Well, I kinda have to agree with the tile being the "best" choice here. They use sand to remove paint on metal, and it will surely remove the finish off of vinyl or wood. Walking on a floor with sandy feel is a sure recipe for sandblasting down the finish of anything pretty rapidly. You would need to practice a "sand containment system" if you chose anything but ceramic or porcelain. The beach house we rented for a week had an exterior foot wash. and we used it, and left our shoes at the door. We still managed to track in an unbelievable amount of sand. It just stuck to everything and was very fine, like sugar. It got everywhere too. Even the master bath, which was furthest from the door, had a bit of a grit coating by the end of our stay just from us changing bathing suits there. If I lived there full time, I'd have wanted a vac pan in every room.

I love the look of your vinyl next to the real wood. I would like to replace all of my carpeting with vinyl planks. Some of what I have seen online looks just like wood. Angel nor calif - would you tell me what type of vinyl flooring you used, and did you put it in a living room or dining room? Veta

mnovak99 - first of all, you have a beautiful home. The cedar is incredible and I'm sure that has a lot to do with the quality of wood available 25 years ago and you care ever since. That said, I do know the rigors of that maintenance and understand wanting something easier. So with that in mind, do not paint because that sets another type of maintenance that is far less forgiving than the stain you've been using. Solid stain is not much better than paint and IMO, would ruin the look of your house. I'm one of the posters above who replaced wood clapboards with vinyl shake so it's not that I don't like the product but it would be a shame to lose your cedar. I have no easy answer for you and know how nature seems to be conspiring against your dream of easy maintenance. I certainly wouldn't want to be power washing and restaining every few years and especially would not want to be spraying chemicals all over my house in an effort to keep critters and insects at bay. Your idea of vinyl shake with white trim is a lovely look but I'm not sure it's the best choice for your home, especially in yellow. That's a very 'cottage' look and your house doesn't have those cottage type lines. Have you considered shake in an earth tone to work with your stone chimney and wooded backdrop? A clay or mossy green or even brown would keep that house-in-the-woods feel. I think going in that direction, using something other than white for your front door and trim will be a better choice. Your door could still be a focal point but not as stark. And if you don't mind my saying, allow your landscaping along the house facade to develop into more natural shapes instead of being clipped and shaped. Let it fill in and camouflage your foundation line.

re: windows on Washington sounds reasonable to me. im not familiar enough with the materials used in the cranks and mechanical linkages... i assume they are powder coated or other wise painted in some manner? this is a huge long shot... but you ever hear of water resistant hardware? glass fiber reinforced plastics or SS? i cold conceivably have them powder coated, or enamel coat them myself inside my oven... too much work i know... just thinking out loud here. appreciate the feed back WoW. re todinmn: this is a Houston home. should have mentioned that earlier. i made a mistake in stating 60" its actually 47-48" from the floor. 60" was from another window measurement. there is 0 chance i could raise it up that far. i have enough brick for maby 3 courses. ive never tried to find matching bricks for sale though... nor have i researched other options. i admit to being ignorant as to the cost add on for tempered glass... what would you estimate? any ball park figure wold be appreciated here. regarding the general project: gong to start calling the window places next week. the big suppliers in my area is through ABC building supplies and the big boxes. Im assuming i should not even bother with the home depot only simonton Vantage Point windows?