I had thought this thread was coming to an end as the plants are in. Admittedly, the as-built landscape is not as nearly as impressive as those big-buck TV shows with a professional LD leading a crew of 20 working overnight putting in large plants and carpets of sod, but as the thread is back, I will provide more about my cross-cultural design experience and my own implementation of the design process, because I still have a lot of exuberance for the whole adventure. Several differences in national cultures and plant culture do present themselves, which put constraints on the design, and were some paradigm shifts in thinking , which a few years ago this would have just blown me out of the water, but with some limited experience, reading, and being inspired by these forums this whole process really interesting and fun! Changes were made to the design (though not apparent in the above photos) to accommodate more parking and courtyard views as insightfully suggested. Lifestyle Hawaii Lanai life style or a pre-AC/TV southern veranda/porch outside lifestyle is probably the closest US equivalent to how outdoor spaces are used here. AC is available, but very expensive to operate, and not really necessary despite the heat. Sitting outside in the shade with a rocking chair or laying in a hammock and chatting is very common, especially in the evening hours. Walls Nicaragua is one of the safest nations in Central America, but walls/perimeter security are a necessity as an engineering control to the prevalent opportunistic re-allocation of ownership� after all if you really wanted to keep it then you would have secured it. From a N. American perspective perimeter walls and iron-bars do take getting used to. On my first visit, I was staring at my BILs tall walls and thinking I was in Alcatraz, but he saw my expression and remarked very affectionately his feeling for the walls� keep the problems of the world outside and the enjoy the family on the inside. That is the other cultural difference the very strong influence of family and family bonding, which is reflected in this house architecture (actually more of a beach bungalow in N. American concept), with rooms off the common porch for each family and a common kitchen. His wall is representative of more modern architecture� bottom 4 feet in solid concrete and the upper portion finished off to about 10 feet in a scalloped picket fence of sharpened angle iron, which allows a view of the house. Very safe, can�t easily scale the picket of stakes with a ladder, and doesn�t block the breeze. There a wall is not considered an eye-sore to be covered up but rather something that enhances your comfort because it satisfies a primal need, and seeing a tall solid-built wall enhances that immensely � a wall as art and function. Typically walls are just smoothed/painted and occasionally bougainvillea are used on parts of a walls for more color/form and additional security. Tropical "Look" Nica ladies like their flowers, but in-country there were not many of the lush tropical vignettes with bright colors and widely contrasting foliage suggested in tropical design books and websites. If their plant material were replaced with zone 6 plants, then many of the landscaped locations I saw would like very much like a typical N. American landscape- very bleak perimeter and foundation plants and usually very formal/symmetrical. No huge swathes of color that could be had from a bed of crotons or coral trees, but lots of shades of green, dull and shiny, and varied textures leaf shapes - figs, ixorna, gingers, mangos, palms, and aloes.

Thank you, although I can't take credit for the tile and stone selection. We all know its the wifes decision haha She picked it out and i agreed it is nice. As for the stone on the tanning ledge I am a little worried about it holding up in Salt Water that is why I was thinking about using a Sand color plaster for the tanning ledge and the Mediterranean color for the rest of the pool. Our PB told us that the flagstone will hold up very well since it will always be submerged. He informed us that the reason flagstone erodes is due to the water evaporating and leaving the Salt on the exposed flagstone on coping and decks? I am not sure about the heater yet the inspector has not come so i am not sure if it will pass. I will let you know what they say. what where the restrictions?

Wow, where do you live. We have almost exactly the same plans and we getting quotes for $115,000 here in San Diego. Ours is a free-form pool, same size, same equipment (we have 2 pumps) and a waterfeature/waterfall in addition to spa spillway. $55k sounds like a great deal to me! We are requesting 3" pipes throughout too. And have a large heater 400,000 Pentair and solar too (plus salt water with intellichlor). Also, what sort of filter are they offering you? We are getting the Quad DE 100. I don't see anything with perimeter lighting. Is that gonna be in your plans? ANd landscaping overall? Katherine

We’d all love to have enough space and money for separate bathtub and showers in our bathrooms (and a big shower, not those claustrophobia inducing standard shower stalls), but for many its just not a feasible option for various reasons. As such, we are faced with the choice of shower only, tub only, or the frequently derided bath/shower combo. Everything is a compromise somewhere and with the tub/shower, the complaint is you can’t really get a good shower or a good bath with one. What is one to do? I faced that decision when I remodeled, so I set about figuring out how to make the tub/shower give you both the best possible bath and shower experience that can be had given the limitations of the form factor. This guide is to share what I learned as others look to remodel or build new. 1. The first thing to consider is the tub itself. As already indicated, a bath/shower is a compromise by nature. The goal is to figure out which part of the compromise is the most livable and doesn’t greatly affect enjoyment. Unfortunately, the one factor that can’t be avoided is step-in height vs bathtub height (this excludes the new walk-in tubs, which are another thing altogether and which I won’t address here). Given that showers tend to be more common than baths, the compromise here will be more in favor of the shower. The traditional alcove style cast iron tub height was 14.5 inches. It made for a really shallow bath but an easier step-in. With soaker tubs of the alcove and drop in variety, you typically see tubs with heights of 20 to 25 inches, which can be quite uncomfortable/cumbersome to step over. My advice for a shower/tub is to have the step-over height in the range of 16-18 inches (tub height excluding tile flange, sometimes listed heights include the flange so one needs to examine specs closely). This makes for a reasonable step-over height, while providing a deeper potential bath soak. I say potential because with tubs, the external dimensions often mean little when it comes to internal basin dimensions (more on that in moment). Note that soak depth can be increased through various methods of bypassing the overflow drain (I’ll leave others to debate the merits of doing so). In the design of the tub, you want the outside tub wall/ledge to be relatively narrow. A wider ledge just makes it more difficult to step over. For those with lower mobility, mount a hand rail on the wall vertically for support. 2. Since you can’t have a deeper tub, how do you make a better bath experience? By getting a wider tub, which actually improves the shower experience as well. This is where internal dimensions are critical. Tubs that may have the same external dimensions can have widely different interior dimensions. At this point the only thing you need to look at external dimensions is for space requirements/installation issues. What you need to be looking at primarily is internal dimensions. You need to try to find specs for internal basin at the bottom and internal basin at the top. While length is important, there tends to be less variation in that spec, where it is most critical is in width. The wider the better, though I recommend a minimum of 25” at the bottom and/or 27” at the top. For bathing the bottom measurement is more important. You should also look at soaking depth. Shoot for a minimum soak depth (depth to bottom of overflow) of 12”. Again, the bypassing of overflow valves can provide deeper depth but that is another subject. For length, shoot for minimum of 44” at the bottom and 52” at the top. The best tub I found that meets all those requirements was the Kohler Expanse (available in two sizes, and is also available in a heated model) and I highly recommend it, but if that is not an option for you, the other specs provided will help to give some guidance. 3. With the tub chosen, when it comes to installing, I advise a good mortar bed. The goal here is to have the bottom of the tub feel rigid. I hate stepping in a cheap tub or shower stall base, and feeling any flex in the material as you step around. A higher quality tub will tend to be less prone to this as the walls tend be made thicker, but good support underneath is a must. Also, make sure to insulate the tub when you install it. This can be accomplished through various methods, spray in or otherwise. The easiest is just to use unbacked fiberglass matting. Insulating the tub keeps the tub water warmer longer and also provides sound deadening (it helps to get rid of the cheap, hollow, plinking sound of water hitting fiberglass/acrylic). 4. For a surround, definitely go with tile rather than your acrylic/fiberglass stalls/etc and make sure to take the tile all way to the ceiling. The tile will make the space seem more luxurious and by taking it to the ceiling it adds a feeling of expansiveness/quality that just improves the shower experience. 5. Shower spout should be mounted at a minimum of 78 inches high. The valve/controls should be between 32 and 36 inches. Any higher and it becomes difficult to reach when in the tub and any lower and taller people will end up stooping to reach it. 6. Do not use glass doors for a tub/shower combo. It is a hard surface that will restrict the space and make the shower experience feel too closed in. With a tub preventing the glass from extending to the floor visually, they also lose a lot of their aesthetic appeal over how they appear in a walk-in shower. Instead, use a curved shower rod. It will help to widen the shower space. You can shower without feeling you will be bumping the shower curtain. Use double shower hooks that allow you to hang a curtain and liner on separate hooks (Moen makes really nice double hooks). These greatly simplify the hanging and removal of the curtains for cleaning and make shower curtains much more livable. (As an aside: This may be common knowledge, but when using a liner, unless you love splashing water outside the tub, the liner goes out when bathing, and in when showering. Bathwater should be kept pretty shallow for kids, which will help keep the water in the tub and is safer.) From my own experience, I love showering in my tub/shower. It is basically the equivalent of a 3x5 shower and it feels like it is inside. The only difference is that I have to step over the tub to get in and out, but it is low enough and narrow enough to not be bothersome. My wife loves the giant bathing space that is the equivalent to most garden tubs in interior width and length, if not depth (but still deeper than the typical, basic bathtub).