Thanks for the replies. Other information that I been able to gather is: Two people can lay one pallet of sod in an hour (500 sf). Assuming $10/hr, that comes to about 4 cents per sf. Another is cost to lay at 30-50% of sod cost. Sod should cost about 15-35 cents per sf with high quality zoysia costing 27 cents delivered in NC. 50% of that is 13 cents. Using Newhomebuilders numbers, it comes to about 8 cents. Adding cost of equipment, profit, prep, etc., I'm guessing that 10-13 cents per sf (for amounts over 8,000 sf) for installation might be in the ball park. As an aside, forget the "yellow pages". You better know what things should cost before you start taking estimates since most of these guys (and roofers we have found) charge what the traffic will bear, not cost plus overhead plus profit like normal businesses. You will get wildly different prices. Once you are able to challenge them they either reduce their prices (quickly with a laugh) or just walk away having been "caught". I have a lot of experience with this, as I am sure others have. Thanks for input and would appreciate other numbers.

Property taxes can be high here in NC too. I think Gaston county has a lot of crime. Charlotte is wonderful, that's where we go to do decent shopping/dining. Charlotte is definitely where it's at as far as I am concerned. Wilmington is nice but too close to coast, hurricanes. Personally I like Asheville a lot. Lots of art and culture there including hippies. I don't have a clue about the schools in any of the areas I mentioned. I live in Hickory, NC, small city with the traffic of a large city, yuk. Winston Salem is also nice. Greensboro is near and High Point although I don't know what High Point has to offer. Carla

The furniture industry refers to it as the "North Carolina problem". Local dealers feel that NC offers buyers an unfair advantage over local dealers. Large NC dealers who cater to out-of-state buyers deal in such volumes that they can typically offer large discounts. Several years ago, bending to pressures from their local dealer network, many furniture companies implemented a Minimum Retail Price (MRP) strategy which forces all dealers to sell furniture for a minimum price. Fortunately, not all mfg. have this policy and great discounts are available. Two retailers are mentioned frequently here. Boyles is located in the Hickory Furniture Mart in Hickory, NC. Boyles sells a lot of furniture and owns and operates their own fleet of delivery trucks as opposed to contracting out to delivery companies. Delivery is a recurring problem with members on this site and Boyles has, for the most part, negated such problems. I say most part because there is much involved in mfg., delivering and setting up furniture and things can go wrong. I have bought furniture from Boyles several times and they have been excellent. A number of members here recommend lexfurniture.com which is based in Lexington, Ky. They are aggressive with their discounts. I have never bought furniture from them but would based on feedback in this forum. There are a few to avoid in NC and I can mention one. Southern Designs in the Hickory Furniture Mart. We had problems from the beginning and their customer service was non-existent. Knowing which companies to avoid is as important as which ones to consider and that is true whether you are speaking of local or NC dealers.

Thanks for the AI rec. I will update that in our specs. Below is our window schedule. Tan exterior/white interior. 4 - 28 x 74" R handed casement 4 - 28 x 74" L handed casement 1 - 24 x 36" R handed casement with eyebrow 3 - 28 x 62" R handed casement with eyebrow 3 - 28 x 62" L handed casement with eyebrow 2 - 64 x 74" DH (twin mulled 32 x 74) 2 - 96 x 74" DH (triple mulled 32 x 74) 1 - 28 x 62" DH 2 - 48 x 36" fixed 1 - 48 x 48" fixed 1 - 96 x 62" DH (triple mulled 32 x 62) 1 - 42 x 62" DH 1 - 42 x 42" Fixed 2 - 32 x 32" Fixed 1 - 28 x 48" DH Thanks again for your input.