I did read the original post - I just thought the back of the house should face south. There are a lot of ways to look at it, but with a deck in back, a larger square footage and the kitchen in the back, that is the side I would choose to have facing south. I might even revisit the floor plan and put more of the "utility rooms" towards the front of the house so you could take more advantage of the southern exposure. Its a fun journey you are on, keep telling yourself that! This is just the beginning of thousands of decisions you will have to make and you just really have to take measure of your own personal value of aesthetics and function. It hard to be really honest with yourself; but thats part of the process too. I have to confess that I lived in a house for 10 years that had a north facing back, a side garage and a long walkway to shovel. Now we live in a house in which the back faces south. The garage is on the front. We 'snowblow' the drive and 10 feet of walkway. In the winter, the heat rarely comes on during the daytime, because we have so much passive solar heating. 90% of our time in this house is spent in the kitchen, bedroom and living room(with no tv) which face the south. When its not winter, and sometimes when it is, we spend so much time on the deck that the house painters suggested I move my bed out there(unfortunately its too buggy for that- but when i build a screen room... :) In this house in which the back faces south, not only do we save on heating costs, I believe we have on average an hour more of daylight each day across the year. Partially because it is much more open than our old house in the same town, but also because the house was designed to take advantage of the southern exposure. If you are a reader I would check out The Pattern Language in designing your plans. Its a strange book, but addresses patterns of design that enhance living.

The web site http://xoomer.alice.it/garage-doors We talk about Industrial Sectional Doors, Garage Doors, Residential Sectional Doors, overhead door for home, Overhead Sectionals! Here you can find all the informations about the sectional system! Here is a link that might be useful: SECTIONAL GARAGE DOORS

There are a number of upscale garage door manufactures that manufacture upscale grade doors. Door are the traditional overhead, swing, or sliding types, and can be made of several types of materials i.e. solid wood (cedar, mahogony cypress), fiberglass and steel. And range in styles from clasic, to victorian, to contempory. Price ranges from $2,000 upwards of $7,000 for a 7 x 16 door. Now if you REALLY do not want to see the grage door, there is a company that builds a door unit that will blend in with your surounding house siding. They can even mount a door or window in this unit!! When you look at one of these units, you can not tell your looking at a garage door. The only give a way is the cement driveway that leads to what looks like the front or side of the house! Great concept! Workmanship was outstanding, however I understand they are extremely expensive! Regards!

I'd go with epoxy. Much easier to broom or even spray clean, and you won't need to worry about staining, or an oil leak dripping into seams. If you ever needed to re-coat the floor -- maybe in 8-10 years if you think it looks worn -- epoxy would also be easy to renew: it generally just requires a light sanding and re-application with a roller. Lastly, it would probably cost about 1/2 as much to do epoxy as install tiles. Here is a link that might be useful: Cost to Epoxy Garage Floor