I personally know what I know, and I don't what I don't. I don't try to impress anyone with my CV or life experiences. Nor do I don't take a condescending or patronizing approach. I may know more than ten members, but there are certainly at least eleven that know more than me. I never want to become "cynical". My only objection here at the forum is a member's failure to try self-help first. Anyone who has been here for a while knows I promote that. If they have tried without positive results, or don't understand the information they have ferreted out like the cavalry my help, if I can, is on the way. Not that it means a darn anything, but I've been here since 1998. I've seen people come and people go. Some are missed and some aren't. I myself once had to take a sabbatical as I didn't like the direction the forum was going. It lasted six months. I had had my fill of the members who were trying to take over the forum, a couple of know-it-alls, the members who were thought to walk-on-water, and the rising negative exchanges between these members. So I guess if I was too often made uncomfortable while reading here I might avoid the place. DA

I wouldn't mess with the wifi adaptor or drivers, if there's a good signal and it works fine when close to the router, I'd try other things first. You change wifi channels by logging on the to router from a PC's browser and then go to the wireless part of the router's settings. If you look at the user info that came with the router, it will tell you how. There's an IP address and a standard password (unless you changed it). Someone in your household would have logged on to the router already when setting up encryption and a wifi password - if that wasn't done before, put that on the to-do list when you connect to the router now. Your PC and other wifi devices will adjust to the new channel setting without any action on your part. Yes, some routers send a stronger signal than others. Also, baby monitors and cordless phones can cause interference. If you have either, try unplugging the base station and moving the phones out of the house to see if that makes a difference. Routers in North America come with channels 1-11 but you shouldn't think of them as being discrete like TV channels because they bleed into one another. Instead, think of it as having three channels to choose from - a low number (1), a middle number (5-6) and a high number (11). Choose one farthest away from what your neighbor is using - most routers ship preset to a middle channel and that's why so many people have conflicts with neighbors' signals. If your neighbor's is in the middle, choose either low or high. Failing that, there are other things to do to boost signals. Google for simple suggestions, including homemade reflector gizmos made from cardboard and aluminum foil. You can buy a high gain antenna for the router, you can buy a repeater (Hawkings makes great ones), you can get a wireline adaptor with a wifi bridge, or you can try to relocate the router to a more central spot or one that minimizes physical obstacles that the signal has to pass through.

Such an interesting topic! I've a few thoughts on this too. Been in this 1950 cottage-ranch house with galley kitchen for 17-years now and have learned to make it work through compromise and concession. We've never changed the footprint because it is as efficient as it can be without knocking walls out. We did upgrade to hubby's choice of a Bosch electric range and Bosch dishwasher - we love them! He's very good at the technical aspect of all those items we can't live without now (DW, fridge, range, washer/dryer, etc.) Married 30+ years to a guy who often would like to "hover" (not in a helpful way) when I was cooking so I now see our galley "one-butt" kitchen has a kind of advantage - no room for hovering! I am one that likes my personal space when working in the kitchen. When our children were at home I did most of the kitchen prep and clean up - just worked better that way. Now I still do food prep and cleanup unless hubby has decided to make a special meal and then I just stay out of the way. Our DW is located right across from fridge with the usual problem, only one door can be opened at a time. We've learned to work around that and take turns when needed. One thing I've decided I would change sometime is the divided sink. It's a grand old heavy porcelain sink, expensive to replace but so awkward to work with. I'd love to have a large famhouse sink, the kind with the apron instead. Isn't it funny what we think we must have though? I lived in the UK in the 1970s with relatives and just about everyone had very small galley kitchens (old 2-story Edwardian London houses) and made them work. Most everyone had small counters, made of stainless steel with grooves one side for the "washing up." Range was small 24" and the fridges were the 4 cubic ft. small ones we see in Home Depot. Most people went shopping every day or so. Oh, and the gas "immersion" that one had to light each time to start the "cooker." At anyrate, people entertained and put on dinners quite well with these tiny kitchens. FWIW I too have a hubby who will stand and gaze in the fridge and ask..."what should I have for ...dinner/lunch....?" and also leave a trail of bits of rubbish when the pullout bin is steps away. Go figure! But, he's wonderful at fixing so many things and has saved us a bundle from repair bills. All boils down to give-and-take when you share a home with people I guess.

Normally, I avoid threads with such varied dialogue. However, let me chime in and hopefully enrich, not muddy the conversation. 1. Span charts exist for all types of lumber. Buried in the American Wood Council website are tons of span charts, one of which will apply. Check them out. https://www.awc.org/ . 2. Construction: The bottom board(s) is the beam. The boards that rest on the beams are the rafters. If there is a third set resting on the rafters those are the purlins. 3. While the construction method here is a bit unusual and not something I would encourage, the house appears to be a stabilizing agent even though the rafters are not tied in. That being said, the rafters are bigger than the beams, which is something I have not ever seen. That is causing the components, at a minimum, to be out of scale with each other and making the structure out of scale with your home. Part of the scale issue are the posts. Even in small space situations 6"x6" posts will be much better visually. 5. One Possible Solution: Since your posts are probably not going anywhere you might consider wrapping them with 1" material which will beef them up substantially. In turn you could also wrap the beams, enhancing their presence. If you are really ambitious you could remove and rip the rafters, reducing their height and dominance over the balance of the structure and your home. However, with that being said I concur with @Charles Ross Homes that disassembling and setting aside the wood for a four-posted, free-standing structure on what appears to be a lake view is definitely the best approach. The photo below has posts and beams that are both wrapped, though note that the rafters and purlins are not wrapped. In the next two photos you can see that the rafters are notched and thereby a bit more integrated visually. That would be another strong consideration which would reduce the dominance of the rafters you have in place. Hope this helps a bit and good luck with whatever course of action you take.