Thanks for the plan ML...I did miss it. I printed them out. They are very, very helpful. My husband knew how to enlarge them, and I'm going to cut them out. I can then move them around like puzzle pieces. I sent the designer a rather scathing e-mail. When I get REALLY ticked off, my mind clarifies. Basically, I said that my detailed lists, and what had been said at our meeting had obviously not been read or listened to, like everyone else I have paid. I also said that I would not tolerate any further disrespect. No reply so far. The guy is not someone I want doing our final drawings and blueprints, so my DH can do that with his software, and said he is going to work on it after mowing today. He sure likes our little tractor. Maybe we will get something usable on the floor plan from the designer, but I seriously doubt it. This is a guy who says to me when I was trying to decide on logs versus log siding, or loft or no loft, will say "Oh, so we're back to that again", rather sarcastically. I made a huge point in my e-mail today that it was MY house paid with money earned by my husband and I. I could just spit nails right now. Middle age is a blessing in that one ceases to care about what someone else, who is trying to push them around, thinks. I am starting to draw out a floor plan with a second story loft. The stairs will run along the bedroom wall in the great room. I'm thinking the second bathroom can run between the bedroom wall and stairway, accessable to both the master and great room. Maybe it will work...don't know yet. I'm hoping it would be private enough. An extra bedroom WIC could sit next to that along the same wall area. Sort of like building rooms back to back with the bedroom. The "study" could be turned into a nice foyer, not as large, with the laundry access off that. There could be a door from the master bathroom into the laundry room as well. These ideas, combined with the space that stairs take up, will create a hall, with privacy gained into the bedroom. The foyer can be a spot for my large roll top desk, which would be awful to get up into a loft, and a nice bench or chair, so as not to be wasted "show" space. The beautiful door with leaded glass and sidelights would really set this area off. I would also like to see an access point from the foyer into the kitchen. There will still be another kitchen door somewhere so we can go outside to the porch, and also grill, maybe between the dining area and counter run. I'll try to post here later. The kitchen will be reworked from how he did it, but the basic concept of it and dining running the direction they are. I can pivcture storage closets with a window seat on the front east wall of the kitchen. Maybe that's where the access from the foyer can cut in to run along that wall. At least my ideas are starting to flow again. Does any of the above make any sense? Hard sometimes to see it with just a bunch of words. I think we can come up with enough to satisfy the county, (and me), so we can get started, with small "remodels" made as we build. I guess I had to get good and P.O.'d. It sure does make it easier taking the sewing room off the main floor. It makes for a nice plan that isn't boxed in. The other good point is that even though we do not care about resale and are out to please only us, the loft makes the home versatile for resale when we finally kick the bucket. Another point made to me by a log home builder was that it is good to at least build for a future loft in these types of homes, even if the whole space were walled off and not used. The reason being, the walls could come off, and the second story finished. He and his wife ended up with custody of a couple grandchildren. His point was that we cannot predict when we might need extra bedrooms. Sure wish you gals lived close by. We'd have this thing done and engineer stamped in the blink of an eye. And we'd have fun doing it. Sigh....haven't met any ladies here like you yet. So it's a little lonesome. Society isn't the same any more. Sandy

We just did a wall-mounted faucet as well, but with an undermount sink. The faucet was mounted approx 6" above the countertop, I like the look of your set-up; it's exactly what was in my mind. Thanks for sharing, especially the pictures! Most importantly, you will need a good quality faucet. No matter what I do, I'm going with good quality, name brand faucets. Of all the things I don't want to go bad in my house, water-containing items are at the top of the list. After that decision, we chose these particular faucets due to the the length of the spout. How far does your faucet protrude from the wall? Stephemt, I'd like to hear the same answer about your layout. I'm leaning towards an undermount sink like Stephemt's. Does this make a difference? That said, installing wall faucets is a lot more complicated then installing countertop faucets. In our case, we built a small pony wall (open at the bottom) in front of what's an exterior wall. I think I'm into the pony wall -- it makes for a nice ledge. My sink will be placed against an interior wall, but the kitchen is on the opposite side; I can see the pony wall as a way to protect the plumbing /make it accessible -- am I thinking along the right lines? Thinking of function, would you do the pony wall again? If you hire a plumber, you will need to know and communicate the thickness of your finished wall before the rough plumbing is installed. Oh, I'm hiring a plumber. I admire you for DIYing your bathroom, but that's pretty far outside my current skills set. I wouldn't have thought to let the plumber know ahead of time that the wall would be extra-thick -- valuable information! And thanks for the nice, clear shot of your faucet. Definitely helpful! I don't see a need for separate hot and cold handles other than for style reasons. It's just as easy with a single lever to choose either hot or cold. Personal preference. What we have are "click-clack" touch drain plugs (what I called pop-up), we do not have the lever rod-based "pop-up" drain plugs (what I would call pull-up). Okay, I understand the difference now. I've only ever had the rod-behind type and didn't really realize another option existed. Well, not since I lived in my grandparents' old, old house and we had plastic rubber "stoppers" that we placed over the drain. I'm glad to recognize that options exist, but I think I don't care about this detail. Many thanks to all!

This post is timely for me because we've been talking about updating the kids' bathroom. We have a full length builder grade mirror now and that thing is always a mess! I don't know exactly what my kids do in there, but there are always splash marks and dried toothpaste on it. They have electric toothbrushes and those spray more than the standard/manual ones, but I think my teenagers are just messy. Good thing to know about the vanity height as well. My kids are 5'6" and 5'9" so they have to bend over quite a bit to wash their faces and we have the builder grade round bowl. I was considering just having the original vanity painted but will now get a new one so I can add some height.

My thoughts? 1. Although I buy many things at Home Depot, I don't buy their house brand plumbing products, like Glacier Bay. I stick with the major brands like Kohler, American Standard, Moen, etc., that have been around for a long time and have excellent warranties. I particularly want to know that I have a high quality shower valve as it's something buried in the wall and not easily replaced. But Home Depot will order pretty much anything you ask for, so if you're having trouble finding what you want in their store I suspect that you can order any name brand valve from them, including the one I linked to. But I also suggest you check out build.com, which is where I do essentially all of my online plumbing ordering. 2. The guy at Home Depot was blowing smoke and I'd ignore him. It's an older design only in the sense that it's been around for decades. And there is nothing complicated about the design: it only differs from a regular shower valve by having a pair of small, integral, 1/4-turn ball valves added as stops, and I don't see how these are going to fail on you. The likelihood of leaks from this type of design is much more minimal that any other type of shutoff valve you are considering. I suppose anything is possible, but I've never had a problem with this type of valve or heard of anyone else who has. I don't know why the Home Depot guy was discouraging other than the fact that he didn't have much in stock of the design you were asking about. That's my 2 cents...now you get to choose.