Thank goodness I can't afford to hire contractors :!: :!: I always do my own renovating and I'm not nearly as fast as I used to be. I bought this condo last July and just finished laying the laminate last week. I did hire out the kitchen countertops and they messed that up - had to redo 1/2 of it. Luckily, I know how to put in a temporary countertop. The kitchen cabinets look good because I installed them myself... not bad for a retiree on SS. I still have to remove the wallpaper from 2 rooms - ugh!