"PB2" wrote in message
...


The house is in fairly good shape - it's 25 years old and has been
reasonably well maintained. We don't anticipate having to do any major
structural changes. What we do want to do is 1) renovate the kitchen
2) renovate two bathrooms 3) replace wallpaper with paint throughout
the house and 4) refinish the hardwood floors. We'd like to do all
this before we move in. This is a 2500 sq ft 3BR house in the suburbs
of Boston.

You close on November 12 '08 and plan on having all that done by then? If
you're doing the work, not a chance. If you're having someone else do it,
having it done by that date is not much more likely. They are already
booked out that far.

You have a lot of research to do, and some of it is trial-and-error, at
least it was for me. Do you -really- need to have all of this done by the
time you move in? Sure, it's easier, but you've started so close to the day
you want it done that it really can't be done in such a short time.

Regardless, of all the things you want to do, have the floor done last. This
way it won't matter if paint splatters on the floor or something heavy gets
dragged across it. Also, if someone's doing the floor work, ask them about
the differences in the finish between oil-based urethane and latex urethane.
There is a difference in the finish (or so I was told), what one to use
depends on what you want.