We are FINALLY about to begin our big home renovation-1 kitchen and 2 bathrooms gutted.

We have our contractor, so we have our estimates for labor and materials.

because it is such a large job we will need to finance a portion of the work--Maybe 30%. My question is---has anyone applied for a home improvement loan (we have a lot of equity in our house)? What is the process like, how long does it take to see the funds, and how did you know how much to ask for?

We don't want to take out too much, but we don't want to fall short, either.