Well, good thing it's growing season, right? How long do you plan on staying in this place? Ask the landlord if you can take the cost off the rent if you plant grass...go with bermudagrass. It grows fast, fast, FAST, and since you won't be buying this place, you don't have to worry about it. It's going to eventually come up anyway. It's indestructible. Bad part is, it dies down in the winter, but it still holds the sand in place while it's doing it. Just want to tell you though, that if you live in FL, you are going to have weeds and sand..it's just the way it is. The sand comes in from everywhere. It doesn't matter how much grass you have, sand will blow into your house at some point. They say dust is made from dead skin cells. With all the elderly people here, I guess that explains why there is so much. (no offense, I'm contributing to that dust too!)

Sure, Build.com and other sites sell them. Found one in about two minutes. Here But they are not going to work for a sloped ceiling. No one probably makes one that swivels like you would need for that application. Heat in a radiant form, as in a light bulb heater, travels in a straight line and you will be heating whatever surface the ceiling pitch has the bulb pointing at. You need to build out a triangular box to put the fixture in. You can drywall it so that it is not as obvious as mine was. It is not a great picture, but in the upper left side of the photo you can see the maple triangular box that gives my light fixture a level surface to hang on.

The red dots are just where I am assuming I need a light. I havent decided on pendants, recessed, etc yet. I've got double hung windows that will have have about 5 inches of wall above, plus maybe 4-5 inches of trim. I'm not sure how low the lights can hang there, but I do really like the look of pendants. I don't have a lighting budget decided yet, but will likely go with more budget friendly options on things that can easily be changed down the road in 5 or 10 years when I may be itching to change things up a little bit. I dont want to spend more than necessary, but will invest in quality XYZ if it will save us time and money in the long run. I do like the style of lighting in that first pic, and I also like schoolhouse pendants. My house is a 1905-1911 (unsure of when it was built!) American foursquare. The chandelier in the dining room, has been here since at least 1950.. I really want to pick lighting that compliments my kitchen choices and the era of the house and also make sure I have plenty of lighting in the right areas. I am going for an "evolved over 100 years" mix of old and new and am open to ANY suggestions. Thanks!!

Hi PondNovice The 4500 for me has been ok so far. This is my 3rd summer and it has seen 2 winters. I hope I will not bombard you with info, but here goes.... Definely use pond water to clean the sponges as it reduces any determintal affect on the good bacteria within the filter. The fresh tap water you have been using will contain chlorine which can kill the friendly bacteria. The bacteria forms a 'biofilm' or slimely coating on the plastic shapes right at the bottom of the filter below the sponges. Don't clean these bits of plastic, I think mine are blue. This will ensure the levels of toxic nitrites (given off as waste from fish) are converted to nitrates which the plants use as fertilizer. I might have got the -ites and -ates round the wrong way! long time since A-level biology! For maintence basicly buy a new full set of sponges every year ~£13-15, they clog up quicker the older they get. BE CAREFUL: There are 2 versions of bioforce 4500, they revised the model design slightly around 2001-2. The versions have different sponges with respect to the hole in the middle of them. I think the later version has a bigger hole to accomodate the UV section. Also, replce the UV light bulb every year. They only have a 12 month useful output. Keep the quartz housing clean hrough the summer as only 60% of the UV gets through a clean quartz so a coating of algea makes it almost not worth having it on. BE CAREFUL when changing the UV light bulb. My unit developed a leak in March when I changed mine. See my last post on this thread. The only reason I noticed I had a leak into the electrical wiring of the UV unit was the RCD device light. Which was off. I tried powering up but it kept flicking off. DEFINELY have a RCD for both the UV light and the pump or anything electrical that is in contact with the pond water. I could go on for ages. Please ask if anything is not clear. May the force be with you. Groan Mark