Must haves when building a new house

[shaker]

I'm trying to decide what I must have when building my new house.

Must haves:
Gas stove
Gas Line to BBQ
50 gallon hot water tank


What about:
Rounded corners
R20 sound proofing for the bed rooms
Bifolds in to passage doors
Drip humidifier
Rough in for garberator
Tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms

Anyone bulid a new house lately?

[caps]

Wherever you think want it...add it. Saves hassles down the road.

[cOmAtOaSt]

I agree on the Cat5. I did it when we had our house built. I just put a run in wherever there was a cable and/or phone outlet.

Other things to think about:
- main floor laundry with drain pan below the washer
- separate entrance for the basement - so you can have an apartment/granny flat down there.

[pandaharo]

A/C!!! ;)

not as important, but good plumbing is nice to have.

[sleepyguy]

good ducts... saves you tons on heating and cooling bill... efficent AC and heater. oh yeah... cat5e or cat6 for gigabit ethernet :) put it in every room... make sure you put at least 2 in everyroom in case you go IP telephony :)

[TenzoR]

my architecture friend told me to insist on I-beam instead of the normal ones

if you don't know what i'm talkin about look here
http://www.benfieldatt.co.uk/components/joist_frames/i_beams

apparently if you don't your floor will squeak over the years ..where as these prevents it

[gnunn]

If your planning on having a home theater setup down the road and know roughly where it would go then building a closet and running speaker wire through the walls would be something I would do. On my second house now with home theater and running speaker wires to the rear speakers has been a pain in both houses so far. Depending how much you like home theater you may even want to run speaker wire to the outside of house for outdoor speakers on the deck.

Other then that running Cat5 to every room as previously mentioned is something I would do. I've never had a house that had it but I've wished for it many times now. Basically, think of anything you might need to run through the walls in the future, assess how likely that need will be, and do it now instead of later as it is so much cheaper to do when in the building stage.

[bionicbadger]

Don't just get cat5 run. Get conduit, or empty pipe run to all the rooms, with string in it, then you can pull whatever cable you need to. And if you aren't going to do that, then run at least cat6, and don't cheap out on cat5.

Other things you should ask for:
8' or 9' basement- having higher cielings in the basement is nice.
36" doorways inside, and an extra wide (48") front or back door - makes moving things MUCH easier.

[Daemar]

Man, all you guys only care about your ethernet connections and home theatre systems. There's more to a house than just that (meaning it's great to have but shouldn't be at the top of your list).

If you're building a deck/veranda, go with composite wood decks because they don't require you to paint/stain them every couple years.

Don't skimp out on the driveway and sidewalks (oversize them, you will thank yourself for it later)

Rebar in the basement. 10 ml for the floor, 15 ml for the walls.

Soundproofing.

Superior paint. Lots of builders nowadays use generic paint that you'll have to redo in a year. make sure it gets done right!

Microwave shelf... you don't want it taking up valuable counterspace.

Pots&Pan drawers. Very useful, what can i say!?

Waterline to fridge in case you get a water/ice dispensing fridge.

Pull out veggie spray on kitchen faucet.

If you get carpet, make sure you upgrade the underlay. 7.5lbs should be enough.

Remember, you can do anything after the house is built as well... but it will probably be more of a hassle. If it fits in your budget, throw all your upgrades in with the builders. It will probably cost you more, but save you the effort/hassle in the long run.

Enjoy your new home!

[Absolute]

Don't just get cat5 run. Get conduit, or empty pipe run to all the rooms, with string in it, then you can pull whatever cable you need to. And if you aren't going to do that, then run at least cat6, and don't cheap out on cat5.

Great advice, you never know what you'll need to run, be it Cat6, new phone cable, or speaker wire.

[konfusion666]

I'm trying to decide what I must have when building my new house.
Tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms


i would make sure everything except the bedrooms/study/basement had hardwood flooring (is that standard now?) and also maybe use tiles for the lower halls/front foyer... unless you were planning on using something better for those areas.

[peterbrowne]

Permits & Inspections

if you want to save money and not get it, watch Holmes on Homes

[Daemar]

i would make sure everything except the bedrooms/study/basement had hardwood flooring (is that standard now?) and also maybe use tiles for the lower halls/front foyer... unless you were planning on using something better for those areas.

Hardwood isn't standard... probably won't be due to the high cost. I would suggest hardwood for the 'great room", breakfast nook, and possibly the dining room. Foyer, hall, kitchen should be ceramic (hardwood scratches easily and the path from the door to the kitchen is the most used when putting away groceries).

An alternative is engineered hardwood flooring which is a little different.

Personally, i'd do the entire house in hardwood if i had the money.

[Rockstead]

I'm trying to decide what I must have when building my new house.

Must haves:
Gas stove
Gas Line to BBQ
50 gallon hot water tank


What about:
Rounded corners
R20 sound proofing for the bed rooms
Bifolds in to passage doors
Drip humidifier
Rough in for garberator
Tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms

Anyone bulid a new house lately?

Just wondering, where did you find R20 Sound proofing? The building Box and Home Depot Sound Proofing insulation is only rated at about R7, I'd like to use some for some upcoming projects.

Thanks.


Also here's one suggestion on your house, typically the water line coming in to the house is 3/4 inch piping, and most builders cheap out and use a 1/2 inch pip for the pipes in the house. Pay the extra money and have your whole house plumbed with 3/4 and you will never experience any water pressure problems.

good luck.

[gh05t]

Hardwood isn't standard... probably won't be due to the high cost. I would suggest hardwood for the 'great room", breakfast nook, and possibly the dining room. Foyer, hall, kitchen should be ceramic (hardwood scratches easily and the path from the door to the kitchen is the most used when putting away groceries).

An alternative is engineered hardwood flooring which is a little different.

Personally, i'd do the entire house in hardwood if i had the money.

Yeah unforunately hardwood isn't standard in houses here in Canada. The closest to hardwood being standard was inthe Springtown home i currently live in in Brampton where the entire house came outfitted with parquet flooring standard.

My brother is having a new house built in Atlanta and Hardwood flooring is standard in that house while ceramic tiles is an upgrade. :confused:

The house comes standard with concrete driveway and it's already landscaped etc when the builder is finsihed.

The ligting fixtures etc are also of higher quality than most houses built here in the GTA and each room comes ceiling fans standard.

Anyway I was going to mention the Cat5 and home theatre connections in the wall as most have mentioned already but another important thing is insulation in the garage especially if there is a bedroom above the garage and the builder is going to dry wall the garage.

A sink with Hot water lines in the garage is also useful.

[Daemar]

Just wondering, where did you find R20 Sound proofing? The building Box and Home Depot Sound Proofing insulation is only rated at about R7, I'd like to use some for some upcoming projects.


I thought R20 insulation is pretty standard when building a new house, so it's more for heatproofing than soundproofing but works very well for soundproofing as well. (This usually goes in the walls of the basement). In terms of the inner walls, R6/7 is pretty standard. Doors are usually R8.

[Rockstead]

I thought R20 insulation is pretty standard when building a new house, so it's more for heatproofing than soundproofing but works very well for soundproofing as well. (This usually goes in the walls of the basement). In terms of the inner walls, R6/7 is pretty standard. Doors are usually R8.


There is a some insulation that is used specifically for sound proofing, I just didn't find any yet that is r20 as well, the highest I found was r7, that's why I was aksing where he found it, because I don't think using the standard r20 insulation will act as a better sound insulation then a thinner one.

[Bordello]

There is a some insulation that is used specifically for sound proofing, I just didn't find any yet that is r20 as well, the highest I found was r7, that's why I was aksing where he found it, because I don't think using the standard r20 insulation will act as a better sound insulation then a thinner one.
The QuietZone (http://www.owenscorning.com/around/sound/products/quietzone.asp) line from Owens Corning (in the pink coloured package) is specifically meant for sound insulation. For interior walls, the R rating isn't really important. Most newly built houses now don't even have any insulation for interior walls.

[StrayB]

Residential Fire Sprinklers.

http://www.homefiresprinkler.org/hfsc.html

[GangStarr]

how about a

URINAL in your a bedroom?

Ive always wanted a urinal in my house, perfect for those drunken nights

[Bordello]

how about a

URINAL in your a bedroom?

Ive always wanted a urinal in my house, perfect for those drunken nights
LOL. I've actually seen alot of private homes with urinals (in the washroom, of course) in my travels. I don't know why it's not popular in North America. I think it's pretty useful too, drunk or sober.

[wrx2k3]

For Cat5 wires running around the walls/house... how do you make it so you can convert it to a jack? Hard to explain, but make it integrated with a phone jack, let's say?

[mrmoe]

vaulted ceilings and a swing in teh bedroom.