Thanks for the smart points about rain, klem. And I agree -- there are just so many options, and people are so opinionated about those options, that it's hard to know what to do. My biggest concern remains the weather and how that will affect things, but I know that's a local issue. Maybe I should walk around the neighborhood and survey some people with porches about the sun and the temp, etc. Without adding any new information, my wife and I are divided on what to do -- she thinks just screening it is fine, but I think it would be really nice to have glass for the late fall / winter. If we had to decide today, I think we would either do simple / cheap modern storm windows (which could be opened to the screen on the bottom half during the summer) or do something a bit more adventurous. What I'm thinking on the adventurous front is to screen it in, but do it in a way where there's space to add the old-style wooden storm windows later -- just simple single-pane units that slide into the windo frames and attach with this: http://www.houseofantiquehardware.com/screen-hooks-storm-sash-window-hanger?sc=12&category=91 . The main thing would be attaching the screen on the inside of the frames, or at least creating an outside sill deep enough for the storm windows to nestle within it and still be flush on the outside. Then we could remove the storm windows and store them in the garage during the summer (though that wouldn't help with rainstorms you mention). Does that make any sense? If we did that, we could see how we like the screen in the spring and summer, but add the glass later in an affordable and removable fashion. I haven't seen many people try this, but I think we could build the storm frames and get the glass cut by a local shop. Basically we would recreate something like this company's product: http://chicagogreenwindows.com/storm-window-primer/

Regarding the caulk option: The wood absorbs and releases moisture as the weather changes, which causes the boards to grow and shrink along their width. If you fill in the gaps when the boards are in their shrunken state, they'll have no room to grow and they'll cup or crown. If you fill in the gaps when the boards are in their expanded state, the gaps will open up when the boards shrink. Open gaps between the boards also provides extra air flow around the boards, which helps regulate moisture levels in the wood and minimizes the amount of growth/shrinkage. However, a covered porch is protected somewhat, which is why you can get away with tongue and groove boards that don't have any gap spacing. I still wouldn't recommend caulk between regular deck boards; I just don't see it looking good or holding up over time. I don't know how much an under-deck roof would cost, but if you're balking at the price of a screen, I can't imagine a roof would be less expensive. Plus, a roof would restrict the amount of air flow under your deck boards, which might pose a problem similar to what I described above. If it were my deck, I'd add screening underneath. If you put individual sheets of screening between the joists, it should minimize the visual impact. Alternatively, you could replace your existing deck with tongue and groove boards to eliminate the gaps entirely.

Grover any chance you can show me what it would look like with no railing and pulling the left side of the steps a bit more to the left (towards the end of the window) i was just looking at greige color schemes and I’m feeling super over whelmed. looks like a darker warm brown with a light grey compliments and contrasts with each (went through your color schemes) so now im thinking... the silver traverntine for the top of the steps and the top of the porch with a more brown stack stone color for the pillar, and light post? Or should I reverse it? Make a darker slate for the top of the porch/steps and a lighter grey with warm tones for the stack stone? God... I’m going crazy

Have you already broken ground, or are you still in planning stages? Hard to give specific advice without seeing your floorplan and elevation drawings, but here are some general thoughts in response to your questions: 1) if the foundation hasn't yet been poured, the builder can pour a wall across the outside edge of the patio (I'm assuming your patio will be in a U-shaped alcove like in the picture above). Then the void underneath is filled with 3/4" clean gravel, and the patio is poured and tied into the wall with rebar. It's also possible to drill into the foundation wall and "pin" the patio to the house with rebar. The issue is that as the backfill settles, you get the sort of big voids that critters love. 2) In many cases, your builder gets better pricing from subs because of the volume of business they do with them. That said, unless it's a ginormous area you're probably talking a price difference in the hundreds of dollars on concrete. If you're doing stone or pavers, the builder's guys are not always the best. 3) A year? We find that the area around the foundation of a new home continues to settle for 5-7 years. There are a couple of ways you can have the patio built where settling isn't an issue. You can excavate all the way to the house footer (undisturbed soil) and backfill with gravel all the way up to where you need to pour the patio, Or, the contractor can dig to the house footer and either pour concrete support piers with sonotubes, or they can build support walls. In either case, the patio slab is tied to those supports with rebar. 4) Depends on what the wall behind the stone will bear on. If you do a lick and stick veneer stone over concrete board screwed to a stud frame lagged into the deck posts (and a nailer on the house walls) you should be fine. But if you try to do something that bears on the ground, you'll have the same settling issues - unless, again, you dig all the way down to the house footer. Stuff like this is why I suggest hiring a landscape designer long before the house is built :) It's not that the builder is doing anything shady, they just try and stay within what they're comfortable with.