Just a clarification to the Florida native who stated newer homes did not fare as well in the hurricanes. That is not the case across the board. I know many older homes with water damage like the new homes - HOWEVER there were PROPORTIONATELY more damaged newer homes - all water damage due to shoddy construction and lack of paint. Yes, according to the report by the Florida Builders Association - PAINT. You need to check into who the builder of the new home was. Builders who had the most problems were Ryland and Mercedes. The subdivision where we recently built was built by Lennar. We had NO damage whatsoever in any of our 300+ homes - not even 1 shingle was lost. We carefully canvassed our neighbors after each hurricane as we live in a smaller community and have developed close relationships with our neighbors. Compare that to our neighborhood in Winter Park - homes there were built from the 50's to the 80's and were custom homes. There was no home without at least shingles missing. The difference is that the newer homes built by quality builders have been built to far better withstand hurrucanes than homes built before hurricane ANDREW came through in 1992. The building code was greatly changed after that in order to avoid the devastation seen in the Homestead area. The roofers had to use nails instead of staples and use more nails in each shingle...one of the main reasons roofs in the newer homes fared so much better than the older homes. The effects of the new code is true in many areas that can't be as easily seen such as: Our home has hurricane straps every 6 feet from the foundation through to the 2nd floor roof. It also has solid poured concrete every few feet throughout all the walls, I could go on, but you get the idea. Also, be sure the check on the schools. They can vary widely...in western Seminole where the previous poster mentioned, Lake Brantley High School, which has a great reputation, rated an A in 2005, but they were a B school in 2003 and a C school in 2004 according to the Seminole County website. It is not uncommon for schools to fluctate - look for a consistent score. You can find the ratings of all Seminole County schools here: http://www.scps.k12.fl.us/_doc/GradesSummary2005.pdf To state that you would never live in eastern or southern Orange County is doing those areas a great disservice. I love living in the Waterford Lakes area (eastern OC) and have friends in the Bay Hill areas and Isleworth areas (Southern OC) that have absolutely fabulous homes and love the area. They sit in their backyards by the pool and watch the Disney/Epcot or Seaworld fireworks at night. Some of these areas also have the newest and most up to date high schools with the latest in technology to offer their students. I would suggest the original poster look over all the different areas of Orlando, it is widespread and there are areas you would be wise to avoid..i.e. Pine Hills, west of downtown,etc. However, every area has its own lifestyle. The area I am in is more relaxed - I have wildlife in my backyard frequently...deer, bobcats, wild turkeys and even wild hogs. We love watching the wildlife come to our yard and feed out of the salt lick or drink from the swimming pool. We have this and we are in a new community. Not all new communities have 'postage stamp' yards. Our yard is not huge but it is between 1/2 and 1 acre - around 3/4 of an acre. We can take 528E and be at the beach in 30 minutes, hit 417S and be at the theme parks in 20 minutes or take 408W and be downtown in 20 minutes or take 417N and be at University of Central Florida and the surrounding research park in 10 min. I think you can find whatever you are looking for here in beautiful Orlando. Just decide what is important to you and take time to look around - there is enough variety for most anything you like.

Truss designs seldom have the margin in them for having the load transered from a missing or damaged truss. Even the grades of wood for the various components are often varied based on the calculated loads in each component.

Bottom line is that you must be comfortable with both the builder and architect. They both must clearly understand your goals, budget and schedule. We are often requested to provide architect references which we are glad to do. Depending on the Client, the goals and the desired architecture we arrange 2-3 firms to be interviewed by our Clients. My advice is to choose your builder first. Use him or her as a resource to assist with identifying the potential architects. Based on your builder's input and your evaluations; you select the architect that best suits you and your project. Any of the firms that your builder recommends should be of quality and with outstanding references so it just boils down to compatibility. Pay attention to how the designing consultants are contracted; architect, civil and structural engineers, landscape architect ect... You may contract directly with each and pay direct. If the GC contracts the designing consultants make sure that are not marking up the consultants fees. The structural engineer needs attention just as much as the architect. They can impact the budget very quickly if thoughtful consideration and close coordination with the builder is lacking. The builder and engineer should review and discuss the structural design concepts prior to finalizing the drawings. The use of PSL's, LVL's, Strongwalls, Steel, roof and floor trusses ect... should all be discussed and generally priced for quality and efficiency. If the builder and engineer fail to coordinate the design, what you might end up with is a set of drawings that the builder will value engineers (VE) to create savings on the structure, He (the builder comes to you and says, if we change the floor joist from LVL's to open truss-joist we can save $12K on the framing. Or, I think we can replace the steel moment frames with CTF Smart-Walls and save $18K.) You say great and inform the structural engineer of the desired changes and he say's OK, I'll run the calculations and make the changes on the drawings. You just saved tens of thousands of dollars on the framing costs but now you need to pay the engineer half of that for making changes... If they, builder / engineer work together before the design is finalized you'll receive the full benefit of their expertise. (And yes, the builder is much more qualified as they are on the front lines of innovation, efficiencies and intelligent products that save time and money and improve the product. Think of the engineer as a slide ruler... Good Luck

Where I'm from, a big basement is where teens hang out. So could be good for your Auntie and then later for Emmet when he's a teen. If I had to chose between an upstairs and a finished basement, I'd go basement every time, as long as there are no water issues . . . and that is a big, "IF." Again, where I'm from, sometimes basement are dry as a bone, and other times wet, due to underground mini-springs. So much easier/less expensive and better in the long run to go with your topography than to plan around it. My husband has probably spent a good deal of his career as a carpenter redoing basements with flood damage, failed sump pumps, etc. I've never had any damp basement issues in any of my houses, although worked in two places that have . . . in the Midwest it is a crap shoot. The thing I liked about the second blue house you posted is if you're going to have a garage forward house, that one nicely incorporates it into the home design, making it almost a feature rather than a big square blob. There are lots of nice ways to snazz up a garage. I have a garage forward house too. It does make it harder to spy who's coming up the driveway/walkway from inside the house . . . but we rarely have visitors so I can live with it.