Joytosew, I think you will have to find a way to hold your plastic to your rot Iron frame as well as hold it to the ground. On our home made hoop houses we use a home made plastic clip that is just a little larger than the plastic hoop parts. This clip fastens over the plastic holding it to the hoop. I used to use the 2x4 method and it worked fairly well. Last year I made some socks from some inexpensive fabric. We cut a 10" strip a little longer than the plastic we were holding down. We sewed this strip into a tube and closed one end. Then we filled it with compost and used a wire tie to close the bag up then we placed this long bag filled with compost on our plastic to hold it in place. It will water log making it very heavy and it will freeze in place holding the plastic very well, you just wont be able to get into the garden thru the sides when it is frozen (it thaws quickly though)we will be using these tubes a second year this year

Finish: Pacific Strong, a discontinued Bona waterbased urethane finish in two coats was applied over Duracraft stain. Chipping: small 1/8th" or bigger pieces of wood individually chip out from the wood floor upon light contact by shoes, full plastic laundry basics, kitchen garbage cans.An opening is left in the floor which is blond, like bare oak. It's not flaking off as I've seen can happen with drums during refinishing, nor are their wavy lines periodically. Rather it's chipping off with contact, as when a tree limb is placed in a chipper/shredder machine outdoors. As to the stairs, well both the stain and the finish are gone on the edges of the steps (the rounded part at the stair end). Bare wood remains and is very slippery compared to the rest of the step, where stain and finish give it a rougher surface texture. You can see the difference on the step and you can feel the lack of any finish on the edges, precisely where it is needed most. We keep the house humidified and run house temp at 64 in the winter. We don't abuse our floors. Thanks for your response. In all my many years owning several homes, I have never encountered anything like this.

thank-you! It was such a relief to come back and see replies and advice! Lavender Lass--Those windows have driven me #$%$^&!!! :) In the end it came to what common window sizes worked in our 8ft ceilings and would also give us the longest bank of windows without having a post in the middle of my view. I couldn't get 3 windows to work as well. Our roofline is low on this side of the house and the exterior soffits protrude so I have to be careful of balance. I'm quite at peace with the windows/sink location. The windows will be square. rhome-I'm glad you addressed the cupboards flanking the range. I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time visualizing those. I have a bank of cupboards like you described (no corner angling). I know some people dislike them but I guess I'm tall enough that the reach doesn't bother me. Good idea on turning that pantry. I had planned on using it as a combo broom closet/bulky appliance (crockpot,electic griddle, etc.) cupboard My only concern is if it would work with the existing flush wood vent that is in the hardwood in that location. florantha--I'm waffling on plunk space---I know the evil of which you speak. We've gotten better as we have a very tall dog with a whippy tail and counter-height nose. processing leftovers-to the right of the cleanup sink, same with toast (the toaster will likely live to the left of the range) Making sandwiches will either happen there or on the island. florantha/bmore As far as the microwave I *think* I'm going to put it on the left of the island. I know myself well enough that I would rather take an extra few steps out of my work triangle then to have someone IN my work triangle. I tend to do a lot of re-heating from the kitchen table and from our coffee/tea station (the far-left from the cleanup sink, where the open shelves are) so it would certainly be convenient for that. Our girls are forever microwaving their hot wheat bags 'warm-ups'. bmore-I hope we can make the disposal work with a pull out garbage. The garbage would be pulling out on the corner, towards the windows and the base sink cabinets would open towards the fridge. Would that work? Is it rhome that has a similar setup? sandyponder--I knew I recognized your name, it kept coming up in archived posts about corner ranges when I was exploring that avenue! . I'm going to make that prepsink as large as the cabinet will allow although I haven't figured out schematics yet. Stay tuned for more questions on that when we start picking cabinets and sinks! I'm being booted off of the laptop as my DH just plated dinner. Thank you all so much for the time and thought put into your replies.

Talk to a reputable brick mason and/or GC and explain what you want to do and why, and they should be able to help you reach a decision. The decision should be based on what's appropriate for your specific case. We have a home built in 1906 with two chimneys and one of them is going away. That fireplace has been inoperable for decades, the chimney is what's keeping us from making the room above a master bedroom, and it was already in rough shape before the earthquake a few years ago. I'm not throwing good money at my brick guy in the hopes that it'll make someone else want this place down the road. Just be sure to ask what the plan is for asbestos.