emarston I would start by taking a close look and comparison of fuel costs-electric and nat gas. I am attaching a link to a fuel comparison calculator which I have found is a useful guide. you also should take into consideration any associated costs to bring nat gas and meter to your home. I personally think having nat gas availability is a plus especially when one sells their home. it would seem you have several choices to a forced air system. 1.all electric with high eff heat pump paired with VS air handler and electric heat strip 2.dual fuel system also called a hybrid system-high eff HP paired with nat gas furnace backup 3.high eff nat gas furnace with straight AC obviously, you want a new system that takes advantage of and qualifies for fed govt tax credit. these are my minimum specs for a new HP system. both outside and inside units should be replaced to have a properly matched system. 15 SEER, 12.5+ EER, 9 HSPF best matching VS air handler full BTUs in both cooling and heating for your rated size R-410a refrigerant(same as Puron) scroll compressor preferred electronic demand defrost preferred thermostat with "dehumidify on demand" feature staged backup heat strips new and correctly sized refrigerant lineset you want a thorough inspection of your ductwork system. size, overall condition, supply and return lines, insulation qualities, leak test, etc. any hot/cold spot issues in your home should be addressed. I would only use authorized dealers for the various brands that provide quotes. see mfg websites. IMO Good Luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Fuel Comparison Calculator

The only decent frameless RTA cabinet out there is by Innovations in Ga. They have a online shopping cart website that dealers hate. I have set my account up with them as one of my sales reps picked them up recently. I did one kitchen of theirs a few years ago not knowing it. (long story was getting things from a wholesaler years ago who I thought was the company that warehoused innovations. I did not know they got it from innovations and marked it up to me) It was a decent cabinet. Bridgewood is still one of the best options out there if you want to look at frameless. It costs less then Ultrakraft and is custom. Meaning you can specify cabinet size in width and length to the 1/16". Dealer catalog is over 800 pages long. They will not build anything you can dream but they are more then enough for the needs of the majority of projects out there. I am going to submit the Reston kitchen for the kitchen of the month contest Bridgewood has. I am sure we will win it. Bridgewood has a lot of dealers in the DC area. Ultrakraft is at Fergusons, Europa which is a sister company is available at the kitchen and bath showroom of Micheal And Son called studio 57. Studio 57 gives a little better price. My dealer cost for the Reston kitchen was about 12k I figured it out in Geppetto (now called Touchstone as of a week ago they merged and changed names) was 21k which is one of the lowest priced truly custom lines on the market today. I do not think there is a company out there that is lower priced as a national company than bridgewood for framed and frameless cabinets particularly one that allows custom sizes.

My daughter and SIL just closed on a starter house in the District -- Columbia Heights to be exact. I helped them find listings, so I'm somewhat familiar with the DC market. My impression is that asking prices in the District are all over the map. Many sellers appear to think that homes are still appreciating at the same rate they were a year or two back. So these houses set on the market for many months because, in actuality, values are holding steady at best. Others are priced correctly and sell quickly. Part of the problem of inflated offering prices may be due to the extremely overinflated values listed on Zillow. But even Zillow has lowered its estimated values for Dstrict housing over the last few months and that has to reflect a drop in actual sales prices. They may drop further, but the District is a very unique market because the unemployment rate is always so low, and that tends to keep prices on a more even keel than is the case for the surrounding areas. Everyone seems to agree that there are far too many newly-built condos in the District and that prices will continue to decline. But there is definitely not an oversupply of single-family dwellings in good condition in the more desirable areas, and they go quickly if priced right. American University is out of the starter price range for most buyers, so I didn't look at listings there. However, a price rise of 150K over five years for a house in that price range does sound reasonable. If you havent checked Zillow for actual sold prices -- not asking prices because they literally don't mean anything in the current market -- of recent comparables, do so. I suggest moving fast on anything that looks like a good deal. The place my daughter bought sold in three days at full price because the buyer was motivated and priced it correctly. Comparables that have asking prices 10 or 20% higher have sat on the market for months.

Starfish24. I don't know...mainly b/c we weren't in a great hurry w/the design (I wanted to take my time with it) so it took quite a while for us...especially since we had to start over. Initially, we did have to wait for a KD but that was b/c we specifically asked for someone w/many years experience and who had a great sense of design. As I told them at EXPO, my DH and I are "techies" and not the creative/decorative type...our talents just aren't in the artistic arena! They told us their best designer was just finishing up several projects and then was going to be away for a couple of weeks b/c her DD was having their first child (and her first grandchild). So, we ended up waiting about a month for our first meeting. However, if you already have your design and just want to see how it looks w/cabinets & order them, I think you can get in a lot sooner. What I don't know is how they handle customers who just order products from them and not their services as a Project Director/Manager. I know it cost us $750 up front, but it was credited back to us when we ordered our cabinets. They will need time for you to pick out a door, measure, and put the info in the computer and get your approval. Only then will they generate the order. The order not only includes the cabinets but the crown molding, decorative items, etc. I'm not sure all of that can be done in one week. Can anyone do it in a week? I seem to recall, though, that measuring was pretty quick. I changed the design so many times and dilly dallied about selecting appliances, flooring, etc. that it took us several months to finalize everything. I hesitate to tell you how long...but we started in mid April 2007 and signed the contract November 10. We not only had a difficult time picking out things (and changing our minds!), but we had several vacations in that time frame that also delayed our decisions. We are NOT typical...our KD even said we were more involved and took much longer to decide things than most of her clients (or did she say all of her other clients?) She was not upset about it, but she did comment on it. Most clients, she said, come in and say "design my kitchen" and don't want to get involved in the design except in very superficial ways. I guess I was TKO before I knew what TKO meant! Oh, a comment on prices...at first I was unhappy that I couldn't shop around for the best prices for things (EXPO only installs what you order from them), but as it turns out, most of the prices are comparable to what I found online and other sales. If you're with a project (1) you don't pay taxes on products (a big savings!) and (2) you get a "project" discount on products & services on top of other incentives. +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Despite my problems, if I ever have to do this again, I would actually like to use the same KD...BUT have someone else measure! Her design sense has been great, IMHO. She even stalled the assignment of our project to a contractor until we could get the one she likes the best. While I have had some issues w/the contractor, it's not w/the individual workers...they've been great! The carpenter, tile guy, and several others have been so attentive to detail that I have no complaints about their work! It's only when the "supervisors" were on site that we felt they were rushing things to just get it done. Luckily, they weren't there that often! I refuse to succumb to the feeling of "I just want it done!" To me, I don't care if it takes 2 or 3 times as long, I want it done right! My KD feels the same way...she is really making sure everything is "right" For example, the drawer under the MW doesn't go back on track w/o fiddling...the "super" told us "too bad" but when I mentioned it to my KD, her immediate reaction was to try it herself and then said "those slides need to be replaced". Another example, the top of the top drawer of my 33" drawer base was gouged in several places while the kitchen was worked on (I think while they were working on the venting). The "super" again shrugged it off saying they'd just fill the gouges and b/c it's the top drawer it will be covered by the countertop so no one will see it. My KD took one look at it and said "that has to be replaced!" [Sorry this got so long but I HTH!]