we have a floor outlet in our living room, that is really nice. Hidden under the couch. Does semi-limit furniture arrangements but the place we have it is basically guaranteed to have a couch over it.
Conveniences in a house build.
- Thread starter keepngoal
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we have a floor outlet in our living room, that is really nice. Hidden under the couch. Does semi-limit furniture arrangements but the place we have it is basically guaranteed to have a couch over it.
Listen here Frenchy. In America, we clap the bedroom lights on and off and we like it that way.
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A tunnel? That sounds... expensive. Why not just a doggy door into the garage? Or a heated house? Or both.
Leave plenty of room between your vehicles in the three car garage. Open both doors in adjacent vehicles and then still leave some room. Mount outside garage lights between the garage doors, next to the entry door and flood lights off corners of roof. Have them on an autotimer to come on at dusk. I have flood lights on all corners of my house, patio and garage that are on their own switch and when I need some light at night in those areas I am very glad they are available.
We are building as we speak. I spent months thinking about this kind of stuff and trying to anticipate future needs. Here was our list:
- Utility sink in the garage
- 240V line to the garage (in addition to 120 on higher amp circuits)
- Insultation in the garage (was not standard)
- Would have also liked an access door in the back side of the garage but our plan didn't have room
- Ran a gas line to where the stove will be, even though we are currently going electric
- Also considered running gas to the garage for a heater but opted not to
- 240V line to the back of the house in anticipation of a hot tub
- 8' garage doors vs the standard 7'
- We wanted heated floors in the master since we'll be using tile (I don't like bathroom tile in the winter)
- Generator transfer switch
- Added additional 1' to basement foundation which should give us the ability to add a drop ceiling and maintain a respectable ceiling height.
- Pre-planning networking cables/outlets
- Pre-plumbed connections for basement bathroom (unfinished)
- Also having the builders drop in a full bath/shower combo now so I don't have to figure out how to get that down there myself in a few years
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Cabinet slides...reallllllly underrated feature.
We have all motorized roller shades that work with the Google Assistant. Also underrated.
We have all motorized roller shades that work with the Google Assistant. Also underrated.
Spouse built those into the lower cupboards for me. I honestly don't know what I ever did without them.
Our basement has 9' ceilings and while it might not seem like that big a difference, it's pretty noticeable how much more open it feels. We love it.
I've been looking at options here for a future build we want to do, and this is one of the tops of the list with egress windows from the beginning.
If no one mentioned it yet, make sure the driveway is as wide as the garage, not the garage door. My sister-in-law and her husband didn't pay attention and they made the driveway the same width as the door. If you have multiple guests park in the driveway it can make them get out in the wet grass, snow, whatever may be there.
My inlaws had their house built so there were no steps to get into the house from the front door or garage. It is really nice convince that you don't think about.
My inlaws had their house built so there were no steps to get into the house from the front door or garage. It is really nice convince that you don't think about.
Keep can't do a basement but the extra ceiling height is part of what sold us on our builder. We visited a couple of their homes and basements didn't feel like basements. Felt like normal family rooms with extra windows and light and no ceiling right on your head. The extra height AND then brought the drywall or something in a bit further so you don't get that standard rim around the whole basement where you see exactly where the setback is and reminds you it's a basement.
My sister moved into a house that is kind of at the top of a hill on a corner lot. They have a main level garage off of the main street and a lower level garage underneath off of the side street. It works out great for them since he is a car guy.
Just tossing this out there for folks considering all these "smart" devices. There are undoubtedly many people on here that know more about this stuff than I ever will. That being said, I tend to be wary of these due to the security concerns.
As I understand it, hackers can bypass your network security by going through seemingly innocuous devices.
McAfee Research Highlights Security Concerns With Smart Home Technologies
As I understand it, hackers can bypass your network security by going through seemingly innocuous devices.
McAfee Research Highlights Security Concerns With Smart Home Technologies
He built it himself. Its essentially a conduit for dogs. Doggy door let's them go into the garage or down the tunnel to the basement.
Good friends of ours parents built a house a couple of years ago and since they are in their early 60s that was one of the musts as well. There is a basement but it has few stairs to get down to it but everything else living wise is all on the same elevation. He also had a demand that he had to be able to bow in 20 minutes or less so there is not much grass on the lot (the artificial turf putting green helped in the back)
Our previous home was a split foyer; there was NO way to get into the house without stairs being involved, so bringing in groceries was a *****. We spent a LOT of time looking for this house. We wanted an acreage with a house with minimal stairs due to my advancing arthritis. We knew eventually it would get more difficult. It was a long search, as most of the affordable acreages in a four county area that we looked at had farmhouse-style homes on them - straight up & down boxes with a root cellar, 2 living floors and an attic. Bah!
People who are buying their forever home later in life (we were in our early 50s) and post-kids should really give thought to how many stairs are needed to access the main living areas.
Have a notch under the kitchen cabinets that is hooked up to a vacuum in the garage. Have the switch for the outlet in the kitchen, and sweep the floors to this spot, flip the switch. Tada no more sweeping into pans.
