I put in the handheld for a couple of reasons, one is that the hose allows the head to be moved around and hung from other points in the shower. Example; I have a head bracket in the wall down low, my wife sometimes hangs the head on that when she's shaving her legs, etc. Or the hose allows you to easily use the head to rinse down the walls and floor of the shower. Some people use it to wash their kids or even their dogs. One thing I learned a few years ago is that handhelds are no longer the cheap leaking showerheads that I grew up with back in the 70s. Hand held heads are now the same fine quality shower heads that go on a shower arm, except they're mounted on a (ta da!) handle. The only caution I'll offer is that rain heads have a gentle flow, it's not the vigorous spray that typical shower heads provide. Some people with long hair would find rinsing shampoo from their hair to be a slow process. So don;t plan on a rain head as your "main" shower head.

Rainhead. The term "rainhead" has sort of been corrupted over the years. You really need to feel the output yourself and figure out what type you prefer. In my own shower I wanted a traditional rain head. Simple water droplets, so to speak. Mine is a 12" head, and I do consider that to be the smallest size for a decent rain shower, and without a doubt, that is my personal opinion. You want the head away from the wall, so if you have a large rainhead, consider a bracketed or support arm of some sort, the added support can come from the wall or from the ceiling. Something along the lines of this: For your hand shower, have a hose long enough so you can spray down the corners of your shower. Body sprays. The same. Good showrooms have spray displays where you can feel the spray of water. Once upon a time I was intrigued by body sprays, Then I tried them and thought them to be the silliest thing ever. Some folk put in two heads, stacked vertically, one one wall. It's a little more common to want four body heads. Usually on two opposing walls, stacked vertically. You don't want them spraying towards the door. Usually chest and waist height, so figure that out when plumbing. You will have to figure out flow and hot water supply issues, from your water heater to the shower drain. Shower supply valves allow a certain amount of "pass through". You need to make sure each valve can actually supply the water needed to feed the heads that you want it to supply, or you could end up with insufficient flow. With body sprays, I recommend a "loop" supply to feed them, so the last head has pretty much the same flow as the first head. For your shower drain, it needs to be sized to the number of heads you have in the shower. Doesn't matter if only a few of them can or will be on at one time. It's a simple counting of the shower heads. A 2" drain can accomodate a shower with up to three heads. With four or more heads, plan on two 2" drains or a single 3" drain. If your plumber says you don't need to upsize to a 3" drain with four or more heads, he's not complying with code. If you want a "car wash" shower with five or six heads going at once? Your half inch pipe may not be adequate. Sure, with adequate feed pressure behind it it might be able to feed all those heads. But high water velocities through the tubing can actually erode copper from the tubing, potentially resulting in leaks. It's not just a matter of the 1/2" tubing being able to supply the needed water volume. You can crank up the water pressure and get volume. But cranking up the pressure to get the volume increases the water's velocity through the tubing, and again, too high of a "feet per minute" flow through the tubing can actually erode the tubing away. So do be wary if your "contractor" tries to soft talk away all of your concerns. Half-inch supply tubing can work. But it should work because your shower was designed to work with 1/2" tubing, not because, as your contractor told you, "everybody else is doing it". You can help yourself by drawing out a diagram of your shower. Doesn't have to be fancy. Each body spray and each shower head will have a GPM rating. Same with each valve. Make sure the valves and/or diverters that feed those heads can pass through the needed volume of water. Very basic numbers here, but 1/2" can comfortably flow about 5gpm. For hot and cold, that's 10gpm combined. For a comfortable temp out of the shower valve, that gets derated to about 7.5gpm of shower-temperature water. If your body sprays are 1.8GPM, four sprays is 7.2gpm for the body spray set only. You can figure different GPM combinations. Then figure that GPM out of your water heater to see how long your heater can maintain shower temperature. Oh lord. I need coffee...good luck! Edit: I never proof read this after posting it. Egads. Edited to clean up the weird formatting too. This post was edited by mongoct on Tue, Oct 21, 14 at 17:47

Batteries: If the batteries have never been changed, those are probably at end of life. Its a 10 yr old car. Installing new batteries may not make economic sense. The car has 150,000 miles on it and the engine could be at end of life. Replacing the batteries would be putting a large amount of money into a car whose engine is near its end, there fore, to recoup the cost of a battery pack, one may need to also install a re-manufactured engine. You'd end up with a cost that exceeds the purchase of a different vehicle; You'd have a refurbished engine and battery pack in a car with a worn transmission, running gear, and steering parts, and a worn driver's seat, not to mention body corrosion. Because of high mileage, for this purchase to make sense, the seller would have to nearly give the car away. If you want it and its free of corrosion, and the cost is low enough, you might consider it, otherwise look elsewhere. Beware that it may need an engine and battery pack replacement in the near future.

BM's Personal Color Viewer has proven far too painful to use, but I can transfer colors from BM into Photoshop and apply them there. I am about to post some photos where I've done that on my house. I will also post picture of the BM house, it's a saltbox colonial, gorgeous, and applied much more neatly than what I can do in photoshop on my own house. I am still enamored of the idea of painting the garage door the same color as the other doors. I have seen some houses in person where that's done. If not, would I paint it the color of the trim or the Cottage Red? The navy blue (Marine Blue) trim, as was suggested, is stunning. But it may be too daring for the family .. also as it's not a large house, the dark might have an effect of making it look smaller. New light fixtures are a great idea. The new mailbox would be nice but since it's located by the breezeway door, would not be noticeable. Your suggestions are all fantastic! I love how you spend my money! Believe it or not I just did a major trim on the bushes but I agree, it's not enough. I will re-attack them in the spring. With your encouragement I feel re-inspired to spruce up the landscaping. The backyard is a true jungle featuring an unused inground pool -- we may convert it into a wildlife pond. We have lived for 36 years in this 1950's cape. It is time to move on, but that could be years away, so in the meantime I should enjoy it, while also enhancing the curb appeal for the day the sign goes up!