I have a HFGH 10-12, and put all four vents on one side, as I was concerned about wind tearing the vents out on one side. I have two Bayliss MK7's and the other two are the original manual ones. I have had the GH running for almost a year now, and never use the two manual ones. The MK7's open and close like clockwork daily. Other additions I have made are adding an exhaust fan (over door) and motorized shutter (on opposite wall), Aluminet shade cloth (50%), various fans running nonstop and a humidifier which I have coming on when the humidity gets too low for my plants' preferences. I am in southern cal., where it can be quite dry. Without the shadecloth everything inside would fry, even with all the other mods. You might consider alternatives to a second vent, but if you still think it's necessary, one option would be to install a round marine vent, which is passive. You would just install it in one of the poly panels. They are rain proof and you could install it somewhere other than in the roof, which might improve the interior draft. Not sure what you would do about it when you are winterizing, however, but I think some of them come with an option to close manually. Another idea is to modify a large panel by cutting it horizontally, line the cut edges with aluminum channel (or even aluminum tape)installing a piano hinge to re-join the cut edges, cut a bit off the bottom to compensate for the hinge, shave a hair off either side to clear the channels in the framework, and fashion a handle like the one which came with your gh. Doing this on a side panel would be better than another roof vent, since adding another roof vent just offers a partial airflow pattern. Unfortunately this would involve removing the caulking you applied. Lastly, assuming you want to make something out of the non-caulked panel (in the roof, presumably), you could still try to use a piano or other hinge, perhaps attaching it to the crown frame. If you would be using it daily, you would need to add some framework for stability. Ann

We have 10' ceilings in our living room, 11' in the entry and formal dining, and then 8' everywhere else (except for a 9' tray in the master). We are planning a new build, and I most definitely want 10' in the living room again. I would like to have 9' ceilings in the kids' rooms so that my boys have a little more headroom above their bunkbed. I'm thinking about framing down some areas to 8' (like the laundry and powder room), but if that adds too much cost, I may not worry about it. Though, it would possibly give a little extra room for the HVAC to run between floors as we will build on a slab (we're in the south). A friend of mine has a 2-story house with 9' ceilings everywhere on the lower level. It feels good in her kitchen and dining room, but it feels too high in the laundry room and too low in the living room. One of the plans I'm considering is the Stone Creek by Mitch Ginn, and it has 9' ceilings throughout (I will look into getting them changed to 10' if we go with it). There's a good thread here for people building that plan. I believe most have kept the 9' ceilings, and I know for sure that at least one has put transoms over the interior doors. Here's a link to that thread: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/has-anyone-built-the-mitch-ginn-southern-living-stone-creek-dsvw-vd~3183196

Depending on your choice of trim, the windows/doors might end up different heights regardless. I was thinking about this thread a bit earlier while we were at our build and then looking at some other houses in construction. As I mentioned upthread, we have 10/8 and 9/6'8 ceiling door combinations on the 1st and 2nd. Our HOA doesn't allow for 10' on the 2nd floor :( Part of the difference in the feel is exaggerated by the stairs going upstairs being in the great room which has a 22' vaulted ceiling. Going up the stairs immediately there are 2 doors which feel low. To try and combat that, we added crown to the family room there to try and draw eyes away from the door frames. Will report back if that works! Keep in mind too that the width of the doors can also affect the perceived spatial characteristics. A neighbor has the same issue with transition, but on their 2nd floor they have a 5 foot cased opening with 6'8 doorway. I know it's a 9 foot ceiling but walking through it after the 10/8 below felt like one of the seven dwarves reporting for work at the mine. A mix of heights isn't terribly bad. Our basement has 9.5 and a mix of 8 and 6'8 depending if it's finished/unfinished areas. In large open spaces the 6'8 seems fine, the 8 is nice to define bedroom/office area.

Time to figure out the driveway and garage position. Maybe a driveway cross section. A 15 degree "slant" is >25% driveway slope which will not be allowed in many jurisdictions that require a gradual increase from 5% to a max 25% requiring more driveway length. If you don't see this done already nearby, that's a sign.