Jer Can you be a little more specific about the problem with existing furnace? The XV90 furnace was 92-93 % efficient. I find the credit Trane dealer is offering to be quite puny. Perhaps others on this forum would offer their thoughts. Have you thought about getting a second opinion? You have noticed the Rheem furnace is 60K while Trane is 80K size. That's a big difference. I would want to see the load calc supporting the smaller furnace. Trane does make a 60K XV95. For your location, I would ask for a quote on Trane's XC95 mod furnace. Trane will make a settlement on the warranty if you elect the Rheem furnace? I am not clear on what the previous post is all about when talking about Payne furnaces. Correct thermostats on either system matter.Pls verify. Just a few thoughts. IMO

you are right, odiegirl 113. i learned from my first order (bad door arrived, wanted deposit back, near-bankrupt cab store is keeping it/has spent it) that the actual value of my 15K order was around 9k. the cab guy spent 6K and still could have completed my order with the rest of my deposit. there is an ENORMOUS mark-up. Some pieces were even cheaper with crown point. We didn't end up going with a plate rack, but the previous company would have been 1200 while crown point was 600 for the same piece (only more beautiful). if you can stretch your budget or compensate in some other areas, you won't be sorry. there was a big discount in March at CP, but i'm sure they still have special promotions. we went with QS oak instead of painted cabs all over b/c of the price.. it would have been more expensive with white paint. we also went with inset on the island only. the rest is frameless. good luck on your decision.

My GC destroyed our house, so he was fired before his drywall subs could even start. He had his own employees - THEY were the IDIOTS who detroyed the framing, roofing and siding. He told us on day one that the actual electrician would run the wiring - WRONG! His morons did it and then I had to learn all about electric and fix it! We had to then hire our own electrician. Well, next time we are going with the higher bid from the company we know is reliable. The guy we hired was nice (at first)- and his bid was about $5,000 to map out the wiring the morons did, inspect it, have the electric inspector approve it and then hook it up and get final inspection. The highest bid for all new wiring was around $7,500. Well, that turned into "Oh, you wanted THAT?" YES! Do you not comprehend English? And on and on. In the end it cost us over $8,000 just for the electric, and I actually did the re-wiring (the original MORONS NAILED through the wires!) Then, AFTER the final inspection, the electrician came back because some breakers were recalled. When the guy was there he looked and said "Oh look, your breaker box (in the basement) has rust - it looks like water is getting in along the main line from the outside. You need a NEW breaker box and breakers. I'll get back to you with a quote." He wanted over $2,300. So, it just so happened that an electrician just purchased the old building my mother used to work in, and she stopped by to see how they liked it. She explained the situation, the guy came out and said "You do NOT need a new box. There is only a little rust. I'll clean it all up, replace any corroded breakers, clean and re-seal the main cable on the outside for $700. If you want a new box for added capacity you can do it later." DEAL! In and out in a few hours, two very nice guys. Not like the other electricians who thought they were God's Gift! We had to hire someone to rip down and replace all the cedar shakes. The original MORONS installed it with no double-course on the bottom and GAPS showing Tyvek behind the shakes. We found a local high-end GC who does almost all cedar. Yes, the bid included a few hundred extra dollars per day for the GC's "time" (he didn't do any work), but his cedar subs were true artists who usually do high-end work on the water. What a DREAM! They were very nice, one guy LOVED that my house has the old ship-lap plank sheathing, they replaced the Tyvek with tar paper (NEVER use Tyvek behind REAL wood siding), installed all the new (properly sized special order 24" tall) shakes in 3-4 days. They even left us the $2,000 worth of 18"h shakes that were ripped down to use as kindling in our wood stove. Normally they take them because they all heat with wood too ;) The GC even offered to give me cedar scraps in the future if we ever need them (that won't be for a few years though ;) -- Dianalo, just before the new electricans arrived (the rip-off guys), the ONE available outlet in our kitchen died. So yes, they replaced it the day they mapped the wiring. It cost a few HUNDRED dollars for that ONE outlet with new line to the box (a short, clean run). Had we just called in a local electrician for an hour it would have cost maybe $100 for an hour's work. I do not understand how your GC added an upcharge to items that YOU purchased?!?! Even my original GC told us "Buy your own light fixtures - make sure they are here by this date." The electricians charged $300 for each ceiling fan install, and $100 for each recessed light. If I had realized how BAD recessed lights with CFLs would light the rooms I could have saved $1,400 and put that towards the expensive sconces and pendants that match my triple-pendant and gotten 10x the amount of light in the room. Oh yeah, they wanted to charge $10 for each CFL lightbulb! We bought our own - this made them REALLY MAD! They claimed that customers NEVER buy their own bulbs! What? That is INSANE! -- Oh yeah, we hired our own drywallers. The GC was charging a few thousand. The bid was only $700 for labor - we already purchased the drywall because my brother's friend was going to do it (but he screwed up the insulation and I had to fix it, so that idea went down the drain). $700 sounds cheap, but it took only 1-1/2 full days, the other days they came between other jobs. I think it looks like crap, but I did some research (when deciding on paint sheen for the ceiling) and it turns out modern crappy drywall / spackling is NORMAL! I am SO glad I live in an old house with 1" thick plaster walls with smooth-as-butter like a baby's bottom finish. I had to fix a cracked ceiling (WORST experience - threw out my back for 2 weeks), but once I hit the original plaster under the gazillions of layers of paint I couldn't BELIEVE how SMOOTH and PERFECT it was. And someone did it all by hand! Oh yeah, people think that new construction has crown moulding as an "added value." That's BONK! It's because the framing and drywalling is so bad! You NEED crown moulding to hide the wavy line between the wall and ceiling. I haven't done mine yet because the cost of lumber has skyrocketed and the wood just to make the trim around my patio doors cost over $200. All I can say is Thank God I already do my own custom trim - there are SO MANY screw-ups that need to be hidden. The original MORONS cut the first plank of wood flooring between the dining room and the new kitchen. I looked at it and SCREAMED "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" They said "Aren't you going to replace that old floor?" WHAT?!?! I said "Are you CRAZY? That is ANTIQUE FIR! WHY would I rip that out and replace it?!" Cutting the flooring and installing a wide decorative strip between the two rooms is the job I am dreading most. That is the one thing I truly fear I can screw up, but I don't trust anyone else after all I've been through. Having to engineer and build new beams and collar ties and figuring out 3 different mitres and bevels to shore-up the roof so the original front roof doesn't collapse is nothing compared to facing that floor!

lazygardens and debrak - Thanks for the support! Snookums - Those are the numbers he provided. The cabinets I couldn't believe. They are a small company from a rural area, family owned. Everything is hand-crafted and gorgeous. Glowing reviews. I didn't even know they existed. If I did I might have just subcontracted everything and done it myself. The man from the cabinet place seemed to be like the only one who knew what I wanted. He provided a detailed estimate with comments and came to my home to explain how they would install and have me inspect everything prior to installation. We thought about dropping the contractor and just working with him and finding other companies for granite, etc. Since he works through our contractor, I doubt he would sabotage his relationship just to do our cabinets or else I would ask him. Certain things like the granite are special pricing because the company has a deal with contractors on 6 types of granite (also my friend's parents happen to own the company which I didn't know at the time). For the flooring and backsplash, I talked with the company directly and that is what she quoted for material and installation for our size kitchen. Everything else the contractor will be doing. Kitchen Size = 20' x 10'. It is an awkward shape. JoaniePoanie - I'm afraid of the idea of overages. Also, he charged the $500 at the beginning of the "design and final estimate" process. It was after his ball park estimate. His ball park was looking at the kitchen and spitting out a number (it was free). Gooster - Those are the numbers he provided. Cabinets, Flooring and Backsplash, and Granite are all separate companies he works with. Also, I think it is worth mentioning last year we researched several contractors. Received estimates from about 4. And we only liked two. It was funny the other company we liked gave us a figure of $24.5k (detailed and precise). However, we liked this guy better because he lives in our community, felt it would be easier to work with him, and he came in at our budget around $18k (rough estimate). Sorry for the super long posts. But I know I like nitty gritty details. :)