Great thread!!!!! I'm just outside of Albany, NY and have owned this 1871 Victorian farmhouse for 9 years (my husband's grandfather's house which we bought back from a subsequent owner). She's pretty big--3200sf on the two main levels and a full basement and full attic as well. If we weren't both on teacher's salaries with three young kids, I would be an 11. Or a 12. Or just off the charts! Unfortunately, my "purist" sensibilities have to be knocked back a bit mainly due to cost and practicality. I would say I'm a 6-7 with our current budget and lifestyle. EXTERIOR: Still has 46 ORIGINAL windows (and one new wood bay window in kitchen) but 1950's aluminum siding over top of original wood siding with scalloping on the eaves. No original shutters left, which were on every window from an 1940's photo we have. 1950's aluminum exterior storms over original windows. One section of original front porch railing remains and will be replicated when we redo front porch. KITCHEN: I designed and gutted the 1930's kitchen that was in place but "updated" in the 50's and some in the early 80's--so I felt no sorrow at tearing out the robin's egg blue flecked Formica counters, drop ceiling, peel & stick tile, etc. Drooled at people's 100K kitchen renos over on the kitchens board, but settled for a complete, modern reno with stainless appliances (an Aga would be nice, but $$), full-overlay white doors (wanted inset, painted), Brazilian Cherry floors (wanted reclaimed southern yellow heartpine), and soapstone counters and a giant farmhouse sink (both exactly what I wanted). The kitchen looks like it fits and works well for our busy family. WOODWORK: Have not TOUCHED the floor to ceiling built-ins in the dining room. And no other owner ever has either--other than to gently refinish. Crown jewel of our big, old house. Original wainscoting is still perfect--will put in new wallpaper (in this room ONLY--otherwise, wallpaper is my arch-enemy!) Still has 100% original trim, 6-panel solid doors, and flooring (except kitchen). Downstairs trim/doors have never been painted. Upstairs was white when we bought it. (secretly, I wish it was ALL painted when we bought it--hubby would never consider painting trim downstairs, but the white upstairs looks so fresh/clean with bright room colors!) floors are all original (southern yellow heartpine and quartersawn oak). --Put in central A/C upstairs only--installed in attic with minimal distruption to house--just 1-2 grilles in each room. Oh well. I LOVE it! Best update we've done :) --No major changes to the blueprint of the house since it was built--open concept would have been nice, but now that my kids are 4, 7, 9, it's not as necessary as when they were little babies. Only changes were when the house got indoor plumbing! --Gutted one horrible 1950's bathroom and tried to make some aspects look "period" while on a budget--saved on fiberglass tub but got basketweave tile. Relatively cheap vanity/mirror from Lowe's but refinished original cast iron radiator. --90% of the house still has the original plaster walls. --Have all of the original Italian marble fireplaces, but have not broken through to make them workable again (simply due to $$$). --Took the 6th bedroom (which is the smallest and has no closet) and made it into a 2nd floor laundry room with front-load washer/dryer. No regrets here either!! I like to remember that this house was never built as a museum and it's not in a super-trendy historic district--it was clearly just a big, comfy home for one of the first families in this area. I try to imagine what "improvements" the people that lived here 140 years ago would be ok with--don't want to anger the ghosts, but I have to make it "liveable" for our family and this generation. Am I still a 6 or 7??? -Sarah

Judy - Do you realize you will not get a +40 casement without a secondary window? Using either laminated or unlike thicknesses will put you in the 32 -36 range with a single window. Many manufacturers have what is called an "airport" sash which is a primary and a secondary window created for homes around airports for noise abatement. These will get you the 40+ that you have requested. Marvin has this window as I would expect the other major wood manufacturers such as Andersen, Pella, Kolbe etc. You will then have to break it down even further as to the qualities of the manufacturers not just STC/OITC.

The reclining mechanisms do limit your choices. Two others you might be able to find are Omnia. They are ostly leather but I was told you can order them in fabric also. I heard good things about them but I noticed a couple of displays not aligned just right (I was being picky) so I was wondering about longevity. Have no experience with them. Arhaus has two proprietaty brands, One of them has a recliner option, but you are not likely to see it on the floor. We only found out about them talking to the salesperson. The Hadley and the Brentwood are the models with those options. They will be shown in dark brown leathers but they have a lot of custom options -- and you will be ordering custom to get the recliners anyway. They do have sales and promotions that can save you a decent amount. The Hadley is 8 way hand tied, down wrapped cushions and such -- can't remember if the Brentwood is the same, but I would suspect it i since it is the same manufacturer.

OK, I see the disconnect, which ultimately derives from the negligible amount of useful information provided by hood manufacturers. Blower manufacturers are slightly better. So let me comment on your questions in some random order. No hood to my knowledge comes with a silencer. Silencers that I'm aware of are made by Fantech to be inserted in place of a few feet of duct. My 10-inch duct, for example, has a 14-inch diameter silencer. See link. These are built internally somewhat like automotive mufflers. http://fantech.net/LD10Silencer10Dia-Duct_enus-411286.aspx Modernaire, Prestige, Abbaka, etc. are custom hood manufacturers. Sometimes they are useful for obtaining Pro-type look and function hoods that other manufacturers, such as Wolf, don't size. In other cases they may be less expensive. There may be some feature that one wants that requires a custom design. http://www.handcraftedmetal.com/ In the cases of fabricators such as Moderaire, their hoods, as far as I know, tend to be residential Pro aesthetic counterparts of commercial hoods. That is, they use tilted baffle assemblies for filtering like commercial hoods, but the hoods are intended to be lower, have nicer stainless steel, and otherwise better fit residential kitchens. There is another elephant in the room, however. That is Ventahood (VaH). Ventahood's historical "claim to fame" is their 'magic lung' squirrel cage blower used as both an air mover and centrifugal filter, thereby performing both the functions of an internal or external blower, and a baffle filter. Their claims about flow rate, however, are in my view somewhat specious as they don't account for all the pressure losses that need to be accounted for, particularly in the context of the drop in flow rates their fan design has as a function of pressure loss vs. more typical blowers, such as Broan or Abbaka make. (Note that Fantech makes in-line blowers that may be worth considering in some ventilation system architectures.) In any case, an external blower and an inline silencer leaving only baffle hiss to listen to will be quieter than an sufficiently powerful to be effective squirrel cage blower next to the cook's ear. So, if I recall correctly, the point clinresga was making about the noise comparison between houses wasn't specifically Modernaire vs. VaH, but conventional baffle hood with external blower vs. VaH Magic Lung. (I don't recall if the conventional configuration included a silencer.) There are other VaH designs, I believe, but I don't know how conventional or not they might be. Joe Henderson on this forum seems to have access to many hood types and may be able to fill in gaps in my knowledge of specific hoods. I don't make recommendations for hoods I haven't used. Trevor Lawson on this forum may be able to provide recommendations w.r.t. Modernaire. Given a conventional design of a given size, then cost likely will be influenced by fit and finish, at least among the brands built by organizations that understand hood function. Some brands may be able to tack on a surcharge due to advertising or brand popularity. I have no idea what the cost difference is between a given Wolf hood, for example, and a counterpart Modernaire hood, for example. I have a Wolf hood, then manufactured by Independent, and the fit and finish is excellent. I also have a Wolf (Broan) external 1500 CFM blower and an inline Fantech silencer, and at full power with low MUA pressure loss (open windows) the residual baffle noise is low enough to easily talk across the peninsula under the hood without raising one's voice. In summary, size matters for capture; silencers are golden; adequate flow rate matters for containment; flow rate depends on a suitable fan curve for the round-trip pressure losses of the ventilation system, MUA system, and house leakage. kas