I don't know what size tires you have, but you'd better be aware how much it costs to replace them before you start customizing them, just in case. I was quite surprised to see how much a replacement 23" turf tire set me back a few years ago after some rebar went through the sidewall: about $80. My main concern with trimming turf tires into ag tires is that the valleys between the lugs will be very thin and susceptible to puncture. I'm not sure of the exact thickness, but I'm pretty sure the thinnest part of the tread on my Carlisle Tru-Power tires is much thicker than the portion of the tread between the blocks on my Turf Masters. You can buy new ag tires pretty cheap on eBay ($90 for a 23"), and the Asian import tires are dirt cheap. Interesting note on siping (not sniping, which is done with a rifle): Michelin is the only manufacturer I know of that features full-depth sipes. Stability is a big challenge with all season tires, and most major manufacturers only run the sipes a third of the way down into the tread blocks, with full-depth sipes and weak rubber compounds, you'd lose cornering ability as the blocks walked under lateral G-loads. So they compensate for their cheap rubber by only cutting the sipes halfway. The disadvantage is when you're half-depth siped tires are halfway through their life, they've essentially shed their all-season capability. Michelin uses such high quality materials they've figured out how to have your cake and eat it too, and your tires will have decent ice traction down to the last 2/32. One last plug (no pun): I worked my way through college in a tire shop, selling and installing, and Michelin has always been in a league of their own. They are the most expensive, and they are absolutely the best. I actually just bought an Ideal brand 120v tire regroover on eBay for something like $40. I'm going to use it to get through the rest of the winter on the cheap tires that came on my truck. I prefer to buy tires in the fall, not the spring (and they will be Michelin LTX M/S). The cheap (but not inexpensive) Kuhmo tires it came with not only didn't have full depth sipes, but the shoulder blocks only went halfway down, so now with probably 20k mi left in the tires, they have a solid shoulder which means no snow traction and poor water evacuation. So I'm planning to open up the shoulders a bit this weekend. If it works as planned, I won't hydroplane for a few more months. If it doesn't, I'll be buying tires a little sooner! Here is a link that might be useful: regroovers

Realism, actually the more I look at granite, I prefer the laminate. With some of the laminates and the new effects, I actually had to go over and knock on them to determine if they were real or not. We're going with bull-nosed edging on the laminate so I don't think it'll look cheap when it's finished. Hemera, ha, yeah I asked the builder about the floor…he was polite but basically said "yeah, you can't afford it…" ;) Ppbenn, yay! :) 35ftcabo, I LOVE your kitchen! Do you know the style/name of the handles you chose? That's what I'm looking for and haven't quite found yet. And in your first pic, what is the cabinet behind the peninsula? It almost looks like a hutch…was that a custom piece? It's gorgeous! Phoebesmom, do you have any photos of your finished kitchen? I'd love to see it "in action" rather than just the sample piece I've got. I really love the color, too!

Hey, I had my own "Blew the budget" thread. A very wise KF guru (Buehl) gave me this great advice: To decide what you can do to cut costs, I recommend asking yourself the following questions: (1) What is not that important to me and doesn't add functionality? [Candidate for elimination altogether] (2) What can I do at a later date? [Candidate for deferring until a later date] (3) What can't be done at a later date and I can't live without? [Candidate for keeping and doing now] I know that you are also asking about what you can do vs. paying for a contractor, but you may want to narrow down the list with this logic first. At least that will help you to prioritize. It sounds like you have found at least one candidate for "what can I do at a later date" with the backsplash. For me, my moldings as a cross between 1 and 2 (doesn't add functionality and can be done at a later date), so that was going to save me a lot of $. Once you have your prioritization, then maybe you could break the project into phases with the #3s in the first phase, #2s, then finally #1s - mixing in the parts that you think you can do yourself. Good luck - it's tough making these choices, and it often feels like an "all or nothing" proposition.

I would say best practice for hiring for a position like yours is to include in the posting that there is a preference for internal candidates. I know when I was a job seeker I found that a fair way to give me a heads up about the likelihood of getting the job. That is a great response and thank you for offering a reasonable and thoughtful response, however, that could be an ethical violation. This is a perfect demonstration of the difference between ethical and honest. You have a fiduciary duty to the company you work for. If revealing a preference for internal candidates will yield a less qualified pool (which it definitely will), and there is even a chance you would hire an external candidate (which might apply), then your honesty would be an ethical violation. You were not hired by your organization to look out for the interest of applicants, you were hired to look out for the best interest of the organization that pays you. You were free to turn down the job, but you didn't. ----- So let's turn this back around to a contractor. Suppose a contractor has a couple of partners in his business, and he is asked to do a bid for someone, which is a service he charges for. As the bid comes together he realizes that he has no intention of accepting the job. What should he do? Obviously, the move with the most integrity is to give the money back and come clean, anything else is tantamount to stealing. However, returning money that he had no obligation to, would be a violation of his fiduciary duty to his partners. Ethics aside, I don't think you are well equipped to GC your own home build based on this information. I completely agree with this. This is also why I think finding out how much you will have to pay someone to do it for you is a really great option.