My BC is a 12 x 16 ft. "Anniversary" model and I chose both a white frame and curved roof for asthetic reasons, as it will be a feature in my garden. However, we often get heavy wet snows here, so having a roof that will encourage snow to slide off on its own may prove practical too. I ordered it with roof vents, then added 12" power vents and a fan that will be operated off a single line to a thermostat control. I was given to understand that white was better for very hot climates, but also know that deserts can get quite cool at night, so can't comment on which color might be best for you. But I would bet your local S&WCD and/or Univ. Ag. Extension people would, and if you aren't already in contact with them, you should, because few people can or will give you as much genuine expert counsel specific to your area weather and soil conditions for free. (Well, okay: not free, but you might as well get the most bang from your tax bucks.) I will also be installing a 52" ceiling fan, and with a 12" door drop, the roof purlins will be high enough to serve as braces for ceiling joists that will run across the width of the GH and serve as mounting frames for both the fan and lights that will be below the blades, to avoid the strobe effect. I will be heating with natural gas and will order my heater from ACF in the next week or so, but it will be a Sterling, upon the insistance of our H/AC pro., who it delcared superior to Modine, and it's tublar heat exchanger the best choice for a GH. We are constructing upon 2 high, 4 X 6 treated timbers, set upright on concrete footers, and will cap them with lengths of radius edged cedar 1 x 6s. We will miter the corners on the cedar, and router edge the ends by the door to match the outer edges. The cedar caps will extend out over the sides of the 4 x 6s, to form a sort of sill. I needed to come up with a means to get around the copper-alum. conflict, and the cedar cap will accomplish that goal while adding a nice finishing touch to the appearance of the base. I would have liked to go with Nathan's deep down foam scheme for insulation, but can't, so will use his under and out, with 2" Type 250 foam under the floor and 2" Type 150 against the inside of the base, down 3 ft., and out 2 ft. from the outside of the base. We are on hydric soil here and drainage is always a consideration, so we will slope the outside foam down a bit. Our water was already in place to a freeze proof garden faucet that will now be inside the GH, close to a 50 gal. sump pit with a pump, that will drain into a long, also below freeze line gray water drain. I haven't yet decided on a misting-drip system, as we are still in the construction phase of the foundation, but am planning water lines running the length of the GH, with Ts off to the sides every 4 ft. and down, to faucets set just above the plant tables. We thought about laying the water lines under the floor, but have decided not to, to keep them accessable. Ditto electrical lines. I HATE extension cords and will not have any, but also need to allow for plugs for tank heaters and lights and timers, as my GH will be as much a fish room as a plant haven. We will run 12-3 outdoor wire through pvc; the same for water and another for air, as my big air pumps run at least 3000 gallons each, so I'll likely have only one in service at a time. I bought a 5 gal. point of use electric water heater for my sink, which will be mounted on an 8 ft. wide cedar base against the back wall, above the sump. Our weather has been miserable for months, so it threw our schedule off, but we finally have the footers in and will cut the 4 x 6's tomorrow. Then, I get them stained, sealed and ready to bolt down. I'm still making decisions about some of the details, but know they will reveal themselves as we go, such as my need for shade cloths. But I was also determined to make the major decisions before we laid the foundation, as retrofitting is a PITA and at our age, time is the real enemy. One our heirs just called, to tell me to spend it, so I think I'll just order the vent and power intake screens and not drive my poor hubby nuts trying fabricate them. I too appreciate the comfort and insulating properties of rubber stall/trailer mats and thought of using them, but they are just too heavy for me to handle alone anymore, so will stick to lighter weight mats, like the foam ones that fit together like jigsaw puzzles. But I've also decided to use glazed quarry tile on the floor, laid on cement board atop the 2" Type 250 foam over about 6 inches of compacted limestone screenings, sloped a bit to a center floor drain, connected to the sump. I figured I might as well have my GH floor look as pretty and be as easy to keep clean as the mud room in the house and believe it or not; glazed quarry tile is cheaper than those cement patio pavers that crumble on the edges every time you step on them. You asked if my GH came with anything. It came with exactly what I ordered, but the best thing it came with may have been Kyle. I can't stress that enough, because if you read some of the posts about the problems so many people are having with mass produced erector sets from Harbor Freight, for me at least, being able to just ring up the mfg. has already made all the difference with what is after all, a rather complicated and somewhat pricey DIY project. If money were truly no object; I could have been in Aruba while a contractor did it all, then come home to a completed plant and fish palace. If you are asking for any advice, it would be for you to sit down and determine exactly how much you are prepared to spend on the total; then crunch your numbers to see what you must have to be able to use your GH, and what you simply want in addition, and decide which is which. If you rationalize it, a garden GH is a purely want, not a need, so when you are done, it should be whatever gives you the most pleasure your wallet can support. I recall the old joke about the fellow who goes to his garden center to buy everything he needs to grow tomatoes, from tools, bags of fancy soil, cages, fertilizer and tomato plants; spending a pile of $ in the process. As he is leaving, he asks the clerk when his tomatoes will be ready to eat, and the clerk replies: "Oh, right about when they will be Five Cents a pound at the farm stands."

Yes, Express Pool Plastering does work in Sugarland. There is some aversion to doing work in Sugarland by some contractors because the city can be a pain in the neck to deal with. This IS the busy season for pool builders, but a PB should still be responsive and return calls promptly. I am guilty of not checking this forum as often as I should, but I am still here and ready to offer advice, help or whatever. If you are in the Houston area, here are a couple of things to keep in mind: PebbleTec can only be applied by two companies here - Modern Method and Adams Pool Plastering. They have been trained and certified in the application. No one else can offer you PebbleTec. Pebble Tec has 3 products: PebbleTec, Pebble Sheen and Pebble Fina. The first 2 have a ten year warranty and are very good products, although the most expensive choice. PebbleTec are larger pebbles. Pebble Sheen is smaller pebbles that are buffed to a smoother finish. Pebble Fina is has a 5 yr warranty and has pebble "dust" rather than pebbles. Some PBs will tell you they are giving you PebbleTec, but it is actually one of the other products out there that sprung up after PebbleTec. WetEdge Technologies is an offspring of PebbleTec and is similar. WetEdge has Primera Stone, Pearl Matrix (large pebbles), Satin Matrix (small pebbles), Altima and Luna Quartz. This product also is applied by only certified technicians. In Houston, those authorized applicators are Express Pool Plastering, UNO plastering and one other that escapes me at the moment. Wet Edge is less expensive than PebbleTec. There is one major PB in Houston and some others that are including a white pebble plaster applied by UNO. UNO is a good company, but this pebble is actually applied like a quartz product and not the same as a true Satin Matrix. It is mixed and applied differently. I don't know how it holds up and have nothing negative to say about it except to warn that it is not the same as the real thing. Anytime your PB offers you a plaster with their company name in it, you can probably be sure it is some special mix to get the price down to the PB. Diamond Brite is good, but expensive. I don't care for Quartzscapes because it is mixed onsite (unlike Diamond brite which comes premixed) and I have found the color to be inconsistent. It is a lot cheaper than Diamond Brite. My opinion only...

Oh my god!!! same as we had. we had three neighbors one an ex-cop and their 11 year of daughter all watched as Alex and his buddy carried off my Travertine 19 pieces of pool coping. Gary and his son Tom called me a liar and told other customers I was a crazy Anaheim hills lady making wild accusations. They covered it up, but eventually had to admit and replace the travertine. 6 months of stress and aggravation and tears, but eventually the pain stopped and they left. It didn't need to be this way. We put cameras in after that! The cement guy did not use rebar and everything cracked within days everywhere...they also tried not to put the drains in around the pool. Check their work...the drains have to be connected...mine were not....we pulled up chairs and sat down and made them redo the drains. They still missed one. I am so sorry that you are going through this too. They took all the joy out of my pool for me. Don't use their pool start up guy Fred. Pick your own. He charged me $375 to pour two bottles of muradic acid into my pool. Apparently that is start up. Do it yourself.

Let's put down the flags for a moment. I think the core nations of continental Western Europe - the Nordic countries down to a line formed by France, Switzerland, Austria, and very intentionally excluding the UK- set a standard the US may never attain. In what ways? The people are better educated, there's less poverty, the streets are much safer and there's less crime, public health care is at a higher and broader standard, government services and infrastructure are better and more comprehensive, and on and on. If you don't think so, that's fine. If you haven't experienced it yourself by living there, I'd say you don't know enough to comment. The US is a pretty good country but I think for quality of life measurements, we're not a leader. International surveys and assessments taken and published from time to time confirm that. I agree with chloecat, we also hope to spend increasingly more time there. My wife and I have spoken about moving back now that we're retired but it's impractical at the moment given the location of family members. Comparing an impoverished African nation or any other Third World place to any industrialized country will always lead to the same conclusion, whether it's the US or another one.