy. I find it hard to believe that she had issues with the GC, then issues with all the trades. Everyone was wrong in every aspect of this project ... except her. I dont believe that for a moment, but I am not saying its impossible. What I see as possible is someone who bit off more than they could chew, and is blaming everyone else. I am not stating no one else holds any blame though. Could be a little of each. Bottom line its mostly her responsibility unless she has a piece of paper saying different ...except the subfloor issues which the installers absolutely are responsible for if they elect to do the prep and/or install over it.

Mike my man, I have to go with Advantage on this one, as a given I do business with East Teak but in the past I have goton some ipe T&G material from the Adv guys some of it was bad right out of the box, not many but a few, but I could use it in other places and we worked out a money deal that was good with me in a timely nature. Two damaged boards and you got replacements in a week or so, thats not bad. Far as your Contractor Having to Way over order for the project... Forget That! this thing is total on you and the Contractor. 25 % sound fair to me. Far as the box stores go I am drifting back to the Man that broke me in to Building saying to me,,," if you want quality oats you will pay a quality price from me, Buttttt if you dont mind oats that have been thu the horse one time Lets Make A Deal!!! " Warren Ove, man I miss that Guy. J

DGMarie, I like the picture a lot! I like it's bold rich colors and think it looks great in your living room. I understand you're unwillingness to fool around lowering it, although I think it would look better if it were lowered. The bottom line in your situation is not to think you have to fill the entire space, as that's a huge area. Instead, it's to create a large point of interest area on the mantel. At the moment you have the dark mantel and then the beautiful framed picture above it. But, even though the picture itself is large, the big space between it and the mantel cause it to look like it's floating in space and too small. It's not! You just need to visually connect the two areas and add bulk on either side of the mantel to help. The most important thing, though, is to visually connect that picture to the mantel. Here are a couple of options: * add a long, low, dark basket or decorative box on the mantel below the picture and fill it with greenery. What you're looking for is something visually substantial to tie the picture to the mantel. I'd look for the very realistic greenery and keep it slighly lower than the bottom edge fo the picture. * another idea that I'm using in my own living room is to use a suger mold candle holder to do the same thing. It would have to be a pretty tall one to do the trick, but if you can find one, it might work for you. Here's mine, but see my painting is hung closer to the mantel than yours is, so I could use a regular sized one. See how the things on my mantel connect visually to the painting? I have tall ceilings, although not as tall as yours, and needed a substantial arrangement, so it wouldn't look lost in this space : * another idea would be to add a row of the same objects on the mantel that are darkish in color and substantial enough to visually link the mantel to the picture. Again, keeping them just a bit lower than the bottom edge of the picture. I did this on a much smaller scale with the painting over my chest of drawers in the dining room. I only had to use three votive holders. Of course, you'd have to use something much more substantial for yours, but you get the idea. Lynn