Bones -absolutely. Most of the stuff I did building my house you will never see. All steel frame construction, all 5/8" sheetrock, dedicated a/c system w/ returns in each bedroom - study - wives closet etc variable speed air handlers 17.5 seer trane compressors, radiant heat w/ boiler, oversized plumbing lines -- go ahead and flush all 5 toilets and take 4 showers at once (5 counting double heads in master), sprayed in foam insulation, radiant barrier in attic, 3 electrical subpanels -- wife's vanity has 8 outlets on 2 separate 20 amp circuits, i beams cutting span in half on several floors, solid conrete columns front and back etc, etc....maybe it's a guy thing

Are you sure you have an ARCHITECT working with you and not just a draftsman???? An architect should listen to you but he/she SHOULD have ideas - LOTS of ideas - about how to make your desires/dreams into a reality. On the other hand, a draftsman is someone who merely takes your plan and creates a clean, properly scaled drawing that can be used as a building guide. If your "architect" is expecting you to have all the ideas right down to the placement of closets, doors, and windows, he/she is NOT providing you with the architectural services that you are paying for. You need to fire them and get someone else. If you are actually working with a draftsman and want/expect to design your own home, please be aware that while it is not impossible for a non-architect to design a beautiful, functional home, it does take a lot of study, a lot of thought, and a lot of work to get there! Unfortunately, it looks to me like you're trying to START at the finish line...which is fine IF you have a good architect. Not so fine if you're correct in saying that the person you're working with just "does what YOU say." I'm sorry but the plan you have sketched above is simply not very good. Among other things, the way it is laid out forces you to waste far too much of your available square footage on hallways. You've sketched a masterbath with a garden tub (whirlpool tub) and no windows to look out of while enjoying a soak. You've got a powderroom opening directly off of the kitchen so that anytime the PR door is left open, you'll be staring at the toilet. You've also obviously given no thought whatsoever to what the exterior of the finished home would look like. And, given that in a previous post you mentioned that your husband wanted something a bit different and not just a plain box, the last thing I would think you would want to do would be to build a house with no style. Have you given any thought to what style you would like your home to be? Do you already own the lot where the house will be built? If so, which direction will the front door face? Where are the best views? How wide and how deep is your available building area? Do you have room for a side load garage or must it be front facing? Are you in a cold climate or a hot climate, a wet or dry region? Is the land essentially flat or sloped? All of these things should be taken into consideration when designing a home. If you don't already own your land, you're probably getting the cart before the horse anyway because, what if you design a house that is 85 feet wide and wind up with a lot that will only allow you to build 70 feet wide? Before beginning to design a home for you, an architect should know how many people will be living in your house and what kind of lifestyle do you have. Are you formal or informal? Do you entertain a lot or almost never? What do you like about your current home (even if you're renting) and what drive you nuts there? What are your MUST HAVES and NICE TO HAVES? How many bedrooms? How many baths? So you dream of a big whirlpool tub or a huge shower? Do you lust after his/hers vanities? How much closet space do you want/need? Do you want a formal living area or an informal family den? (or both???). So you want a formal dining room or would you never actually use one? Does your family gather in the kitchen while you cook? Do you need space in your kitchen for multiple cooks? Do you want the kitchen/living area to be open to each other or would you rather be able to hide the kitchen mess? Do you lust after a kitchen island? Will you be unhappy if your kitchen sink isn't under a window with a view? Do you need a large pantry? How many garage bays do you need? What size cars do you drive? Does your husband want space in the garage for a "shop." Do you need/want a mud room? Do you have pets and need a space for number of garage bays? attached/detached garage? porches? office? playroom? bonus rooms? Do you need/want a spacious laundry room or just a small spot for the washer/dryer? Is it important to you that certain rooms get lots of natural light? If so, which ones? Is it important that some rooms be tucked away where they'll be quiet even if the rest of the house is noisy? Do you and your husband tend to keep similar hours or is one of you a night owl while the other is up at the crack of dawn? Does your family all tend to gather together in one room or does everyone scatter to their own space? Is it important to you that your home impress visitors? Do you want soaring lofty ceilings or cozy nooks? Do you drawn toward traditional decor, country chintz, clean modern lines, Victorian froo-froo, or some other decorating style entirely? All of the above (plus more) is the kind of information that a competent architect would get from you so that he could help you put together a "program" that would then guide him in designing your home. If your person hasn't yet asked the questions above yet, RUN. Based on what I've seen you post thus far, I honestly think that at this point, you would be better off searching through all the plans that are available online and finding something there that you could live with. (I'm not saying that most online plans are great - and certainly they aren't "custom" - but it doesn't look to me like you're getting the kind of custom help that you have a right to expect from an architect. If nothing else, searching thru the online plans would help you to begin thinking about how you want your home to LIVE and what you do and don't like. After you study about a thousand online plans and try revising them to be closer to what you would like, you'll be much better prepared to start trying to sketch your own from scratch. Or, come back here with several that you "kind of like except for..." as well as answers to the questions I listed above, and perhaps some of the folks who frequent this site will be able to help you put together a workable plan. In the meantime, invest a couple of dollars for some graph paper and do your sketches on that so that various rooms will be at least close to "in scale."

Oh before forget there is black stain at bottom of toilet bowl ... I noticed simlar at local Farm store ladies public restroom toilets lastyear when we first moved here. They look like store replaced with new toilets since... I dont wanna be witch either Only results I can find are a bottom ofthis post Please.... vegetables I eat fresh every day...... All the stuff even organic ( store bought.....WHICH i BUY) and grow some myself... store bought long stay on shelf which preversatives added....have no nutrients unless you grow them yourself and eat right away..... How many big farmers use crop rotation??? the minerals are depleted from the soil. I am not trying to be a witch either(LOL) I do appreciate your knowledge and help , thank you I read this years ago...... well back to the subject of filters> Can a filter be oversized? we just are using the Hd350a model Hubby just completed installing the 2 units. One with the 50 polymicron sediment filter and the other with the poly outside carbon inner 25 micron filter unit Missed out on the state testing.... Sure did not see it posted in local paper, which we subscribe too. ...... I am madder, than heck about that. I called around all over here and tried to find testing other than the next county which tested only for bacteria. This area used to be a whole lot more rural... but everyday I see farmers selling off their land in auctions. they are also dying off. so the subdivided farms down the road are yuppy grass covered...... most are on "CITY CHLORINATED , chlorormFLORUDATED TO DEATH...... they can keep that cause I am a big water drinker...my favorite beverage.... We took our water sample hurriedly to be tested driving the distance last spring.... Gentleman , really nice guy, show my Hubby around the lab.....He said it was in the acceptacle range...... I know,that can change day to day,,,,just common sense Did find one in big city (an independent lab) they wanted a lot for each test.... still have the kit..... Mailed in one too(big national company) the results came back..... guy recommended reverse osmosis for drinking and a softener....... Berkey is my countertop system..... The one, whole house filter,had one temporarily on just the wash machine line for 2 weeks. I was tired of going to the laundromat.... for almost a year.... also still have one the nice carbon shower filter... Hubby took off that whole filter and housing and took a magnet to it.... he got some rust off He than placed that two week old filter cartridge and unit as the 2nd of the two units..... side by side int he crawlspace right after the water from the pump enters the house.... I guess that is normal... the rust that is,, and some sediment We do not know the age of the well etc... so far just two kitchen type sinks, one lavatory and one toilet.l..and a shower. and a portable old dishwasher.... Just the two of us i wash clothes..a lot cause I am a gardener and DIYselfer I will definitely, change that sediment first filter more than recommended and the carbon one more than rec, ,too.... so so far does that sound good??? results of tests, . but I do remember that hardness was high also we had someone testfor floride I believe it said acceptable hardness 12.86 gpg ph 7.54 iron 0.00 ppmas fe maganese..03 tannin 0 ppm sodium salt 215 tds 435 as Ca Co3 turbidity 0 NTU UNITS as amt visible color 0 units sus matter 0 as detected in sample Iron bacteria 0 as detected visually odor 0 as detected in sample Thanks so much Jean This post was edited by jeanwedding on Wed, Mar 20, 13 at 22:24

Thanks for all your responses. We looked at it again with older, wiser folks ;) and there were some issues that they pointed out. Issues that we don't want to tackle. Also, I decided that if I would ever do a renovation to an older home, it should be on an older home with some sort of character or charm. There's really no point in dumping money into this particular home. There's no architectural charm whatsoever. One thing that I was "right" about, however, is that renovations in areas such as this can be profitable since the homes range from 250K to over a million. With that being said though, I was NOT looking to profit. I just want to be in a good location in a house that I like. The example given by an agent is if the land alone will sell for 250K - 290K, then the land with a 2300 sf house all updated nicely can sell for well over 400K. Baton Rouge doesn't follow the usual "rules" in certain locations. Another example, sort of, is there's a mid century modern house that I really want (husband doesn't like it) for 525K, but they purchased it 6 months ago for 319K, and haven't done a thing to it. Agent expects it to sell for 375-400K according to comps, but wouldn't be surprised if they got closer to what they are asking due to location. Someone may come along and buy it for what they are asking then drive up the price per square foot in the neighborhood. This seems to be a trend over here. Location really talks since the city is running out of IN CITY property. @ Artichokey, yes we have large life insurance policies on both of us etc etc. My husband is an insurance nut. He gets it on EVERYTHING. It's annoying, really. Also, if anything ever happened to my husband and I needed to go back to work, I could and would. KickyMarcia, we took a tour of the house you posted, but the pool is an issue and there were a lot of things that I would want to update and or change. I'm the problem. I'm too picky. So, we will just wait until the right house comes up. Livewireoak, public schools in Baton Rouge are a mess right now. It's a political debate not suitable for here. But trust me, they're nothing like the schools in Tennessee. Either way, we LOVE the Catholic school they are currently attending. It's a great school, Church, and Community that makes the drive just something I have to do. Hopefully, however, we will find a home soon that gets us closer to the school. In the meantime, NancyinMich, I will check out those coolers. :) Again, thanks for all of your opinions and advice! Take care!