Hello stompoutbermuda, This is really quite a coincidence as I rarely visit the landscaping forum, but just happened upon it a couple of days ago. From what I can see of the mountain range in your pics, and I could be wrong, but it appears as though we are practically neighbors. :-) If so, I live in the neighboring town maybe 7 or so miles east of your location. I agree with the poster who said you've got a 'diamond in the rough' there. I'm in my 50's and have lived in this area for nearly 40 years, and have seen many a beautiful desert oasis built in the area where it appears you are. :-) Not being a fan of snakes either, lol, I feel safe to say that in the many years I've spent in the high desert, and many hikes out in the desert, I have seen rattlesnakes as many times, or less, than I can count on one hand. They are shy creatures, not aggressive, and while dangerous, they are an important part of the desert community. We would be overrun with rodents otherwise. And I also agree with the poster who said king snakes, roadrunners and hawks are natural predators who help to keep the rattlers at bay. I'm afraid it's a waste of money, effort and time to try to create a snake proof fence. Your best bet is to accept that they are a part of the community - walk with loud but cautionary steps around hiding areas where they may be, and carry a long stick with you if you need to poke around in an area which may be a hiding place for them. If I may offer a few suggestions, for what they are worth...? :-) Line your fence line with oleanders and cypress. Both are drought and wind resistant, are green all year round, and the oleanders offer beautiful and colorful blooms this time of year. Yes, oleanders are poisonous, but one would have to actually consume many leaves, or breathe the fumes of burning plants to be in danger. Many, many homeowners in this area have oleanders on their fence line for a windbreak, and I have yet to hear of anyone becoming sick as a result of them. I've raised two children here in the high desert and now have several grandchildren enjoying the slow pace and beautiful sunsets over the Sierras. :-) As far as gardening, there is no reason why you can't realize your dream of having a productive garden. I say this as I just went outside and picked several ripe and juicy tomatoes from my plants. I visit gardenweb often and lurk, but I believe this is my first post as it pertains to something I actually know a little something about. LOL. Enjoy your new home, you really do have a diamond in the rough. It sounds like you have some great ideas to create your little oasis. Please pardon me if I have sounded presumptuous. Sincerely, satura

Brooklyngreg: Look, you have had a history of hijacking threads with your religious, over the top bible thumping. I can probably count on both hands the times I've seen it in some form or another. Honestly, I think its just time for it to stop. I'm sure many others agree / feel the same. Honestly, its really just downright rude, inconsiderate, and almost condescending in a way. Like we are all going to go to hell or something if we do not share your same beliefs. Please. If you read my post, you would see, and probably agree that not everyone believes as you nor agrees with you. You have been asked by me, and at least several others on here to just cool it on the religious zealot like proselytizing. We do not do it to you, or anyone else, and all we are asking is that you do not do it to us. Isn't a simple "god bless" or something similar sufficient. Im all for faith, religion, spirituality, etc. In fact I encourage it. But I also understand and realise that each persons faith, religion, spirituality, etc is a very individual thing, and I respect that. That is why you do not hear me speak of my own personal beliefs. Not so much because I'm afraid of offending anyone, but really, they just probably do not want to hear it, and probably already have their own spirituality, and that is great. Someone else beliefs etc... are for them to decide, not you, not me, not anyone else, and that is also to be respected. I'm just not sure why you can not grasp that concept. This is EXACTLY why I said save it for your personal blog, or personal facebook profile, or some such other platform that is YOURS and YOURS only. Furthermore, I never called you any names, nor been nasty. I've simply asked you, as an adult, to please just stop. You call me a hypocrite? Really? For what? Because I (and probably many others) do not come here to have your bible thrown in our faces? Please, Get over it. Its not that Jesus is not welcome here, its that any and all religious proselytizing is just not wanted here. I would say the same thing to a Jew, A Muslim, A Buddhist, Hindu, or anyone else doing the same thing. So please, I'm asking you again nicely just to lay off of it. Isn't it your very own religion that says "judge not, lest ye be judged?' Well, it sure seems to me that you are judging those that do not share your religious beliefs / convictions. Anyway, all the best, and I hope you fare well through this big storm. cfa_li, Yeah I saw that report too! I always look for palm trees when they are doing tropical storm / hurricane reports, even if they are not in "tropical' areas. LOL! I thought it was cool to see and know that the rest of the country was seeing that there are in fact palm trees in Va Beach! Pretty cool. I think it would also be pretty cool to have a report from say, Long Island, with palm trees in the background too. =o) Anyway, hope everything goes well for you up there.

Swampwiz- Thanks so much for the info on Monarch. Will check them out. Energy rater la- Thanks again. A couple more questions if you don't mind. My DH and I had our apppointment with the building supply co that carries Windsor in our area yesterday. After seeing the windows & hearing the info on all 3 lines, the aluminum clad with wood interior & GBG sounds like the way to go for us if we do Windsor. They also had some Andersen displays in vinyl with wood interior. This is probably one of the very few vinyl exterior windows that I liked. What are your thoughts on Andersen? They recommended the 200 series & I brought up the 400 series. (Haven't done alot of research on Andersen--name is popular but just about everyone we've talked to has volunteered the info to stay away from Andersen without us even asking.) As far as the white vinyl clad wood windows vs. white aluminum clad wood windows, have you seen or heard of yellowing, sagging or warping at the level of quality we are using? The wood on the interior will be painted white as well. I plan on this being the last house (we're in our 30's) and I really want to minimize the chance that we will have to replace windows during that time. Lastly, hoping you could clarify something for me: low e2 is high solar gain (use in predominately cold climates), low e3 is moderate solar gain (use in climates that are pretty equal with hot & cold months), and low e4 is low solar gain (use in hot climates)-I know I probably have 2&4 mixed up, please correct me if I do. Considering that the front of our house (formal living room & dining room & kids rooms) faces south, rear (family room & kitchen & bonus) faces north, master and garage faces west and outlaw suite faces east, should I use a variety of low e2 & e3 or would you just triple pane the north & maybe west sides? (Keeping in mind that the rear of the house has a 16' covered porch & is almost completely windows on both levels to take advantage of the awesome views & the front of the house also has a 10'covered porch). Thanks again for all your help! Mythreesons- Our Pella Arch quote was $55K for SDL, $43K for GBG with similar # of windows. Jeld-Wen was $44K SDL & $37K GBG. We're waiting on the quote from Windsor. None of our quotes included the front door system either, but they did include 2 sets of double operating aluminum clad french doors & 1 single aluminum clad french door. We're building in northern Randolph county about an hour or so from Charlotte. We plan to break ground as soon as another property we own sells (know anyone interested in 46 acres in central NC?). I'm excited but I'm also scared to death! If you see the owner of the house like mine, please ask about the windows. If you wouldn't mind, would you please let him know I'd love to talk with him about any changes he made to the original floor plan and what he has found works really well about the house & what he would change. My email is lroberts72@triad.rr.com. Thanks for offering to talk with him if you see him! Anyone else out there with opinions on windows, please post. Thanks!

hey grits - so... even if there is a lot of house behind the front elevation.....so what? you can't see it when you look at the home from the curb so just focus on improving the curb appeal from the front elevation. I think it would be cool to either paint (with a strong accent color like orange as shown in the waldrum residence) or cover the 2nd story peak with a color or galvanized steel that would continue to the first story as a vertical element. That would help break up the strong horizontal lines which currently exist. I think you are on the right track to go edgy and contemporary with your beach home!