Allison, I have tried to have as much picked out as possible but not being an expert I have not caught things. Seeing things three dimensionally is a big factor. Another big factor to be honest is trust. As Macy said, sometimes you can be with a company or doing business with a sub that really does not have your interests at heart. I have read so many times where homeowners are talked out of doing something they want by a sub or contractor and then kick themselves afterward. They are talked out of it not because it wasn't doable but because it was the more difficult way or the sub or contractor doesn't really know how to do it or is unsure, or just doesn't want to do something new and you have to have the type of personality to say "This is what I want" BUT maybe the contractor or sub really does know what he's talking about and your wrong! It comes down to experience and we newbies don't have it and if we aren't LUCKY enough to find someone who understands our vision we can be in real trouble. I mean I never gave two thoughts to mediums or heavies with my shake roof. A shake was a shake. Now here comes a decision that could really affect the look I want and I don't have a clue or enough trust in anyone else enough to accept their advice. Does my roofer REALLY care how important the look of my sweeps on my roof are to me or is he just trying to use up some extra material he has or make a few extra bucks. I spent 5,000 for an architect previous to the one I have now that would never return my calls! He acted like he was doing ME a favor. I ended up not using his plans because at that point we thought we might remodel and not build new. Macy, I do believe what your saying, that an architect could save you thousands but I've also heard the other side of the coin right here on this site where architects seem to be clueless as to prices. Great with design but after spending a fortune on drawings people can't even use them because they are over their budget. It's like everything in life. Sometimes you fall into it and sometimes you don't.

Moonie, I do that alot I love to watch tv~~my 4 hour job gets in the way sometimes. I also take showers and put on clean PJ's my young DD and mom do the same thing. DD wore her PJ's to her early morning college classes sometimes in slippers too, then zipped home and showered and dressed for the rest of the day. She will ride along in the car in her PJ's or drive over to pals houses in her PJ's maybe she is you secret sister:)

I lived with a small patch of goutweed, (sometimes also called "bishop's weed") in my front yard. Every year it would start out great and then get scraggly looking. I read in a random landscaping book that if you weed whack off all the tops AFTER IT FLOWERS, it will come back and fill in and look lush again the rest of the year. I started doing that every year, when the flowers started to go to seed, I weed whacked them and got rid of them. That will also keep it from spreading via seed to nearby area, somewhat. However, the issue you have around your spruces is probably a lot more than just shade. A lot of decomposing spruce needles can affect soil nutrient availability. Also, the roots of the spruces will compete for those nutrients with whatever you plant there, even goutweed. It too may get straggly. I struggled with straggly groundcover plants growing under a tree in my yard for years. Eventually I got big pots and filled them with impatiens for color. In that way, I was able to provide the nutrients the plants needed to grow. Vinca, lamium, or ajuga might also do well, but in general, I have found that groundcover under pines tends to be sparse. If it were me, I'd experiment with a plant called partridgeberry or squawberry first, scientific name Mitchella repens, mixed in with maybe Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides or one of the smaller leaved heucheras. I've seen all of those doing reasonably well under pines. YMMV.

Taken from spray foam under roof commentary........ "Ready for this… here it comes… roofs leak. They always have. They always will. Sometime you see the leak, sometimes you don’t. This is true regardless of what system you use. There is no greater risk of roof damage with SPF, regardless of type, under a roof deck when exposed to a leak than the risk compared to structural insulated panels (SIPs) or typical commercial compact flat roofs. We can build with multiple layers of insulation and membranes and decking, and somehow we manage to deal with roof leaks. It is not the end of the world. SPF is not a greater risk under a roof deck than the risk associated with commercial compact flat roofs with multiple layers of insulation sandwiched between roof membranes and metal and wood structural decks. SPF is not a greater risk under a roof deck than the risk associated with SIPs." Realize when I say roof leaks I am talking about roof leaks from a roof deck with no insulation of any kind (no panels - nothing) They are comparing their foam to SIPs. I am talking about just OSB decking no panels no insulation of any kind on roof deck. If there is a roof leak you will see it in a Katy, Tx rain storm. I am talking about a sloped roof. Realize Houston total rainfall is comparable to places like Oregon. Except the rain fall in Houston area tends to occur in big and some times long rain storms rather than smaller rain storms all year long. Taken from spray foam under roof commentary........ "Ready for something else? Here it comes… sloping roofs are less of a risk than flat roofs. Wow. This gravity thing is a big deal. With a sloping roof you have less hydrostatic pressure and if you do have a leak it is more likely to be seen inside regardless of roof type. Note the “regardless of roof type” comment. Built up compact, SIP, SPS… it does not matter." Sure but once that roof is saturated for hours and hours long of rain fall, if there is a leak the water will find it. If the roof deck is insulated you will have to rip all that insulation out to find where the leak is. Gravity works against you here. That is the point is it not? The water travels how far down the insulation until at some weak point in the insulated roof deck it starts dripping. Yeah that's going to cost you. I can't make this point any more clear to you. You must realize the people selling this product are doing what they can to keep selling it. It creates more problems than it cures and it's costly. If you're made of money then you probably have other problems dividing your attention right now. All across the nation if you've ever ridden on an air plane or flown in a helicopter... look at the top of commercial flat roofs. What do you see? building after building? I'll tell you what I see.... HVAC package units sitting in the out door weather. In some cases even the duct work sits on the roofs covered in what is commonly referred to as a 'dog house' to protect the ducts from the weather. Everybody and their brother has something to sell you, no? I don't know maybe you are trying to sell it to me? (good luck, I know better) They all claim they have the best thing since sliced bread. I am here to tell you it's not what it's cracked up to be. (I have been in rental homes, I have been in home owner homes for over 22 years now... I have personally found roof leaks on more than one occasion, not only in homes of others... but also my own. I am not a roofer by the way.... For those reasons, I will never agree with mentality of insulating a roof deck. It doesn't hold water. After what I have pointed out, if you choose to continue to think it's a better way you may never have a problem with it. Roofs in various parts of the country can last what? 30 years? By the time people start complaining of roof leaks and big messes with an insulated roof deck you could retire huh? )