Oh, way in the back. That is a pile of wood chips that I didn't need when mulching around my CPs. This coming year those chips will be added to the paths in my vegetable garden and around the CPs. Every 3-4 years I have a load (4-5 yards) of wood chips delivered so I can renew my garden paths, etc... Last TONS longer than 'real' mulch. Kris P.S. kinda bogus that I have to wait so long to post an answer when the conversation is flowing right alongÂ. Hey, time for another emoticon. :-(

Well, I say, it is a fabulous little "box" plan. How do you like the elevations? Some thoughts: The upstairs hall bath will be over the foyer. Consider where the drain lines will be because you will hear them from the front door. The laundry is exactly center in the house. How will it vent? I'm not crazy about the multiple closet doors for the bedroom over the garage. I think I'd just put a door on each entrance/exit, and forget about enclosing each little run of clothes. Think about your master light switch placement--the double doors make that a little more complicated (will you have to reach around a door to find it?) You need an outswing door to the master toilet room. And, a corner tub always takes up a ton of room, but you appear to have a ton of room in your bathroom. As long as you are happy with space allocation, I guess you have the room to do it. (there are very few locations in the house that will be untouched by upstairs water noise--in fact, with the open layout, I'm not 100% sure where the laundry machine will drain... Just a thought). Finally, for a nice compact house, if you should ever have a temporary or permanent disability, you will need to move out. On the otherhand, if you can find a way to get a 3/4 bath downstairs instead of just the 1/2 bath, a permanent disability, or long term one, could see a person living in the LR until such time that the house could be sold, or they recover from the disability. What will the orientation of the house be?

There's a neat book available through Amazon that is put out by Sunset that had patterns etc for 26 of them. Go to Amazon's site and type in building birdhouses, it should come up.

Thanks!