Kats, that is some real chutzpah. I feel for you. We've been in our home for a little more than a month after a 13-month build (that was only supposed to take 9 months) - the delays were excruciating because they would have been avoidable by someone with even a modicum or organizational ability, which our GC does not have. He's a lovely guy on a personal level but not nearly as good a contractor as he thinks, and we sorely need a break from the unrelenting pressure. He still has not finished one major item - two sets of steel stairs that go from our rear porches to our rear terrace, as well as several small punchlist items. There's always an excuse. He's disorganized, but resents it when we step in to organize, or take any kind of action to impose a deadline - this from a guy who is routinely hours late to scheduled meetings and never met any deadline in the construction process, even ones he imposed himself. Our new theory this week is to give him whatever time he needs (within reason) but to limit his intrusions into our home life to one day a week, arranged in advance, with a "one hour" rule - if he's not here within an hour of when he is supposed to be he has to wait until the next week. Apparently that is being just as "mean" and "difficult" as complaining about unmet deadlines - he thinks we should be there 24/7 for him to do what he wants, or we should just give him a key and trust him, in any event on his schedule. No way - he has needed watching every step of the way. We've done way more than our share of work that he should have done - I feel for you there too. He's been inches away from being fired more than once on this job, and we've talked to a construction lawyer several times about really contentious issues. In the end, even though we have the cash leverage (we still owe him more than our 10% retention, primarily because he's too lazy to do a requisition), it just hasn't been worth it to fire him. Assuming that you don't need clean title for a takeout of your construction loan, it sounds like you have little to worry about. I don't have huge faith in the court system, but even then I find it hard to believe that a judge would buy his argument that his subs are not under his control. Also, if he's not done, how in the world could he be owed a completion bonus? The courts are always a risk, but in this case it seems to me a pretty small one. If you do have to close any new financing that requires title work, you may need to think about it a bit more strategically. Do everything you can to get your loan closed without a lien being recorded. Otherwise, my advice to you is the advice I have a hard time taking myself. It's only as big a deal as you make it. So hire a lawyer and instruct him or her to deal with it in as cost-effective a manner as possible. Then let it go and enjoy your new house.

ci lantro - The original viny is a Mannington product, DuPont Stainmaster Xtra Life. It's top of the line. The patter is # S3042. I got it at Flooring America. Thanks everyone. I was feeling very similar with the small pattern. When I showed it to my family over the weekend, they all liked the smaller pattern, but I'm was hesitant. I'll be going back to the store to see if I can find a larger, realistic tile look and will post pics of my findings. I just wish I could find one a tad darker than the original with the same coloring in it, but keeping to the same brand, because it's a good one. I'll be updating this post.

"Again -- I am CLEARLY no expert and have no idea what I'm doing." In your posts above you keep saying you plead ignorance, you didn't know, etc. But it's been, what, 3 years? Each of the items you said you didn't know about can be googled. For example, the range vs. cooktop/wall ovens has been discussed a ton on the Kitchens and Appliances Forums. Windows - there's a forum on the Gardenweb just about windows, and there are windows contractors on there who are very generous with their advice. You could peruse the threads there and get educated. Then you could say to the remodeling company, e.g., "I want double-pane casements, wood-clad, by Marvin", or whatever. The question about shelves and dishes - how can the designer know what dishes you have and how many? Couldn't you look at your dishes currently and see what depth of shelves you need and how many shelves? Appliances - I've done several remodels and picked out my own appliances, and gave the KD the model numbers and specs. But I was willing to do th research. It sounds odd that after 3 years you continue to say you're ignorant. There are remodelers and designers who will do "turnkey" type jobs. They will do everything soup to nuts and you only have to give basic preferences on colors you like. It sounds like that would be a relief for you. But those are the kinds that cost $100k+. If you are not in that category, you need to make an effort to research and educate yourself so that you can be decisive and then KDs will give you their attention.

the purpose of the soffit ceiling is to carry mechanical. As someone pointed out you have a very good chance of being able to vent straight to an exterior wall. We were able to do this in our last house with an island rangetop. The above island hood looked great and worked much better than the downdraft we replaced. In our new house they also had an island cooktop, which we removed to put a range along a wall. We also are venting straight to the outside and not through the attic. Here is the type of cooking that made messes where we really wanted a wall 1) searing steaks where they are smoking like crazy 2) cooking bacon - tons of grease splatters 3) deep frying in a pot - oil splatters 4) high temp wok cooking - oil splatters With regards to prep, most of our prep involves washing and cutting which happens right near the sink, not the stove.