gldnfan, I'm curious what you say about switching out the lights...now that they are required to be pin lights, how does one "switch them out"...are there other lights that use pins? Or do you mean they have the electricians come back and change the fittings? Our understanding is that with the new law it's not easy to switch...I have the same green countertop and yellowish glow on my "cream" cabinets when the lights are on...I suppose as KD's and GC's get more familiar with this people will be advised about the combination prior to choosing it! Oh well, I find I'm starting to get used to it already so maybe eventually I won't even think about it. Gary, my understanding is that the current requirement is that you must have 50% fluorescent, i.e. if you put in one pendant as in our case which is rated for 3 100 watt bulbs, you must have at least 300 watts of fluorescent...the result being that we have LOTS of fluorescent lights. Congratulations, gldnfan...sounds like ahead of me in terms of getting moved back in. Amela, I will let you know about the insets. I love the look and because my kitchen was reconfigured, I think I gained some space to help make up for any lost due to the insets. But I haven't really been able to start moving much back in as I've had a sick DS at home all week as well as a sick DH so not much energy around here. I think it's a sign that it was really time for the remodel to be done! I'll let you know what I think as I go along about the space. The insets do look really good in my house, though, as it was built in 1931.

No pics today, but there will be some soon. Lots of prep work has been going on for the past couple of weeks, but the progress has been slow--at least in appearance. The subflooring is installed. All the plumbing and electrical is in and my recessed cans are up. The new ceiling is finished and has received many coats of paint. It could probably stand one more, but since my husband decided to take on the painting himself, that probably won't happen. Funny, I'm quite certain that he'd demand it if it weren't him doing the work. :) He has also stripped the one window that had been painted. Luckily, it had been stained and varnished before that, so the paint is coming off easily. If it weren't for all the corners and crevices, it would have been super easy. A coat of plain old "antique white" paint has gone up everywhere else. We're waiting until the cabinets and countertops are in to settle on a paint color--probably something in the sage family. Right now, we are starting a flurry of activity. My floors will be installed today. My fridge and dishwasher were delivered yesterday and are sitting in my living room. The range comes on Monday. The cabinets should go in on Tuesday and Wednesday. The countertops shortly after that. The hood was a special order, so it's taking a bit longer. So, in about a week, I expect that all that will be left to do is finish work. Install the pendants, replace molding and install trim pieces, etc. Several of our acquaintances have been through the kitchen remodeling experience recently. At a Christmas party, we were talking about our plans. Our hope is to have things finished enough for our annual Mardi Gras party to be held as scheduled on February 2. We started demo on Dec. 17, and we expect to be finished by Jan. 25. People laughed. They said it would never be done in that amount of time. Now, it is possible that my Ventahood won't be here, and I still haven't even chosen a light fixture for the dining area. We haven't ordered our barstools or the new "antique" farmhouse table. I also don't plan on doing a backsplash until later. But, other than those things, it's looking very good for having this thing finished on time. My husband bet a couple of beers that night at the party, so I know he has his fingers crossed! :)

I find buyers who attempt to renegotiate price after an inspection ridiculous. If it isn't an unknown, previously undetected SAFETY issue, I'm not fixing it. I do all the work I am going to do before I list it. Otherwise, you are on your own, and my price has accommodated any deficiencies. Some attempt to throw dozens or hundreds of requests at the Seller, often that are entirely upgrades, not deficiencies, in an attempt to either get improvements or get a lower price. That only creates more intractability in Sellers like me. I will sell to someone else just because he didn't ask for anything unreasonable. You get what you see, not a brand new house. I had a buyer ask for a brand new screen door to be obtained and installed last time since the brand new, brand name, high end sliding doors didn't happen to come with one. Yeah, right. Go away. You saw that it had no screen door when you looked at the house. One isn't going to magically appear afterward. When they do that, I simply say no.

I've never seen a building inspector write a report except in the case of a code violation which requires a written notice. A building inspector doesn't write a report like a home inspector; that's not his job. The building department isn't interested in taking on any more responsibility than necessary and it certainly doesn't want to relieve the contractor of his responsibility for the work. The inspector gives the work a pass or fail so the most he might have on paper is a checklist. He often signs the back of the on-site permit card (usually in your window) for each inspection so take a look at it. If you pass all of the required inspections, you get a Certificate of Occupancy that gets put in the file for your address. The builder might get a copy to give you but it doesn't matter. You can call the inspector or go look at the file at the building department or online.