Please allow me to explain some facts about the different types of sand. As a contractor and someone who has worked in a concrete plant you better know what type of snd you need for the job you are doing. With that said lets began. Sand is either dug up in a quarry or dredged from a pond, lake or a sand quarry that they hit a spring in and filled with water. All commercial sand is washed so it can be graded for size and type. You have to go out and dig up your own if you want to get unwashed sand ( which is not recommended for landscaping ) to be used as fill sand or what we call sandbox sand. First thing to fall out of the washer is mason sand. Next is concrete sand followed by fill sand which contains some clay. Next is gravel base and is made-up of lots of clay and small gravel.This is what you typically find on ball diamonds and clay tennis courts or as a base for a gravel driveway or path through your garden. It can be packed down so hard you would think it was concrete with a colored dye in it untill it rains. Dogs, cats, kids and husbands get in quite a bit of trouble when it rains because of this stuff. Next is pea gravel. This can be used to cover the gravel base or partly fill holes like lateral lines where you need good drainage or placed under downspouts to keep the water from making a canyon of you lawn and it gives it a decorative look. Just remember to use something to keep the gravel in place or your mower becomes a machine gun when you mow around It. A lot of people use it in flower beds and around the base of trees too for decorative look. Rock gardens look neat and pea gravel mixed with river rock works well for this. Next comes river rock. Used as I just mentioned in place of the pea gravel ecept not on lateral lines or sewer pipes or any other underground lines and pipes. Although it does work well for drip irrigation or soaker hose. Then the last is river stone. Good for decorative landscaping and filling in wash outs or anywhere you need the water not to erode the ground beneath them.

Pity you don't have your own sample of the color-- I'm thinking the builder might tell you that he's compared colors himself and everything is just hunky dory, and you'll still have your doubts. It can be very hard to ask for proof in those situations... I used custom mixed [by me] colors for my stain on the exterior, but used a [an?] Historic Trust color for my interior called 'Cincinatian Hotel Carl Tan'. Great color, love it more every day. But when it first when up, it seemed waaaaaaaay too dark: everything else was primer white, making the tan look as dark as a chocolate bar. I assumed Lowes had given me the wrong color: I figured they must surely have mixed the mid range value on the card rather than the lightest. So I pulled out my trusty sample, held it up to the wall and to my surprise, the color was _exactly_ what it was supposed to be. My builder could have sworn on his soul that this was the case and I wouldn't have beleived him if I hadn't seen it for myself. But now that 99% of my paint is done, the color looks fantabulous. I'm seriously thinking I should put a sample in my safe deposit box so I can re-create it if need be.

Sorry you're having these difficulties!! Yep...roller-lines AREN'T caused by the paint itself!! 99.5% of the time, it's purely "Painter error"! Causes: * Poor technique/equipment... * Overworking the primer & paint... * Pushing coats too thin. "Builders' painters" are used (USUALLY) solely for speed...NOT quality. Many couldn't produce a flawless wall if they were offered a new Ferrari! I'm not a pro painter, but work at an upscale Paint/Hdwr. store. The walls I've done at home are flawless. * I use only the best Roller-covers (Purdy White-Doves or Wooster Pro-Doozs). * Nice stiff-necked roller-frames ) Wooster green-handled Sherlock GT's, with the GT Pole. * Paints: I'm spoiled here! I tint my own C2, ACE-Royal, or Ralph-Lauren, with C2-One primer as my FAVE! * I've even used an FPE color. >>> I'm very careful with technique & prep! * On cleaned/primed walls, I paint a 2.5' wide column, using 4 roller-loads per 8' height. * After doing these 4 vertical "blocks", I bring my unloaded roller to the top of this column & do 3 REAL LIGHT downward "sweeps"...ceiling-to-floor-motion. * This "lays-off" the paint so all stipple is leaning the same direction, and thin-spots/roller-turns are smoothed out. * Repeat this "column-work" around the room. * Keeping your column width to ~ 2.5' ensures you're getting enough paint on the wall!! * Seriously...I cannot find a roller-line or sheen-variation in my jobs at home! Faron

I agree wholeheartedly with the concept of not skimping on windows, however the specific recommendation of that builder may be a little misguided IMO. We replace Pella's in age range of 10 years +/- on a regular basis for one. Secondly, vinyl is not a bad choice based on performance or durability. In fact, a high end vinyl product would be an excellent choice in that regard as thermal and structural performance ratings would indicate, HOWEVER, that just may not fit the look that you are going for with all of the wood in the home. I'd suggest something with a stainable interior to keep the theme. The Marvin Integrity with wood interior would be a nice choice, in fact I think that would be a really good fit. It's one of the more durable products on the market with a real wood interior. The Provia Aeris would be worth consideration as well. Both windows are primarily constructed of fiberglass and vinyl respectively, with a wood veneer (actual wood 1/4 to 1/2", not contact paper) on the interior side. Both would typically be priced more reasonably than that Designer series and by a fair margin. Lastly, I believe that triple pane is well worth the cost in colder climates as well. Definitely worthy consideration if the product that you choose has it available.