Please don't lump building and electrical codes in with regional or local exterior fire protection codes. These are two very different regulations for very different circumstances and very different purposes. You might as well be complaining about the speed limit or the drinking age in your area. IMO some single family house code regulations are adequate and some are not but they have come a long way since the major national consensus code writers joined together to write one code 15 years ago. The prohibition regarding chandeliers over a bathtub or shower is a requirement of the National Electrical Code written by the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA 70) and repeated verbatim in the IRC and other building codes. It would be unwise to disregard NFPA's knowledge and judgement regarding electrical and fire safety in residences. If you want a reality check read the bimonthly NFPA Journal. You will be surprised by how many people die from easily avoidable electrical fires and shocks. If you don't think anyone would try to stand on the edge of a tub in order to change a bulb in an overhead light fixture, think again. The most famous person to die doing that was Claude Francois, the French pop singer aka Cloclo. Perhaps someone at NFPA was a fan. Here is a link that might be useful: NFPA Journal

I designed our house 3 years ago, based on the 18-yr old Colonal we *had* been living in. It had a cathedral ceiling in FR, also a wood stove, but was horribly hard to heat/cool even with the ceiling fan. So no cathedral ceilings in new house (8ft ceilings, though I admit the FR ceiling seems low but I guess I got used to higher). We added ceiling fans in all the BRs since there was no AC (we put window units in MBR, kitchen, and loft over the garage open to FR trying to make it usable). So new house we put ceiling fans in all BRs, study, and FR (where we *were* going to put a woodstove but now seems too small and also chimney would be too close to master bath window). We had a large kitchen in the old house but the eat-in part was in front of large doorway to FR and other side of peninsula so we just couldn't seem to make a table work. Only 3ft of counterspace to left of stove, 2 ft to right of fridge (which is where we put the MW so I have no landing zone). I ended up putting a MW cart in the middle just to have landing zone/prep area. So new kitchen has large island for prep and eating (peninsula only sat 3). Garage had 8 ft doors and was shallow, with stairs into FR so we had no room for storage, could barely fit Explorer on non-stair side, and I often banged mirrors. So new garage is bigger with 9ft doors and a door into the backyard. We had a bath off the master that we had remodeled to put in 2 sinks and a whirlpool tub. I found I didn't use the jets that much, DH used the shower down the hall, so new house has a non-jetted tub and a 4ft shower. Can't wait to get tile and faucets in so we can use them! DH had used the loft as an office until DD was born, then it became guest room. So when I modfied the stock plan that had 4 BRs we made the closet i the smallest BR the attic stairs (old house had hatch in DD's closet, not even pulldown stairs so really no attic storage). DD used it as a BR (and we put the antique furniture in 2nd largest BR) until she moved out of a toddler bed and then she moved into the larger BR. DH is still trying to set up the office, but at least we have all (but one that's in Ds's room) the bookcases from the old house in there. Never could get into home theater since we're not big TV viewers and didn't want to dedicate sf to that, but after having TV in FR at first, then LR in old house, I decided new house was going to have FR totally open to kitchen so could watch little one (had big doorway in old house but still a blind spot) and that the LR was going to be capable of being closed off for TV viewing since old LR was near stairs and open to foyer, TV too loud for sleeping kids. We also plan on staying in this house forever, so with French doors the idea was that LR could become MBR when we get too decrepit to handle stairs. The old house had PR off foyer (near kitchen) with a laundry closet - I decided to have a mudroom/laundry and change builder's stock plan (that looked like my old house, but PR/laundry b/t garage and kitchen) to put the PR in the large open foyer with coat closet opposite. Since the PR is on the LR side we can expand the PR to make it a full bath, and if we close off the hall b/t the closet and PR we could have a good sized "stand in" closet (6x7), though you would then have to walk through the DR to get into the kitchen (or could make closet smaller and lose my pantry). We have vinyl siding (after living 15 yrs with cedar that had to be powerwashed and stained every 3 years or so). The porch (not screened) has a Trex deck instead of the pressure-treated that required yearly maintenance. I built 40ft of stone wall under the porch to hide the supports, and will add more around the flowerbeds and walkway. I'm also thinking of building retaining walls down the sloped from the front yard to the basement door, to make mowing unnecessary and control erosion. Luckily, we have plenty of stone. We're still trying to figure out what to do outside our back sliding glass door - whether it's an outdoor "LR" or not, we would like to make it more than just a deck and a gas grill, since we also have a lot of wood and enjoy sitting around the fire with family and friends. I'm also trying to furnish the front porch with comfortable pieces so we can sit out there and enjoy the view and the sunsets. Like the Tim McGraw song Where the Green Grass Grows we "point our rocking chairs towards the west." I know I'm not going in order but we also chose to make this house as energy-efficient as the upgraded modular specs would allow (so no SIPS but upgraded insulation and windows), and put in a geothermal heating system with a desuperheater for hot water so that we don't have to depend on (or pay for) fossil fuel. Landscaping - what's that LOL? So we didn't design our house based on what we thought the "hot new trends" would be 3-5 yrs later, we designed it with our family and lifestyle in mind, within our budget, and trying to incorporate "lessons learned" from all the other places we've lived. In the case of "landscaping" and "outdoor living" doing all the work (so far) ourselves and with materials we have on hand. Of course if we add a sunroom or deck we'll have to buy materials and will probably hire out at least part of the job.

I am not a morning person either! Homes can be such a pain. My house pains and woes have been the AC for 6 months. Compressor was making a noise in February, repairman came out after a 5 day wait. He said the freeon was low and topped it off. He didn't bother to find out WHY it was low. The weather gets HOT and the AC stops blowing cool air. Call the repairman and it will be 5 days before he can come out. We called a local repairman and the next morning he came and told us the coils have a leak, added more freeon. When the OTHER repairman came out 5 days later he said everything looks OK. I now understand why some people shoot others LOL!!! We told him we had someone look at it and the coils are damaged. He was not happy about that and was rude. It has been 2 months and we have not heard from him. The AC unit is under warranty and after it is repaired his company is going to get a 3 page document advising them why I will never use them again and they will be reported to BBB. The other 3 pages will go to the company we have our house contract with. What should have cost $60 and been repaired in Feb has cost us $200 and is still not repaired. I'm not pleased with either!! Don't ask about the new TV that was damaged, or my iron burning out and ruining my 2 blocks. Other that that it's a great day LOL!!!!!!!!!! Rosa

Is the "another breaker outside the house" located in a subpanel? Otherwise, you may have a wiring issue. It would be odd for a subpanel to be installed for an A/C and outside patio, particularly on a relatively new home. It sounds like someone improperly tapped into the A/C circuit for power on the patio. Is the patio circuit protected by GFCI?