that could be a really cute looking farmhouse. I'd go w/that style. as you can see, the porch is a big visual attration w/these homes. you can decide if you want to do cedar posts or paint them, a wood deck porch, or paint, and of course when you get around to landscaping, that will be 50% of the look. the last pic is perfect for your home. you could always think about doing the metal roof portion on the lower part if if comes to it. No shutters. concentrate on making the porch look colorful and inviting w/plants, hanging flowers, maybe a porch swing. paint the ceiling of the porch a Haint Blue, bring in some diff lighting, perhaps a new door. A Dutch door would be perfect in a pretty color board and batten would be nice if you can swing it. you could do a board and batten siding (if you plan on replacing what's there) or do a combo of both board batten siding, cedar porch ceiling, pendant light, cedar posts this one is similar to yours, but has the gable roof. see the board and batten? you could do the whole upper story in this. or, the whole house

Earwigs are not causing this ... but they love cool dark holes and decaying plant material, so a hole in a tree is perfect in their books. I couldn't tell you what did cause the hole, though, or how much of an issue it poses. I would trim the peeling bark, so it doesn't continue to pull off and strip the tree further. Just use a sterilized sharp knife (x-acto knife or boxcutter is fine). A bigger issue that I see, or rather don't see, is the root flare. I think your tree may be planted too deeply. Remove mulch and soil from around the base until you find where the trunk starts to flare out ... that should be at the surface level, not buried.

Hallett and co//your deck, Dark Hickory, is GORGEOUS, thanks for posting the picture. It is so helpful to hear from someone with the same product (though different color). Maureen, thanks for another example of a more weathered looking deck. I agree the black railing is elegant and less obtrusive.

In my opinion, never use a time and materials contract for anything other than small jobs. They are outlawed for remodeling projects in some states because they are so likely to be abused (unfortunately Washington allows them). It is difficult to advise on the next step. Generally, in a time and materials contract the charged time must be reasonable, which means the contractor can charge for the time it takes for a reasonable contractor to complete the work correctly. They still can't charge time or materials for things like correcting their mistakes. If you believe the contractor billed a reasonable amount for the items they finished then you will simply need to find another contractor to take over the job. If you feel the contractor overbilled for the work, then that is a whole other mess and you will need to consider whether it is worth your effort to attempt to recover some of that loss, it typically isn't, but sometimes it can be worth a bit of effort to get some partial recovery. At any rate, sticking with this contractor should not be your preferred option.