OK, even if the price is fixed, there are some things you can ask for and negotiate Sales tax Delivery charges Extended no interest financing (2-3 years for example) Protection Plan These are all things that cost money on both ends but can be negotiated without affecting the selling price. Maybe the store says no, but maybe they say yes. Never hurts to ask.

Saw your post and pics on the Decor forum and have to agree with others that the worst wear is from the weather. But, you also have a combination of mold, algae, old solid stain (or paint) on the surface and possible rot under the boards. As handymac mentioned, the joints and screw heads look suspicious. We always had a wood deck when we lived in Calif and even with our short rainy season we had to clean and restain at least every two years. Like yours, it would wear worst in the areas exposed to the sun and rain while the areas under the eaves looked untouched. I hated that deck as much as I loved it! Cedar is a very soft wood and I can understand your son not wanting you to use the pressure washer. Judging by the pics, it appears you already have raised grain in several areas. To get the deck nice again, I think you're going to need to sand the surface and then treat it with something that will strip everything that's left. After that it will need yearly treatments. If you go to all that trouble I'd suggest laying flagstone, precast concrete, etc. at the bottom of your steps and training the dogs to go there as long as possible. But my guess is that eventually, as the dogs age, they won't be able to use the steps and will probably start using the deck again. Our current home has a composite deck and I can't say enough good about it. No more chemicals and no more treatments! I know others recommended replacing your boards with a composite, but it's not that simple. Composite needs more support than wood so the structure underneath your deck will need some 'beefing up'. Unless all the work needed to restore your deck will be DIY, I suggest you calculate the costs of treatment, sanding, and continued costs of staining, then compare that to the cost of replacing the boards with composite. Before doing anything, I would have someone climb under the deck, if possible, and check for rot. If you have rot, nothing will adhere to the wood. BTW, I think rubber mats will just hold more moisture and cause things to rot faster.

I live in Central NJ. There are many nice tile places around here, and I have found that almost all of them, will "work with you," as they put it. When I'm shopping, the salesperson often volunteers this information right from the get go. Ask around if they've had sales and then ask if you can get the same 25%, or whatever, that they offered a few weeks ago. Some places have 30% off every first Tuesday of the month - something like that. And they'll often offer the same deal most of the time if you ask. I am not at all a haggler by nature, but I've often seen this to be the case. It's probably not so at chain stores. Not Porcelanosa, for instance, although they have a big 40% sale right around Thanksgiving. In the chains ask the salesperson when the tile will go on sale.

Thank you. We have been so pleased at the traffic and all the offers and the wonderful feedback on our farm, but it has not been a good experience with our agent. She has been dishonest and we don't feel she's been working on our behalf. On this deal, we sent a counter to buyer's agent, our agent called and said they want the contribution to as-built. I told her we will agree to pay half that, but do not want them coming back and picking our counter apart so please check with them to make sure that every thing else in our counter is acceptable if we agreed to half contribution. She called back and said yes they're fine with everything in your counter. Great! So I get their counter yesterday, expecting our last price, half contribution etc. and it came in with lower price. I asked for her advice because this was a lower price than they had agreed, and she told me that they never agreed to our counter, and we had discussed the lower price. Not! GRRR. So we signed at the lower price but needless to say are not happy with our agent. This is not the first time this has happened in our negotiations with three offers and it has made it so much more stressful. We just want to get through this one without giving up too much more, and if it doesn't close we'll be switching agents. I appreciate the opportunity to vent.