Thusbud, Yes it will but you have to scroll down through the whole thing to get to the new posts. It's not a big deal, but the reason I thought it would be better to post a new thread is that I made the mistake of seeing a post on the top of the list and reading the first few posts thinking that they were new,Then I woke up and realized that they were old posts from a year or so back. Others may not be so easily confused.

No. Doing these two things will end all of your problems: Download and then install Firefox as your browser. Start Firefox. Install the Firefox extension "Adblock Plus". End of problems.

We did a large addition in 2008 (added about 1050 sq feet, gutted the kitchen and 3 bathrooms, added a new FR, mudroom/laundry, and master bedroom and bath, refinished floors, etc.) FWIW, here's the thought process we did when we started: If our house is worth approximately X and an addition costs about Y, then let's look at homes for sale in our neighborhood in the X+Y price range. Well, there weren't any (we love our neighborhood and didn't want to go more than a few blocks away.) We also knew our house would need some updating if we were to put it on the market. So we moved forward with our addition, which was pretty costly, at least for us (well over $200/sq ft which I think is normal for this area, at least in '08.) For us it has been very worth it because our house suits us so much better now and we are here for the long term. We worked with our local bank on the loan. There were 2 options we considered: one was a lower rate, but we would have been responsible for doing all the payments to the builders. The second was a slightly higher rate (or fee or something), but the bank did the payouts to the builder, and made the builder hit certain milestones and provide some information (like receipts and proof of paying subs) before getting payments. For us, this was worth it - kind of a safety net. So, I'd recommend setting up a meeting with your banker to talk through different options and expectations with them. That might help you set a ballpark budget, too, and give you a reality check on what they're willing to loan. You may know this already, but for me it was part of the learning process: We had a plan drawn up by an architect and submitted it for bid to a few places that we had interviewed multiple times and really liked (all had local references that we checked.) Well, 2 of the builders are design/build firms and won't bid on plans other than their own. This made it very hard to compare apples to apples, and it put one of our top 2 choices out of the running. (They do beautiful work but are on the pricey side, which is why we wanted to do a comparable bid.) So anyway, if you're interviewing builders that's something to keep in mind.

Great that you posted this. I knew how to do this but some people don't. I prefer webshots as photobucket gives me fits and doesn't like me. Also if you move the photo to another album then the link will de bead and the photo won't show up. Mary