Around here, the health department has the final say in septic. If they won't pass it, you won't get a CO.....so.... I'd call the health department just to confirm what you are being told is true. You can ask them some friendly questions about why the change, etc. - but at the end of the day, they really hold all the cards here. And no, they don't care what it does to your budget. Good luck - I had a minor septic issue too. It cost more, but it worked out fine in the end. It's just money, right? Ha-ha. :)

Amex has always charged more than the other cc companies. Others have already pointed out that those mall cc purchases really hit small businesses hard. We have customers that are kind enough to be aware of that and write checks or use their debit card, or even, believe it or not, pay in cash. A lot of you have mentioned Costco. I've never shopped at one because they're just not convenient to me, but I used to shop at Sam's. I quit doing that years ago because they had an annual fee, and I didn't feel like I was saving enough to make up for that annual fee. Most of what I got at Sams I could buy as a loss leader at a regular grocery store. I've also not found coupons to be very useful, because they're rarely for real food, just processed food. After seeing several stories on the news, and listening to co-workers, I broke down and bought a Sunday paper several weeks ago for the coupons. Boy, was I disappointed. I spent $2.00 on the paper, and maybe found that much worth in coupons that I might use, (which I have to admit I've forgotten about), and then I had all this mess of paper to deal with. What a waste of time that was. Sally

It's rare to have a completion date and any sort of penalty for going beyond the completion date by any substantial amounts in a residential contract. These are common in commercial contracts because every extra day a business is not in business is a loss of income. But I am not sure you want someone rushing to finish up details at the end of a project to get it done in your own house anyway. I have had quite a problem with contractors over the years. I had one who came highly recommended but the scope of the project was beyond his capabilities and he just sort of disappeared leaving some tools behind. The problem was that it was very difficult to get someone to come in and not want to take out any of the old work and start from scratch. Eventually I found someone who would take over without completely undoing all the previous work. (Which wasn't close to finished). ----- I had a well known plaster restoration person (nationally known, actually) who thought my project was too simple (not a lot of ornament) and put an apprentice on the job who made a complete mess, dropped and broke pieces of the run plaster cornices, and was just way in over her head. He came in, saw what she was doing, fired her, and abandoned all the equipment including scaffolding on site and never returned another phone call or letter again. It would have been too expensive for him to undo her work and do it over at his agreed price. Luckily I don't think he had actually been paid anything yet but a small deposit, if that. I found someone else, waited more than six months for them to be available and paid about twice as much as it would have cost if they had taken it on new. ---- I should add that I dodged one big bullet. I was awaiting an estimate from a recommended contractor and he was suddenly and completely off-the-map, phones not connected, anything. I thought he was dead. He wasn't dead, but he ended up in prison (vehicular homicide and other charges) for running over a pedestrian while smoking crack. ___ Finally, I have a contractor who does great work great work. But he suffers from depression and his domestic life is always a problem (different women involved, serially). It takes him about a year to do a bathroom. He started tiling this last one in December of 2016. It's not done yet. (so it will take Two years, in all) When you talk to him about it, he says "I know. This is entirely my fault. I would not blame you if you fired me right now". But who am I supposed to get to finish a project that's 80%or more complete in terms of his part of it? The other contractors I use (plumber, electrician, HVAC, roofers) have all been great. But they are all much more expensive than average, you wait for them to be available and other issues.

Please don’t you dare pay the $1300 final payment. That would be a very bad idea. Let him scream and cry all he wants, threaten to walk off the job, whatever… Sounds like he is planning to walk either way. Keep the $ and if he flakes, you can hire a handyman to finish what is left on the job. This guy’s behavior is way off for a licensed contractor. They would not ask for final payment until the job is complete. That is standard practice. He is acting fishy and makes me bet he is not licensed. There are several things you can do, but it all depends on whether he is licensed or not. Is he a licensed GC? If so, your contract will have his licence number on it somewhere. If he is in fact licensed, you have options if he walks out on the contract. You can file a complaint with your states contractor’s licensing board. This is that last thing a GC wants. A GC also is required to have a bond. You can file a claim on his bond for the unfinished work and for not paying his subs. This would be so stupid of him. That is why I highly doubt he has a license. Although, if he really is licensed, one reason you don’t want to make the final payment is because I think that once you do, if he fails to pay his subs, then those subs can file a mechanic’s lien against you as the homeowner. But, it doesn’t seem like the subs could do that if they have not completed their jobs like backsplash tile, flooring, paint, etc. If they are not licensed, they might not be able to anyways if not allowed in your state. You can ask your GC why he would need to pay them if they are not finished? All this is very weird behavior. Now, if he is not licensed, that is a whole different scenerio. He could be in big trouble for contracting without a license. Some states are super strict on this. He could be fined and might even be ordered to pay you back all the money you gave him. I really have no clue because I don’t know what your state requires. As I was writing, my GC husband came home. I asked him about your situation and he said, “That sounds fishy. I would never ask for final pmt until the job is complete. This guy sounds like a druggy. I bet he’s unlicensed. Tell them they should be very careful. They probably shouldn’t let this guy back in their home.” Hope it all works out ok. Your kitchen sounds beautiful with the marble countertops!