Julia, Personally, I'd lean away from using the wood base instead of the Riga base kit. You make a good point about pressure treated lumber, which for me would be a dealbreaker (but that's just me - I grow food plants right up against the edges of the greenhouse). If you didn't use pressure treated lumber, then you'd be using cedar or something like that, which lasts maybe 10 years buried in the ground and your greenhouse will last a lot longer than that. For longer lasting wood you could use ipe but that would cost more than the base kit. The frame doesn't have any gaps in it, at least not big enough for a mouse or a snake. The warranty does not cover hail, but your homeowner's insurance covers that. I am not certain but I would guess the warranty would protect against cracking or really bad, premature yellowing. They will all yellow a bit with time. As for price comparisons, you are correct that the various vendors make it tricky to compare. One strategy would be to decide what you want, then price that option at each store. I think 2 roof windows is a very good idea for the Riga IV and you could do 2 or 3 for the Riga V. I don't know the translation of "grand" vs IV or V, but you can figure that out by looking at the dimensions. Of course shipping is a big factor too. I think the comparison shopping will get easier as you narrow down what setup you want.

Wow thanks everyone for good questions and feedback. Kirkhall: I fixed the door swings thanks for that. The split closets on the left bedroom are meant to be a storage room and then the closet for the room. In my latest draft my wife and I opened the right closet to make a nook with a window out back. Less closet space upstairs but we have a ton in the basement. As for the bedroom on the right we want to do a built-in bookcase where the gap is between closets. AlexHouse: All I can say is WOW :) The feeling we are going for is more of the rock arch over the range and then the pizza oven next to it faced in the same rock so as to extend the look. We are using thin sliced stone for the walls to save money. LauraJane02: Thank you for that idea but we still need to think about the door changes for the MBR. Still not sure what will work for us. The new layout is simpler and uses the space better but we arent sure how to shift it. Still taking ideas. AM.E: I dont have any good elevations just yet BUT here is a sample I got from one TF company we asked for a estimate from. Modified Home Plans It is close to what we want except wtill working on the front proch roof line. Overall though it is the correct feeling. We are doing SIPs except the roof in the walkway we are doing stick built. And the garage will be 100% stick. As for the open areas, thats the point of doing Timber :) at least for us. We love that open yet homey feel of the timber frame with trusses. We will build in the fall/winter this year if all comes together :) Thanks again everyone!

Old post but still critical: On the single sided upholstery: 1) yes its by far and away the most common way leather is upholstered. True literally no matter who makes the couch. This says absolutely nothing whatsoever about quality. Single sided upholstery is the standard whether its a Chinese Coaster or Home Elegance sofa sold at Walmart for $500.... a Vietnam/India/Chinese sofa made for Article, EQ3, West Elm, Pottery Barn or CB2.... or a $4,000 leather sofa manufactured by American Leather in Texas for Room and Board..... or an $8500 leather sofa manufactured in North Carolina for Restoration Hardware.... or a $15,000 leather sofa manufactured in Italia or Germany for BB Italia/Minodi/Roche Bobois/Poliform/other simarly super high priced stuff. 2) No iCustomSofa. Its not about ventilation. Its not about sliding. It is always always always about cost. both ventilation and sliding have easy, simple, straightforward solutions. If it was truly about those phenomena, then vinyl or PU sofas would similarly never have double sided upholstery. They ALWAYS do. Seriously go talk to Jonathan Louis about that horrific ultrasuede (its PU) that they sell for people with cats. Double sided. 3) Why do people believe that American Leather is "good quality" or "good craftsmanship"? AL is not an example of quality per se If they are an example of anything it is high consistency high efficiency.... "low cost for the particular product". Domestic leather furniture. In that sense they are pretty cheap and sell a reasonably good product. They achieve that through extensive use of garbage foam, plywood/engineered hardwood, and just extremely judicious use of leather. Other than their sleepers. Now JL furnishings is out of business, AL has the only specialized premium sleeper on the market (JL used to make a directly competing "Elite Leather" sleeper that was better than the AL sleepers)

One of the first things that you should learn about design is to not design outside the parameters of your materials choices if you are letting specific materials drive the design. What good is a 17’ long island if the granite that you want only comes 9’ and you don’t want a seam? What good are cool expensive trapezoidal windows if they face the neighbors and must be kept covered and you don’t want to pay for custom window treatments? What good is it to design a faux timber frame house with glue lams if you have to go back and cover them with timbers? If you want a timber framed house, perhaps that is what you should be designing