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Easy/ no brainer upgrade suggestions for New house build?

grumpy356 said:
Put the plug for the flat iron or whatever hair device tied into the light switch so it goes off when you turn out the lights. So she can't accidentally leave it on.
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My wife got a timer that plugs into the outlet. She has to push a button to turn it on and it powers off after 10 minutes or so. Just long enough for her to use the thing. Seems to work well.
 
The 3 things I wanted that I cut Were:

1. a urinal in the Master Bedroom (I just piss outside now, so no harm no foul)

2. a metal roof. It was just VERY expensive to meet the wind codes and such.

3. and the one I REALLY should have done and regret was Rollac / hurricane shutters withthe electric actuators. Residential Rolling Shutters | Foam Filled System | Rollac If I had it to do over again, I would have spent the money.
 
Another thing I like is smart switches that allow you to control lighting by remote/phone.

Useful for turning off lights in the immediate area where you're watching a movie. If you put the exterior lights on smart switches you can turn on all of the exterior lights at once if you suspect something is up.
 
Motorcharge said:
edit: Oh and when I do custom cabinets, I'd make those fuckers 6" taller than the standard 34" base height. Standard counter height fucking sucks if you're tall. At least anywhere I'd be doing any kind of prep, dishes, etc.
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i'm 6'6 and standard counter height isnt bad for me, i do like a workbench to be 40-46" though. MIL is like 5'4 so taller counter height wont work.
 
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WTF? said:
i'm 6'6 and standard counter height isnt bad for me, i mike a workbench to be 40-46" though. MIL is like 5'4 so taller counter height wont work.
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Along with this, and its cheap. Have your Plumber stub out the shower head higher than normal. At 6'6", it is sad how many houses I have been in that the shower heads at at my chin.
 
Bigstic said:
Along with this, and its cheap. Have your Plumber stub out the shower head higher than normal. At 6'6", it is sad how many houses I have been in that the shower heads at at my chin.
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100% on the shower head set around 7' it's free ( maybe a few pennies in additional pipe length.), a showerhead pointing straight at your collarbone sucks.
 
WTF? said:
i'm 6'6 and standard counter height isnt bad for me, i do like a workbench to be 40-46" though. MIL is like 5'4 so taller counter height wont work.
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Yeah but are you just in there occasionally making a sandwich/coffee/etc or are you in there every night for an hour plus prepping, cooking, and cleaning? Standard height is fine fine for me for long enough to do little stuff, but if I'm standing in the kitchen for an hour making dinner it sucks.
 
grumpy356 said:
The 3 things I wanted that I cut Were:

1. a urinal in the Master Bedroom (I just piss outside now, so no harm no foul)

2. a metal roof. It was just VERY expensive to meet the wind codes and such.

3. and the one I REALLY should have done and regret was Rollac / hurricane shutters withthe electric actuators. Residential Rolling Shutters | Foam Filled System | Rollac If I had it to do over again, I would have spent the money.
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tried to buy a house a few years ago that had a urinal in the main bath. Conceptually, it's nice... but it looks hokey..
 
rockota said:
tried to buy a house a few years ago that had a urinal in the main bath. Conceptually, it's nice... but it looks hokey..
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I had a layout with some doors that didn't offend the wife, but it took room, and that room would have come out of some closet space. ... everything in a house is a compromise, and the closet space was more important.
 
A deep bath tub where one can comfortably enjoy a soak, without one having to be folded up like jack knife in a conventional tub. DON'T do a jetted tub. We removed one in our previous home because the circulation lines would never fully drain, and remaining water would get a funky smell. We converted the space into a walk in shower.

Also, not really a "must have", but a dedicated Christmas Tree closet. A friend of ours had a double doored tall closet where they would simply pull out their fully decorated artificial Christmas Tree at Christmas time, then push it back in once the holidays past. I thought is was a cool idea <shrug>
 
If you do smart switches or just want to future proof, run a neutral to the switch boxes. Not required for every switch but you’ll be able to use any kind if you have it.
Occupancy sensors for bathroom fans are good for the people that take showers close to the temperature of hell.
 
This is dumb, but handy. The bathroom has a linen closet that is shared with the hallway. Clean towels go on the top etc, the bottom half is a small door in the bathroom and a big door to the hall. Hamper/basket goes in there. Dump the stuff in front the bathroom side and easy to collect from the hallway when full.
 
xj42 said:
If you do smart switches or just want to future proof, run a neutral to the switch boxes. Not required for every switch but you’ll be able to use any kind if you have it.
Occupancy sensors for bathroom fans are good for the people that take showers close to the temperature of hell.
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That's code at least up here now, neutrals everywhere.


Not mentioned already that come to mind:

  • Cat6 for access points in the ceilings on each floor
  • Pot drawers rather than doored cabinets in the kitchen
  • Minimum 3/4" PLYWOOD (not osb) subfloors, none of this 5/8" OSB shit
  • Security film built into ground floor windows
  • Variable speed modulating furnace/AC - makes a huge difference in noise/comfort/efficiency when you can run them low and slow for longer
  • Conduit drops from attic to basement with blank plates on each floor, same with a bigger drop from roof for future solar
  • Hot/cold tub sink in garage
  • Extra outdoor lights, at least two at each door on either side, not just the one - then all around the house, being able to see outside at night is useful
  • Triple pane windows, knock out as much noise as possible
  • Low maintenance exterior - I prefer all brick, screw anything that has to be painted periodically
 
bigun said:
I was always an advocate for more plugs the better. I had one house wife during rough in tell me I had tomany plugs on the kitchen cabinets. A year latter she let me know she was very happy not having to unplug onne appliance to plug in another
One contractor I worked with would build a surrond around the wood stove with duct work runnig to the furthit point in the house there was a line voltage thermost at that point, behind the stove was a line voltage A/C thermostat from there it went to a duct fan heat thermostat would say hey I need heat A/C says here you go.
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The latest trend here is asking for plug mold to include USB under every single cabinet in the house.

I hate plug mold. Garbage stuff. But they pay dearly for it.


(Also, when you're in the multi-million $ range vacation homes I don't feel bad about charging a "pain in my ass" tax to make it worthwhile.):laughing:



Most of this thread is going to be location and budget dependant. Lots of stuff is "cheap" to me, but I'm dealing with clients that have tossed a million $ in cabinets in the dumpster because "it's not what we thought it would look like". Then they ordered $2 million in custom cabinets and waited another 18 months to finish the house.
 
A lot has been covered, but
  • home runs for POE external cameras and one for the garage
  • insulated garage walls and ceiling and insulated garage door
  • more outlets along garage walls on two separate 20A circuits (4 on each wall with 2 on one circuit, 2 on the other)
  • 30A 120V RV outlet near the driveway or location you'd park a trailer
  • my current place has 2 each ethernet and coax home runs from all bedrooms, office, living room and kitchen. its been nice for speed but wifi tech is changing the need for the ethernet cables
  • well designed HVAC, no one likes poor airflow and hot rooms in the summers or cold in the winters
  • DOORS to the bathrooms. So many designers are still building master baths with open entries from the master bedroom. Sucks when someone has to get up early while the other is trying to sleep.
  • If code requires a MHRV system, try to get one that can be controlled via switch or smart thermostat. Mine I can only turn on/off at the breaker. When its really hot outside its blowing 90+ degree air into the house and it sucks going outside to the panel all the time
  • NG/LP to the patio
  • Wide side gates
  • Space for garbage cans on the side of the house without blocking access
  • Main water line plumbing located to allow for whole house filtering
  • Permanent battery smoke detectors if you are going to have high ceilings. Change the whole thing every ten years instead of batteries annually
  • Better insulation that isn't spray foam (that impregnated cellulose stuff still a good thing?)
  • Solid core interior doors for noise control
  • Quality toilets with full ceramic coated 3" outlet
  • Whole house fan
 
KDXSR5 said:
Not sure what (if any) frost line you have to dig below for foundation depth. Here, it is nearly 4 foot, so I always suggest going a bit deeper and getting a basement foundation out of it. Doubles the home's potential square footage cheaper than any other method.
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Plus makes future wiring and plumbing much easier, and mechanical room is down there vs taking up living space or in the garage.
 
gunracer1 said:
seems 9 or 10' walls are all but standard anymore. 8 ' is looked down on by many now a days.
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I had 9ft in my old place, can't really think of anything that made it better than 8ft.
Didn't hate it, but really was just wasted space to heat. Needed a ladder to change light bulbs too.
 
AKnate said:
I had 9ft in my old place, can't really think of anything that made it better than 8ft.
Didn't hate it, but really was just wasted space to heat. Needed a ladder to change light bulbs too.
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Just more open/airy...8' does feel low after living with higher ceilings for a while, 9' is ideal, 10' is a waste except for "great rooms" or similar, but not for bedrooms, bathrooms, dens, or anything else like that.

Also 8' sucks because so many things are 8 feet in length (ladders, sticks of whatever, etc.) so with 9' you can actually move those sorta things around without banging into everything.
 
I'm putting in full central hvac, but going to put an additional mini split on the master bedroom. There will be stretches where I'm alone, working long days, I can keep the house at 80 and crank the bedroom down when I get home.

Also gives me some redundancy if the house ac fails on a 115f day and ac techs are 2 weeks out. It happens.
 
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