Kirkhall mentioned accessibility standards for homes and there seems to be some confusion about what they are so I'll try to clarify the issues involved. There are no federal requirements for accessibility features in single-family homes. However, the federal standards (ADA) in multifamily housing have become a model for many published recommendations from states, cities, the AARP, etc. but except in a very few cases these recommendations are not laws and sometimes rely on tax credits (Atlanta) and grants (Specially Adapted Housing Grant, etc.) to persuade people to adhere to them. Unfortunately, these standards vary quite a bit regarding door openings and none that I know of address bathroom turn-around space. Bathroom turn-around space is found in the Federal ADA standards for public use buildings and in addition to the 5 ft turn-around circle there is an option for a T-shaped turn-around and both the T and the circle can include certain knee and toe spaces under other fixtures as defined in the ADA so determination of compliance requires more than a 5 ft circle drawn on the plan and for that reason you won't find that diagram in the toilet room section of the ADA. Another source of confusion is the difference between "size" and "clearance" of doorways. In the ADA the 32" required clearance is measured between the face of the door stop on the latch side and the face of the door when it is open 90 deg. That means the minimum ADA door "size" is 34" or larger depending on the hinge projection and door thickness. Many single-family recommendations call for a 32" "opening" or "size" which means the actual clearance would be 30" or less which is too small to meet the 32" ADA requirement. This clearance can be improved with offset swing-away hinges that allow the door to swing clear of the opening at 90 deg. but they are not very attractive in a home. The bottom line is that there are no national standards for single-family handicap access and using the ADA standards would be excessive and unnecessary so it is best to avoid the term "handicap accessible" and do whatever you think is reasonable to accommodate the disabled in your home. For example, if a wheelchair has wheel handrails with a maximum width of 25" to 27", a 32" door size would not be ADA compliant and would only provide 2 1/2" to 1 1/2" of space on each side for knuckles so maybe you would prefer a 34" ADA compliant door, however, for a 23" wide powered wheelchair a 30" door might be tight but a 32" door would be ideal and the chair could turn around in a 37" circle or make a T-turn almost anywhere. Of equal importance is the design of toilets, lavatories, sinks, tubs, showers, cooking equipment as well as maneuvering clearances to the sides of swinging doors all of which takes up more than 20 pages in the ADA.

Good for you macybaby! I hope you are able to finish soon and enjoy all of your hard work, blood, sweat and tears! Katsmah, I must watch too much HGTV because I thought it would be a lot of fun. You are right - it isn't. I hope your pussycat is all good. Boxer, I am so sorry for your loss of your beloved Cleo baby. How our pets touch us is sometimes truly unexplainable. I never saw my husband cry until the unthinkable happened - our 2-1/2 year old "Baby Emily Kitten", the reason we bought this house as we found her and were living in an apt., became sick and was gone in one day from a congenital heart defect that she was born with. I never saw that man cry until this loss. He doesn't cry for humans, that's for sure. It's been 2 years and I know he still gets teary eyed thinking about that fluffball. It took us 3 hours to catch her that night when she ran out from under my car at the shop and he was in his FD dress uniform and ruined it trying to get her. It was I who got her by jumping into the thorn bush. We think she made it so hard for us to catch her because she was never going to be with us that long but she touched us so in that short period of time. Thank you for giving me some much needed perspective - I think what lives on in our hearts is so much more important than some dumb panel ready DW or 30 inch sink. ilene-84, I was talking to a friend the other day who also has a small home. It's the people in the house that make it a home and not the furniture or the decoration or a 36 inch farmhouse sink. I don't mean to get all sappy and everything but we got what we got and all we can do is make the best of it. My MIL did a cat embroidery for me and I framed it the other day and hung it in the bathroom. The bathroom that has been needing a paint job for 2 years. Yes, it was like putting a bandaid on a severed arm but it says Hang in There with a little kitten hanging on a branch. I look at that every morning before I go to work and every night before I go to sleep and you know that small touch made this paint peeling bathroom look so much better. It's reminds me that we just have to make the best of things we have no matter how small it might be! Good luck to you with your project and I look forward to seeing pictures of your remodel! Thank you!

I've seen a few people who "project" what he might like. I'd like to project the opposite to show what other intentions this stranger might have. He might like to know that you will continue with him and with whoever he can send your way. He might like having that income. He might be able to concentrate fully, pay attention to detail, and advise you well. It is possible. He might appreciate that you will pace things out to suit his current situation. Any other way of projecting is (in my view) a self-serving way of cutting away from someone in need. He could have been "between insurances" when he found the tumor growing, and not felt comfortable about lying / hiding / non-declaring while filling out the application form for the next insurance. I said it "sounds like what I would hear about one of those third world countries. I'll bet this wouldn't happen in one of those countries that have state-run medical services" because in those systems he wouldn't have been fighting against his life savings when a doctor first spoke and said, "buster, that there thing is bad, and you are going to have to get that sucker taken out real soon before it gits ya." Cutting it out happens real fast when the payor is a great payor. There are no delays when the payor is clearly going to pay. It was a cancer, and the best time to snip it out and start following the recovery process was right away. When all you've ever seen is people hedging about when to do things and how much, it may be hard to imagine that some guy like this would NOT delay this kind of surgery. In fact, the doctors don't even present it to you as "you have to get it done" they just say, "we'll schedule it soon, and if you want more tests to be even more certain, that'll be fine too." I saw a remark above stating that even if it were to happen at no cost to him, he might have delayed it until too late. Hmm. Well, we'll never know, because he can't live simultaneously under two systems so we'll never know how he would have turned out under another system. About the medical coverage, my first comments at the top of this thread could be taken either way. So if anyone wants to thank me, I'm willing to hear it. Recently one GW member wrote that I'm also good at projecting, and even to the point of it being a pathology ... Oh, no! Do I have to declare it in all my insurances? Does this mean it's a downward spiral from here on? Am I stuck with the insurance company I'm with now?

Sunny, I understand what you mean about making the kitchen feel more custom with tile and new counters but those can be really personal choices and a buyer might appreciate an allowance instead. From the pictures I actually don't mind the countertops, it's the kitchen light that looks much more dated to me. I would consider replacing the big rectangular light with some recessed lights if possible. The lighting change would be less of a DIY friendly project than the countertops so a buyer might appreciate the lighting update more. The oak cabinets, although in great condition, actually look dated to me, but I think you need the wood color to warm up the space with all the tile-maybe just some different cabinet knobs/pulls? The house is very clean and uncluttered but in some areas looks a little bare. Maybe add some more artwork on the walls in the eat in area in the kitchen. The artwork above the sofa might look better if there were two or three pictures instead of the one to help balance the length of the sofa in the space. Rugs would be nice to break up and warm up all the expansive tile and ground the furniture so it doesn't look like it's sort of floating, it will also help define room spaces. Something simple like a solid warm nuetral color with just some texture would be nice-more like a natural Rattan, not like a plush or shag. I would place them under the piano, kitchen table area, sofa/coffee table area. In the Master bedroom I would love to see more art on the walls as well. The art over the bed seems too large and unbalanced with the curve of the headboard- you could try two smaller same size pictures placed on either side of the middle hump in the headboard. Maybe take the bed off the risers and get rid of one of the night stands and lamps, since they don't look like they match-could just be the picture. If the nightstands do match then I would get matching lamps. You might consider changing out the cafe curtain in the kitchen table area to a solid instead of a print. Fresh flowers for an open house or showing in almost any room can be nice. The septic tank-We almost didn't buy our house because it has a septic tank (on the listing they had marked city sewage) however, with a pump and inspection paid for by the seller, we were able to find out the construction and condition of it, and we felt better about it.