Just a note on contractors. I've posted it before, but I learned a big lesson from it. I got an "estimate" (as opposed to "bid") and that was from a third party (real estate agent) in connection with buying my property. He said that this contractor would "Clean out the pond for $3-5,000". My pond is about 3-4 acres and was dry at the time. Well, the contractor took his time, being paid by the hour and all, and after completing only 1/5th of the project said that he had met the $5,000 mark and needed more money to go any further.
Bottom line, make sure you get a written BID with a reasonable variance allowance. References of course would be good, too, since after griping to anyone who would listen, most people told me "Yup, that sounds like a (so and so) deal to me!"
