Inspire Shingles are a division of Tapco. Our experience with other Tapco products has been positive, so we felt that a dependable company would be standing behind the warranty. We also traveled several hours to view Inspire, DeVinci, and Eco-Star shingles on actual roof installs. The Inspire shingles looked less plastic-y and had more realistic color variations. To date, we have had absolutely no issues with the roof, but time will tell. My DH is a commercial (flat) roofer by trade, and he installed EVERY shingle himself so I'm very comfortable with the quality of the application. Many roofs that fail are not due to the product chosen, but rather the improper/shoddy install of the product. I will say that the roof was a bit shiny in appearance when we completed the install, but now that several years have gone by it has become a more matte finish and even more realistic. Good luck with your project.

Just wanted to check to see if you went ahead with the synthetic slate. We're looking at using it and would love to hear from others who have experience with it.

I haven't seen any synthetic shakes that didn't look like what they are -- synthetic. On the other hand, it's possible I've seen some synthetic shakes that looked so genuine, I didn't realize they were synthetic -- but I'm not aware of them. One of my neighbors down the road recently installed synthetic slates that are made from recycled tires or some other rubber product. Upon installation (about 10 months ago), the look was impressive and real looking. So far, so good. I'm not sure how they'll look in ten years, but for now, they're beautiful.

First thing I would do is orient the whatever house you eventually build in a more north/south orientation so you get better passive solar heating and cooling. It will save you from brutal heat and light in the rear from the west sun and also help with heating and cooling bills. Avington: It will be dark inside. The porches will limit the light entering the house and especially since it's not a north/south orientation. (see drawing) Notice how little light will enter? Why does not a single public room or bedroom in the whole house have windows on two walls? Windows on two walls allow for cross ventilation and light within. The best space in the bedroom (corners where you can get windows on two walls) are taken over by the closets. Why are there double doors from the bathroom into the closet? Why are there double doors from the bedroom into the bathroom? What is the point of the angled shower and vanity in the master bath? There is a fireplace in the master bedroom but it won't be viewable for one of you because the bed can't go on the wall opposite the fireplace. The master bedroom is up against the family room. Noise can be a problem, especially considering the TV will probably go on the wall that shares with the bedroom. The powder room toilet shares a wall with the master bedroom. With walkways the family room usable space is really only 13'10" x 15'4". The dining room is quite a hike from the kitchen. Now imagine carrying hot food, or a heavy turkey from the workspace in the kitchen to the dining room. There is no coat closet near the front door. The laundry room is quite a hike from the master bedroom and even from the upstairs bedrooms. (see drawing) There are french doors from the breakfast room out to the back. That means 3' of the space is taken but the room is only 8'6" which isn't even really deep enough for a 42" wide table without the french doors. The mudroom is quite small for a family of 5 with all their stuff. Downstairs with the exception of the master closets, there is only one other closet to put things and that's in the laundry room. If you have SUV's that garage is quite small. To get to the door to the interior from the garage means walking around the car that is parked closest to the door. More importantly if you're on 7 acres why would you want the garage attached to the house, where it sticks out in front of the house? If I had 7 acres you can bet my garage wouldn't be the first thing that's seen. I see no mechanical room indicated. The upstairs is actually better but I still see no windows on 2 walls. I'm not a fan of jack and jill bathrooms because someone always leaves one side locked. YMMV. The child in the jack and jill bathroom to the right will hear the toilet flush in the middle of the night since the toilet is on the bedroom wall. I'm not a fan of open to below spaces. It means things being thrown down and more importantly noise rising. Plus it's harder to heat and cool.