No, it like subliminal, LOL. I didn't go. My sis is arriving early Fri morn from TX, we say she is a displaced person, (sorry Jay!, but you are a displaced NE er!). Anyway I have been cooking and cleaning. I am also helping with a community beach party for 130 that is Sat. I did all the shopping and I am lending lots of equip so they don't have to buy..table cloths, baskets, utensils, etc. So I have been busy, no time to shop at Pier One.! I was in the dollar store yesterday, and yes, the Christmas stuff was being put out. It was so hot out I couldn't even think about looking! It will be here soon enough...and Halloween IS around the corner!

Does seem strange to me that you're the only lot with issues in a subdivision...especially based on the size of subdivision lots I'm used to (usually 1 - 3 acres). I know I had a similar issue when it was time to build. Our initial excavation showed 100% silt, which you can't build on. They wanted piles (similar to piers) drilled, but the large stones in the area drove the cost up hugely because we couldn't use a standard piling company (that works in clay soils around here). Our engineer offered us a number of options: He said we could do piles, OR we could do a slab-on-grade (no basement), or even to over-excavate the land down to a more suitable soil type and then backfill with granular material. For us, the backfilling would have been the best option since there's a lot of gravel pits in the area and we could hopefully pay someone to crush the boulders we pulled out during the excavation. Keep in mind, we took the soil sample in OURSELVES to get tested by the lab, not trusting what contractors and people who can reap the financial benefits might say. That said, our Building Inspector argued PROFUSELY that there was no silt in our area. Not a lick of silt he assured us, not on our neighbours' place 100' away, not up the hill, nowhere in the municipality. :P In the end, the soil test came back 30% silt at the house-site, and 100% silt in our back field. PHEW. We also discovered that we hit bedrock at 6' of excavation depth. Meaning we built directly on bedrock, silt be damned. (and I can assure you the neighbours have silt too...one has a slab-on-grade, the other is down-hill from us with a walk-out basement sitting on bedrock. The thing was, our building inspector was new, the old logs were crappy and it's not that common of a soil around here). So in part, we really lucked out, but there were a number of options we could have taken to alleviate the problem. I would consider a proper soil sample, and taking it to the lab yourself. The cost is cheap and worth it. Ask your engineer for ideas on what can be done, even things like wider footings. As for financing, I can understand money being tight. I went over budget, and no, didn't have this huge 20% contingency either. Some of these folks would say I shouldn't have built, but I couldn't afford to buy a home, I couldn't keep living where I was, and I built the least home I could, managing the finances carefully and cutting things out where I needed to, for later. In the end, I have a beautiful home that I can afford, for FAR less than I could have bought a much older home for. Consider doing more of the the labor yourself to save money; I ended up digging my own foundation, shoveled all the pea gravel for the basement floor, did the basement floor myself, ICFs myself, installed all the carpet, tile, hardwood, painted, plumbed, HVAC, landscaped, pulled my own electrical permit and completed it, shingled, hung doors, hung baseboards (well, still doing those a year later lol), insulated, vapor barriered, put in all the small windows, hung all the cabinetry, designed my own kitchen so I could pay less for cabinets... What I'm saying, is if you don't want to scale back on the size of the house or the finishings anymore, but need the $25k to cover the piers, maybe you guys can do a bit more work to cover the costs?? Some of that stuff isn't so hard and costs a FORTUNE! Or downgrade stuff that's easy to replace later on, like lighting or countertops :) Heck, I'm not even 30 and between me and my 60 year old parents and the odd begged help from some friends, built a 1400 sq. ft. house in 8 months, for 50% of the cost had I GC'd it. You can do this. If you want it, you'll make it work.

A little OT, but I bought a soy candle while on vacation last year - by Swan Creek Candle. The fragrance is Sandalwood Vanilla, and it is wonderful. Don't let the vanilla throw you, it smells nothing like vanilla. The best part is it smells great even when unlit. I put it in the foyer and everyone comments on it when they enter our home. In fact, I just placed an order yesterday for my sister, mom and I. Also, for a much cheaper price, the Glade Puffer does a really good job. Just hard as heck to find the refills. I bought some reed diffusers from Pier One and the fragrance did not last long at all. Maybe mine was an old batch (they were on sale.)

I too love Pier 1's HIGH SIERRA scent. I purchased several bottles of it right off the discount rack earlier this year after having purchased one previously at regular price. I'm getting real low on them though as I put 2 bottles throughout my home. I didn't realize it was discontinued. I've also grown to like CRISP BAMBOO and recommend it... I picked up several bottles of this one, also off the discount rack, recently. I will put in a call to the 800 # provided to request for HIGH SIERRA scent to be brought back. Thanks for the updates.