So I got the final bid from my concrete guy, and it was more than I was hoping. Called up my contractor and talked to him about it for a few minutes - basically, since December we added some add'l decking and the price of concrete had gone up. Then my PB said those magic words - "can you pay cash"? We talked to the concrete guy and he knocked off 5% for cash. Since it makes no difference to me if I write a check for each stage, or if I have the cash in an envelope, and 5% works out to over $400, I was happy to pay cash.

Next cash discount - the mason. He was contracted to set 3 boulder clusters in the waterline, but the pool looked better with 7 clusters. Offered to pay cash for the original bid amount if they'd do them all, and he went for it. That was more than a 5% discount, as the calistoga boulders alone were worth quite a bit.

WAHOO!

Gonna try to do the same thing on the equipment pad and pebble surfacing next week!