Just use normal wood decking —————————————————— (Wood cedar / treated) Pros Easier to repair -Can refinish to a different color at a later date -Has options for hidden fastener (camo is the name I think) -Stain or paint yourself/ contractor so no issues with finish -Cheaper than “composite” decking even if you decide to do cedar -Has a warranty Cons -Can rot, split, warp -Maintenance restaining or sealing —————————————————— (Composite decking “Ultradeck”) Pros -according to menards should not split crack or warp (seems like it does do this a lot though) -pre finished -Has a warranty Cons -Expensive -Often has issues with finish -Hard/ impossible to touch up if decking gets scratched or scraped -Often cracks splits warps (sometimes issue gets resolved) -Will fade (Color will fade in first month) which makes a replacement board look a different color down the road -Wood based composite up to 50% real wood —————————————————— Feel free to add any other pros or cons you think missed

Well, we decided to go look at the house, anyway. I've learned that in two-dimensional pictures, one can fantasize about what may or may not be. But in person, one can truly judge. It's a wonderful house. Terrazo tile and travertine flooring, travertine fireplace, some original cork flooring, interesting ca. 1960 recessed directional lighting, awesome vintage wallpapers. It needs some cleaning, purging, spiffing up, etc. And the 1980s kitchen and master bath would have been best left undone (the cultured marble with columns soaking tub was put in on top of what was a mosaic tile sunken Roman-style tub). But despite its wonderful-ness, and ignoring for a moment the actual location issues, it still wouldn't be an ideal home for us. It has a formal LR/DR that we would likely never use (part of what we love about the current house is that we use all of it). We need storage for musical instruments -- storage that is easily accessible for loading. This house doesn't really have that, as the bedroom we would need to use is far, far from the carport. There also isn't really a place for us to park car #3 and two small trailers that we have. And DH's big saws, etc. that are in our barn/shop would be homeless. It's also just a lot -- A LOT -- of house. I can't imagine trying to keep up with just the dusting, vacuuming and sweeping. I was trying to come up with a comparison to our existing house and thought I would compare the number of "seats" indoors in the houses. That includes chairs (club, desk, DR), sofas (2-3 "seats" each), etc. But not beds, ottomans, etc. Current House: 17 Dream House: 70 Wow. I hope that whoever gets that house understands what it is and treats it with love and respect. It's a lovely house.

My house was built in 1950 and as someone else said, clearly designed by a MAN. For its time it was an upper-class build, with ~2700 SF. But some of the flaws, oh my: 1. You enter the house into what we call the foyer which is an entire 10'x12' room that is completely useless! It's totally separate from the rest of the house. No purpose theirwhatsoever. Why in the world didn't the builder take some of that space and use it to remedy the next design flaw which is... 2. No closets! In almost 3000 sf of house I have, count 'em, 4 closets. One in each bedroom and not walk-ins, just the standard 5x3 closets. And one small single linen closet. That's it. No storage closet. No coat closet. No kitchen storage area. I got nuthin'. 3. Tiny bathrooms. Each is 5x8 and because the house was built before roof trusses were invented (or something, my husband constantly tries to explain this) there are bearing walls all over and no possibility of adding space anywhere. 4. What is this laundry room you speak of? I do laundry in my un-airconditioned garage squeezed against the car, dodging mosquitoes. 5. Kitchen is a long galley at the back of the house, in which it is a pain for 2 people to try to work at the same time. And to boot it serves as the main passageway from the garage or back of the house to the rest of the house. No possibility of adding on a inch of space either due to factor #3 with those mysterious bearing walls. I'll never have an island, or one of those open plan kitchens. So what do I love about my house? Tons of large windows since of course back in 1950 central AC wasn't around or at least wasn't standard. So the place gets natural light and plenty of it. Behind the useless foyer is a nifty little office; it is a tiny room but works perfectly as a dedicated work space so no need to cannibalize a bedroom. Though no single bedroom is large, none is tiny either so the kids' rooms are decently sized if not lavish. The quality and strength of the house is topnotch. Plaster walls, thick roof beams well tied down etc. Been through many hurricanes including Andrew with nary a bit of structural damage. The house is sited on the lot so the backyard is enormous and it's like a park back there. And last but not least the location is ideal. We are 2.5 blocks from where my husband and I both work, in a suburban neighborhood in Miami which many people would kill to be able to afford. Since we bought 20 years ago we got in early and it is a dream come true not to fight commuter traffic every day. The neighborhood is older/established so there are mature trees and lovely landscaping. Being older this certainly isn't a cookie-cutter neighborhood; lots of cottages mixed in with bigger houses. And, our block is the nicest of all-really! It was originally purchased by a group of Eastern airline pilots who had the lots divided up so each house is built on 1.5 lots. The houses are bigger and of course are the yards. We are within 5 minutes of major highways and expressways but are still tucked into a quiet, peaceful Mayberry-like enclave. Overall I love where I live, with a few exceptions. Ann

Yes, the roof on the far right covers a four season room. I MUCH prefer the look of your hipped roof to the architect‘ drawing. Can’t visialize how it covers that room, not good at visualizing in general. That’s why this forum is so helpful to me. Will the ceiling have to slope downward in that room with the hipped roof?