Hi everyone, Many thanks for the feedback. My HVAC person also suggested that there are thermostats that monitor humidity as well as temp and kick on accordingly. He thinks that the a/c can handle dehumidification but is recommending a steam humidifier for the winter. Seriously considered radiant heat under the floor. Concern is that b/c the floor is "floating" only a minimal amt of heat will make it up into the room. To crank the temp of the radiant high enough to heat the room may jeopardize the maple floor. Natural gas IS available for heat. Thanks, too, for the reminder that mini-splits may not address ventilation/air exchange needs. Hadn't focused on that when considering the mini-splits. Any other thoughts? Sounds like geothermal, if sized right, may be the way to go. Any preferences between Water Furnace Envision, Comfort Aire or ClimateMaster TE049? These are the three pieces of equipment the contractors have given me quotes on. The heat pump they are quoting is a 4 ton, 2-stage Lennox system.

I love the idea of sports at all levels in schools. It would be fantastic for all involved. However, it would require a vast change in the coaching staff! At present, most of the coaches I know are frustrated, washed out wanabe jocks (only one recent exception!). I have a son, brilliant boy, rising Sr. He CHOSE to drop out of track giving up pole-vaulting, a sport he loves because the head coach "sucked the life and fun" out of it. The boy volunteered to do any other jump event, offered to run hurdles or sprints if needed by the team; the head coach insisted in running him in the distance events. The boy found no joy in long distance, and the field had plenty of participants. When my son asked why long distance and not the other events he was told "because that is what you want to do and you need to learn I'm in charge". So, he ran the event once, using it as a warm up rather than trying to WIN. The next assult/insult was refusing to allow the boy to attend the study sessions for his 8 AP tests. To this he was told "the commitment to track should be before your academic goals". NO! I must say at this point the jump coach took my son aside and told him to come back next year, coaching staff would be different and he would welcome him back with open arms AND "if you need any assistance with your review or someone to go over any information with, call me". I can honestly say we are all looking forward to the next track season!

The pickleball court surface does NOT have to be impermeable!! I have designed any number of sports courts for landscaping clients and only one that I can recall had a water impervious surfacing to it. I'm also not sure how one can come to the conclusion that the OP does not have sufficient space to accomodate a half size, multipurpose sports court. They clearly indicated the size of the court they were contemplating.......

Oh Oly, we share the same type of grandson, both with kind souls and not interested in sports. He's 11 & still kisses me when no one's looking. :) Small town school but not too small. My two boys played baseball from Little League through high school. We only have baseball and basketball. DS1 has a boy and a girl, the girl is 9 and is the athlete in the family, she just finished basketball, and softball begins soon. She is fast as a whip, DGS is not. DGS has no interest in sports, he did two years of T-ball and although he was decent it wasn't his thing. But the kid is smart and inherited his dad's engineering brain, which they both got from my dad but it skipped me. lol DGS is winning blue ribbons (2 in February!) with things he's built out of Lego's, & he also gets to go to the Lego conferences out of town, which is through school. He's flourishing in Quiz Bowl and today he's one of the finalists in another town competing. His parents don't care that he's not in sports which makes me happy. IMO, kids with kind souls need to be nurtured, not pushed. KWIM? He still plays like a little boy, has lots of friends and they don't care if he plays sports or not. Oh, building friendships now is important. He's a great Kayacker which he learned at day camp in the summers, so I guess that's a sport. Even if our GS's did play sports it doesn't make them immune from bullying, or being a bad player, etc. The boy's self-esteem comes first. My gut tells me the boys probably do wish they could play but they know deep down they probably wouldn't be as good as the other boys. During basketball season for DGD she was a knockout on the court, getting all kinds of accolades from the family, and it worried me that her brother would never get the same attention. But he is, by the other things he does. He even got his two 1st plafce blue ribbon crafts in our local paper! Glory, he got some glory. One last thing, our grandsons are still young and maybe someday they'll want to play a school sport. It's never too late unless it's a huge school where you have to try out.