Sheri: The Aluminet stretches in one direction only, so when you order it, make sure you have the fabric cut to stretch in the direction it will hang from top to bottom. When the sales rep from IGC (where I ordered mine) told me the vents would open under the fabric, I was a bit doubious, but she was right. The key is to mount the fabric without stretching it tightly. My husband was concerned that the corners of the vent windows might punch holes in the aluminet fabric and wrapped rags around them. So far, even with the vents opened full and pulling the fabric, no holes, but I'm looking for a more elegant solution. Fat, self adheseive foam bumpers come to mind. But I didn't suggest that you use the aluminet AS a screen, only that when it's draped over the ROOF vents, it serves as one, which I found ironic, because we made screens for the roof vents, that will soon serve as storm panels for winter, as we can use them to hold bubble wrap in place under the vents. For your intake vents, use standard screening material, in a frame. To screen the powered intake vents on my GH, we used white vinyl house trim materials to create a box frame, 5- 1/2" deep, to allow the vents to open out, then just made screens using the screen channels, corners & spline sold in any home center. The box is made of 1 x 6 vinyl trim board, (actually 3/4 X 5- 1/2) so the edge facing out is wide enough to accomodate the screen frame, that is mounted to the box face with screws. To give a surface to mount the box to the GH, we used vinyl brickmould. The box sits inside brickmould, attached with small screws. The brickmould was fitted tightly around and to the fan frame, sealed with silicone. Once we fiddled the design, they were pretty easy to make and give me the ability to both remove the screens for cleaning, and in late fall, when we seal up the GH for winter, we can seal the vents by placing insulation in the boxes, then use the screens to hold it in place. My inspiration was shadowboxes, which, when you look at them, are no more than a picture frame with a second frame inside of it that projects out, with another frame on it's face, to hold the glass. From the craft shop to the GH. LOL!

pps7 I agree with you about the location of the kitchen, laundry room, and powder room. The kitchen is important to me as I cook a lot. I've considered moving the kitchen to the right side of the house, but then a concern is the distance for the garage for bringing in groceries. It may be a trade off between the view v. convenience once a week when I buy groceries;I think I'd pick the views. The room I'd prefer to have the best views would be the living room, kitchen, and master bedroom. Side entry- like this idea Agree about kitchen to mudroom route. I think I'd rather have access from the mudroom to the kitchen, and perhaps have the panty in/as part of the mudroom. I would prefer to have the powder room in the mudroom, which is something I've expressed to the designer before. Also, I love the idea of the window for the stairwell. I have pictures of that in my inspiration files. The random pockets of space are probably my biggest problem. They just don't make sense to me. To clarify, I'm not planning on not sharing my ideas with the designer. I'll definitely let them know what I think. I think I've been very clear so far, and we gave him detailed notes and pictures before he started. This is our second draft, and there were some good changes from the first draft'but also some that I don't care for that seem like we're going backwards (random pockets of space). I just wanted to gauge other's reactions to make sure I wasn't crazy. Sometimes you can get so engrossed in something you lose all sense of reason, know what I mean? Andi_K As mentioned above, I will definitely tell the designer what the concerns are. Agree completely about the window seat. It was one of the things that made me say "huh?" when I got the draft. Your comments about the butler's pantry and stairway also make a lot of sense. We'll definitely make sure the furniture will fit. I've already measured pieces that we'll be reusing and recorded the dimensions. Bevangel One of my concerns is also the exterior shape. It seems there are a lot of jigs/jogs as you call them that don't have a really good purpose- this is one thing we mentioned to the designer from the beginning as something we did not want, along with random gables in the roof or a very complex roof. As mentioned above, I'd prefer for the best views to be in the kitchen, living room, and master bedroom, in that order. The original plan had a hallway on the view side of the house, so I think having the laundry and powder room is an improvement over a hallway, but not the best use of the view. Maximizing the view is the reason we hired somebody to develop a plan instead of using a stock plan. I also don't like the shape and layout of the master bedroom. I hate the tiny room with the windows. That wasn't in the first draft. Originally we had a balcony on the rear of the house off the master, and he changed it in the second draft. I'm thinking of reworking the master closets to have one regular door, and having two separate vanities. I'm keeping the comments about pocket doors and plumbing ( and I know electrical, towel bars, etc) in mind. What would you recommend for the tub? We weren't planning on a freestanding tub. I'll check into the shower for sure. I won't be happy with a 5x3 shower. Good catch. The garage to kitchen route is a concern, as mentioned above. I'd like to hear ideas on how to fix this. If I move the kitchen, my concern is distance from kitchen to garage. How about moving the garage to the area of the powder room /laundry area (obviously the area would be expanded)? Symmetry in kitchen: that was a huge problem for me; I could not agree with you more. Especially bothersome is the way the doorway to the living room doesn't line up with the island. That was one of the things my husband thought was picky, but I know it would drive me crazy. What type of staircase would you recommend? Where would you put it? I'll try to get my previous plan in a shape to be posted. The idea of starting over completely is one I'd thought off, but didn't know if that was too extreme. The issues that you all are raising are the same issues I was concerned with. I'm glad to know I haven't lost all perspective. I'd love to hear more ideas or ideas for a re-do. Thank you so much for the ideas so far!

note that all my comments are on common practices and materials I see in my 10+ years in the efficiency business. this is not to say one product is superior over another, just itrw here in La. concerning flash & batt: I've never seen anyone do flash and batt. to get the foam company to apply such a small amount turns companies statewide off. instead they talk the homeowner into full depth..or close approximation in 2x4 walls. also note that I've never recommended foam sprayed walls, and if they go that route..foam has to completely fill the stud bay..overfill with open cell & shave flat with stud faces. never seen flash and batt on attic side of ceilings either. If you could get a company to flash & batt walls it would entail a second trip to do again a minimal cost job to do attic floor. here we don't do fiberous insulations against rooflines so flash & BIBS wouldn't be installed. I wonder why would a foam company make multiple trips to the same site where they are making mininal dollars? even if they did foam & batts or blown..it is usually different crews. so you would have multiple trips and tie up two crews. now if it was for a bulider with several projects a year..that would work. but for a homeowner with one house at most every several years..just don't see it happening. maybe in Austin Texas. I try to be that bridge that brings homeowners and trades people together. so that is my pov in all this. people in my trade are unbiased and only sell efficiency so although we don't have a material dog in the fight its the efficiency that we fight for. Davd cary & lzerarc Yes builders do use tyvek & foam sheathing. because they don't understand clearly what the end goal is. if a builder has upgraded from felt to housewrap..that to them is a big step. and now you want them to skip the housewrap?? land of mercy!! you tryin to put them out of business? LOL! here we have hurricanes. solid sheated walls with osb & cdx is the norm. putting 1" polyisocyanurate foam sheathing over the solid sheated walls and taping all the seams..tape has to adhere to CLEAN and DRY surfaces.. sealing any holes mades by trades people before then installing cladding has been our most cost effective wall to date. follow with conventional insulation on interiorr of walls and air tight drywall. you've got high performance wall. R-7 foam sheathing..R-13 to R-15 insulation..not bad for a 2x4 wall. of course air sealing also includes sealing sole plates to slabs or subfloors, proper flashing & sealing of windows and doors. Air sealing ceilings..that is a whole other post. we do walls well..but ceilings! recessed lights that aren't ICAT holes for supply boxes returns..bath vent fans..stove vents.. speakers.. and wire and plumbing penetrations. the air sealing is in the details. but it pays back in comfort, smaller tonnage hvac, better indoor air quality. another post would be fresh air requirements & how exactly do do it. here is a link to my utility co-op's energy efficiency design for new homes. while it isn't as comprehensive as I pushed for it does show lots of good information. pay special attention to the exterior wall composition. you'll see that since so many builders INSIST on housewraps that they specify that it be next to studs and sheathing over tyvek. in general: designers/architects really let us down in that they don't design with hvac & ductwraps in the conditioned space. or incorperate accurate load calcs into the house when it is in design stages. maybe some do..but I've had several architects incorperate my spec sheet word for word onto thier plans. MY spec sheets. hell, they went to college for years, IMO they should have a clue...but just my angst there! trades people should seal holes they make as they make them. hvac should be comperhensively sized..not just rule of thumb. insulators should learn where to put the foam and educate themselves in thermal boundry locations. in a perfect world. continuing education for everyone! LOL! best of luck.

there is a plant propogation book i have wherein the author describes his own mist system. that author has a large black coil of hose in the roof of his greenhouse so that water can be heated before reaching the mist nozzles. that's at least one vote for using warm water and keeping the cuttings reasonably warm as they root. just thought i would toss that in! lol. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: mosaic z8 LA (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 03 at 11:59 With such a setup you could probably root roses under mist all winter here in Louisiana. And then as an added bonus, you could save on your power bills all summer by using it to steam your veggies :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: tammyinwv z6/WV (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 03 at 16:05 i have been unable to find the mist heads even within an hr from my home.Someone mentioned here they found them for .50 each.would anyone be willing to get me a couple and mail them? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: wild_garden virginia z6b (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 03 at 16:32 at my lowes store the mist heads where in the indoor gardening area next to the register, i doubt the people at lowes would have even know what to look for. it was with the drip irrigation supplies, as i said in the indoor gardening area next to the big outdoor area where they sell trees and things. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mist heads supply source Posted by: RoseHawke 7b AL (My Page) on Mon, May 12, 03 at 10:37 For you folks that haven't been able to find the heads locally, try going to this site: Dripworks or here's a direct link to one of the pages with some heads:Misters . I just a couple of weeks ago ordered some irrigation supplies from them and received them quite quickly. About 4 days if I remember correctly. Haven't had a chance to put it together yet, which is probably just as well as the flood we had last week would've probably washed everything down the creek ;-). I also have the Melnor timer, and it does seem a bit confusing about its ability to do a mist cycle, but what you're doing is programing it to do one cycle (on in the am; off in the pm) and punching in a choice of watering pattern, in this case the off for 10" on for 2" pattern. I believe the idea behind the pattern was/is actually to help prevent water run-off when doing overhead watering by allowing the water to soak in between the on phases. I bought this particular timer though because when I looked at it my mind said "Ah! Mist!" (heh), even though the reason I bought it at the time was to keep a new patch of zoysia sod watered until it rooted in. My batteries did last all season last year, but it was only opening that valve 4x a day for 3 weeks, and then 1x every 4 days for a couple of months. I can see where a misting pattern of opening and closing that valve many times during the day may eat batteries, but as ShamanSherpa pointed out, it's still cheaper than a $100+ misting timer! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: patclem z7 (or 6) TN (My Page) on Fri, May 23, 03 at 8:32 Regardless of how much water it wastes, etc, I decided to experiment with misting. I am TERRIBLE at rooting cuttings. I've tried baggies. I've tried jars. I've tried special cutting trays with plastic domes. I've had one rooted cutting out of probably 50. I had the same problem finding true super-fine mist systems in the south. None at Lowe's, none at HD. They're not popular here because they don't have the same evaporating effect they have in less humid areas of the country - they make you wet here. Here's where I found mist heads. They didn't charge me anything for shipping. They were super-good to deal with online. Web Page - Phone/Fax 888-693-0578 Local/Fax (719) 495-2266 Qty: 4; Sku: 6W401; Product: Monarch Misting Nozzles M-1; Amount: $7.40 Qty: 4; Sku: 6W519; Product: Reducing Tee for Monarch Misting Nozzles; Amount: $4.40 You have to go to Lowe's or local hardware store and get a hose adapter, timers, 1/2" PVC, PVC caps, etc. I have mine set up with 2 mist heads, and about a 6' diameter section of my grass is soaked! I don't have mine on a timer yet. Results? I don't have any yet, except none of my cuttings have turned black yet. PS - I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH THIS BUSINESS IN ANY WAY! Here is a link that might be useful: Mist Heads -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: fuselighter 7/WA (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 03 at 21:41 I am so excited about the misting bed. I went out and bought all the supplies today. Total cost was about $15 (my husband had PVC and elbows left over from installing the sprinkler system). I would like to go to an intermittent system eventually, but for now I am going with continuous. The water bill is not an issue because we have an irrigation system (there is an annual fee but it is not based on usage). I set the whole thing up in about an hour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: debbinard Z4CO (My Page) on Sun, Jun 1, 03 at 10:54 Shamansherpa -- I could not open your picture! I live in Colorado, it gets very warm middle of June (up to upper 90's) and stays low humidity. We are on outsidewater restrictions 2xweek, so I'm not sure this method would fly. Am wondering how visible this is, or if inside is an option under lights. At any rate, I would like to propigate some rose cuttings now (is this a good time?) My daughter in law is moving and would love some plants from a rose with sentimental value. Is the rooting hormone used just the usual or special for roses? Thanks Deb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: mytrid Zone8b Florida (My Page) on Sun, Jun 1, 03 at 13:48 Deb, Maybe you could call your water extention office and see if you can get special permission, exsplain to them how little water it uses. Yes you use rooting hormone, there are many available. Dip and grow I here is supposed to be really good. I got some of the more exspensive stuff from a friend whom bought it threw rose imporium on line. But you can always use something like dip and grow. Deanna -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: rose_enthusiast z7 TX. (My Page) on Sun, Jun 1, 03 at 15:47 Hi there Deanna! It seems to me you've managed to help a lot of people with your invaluable info. And I would like to thank you for inspiring me to start a misting bed to root my cuttings. I have one question to add to the many others you've been getting though... What rose company is it that you get your rooting hormone from? Is it Rose Emporium or the Antique Rose Emporium? I would like to purchase this product as well, since you and this company are using this to successfully root your cuttings. Thanks Again, Carlos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: mytrid Zone8b Florida (My Page) on Tue, Jun 3, 03 at 1:31 Carlos, Thank you but we should all thank AngieAnders, she is the one who did all the research and work to discover this method and then post it here for us last year! She truly diserves all the credit. I just wanted to keep any new people aware that have just started rooting this year. Best of luck all and don't forget to post your sucess! Deanna -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: epiphany z5b PA (My Page) on Tue, Jun 3, 03 at 9:28 I found the Arizona Mist system which is by Orbit as mentioned at Wal-Mart. It has 12' of tubing, end cap, six misting heads and hose adapter for $14.95. Of course, it is once again cold and wet here,......all of a balmy 56°. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by: auntnana 6 TN (My Page) on Thu, Jun 5, 03 at 13:06 I ordered the misting heads mentioned above from Dripworks last year and they don't put out a fine mist as much as they do a fine spray/droplets. And even though I had a pressure regulator on there, I kept having a problem with the heads blowing off! (Their drippers work perfectly by the way so it's nothing against the company) I ordered foggers from Misty Mate this year and they put out a super fine fog. Perfect for propagation. They are a litte more expensive than the ones from Dripworks but worth it. And if you ask they will ship the misting heads for $1.50. I went to HD and bought a 10-24 tap and drill set (3.00) and drilled holes in my 1/2" cvpvc and the heads just screwed right in! I bought a Melnor timer at HD for $39 and it has 1 minute spray options so I've got it set for 1 minute every 10 minutes. Can't remember the model number but it's not the one on the HD website. I hope to finish my new propagation box soon. I built one on a stand this year so I can move it around easily. Wouldn't you know, HD has plastic sheeting made just for greenhouses that I used! It's not the real thick heavy stuff either. It's only 4mil and is crystal clear see-thru! Hopefully I'll be finished this week!