I don't use my delay on the dw because I am alone and can start it just about any time. One thing I will say, a friend of mine is a plumber and one day he and his wife were here and we were planning on going out for the evening. I put detergent in the dishwasher and he said, "i think I know what you are planning on doing...you're gonna run that dishwasher while we're gone, right? Do not EVER do that!" He explained that there was a chance the solonoid (?) could stick and there would be water all over everywhere. Water would just keep running because it won't shut off. Just thought you who set it to run at night might like to know that.

palimpsest's experience has alway been true to a certain degree for single-family homes but is unfortunately becoming more of a problem. Details are overlooked or ignored and so is the building code since it is rarely well enforced by the local building department. Contract provisions like "liquidated damages" (for late project delivery) have always been difficult to enforce but can be used effectively on larger commercial or multi-family projects but would be virtually useless on a residential project. I would not consider using one in a residential contract but a bonus for timely completion usually works well. When thinking about punishing a contractor for slow performance consider that holding anyone responsible for events beyond their control or for losses you cannot substantiate is not something on which you want to base a claim especially in court regardless of the contract wording. There are 2 ways to assess damages for late project delivery: actual damages and liquidated damages. If the actual loss to the owner at the end of the project can be determined that should be the method used. If the damages will not be easily determined at the completion they should be "liquidated", i.e. set forth in the original contract. But be careful. If the liquidated damages provision bears no resemblance to the actual delay damages which the parties would have anticipated at contract signing, the fine will be considered a "penalty" and will therefore not be enforceable in most states. In other words, you cannot penalize your contractor for slow work; you can only demand reasonable compensation for the loss the delay caused you. Many states require proof of actual damages at the end of the project instead of allowing the contract liquidated damage amounts to be enforced. Basically, the idea that a contractor can be made to work faster to avoid fines is specious at best. This post was edited by Renovator8 on Tue, Jul 22, 14 at 10:08

Standard rule of thumb is a 6 -week window of "rest" between flushes, though that varies a lot by cultivar and conditions. A lot of my roses are blooming less now because of the heat, so waiting toward late August for better blooms would be a good plan. I find that the JBs leave here about the time school starts in the fall, so the timing is pretty good if you want to time blooms. Cynthia

@longdogwalker - IMO ask for a discount and see where you get. You can't really just decide what to pay him. You could possibly subtract unavoidable and reasonable damages caused by the delay, that is about it. There is a lot of nuance to these situations and there is no universal correct answer. However, generally speaking you must act to limit the other party's damages. You can do this preemptively with time is of the essence or liquidated damages clauses, or you can do it contemporaneously to the breach by notifying the contractor of the breach when the breach occurs. What you can't do is let the contractor continue working as if nothing is wrong and then demand a discount for the breach after the contract is finished. Having said that, since there was a breach, you can probably recover your actual reasonable marginal damages. Suppose you had to eat dinners out because your kitchen was unavailable. You could ask for the difference between the average home cooked meal and an average reasonable meal out for your family. Which is a fairly small amount. ------ This is not to say that you can't get a discount, I am really trying to say that your best shot at a discount is to simply ask for one from the contractor and see if you can work something out with them instead of subtracting an amount and creating conflict.