Landscape fabric - which is made of plastic but called fabric and is sold in rolls 3-4' wide and 25-300' long that is sold by all the stores listed above is already pre-punched. It is micro-punched if you will so while you may not be able to see the holes in the roll they are there and are readily obvious to sight and feel on the underside of the fabric. Says right on the labels something like "allows air and water to pass right through". It comes in various thicknesses rated on the label by est. years it will last. Labels say things like 1 yr. biodegradable, 5 year permascape, 25 year landscaping, etc. The stuff you are looking for is very common and readily available. http://www.lowes.com/pl_Landscape+Fabric_4294857236_4294937087_ http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1930383&CAWELAID=109333048 http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener-22340-Landsc-Fabric/dp/B00004RA0Y http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202214393/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

An update to this thread from last year. Those poppies never bloomed last spring but they are budded up now with these big fat buds so I can't wait to see them bloom. Meanwhile I already had ordered a compleate tray of them from Graceful gardens this spring which are already planted as of last Friday. Really nice plants. I got so excited by the fact that they are gonna bloom that I went back to Graceful Gardens and ordered three more trays of these Fruit Punch Poppies. I guess I went sorta overboard.

I think that one thing you need to do is discuss the whole situation with a really good construction attorney. You don't have to let your builder know you've hired a lawyer or anything, but I think you need to understand exactly where you stand given your specific contract, signed change orders, and the new unsigned change orders. And I think a lawyer should read through any letter before you send it, just to make sure you're not accidentally obligating yourself to something that wouldn't otherwise be your responsibility. I wouldn't worry about the builder talking about you in an unflattering way. It sounds like he's pulled this same "pay me an extra 50k" stunt at the end of other jobs, so frankly his credibility isn't very good. If you haven't closed yet, I think you should also consider delaying closing until at least the larger problems (plumbing etc) are fixed, and holding back money to cover the rest. I also would worry about the photovoltaic array being left in the flood setback area - maybe it's no big deal, but it just seems like something that might come back to bite you when you go to sell the house. I actually like the idea of bringing your realtor friend along. It would be a good reminder to him that his actions will affect how other clients and potential clients view him, without you having to spell it out quite so bluntly. It sounds like you've been on top of the details during your build, and that will be a big asset to you now. Keep your head in any phone calls or meetings, and don't feel obligated to agree to anything on the spot. And hang in there!

In the past couple of weeks, I have knocked a ton of stuff off my punch list. DS' ceiling was cracked and needed re-plastering, but knowing that he was going away to college this fall, we held off until he was gone. He also had really old wallpaper in his room. So we got the ceiling fixed, called the painter and had the wallpaper stripped and walls/trim repainted. Which of course led to a massive purge of stuff and a bit of redecorating but not too much -- I didn't want him to think I've turned his room into a guest room already! While the painter was here, I decided to have him paint the dining room, since it hadn't been painted in forever. More purging and redecorating. And a new rug. And a new lamp. The painting was done last week. I also bought new lighting for the kitchen. On Friday, the electrician came and installed new pendant lights and new wall sconces, and re-installed the ceiling fixture in DS' room. Yesterday, the landscapers came and replaced almost all of our front yard shrubs. Most of what was out there was an overgrown mess and/or had been dying. Today, I planted about 120 tulip bulbs in among the new shrubs. Also today the window cleaning company came for a long-overdue whole-house window washing. DD said "why are so many workers coming to our house, like, every day?" A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned out my bedroom closet. On Tuesday, one of the local charities is coming to pick up the stuff I have been purging. Tomorrow, cleaning guy is coming and as you can imagine, the house is pretty dusty from all of the above. Tomorrow afternoon I will rejoice that I have no "workers" coming for the foreseeable future!