Easy/ no brainer upgrade suggestions for New house build?

[chaplinfj60]

Copper pipe plumbing, this is my first house with pex and i have more leaks here than every other place I lived put together.

crimp or the other style. i have both in my house and both are fine today so time will tell. i do enjoy working with pex for with an existing building. but new building and cooper would be ok because you could plan better. just curious

 

[Stingray]

On layout, we put our laundry right outside the master bath/closets, huge time saver.

NO, Just no,
The last thing I want to hear is the washer out of balance or something thudding around in the dryer when I'm sleeping coming from the next room. There is not enough sound deadening to silence that.

My laundry is in a separate building 75' away from the house.

 

[Slander]

crimp or the other style. i have both in my house and both are fine today so time will tell. i do enjoy working with pex for with an existing building. but new building and cooper would be ok because you could plan better. just curious

Crimp and coming up on 20yrs old. I'm used to copper and never had an issue with it even freezing it solid multiple times, then this place its popping off pin hole leaks all the time. I need to replumb the place, joy.

 

[SomeGuy]

Crimp and coming up on 20yrs old. I'm used to copper and never had an issue with it even freezing it solid multiple times, then this place its popping off pin hole leaks all the time. I need to replumb the place, joy.

What kind of pex that's having so many issues?

My house is all pex-a, we're 9ish years old and it's been perfectly fine....will be interesting at 20, 30, or 40 years, but without UV exposure, it shouldn't breakdown.

 

[Damhippie]

Round drywall corners are a cheap detail,
and lights in the soffit

 

[east_beast]

Pretty sure I've been seeing numerous places having issues with spray foam causing framing to rot? No idea if it's a real concern. Haven't followed up on it since i'm not about to spray foam anything

Makes sense. I mean, if moisture gets in it's gonna stay in. I definitely wouldn't want anything to do with it in humid areas. Seems like a recipe for disaster.

 

[RusM]

NO, Just no,
The last thing I want to hear is the washer out of balance or something thudding around in the dryer when I'm sleeping coming from the next room. There is not enough sound deadening to silence that.

My laundry is in a separate building 75' away from the house.

Huh, you know my speed queen washer has never been out of balance in the time I've had it. I'd add one of those and don't put shoes in the dryer before you get in bed and keep the laundry close over humping it down to the Laundromat.

 

[Stingray]

Huh, you know my speed queen washer has never been out of balance in the time I've had it. I'd add one of those and don't put shoes in the dryer before you get in bed and keep the laundry close over humping it down to the Laundromat.

I also have a speed queen (love it), I'm not sure it's ever been out of balance or not but I do know I've left nuts, bolts, washers, and loose change in the pockets from time to time I don't want it anywhere near my bedroom.

To be fair I have a full bath adjacent to the laundry room in the garage so the bulk of my clothes don't come in, I change after work before coming in. So the laundry from the house is light stuff.

 

[Duc]

This is going to sound stupid but a in-house vacuum system. Never realize how nice it was to have vacuum port at the bottom walls till I moved into new house. Sweep dust and shit near the port before activating with your foot. Shit is amazing.

Also split house into two ac system.

 

[FJC11]

In laws are under contract on a lot around the corner from us and shopping for a house plan &builder.

What are the suggestions for minimally costly upgrades you’d put in a house given the opportunity?

Off the top of my head;

*spray foam insulation at minimum in the attic if not exterior walls

*pex manifold with home runs for everything.(is Pex A vs crimp a must do?)

Well a mote with sharks and maybe some gun towers.

 

[East_coastTJ]

Conduit runs to important areas in the home like behind the main tv and office for future telecom upgrades.

If you have dogs a doggy tub area for easy cleaning, best thing we did and the next house will have a even bigger/ better one.

Walk in gun safe 😁

 

[SomeGuy]

This is going to sound stupid but a in-house vacuum system. Never realize how nice it was to have vacuum port at the bottom walls till I moved into new house. Sweep dust and shit near the port before activating with your foot. Shit is amazing.

Also split house into two ac system.

Called kick sweeps or vac pans usually.

 

[rockota]

Conduit runs to important areas in the home like behind the main tv and office for future telecom upgrades.

If you have dogs a doggy tub area for easy cleaning, best thing we did and the next house will have a even bigger/ better one.

Walk in gun safe 😁

Yes!!!!! I wish we had done a 3” conduit from crawl to attic… couple have used it a couple of times.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

This is going to sound stupid but a in-house vacuum system. Never realize how nice it was to have vacuum port at the bottom walls till I moved into new house. Sweep dust and shit near the port before activating with your foot. Shit is amazing.

you haven't had a plug in the wall yet have you?
One of my siblings accidently sucked up a balled up sock, that thing got stuck somewhere between here and the garage.

 

[WTF?]

Crimp and coming up on 20yrs old.

I need to replumb the place, joy.

Pex technology has come a long way in 20 yrs.
It’s not a huge deal- This spring, I paid Juan $1200 labor & materials to replace every supply line (mash up of copper, pvc, abs, pex from renovations and additions over the years)in my 45/yr old 1.8k sf 3 bath ranch house on crawl space with pex.

 

[M92PV4U]

Crimp and coming up on 20yrs old. I'm used to copper and never had an issue with it even freezing it solid multiple times, then this place its popping off pin hole leaks all the time. I need to replumb the place, joy.

In the pex itself, the connections or the fittings?

 

[WTF?]

This is going to sound stupid but a in-house vacuum system. Never realize how nice it was to have vacuum port at the bottom walls till I moved into new house. Sweep dust and shit near the port before activating with your foot. Shit is amazing.

Also split house into two ac system.

We had central vac growing up, I feel like with modern cordless vac technology there’s no good case for spending the money to plumb the whole house and add a mechanical system.

 

[Duc]

We had central vac growing up, I feel like with modern cordless vac technology there’s no good case for lugging around the 30’ hose.

I only use the kick sweeps or vacuum pans.

 

[Captain Call]

We had central vac growing up, I feel like with modern cordless vac technology there’s no good case for lugging around the 30’ hose.

This.


The only place central vac is welcome in my world is in our rv. Even then, only if needed when on the road.





I will x eleventy on solid core doors.



Wife and I are looking to add on to our house and these things have been on my radar.




For us, we're doing a new master suite and one of the things she and I both want is the closet close to the laundry. As well as his and hers bathroom layout. (Mine will stay cleaner btw )


Also, making every door a 3-0. Fuck anything smaller.


More lighting than you think you need.

 

[xj42]

If you are going to wall mount tvs, put receptacles up high to be behind the tv and then box and conduit from up high to down low for signal wiring. Seeing the wires on a wall mounted tv is a pet peeve of mine.

 

[Squamch]

Extra outlets including USB and networking, and 220 service on the exterior, 7/0 height solid core doors depending on the quantity, 3/0x8/0 hung in pair entry because fuck fighting furniture when moving and welded commercial steel frames at exteriors. Cased openings, no drywall returns on any walls. Build my own cabinets, even expensive cabinets are built like shit unless you want to pay out the ass for high end custom stuff. Full tile master bath with large tiles, no cabinets/closets, I want to be able to just hose the entire room down when cleaning like a locker room shower.

Solid core doors throughout is probably the biggest one of those. Average house doesn't have that many doors, it's not that much more money to have real doors vs hollow core particle board apartment bullshit. At least for swinging doors, wouldn't bother on bypass bifold, etc. Generally only talking ~$100 extra a door on the high end, even if you've got 20 doors you're only talking an extra $2000 at most. I'd also try to make as many openings 3/0 as possible, again just for the sake of making moving anything easier. No doors under 2/8.

Exterior door stuff are the only expensive upgrades on my lists and even then you're only talking 2-3 openings on most houses, it's not a lot of extra money in the grand scheme of building a house.

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.

Dad was 6'4", mum is around 5'5". 2 sinks in their bathroom, with appropriate counters for each. Kitchen had what appeared to be a double cupboard that rolled out and was mum's work station, 8" lower than the other counters. Had all her baking stuff in it.

Round drywall corners are a cheap detail,
and lights in the soffit

Round drywall corners are awesome! You should do a knockdown pink stucco on the exterior too, to complete the "1994 spec home" look.

Round corners are fucking awful. Don't do them. They're a bitch to repair, a bitch to transition colour's or wall finishes, you're stuck with ugly baseboard corners, whether you do prefab ones or just 22.5 your way around.

And fuck built in vacs too. Kids will clog em.


Going crazy on whatever flavour of internet cable is hot this year is dumb too. It's just gonna be outdated in 5 years.

I guess the answer to that is empty conduit, or dedicated conduit to pull whatever the hotness is in 2030.

 

[Pocahontas]

Skimmed but didn’t read everything.

More lighting than you think and put everything on dimmers, easy to turn it up if needed but run it at 20% when you don’t. Also put as much as you can on motion sensors baths, closets, laundry ect.

Home runs with pex manifold and each room on its own circuit assuming it’s a decent size.

10 or 12 door ceilings.

2 gang electrical box’s everywhere except hallways or obvious spots you don’t need them.

Hot water sillcock in or near garage for washing if it gets cold where you are.

Plug behind vanity so you can plug in small power strip to keep all the clutter off the counter.

Large curbless shower.

Potfiller if you cook a lot, under counter ice machine if you entertain a lot. Dual ovens if you cook a lot.

Heated floors are nice if you get cold winters.

Radiant heating in garage floor if it gets cold or you will spend time out there.

Larger electric service than you need, 220 run to garage for electric car charging

Conduit run to attic from basement or utility area and into any area you think you may want to add something down the road.

8 ft 30min solid core doors and 36 or larger exterior door or French doors.

More closet space than you think you need.

A basement if you can get one, preferably with walkout.

Pantry that backs up to garage with a half door to load groceries.

Ro system if your water is not great.

 

[ApeEater]

Going crazy on whatever flavour of internet cable is hot this year is dumb too. It's just gonna be outdated in 5 years.

Cat 5e has been the spec since 2001. Cat 6 isn’t a massive change, and 99.999999999999999999% of people will never tell a difference. It was established in 2002. Cat 7 was also established in 2002.

Just run cat 6 anywhere you want data hardwired. It’ll outlast you.

 

[SomeGuy]

Cat 5e has been the spec since 2001. Cat 6 isn’t a massive change, and 99.999999999999999999% of people will never tell a difference. It was established in 2002. Cat 7 was also established in 2002.

Just run cat 6 anywhere you want data hardwired. It’ll outlast you.

Cat 5e is limited to gigabit, Cat6 you can do 2.5gbs and even 10gbs over reasonable household distances....Cat6 is minimum I'd do these days, being able to move large amounts of data over network is going to continue to be useful.

 

[Slander]

In the pex itself, the connections or the fittings?

Pex itself

 

[Ransil]

If not building on a basement put in a crawl space at least 4 blocks high, spray termite treatment after digging and concrete the crawlspace no dirt or gravel.

 

[gunracer1]

i took my laundry room and converted it to a 3/4 bath. then i added on a laundry room to the master bedroom down stairs. its great, clothes never get hauled anywhere.

 

[Seubs070]

switched light on either side of the bed

This. Current house has a switch at the door and each side of the bed. Great to be able to crawl into bed and hit the light, or turn it on when I get up in the AM.

 

[bigun]

This. Current house has a switch at the door and each side of the bed. Great to be able to crawl into bed and hit the light, or turn it on when I get up in the AM.

Simple stuff to wire, but blows customers minds when you suggest it

 

[1oddtech]

If you are going to wall mount tvs, put receptacles up high to be behind the tv and then box and conduit from up high to down low for signal wiring. Seeing the wires on a wall mounted tv is a pet peeve of mine.

Put a chase in. I ran A/V cables in the wall in my living room and when I went to install my TV the sound used toslink and I didn't run any coax so I have two cords running down the wall. One day I'll fish it thru