Hello dba1954 - Not sure if you resolved your search yet - but we do carry a large inventory of kits for your garden storage and growing needs. We also ship our kits free in the continental US (we are in Southern Vermont). Here's a link for our greenhouses that have clear poly roofing, but any of our sheds or potting sheds can be adjusted to fit your ideas and landscapes. We do have a toll free number (1-866-297-3760) with in house staff, if you have further questions (M-F 9-5pm, Sat. 9-4pm, some Sundays). Good luck! Kim http://jamaicacottageshop.com/

Thanks for the great information ...patches I'll take a look at your plans...mightyanvil..thanks for taking the time to provide such great advice. This will be our "vacation" home..but it will really be a weekend get away place, that is if we can pull it off. The home will oriented so that the front of the home is north, the back south. We want views to the south and west. I was avoiding a second level because of cost, although considering a loft, but it sounds as though the rule of "cheaper to build up rather than out" applies. It's just DH, myself, and our chocolate lab. Originally we thought everything on one level but are now considering living room, kitchen, mudroom/bath on main level and bed and bath on above. We also considered a basement, as my DH wants the extra storage, but costs vs. it and just a slab foundation..not sure of the differences although there are those that say "might as well put in a basement while you're at it" We're not worried about excavation as we have a friend who'll do the job for us. We love open floor plan because we anticipate small footprint, we want back deck (but plan to build it on later) so outdoor spaces are important. We definitely want a mudroom...area to keep coats, boots, and area to rinse off dog after a run in the mud! We don't really need a garage..again, something we can add later... We live in Western Pa and do want a weather tight home, as we get more cold rainy weather than hot sunny...but want overhangs to keep direct sun out in summer, but still allow sun in winter (passive solar?)... Views to south (back) include woods and stream..views to west include woods and field. Weather hits us from north west...lots of wind from time to time. Why not a screened in porch? I love to sit out but hate the bugs! Ideally, we'd like to contract to get a "shell" built and finish the home ourselves as time/$ allow. Not sure what our options are there... I had to laugh about the home you'd described above with the various levels ..we currently have that set up...and have 5 levels and 4 sets of stairs and it drives me crazy! I can handle one set, but am a bit tired of 4. ;-)

I was just taking a moment to catch up on all the posts. Susan, I am glad they found your car in good condition too. That must have been an awful ordeal. Shirley, I am so sorry about your day lilies. The deer came over my fence and ate the top two feet off my roma tomato plants and helped themselves to zucchini and other squash plants as well. They also ate my my oriental and Asiatic lilies down to the stubs. I told my husband he is going to have to create an 8 ft tall fence inside our fenced back yard. I was so heart broken. I have been spraying to keep them out and everything but it is difficult to keep them out when they are hungry. My neighbor down the street built a 7 ft tall cyclone fence structure and added his raised garden beds all around the perimeter of his garden "room".. He said it has worked really well for him and I am going to have to resort to the same thing if I want to have a vegetable garden I guess. Tammy, many thanks again for hosting. I was so glad to participate and learned a lot too. I have posted August's OBF Be Well Swap this morning.

I think the first thing you need to do is make a list of what you will be using the shed for. Note the sizes of things that you will want to store and move through the door of the shed. ie if you are moving a 54" mower through the door you do not want a door that is 36" wide. Remember junk fills the space, so consider all possible future uses. If you don't have a bicycle now condition may change such that you will need to store them in the future. Next look at the work flows for those items. You will want some type of work bench. again permanently attached to the building or free standing. Finally estimate the square feet you need in a shed and its configuration. Lofts are nice as it gives you a lot of storage, but you also must consider shed height. You do not want to be working in the shed bent over or banging your head every time you turn around. From the height and loft angle. a barn (gambrel) roof shed is much better that a gabbled or flat roof shed.d For my shed, making a list of things was simple, as one came with the previous house we owned. This not only gave me an idea of the square feet I needed but the arrangement, ie side entry or front entry. Several times I have made a drawing of the shed and the items that are to be stored there. I then move the item around in the shed drawing until I get some thing that looks like it would work. Don't be afraid to rearrange the shed after a couple of years use. Once you have done all of the above you can then start looking for plans or suppliers. I really consider building a shed myself. (I have construction experience) But after considering building it myself, buying a prebuilt shed from Lowes, etc or having a local company build it on site; I decided that from a cost and quality perspective the local company was the best options. Note: Cost considered not only the cost of material, but also my time in doing the project. For me it would taken several weeks to complete the project. The local company arrived in the morning and finished it that day. The shed was a gambrel roof and 10'X 12" with lofts at each end.