Sorry I put the second floor picture twice but cannot figure out how to remove it

Where are the existing walls, doors, windows, stairs, plumbing fixtures, ducts, vents, pipes, light fixtures, light switches, wires, beams, and columns?

What is the existing site plan?

Mark Bishak, it is down to studs. No walls anymore other than the front and sides. The current back of the house is at the back wall of the stairs and the mudroom.. The house is a brick colonial, and the current stairs are in the middle of the house, between the living and dining room. We are moving them to the side. All the old plumbing has been removed. Electrical is also completely updated. The front door, windows to the front and the first windows to the side stay.

And here is the site plan. The garage used to be attached to the back of the house, but that is the side where the sunlight comes from, so we demolished it and putting the addition there. We are putting a garage at the east end of the driveway. I wish we could move the driveway to the north side of the house but the town does not allow to change the curb.

There are no dimensions to anything and very hard to read the plans. Sq feet are rather meaningless.

Thanks for looking. I am at work now but will try to get the jpg later. I can see and enlarge these on my phone and they have dimensions and the new beams on them.

we are in south NJ, suburb of Philadelphia

Looks livable. My only thought is that the dining room looks formal. Is there a plan for a kitchen table in the kitchen/family room? It is about how you live, so not required, just a thought on first view. I like the two closets in the big bedroom.

Aunthelma: the space right behind the refrigerator, in the family room, is supposed to be a dining nook

Hope you can see these better, they are jpeg

Looking at it myself now, I see a couple of things that I wonder if we should change:

- the hall on the second floor is only 3 ft wide. Should I ask him to decrease the size of bedroom #2 by 1n or 2 feet?

- the builder said that we could put the new heater in the attic and free up that space. Would you suggest that (I wonder if access would be too difficult)?

- the hall bathroom, should we center the door and switch places between tub and vanity and add a cabinet?

- bedroom 4: would you put the closet where it is or somewhere else?

We have spent months going over this, and I know no house is ever perfect, but we hope to make it as close to meeting our needs as possible

Thank you!

That bedroom could certainly be fine a foot or two shorter, to accommodate a wider hall. But, one problem remains: when running the laundry machines, shouldn’t the door be open? Blocking access to the stairs?

I assume you have a finished rec room in the basement. Because of the openness, there is really only one living area.

bpath: the stairs are accessible from the side of the hall. The staircase is not straight, not sure what this type is called (U?). You start from downstairs towards the back, go halfway to the landing, and get upstairs towards the side of the bedroom

another option would be to put the laundry closet a foot in to the master. We would center the door to the closet anyways in order to hang clothes on both walls.

mad-gallica, yes, there is a finished basement room under the current house and we are also putting in a finished basement under the addition. In reality, these will be needed for another few years only, as our older son is a senior and the other a freshman in high school, and by the time this is finished, we will not have that much time left with them (insert mom cry here)!

Sometimes when we do laundry, and YMMV, we have the next load waiting, near the laundry machines, or just beyond. or standing in front of the machines, doors open, you are sorting, hanging, moving from one machine to the other. When the kids come home for the summer or long holidays, and have all their linens and the machines running all day, those doors might be in the way.

Can the laundry move across the hall to the right, to the red-circled area? That bedroom loses a closet, but it is an office and potential guest room so might not be a loss, add an armoire, or steal from the adjacent bedroom for a closet.

Regarding the dining & living - I might consider switching those rooms. I guess I am assuming the living will be a TV room, and having the noise of a TV a little more removed from the fray would be preferred (to me). IT seems like the dining room will hardly be used in its current spot - I would use it much more if it were in the LR. A room with a TV will always get used. But if you are putting the TV in the family room, what is the plan for the living & dining?

Closets all look small. I would put full size reach-in closets in all bedrooms. There looks to be space for that.

Definitely move the laundry. 1) not enough hall space for that 2) you don't want a washer and dryer up against your bedroom wall.

Shared bath upstairs - use only one sink. No one will be in there simultaneously and storage is better than a sink.

I was just about to say, as anj, one sink in the shared bath. Our two boys were never in there at the same time, they used the same sink and the second just got dusty. They could have used more drawer storage and counterspace, instead.

Keep your own storage and counter space needs in mind for your bathroom, too.

Couple of initial thoughts:

- the closet in bedroom 3 is way too small

- the other bedroom closets could use being bigger as well

- the hall in front of the laundry is a bit tight - push back the bedroom wall a bit.

- do you need 2 living rooms? I think there may be more value in a main floor bedroom

- not a fan of coming in the front door and looking through the house you look right at the ref. It will be a bit of a lump in the middle of everything

It's not a bad plan - just needs some smaller changes

Good luck

bpath and anj, good idea about shared bath.

anj, I had not thought about the noise from the laundry, excellent point!

I was the one who decreased the size of the closets in the kids rooms in order to put built in desk and bookcase there. Will reconsider

i also was debating if we should switch the formal LR and DR position. The LR will not have a TV, only the family room and the basement. We frequently use two sitting areas when we have guests/ family over, one for adults and one for the younger crowd.

I thought about putting a bedroom downstairs, but we do want the two sitting areas for now. Later on, when we cannot climb stairs, I was thinking we can convert what is now the DR into a bedroom

I wonder about a few things on the main floor.

There is a large, empty space in the middle. What do you plan to do with it?

The ”nicely decorated guest spaces” are to the sides of the entry, while the hardest-working part of the house is the straight-ahead view. I’m sure it will be a nicely done space and never messy...right?

And, perhaps you might like a little better separation between the living spaces, so when one wants to watch ”Pearl Harbor” and the other is watching ”All Creatures Great and Small” (the original, with the volume turned up to try to understand the Yorkshire accents without my mother-in-law there to interpret), it’s not chaos.

Bpath: we plan to only have a TV in the family room and the basement. There is a post in that open space, and actually my husband wants to put in a short wall, I was against it, would like the openness. But it is still something we have told the builder we will reevaluate at the time of framing, when we can visualize the sizes better.

Debbie W. I agree about the view straight to the fridge. One option would be to move the fridge where the ovens are placed now, but I like the fridge to be close to the family room, so that guests can get something without walking through the kitchen. Another possibility would be to get panel ready fridge. Any other ideas?

Op, or, one is watching All Creatures and the other is on the phone, or reading, or…

Paneling the ref would help. I think that area will be easier to play with when you have your kitchen designer put it into the computer so you can see it. I would probably put it with the pantry.

You'll need a walk-in shower on the main level if you ever want to make the dining room a bedroom if you can't go up the stairs.

The bedrooms are plenty big to put a desk in the room, and make the closets bigger. When the kids are no longer home, the desks will be unnecessary, but you can always find a use for closet space.

Agree about having just one sink in the shared bath. I see minimal storage space in all the bathrooms.

Bpath, we have been thinking about your suggestion- we think it makes sense to put in a 3 foot wall by the post where the empty space is and put in a wine bar area. what do you think?

I’m all for wine!

Are those bedroom and bathroom doors on the second floor 2-6? 30”? That is a pretty narrow door, especially if you are carrying a laundry basket through them.

Mainenell, I have no idea what a standard door size is! i assumed the professionals (architect/ builder) know

" i assumed the professionals (architect/ builder) know "

NEVER assume anyone knows what you want or how you want it. Trust but verify.

What is the standard bedroom door size? we are cureently in a rental and the size of the doors is 30-32 inches

I try to encourage folks to get the larger doors, if they can. It's just easier to carry things in and out and move furniture. Find sizes you are comfortable with and make sure that is noted on your plan. Same thing with your windows. Look at ones you have now or see at friends home and take a measurement. That way you can compare.

Do students use books and desks for homework and study these days? I know the trend has been to do most work electronically, including reading digital texts. I would not have built in bookshelves or desks in bedrooms. Save that expense. Instead, perhaps, I would turn your dining room into a library or quiet reading area, placing glass doors on it so it can be closed off. Perhaps move the fireplace that I believe is awkwardly placed in the labeled living room there, instead. In other words, turn the dining room into a functional quiet space. Use the labeled living room as a dining room.

I read the new doors upstairs as 2-4”. 28”???? I have doors that size on my bathrooms in a home built in 1939. They are VERY narrow. Rethink that decision.

This is why I love Houzz! As a lay person, I had not even imagined that there would be an issue with door size!

Ptreckel, the fireplace is preexisting and we plan to close it off.

I will definitely talk to the architect and builder about door size!

Is there a reason the house corner with the window seat is recessed back? It looks a little odd with the kitchen counter jumping into middle of the family room. I might think of something like this, if you weren’t set on the window seat. It also adds a butler pantry to pass through into the dining room from the kitchen.

Rockybird, there is good reason. The lot is pretty small, cannot fit an attached garage. that side is the end of the driveway to the garage, and we need the space to be able to turn and not back up the whole driveway to the road

Based upon what I have seen and read, verify your "architect's" license with your state. The drawings call for bedroom doors to be 2'-8" and bathroom doors to be 2'-4".

Mark Bischak, he is licensed and verified. He has a ”draftsman” and I wonder if these are from the draftsman and not thoroughly checked. We are also however very concerned that he tells us normal size doors or upstairs landing of 5ft and then the floorplan is different and we have to look at every dimension ourselves ( non professionals) and verify! I would also appreciate any comments on the floorplan, I always value your input in discussions

3'-0" doors are wide enough for a wheelchair and, except for entries, are uncommon in houses that aren't accessible. 2'-6" doors are standard and wide enough for everything else, including moving furniture and even king-size mattresses. Bathroom doors can usually be even narrower. Obviously wider doors can be used where necessary or desired, but they aren't standard.

I try to learn something new each day, and today it is Macadam Paving (other confirmation that a local zoning administrator is incompetent). The article I read about Macadam Paving was a bit confusing in that it talked about "you may refresh the surface every 10 years or so", but "a driveway built with macadam will only last for 10 to 15 years at most."

The boxes around each and every dimension and group of words is distracting and impedes on a clear comprehension of the floor plan; which prompted questioning the qualifications of the 'architect'.

With many remodeling/addition projects there is a point where the extent of the construction justifies tearing the existing house down and building new. Hopefully your 'architect' has a crystal ball and can advise where that point is.

Mark Bischak, the town is one of those with strict regulations and high taxes (maybe something like your macadam pavers). A house that keeps some walls is not considered new, so its taxes are lower. in addition, the existing structure/ beams are all very well done, very solid, even though they are old, and the roof of the existing house is brand new, 11/23.

If you decide to turn the dining room into an office/den/quiet room, the closet that backs into it next to the powder room could be the location of a door, and the mudroom converted into a bath with the addition of a shower…at some later date. Not now, perhaps. But later, if needed. Access to the home from the drive could occur through the family room near the kitchen, perhaps. Just a thought for future use….

Agree with skipping built in desks etc - our boys have left for college and it’s nice for those rooms to be flexible (and changes with built ins always have the possibility of impacting flooring, which is such a headache)