It's OK to use a few Andersen 200 series windows but I would try to get at least the 400 series Tilt Wash for the rest of the house. I don't know where you live but in a cold climate you need 2x6 studs just to meet the energy code. If you dropped the entire porch roof structure another 4" from what I originally recommended and the bottom of the truss overhang is high enough for the trim boards everything should work. The only way to know is to draw a wall section very carefully. I could do that if I knew the truss support and roof eave detail. Trusses save money and many houses discussed on this forum have used them but I have never used them nor have I seen them used for a single-family house; it's a multi-family developer technique in the northeast perhaps because attic space is of such great value.

Sorry millwork4u and marven and aidan_m and weedyacres: we have not been back for a spell trying to deal with everyone's input and our builder, who was away on Kauai while we waited for our permit changes to be approved. (Long story short: our cottage was bought by us and it was termite-infested. We tried to remove and replace bad wood ourselves but it was way beyond us. We tried numerous carpenters and others who were called builders. We knew we needed better help and hired a draftsman. He was unable to back up his own work when we asked him things like: will this roof be safe? Instead, always deferring us to 'your structural engineer', as though we had one, which we did not. We hired one and he was very shady and would not give us a firm estimate for his services, instead taking $100 cash from my wife when she met him at the property and disappearing never to return calls/emails. Frustrated with draftsman, I called several local architects I found in online yellow pages and one told me to contact my current builder. I did this and he proposed a builder/design 'package' where his father was draftsman and he builder. We visited one of his job sites and spoke to two of his references. He seemed earnest, young, willing to get his hands dirty, and affordable. He told us he had a HI contractor's license but to save us $s he'd knock 15% off the job if we were owner/builder instead of 'putting job on his license'. He poo poo'd the license thing as a technicality and we were too ignorant to know better. Since then we have discovered how stupid we are. In any event, he proposed a building envelope solution including rebuilding all decks, stairs, reframing house as 'double-wall' (was single-wall), new roof, new foundation, doors, windows, siding and paint: $28k labor + materials. It sounded reasonable to us. The photos shown in above threads are of the cottage after it was sided and windows/doors put in. The decking is a combination of a replacement of the old and some new. Since we first started with this builder things were weird. He took our money and then didn't show up for work until several days after he told us he would. He didn't do work, like he said he would, and instead hired it out to two other guys. He was never really on the job site much. But, the tear-down condition cottage was being transformed. The problems are many. He never shows up when he says he will and the word is done when we least expect it. Interior framing done in like a day with no discussion about the plans. Things that we could not easily change were hastily done without telling us in advance. The lack of flashing on the deck ledgers is an example of this. The first post or query about this man's work we have ever done is this thread. By the time I had posted it, we had agreed to expand the job from the original $28k to $53k to $59k. This was all done as progression after we saw one thing we'd add another. We agreed to almost all of this before I made this thread. Both my wife and I were unhappy with this man's 'bedside manner' but we didn't (and don't) think he is a vindictive or nasty person. Immature, a bit of a cheat, a liar yes. We have had our rage over his lack of communication and failure to meet expectations, but having had such difficulty even finding people who will do a day's work at all on this island has not been easy. One builder friend of ours, who is retired, warned us that "all contractors are thieves". We knew going into this there would be bumps, and there are many. Fast-forwarding to now. The wood supplier, Miyake Concrete, insists the hi-bor is pressure-treated and correct for our deck. I have read the PDF and see where it states the exact opposite. Our permit came though just over a week ago. Our builder was totally MIA the whole five weeks we had to stop work. We were furious that in all that time he could not spend any with us to plan. So, he is back on property rushing, laying off for days on end, then rushing again. My wife and I tried a new tactic when he met us the Saturday before the Monday he was to begin work, two weeks ago. She wanted to ask him about the workmanship that all of you have so kindly told us was not so hot. She told me to shut up and play the nice guy, so that she could press him and if he freaked out, it was my job to keep him from walking. Because he has our job structured in three phases, with some things done to varying degrees on each, and payments and material invested in all, it is very difficult for us to delineate where we stand and just 'stop' and fire him. I guess that's the reason for my long-winded post right now. For context. In any event: we were trying to put the screws to him about his work quality and material choice, while at the same time keep things from getting too nasty as we don't have an easy way to unravel this. (We estimate another two weeks before the house is enclosed and we are able to get a final bill and lien release.) Well it didn't go too well. When asked about the lack of flashing he told us much would be under roof and that flashing wasn't required. We read a PDF on deck building from decks.com that showed flashing as IBC required. Also, we read that 6x6 posts were required. He told us there was more than one way to build a deck and that he chose the method he had done and that he was insulted at my wife questioning him. She asked him if that meant she should just shut up and he backed own, but I have to confess it wasn't a good feeling sitting there as this guy told my wife how wrong she was for asking him about his work. When she pointed out the way the beams were nailed together he asked her, sarcastically, if she was complaining about the 'toenailing', and said this was common practice. In short, everything everyone said here he told us was wrong. We felt like to wet poodles after that meeting. We did not want to print this post out and throw it in his face because, honestly, we are afraid he will leave us with a yard full of lumber and a job 3/4 finished and no easy replacement help in sight. The predators will smell blood if we try to replace him, we think. Meanwhile, the work has continued and there is talk that he will put "L" flashing on the exposed part of the deck. We have paid him to enclose the other part of the deck, so it won't get ruined as a result of the lack of flashing there, we hope. (The enclosure is what we always wanted. He is doing it cheaply, and while we hate giving him and his father more of our money, his father redid the drawings and brought them into the county, and he has done the work seemingly well, although while abusing us in the process.) We just don't know what to do. On one hand, this are getting done and seem to look okay, on the other, it is a horrible relationship and the quality of the work we just don't know. You all have given us your best insights. We have tried to discuss them with our contractor. He has slapped me the entire way, and I am hardly proud of it. I just don't know what else to do but to get his portion of the job done asap and be rid of him. Yes, I know we gave him more work. My wife and I both hated to do it. But we would have wasted all the material and money for labor to put in railings and arbor in place of walls and roof. It was a difficult call.

Thank you all SO very much for your thoughtful comments and time. I will post some layout pictures here (just met with our Kitchen Designer yesterday again.) We are going on Year 5 of living here this fall, and I have given constant thought as to the space & use since we have moved it. We have had a project going 100% of the time since we moved in due to the original state of the house. Now it's time to upgrade vs "fix". We are overdue! I've toyed around with ALL ideas (removing walls, extending the bar/not pictured-discussed, etc). For the most part, we like the layout and decided the pantry/2nd Kitchen are functional as is, although I love ideas, thank you all for your thoughtfulness. To answer other comments, I don't need 2 Kitchens + Butler Pantry. But that is the existing layout and it's easier to leave as-is than remove any of these large walls or areas, and I do use the space. I don't need 10K sq ft of house either, but it's what we have. (FYI it was a foreclosure we got for $360K on 25 Acres in Rural Indiana; about $100K put in initially to make liveable, and now we are just slowly chipping away at projects). I am going to reuse a lot of these cabinets in a basement storage room & garage. I hate to get rid of them! The Corian should hold up well in the transition too I think. Here is a picture from standing at the Main Island, looking OUT to the rest of the eat-in kitchen. We'll be adding a furniture-style cabinet piece where the additional cabinets are on the left. This bulkhead we may remove. They are big aren't they..? I have no clue what the $-tag would be to remove all of them (this one cheap likely.) I'll get a quote out of curiosity. My gut feeling just says it will be $$..... Just through that hallway to the left is where the 2nd Kitchen & Butlers Pantry are. I can't wait to get rid of this ugly dark red color. Existing Kitchen. Proposed is moving the Fridge from where it is now (right picture, where proposed Wall Oven & MW are - across to other side). Adding 36" rangetop. I can't go much bigger given the space there and existing gas line. We'll be moving our existing GE Induction, Wall Oven, MW to the 2nd Kitchen so did decide to just do 1 Wall Oven + MW in the Main Kitchen. Thanks for your comments on that! You're all right - as we grow/change, we will need that in the kitchen for sure. I was torn on leaving the 48" Fridge in the Main Kitchen, but it helps me avoid re-doing cabinets in the next picture..... as I have a 48" slot with non-working Fridge. Having a 42" and 48" seems to be plenty, vs adding two 48"s. See below. Here is the before of 2nd Kitchen (Please Excuse the Mess - this was previously a child craft room/nanny area). We would paint these cabs and re-do the ugly hood. Existing Wall Oven + old MW would go in here too on the far left replacing that cabinet. And the other side. Little pocket glass door to the bar. Non working 48" SubZero. 2nd Dishwasher, 2nd Trash Compactor, and Sink. Everything in the existing MAIN kitchen will come into here which is nice. No appliance worked when we moved in but I wasn't ready for a full remodel then. But glad to not be wasteful with those purchases. I have always loved the cabinets/style despite being so wood-heavy, so we are just going to paint these to match the main kitchen, new countertops, new backsplash. PROPOSED: And the Butler/WD/Toilet Room. This is on the other side of the Main Kitchen (behind Range/Wall Oven Area). There is a single toilet behind that far wall. And the other side. Here I don't need a 3rd Dishwasher but am struggling to figure out what to do with that space. I could add another Wine Cooler but seems odd to have in the Laundry/Butler area when we have a Bar. Trash Compactor will become pull-out Trash Bin. Ideas for filling the DW space? Again this will be all painted cabs, countertops, backsplash. But see the big bulkhead in here too? I don't want to take that out. We have 6 Bathrooms to remodel in the near(ish) future. I have to be frugal in some areas if I want other areas to pop more. Layout for these 2 pictures: Comments/ideas/suggestions are all ultra welcome. I will put a separate post about some of our semi-final decisions to our next steps in the remodel and would love your criticism.

Angled walls create dead and slivers of unusable space. Most people want to be able to use every square foot they pay for. The curved wall does not relate to anything, it is an oddity, and it a lot easier to draw than it is to build; and a 90 degree corner costs less that a rounded corner (if you can find someone to build it properly). My other comments from the previous thread still apply.