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Building a house...what you wish you had known

chrono

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We added lights for every bedroom closet, vented the stove vent to the outside of the house, and wish we'd gone for a 3 car garage so that we wouldn't need a storage shack.
 

tyty333

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I didnt read through all the post but sounds like you are getting some good advice. We built and we got a lot "right" but missed on
a few things.

Got right...
- Separate his/her counter tops in the bath room with a make up counter for me.
- Separate closets.
- large closets in all bedrooms
- make sure you have storage room for things like vacuum cleans, brooms, iron board
(those big things that you have to pull out every week).
-big kitchen pantry
-we have a control so we can turn out bedroom lights off from the bed. Unfortunately, it's on my DHs side of the bed so if he
is not in there I have to roll over to the other side of the king size bed. If I had to do it again, I would make sure there was one
on each side.
- have them put in a floor in your big attic space so you can store things up there (forget what it's called). They basically just
nail down plywood I believe.

Would have done different
- we have an oversized 2 car garage...should have done a 3 car garage so dont have to pull car out to get riding lawn mower out
- watch where the electrician wants to put outlets in bath rooms. In one bathroom he put it at the only good place to put a hand
towel rack. There were lots of other good places he could have put the outlet.
- watch where the electrician puts the hanging light for the breakfast area (ours is not symmetrical, he put it where he thought it
belonged which is not where our breakfast nook table actually sits)
-we did carpet in most living areas and tile in walkways. If I could do it again, I would put zero grout line tile so I wouldnt have
to clean grout (yuck).
-some place to put a second fridge/freezer if you need one. We have them in our laundry room but only certain sizes would
fit because we didnt think of it in advance.
- if you are having a sprinkler system put in, get the design layout and make sure it is where you want it. Our guys put a water
pipe right down the middle of the flower bed so when you go to plant something you run right into it.

That's all I can think of for now. I'll add more if I think of more.
 

telephone89

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If you have an island - make sure there are multiple outlets on it. We have outlets on both 'ends' and it makes it so much easier (ie get out a blender in the AM, you don't have to move other stuff or try to stretch the cord out).

There are a few things that are cheaper to do yourself (or hire out afterwards). AC/central air is most likely one of them. If you have a developed basement/builder is developing the basement then most times it's cheaper to have the builder do it. HOWEVER if your basement is undeveloped or the furnace room is undeveloped/easy to get to, you can save 50% by doing it afterwards.

How long are you planning to live in this house? I don't agree with all the posts about neutrals/nothing that will date your house, because, unless you're moving out relatively quickly EVERYTHING will be dated. Some things are just more salvageable than others. But, if you LOVE something then go for it. It's your house! If you aren't planning on selling the house for 10-20 years, most buyers then will probably hate whatever you did and want to change it anyways :lol: That is the case now, with people buying houses from 2005 - only 10 years old, but things just had a different style.

Very few things will age well in a home, so it IS worth it IMO to spend a bit more on the bathrooms and kitchen. A nice good tub or shower enclosure, with good cabinets (in a good layout) will go a long way. Get whatever countertop you like. Some people don't like granite and only want quartz, some people hate quartz and prefer granite. You won't win any battles there, but if buying for resale, a less busy countertop will sell better.

A small thing - but soft close cabinets/toilets are AWESOME to have. You can buy attachments later from ikea to do yourself, but they look a lot nicer when they come from the builder. Very inexpensive option that I recommend to everyone.
 

Jambalaya

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I haven't built my own house and don't have any plans to, but man, this thread is interesting! I think the big advantage, for me, would be the opportunity to make the house as convenient as possible.

The only piece of advice that springs to mind, which may be useless since I haven't built a house, is to think about your future selves and how your needs might change. The you of twenty years from now will probably be quite different from the you of today. While no one has a crystal ball, what might Future You want? FY might want a shorter trek down hallways, and a larger living room than today since you might spend more time in it when you're older. And, if this house is going to be your forever-house, will FY be OK with paying a yard person to look after a large yard if you can't easily do it anymore? (Still, you could always tile it over in the future.)

If you want to stay in this house forever, make sure the stairs are wide enough if you ever need to accommodate a stair lift. This might seem a long, long way into the future - and it is - but you also might need one for a time if elderly parents come to stay. You might never need one, but it's nice to have the option. Better to have the wide staircase and not need it, than the other way round!

One other thing, I've often noticed that stairs in new houses are very, very steep, with the deepest treads allowable by law. I think staircases like that are dreadful, and I know several people who have them. I'd try to make the stairs as gradually ascending as possible. I don't know if the steep/deep stairs (see the diamond comparison!) are a modern way to save space, but I'd be careful of them because I find stairs like that horrible. I think you can get shallower stairs if they bend. This is definitely something to talk to your architect about.

I think that investing now in the best insulation, best-quality windows, and eco-friendly systems will pay dividends. What about solar panels on the roof?

Just trying to think outside the box on your behalf! :wavey:
 

kathley

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Zoe, you are getting really great suggestions! I found out that the more upgrades that we are putting into our house, the more our builder is willing to negotiate a discount on those options. Some of the options then became less in price having it done now, than for us to do it ourselves (or hire someone) after we close. A huge expense for us is in the flooring. We have asthma, so hardwood floors throughout is a must. We got pricing from other flooring companies to come in after we close and tear out the builder-grade carpet and replace with the new flooring. After we added up the cost of the flooring, labor, the cost of hauling away the carpet, new baseboards, (plus we have to add the cost of what we would have to pay for the builder-grade carpet "included" in the price of the house) the resulting dust throughout the house, it turned out to be more expensive! We are planning on living in our house even after retirement, so we are making sure that we have wide hallways, an open floorplan, double entry doors into the master bedroom, and wide bathroom (possible wheelchair access). We even opted for the split staircase to the basement in our particular floorplan. Kind of depressing to think about, but we don't want to move again...
 

partgypsy

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I didn't read through all the responses, but if you can check out the "not so big house" book I think it has a lot of great stuff of maximizing usefulness of a space.
 

Tacori E-ring

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No advice but wanted to say congrats!!! Hope you are doing well! :wavey:
 

zoebartlett

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December-fire, thanks for the tips! I figured that if I chose a very, very neutral (boring) interior wall color, then any artwork and furniture pieces I choose to hang up or use will automatically coordinate. I can even change my mind and decorate with more blues instead of greens, and it won't matter. I've been checking out Houzz, and I love C2's paper white paint color. I also love some of the subtle grays from SW and Behr.

For flooring, I know we want light hardwood, probably white oak. We're going for a light and airy feel to the house. Transitional probably, style wise. We have 2 cats and a dog part time, so I want to choose something that will stand up to their claws.

For kitchen cabinets, I'd love white, but I'm not sure if they're in our budget. Countertops, I'm not sure. Granite, definitely. Maybe something with blue or gray tones.
 

zoebartlett

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iLander, thank you so much for your thoughts! How do you negotiate with the sales agent when they've made it pretty clear that the price is the price is the price, you know? We're hoping to save money by having my in-laws do the wood floors rather than use the builder's flooring people. How do you deal with having other people do installation of floors, cabinets, etc., rather than the builder's people? That's great that you got the pool you wanted for less money, just based on the wording of your contract!

We've measured the rooms in our rental condo, and comparing them against each floor plans' rooms we like. I have no idea what, for example, 11 x by 13 looks like just by looking at the numbers, so I have to constantly compare measurements to the rooms in our current house.

We'd love not to scrimp on square footage but we have a tight budget. The lot is just under a quarter of an acre, so we're not sure which floor plans can fit on the lot. As long as we have a 2 car garage, a basement for extra storage (and we're hoping to finish part of it), and adequate room sizes overall, we don't need a ton of space. We're hoping for anywhere between 1450-1700 sq. ft., depending on the layout and the flow of the rooms (and cost). We prefer to have a larger living area than larger bedrooms, so that's important. We hang out in the living room, not the bedroom, so I don't see the need for a huge master bedroom, for example. As long as the rooms hold our furniture, we're good. We don't have overly bulky, ornate, large pieces... I think the square footage might just come down to price. Since the land's still being cleared, we don't even know what floor plans the lot can hold exactly.

Yeah, I won't be saying "yes" to any colored toilets, sinks, or tubs. White is good for me. As for central vac, I've never thought it worked particularly well, so we won't have that or anything else installed. Central air though, yes.

We're not really planning on altering the builder's plans, but there are a few of them where we'd like to know if the garage can be flipped from one side of the house to the other.

Thanks again!
 

zoebartlett

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missy|1468237737|4054273 said:
Zoe|1468177799|4054043 said:
Thanks, Missy! I hope to have separation between the master and the other bedrooms. We don't have guests stay over often, but it would be nice to give us all some privacy.

We need to think about whether we want one floor living or two, in addition to the basement we'd opt to have. I don't mind having a 2 (or 3) story house, but I do see the convenience of living on one floor - as long as it flows well.


Zoe, something to think about that just popped into my head reading your reply. If you can get enough square footage with one floor that might be your most practical option. If not try to make your MBR on the first floor. As we get older stairs might become a problem depending on circumstances beyond our control so if you have a MBR on the first floor (in a 2 story or more house) that is most practical just in case. When I broke my leg it was an ordeal with stairs and because of that I had to stay in our city home that is all on one floor instead of enjoying being at the beach. So my POV is to plan ahead for problems and that includes getting older and not being as mobile no matter what we wish we won't stay young and as healthy forever and it is good to be prepared.

Thanks, Missy! That has crossed our minds. It's not an issue for us now, but it could be someday. My mom has new knees but she still find stairs very difficult. Not that my parents would stay overnight at our house (we're over an hour away), but if for some reason they ever did, I'd like my mom to access the guest room easily. It's something to think about, for sure.
 

aljdewey

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Zoe, I'm guessing that you'll be in this house for a while if you're bothering to build at this stage of life. If so, I'd *really* strongly encourage what many others have already - to think about how the house will need to accommodate your changing needs as you age. We've paid close attention to the challenges my folks have faced as they've aged from late 30s to early 70s in their smallish New England two-story cape.

Unfortunately, the house we really wanted (single story, but not the standard ranch layout that is common to New England) would only have been possible if we built. As first-time buyers with no prior experience, it didn't feel smart to take on the rigors of building. Also, it would have been a stretch financially to pay a mortgage (construction loan) and pay high Mass. rent at the same time. Lastly, we knew city water/sewer was an important feature to us, and most of the building opportunities in our area at that time were (and I think largely still are) well/septic.

That said, I still do hope to build the home we'd like to ultimately have, and it's this: Single-story, with three main areas, set up something like this: SIDE A ------ MAIN LIVING ------- SIDE B. One of the sides is a "master" side with bath and walk-in closet; the other is a "guest" side with its own bath as well . I've attached a sample plan to give a basic idea. For me, this layout emphasizes important key things to me: privacy, plenty of walking space so it still feels spacious, and convenience. Reasons I like this layout:

1. Single story - gentler to aging bodies; reduces potential stair/fall injuries (especially carrying laundry!), and easier to navigate for older guests. (My parents have been frequent overnight guests until the past year or so, when my dad's deteriorating knees began making it less feasible for him to easily access the upstairs guest room.)

2. Master suite positioned away from 2nd/3rd BRs - privacy for us and privacy for guests, whether overnight or possible live-in parents someday. Also, expands walking area "real estate" in home.

3. 2nd/3rd BRs separated by bathroom - no shared walls means more privacy for guests (especially since we'd use front BR for office). Bathroom is easily accessible to all visitors using main living areas as well. Two-bathroom households are friendlier to aging bladders, too.

4. Laundry positioned nearest to master - convenience so I don't have to drag baskets of clothes across the house; less stress to body.

5. I love the storage lockers opposite garage access - esp in New England, those would be valued! don't underestimate importance of broom/closet, etc.

If I were building, this would be my preferred layout. I'd also want a walk-in pantry if there was room, but it's a nice-to-have and not a must-have.

We ultimately bought a 2-story, which didn't satisfy our layout desires but it did satisfy several other important wants:

Central air, or C/A capable (which I'm appreciating more and more as I get to be of a certain age - *ahem*)
Laundry not in basement at minimum; preferred on same level as bedrooms (which we got 2nd floor laundry)
More than 1 bath (ours is 1.5, but I'd have wanted minimum of 2)
City water/sewer (got that)
Fireplace (not a deal-breaker, but it may be next time - we love it!)
Openness (wasn't on our list, but we have it and I'd come to really prefer open sight-lines)
Good storage (ours only has a half-basement since garage under, but we have a great full-stairs walk-up attic which I'd recommend if you do go multi-story).

The only thing I wish we'd done that we didn't is irrigation. New construction normally means ripping out all the grass and then replacing lawn, but it's TOUGH to get good rootbase going in clay-heavy soil without good irrigation. I'd always thought of irrigation as too "bourgeouis" for us, but I'd put that over many other things now since we don't have the dedication to position/reposition sprinklers all over the place. Programmed irrigation would have been SO much better!

430-78_layout.jpg
 

zoebartlett

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Chrono|1468240889|4054294 said:
We added lights for every bedroom closet, vented the stove vent to the outside of the house, and wish we'd gone for a 3 car garage so that we wouldn't need a storage shack.

Unfortunately, a three car garage won't be doable, but I think with a basement, we'll be fine for storage. We'll figure out where to store the lawn mower later. OMG, we'll need a lawn mower! I've never mowed a lawn before and my husband hasn't done it in YEARS. We may have the most interesting looking lawn in the neighborhood!

My husband did just add a stove hood that vents to the outside to our list. We have no idea how much that costs and neither of us cook much, but it's suddenly become very important to him. :wink2:
 

zoebartlett

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Thanks so much, Tyty! I'm writing down your ideas so I don't forget to mention them to my husband.

Telephone, thank you for your advice! We're not sure how long we'll stay but since it will be our first home purchase, we'll plan on staying quite a while. We bought a condo 11 years ago but it wasn't the same. My parents have soft close drawers and they're great. I'll have to remember to mention that to my husband.

*** I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyone's thoughts and opinions! It sounds silly to focus on these things so EARLY in the process, but I think once the ball gets rolling, things will go quick and I want to be prepared.

Thanks, Tacori! :wavey: Things are going well. After teaching 2nd grade for years and years, I'm about to begin my 3rd year year teaching kindergarten in a new district. We now live closer to the seacoast than we used to, and that makes me very happy. I hope you and T. are doing well!

Jambalaya, thank you for your thoughts! It is interesting to read everyone's advice. The developer/builder is energy star compliant, if I have the term correct. Tankless water heater, etc. There's an association for the development, and I'm not sure they'd approve solar panels. As much as I like the idea of them, they're not the most attractive looking addition to a house.
 

zoebartlett

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kathley|1468259481|4054423 said:
Zoe, you are getting really great suggestions! I found out that the more upgrades that we are putting into our house, the more our builder is willing to negotiate a discount on those options. Some of the options then became less in price having it done now, than for us to do it ourselves (or hire someone) after we close. A huge expense for us is in the flooring. We have asthma, so hardwood floors throughout is a must. We got pricing from other flooring companies to come in after we close and tear out the builder-grade carpet and replace with the new flooring. After we added up the cost of the flooring, labor, the cost of hauling away the carpet, new baseboards, (plus we have to add the cost of what we would have to pay for the builder-grade carpet "included" in the price of the house) the resulting dust throughout the house, it turned out to be more expensive! We are planning on living in our house even after retirement, so we are making sure that we have wide hallways, an open floorplan, double entry doors into the master bedroom, and wide bathroom (possible wheelchair access). We even opted for the split staircase to the basement in our particular floorplan. Kind of depressing to think about, but we don't want to move again...

Kathley, I've heard that it's so much more expensive to add certain upgrades after the fact. That's why we're going to try to do the bigger ticket items while building rather than wait until after, if possible. Thanks for your additional thoughts.
 

zoebartlett

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part gypsy|1468271528|4054488 said:
I didn't read through all the responses, but if you can check out the "not so big house" book I think it has a lot of great stuff of maximizing usefulness of a space.

Thanks, Part Gypsy! I'm unfamiliar with the book but I'll look it up.
 

zoebartlett

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Alj, hi! :wavey: The layout you mentioned, Side A -------- Main Living -------- Side B, is one that I love and one we'll consider if it can fit on the lot. That's what the development's model home is, and we I love the separation between the master bedroom/bathroom and the other bedrooms. We'd use one as a guest room and one as an office. The living room is right off the main entryway and it's a great room concept with the kitchen and dining area right there, too. The living room is small, so I'm not sure how to expand that if that's the floor plan we go with. That's one of the reasons why we want a partially finished basement, to give us one more living space that we can use as a TV room if we choose. With this particular model, the second bathroom doesn't separate the other two bedrooms. That doesn't bother me, but I I do like the extra privacy it would allow.

I do think we're leaning toward a one floor house with a basement rather than a than a 2 floor with a basement due to the stairs "issue." It's not an issue for us now, but it is a good idea to plan for the future. I'm not sure about planning for wider door frames, but we'll see what we can do.

Building is a very daunting process and we're only at the very beginning stage. I'm hoping it will go smoothly or as smoothly as can be expected. As an aside, the price per square foot is much higher in the town we currently live, but I think the taxes are higher in the town we're planning on moving to. Why does housing and/or taxes have to be so expensive here?

I really dislike the standard ranch style that's so common here, but I've been pleasantly surprised that none of the architect's plans include one. :appl:

As for laundry, none of the plans we've looked at or are considering have laundry in the basement. I'm guessing this is something the architect and builder already decided against. Kudos to them! I'd hate to have to traipse through the house, down a floor or two to do laundry.

I love your house! It's very spacious, and I like the layout.

Good point about an irrigation system. I hadn't thought of that.
 

chrono

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Zoe|1468281378|4054545 said:
Unfortunately, a three car garage won't be doable, but I think with a basement, we'll be fine for storage. We'll figure out where to store the lawn mower later. OMG, we'll need a lawn mower! I've never mowed a lawn before and my husband hasn't done it in YEARS. We may have the most interesting looking lawn in the neighborhood!
That's what the 3 car garage is for, instead of needing a storage shack so that you don't have to play musical cars with the lawn mower in the summer and again with the snow blower in the winter. You don't want to trek through snow and blow your way to the house to clear the driveway. :bigsmile:
 

zoebartlett

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Chrono|1468324615|4054673 said:
Zoe|1468281378|4054545 said:
Unfortunately, a three car garage won't be doable, but I think with a basement, we'll be fine for storage. We'll figure out where to store the lawn mower later. OMG, we'll need a lawn mower! I've never mowed a lawn before and my husband hasn't done it in YEARS. We may have the most interesting looking lawn in the neighborhood!
That's what the 3 car garage is for, instead of needing a storage shack so that you don't have to play musical cars with the lawn mower in the summer and again with the snow blower in the winter. You don't want to trek through snow and blow your way to the house to clear the driveway. :bigsmile:

A snow blower, too, oh, and rakes. We'll need all of those things! We may also look into a lawn care/snow plow service if it's doable. Maybe a neighbor will want to go in on one with us.
 
Q

Queenie60

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missy|1468237737|4054273 said:
Zoe|1468177799|4054043 said:
Thanks, Missy! I hope to have separation between the master and the other bedrooms. We don't have guests stay over often, but it would be nice to give us all some privacy.

We need to think about whether we want one floor living or two, in addition to the basement we'd opt to have. I don't mind having a 2 (or 3) story house, but I do see the convenience of living on one floor - as long as it flows well.


Zoe, something to think about that just popped into my head reading your reply. If you can get enough square footage with one floor that might be your most practical option. If not try to make your MBR on the first floor. As we get older stairs might become a problem depending on circumstances beyond our control so if you have a MBR on the first floor (in a 2 story or more house) that is most practical just in case. When I broke my leg it was an ordeal with stairs and because of that I had to stay in our city home that is all on one floor instead of enjoying being at the beach. So my POV is to plan ahead for problems and that includes getting older and not being as mobile no matter what we wish we won't stay young and as healthy forever and it is good to be prepared.

I highly recommend one story. We were in our 30's when we built our home and are now 50 ish! My husband has good vision and thinks about future needs. I wanted this grand two story home and years later am very glad that it's all in one story. We also built very wide hall ways in the event one of us will use a walker or wheel chair in our later years. And I also agree on the guest room situation. We had ours placed in a secluded area away from all of the other bedrooms. And large open rooms is better than a lot of small rooms bunched together. Also agree with your idea of hardwood floors. I raised my children and have had many pets and my hardwoods have only needed to be sanded one time. That's the nice thing about hardwood floors, they can be refinished to look new again. Another tip - have a wide front door if at all possible - much easier for moving furniture in and out. We did double front doors. And solar panels are nice to have - depends where you live. In California we have sun for most of the year so about 70% of our home is powered via solar. Good luck - you're in for a lot of work. Oh, one more thing - save all of the paperwork for your fixtures. If you go with higher end fixtures (grohe, santech, etc) the manufacturer will replace them if the finish tarnishes or the cartridges go bad. I learned this the hard way. As I am forced to replace fixtures over time, I have learned to save the paperwork for all of them.
 

lyra

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What I wouldn't give for a one level home! It's a great idea Zoe. There are always buyers for that type of home, and it seems like too few available. I didn't expect to have an "issue" with stairs as early as I did. I had no idea that I had a chronic illness until I started having a lot of trouble walking because of arthritis in my heel. Stairs are absolutely the hardest thing for me. If I didn't have stairs in my house, I'd actually be more productive because my heel issue is exacerbated from going down stairs. I can go up just fine! :wall:

Good luck and have patience. We bought a home under construction once, and it was a bit of an ordeal here and there. I wouldn't hesitate to custom build though if I could. I'd just go neutral and classic and mostly make sure the kitchen and family room were the best set-ups possible. We live in those 2 rooms really.
 

zoebartlett

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Queenie, I'm surprised at how popular one story houses are here. I think my husband prefers two stories, partly for the "exercise" factor :bigsmile:, but mostly because to him, it feels more like a home. I see his point, I suppose, so I could go either way. We both grew up living in two story houses, but together we've lived in one floor places, too. No matter what, we want the floor plan to be open and airy and have a good amount of space between rooms. Well, as much as you can get for around 1500+ sq. ft. We just had our realtor send the sales agent our pretty detailed wish list, so hopefully we'll hear his recommendations of a floor plan soon.
 

zoebartlett

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Thanks, Lyra! We're excited and it's hard to have patience. My husband reigns me in though, he's good like that. It's fun drooling over everything I see on Houzz and Pinterest.
 

azstonie

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Zoe|1468177208|4054039 said:
Queenie, we've heard and agree with the thought of doing something when given the chance instead of waiting. It would cost more to wait, and you may not actually follow through with upgrading something in the future.

We're thinking about what type of floors to install, and we're thinking of trying to save some money by asking my brothers in law to install hardwood (either throughout or in the living areas and hallways, depending on the layout). They own a wood flooring business, so this sounds like a no brainer.

We're thinking of having tile installed in the bathrooms and possibly carpet in the bedrooms. I'd love tile that looks like wood, but that's considered an upgrade, according to the sales agent for the builder. We'll see what's in our budget. My main concern with hardwood is damage caused by pets. Tile throughout isn't very practical in the folder climate we love in, and I've heard that it's hard on your joints. Vinyl sheets is something I'd consider, but I don't want to cheapen the look of a new house, you know? It seems like all options have pluses and minuses.

Luxury vinyl flooring comes in planks just like Pergo/laminate and I have it in my bathrooms and HIGHLY recommend it. Our house is 17 years old, we built it in a subdivision---just renovated the master suite/bath and the kitchen and every single person who saw the flooring in the bathroom (the luxury vinyl) loved it (its a gray travertine look).

TILE. OMG NO TO TILE. Here's why, and its just my experience:
1. Everything you drop in the bathroom will both break itself AND the tile.
2. Its going to freakin' kill your back and your feet. Forget blow drying your hair and taking a long time getting foofed up, your back will give out long before you're done cleaning or getting ready in there.
3. Grout. Ugh. Even when you keep it clean, it erodes, declines.

If you do tile, I advise you to use enormous tile rather than small or medium tile. Less grout, less pattern to see. Place it on the diagonal or you have a checkerboard look. Ask for the smallest possible grouting while still having efficacy.

Here in Arizona you can tell how long someone has lived here by seeing their floors: Total newbies have tile floors. Those of us who have lived here awhile took the tile out and put in hardwood, laminate or luxury vinyl.

Home Depot and Lowe's have luxury vinyl in the stores and on line, give it a look. Great for my dogs and just the aesthetic.
 

Calliecake

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 7, 2014
Messages
9,229
Zoe, I meant to ask you if your home was going to be custom built or if it was going to be built by a builder who is building a whole sub-division. There is a huge difference, at least where I live there is a huge difference. A custom builder will build whatever you want. If your builder is building a subdivision with a few different plans to choose from, you will be very limited in changes you can make to the floor plans. Most will not let you change the floor plan at all. They will most likely charge you extra for any changes they will let you make. This even includes where you would like your outlets to be placed. I have heard of people being charged $250 to change the placement of ONE outlet.

If you are using a custom builder, please do your homework and talk to homeowners that the builder has built homes for. It can be the difference between having a pleasurable experience or a nightmare. We were extremely lucky because our builder was a dream to work with.

Another thing to take into consideration is if the neighborhood has an association. If there is an association, please read the rules carefully and be sure you don't have a problem with the rules. One of the rules in our association is no fences are allowed with the exception of fencing around an underground pool. If you have an unground pool it has to have fencing around the pool and the fencing must be iron fencing and can only be placed around the pool. A few people have built a pool and put the fence around the entire yard. They have been taken to court and the court always sides with the association and they have had to remove the fencing and comply with the association rules. Someone also tried to put up an above ground pool which is also against the rules. They were taken to court and had to remove the pool. I always find it interesting when people move in the neighborhood and complain about the association and the association dues. Yet they knew all of this before purchasing the home.
 
P

PierreBear

Guest
Hello! Just wanted to share my perspective on tiles. We have tile on the kitchen floor and in the bathrooms. It's a matte finish and doesn't have that glossy look. I've occasionally dropped things but haven't broken the tile or the object (well... a couple of glasses here and there) in general where I wish I didn't have tiles. After living there for five years though, I did recently have the grout restained. There are darker spots that appear where there is more foot traffic. However, doing it every 5 years seemed pretty reasonable and it looks brand new after getting it restained. Hope that helps provide another perspective on tiles. Would love to see that luxury vinyl flooring in person one day. : )
 

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
27,196
Another thing I thought of that I would have done...added a vegetable cleaning sink in the kitchen. Seems like with 4 people in
the house there is always someone standing at the sink. Another thing that would have been nice to have is a pot filler facet at
the stove...certainly not a necessity but would have been nice.

Another thing we did right was to add a pull out garbage drawer in the kitchen. We still have to walk our recyclables to the garage
though so add for that if you dont want to have to do the walk.

Another "right"...large drawers under the stove for pots/skillets/lids. Vertical pan cabinet over the oven/microwave.

Got wrong...Corian counter tops...hate 'em! Scratch way to easy.
 

telephone89

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
4,223
Calliecake|1468431147|4055162 said:
I have heard of people being charged $250 to change the placement of ONE outlet.
Do note that things like this are because building code mandates how far each outlet needs to be from each other, and each plan is meticulously planned with these things in mind. Where I live, there must be an outlet every 8' (now, obviously not in older homes), but I think 2' from anything water related (sinks). To add an extra one means either changing the whole plan because two would be weirdly close together, or to deviate from the plan in that specific area, which is extra work/measuring/installing/etc. They have to check the panel will hold the extra outlet, check with their architect that it won't be in the way of anything, etc.
It's not like they are just like 'Sigh, you're annoying. $250 charge for being annoying!', it's such a small thing but ends up being a ton of extra work!

That being said, this one small thing will be 100x more expensive if you change your mind during the process and walls are already up. Doing it up front will be easiest and most likely to be approved.

My H works in real estate and has worked with new home builders before. So he's heard it all and why it won't get approved. One family wanted a ****ing waterfall in their house, which the builder wouldn't do, because it makes the entire home susceptible to mold because of the high humidity. They were pissed, because they were building from scratch, but if the house molds out within 2 years, the builder will be at fault. I think up to 10 years here. So they roughed in the areas for the waterfall, customer signed off and anything they do after won't be the builders fault.
 

danusia

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 2, 2016
Messages
84
Building a new house is exciting! We built our nearly 30 years ago and I still love it and we have made upgrades over the years for things we could not afford when first starting out. That might be something to keep in mind if you plan on staying a while.

When it comes to lighting, recessed led lighting in kitchen, hallways, mudroom, laundry is great not only for the great lighting, but for your electric bill. Add a dimmer switch to these if you do not want to get blinded.

For the kitchen, under cabinet lighting (led as well) is a necessity.

Something else, I wish we had done, but is now mandatory where we live for all new construction, is a whole house sprinkler system. It will also reduce your homeowners insurance

Depending on where you live, think carefully about how you will heat your home. Our home is all electric so we have a heat pump with an oil backup, which lets us decided depending on oil prices what we will use. And because of this we heat our water with oil instead of electric. Another possibility could be radiant floor heating. Again cheaper to do during construction. Add a whole house humidifer/air purifier if you can. You would not believe how much dust and allergens it can eliminate and you won't be vacuuming/dusting as much..

Also, give great consideration to your windows which can also keep your house from getting too hot in the summer/too cold in the winter. Just by upgrading them will save you a ton of money on heating/cooling in the future.

Whole house water purifier/filtration. It is the cheapest to do during construction rather than an add on later. (Don't listen if they say you don't need it. You would not believe how dirty our filter is after two months when we replace it even after all these years. You will get greater longevity from your washing machine too)

If you cannot do a 3 car garage you could do a 2 1/2 car garage that will give you storage for a mower/tractor and believe it or not the additional lawn/gardening equipment you never thought you would ever need. Another option would be a shed, but check first where you could put it. Where you live (development,township, city etc.) might have restrictions as to where these can go and the size.

Ultimately, depending where you are building you may be limited as to how the house will be positioned, color, window type, etc . I know around me that is a huge problem for people who built in a development. I built in a neighborhood and the headache had to do with the amount of impervious surface that would exist since I live where there are no sewers or public water.
 

zoebartlett

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 29, 2006
Messages
12,461
****** Update ******


First, I apologize for not answering everyone's replies. I didn't have anything to update until now and I'm just now seeing the latest replies since I last posted. I appreciate you chiming in and giving me your suggestions.

Soooo, it's a long story that I won't bore you with, but we're actually going in a different direction. We had been working on choosing a floor plan for the house we were going to build. We FINALLY had chosen one and then I decided to check the real estate listings just because. That was this Tuesday morning and I saw THE ONE.

The house is a really cute Cape with dormered windows. There a fabulous deck and a great backyard. The neighborhood is really nice, too.

I e-mailed our realtor and she set up a showing for Wednesday night. We loved it and decided to make an offer last night. We're not under a binding contract with the builder so we didn't have anything to lose. We knew there were multiple offers, so we went above the asking price. The sellers accepted our offer this morning. Everything happened so quickly and we're beyond thrilled.

There's nothing that has to be done, nothing that we can see anyway. The owners have a similar style that we do, so it was easy to picture our furniture in each room. All of the rooms are painted in nice colors but we may choose to go with something else just to make it feel like ours. I'm thinking greige. We may put in granite or quartz countertops since we don't care for the laminate that's there now, but it's not a necessity. We have our home inspection next week, and I can't imagine they'll find much to fix. The house is only 5 years old.

So that's our update. I suppose I should check out paint swatches now...
 

rainwood

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 29, 2005
Messages
1,536
How exciting to have found The One!!!! It sounds wonderful.

And it's a great idea to go with a neutral color on the walls. You'll be able to change it up with accessories whenever you want and still make it yours. Some people like to go wild with color because paint is an easy thing to change. I, on the other hand, think there's a good reason the word 'painting' starts with the word 'pain.'
 
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