If you're going to build a slightly modified Don Gardner plan, then you should definitely purchase a license to use the plan along with a right to modify it. Otherwise you would be committing copyright infringement. And, while you probably would not get caught, it's simply not right to steal someone else's intellectual property. And if you were caught and sued, the penalty's can be HUGE. Don Gardner offers plan modification services. I'm not associated with the company (or with any other online plan company) and I don't know how their plan modification services work nor what they cost. But, if I liked a Don Gardner home (or any other online plan wanted to build it with just a few modifications, I'd start by talking to whoever owns the plans about having them do the modifications I wanted. Do include in your discussion whether they will certify that the final design you would license will meet your local building codes or whether you will still have to take it to a local architect for code verification. If the latter, you'll want to take the cost of a local architect's services into account. It might be cheaper to have a local architect make the modifications as well as ensuring that local codes are met. But please don't just take an image of the online plan to a local architect or house designer and ask them to draw up a plan "like this but with these changes." You would be asking the architect/designer to conspire with you to infringe copyright. GET A LICENSE and make sure Don Gardner knows you intend to have a local architect make some modifications and is in agreement with your doing do. Any local architect worth his salt would insist on seeing that you have a license from Don Gardner anyway before he/she would be willing to touch the modification project. As for the modifications you've suggested, I would NOT increase the size of the bedroom right below the screened in porch, incorporate the neighboring bathroom into that room, and then convert the bath between the other bed and study into a jack/jill setup. If I'm understanding you correctly, that would leave the in-laws bedroom without access to a bathroom. The first idea sounds more workable to me. In fact, if you wanted to, you could build the house pretty much as designed and wait to convert the screened porch into a bedroom until closer to the time the in-laws are ready to move in with you. Much can happen in 10 years. You could wind up divorced (KNOCK WOOD), one or both in-laws could pass away suddenly, you could have another child and need the extra bedroom for your own baby. If nothing else, within 10 years your older daughter will be just about ready to go off to college. As she reaches her upper teens, she might prefer to move her bedroom up to the bonus room area giving you other options for your in-laws rather than converting the screened porch. So, while it is good to think about what kind of house you will need in ten years, don't make modifications that are unsuitable for the way you live NOW just because they MIGHT become suitable ten years down the road. In your situation, what I would probably do is flip the back bathroom so that it could be accessed via the screened porch. This would also make it much handier for use as a pool bath NOW or for the girls to use when they're playing in the back yard. (I assume the "spa" is a hot tub or small pool.) A bath opening off of the screened porch would also be a reasonable location for guests to use as a powder room. Later on, if/when your inlaws are closer to being ready to move in with you, you could enclose the screened porch to make them a bedroom and the bath would already be in place. So the remodel costs would be minimal. BTW, I'd probably forego the fireplace and grill on the screened porch in favor of a Mexican chiminea and a free-standing barbeque pit out on the patio. Let's face it, we really don't use fireplaces all that often in Texas anyway so why spend the money for an extra one? If you're thinking you'll someday want to convert the porch to a bedroom someday, you would just have to have the fireplace and grill removed to make room for a reasonably sized walk-in closet. For now, I'd let the two girls have the two side bedrooms and share the front bathroom... which I would leave as a hall bath. I'd leave the study alone to serve as a study and computer area and occasional guest room. Then, although you didn't ask about this, I'd move my laundry room to the E-space. I personally really really really dislike having a "pass thru" laundry on the way to/from the garage. As your girls get older there will be times when you will pick them and their friends up from school or an activity and bring them back to your house to study or play for awhile. When I was a teenager I was always mortified when that happened and my friends had to step over/around the family's dirty laundry that Mom was in the midst of sorting when she left to pick us up. UGH! I remember one time there were dirty bloomers on the floor when the boy I was sweet on came home with me to work on a project. I thought I would absolutely die. The dining room of this plan is rather small for a full sized table and chairs. If you ever plan to put the extra leaves in your table and seat more than 6 people for dinner, the dining room definitely needs to be bigger. If you're willing to add another approximately 100 sq feet to the plan, you could pull the master bedroom and garage over by 2 feet to do something like this... I also can't say that I'm enamored with the kitchen plan as drawn. I would want the refrigerator closer to the nook area because it will get accessed during meals a lot. I would also NOT want the stove to be right next to the aisleway to the fridge. IMHO, for safety's sake a stove should never be located next to a commonly used aisleway. It should be tucked into a spot where anyone who is not actually cooking has no real need to ever pass directly in front of the stove. I didn't make any modifications on the kitchen tho but would suggest that you run the kitchen of this or any plan you're considering by the folks over on the kitchen's forum. Some of them are really good at suggesting changes that will make a kitchen much more user friendly.

For others with similar question about this adhesive, I'll post a follow-up. As far as my question about logistics, thinking ahead was worth my trouble. Will pass on what we've learned so far and our conclusion about this glue. This Stauf WFT930 is imo a nice glue, easy to trowel on, but after only 3 rows of planks into the job, we're wishing we had gone with a caulk gun and construction adhesive. It's just slowing down the job. A caulk gun would be faster and I suspect it would do the job based on previous posters for this thread. We have up to 10ft planks. Even with the flooring pre-selected, we ran into a long board that was too bowed for our tools; so it's best to dry fit every piece ahead. So, dry fit, remove, trowel glue for only that piece in case of trouble until sure you can nail it. (I will stand corrected if someone can tell me a better way. ) The glue has a 30 minute "open time" and we've had no trouble applying it. Even in the cold, it's a nice consistency, trowels on well with the recommended trowel. I used a 4" putty knife to scoop out enough for a row into a disposable hand-held trough. (I used a plastic spinach bin from Sam's.) Just scoop onto the floor, spread, and then trowel along the row. Works very easily. The mechanics rolling stool is a knee saver. Using small furniture dollies for bundles of wood when we brought it in to acclimate and for the heavy glue bucket really helps save horsing those items around. I would say I think a troweled on application will give you better coverage than caulking gun -- when we lift a glued piece back out, it's covered almost over the entire surface. We won't know for some time whether that helps with seasonal shrinkage on a wide plank floor. I remember the previous installation (a pro years ago) with a serpentine caulking application under the boards, and we did not get that glue coverage, and the floor does show the seasons. But there are supposed to be more flexible fillers now that will cover the cracks better. I haven't checked on relative cost yet. But we paid around $25/gallon for this and the mfr sheet says that will cover up to 50sq ft / gallon. Am going to price construction adhesive, call the mill and ask for an alternative, and possibly try to sell this glue or at least put the second 4-gallon bucket back in for a restock fee after we've finished the first bucket. Hoping to speed up the job with less attention to glue and more attention to the wood. If the construction adhesive works (as previous posters say it is okay), we'll use it instead of this troweled-on application for our next area, which is several times bigger than this.

Thanks for the feedback - I'm not going to be happy no metter what - but I'm trying to make the best of it. The cabinets are sturdy. The finish isn't in the best shape, but there won't be any falling apart any time soon :-(. I think because it is fairly new, we should be fine with replacing the appliances in the existing cabinets. I have owned the house since it was built in 2000 and like the layout. (lived in it for 5 years too) I prefer the cabinets I bought for the other house, but you can't have everything! What I don't like is the finish and the granite tiles. I would like to clean up the finish and get granite slab. I am not a big fan of painted finish cabinets, so I was tinking about new doors or refinishing. I am not considering a full re-face (I would get new cabs, if I wanted to spend that much) So, where would I start to figure it out? I'm not even sure what measurements to take to start asking around. OH- the reason I would like to go to full overlay is to minimize any inconsistancies in the match between the natural maple I have and what I would buy. (not to mention I prefer the look).

I read this awhile ago so I may have forgotten a few details but, in essence, glue down cork floor is the traditional type of cork flooring that has been used for decades and has proven its longevity. There are cork floors in the Library of Congress, the Mayo Clinic, and the NY Public Library, among other famous public buildings, that have been in place for close to 100 years. If they survive all that foot traffic, they must be good. Cork is also water resistant so a kitchen flood won't harm the cork itself. This water-resistant also makes it very resistant to stains. I'm not sure if the glue would hold though. You would have to research that. So it might need re-gluing if your kitchen had a flood. Cork also doesn't support the growth of mold and mildew. Floating cork floor is a newer type and hasn't been around long enough to prove it has the same longevity. Just like all floating floors like laminate floors, for example, they're not really recommended for wet conditions like kitchens and baths. And if it gets and stays wet, the cork itself still wouldn't deteriorate or mold/mildew but the part of the flooring under the cork could be damaged. Based on my own research comparing the two, I may put glue-down cork in my living/entry/dining areas. I love the look and feel of it. (I'm not replacing my kitchen floor as I love the original linoleum.)