"With the air tight IC recessed light cans you should still build air sealed enclosures around them because they leak a lot apparently. LEDs are a great choice for these locations especially without enclosures as they have a weaker "mini chimney" effect." in all my projects new and existing I've found many ways to seal IC cans. retrofit with inserts. then seal housing to sheetrock ceiling...from inside the house before putting trim kits in place. even 'air tight' trims don't stop the oversized cuts in sheetrock from leaking. I use a mastic tape made by Hardcast #1402 for all my holes in ceiling. more on this later. this seal described above is the best with no measurable air leakage. building boxes..maintaining the 4" air space on all sides & top of can light..also works, cheaper cost..harder install. problem is the 'legs' of the can lights that are attached to ceiling joists & properly sealing around them. this is where the air leakage occurs. I never use foam..because it shrinks over time, you have little control over where it goes & unless it is fire rated..shouldn't be next to heat producing areas. and yeah..I'm overly cautious about this. this method can be well done..and still leaky. foam installs I've seen online in videos put fg batts around recessed lights and foam them. I don't like this at all, and it is never done on my jobs. best of all is to use ICAT only, and use the hardcast tape to seal the cut between housing & sheetrock. Hardcast brand mastic tape #1402 is a 3" wide strong mastic tape. I perfer it over any other brand on the market. cut it into 1 1/2" wide strips and use it in full width depending on size of opening to be sealed. sticks to just about any clean dry surface...to the point of pulling paper off sheetrock if you try to remove it. so use it carefully. opeings at bath fans, supply boxes, stove vents, recessed lights..I use hardcast. use it once..and you'll understand why. not the cheapest on the market @ $22- $35 per 100' roll. but absolutely great stuff. while it is hard to describe the sealing of supply boxes with hardcast from inside the house..a picture shows it well. I'll attach one to this post. flgargoyle .. foil bubble foil is an overpriced product that performs no better than the cheaper radiant barriers. in my house with a tin roof..I have a single sided foil scrim fraft paper like what is used for ductwrap. I used button cap nails to attach it to the undersides of my rafters. with gable end vents..and 3 hurricanes later I've had to do a little repair on it..but it was worth the few bucks it cost me & the 2 mornings it took to install. good benefit in summer little to none in winter. my attic has fg batts on attic floor, one layer in joist bays the other unfaced layer laid across joists. no ducts, no equipment no recessed lights and a damn near perfect air barrier from living to attic space. ducts are in fur downs inside living space, vs air handler in side living space also. a bit over sized @ 2 tons with an whole house april air dehumidifier..also in conditined space. 4" media filter at return. 15SEER unit the addition I re-roofed last summer, batts in rafter bays 1" R-7 foil foam sheating lathes & gavalnized tin. as rafter/ceiling joists are 2x4 (yeah...go figure) the batts are R-13 with the R-7 gives me R-21 for this large bedroom. prior to this install the room was used for storage as it was too hot in summer & too cold in winter and too expensive & uncomfortable to use. with radiant barriers there always has to be a mininum of a 3/4" air space. thus the lathes on top of foil foam board under tin in addition & opposite install in big attic with rb under rafters with foil facing into attic space. gotta run...but wanted to share my take on things. oh here is the pic of the supply sealed from inside the house with hardcast tape. best of luck

Marvin Ultimate is a wood frame rather than fiberglass. Its more expensive than Integrity overall and there are mixed signals about the longevity of cased wood windows versus fiberglass or vinyl. Marvin is as a whole is very highly regarded tho and they are the producer of both lines. The Ultimates have more customization options over fiberglass Integrity. There is just some things you can't easily do with fiberglass as compared to wood. For example, our home is going to have some gothic arch top windows. I couldn't get them in Integrity and had to again go Ultimate for those particular windows. And believe me, they aren't cheap (probably due to the custom gothic radius). But the outer colors coordinate between Ultimate and Integrity so it will hopefully be a flawless mix. Windows aren't installed just yet or I'd post pics. I wouldn't believe white painted interior on the wood ultrex would be any less clean looking than all ultrex assuming whoever is painting knows what they are doing. I'd definitely track down a showroom and compare the two lines side by side. With the Wood ultrex its just a more classic looking window profile I think. The all ultrex is quite plain and almost, I dunno, cheap looking in comparison. Its definitely the more durable option tho, no paint to scratch (although the fiberglass can be painted) or wood surface to ding... Its a judgement call for you really. The Ultimate sliders come in 4 panel yes, in 10, 12 and 16 feet wide it looks like straight out of the catalogue. OXXO configuration so the 2 middle sections open to form one opening and net clear openings here listed in my catalogue lead me to believe if both are open, there is no obstruction in the center. The 12' wide one has a net clear opening value of 57 7/16" (or 59 for the non french door) The ultimate sliders have 2 versions..basic patio door and french door. The french door version has wider rails framing the glass, to mimic the look of a french door. The basic version has more glass area and thinner rails so if you go that route make sure you choose the model you prefer To throw more choices your way they do also have these in 3 panel like the integrity but in greater widths. I see here a 12' three panel as well if you just want one active slider but a little wider than the 3foot operator of the 9 wide integrity..lol What you should be looking for to find out how drafty these types of doors are in order to compare them to each other is air infiltration values. Unfortunately with Marvin these can be a bit of a hassle to come by but you could take numbers from a similar manufacturers slider and compare it to your lanai or bifold doors to maybe get a rough idea.

Hmm - so one is up to R-12.5 and the other one does not list an R value that I can find. So where is the R20 window? There is essentially zero solar heat transfer into a north facing window in the winter. There might be a few scattered BTUs reflecting off the lake. But generally close enough to zero that it certainly isn't "outperforming" a R30 wall. A south window is different of course. And we are talking about the Midwest which isn't really known for its sunny winter days. Now, the other issue is the cost. Does anyone have a quote on a say 10x10 foot wall of windows in quad pane? May be worth it, maybe not. Sometimes posters here have antiquated ideas about heating costs with modern equipment/materials- I can get on board with that. But windows are pretty bad generally when it comes to heat loss. Most people are going to pay $10k for the extra panes on large windows. But some might. Trimming the bottom 3 feet off the window is a LOT cheaper. Blinds don't stop the majority of unwanted heat transfer in on a West or East facing window. South is not nearly as much of an issue with overhangs.

Al: Gorgeous garden, what are the yellow roses in your pics? Also what type of soil do you have: loamy, sandy, or clay? What's the lowest layer of your soil? Thank you. I try to UP my winter-survival, lost many roses in poor-drainage clay. At first I felt bad, but many street trees here (N. Aurora) also died through freezing rain & poor drainage clay in my area. Now I spend at least 1 hour digging a hole, after testing for drainage by dumping a 5-gallon bucket of water. I have rock-hard clay above, with yellowish rocks & sticky & hard clay below that water can't drain fast enough for our heavy rain. Small comfort: Here in alkaline clay I have very little blackspots & no spray compared to my last garden of acidic clay in Glen Ellyn.