You need a Change Order, spelling out the change and how it will affect the balance due on the original contract. Ask him if he has a change order form you can use. If not, see a sample form here: http://www.download-construction-forms.com/construction-change-order-form.html You don't need to pay to download that form, you can make your own by copying it. The format is not important and it could be written on a placemat. Just make sure you include all of the information that form asks for, and use the language they use. It is very important that you both agree to and memorialize how the change will affect the price agreed to on the original contract. After you have each signed it the change order, make sure you each keep a copy of the completely signed document. Follow this process every time you make any change. I totally agree with him about using friends to work in your home. Most people are not comfortable complaining about a job if they have a personal relationship with the contractor. I've accepted quite a few substandard jobs in my time because I couldn't bring myself to tell a friend or relative I was dissatisfied with something. I finally learned never to hire people I know!

Is this illegal? I mean, how can he do this? Does he indeed have to be finished with the job before he can file a lien for nonpayment? This job was supposed to take 6 months and we started back in Jan 2006. We have never said "we are not paying you" or anything. We simply want the things that need to be fixed done right. He keeps saying this is warranty work and he deserves the full payment now. In our eyes, if we paid them all of it, then he would take forever. We have to hold this money over his head or the work won't get done. Now he put a lien on the house like we are not willing to work with him. UGH! Am I right this is not to be considered warranty work when he is still on the job finishing punch out stuff? To me, warranty is something after the job is completed and paid in full. Putting a deck on top of a septic should not be considered warranty work. My thought is he is trying to word it as warranty work because then he can say the job was complete. Sandy

We re about to hit the 7 month mark of no stove, with another 2 months until permits get approved for propane. Demo was in Nov, our punch list is long, our stove is in but not hooked up, our venthood does not work, parts of the counter have been missing for months and I need to paint so much it is overwhelming. I have painted approx half of what needs doing (the entire interior, minus our sons' room needs doing, including painting stained moldings and window trim and new primed window trim and moldings). Then, I get to finish a small section of exterior and paint the garage door. Once the interior is painted, and money allows, we need to rip up the dr and new den floor and put down new wood floors. We need to rip up our new kitchen floor for another one to be determined. Then, the backyard that got chewed up by machines will need fixing and we need a new fence (old ugly one had to get half torn down in the process). I expect to get the interior done in approx 4 months and the rest by Spring. We'll be right around the 1 year mark, if we are lucky! (I am not even thinking of how long until the bs....)

Aisles...42" will only "work" for a year or two, at best. By then, there will be more than one of you working in the Kitchen at the same time -- you + one or two children. Unless you plan to remodel again in the next the couple of years. Cheri, they key in your situation was that you had to make do with what you had -- a small Kitchen with many doors. And even you admitted there were issues ("inconveniences"). Forever Now doesn't have those constraints -- her Kitchen is actually at least a medium size Kitchen and she doesn't have as many doors, so deliberately planning a Kitchen with issues when it's not needed doesn't make sense. I would not do less than 48" b/w the island and perimeter -- especially since the DW situation will not be ideal. Keep a wide enough aisle to not only work around the DW but also to allow more than one person to work in the Kitchen at the same time -- it's really a one-aisle Kitchen, so that needs to be accounted for as well. My recommendation is to: Move the island toward the window by 3" or so -- as you said, there won't be much traffic there and, besides, 33" is around the width of a standard interior doorway. Granted, a doorway is only a few inches thick, but I think it will still work, assuming the windows aren't an issue b/c they appear to open inward. Reduce the island's length by at least 2" -- that would still give you plenty of workspace if the DW is moved to the other side of the island sink. Reduce the 9" utility cabinet to a 6". If you keep narrower doors, you may be OK -- that just means french door or side-by-side refrigerators. See below -- you know have a 48-inch aisle. If you cut off the corner as in some of the layouts above, you might gain an additional 2" or so. Just be careful on the left b/c the front door is also in the Kitchen on that wall. BenjesBride...unfortunately, I don't think there's room to turn the refrigerator 90 degrees and place it on the exterior wall. There's not enough room for the refrigerator itself b/w the bathroom wall and the sliding door, let alone the necessary 9" or so needed b/w the wall and refrigerator to allow the refrigerator doors to open fully. Layout #2: With the 21" sink base, you can probably do all your dish rinsing at the island -- so not much, if any, dripping to the DW. . Layout #2 Zone Map: . In the end, it's up to you -- I'm just trying to get you a Kitchen that will work for several years to come while you save for a gut remodel. [It took us about 12 years or so to save up to do a gut remodel of our Kitchen, Foyer, & Powder Room (& replace all water pipes in our house), so I know it can take a while to save money for a remodel.]