You are looking at the house completely empty. You have to decide whether these areas near the walls will have furniture or other contents obscuring them. Although if the contractor can be shown they aren't straight, why should there be any cost to you to do it correctly.

Or-
How much to refloat the floor with no score lines or only scoring necessary for control joints? If it is just a design detail its probably one you could do without if it can't be done correctly.

What do the covers for the air returns look like? Are the perforations small enough to walk on in heels? Comfortable on bare feet?

Honestly I see a number of random looking openings in the ceiling which is fairly typical of this type of construction, yet your architect is freaking out over a couple openings in the floor. Since he didn't redesign them as he wanted I would be tempted to tell him he can pay for moving them if he wants them moved.

open a thread in the Build forum.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/build/

Here is a link that might be useful: Building a Home

Am I understanding this right or no? You are OK with the ducts where they are and the architect doesn't like it and wants to move the kitchen to cover them? Is that right?

Can't you just tell the architect no and have the kitchen go where you want it?

Otherwise, if you aren't happy with it and you can correct the problem for $4000, I say do it if you are planning on staying in the house long enough for it to matter to you. You don't want to not spend the $4000 when you are probably already spending a lot of money for the remodel and then look at the thing every day and be unhappy with what happened.

I didn't really understand all the technical details of what you wrote, so maybe that advice isn't worth much :)

The floor looks great - sorry about the squiggly lines. I agree with Pal, if they will be covered, why worry? And if they made the squiggly, shouldn't they be paying to redo!?!!!

I like the idea of your stainless steel, custom cut floor vent covers. Screw the architect. ;)

I'm with Allison and Pal -- I doubt the lines will be a big deal once the house is furnished again, but you could get the jags smoothed out a little. If the steel grates are sturdy enough and they were fine before, they should be fine after. I suspect the walkway area was chosen originally as they are for upper air returns -- to put them in places where the airflow will not be obstructed by rugs, furniture, etc.

I think it looks great. I have never lived in a midcentury home and have never had the furnishings to go with one, but I sure am drawn to one when well done.

Are there code issues with the duct? Why are the contractors not working off the architect's plan that you would have seen and agreed to? How does it get to this point without it all being spelled out?
FWIW - our architect is a moron and designed our roof/ceiling plan wrong because he assumed the beams went the wrong way on the bedroom side of our house (guess too lazy to go fully into our stand up attic). We had a major bit of chaos when his error was discovered, but the problem was the drawing not the understanding. Everyone was working off his plan until we realized it did not match the existing house. Our plan was approved by the town because they also did not realize it did not match. Your plan should have matched what work was done. How could your architect be surprised? Where did he draw it to be?

I'd go with what you want as long as it is allowable by code. Your architect won't live there, you will.

You guys are great. I feel like I am messing up this house every which way and I am tired of letting things slide.

Pamplimpsest, you are absolutely right and I didnt even CONSIDER that the air return covers would not work with high heels and yes they are huge dust catchers. They used to be in hidden in closets, (which were rotting). I took these down to expose the views and open the house up, , so now the ducts are open and exposed.

The floor has already developed several long cracks, none of which line up with the score lines, but the cracks dont bother me-I think it is part of having concrete. BTW, pamplimspest, the arch. is going to redo the island. The shape will be completely different...maybe an "L" or something like that.

The floor contractor is a good guy and I really like him. He offered to rent a machine to make the scores fatter to try to hide the imperfections, at his cost. I know it will not fix them perfectly. You can see them waver as you look down the room. He offered to redo the floor if I pay for materials - 4-5k. I owe a little bit for finishing and not sure if he would let this go.

My father says he would want it done right. The architect is suggesting re-doing the kitchen design to hide the return in the kitchen. To build a custom walnut closet would cost almost as much as re-doing the floors, and I dont want it closing the rooms off. I am suggesting, and he is agreeing, to move the kitchen return 1-2 feet over so it is under a cabinet. The other return we can close off and open it in an open bar area under a floating cabinet. We would have to check code on this. Both of these options would require the floor to be refloated. The architect says the returns are noticeable and will hurt resale, if I ever resold it. We could also refloat up to the new pivot door and hide the gap. I guess I am leaning towards re-doing it.

Dianalo, for the flooring, we did not have a plan. I brought him in after the demo started and things were chaotic. I dont know how he missed the kitchen return. I covered it so no one would fall in with a board so maybe he missed it. He has the original plans to the house. I am sorry your architect messed up the ceiling! I know my architect has spent much more time than he ever expected on this house. He has certainly not billed me enough for the time spent. He also came highly recommended...

cover:

{{gwi:1628115}}

{{gwi:1628116}}

Ducts:

{{gwi:1628117}}

No ducts:

Thank you again for your replies.

Sounds like refloating the floor will take care of all the problems--patches from moving ductwork, the threshold problem, the squiggly lines and preserve your open layout. Go for it.

If it was just the squiggly lines, I'd say to live with it. But I sure wouldn't want a duct opening in a walkway (much less two of them) and there is just no way that you can hide boo-boos on a threshold. And I definitely wouldn't want to go cluttering up the open layout.

If you can't move a duct completely due to function...perhaps the shape of it could be reconfigured at the floor level so it looks like this:

{{gwi:1628119}}

This is a trench drain, but the concept is the same, there is just a round hole at the bottom of this somewhere. But if they could be aligned with something (say that one stretched across the hallway instead of poked in the middle of it) It could look at least more intentional.

If you are interested in the befores, I will send you a link. Other GWers are probably tired of seeing the same pics.

If you look at the Miesian "box" around my stairs, it is floated too, away from the ceiling and cornice, but also at the floor...its a museum reveal of about 1/2 inch. You may want to consider this for some built-ins. It is a nice look to have that slight sense of levitation and separation from the ground.

I saw a house that had all walls with a museum reveal throughout that was amazing. How much it cost to maintain that 1/2-3/4" groove around the entire floor...probably a lot.

Re the return duct, can you have an HVAC company test the system to see if that return is necessary? If not, perhaps it can be sealed off. If it is necessary, and there is no code issue, then I think your custom covers look great.

Re the thresholds, I'm not sure I'm understanding completely. When you say "thin", do you mean like the door is a fat foot on a skinny balance beam? Or do you mean "not tall enough" so there is a gap under the door and under/over the window? If the former, just fill it in -- it won't matter under the window, and you could have a thin stainless threshold cover made for the door, it would hide the different shades of concrete. If it is the latter, then I think a refloat is the way to go. And if you're doing that, you get new, straight scoring and possibly relocated returns.

If you do move the return, go ahead and move any of them that might be a problem later. I have to say, though, that it seems really wierd that they were in closets. Did the closets have louvered doors?

That is a beautiful drain! I will see if we can design something similar, but still will need to move the duct I think. I have a guy going to look at re-drilling the return in the kitchen and connecting them on Monday. Yes, I would love to see some pics. Although I do not want to build in these two returns, there are three more that need to be built into a closet or cupboard in three bedrooms.

Apparently, there is a system of underground ducts for returning air in the house. I heard that this is a good system to have, but is only used commercially nowadays. To hide the huge duct openings, they built a platform about 6 inches up with a vent on the front. Under the platform is dead space. The closets and cupboards over this had an elevated floor with a vent on front or were louvered. They looked kind of bad and silly, but that is how they did it. This house has at least six of these.

The threshhold for the old doors was about 2 inches wider than the new door. They concreted up to the old doors. Then they covered the floors with paper for the drywallers. After the drywallers left, they removed the paper, and finished the floors. While the drywallers were here, the new door went in. It has a smaller threshold - 4 inches - than the old door at 6 inches. The concrete doesnt reach the new threshold. The ctr. says he cannot make it match. I feel this is my fault due to pure ignorance.

{{gwi:1628120}}

I think that you should have a meeting with your architect about sequencing, since it sounds like you are acting as your own GC. I say this because it seems you have ordered a few things prematurely or have done some things a bit out of order.

I am thinking of the sinks (and possibly other appliances) that were purchased before the kitchen/cabinet layout was finalized, and now these custom vents that were fabricated, and the door that has the narrower threshold.

I know you are anxious to keep the ball rolling but custom "finish" items such as these vent covers would often be done on a rehab project last so final measurements could be taken. You never know what you are going to run across in an old house. This means that you probably end up walking on the plywood covering the hole for a while but its a way of preventing costly mistakes especially when you are acting as your own GC.

I like the longer vents Pal posted. The threshold needs to be corrected. I still don't see why the contractor who cut crooked lines in the floor says it is up to you to pay 100% for a do-over.

Rocky, I must first say that your house is stunning, stunning!

I absolutely agree that the scoring has to be redone at the floor guy's expense. (If someone installed a window crookedly, who would be responsible for fixing it? The window guy of course!)

In terms of the floor duct, I have an entirely different kind of house (1921 bungalow) with floor ducts smack in the middle of corridors etc. For what it's worth, we haven't found the grates to be an issue in terms of navigability through the house. And the ones that bring the heat in have become a favorite spot for the cats to take a nap ...

I really like the concrete floors and want to do the same to our renovation...We have 2400 sq ft, half needs ceramic tile removed, the rest is carpeting to be removed.

I want it to look like concrete, not an epoxy. If I have a pigment, I want it to be mixed into the concrete, not an acid stain.

What did you have done? I just want joints where they are needed. Can you give me an idea of cost?

Well thank you for the replies. I woke up today really down about this house.

Pamp., things were done out of order, no question. For the early stages, I started with one contractor who tried to charge me for his buddy who was hanging around doing nothing and whom I never agreed to hire. I got rid of him. At this point I brought in the architect, who, realizing I was on a budget, has been very kind and kept his fees low. At the same time, I hired another contractor to get me through the permits. He was overcharging me, and once the permits and initial inspections were done, we agreed I could handle the rest on my own. At this point, I had decided to do ikea cabs. and in a few years replace them with henrybuilt or custom. (Initially, I just wanted the house to be liveable, because it needs a good 200k to make it right.) Then I got a custom quote, and to my surprise, I could afford the cabinets. As far as the ducts are concerned, I just assumed it would be okay to put those covers over them. I never considered it would be an issue.

I suppose I have no choice but to re-do the floors. The flooring guy is deeply discounting the floors if he re-does them. Anyway, after the floors are done and the kitchen cabs., I will take a break on the house. The architect is making plans for the whole house - three full baths, one master bath, landscaping, aviary for my two little birds, and a guest house (which I will probably never add). I still have to re-do the pool, replace all the windows, re-do all the sidewalks and decking, redo the exterior fence, gut the master bath and walk-in closets, etc. This is a long term project. But I absolutely want things to be done right.

Today I am meeting the original architect's wife at the house. She is in her 80's but as spry as someone in their 30's. She is very cool and we attended a movie about her husband together awhile back. She also does not pass judgement on my changes to the house, which I really appreciate.

Hi chellarmaral,

Because my original concrete floors were in such bad shape, we decided it would be best to re-lay new concrete. I had quotes of 15-18000 (4-5/sq. foot) for staining the original concrete, until one contractor told me that all the grout lines from the miles of ugly tile laid in the house would bleed through. The floor would look like a circuit board. Then I found my current contractor, who did the flooring for a lot of the local art galleries. He took me to see his work which looked great. He charges around $3/sq. foot. It is a thin layer of concrete laid over the floor. You definitely need to get multiple quotes. Also, be prepared for imperfections, especially if you stain your current concrete. Ask about tile grout lines bleeding through, how often you need to re-seal and wax, etc. My new concrete has many long cracks, which I am okay with.

I'm sorry you've had this setback, but it'll all come out right in the long run. I really had an excellent GC, who accounted for everything. Except the slope of the floor. When the tile setter started working, he found it too far out of true. I think the builder had probably just built up an area of mortar or something. Floating the floor was an expense I didn't count on, but it was worth it in the long run. There were all kinds of make-do solutions that probably would have cost as much in the end. This way, everything else went in just right.

Do I remember right that this is Palm Springs? From what I can see, it looks like a mid-century classic. Definitely worth doing right.

Rocky,
I agree that it is worth doing it right. If this house is like others I have seen pictures of, you had to peel away a lot of Hollywood Regency baroque-ness to get back to the glass box. Kind of like Garbo on the outside Zsa Zsa Gabor on the inside.

I went through a similar issue with a highly recommended GC who "could take the drawing on a napkin and do exactly what you want". If you had a notion of what you wanted on a napkin, it was great...I found out if you had actual plans, he didn't really know how to read or follow them. We had to part ways and I had to move on.

So, it may be best to pay over to do over to get it done right, and to keep a relationship with people who are generally capable of doing what you want.

You may want to come up with a plan whereby you can get a certificate of occupancy, get into the house and slow down on some of the detail work. We did a job for some friends who put the cheapest vanities they could get in the bathrooms and a basic kitchen in an alternate location in order to get into the house. Then after they moved in, they got the custom vanities and (we took the drywall down that was covering all the stuff where the real kitchen was going and, I say sneakily) got started on the custom kitchen, and some other finish details.

Thank you again! You dont know how invaluable your words and advice are. Plllog, the house is in Phoenix. Below is a pic. It is perched on a mtn. slope overlooking the city. It is one acre lot with views of the city out the front and the red rock mountain in the back. It is 15 mins from downtown and 10 mins from the airport...great location.

Yes, that is my plan palimpsest. I am installing all toto's, and have one vanity and one cheap pedestal for guests in two of the baths. The showers will all wait, with two of them being functional. I lucked out and got a dual concrete sink for $200 (it retailed for 5k, but had a SLIGHT imperfection). I am using this in the master bath temporarily but would eventually like to have his/her baths (the master bath and closets are HUGE). The arch. wants me to live in the house for a few weeks before we decide on bath tile, showers, etc.

The only things I really want to finish this year are the kitchen, one guest bath, paint and re-stucco the exterior and start replacing the single pane glass. I do need to get in as soon as possible as I am paying two mortgages and need to rent out my condo!

{{gwi:1628123}}

Hi Rocky,

Thanks for your info. I'm a little confused: did they go right over the tile with the new concrete? Is that why the grout lines would show through?

I plan on removing the ceramic tile so that the floor will be the same level as the floors with carpeting. The current concrete slab will have holes from the carpet tacks, cracks, and probably a lot of stains from paint and drywall mud from the original build. I am looking to have it resurfaced with concrete, no grid lines cut in.

Here is a link that I think represents what I want, the tint is added to the concrete...

Here is a link that might be useful: Concrete overlay video by concretenetwork.com

I feel if you can afford it, you should make the house the way you want it. Do not settle because you will never feel totally happy with it. Perhaps you can work out a better compromise with all parties involved so that you don't take as much of a financial hit by yourself. Even though the concrete person is willing to try and fix the existing mistake with the lines, he still messed up, and I don't feel you should take the whole hit on materials cost.

The duct issue needs further discussion with everyone involved as well. If approached with the attitude that well, what's done is done, now how do we fix it to my satisfaction, you should eventually get it resolved. Don't settle for a solution you hate though.

Palimpsest, I love the way you think! :)

I have no tips but read your story with interest and want you to know I'm thinking of you and sending you all kinds of good luck.

Well, at least I got the desert part right. :) Splendid location!! No wonder you want to replace the single pane glass, though. Does it, at least, have UV film?

I second the idea of living in the house awhile, even if it's pretty much camping. There's nothing like having a conversation with the house, and breathing with it, and seeing how it interacts with your life and your stuff, to really understand what it wants.

Looks like a great house, and if the dollars are that high, I think you'd regret not making it right. Knowing that the ducts weren't in walkways (the closets explain why they are neither edge nor centered) makes me say correct that too. That's probably a bigger deal in the long run than the lines in the floor, but also make the lines a moot point. Camp out with the rough in a little longer if you need to.

When we bought this house, we planned to live with the kitchen for 6 months to a year to make sure of our ideas once living with it. Other events intervened and it took a few years, but we also realized that we were much happier with the ideas that evolved and that we needed that time to get out of our original mindset. Hope it doesn't take you that long, but you'll be surprised how quickly time can pass when you're busy with other things. If our appliances hadn't been dying on us, we might have juggled a bit longer. The two mortgage thing was a pain, but the bad renters that followed were worse. Sell the condo and don't fall for a want to buy line.

I just have to tell you that is an AWESOME HOUSE!

Sorry for all the trouble you are having but it will be worth it in the end.

We are having a lot of troubles with our renovation, too - it probably is an initiation process of sorts! :-)

Best of luck and post more photos as you go along - we all would love to see your place as the work progresses!

plllog I think I started the Palm Springs rumor.

I think that this is going to be one of those modernist houses that is better renovated than it was new, because the technology that exists now is able to fully execute and express what the intent was, and sixty years ago things sometimes had to adapted or made up as the project was built.

Thank you for the replies! I feel so much better after reading them and I am finally coming to accept re-doing the floors.

I had a concrete guy look at moving the duct today. He is also going to level another part of the floor in the den so it is flatter. I also pulled out another bathtub/shower and some built in closets so the floor can be done underneath.

chellamaral-They removed all the flooring, including tile, and then added new concrete. Apparently the grout/adhesive lines from the old tile was will bleed through the concrete stain. So, I opted to have a new layer of concrete smoothed out over the top. However, in one of the bathrooms the tile lines even bled through this! I will take a pic tomorrow and post it so you know what I am talking about. I could not find any pics online.

rmkitchen-thank you for the warm wishes. I will need it.

plllog-the windows will be a problem. I had hoped to replace half of them by summer, but the floor, etc are cutting into the budget. I think there might be some uv film on on one small stretch, but that is a good thought. ...maybe I will add some more.

lascatx, thank you for the advice! I am worried about the bad renters also. I just redid this condo and I hate to see it go to hell. Unfortunately, it has lost too much value in az to make it worth sellling. I decided that I would have to sacrifice for the new house and accept damage to the condo. (which is an awesome 2000 sq. foot mcm with its own yard).

dandylandy, thank you for the compliment. I am sorry you are also having problems. :( I am hoping that at the least I will learn from my mistakes.

Last night, my friends opened their door to find a tiny hungry bird on their doorstep. They brought him to me to take care of as I have two small birds. I am hoping this little guy I named Pip changes my luck.

Worse comes to worst, you can tack up thermal foil emergency blankets, possibly with white sheets behind. Not lovely, but should be livable in the Summer if you can't get something permanent done. :) If you go for the UV film, get the professionally installed, ceramic stuff. It's much better than the DIY stuff. Probably only costs about one month of a/c. :)

Oooohhhhhh Pip is so cute. I think he is going to bring
good karma your way.
And as a animal fan, thanks for helping Pip.
~boxer

I know the area and, yes, it is a multimillion dollar neighborhood! Just to give you an idea, an acquaintance of ours built there somewhere (haven't seen it), and the house is 10,000 sf built right into the hill. There are tons of older homes from the 50's and 60's that are being remodeled too.

Rockybird, go with your gut and get it done right the way you want it. You will reap the rewards with this investment. I cannot wait to see the final product on this one!!

I think Pip is bringing you a message. ;-) One of the hardest times in my life found us in a yard visited by bluebirds -- the first time I'd ever seen them in person. They came every spring and set up house. It gave me a special feeling that bluebirds (of happiness) chose my yard and were living with us. Hope Pip does the same for you.

I hope you get an appreciative and caring renter -- not all are bad. We planted a garden for the landlord we had when we first married and left the place better than we found it, except for the cheap fraying carpet which was not our choice. Carpet isn't supposed to have holes in 5 years of normal use == most of it with 2 adults who worked all day so there wan't a lot of traffic, but he blamed us anyway. But I do believe in Karma -- he kicked us out to sell the place because the real estate market was too flat. He priced it way too high and I think eventually sold it at market value -- put his money into the stock market, which took a dive a few months later.

Take your time and do the things that have to go in under or before everything else and then do the window dressing, so to speak, as you can. I agree that it will be better than the original and worth the time it takes.

Thank you guys!

boxerpups, he is doing well. I was worried he wouldnt make it though the first day. I didnt know how stressed or traumatized he was from being outside. He ate a lot of food yesterday. He groomed himself this AM which I think is a good sign. He will let me touch him, but i am not sure if it is because he is tame or so scared that he is paralyzed with fright.

Thanks lascatx, I hope you are right on Pip. I am hoping to get professionals into the condo. I decided to take the trade off, however, with the new house. I will also lose money on the mortgage, but I think the investment in the new house will more than offset it in the longrun. (I hope!).

Houseful, I think you know the area. It is under the castle on Camelback mountain. I still cant believe I own a house in this area!

Even though you've already spent money on the floor, it will never be cheaper to fix the vent issue than right now.

I am thinking that once we remove the ceramic tile and carpeting, the floors will still need an overlay of concrete to smooth out cracks, holes from carpet tacks, etc. Did your contractor grind the existing slab before applying the new surface layer of concrete? I wonder if there is a way to seal the existing concrete before applying the micro-layer?

I would have never thought that bleeding through could be an issue...was your tile/grout a dark color?

Our existing tile to be removed is white with white grout and I want to leave the new surface either natural concrete color or have a dark brown powder mixed in when they trowel. I have had concrete with acid stain with poor results, so I don't want to go the acid stain route again.(the stain wore off immediately)

Please post of pic of the bleeding through if you can. Thanks!

Oh I'm absolutely no help on your remodeling project but I love Pip! I wonder if he's someone's lost pet as he looks like a parakeet.

That's not a bluebird, that's a parakeet. We have them, and I never tire of seeing them. Wonder who lost it and how long they'll hope it returns?!

Bluebird:

I didn't say Pip was a bluebird -- I said that we had bluebirds in our back yard. And I miss having them at this house -- they've done a fly through once and that's it. Last ones I saw were at the dog park.

Pip is definitely a parakeet.

It looks like Pip is a girl? The only full face photo is too small to see. Lots of us on here have birds of various sizes.

I've been following you since your first post; I asked for the story on your house way back then. This house is so much fun to see. Nothing like I'm used to seeing in the middle of Iowa! I would assume you have looked through www.retrorenovations.com

Here is a link that might be useful: retro renovations

My poor old fingers did it again. Here's the corrected link for Retro Renovation

Here is a link that might be useful: corrected link

Chellamaral, there was tile EVERYWHERE in this house and it only bled through in one area - a back bathroom. I think the grout was white, but I believe it was white all over the house . The tile that bled was the only original tile from 1958 left, so maybe that had something to do with it. To be honest, it didnt look that bad. One contractor was kind enough to tell me that if he stained the existing concrete, I would have ghosting every where. The current contractors said the same thing, hence the overlay. My friend just used the same contractor, and their existing floor was good enough to stain w/no overlay. I will ask the flooring guy why some floors are good tomorrow. I didnt get any pics of the bathroom, but here is an example I found online:

{{gwi:1628126}}

{{gwi:1628127}}

{{gwi:1628128}}

Pip is doing well. He is a male parakeet. I already have two small (potty trained!) parrots, and wasnt looking for any more birds, but little Pip needs someone. His wings are cut (badly) and his nails are VERY long, but he seems tame. I have scoured the internet and no one has posted a lost ad in that area. My friend says that there are lots of foreclosures where she found him, and she thinks someone just let him go. How could someone let a bird that cant fly "loose?" It is bound to be eaten by a cat. I will probably get him a girlfriend and a bigger cage, once I move into the new house. There will actually be a bird room for my two birds. I love my birds, but had I known how much time/attn. they require, I would have thought twice before buying them.

Below is my Rocky (post bath) and Zeek.

I had an AC contractor look at the ducts. He said I have a HUGE underground duct with branches to the rooms, and moving the current ducts would be fine. The ducts are moved now and they have laid the first coats of overlay. Unfortunately, the scoring is still showing through and looks terrible! They are laying another coat tomorrow, but I am not confident it will disappear. I am not sure I am willing to pay 1k for the scoring, since the last one was wavy. I told him to cover it up and assume I am not scoring.

kitchen:

{{gwi:1628131}}

living room moved to bar:

{{gwi:1628132}}

I love the reto renovation site! Thank you for the link. LOL@the 90's song posted on there.

I will keep you guys updated! Thank you for your help. :)

Rockybird,
Your babies are soooooo pretty.
And again thank you from animal lovers everywhere for
your rescue of Pip. You are a hero in my heart. Anyone who
would take in another animal into their home when they
already have their hands full with two is a true Champion.
Pip can't use his words to say thanks but I know he is
thankful and beyond appreciative. And I keep asking myself
why would anyone just abandon him? So sad.

I have never owned a bird. WAIT, I mean I have never been
owned by a pet bird. I am currently owned by boxers.
But I do know there is a misconcpetion about birds. People
think they are easy because they are small but they can be
more work than cats. In fact (no offense to cat fans) I
think they are harder to care for because they are so
sensitive to heat, cold, feeding, socialization, bathing,
vitamins, healthy air, clean cages, clean toys...
(Cats need this too but people assume birds just need
water and a cage. NOt true)
Pip needs you.

I have no suggestions for your reno but I just know
Pip is changing your luck to good.
~boxer

Just to validate you - you're doing the right thing! Do it right, even if you have to do it slowly (or more than once, which is so much worse.) You get excited about progress, which makes the two steps forward, one step back thing really frustrating. It's all in service to your education about the process, and it's all the path to getting it right. Deep breaths!!

And moving in and getting a feel for how the house functions is really the best possible way to research your renovation. We waited a year before starting ours, and the last plan (after umpteen iterations) was definitely the best - 18 months on, I regret nothing.

We live in a hot climate as well, and your new windows are going to be expensive and WORTH IT. We kept old windows in the front of our house for looks and boy - those rooms are frigid in winter and hot boxes in summer. I'd guess you're looking at commercial windows.

What an amazing house. Just stunning. You are so lucky to be able to do this!

Deb

Thank you Boxerpups. They are incredibly affectionate, playful, needy and clever animals. I am allergic to cats and most dogs, which is why I got birds...although I badly want a dog. I am worried if I got a dog, it might eat my birds, plus I work too much. I was consdering the lagotto, a truffle hunting "hypoallergenic" dog that has less of a prey instinct, if I eventually can arrange more free time for it.

Deb, I really appreciate your advice and encouragement. I went much to fast with this project initially and made some mistakes. I have 4 full baths to redo and I am going to wait on those.

I am really concerned about the AC bill this summer. I was looking at Milgard and Fleetwood, but if I want to keep the longer stretches of 8' glass, I will have to go commercial. Can you recommend a co.? I have 128 linear feet of floor to ceiling glass, half of it sliders.