HI socks: thanks for the tip on retailmenot.com and ebates.com. We printed out coupon for $36 off from Vision Works, but didn't bring it along, since thought our kid's glasses would be covered by insurance (can't use coupon). When we were ready to pay, our insurance didn't go through, and we had to DRIVE ALL THE WAY home, just to fetch the coupon. I don't like shopping at Bed & Bath Beyond since it's a hassle to take the 20% coupon along. I forgot one time, and the store clerk won't give me one. What I love about the Internet is it ENABLES the average person to take care of themselves better, without paying $$$ to "experts" who don't give a damn. My husband is "one" with his car, so when it broke down, he knew immediately that's the generator. He took his old generator to the auto-shop to be tested. They tested it WRONG, and told him it's OK. So he took his car to the dealer. The dealer charged $$$ for diagnostic tests, but could not find anything wrong with his car. HIs car broke down again !! He got mad and took it to his friend, a mechanic. His friend agreed that it's the generator, put a new one in, and it WORKED !! Same with my sister, a retired Internal Medicine doctor with decades of experience. My period stopped at menopause (51) for months, then it came back ungodly heavy. My M.D. sister told me it's cancer. I disagree, and told her it's from the pumpkin seeds I eat for months. She didn't believe me until I dug up researches from government website that prove the potent estrogenic effect of pumpkin seeds. My 12 year old daughter was also eating tons of pumpkin seeds, and had 1-month-long period. Both of our bleeding stopped when we stopped the pumpkin seeds, with the Internet confirmed our suspicion.

This would be why you 'water' your foundations - pretty much all of Texas has clay soils, high temperatures, and random but alternating periods which vary in length, of drought then more rain than it can handle. Placement of the soaker hose that other posters have mentioned, seems to be a key factor in the success of your foundation watering process. OP, that skinny planter under the overhang and behind the larger one might be something that the builder did to keep roots from whatever is in the bed in front of it from growing and making their way into your crawl space. I can't be entirely sure because I'm not there to look at it in person. :P My parents had a bed planter along both sides of the garage which was on slab only, while the rest of the house had a raised foundation (this was in SoCal) and planters along that in front where the master bed/bath was as well as in the back where the other two bedrooms were. When they decided to extend the master bedroom about 6 feet and reducing the sqft of lawn from where the front of the house ended to the sidewalk, they had to add some additional supports that went down into the ground deeper than the ones that were there before and put in some kind of root barrier to keep plants with extensive root systems from eventually causing all of the supports underneath the entire extension from shifting and potential collapse in an earthquake or in the event of significant soil settlement. The neighborhood nearby had houses that sank and some that heaved upwards because the entire area used to be dairy farms. That one was all slab foundations, but whether the house was on a raised foundation or a slab, the possibility of sink or upheaval was a concern because the prior land use was dairy farming. Add to that, earthquake risks and frequent periods of drought, alternating with el nino weather events? We probably could have used some foundation watering ourselves. :P For the particular concerns about the clay soils where you are and the type of foundation you've got, I'd consider using containers, partial sun/partial shade plants, and hand watering with a hose for the narrow planter area underneath the overhang. The wider one in front of it, something with deeper roots but ones that don't grow like crazy in every direction and more of a ground-cover that is low growing/spreads horizontally more than vertically. I'd suggest going to a plant nursery (if you can find one locally that isn't at a big box chain store like Home Depot, Lowes, etc...that would be ideal) and asking them what they'd suggest, and show them photos taken of the areas you intend to plant in on your phone (since most people have cell phones and those tend to have cameras built into them) for reference.

I like your house color as it is; very craftsman-like. I do think the garage doors should be painted so that they do not stand out and call attention to themselves. I think your front porch is lovely and should be where our eyes want to go. I definitely agree with Patricia...white is not a good choice for this home.

Thank you I am leaning towards white grout. We want a very tight grout line. But I think I prefer a gap between counter and door frame.. I am not sure i would like the tile extending past the countertop