Here are my answers based on my own experience and exposure to the product (Rion Prestige). *WARNING* This is long :) 1. Foundation. Can you describe the included base? The base is made of a black plastic/resin material that has one side completely open. Imagine this text bracket: [ except the top and bottom pieces extend a bit longer. When fully assembled, the open side faces the inside of the GH. The idea is that if you plan to bury (or fill in) the base with gravel or soil, the shape of the base will allow it to grasp the soil/gravel and give it stability. If you plan to use wood beams for the base, then you really dont need to use the optional base kit that comes with the Rion. In most cases, your own custom wood beam base would be sturdier (and more level) than Rion's base kit. Just anchor the GH straight to your wood beams. 2. You said to be careful in placing the side louvers - how should I decide where to place them for maximal cross ventilation? Also, did you add a vent (it looks like you did from the picture)? What's a HAF? The Rion Prestige kit I bought included 3 windows and 3 roof vents. There are several greenhouse design books that deal with the window/vent placements in more detail - the $20-$30 spent investing in those books will be well worth it :). The placement of your windows and vents will largely depend on your sun exposure, prevailing winds, etc. For the "basic" ventilation layout, you will want all your intake ports (windows) placed on the "cooler" side of the structure. And then place all the exhaust ports (roof vents, exhaust fan, etc) on the opposite side of the intake ports. Again, consider the prevailing winds when designing the location of the windows. You want the wind to aid the ventilation, not hamper it - So facing an exhaust fan against the prevailing winds would reduce its efficiency. In some cases, you may want all the intake windows to face the prevailing winds to take advantage of the air movement provided for free. Here's a suggestion: Stick a few pieces of wood or plastic rods into the ground surrounding the planned greenhouse site. Space them about 5 feet apart and attach lightweight strips of plastic or paper on the top. These strips should be about the height of your GH windows (between 3 to 5 feet high). For several days, observe how the strips move. This should give you an idea of how the wind works in that area for that time of year. Wind flow could vary from season to season though, so determine which season you will need the best possible airflow (usually summer) and face the windows accordingly. HAF stands for Horizontal Air Flow (or Horizontal Airflow Fans). These fans are used inside the GH to keep the air moving. Stagnant air is a big No-No inside a GH. 3. Is the solar light at all useful? Yes. It is serving me well inside my garage :) Seriously, these lights are nice but I think they were designed just for the 6x6 greenhouse or smaller. They cannot possibly provide enough illumination to work properly at night. If you need "real" working lights for the GH then you should plan on setting up an electrical outlet where you can plug in any electric light bulb of your choice. You will most likely need an electric outlet installed for the fans anyway. *CAUTION ABOUT ELECTRICAL OUTLETS* Make sure that you locate your electrical service outlets in a section of the GH that will not get any water from your sprinklers/misters/garden hose, etc. If at all possible, dedicate a section of your GH as the "Dry Area". This is usually near the front door for convenience. This sacrifices planting space, but ensures that you do not have water and electricity getting in contact with each other. My "dry area" also contains the potting bench and supplies storage shelves so it works out well for me. I have a little nook in the GH that stays dry all the time. "I dare you to unplug that fan with wet feet" :) 4. Is your shade cloth aluminet (sp?)? No, but I have one ordered and awaiting delivery :) Right now I am using generic shade fabric from Lowes. 5. do the auto openers work well? Ahh, the auto-opener pistons... hmmm. What can I say, it has been hit or miss from what I have read on the forums. I have not had any problems (yet) but a couple of members here actually had to call Rion to get replacements because they got defective units. ** did you have to cut a hole in the shade cloth? I did cut squares around the roof vents (and windows). This allows the roof vents to operate without any interference from the shade cloth. ** is there ample room to hang plants? The Rion's roofline is a bit too low to effectively hang anything from the central brace. Unless you are planning on hanging small, light baskets, you would be limited to hanging them closer to the sides so that you have room in the middle to walk across the GH interior. Also, I personally do not like to hang anything from the GH brace itself. I'm just not so sure if the GH can hold all the weight (despite manufacturer's claims). I would err on the side of caution. I hope that you found this information helpful :) ~John

Thanks for sharing... Regarding the Bosch Axxis washer & dryer there just are not many choices in a cabinet depth washer dryer that can offer 3.4 cu. ft. capacity. The Asko, Blomberg, GE, Maytag, Miele and Whirlpool are all between 2.0-2.6 cu.ft. The Miele and Asko units are more towards +$2k and above. I have some space constraints and need a stackable cabinet depth unit into a 30" cabinet (room for vent). A full sized unit would stick out. Any other suggestions that have good performance, compact size, stackable with reasonable capacity? And yes, I meant a pneumatic switch and not an air gap for the Miele. Thanks

I do believe we'll be happy with whichever plan we end up choosing. Like I said, I feel 100% sure that we could be happy with at least two plans we've "fiddled with" in the last year or so. I do think excessive time is allowing me to come up with MORE VERSIONS of plans that'd work well for us. I really like the idea of imagining this house already built on my lot -- what details would be acceptable /not acceptable? That idea speaks to me. Oh, I have the land -- 45 acres of lovely farmland currently making me a little bit of money, while we're waiting for our daughter to graduate this June. We've picked the spot and have done some work on prepping the area . . . so we're not quite at Hypothetical Square 1. And I'm not sad that we started planning so far in advance. I've learned a ton of things that I didn't know before: Things about aging in place, in particular. What I'm not particularly worried about is budget (yes, feel free to laugh at me in the future, if you wish), but here's the thing: We currently live in a large, paid-for very sell-able house in a prime-prime location . . . we are building a modest-sized house, essentially a starter-sized house with "pumped up" bathrooms and storage . . . we are moving to an area with a lower cost of living. We're going to be solid on budget. Yikes, I just counted up the things on our "must haves" list . . . and I have well over 200. Of course, in all fairness, some of mine are repetitive: for example, "natural light" appears on just about every room's must-haves. And some are more like ideas for decorations: for example, I have a great Pinterest picture of how I'd like to paint /decopage the dresser that'll end up moving into our guest bedroom. And others are just general concepts like, Avoid trendy items that will "date" the house like vessel sinks. This post was edited by MrsPete on Wed, Oct 8, 14 at 18:57

Oh, I know the feeling. We're also doubling our house size by converting our 2 family back into a single family. Ordering the cabinets was stomach wrenching because it was such a commitment for me. I still keep second guessing myself. Today the contractor and I went over the additional 26 line items that were added to the original contract - big things like replace all knob and tube wiring in the 1825 house, upgrade to 400A service, change the garage fascade, architect designed bathroom with additional 16" not available so had to reroute a lot of existing plumbing that wasn't going to be changed... I think you're getting away with a steal only being 10% over for a MAJOR renovation. I haven't received my final number yet from my contractor but he's a great price and my estimates have been high. With a major home renovation there are so many more decisions. I have 2 gutted baths plus a new one - tile, sinks, faucets, lighting, color... Plus all the paint colors and lighting choices. Then there's doors, hardware, type of gutters, clappard... It seems to never end. Some times I feel overwhelmed too. Just hang in there. Here is a link that might be useful: here's my blog on our home renovation