Should I have to ask the contractor to take the capacitor & start kit back or is this something he should suggest himself? I guess I have a bit of a trust issue as he has never suggested replacing the worn out compressor; just jumped in suggesting a new system. I don't even know what a new compressor should cost. We have another contractor coming out this afternoon to give us an estimate but as my husband works out of town during the week & I'll have to deal with this, I am trying to learn what I can so I can know what questions to ask & whether or not what I'm being told is legit. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Well sure, nobody can predict the future. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try! Our first home was intended to be short term. It was in an area with questionable schools, but we didn't have kids yet. Our plan was to be there 5-10 years and move before we had a kid in kindergarten. We were there seven years and moved when our eldest was four. Our second/current home was intended to last us "until the kids were in college" but we lacked the foresight to know we'd LOSE OUR EVER-LOVIN' MINDS and decide to have two more kids. And we realized when our dog developed a disability that it's extremely unfriendly to the mobility-impaired. (Plus side: she weighed 100 lbs so we got a LOT of exercise the last year of her life. :/) So we're moving forward and applying what we've learned over the years towards our best guess is about what will work for us. What more can you do? Important to note: I've come to love this plan (which isn't very bright, not yet knowing if the BRs will fit upstairs yet, but what can you do?) The only reason I wanted a first floor master was for eventual mobility issues (3/4 of our parents have health problems which make stairs difficult), not because I want my bedroom on the main floor now. The major drawback to the rough sketch we started with http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4345095/floorplan-feedback-very-early-stage is a lack of playroom space on the main level which means, IME, all the toys will end up in the living room. A main level master would make an excellent playroom/craft room. It's close enough to the action that it would actually get used, plus there's a door. At this point the biggest drawback I see is the possibility that both we and an elderly parent might need to avoid stairs in which case either a small guest room on the main or planning for a future elevator might be a good idea. (Could whoever has the crystal ball please pass it my way?)

Yes, you can build a nice little working greenhouse from old windows. We did a 10x16 one about 15 years ago and I am still using it. Here it is in it's original configeration...All windows were wood framed salvage material. We cleaned them up, removed all old hardware. The roof windows are old double glazed, french doors. They were tempered glass. The side windows were old single glaze, storm windows. The north side did not have many windows and all solid walls were insulated. There is an automatic roof vent and a small exhaust fan on a thermostat. It is wired for electricity but I use a 50 gallon barrel filled from a hose as my water supply. I used to keep it modestly heated in the winter and covered it with a clear solar pool cover for those months.Because most of the windows were already 100 years old and the french doors were never meant to be roofing material, after a dozen years there began to be some rot. We did a major renovation of the south side roof and front wall. I found 2 used commercial skylights for $25 and bought some used modern vinyl windows from a salvage yard...a couple of them open and have screens. The building is still very useful as a greenhouse and also retains heat better now.

anglo, I'm the family tech support department. My kids are grown and out of the house now, but over the years, I've "supported" Macs, iphones, ipods and the ipad. Supporting involves using them when necessary to resolve problems. I was the one who needed to set up network (not just wifi) connections to a Windows system when a kid wanted to transfer school files to the family backup system. It was nearly impossible and much too hard. I debugged update problems, user problems, other hardware and software issues. I'm also in Silicon Valley and have a closer exposure to Apple and things and people in the Apple world than people elsewhere might have. Apple makes excellent hardware and software but I would call it on a par with its competitors on other platforms, not superior to. What they do excel at is creating marketing excitement and buzz, and passing out Kool-Aid to users to make them think they are in a special place when they use Apple products and convince them their products are worth premium prices. I have nothing against Apple products and I admire the company for what it's done to get to where it is. Personally, I think their products are overrated. I really dislike the inflexibility of their stuff compared to what can be done in the PC and Android worlds and I'm happy to not have to use any of it on a regular basis. Apple customers are maybe the happiest customers I can think of (considering other consumer products) and for that, both they and the company get what they want. I'm completely understanding of that. But it's not for me. PS - I have two grand-kids under 5, both of whom use iPads from time to time. The units are in padded, bunker-like protective cases. Both were told - you have to be gentle with these. If you break it by dropping or throwing it, it will be gone and never fixed. There have been no problems.