Thanks for the feedback, everyone! weedmeister: When you say look at the bottom end of a a manufacture's range, do you mean for higher end brands or all brands? The low end of a Bosch, for example, I have to imagine would be a different animal than the bottom end of a Whirlpool, right? rhome410: I like the look of Fisher & Paykel a lot. Lowe's shows their double oven is $4,099 (for a 30") and $2,309 for a single. They seem to be thought pretty highly of here at GW. Are they a better bet than a knob-less Electrolux? $4,900 for a Wolf double? From everything I've ever read, that's quite a steal! plllog: I'm not sure what, if any, showrooms in my area sell Gaggeanau. I'll have to look, just to see if display models are an option. rhome410: I've heard a lot of good things about the Bosch dishwashers. I'll have to take a hard look at their 500 series. chase045: Good tip on making sure the cooktop models are made for propane. I'd imagine some are, but most aren't. rhome410: Thank you for making the effort to find your propane receipt. That seems really reasonable. I'm not sure if I'll go that route or just go with induction, but it gives me something to think about. powertoolpatriot: I've heard good things about KithenAide here on GW, too. I'll definitely give them a look. Yeah, this July 4th weekend has all sorts of crazy deals. If you're in the market to buy, it's like being a kid in a candy store! MCMespirit: Thanks for the tips! I haven't look at Bosch's cooktops, but I've looked at the Kenmore Elite (and Pro) ovens. CR seems to like them a good bit, and with the sales Sears has you can get them at really good prices. Glad to hear from someone who bought one and is pleased. dianalo: Yikes, sorry to hear that! Hopefully it works out for you, but I appreciate the tip (which will come in handy should I decide to try the propane route over induction). GE's website doesn't show any (unless I'm looking in the wrong place), so I didn't know wall ovens with knobs from them were an option. I'll have to shop around and see if I can find any. That's an awesome deal on that Bosch DW. maire_cate: Thanks for the feedback!

Better than using a ladder is a scaffold--much more secure and safe. Easy to store, because they come apart, and take up almost no room in the garage. And they're not that expensive, you can get them for under $200 at most home centers--I picked one up for DH for only $140 at Tractor Supply.

I'm a woman. I also understand statistics. >I understand your stats that we are more likely to get into a car accident than have a child abducted from their bed but do you think that Polly Klaas's parents would take comfort in those stats. So if it was your child you would just say wow, they had more of a chance being killed in a car accident than being abducted from home. That's insane thinking. If my kids died because they got a phenomenally rare form of cancer, I'd be devastated, but I wouldn't spend time obsessing about the possibilities of really rare cancers and wouldn't make sure I lived close to a great cancer center, just in case. Nor would I go around hysterically advising parents of the same if it DID happen. >The biggest risk from an unlocked window is burglary and a possible encounter with the burglar(s). That risk will vary greatly by location and time of day. The VAST majority of robberies are during the day--for a reason! If someone who knows you wants to kill you, having a bedroom on the second floor isn't going to help. And the vast majority of murders are of this type. If a stranger is interested in a crime of opportunity, there are many other things to think about before decided that having no first-floor bedrooms window is the solution. A stranger can enter just as easily through any other window and then CLIMB THE STAIRS. Windows can be broken, believe it or not, too. Want to block off all windows with bars? Then you're far more likely to die--from a fire! If you live in a bad neighborhood or a neighborhood with high "crime exposure," then you should have burglar alarms, lights, thorny plants, a dog, etc., before worrying about what floor your bedroom is on. Best advice for not getting murdered? Stay away from unstable people. Seriously. Be careful who you marry! And stay away from drugs, gangs, etc., and those who are involved in them. Don't work in a convenience store or gas station. or be a food delivery person. Don't live in the most crime-ridden neighborhoods, and don't walk through them, either. There. You've just taken out more than 98% of the risk of being killed.

First, wamot, I'm sorry you're having to go through this. It's the nightmare we all have while planning and going thru a reno. I'm mostly putting this here for others who might find this thread down the line. I know that the GCs and KDs at each store are unique and that becomes part of the puzzle that we have to untangle as we make our decisions. We first went to Lowe's and had them measure (paid) and do a design. There were some things they wanted to do that we thought were excessive (possibly in the wake of the violations that lucille posted) and I felt that the 'designer' was more of a sales person. I think he might have been handing things off to another designer to do. I never once saw him in the design software. We REALLY liked the GC and tried to make it work because we wanted to work with him. But we decided to check out HD. A friend had HD do their kitchen last year, so they also had the recommendation thing going for them. We had measurements from Lowe's, but we had HD come out to measure to protect ourselves ($49 in the midst of this was a bargain, even though we'd already had to eat $91 for Lowe's to measure). The hard part for us was every step with HD took two times longer. There wasn't such a tight arrangement between GC and store. We had to wait longer at each step, and as such, while I was hoping our cabinets would be here next week or so but we're looking about another month out past that. The big reason I'm posting this here is that we were told the GC would come to measure and his wife did. I was not here, MIL was here and remarked what a thorough job she did and how impressed she was. The measurements went from GCs wife to KD. She tweaked the rough design we had based on my measurements to what the GC provided. She was off in four places. FOUR! So that led to a whole round of 'How are you putting that there, that won't fit?' because I knew pretty much all the measurements by heart. I remeasured most things, confirming my measurements with Lowes' measurements. We tweaked the plan for the 3rd or so time and the GC revisited to confirm everything was good. I'm pretty sure THAT's the point that they're responsible up to. After that, I did some switching of things. I did things like move to a 36x33 Susan to gain 3" more in trash pullout to get two cans and make a base and wall into a tall to create a transition from an area that will have a backsplash (interior wall) to an area that will have masonry behind it (exterior wall). Since no floor measurements will change, I should be good. My KD at HD is very good, but she let me know she was a little intimidated by me (and often regrets giving me an old spec book). And more related to the OP's issue, as I was deciding whether to make the jump to HD from Lowe's, I did some reading. I wish I could remember what I googled, but I read that if you want your kitchen done on time, don't use Lowe's. But if you want to save some money in the end, do. They're known for delaying things for many reasons (misordering, not organizing installs well) BUT the flip side is that there are non-performance clauses in their contracts and so you often get $ off per day for each day certain things are delayed. I'd look things over and see if you can find anything like what I'm remembering. I was concerned with Lowe's because they wanted us to pay for everything (all materials and all labor) up front and when I balked that I watched too much People's Court to pay contracting things up front...they have no incentive to finish, I was told there were non-performace clauses (just as I'd read on the internet). Whatever I googled, I also came across a forum with current and former Lowe's employee's posting about changes to the structure of the way they work with outside contractors etc. It was all very interesting. Good luck. If you end up doing away with the fillers, make sure that at least you don't get charged for what will become 'extra pieces you don't need'.