Fivefootzero: Is your pictured rod realy a traverse rod or is it a decorator rod? On my monitor yours looks like a beautiful rod but one where you open and close your draperies by hand - one side at a time. It's a cord-tension pulley system attached to the wall that makes a rod a traverse rod. Pulling on the cords moves both flanking panels open or closed at the same time.

You are getting so much good advice here--wish I'd known of all these options when I was out searching. Just buy everything you think you'll need and a little bit more. There are different finishes and you want the rod and rings to all be the same style and finish. The purpose of the fling rod is just to open and close your drapes without touching the drapes with your hand--like they have in hotels. It does nothing to the rod itself which would not happen from the rings going back and forth over time on the rod. Rubbing off the finish could happen with any rod, though I would not worry about it. If it did, I'd just touch up with a rust-o-leum product. You may be over thinking it--saying from someone who over thinks everything. The rod I liked was not in stock and so I had to wait about a week for it to come in and then they only had limited qualtities of the rings. The quantity of rings you need is dependent on your drapes. As mine are pinch pleats I needed one per pleat plus 2 more for each end. Drapery hooks I bought at JC Pennies, though could probably get at Lowes as well. End treatment was the most difficult but chelone, a poster here who I believe makes drapery for a living, told me what to do at that time.

Hanging drapery rods, by even a HANDYMAN is a few hundred dollar endeavor. Ask the contractor to credit you back in the form of a check. It will cost MORE to patch and re do/paint when they end in the wrong spot by a few inches too high, or too low. I FEEL for your frustration, and the sorrow of a fire. But you are going to end with a do over. The very bad news? My bet is the drapes return from the cleaners and the scent of smoke is still very much THERE,. My sister lived through this, the cleaners.........even coats could not be salvaged . They still reeked. Fire is a nightmare. It just is horrible. Ask him to credit you the rod install. Please. It is dependent on the curtain, the header, the rings, the drop of that ring.. It is the why and how of pros who install drapery for a living. The curtains, the rods, the rings, the brackets,the finials, THE CURTAINS..............all must be on site and together, for a decent install. Ask for the credit , a check to YOU. Or a written promise to return when you have all together on site. The ps to all of this? There really is no such thing as "full replacement coverage." Is not.

26ft is a very low number. Are you sure about that? Are you building on slab? What is your plan between floors - typical is 18 or 24 inches. With a slab, it really should be 24 inches - for HVAC ductwork primarily. So 12 ft 1st floor, 2 ft between floors, 9 ft second floor is 23ft. That would make for a pretty flat roof. I am used to somewhere around 38ft as a limit - and bumping up against it if memory serves - on a 2 story house. But where you call the "top" varies as is where you call the base. Are there houses in your county with 12 ft ceilings on 1st floor? As far as "shame" you out of something, I don't think being deliberate about a decision is a bad idea. I do think you don't see many 2 story houses with 12 ft ceilings - I have never seen one that I can recall - for a reason. And mind you, I had 11 in 1/2 my first floor. It was designed so the master suite had a few steps to get there separate from the main staircase. And the master suite was above the 11 ft area. We have 9 ft upstairs. You mentioned 8 ft doors. We have 7 ft. Try to imagine your door casing and crown molding. They would have to fit in that 12 inches and not looked crammed. In my area, most grand houses have a decent size crown. Not sure that would look right. I agree that the big transition to 6'8" doors is a bit much also. Curious where you are building because I like to learn about regional trends and I also have my guess and want to see if I am right.