It may be different where you are but in the NE I found those translucent panels they used to use in the roofs of steel buildings all but nonexistant. They used to come in clearish translucent and translucent green and were great. As best I could find they don't have them at the lumber yards and if they could get them they are way out of line $$$$. Whatever you do stay away from the clear polycarbonate. I speak of that from first hand experience here. Very brittle and while you can mount them well they WILL dry out crack and fall apart beginning in a couple years. In the cold they shatter just like glass. When I did my looking for my barn 10 years ago they quoted me either $30 or 50 for a panel I can't remember which but either way it was way too much. Don't let this completely turn you off from your search as you might be able to find some locally from someplace like a steel building construction company or even some standard source like a lumber yard. It is nice stuff though. Someone just dismantled an old aircraft hangar from 1970 and saved the clear panels dating to then. Good luck and if you do find a nationwide place that sells em reasonably priced please let me know as I could use a few panels myself.

Dana (aka honestyfirst), This is the definition of slander: "Slander is an untruthful oral (spoken) statement about a person that harms the person's reputation or standing in the community." I have written nothing but the truth and have every bit of documentation to back it up. Regarding "time", I have 4 years to file in small claims court. I was not aware that the BBB closed the claim...but thank you, I will follow up with them to let them know that you still have not sent my $200. The CSLB only closed the claim because they said they are not authorized to conduct investigations on a contractor who has NOT STARTED ANY WORK. Viking Pools GV took my deposit and did absolutely nothing, so it is a civil matter and beyond the CSLB's jurisdiction (they investigate workmanship issues). More information and customer reviews can be obtained by simpy doing a Google search using the terms: viking pools greater valley. ------------------------------------------------------------ Sorry, GardenWeb, I had posted Aaron's phone number in a post above on 9/11/08 at 12:23, so here it is without it: yamaha_2000, Thanks for sharing your story, I guess I should be "thankful" that Gabe Young of Viking Pools of the Greater Valley is guilty of non-performance on our contract, after finding out what poor workmanship and customer service they represent to you. How awful! My last communication with them was with Dandi (yes, she must be the "rudest receptionist" you were referring to, as she's always the one that answers the phone and all she wants to do with me is argue, deny and blame others!) on 9/4/08 and she confirmed that they have not and were not going to do anything. They never applied for my permit, they never ordered the pool, they have done absolutely nothing...so I told her my next step was to file a complaint with the CSLB (Contractors State Licensing Board) for non-performance, which I have done. This morning I received a fax from Gabe's attorney in Redding, saying he was "retained by Viking Pools of the Greater Valley to assist them in dealing with your complaints" so apparently, they've chosen to hire an attorney in lieu of installing a pool...interesting. I also spoke with the owner of Viking Pools, Aaron in Sacramento (800-XXX-XXXX, ext. XXX) who seemed to be very receptive to my situation and even offered to ask Gabe to return my $200 deposit for a job he's done nothing with for one month now (we'll see what happens, Aaron can't force the issue, I guess). Anyway, I highly recommend you contact Aaron and have your neighbor contact him if they have any issues, it really needs to be brought to his attention that one of his dealers is representing the company so badly. If your warranty is up in January 2009, I'd contact him right away to get the ball rolling. I also suggest that you file a complaint against Viking Pools with the Stockton BBB (Lathrop is part of their territory) for not honoring his warranty. They already have one complaint filed against them in the last 12 months. Hope everything works out for you...keep us posted if Aaron was able to help you out with your warranty issues. Leilani Here is a link that might be useful: Viking Pools of the Greater Valley

Before I agreed on this I would hire your own structural engineer and hear his/hers take on it and what it really would cost to do it. I'm reading it like it was their realtor and their structural engineer. I would verify that it is what they think it is first.

Ichabod, we're in the desert southwest, but I probably should have expanded on that comment! Our annual average rainfall here is under 10". Snow does happen but is not common. Ice dams are not a problem here, for example, so local code does not require ice and water shield at the eaves, either. We recently had a wet 6" snow but that is fairly remarkable for us, down here in the southern part of New Mexico. Also to you and tlbean2004, thanks for your thoughts on the metal flashing. We may request metal valley flashings, with ice and water underneath. Metal flashings got the roof through 17 years with no problems, so I'm not sure why to abandon them now...unless the technology of modern underlayments has rendered metal valley flashings obsolete. I thought that was what the roofer was implying, and we weren't sure if that was correct. I'll admit I am also a bit more worried about this roof than I would be if it was not such a low pitch. So you folks are a big help. klem1, thanks for your explanation. Nope, no interest here in removing the 2x2 trim to try to treat the rafter tail end grain (DH would leave me if I suggested that) so it looks like the consensus is to keep a very wide metal flashing. I guess it will be less distracting when painted to match the wood. Our house was built in 1965 and I sure don't want to make uninformed decisions that lead to damage...all for the sake of looks. (As much as I dislike the look of the big drip edge.) I guess a smaller drip edge and rotted wood would not be very pretty, either. I need to figure out which ice and water shield product will work in our hot temperatures, if we want it under the metal valley flashing. One bid specifies GAF Weatherwatch (but the contractor isn't local.) I don't know how heat resistant that product is. I know Grace Ice and Water has the best reputation, but I was surprised to see the Grace website says that only their most expensive product, Grace Ultra, should be used in the desert southwest: Grace IWS Contractor's Guide So if the esteemed Grace Ice & Water Shield (regular product) will not stand up to desert southwest heat, I wonder how any of the (much less expensive) GAF ice and shield products would work. There are a few scary stories in some roofing forums about "bitumen bleed" when ice and shield products are used in higher temps than recommended. (Roofing is not for sissies, have you noticed?)