I agree, the gutters and downspouts to keep the water away from the foundation is the 1st and most important step As for the materials and prep method to get the old stone and mortar foundation ready for a coating power washing and wet vac small areas at time is a good way to go provided everything is out of the basement and the extra water is not an issue. Otherwise a wire brush attached to a pole and a stiff bristle brush to clean the walls prior to coating application is a must. As for the materials, Hydro-Seal 75 & Hydro-Seal 75 Mortar which is made by adding Concrete sand Mix to the Hydro-Seal 75. We seal the walls first by brushing and rolling as much as we can using the 1st coat of Hydro-Seal 75 as a bonding coat for our Hydro-Seal Mortar. Then we pack all the holes and voids with the Hydro Seal Mortar while everything is still wet and it all dries together. Then 4 to 6 hours later or the next day apply a 2nd coat and you are done. Hydro-Seal 75 can also be sprayed with a Graco Sprayer (Not a Wagner) and these stone foundations are tough to roll because they are so uneven and brushing is very labor intense. When spraying the spray gun needs to be flushed with water every other mix which is a pain. Also coverage of Hydro-Seal 75 is in the 50 to 75 square feet per gallon range so this will be an expensive coating application, but Hydro-Seal does the job being a 2 part water based epoxy with very low odor. Its all we use for sealing basement walls and floors and it works great even on damp surfaces.

When I add something to my 'cottage garden' style yard, it gets one year of babying, and then after that, it's on its own. Saving water is not really stressed around here, The Great Black Swamp of NW Ohio. Plus, I'm the daughter of a drainage contractor, so our problem is usually too much water, not too little. We've done all we know of to take care of that problem. (We have well water and a septic system) Water saving toilets? It's all that is sold down here, and we had nothing but problems with them. So one day while going to a Canadian dog show, I took a side trip and went to a Home Depot in Windsor. The guy told me they sell a lot of toilets there to Ohioans. Whenever I or my husband is in the bathroom, we yell if we have to go too and yell "Don't flush" Not to save water but to save on the salt that has to be used, and carried down the stairs to condition it.

Hello I would add shutters to the windows in groups or you can have a narrow set of custom shutters made. Also some great "lipstick" for windows is to trim out the tops with varying pieces of crown moulding. This does a lot in dressing the window.

When we redid our ensuite I wanted the huge rain shower head (or horse shower as my husband calls it) and my husband wanted a handheld version because 'you don't need something that big'. We have both and I love my giant shower - and guess who uses it regularly as well? The handheld one is great for cleaning the shower though. Agree that having both would be a good option.