kristinva, it sounds like we have/had similar building experiences. I plan things ages in advance like you, and it amazes me how "fly by the seat of your pants" some people can be. We were in a month-to-month rental too, and were trying to time interest rates as well. Before we locked in, I interrogated our GC several times about the schedule and confirmed with him multiple times that we would be safe to lock in our rates. Well, it was a race to the finish. The last day, they were literally running around just getting things in to pass the bank inspection. It was complete madness. Our bank had failed us on completion 2 days before the closing and we were hurrying to satisfy them. Literally an hour before the 4:30 p.m. closing deadline, I was on the phone with the underwriter trying to work out the closing papers and escrow arrangment. Even the closing was chaos. They had the wrong address on all the papers, and we were crossing in and handwriting and initialing the correct address. I don't even want to go into all the other stress around that whole experience. At the end of the day, we got it done, but it was crazy. Anyway, by locking in interest rates, we basically set a drop dead date for our GC to get the house done. That was good and bad. It was good in that it motivated him to get the house done by that date, but at the same time, he was working toward getting it complete "for purposes of the inspection." That meant that he ignored a few details he knew weren't material to passing inspection. After we moved in (the day after the closing), finishing up the remaining issues went at a snail's pace. There is something that happens mentally once a homeowner moves in. Even though the GC knows that he has things to complete on the house, the fact that he knows that you are living in the house, takes away any sense of urgency to get the rest of it done. Anyway, from that whole experience (and we had a 60 day lock), I'd just allow ample time to assure that you get to a reasonable state of doneness. If your GC blows the deadline and your rate expires, it's going to really suck to get another rate/loan. Another thing that really surprised me was how time consuming and difficult the whole loan process was. After the whole credit/housing mess, lenders have really gone the other extreme and tightened up the loan process to such a degree where it is almost prohibitive to homebuying (IMHO). This is the 4th home we've bought in 10 years (and our last) and we needed the full 60 days to just get all our paper work in order and approved. Since we are so organized, we had everything ready, but the approvals and follow-up questions took forever. Anyway, I don't envy the next couple of months/weeks for you! Between finishing the build (which is the most stressful part of the build), moving, closing on your loan, etc. you have a lot on your plate, and not to be pessimistic, but a lot that can go wrong and stress you out! The worst part of it is that most of it is out of your hands, and you are at the mercy of your GC, you lender, etc. No matter how organized and prepared you are, there is nothing you can do about the other people that play a critical role in the next couple of weeks/months. Anyway, lots and lots of luck! Having just gone through all of that, I read your post and just wanted to let you know there is a light at the end of it all.

Ossiemom - I feel your pain and know exactly how frustrated you must be. We've been living in our basement (thank goodness for that since it would be an even bigger issue if we were in a hotel!) for 2 weeks now while the floor company tries to get our hardwood floors to look decent. And I say decent since I'll accept even that at this point! So what should have been a 4-5 day job is now going into week 3 and we still may have to start over - it's infuriating! Anyway, I'm sure they must have done this, but just thought I'd ask to make sure - did they seal all the granite when they put it in? The reason I ask is that we used 2 slabs of Cambrian black that weren't from the same lot and they looked completely different before sealing. One was much lighter than the other, however after sealing they look exactly the same to me. We knew this though PRIOR to buying them, so it wasn't a surprise. For some reason one slab already had sealer on it and the other didn't when they were brought to the stone supplier. We had them put sealer on a test piece from the lighter one just to see how it looked and we couldn't tell the difference. I would think that they would have sealed your granite if it requires sealing though, so then it definitely isn't acceptable if they look different! Good luck - I hope you get everything worked out to your satisfaction!

Why does it bother you Soph? I'm not expressing anything besides theres a thousand and one other things I prefer to spend my money on. Generally, Ive found that simple technical questions don't usually require a photo. It would be helpful though to know exactly what product was first applied and what product(s) she is now trying to use . Can this b e deciphered by looking at a photo? Maybe, maybe not. Sure, post a photo but this woodworker/refinisher would still want to know the specifics re products that were used.

cat_ky, the impetus for the repaint was that there are major structural issues in the house that encourage mold and discoloration to white paint on the ceiling, especially since there's no ventilation other than the window and it's a very small room with a tub. In the long run those need to be addressed, but both my partner and I are in the arts (not visual art for me, if you can tell) and finishing big projects and we can't do that right now. I was hoping a darker ceiling color would be less susceptible to looking cruddy quickly.