I would not let anyone talk you into leaving that maple where it is. I'm overstating the point to make it so please don't be offended - but it looks ridiculous there. It would be one thing if it were rendered insignificant by other mature trees in the yard, but as it is your major tree, to have it two feet from the foundation is simply absurd. And if your neighbours complain about your insensitivity, ask how much they'd like to contribute to the replacement of your foundation, which will be losing its battle with the tree shortly, or if they're up for going up the ladder to do your quarterly eaves-cleaning (the brain wards are full of people who have fallen off their ladders cleaning their eaves). And offer to buy them a maple just like it (get it identified on the maple forum if you don't know what kind it is) to plant in their own yards. In particular given the work you are planning on the house, you can be entirely excused - the tree will be horridly in the way, and it may even die. A convenient excuse - use it! Do talk to them in advance if you know they feel strongly, but it's your yard, not theirs. Karin L PS, I do like your fake closed window. PPS, I have raised two kids in a house with old siding covered in old peeling paint (and then there is the inside). Neither one is precisely mentally handicapped. I think throwing siding away to protect them from lead is thoroughly misguided. Other reasons to throw it away may be valid, like rotting and the paint won't stay on it (though I quibble with that diagnosis). Not to say you shouldn't do what you have planned, but just to be clear on your reasons. PPPS, if you put the siding for free on craigslist, you might not have to take it to landfill.

Your assumption is based on the fact that the jambs and everything else on the window and the door would be the same, which is not necessarily the case. You easiest alternative would be to purchase a door with the transom pre installed above it so that all aspects of the transom and the door are the same therefore lining up properly

Thank you all. The doors will be opaque and will not have sidelights. Our builder is recommending a 7' door with 16" direct set transom. Now that the house is built I can see that there's enough changes in depth/layering on the front of the house that the difference in height between the front door and windows won't be the issue I thought it would be when looking at the elevations. Really appreciate the confidence to move forward with a 7' door (+ transom) despite having 8' interior doors. Thanks again!

Your roof should overhang your porch floor. From personal experience, unless you are pouring a concrete/cement porch floor, you really do want treated deck boards (thicker 1x6 w/rounded edges) used for your porch floor. You will want the ends of each board against your house and the other end at the front edge of the porch. You do not want board flooring running parallel to and beginning against the house because rain will, inevitably, blow onto the porch. Leaving a tiny bit of space between the boards of the floor (and having the ground beneath the floor sloped away from the house) will enable water to drain off a level porch floor more quickly not only making the porch last longer but also decreasing the slip/fall hazard of a wet porch. .If you are using wood boards, pay attention to which way any board may be trying to cup as water that lands on a deck and/or blows onto a porch can end up standing in a board if it is lower in the middle than on each side. That also makes it more difficult to clean. Using 8' deck boards usually being more space for dollar cost effective (less labor than cutting a twelve foot board in half) is only one reason why a porch should have an 8' floor. The more important reason is that if you really want your family to be able to sit on the porch and enjoy doing so, you need room for people to be able to easily walk the full length of the porch with chairs on it and you don't want everyone sitting in a chair with its back against the wall awkwardly lined up like a shooting gallery. Some people will want to create conversation areas and that will require chairs be across from one another with room to walk between them --unless you intend for your porch rail to be a bench seat. If you've already definitely decided on a only 6' porch, one thing you might consider is creating a "gazebo" at the corner -- an octagon shaped conversation area where you can create a circle conversation area or even set a table with chairs for outdoor dining or table top games. https://www.google.com/search?q=images+gazebo+as+corner+of+wrap+around+front/side+porch&tbm=isch&source=hp&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJx5yCj5rkAhVhkeAKHVr6CQcQsAR6BAgBEAE&biw=1344&bih=620#imgrc=bNrMN32ZP6Xj0M:&spf=1566601944817 https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fd7%2Fe1%2F89%2Fd7e189a1e49f02e5f6362f34d1a30889.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F129337820521972296%2F&docid=N5qHqDYvfwD4HM&tbnid=bNrMN32ZP6Xj0M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwiT0emDj5rkAhUpwVkKHelwCJwQMwhPKAkwCQ..i&w=516&h=387&bih=620&biw=1344&q=images%20gazebo%20as%20corner%20of%20wrap%20around%20front%2Fside%20porch&ved=0ahUKEwiT0emDj5rkAhUpwVkKHelwCJwQMwhPKAkwCQ&iact=mrc&uact=8#spf=1566601972684