hey robin, My hat is off to you for your remodel of your home. I am a HVAC comfort consultant, and I can help you with some advice. #1) I could see you did not like your existing duct. Was it looks or did it previously create hot spots and cold spots in your home to make you uncomfortable? #2) You mentioned fresh air for the summer time, an attic with a closed cell foam insulation you will probably need to bring in some fresh air. Your right about the ac is not needed much, your heat gain will not be as high as someone's home in Texas or Arizona. However, AC is very important during the summer time for Dehumidification as well as providing cool air. Tell me how humid it is near Seattle? A Hydronic system is an option due to your room for construction for your HVAC. You are on a slab, how many floors do you have? Where is your plans for your new air handler or handlers? Zoning with a forced air system would be an option for a slab home. This a very critical time to have a load calc and system design. I'll give you a link for more inforamtion to help yo out. You have your floortype, window/glazing, insulation ceilings, so what youu need is room measurements and orietation and a load calc can be performed. Here is a link that might be useful: ACCA AND ASHRAE CERTIFIED HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING LOAD CALC WITH DUCT DESIGNS

When you say perimeter drainage, do you mean something like a french drain where you dig out a trench around the perimeter, install a perforated pipe and back fill it with gravel? I just want to make sure I understand your suggestion. Yes, although there is more detail than that. As in all things there are degrees of doing as well. Code, best practices for the area and absolute best can be pretty different. Retrofit on a slab on grade is easy to do absolute best. Dig your trench, line with geotextile fabric leaving enough fabric for the last step. Place your bed of drain rock such that the drain pipe will follow the actual foundation all around. So your trench will have to be deep enough and wide enough to accomplish all this. You probably can't make it too wide but there are material constraints and you want to leave some yard, eh? Fit your perforated pipe. Do not use the black, corrugated stuff, use the white perforated drain pipe. Before you glue, figure out where all this will drain to. Out the front, side or back? It has to go away, not just in a circle. Use sewer pipe if there is any chance of vehicle traffic running over it. Sock the perforated pipe. Lay, don't throw, drain rock over the pipe once all fittings have been glued up, do not dislodge or break the pipe. Wrap the geotextile fabric from step one over the drain rock/pipe install. Top the geotextile with pit run, then with a decorative mulch or a stone garden or anything but plantings. Place foundation beds/plantings out from the home, leave the area in which your drainage runs clear. As your plantings mature the void behind them goes away. Most people cram the foundation plantings way to close to the house anyway. OK, so there are technical terms for all this but I've tried to keep it simple, for me, lol. Kaib has it...think like a rain drop or in this case like ground water coming up and/or surface water percolating down. You want to make it easy for it to go somewhere else. Its all downhill from there. And, if I may say, a fun and satisfying project given slab foundation. I've done too many basement foundation walls and that entail a lot of digging.

sageviews... short answer is I have no idea. Longer answer: I'm not familiar with Kitchenaid built-in models, so I can't say for sure, but... It's not so much the depth with a built-in, or the space you allow beside it, as it is the hinges on the refrigerator door. While you could leave a 1/2" clearance all the way around (and please don't let anyone tell you that looks bad, many current refrigerators require that space, and lots of people have them and it sure doesn't bother them) - your doors may still jut out a bit. Depending where you live and your personal tastes, this might be perfectly fine, or it might not suit you. Sub Zero realized a while back that integrated (flush with cabinetry) was becoming popular, so their built-ins, which are not true integrated, had hinges that operated in such a way that the door does not need to extend beyond the cabinetry beside it to open completely. Thus, if someone had the depth and space, they could install the SZ built-ins very similar to an integrated... flush with the cabinetry. I don't think Kitchenaid did this with their built-in hinges. You'd really have to go look at them, and inquire. The easiest way to tell is to take a piece of flat wood (a 1 x 8 or a small piece of plywood - or even a stiff notepad), hold it just beside the door - flush, and open the door the way. Does it hit the wood? If yes, you can't flush install. Is that horrible? If one really wants panels but can't find integrated or it's beyond the remodel budget, no, I don't think so. Just my opinion. It's kind of hard for me to explain the difference in hinges, but the SZ's allow the door to open in place, it does not need side-room. I can't tell by looking at Kitchenaide's site, but I'm pretty sure they require a non-flush install. Basically, the difference is this: SZ built in flush inset: kitchenaide built in flush inset: Hope whatever you decide, you are happy with it : )

Looks like it is a bi-level house (or even multi-level)? Why did you choose that style? Is there a slope to the property, or soil types, that forced this style choice? You have steps up to your front door. Once inside you have steps down to a "basement" and steps up to your living area. Looks like you have steps down to your garage too.