Bob...I'd change my priorities. Get rid of the wife first...anyone that rips out a plant, stomps it into the floor, etc. is going to be a pain in your side in the future and I'm certain she's been that in the past. Replace her with a dog...they know how to give unconditional love...then go for whichever greenhouse you want. Learn to be happy again and not obsessed with worries. For years I dealt with someone that would threaten suicide whenever she didn't get her way...or feel properly coddled. After years of enduring that we separated...eventually divorced and thank God she moved to another state. She no longer could get her way with her threats or nastiness. My life has changed totally. I'm no longer the quiet, cautious, think-everything-over-five times and then do-nothing guy. Think it over, get counseling, take it slowly...but if your life is one of worrying about plants destroyed, avoiding nastiness, busted windows from her throwing things in rage, etc...change it and be happy.

Bigger's better, but there are some technical considerations as you get up to those larger sizes. The requirements for flatness and deflection of the subfloor increase as the size of the tile increases. Make sure you get a tile guy who knows what he's doing so you don't end up with a bunch of lipped and cracked tiles.

We installed these 4" x 10" tiles ourselves, and changed from a 1/2 offset to 1/3 at the last minute. I was not confident in my ability to get the offset perfect, so I thought the ~3" offset would help disguise layout imperfections. Our range backsplash is similar in appearance to the photo above. I prefer the randomness, as no layout was going to allow perfect symmetry there, while not causing slivers elsewhere. Sometimes you just have to work with the wall space :) Edit: the backsplash/counter joint has since been caulked, and the walls painted BM Stonington Gray

Resummarizing here because it wont let me edit my main thread, with photos.. plywood is often used for observatory builds because its a smoother surface to seal off, i assumed it was ok.. Summarizing again: I've tried using some online deck building tools to generate the materials needed for what should really be a simple build for this, but i'm getting weird results and had some questions. I thought home depot had an online one, but only found an offline tool, lowes online did work, but in both cases they generated ridiculous materials lists and prices close to $10k. I know that a build like this should only cost $300 to $400. (with everything i have below and $69 to ship, its around $480 as of now, so higher than planned) On top of the deck will be the nexdome with 2 bay (astronomy plastic dome weighs around 300lbs i think). The first issue is the soil/ground. I have to make things level, so that i dont need extra height on a concrete pier, to keep the whole structure say 12" off the ground and not need a railing. Here is a shot of my ground so far, i wasnt sure if i should just get a bobcat and push it forward till level, or if tossing the extra dirt that is "high" on the upper part, to the lower part would suffice or cause a settling issue later? Either way, once down to level, i figure ill either just leave it as just dirt under, or put down plastic to block weeds and cover with a thin layer of gravel. Back to the deck build itself: 12x6 vs 12x8: I've seen many do the 12x6 route, but I wasnt sure, so for now i have it figured as roughly 12-13 12x8s? I have two 4x4x8's figured, but i'm thinking there will be at least 6 posts, with the deck surface at least 12" off ground, may need a few more to go into cement block Onto the blocks (going with blocks instead of posts in the ground, so when we move, we can just take the whole thing and go, or disassemble): I think these are the right concrete deck blocks? But now that i'm thinking about these, it looks like they are really meant to go under the 12x6 going longwise? So perhaps for the posts that will be 12-14" tall, i need something else here? (I figured 6-9 of these max) One of the online builder tools generated the list using these wood to wood triple zinc framing angles, again i'm not sure these are needed? I know i need joist hangers, unsure on the quantity, but these 2"x2x18 gauge triple zinc face mount joist hangers **the part on these i'm unsure on, is since this is low to the ground, how ill go about attaching these,since the floor needs in place, so i guess i need to tilt the whole structure to do this Many regular decking forums dont suggest using plywood for the floor, but i've seen many nexdome floors done with it, i was assuming it was this plywood: Severe Weather 3/4 inch common square southern yellow pine sheathing 4x8's $39? I was estimating i need 3 of these. Then I was figuring using all deck screws and not nails (in case i need to remove them), or maybe nails (which type?) for the hangers. These #8 2" ceramic I thought were the right ones? (or maybe 2.5") Here is the view of the joists as generated by the home depot offline tool, generally i was figuring a joist every 16, not sure about the extra ones near the pier location: Another question is on the underside, in the one online generator it shows these things that i'm not sure on, ie: the posts have those brackets and there are i think the right angle brackets: The other part i think i'm missing here are "toggle?" bolts that go into the posts? With nuts on the other side of some size? Any thoughts on all this so far, is this a pretty accurate list of things to do this simple deck?