Oh boy. I was you, about 8 years ago. We just needed new windows, they were moldy. So we saved up to replace them, casings and all. Turns out, our development was built right in the middle of a huge scandal in this area involving paying off building inspectors, etc, etc. Lucky us! So then the siding came off. No Tyvec wrap. No insulation. No flashing. Lots of mold. So now we add new plywood, wrapping, insulated siding on Day 1. THEN we get to the back of the house. Deck is built with boards parallel to the house instead of perpendicular. Rotted 3 boards deep where it was attached because...no flashing. So now we also need to dig out the rotted wood, displace all the carpenter ants, and repair. Oh! And as a bonus, the sliding door was not attached to the house frame except for one large wad of caulk in one corner. But did we learn? NOPE! We spent 6 years recovering from the unexpected expenses and also grading the lawn/replacing the deck. The lawn sloped -toward the house, so the sump pump ran all the time. I was concerned about damage to the foundation eventually, so we fixed it. What a difference! Then 2 years ago we started in again. The tub chipped, so I decided it had to go because I was afraid of what I'd find under it. Fortunately, the only surprise that project was the sink pipes not actually being fastened together in the wall. It was a miracle we didn't have a waterfall in our kitchen! Speaking of kitchen, we just finished a remodel. Among the choice building techniques we found were rows of test holes for almost every screw in the cabinets trying to find the studs. A spacer above the microwave/vent made of scrap 2x4 and masking tape. Then there was the live wire left dangling in the wall with just some tape on the end, that was special. The other wiring was so convoluted it took a whole morning to figure out what was attached to what and where things went. Luckily, that concludes the major kitchen problems. Let's move on to my current projects. We had to gut the basement and replace all the drywall due to mold. And they used the wrong type of insulation in the basement (the fluffy cotton candy stuff), so that all went and we now have the proper insulation. We had another live wire with tape hidden in the ceiling. None of the outlets or switches were attached to the wall, they were just in boxes dangling on the end of the wires held in place by the faceplates. We had one vent discovered that had been walled over. They also ran out of space in the panel box for power circuits. So what to do with all the electric in the basement? Why, just feed an outlet nearby, then run FOUR leads from there. Code here is 2 max. We at least had a GFI on that outlet, but not on the one used for the sump pump. Plus that GFI also controlled the second floor bath outlet and the box in the kitchen with the outdoor light and under cabinet lights on it. Trust me, that was not easy to figure out! Speaking of wiring, there was also a light box under the drop ceiling. No fixture, I had no idea it was there. But there were 3 wires that connected through there, and one coming out that went over the rim. So you couldn't even attach a fixture if you wanted to! Our GC has never seen anything like it. We had to upgrade the panel box before the kitchen project, so at least now everything we've touched is up to code and on appropriate circuits, GFI, etc. Oh! And the fireplace, which I've been working on while the GC does the basement. The mantel was wider than the hearth, so it had about an inch overhang on each side. Classy! So decided to replace them both. Turns out, the reason the tiles on the side of the hearth looked loose was because they were. They tiled right on the plywood, so most of those side tiles came of with my own hands, no tools. So what's my point? You have an important decision to make. If you think this is original builder incompetence, you need to either jump ship now before the rest of their stuff crumbles (or burns the house down), or decide it's worth staying and save like crazy to make the needed repairs on the way. It may even pay off to find a GC you trust and have him go over everything, and I mean -everything- in detail to see what you can catch early and what to prepare for. For your sake, I hope it was just the tile guy that was horrible. But if the builder didn't catch that, which would have been obvious for days (or lack thereof), I wouldn't hold high hopes. (BTW, all this was on top of normal stuff, like a roof at about 25 years, new furnace after about 27, etc...).

With the smaller tread of 9 1/2 " , I got them to fit straight. The riser works out to 7 3/8". This will be MUCH better than what I have now (which is 9" treads, 9.5" average riser), BUT, I'm wondering if it will be comfortable? With the 45deg bend, I can have 10" treads AND have a little more room at the bottom of the stairs. Im not sure how important that extra 1/2" is... I am preferring the idea of only having to build a simple straight stair! I fiddled with the kitchen as well, I moved the wall, made the mudroom basically a foot more narrow, put in cabinets, got the Island bigger. However, I didnt care for it as much - the space ended up looking a little lop-sided. I like how as it is, the kitchen entry points on either side of the island basically line up with the two big windows in the living room (which can't be moved since I JUST put them in), and I think that adds a sense of proportion and order to the whole room. I dont know if that is actually important, but I like it. I am perfectly fine with having a 5 foot island with 3 barstool type seats at it. In fact, the kitchen size/shape is my FAVORITE part of this plan, and I do pretty much owe that to you renovator 8 - Thanks! Updated Plan:

Ok, I'm not sure I am reading your diagrams correctly so bear with me if I'm way off base. But it appears to me you are wasting a lot of space with so many paths, and overly narrow paths at that, just to have so many different beds. So my first question would be why so many beds? More beds is not necessarily more productive or more useful than fewer but bigger beds would be. Is the E-W directional placement of the beds what is limiting you? If so, then that isn't any sort of absolute "law". Lots of gardeners use N-S beds quite successfully and they can be easy to compensate for the direction by arranging plantings and crop rotation. And it would appear that in your case using a N-S orientation would allow for a much more effective use of space. 3' or 4' wide beds that could be 12, 14, or even 18 feet long. For example using Version 7 diagram, one 3x14 foot long bed could abutt up to the patio edge on one side and you'd have a 3' path between it and the green tree band on the east. Follow m? 1' wide paths are basically useless for any practical purposes and 2' paths aren't much better. You'll live to regret those narrow spaces. So on the south side, if you feel you MUST run E-w then combine some of those many tiny beds into fewer larger ones OR make 2 N-S beds that are 4'x-24' long with 3 foot wide paths all around. Much less wasted space, more growing space, essentially the same amount of fill required, and I would argue more attractive than having a bunch of tiny little beds crammed together. Make sense? Dave

It depends on a lot of factors including labor costs in your area and the whole approach. In a relatively straightforward case, for a 25x30 living dining room situation, we can assume that it is not more than half the house, that it is a gabled roof, that there is attic space above the room, that the electrical work is straightforward, there isn’t a air conditioning unit or ceiling mounted HVAC above the space, we are looking at about $10000 including the permits, engineering, and general contracting to manage the project. As you can see there are a lot of things that are site specific to determine pricing and that the only way to get an estimate is to bring someone in to see your specific situation and to be open to options presented.