I have a liner pool and have a few suggestions for you. First off...get a dual timer for your pool pump and pool cleaner. Youll be so glad you did. It is hassel free. Second...get a saltwater generator like the Aqua Rite. I had a regular chlorine pool before and will never go back. I love my Aqua Rite. Maintenance free. I have the Polaris 280 with booster pump and it works fine. It sucked up all our fall leaves because we kept our pool open after it was completed in August of 2006. I have 2 returns on the main step, 3 on the wall, and another one on the swim out instead of a ladder. Hated the way a ladder looked. We also have gray steps and it makes a much more natural appearance for the pool. Not like the white which sticks out like a sore thumb and are hard to keep clean. Just my opinion because i had a liner pool befoe and we wanted a change to something more natural looking and easier to maintain. Our pool has stamped concrete, 2 polaris deck jets, aqua rite SWG, 14 X 28 Oasis style pool, Roman steps, a swim out, dual timer, sand filter and all gray components and cost 29,000

There isn't a "better" between framed and frameless. If well made, both are perfectly acceptable. If you see a kitchen reno on HGTV where the guy hoists a cabinet box over one shoulder, carries it in, and slings in into place, chances are good that's an inferior product, framed or frameless. Framed are more common in the U.S. and frameless more used elsewhere. A large part of the reason frameless are more used outside of the U.S. is that frameless construction uses less wood. Europe has had longer to cut down their forests so wood is a scarcer commodity there. Then there's preference. I so prefer frameless for space reasons - my previous kitchen was dinky and my current one is smallish. OTOH, some so prefer framed because they want inset, or they just like the look better. Either can give you a sleek modern look (well, not inset) or a traditional look depending on the door style chosen. Preference and practicality, not "better."

I have a builder contractor license, and we do house renovations in Virginia. But I am not an Architect, and not a building designer. I can turn an existing 100 year old home that is very compartmentalized into a modern functional open floor plan. But to design something from ground up, and fit 500 requirements from my family is the first time. So we are working with a local Architect, and I am not sure it is fair at this stage to criticize our Architect yet, since most of the details are not yet reflected on the plan. We are trying to work with the lot we have to accommodate the crazy thoughts we have in our heads. That being said... to answer some of the questions, and I do want to thank all of you for wonderful comments. and please keep them coming! - We do have two little kids, age 6 (girl) and 9. Hence the princess suite. She always wanted her own bathroom. - I will think some more on how to best utilize the first floor master bath/closet accessibility. - That is an issue for the closet and bath on the opposite sides of the master. I wanted to add the closet there to be a sound barrier between master bedroom and laundry. Do you recommend having the bedroom next to laundry, and then walk through a hallway and then to the bath? Did someone say no need for sitting room in master? - We like the idea of a loft on second floor, but I am not sure how practical it would be. - How do you feel having bedroom in the front of the home vs. on the back? I put both kids' bedrooms in the back thinking that would be more private for them.

We like it because it's different then others we've looked at and we love the two story living room area. It's also super open and bright. Those are true statements, though the two-story living room isn't really a positive. It'll be expensive to heat/cool, and sounds will echo. How old are your children? Will they be safe in a two-story room, or will all that height be a temptation to throw things (or jump ... I was a jumper ... so were my four siblings). which will mean dragging groceries through the home. The other two things I'm not totally sold on are the master bedroom over the garage and the split master bath. You can improve the grocery issue by opening up a "back door" in the pantry -- this will allow you to go straight down the hall /not through the dining room. A couple people said the pantry was too far from the kitchen. I disagree. You typically begin cooking by bringing out all your dry goods ... so that's just one trip to a pantry only a few steps away. What I don't like about the kitchen is the long line of bar stools at the island. The island is a great place for a couple stools, but it's an awful place for family meals. Don't believe me? Take the family to Waffle House for dinner, sit at the bar, and see if you enjoy the family interaction. 1-2 stools for a child to sit on occasionally are great ... but you have space for a table RIGHT THERE. I agree that the master -- from its long dark entry hall to its weird bathroom to its over-garage location -- is a huge mess. That would be a no-go for me. Additionally, will this house have enough tucked away storage space for a family of 5? This new house will be a bit over 3,000 sq ft. We are coming from a 2400 sq ft house. 3000 square feet is a huge house -- a lot to pay for initially, a lot to maintain, clean, heat/cool, and pay taxes upon. And this house contains LOTS of bloat; you could get the same (or even better) function in a smaller space. As for storage: That corner to the left of the office door is begging to become a closet (or open shelves). I'd move the laundry upstairs /allow that space to enlarge the mudroom or have a hobby closet downstairs. The huge storage in the basement isn't all that useful ... its not convenient to the majority of the house. You can add bookshelves on both sides of the fireplace for books, movies, board games ... but allow space for windows above. The reason I asked about the snow is, how I'm seeing it, The snow will come down the roof above the front door, along with snow from the left side and right side, and all will pile up right in front of your front door. I see many homes in our area in that situation every winter. It's always nice to have a dormer over the porch to direct that snow to either side. Being a good Southerner, I think more about flip-flops and pools than snow ... so I never would've considered this point. However, I do note that the front door is kinda "buried" in all this exterior. Perhaps if it were a bright color it'd stand out better. I agree with these statements: - The bathroom in the basement is also oddly compartmentalized - The garage bumpout makes for an odd roofline. - So you don't have to walk downstairs with tons of laundry and then worry about where it will vent. (My own addition: This is a very big deal. Venting a dryer from the middle of the house is expensive, hard to clean, and a fire hazard!). - So you don't have what looks like 20' of hallway after you enter the master suite. - So you don't have two spaces labeled Rec room and then a third labeled playroom because they couldn't figure out what else to call it. - There are definitely some odd spaces We would have the house placed so when you pull up you see the main part, not the garage side! No, no, you're not understanding the above poster. We need an illustration: Imagine that the red line is the main road, and the green lines are your driveway and your sidewalk. No matter which direction they approach the house, your guests will "pull up" next to the garage /park in that area. They will then be forced to walk alllllll the way arooooounnnnnd two sides of a bloated garage. While walking, they will have no view of their goal (the front door), and they will potentially be exposed to rain /snow /dark. This is absolutely not welcoming, and it can't be fixed ... not with a front-protruding, side-entrance garage. Let's look at it from a different perspective. Your guests would park on the side of the house /by the garage (marked with a red star) ... and they'd have to walk around the garage /with no sight of the front door until they'd turned two corners. Don't you see how that'd be uncomfortable? I say it all the time: Driveways /the approach to the house don't get nearly enough attention. These things set the tone for your house. You could add a second driveway (perhaps circular) to the front of the house for guests ... but then guests won't be sure which driveway is for them. The garage is just a very poor design. Isn’t the inside so pretty though? I think the interior pix are rather average for a new build. They are, however, very trendy and up-to-date, especially the color scheme. Regardless, this statement is a hint that you're responding to finishes /trims ... not functional layout. Pinpoint the items you like, and you can use these finishes in a house with a better layout. Better to feel bummed before building it than after. SO MUCH! As I sit in my living room, reading... In contrast, no one has entered my living room ... probably since we used it as a "staging space" for my daughter's back-to-college move last month. The real question isn't, "Do you need a room labeled living?" It's, "How many public spaces are you building?" My living room never gets used because it's the THIRD public space in our house -- we've been here 18 years, and we've used it fewer than 10 times -- it's a waste. Most families will be well-served with ONE big room in which they can all gather (might be called a living room, den, family room, whatever) ... and a SECOND smaller room in which someone can be separate from the family. This second space (whether it's called an office, a playroom, a sunroom, or whatever) needs to be visually and acoustically private from the main family space, which allows one person (or a few people) to get away to read, do homework, watch a TV show in private, or whatever. This second space could be the place to contain the kids' loud video games, or it could be the place to escape from the kids' loud video games. Once the kids become teens, this second space can become the place for them to host friends, or it can be the place for parents to "disappear" while the kids are in the main family space. Few of us need a third public gathering space. The floor plan we're discussing contains SIX public gathering areas ... plus a private sitting space for the parents. My own additional thoughts: - That bay wall is a stunning feature, but it will be expensive ... do you like it that much? - Will you actually use fireplaces in two different rooms? Fireplaces are quite expensive to build and aren't used that often in most homes ... if you want them "for looks", consider that you could put in a mantle /fill the fireplace with flowers or candles seasonally. - Imagine your path to bring laundry up to the master bedroom: through the mudroom, through the foyer, up the stairs, turn, down the hallway, down the long dark master hallway, and FINALLY you're in the closet. It's just too long a path. - Imagine the house were on fire. Imagine trying to escape from that master. You're far-far from any door. Imagine you're elderly in this house. Imagine navigating these steps and two long hallways to reach your bedroom on a daily basis. - The kids' closets look good. - How will the kids feel about their bedrooms being different sizes? - The kids' bathroom will be dark ... all rooms are so much better with natural light. You definitely can't have two sinks in this vanity (and why would you even want two sinks between three kids?). Instead go with one sink /drawers on both sides for ample storage. Storage trumps duplicate sinks every single time. - Who will live in the weird downstairs bedroom that cannot be reached without walking through another room? - Note that the playroom has no natural light. It won't be a pleasant space.