Suggestions on what you would do on a new house

[mirefire 2.0]

My GF and I are building a new 2 story. We go soon to the selection studio to pick colors, brick, cabinets, flooring..etc, etc. I would love to hear some suggestions on what you all would have added to your houses, had you thought of it before hand.

Some of what I have come up with so far...

2 outdoor AC jacks on the underside of the eaves (for holiday lights)
extra AC jacks in garage
AC and cable jacks placed for wall mounted TV's


Hit me with your ideas...

[Denny]

Hidden panic/safe room, underground egress, solar/wind source tied into the power grid, more elbow room in the garage, sound-tuned media room, proper-central location of the central heating/AC thermostat.

[FreightTrain]

Cable and phone jack in every room, Tile in all the wet areas, 3 car garage, outdoor fire place, make sure the house is plumbed for natural gas, no stupid ass heat pump, and the list goes on and on.......

[red95gts]

Insulate between the first and second stories. Especially if you have (or will have) kids.

If the house has structured wiring, consider adding electric and shelving in that area ti support cable modem, router, switch, etc.

[beefed88]

Pre wire everything for speakers cameras and networking. It's cheap to at least run the cables rather than having to retro.

[Blackpony]

Taller garage ceilings with fans, built in cabinets or shelves everywhere this creates less furniture, taller ceilings in the kitchen with over head mood lightining and under cabinet lightning

[mstng86]

Hidden panic/safe room, underground egress, solar/wind source tied into the power grid, more elbow room in the garage, sound-tuned media room, proper-central location of the central heating/AC thermostat.

what about picking out a proper defensive location with plentyful water and food supply?

[Denny]

whaf about picking out a proper defensive location with plentyful water and food supply?

I do believe he already has the area, though... but yes, yes and yes!

[jw33]

Plumb it for central vaccum, hire a third party inspector, if you have tile work insist on real tile people (not day labors with a wet saw and some thinset), and don't trust the fucking builder with anything. Unless you see it with your own eyes, and even then you have to know what you're talking about, it will be all bullshit. They'll cover up everything and try to blow smoke up your ass. Visit the jobsite daily and take pictures as things go together. This is all generally speaking of course.

[fordracing19]

2 outdoor AC jacks on the underside of the eaves (for holiday lights)

On the eave plugs make them switched with the switch or timer in the front coat closet. I also put my decorative lights and flood light switches in the closet to keep down on the amount of switches at the front door.



Sent from my iPhone killer!

[Binky]

Insulate the garage.

Extra roof vents, thermostat controlled.

If you have an attic, lay plywood across the beamsand make a floor.

If you can be there when they have done the framing, but before drywall, run pvc pipe upm to the attic for each of your media oulets with a pull string. You can then run whatever you want and its easy as shit once the house has been built.

Make sure they vent the bathroom fans to the outside, not into the attic.

Do the candle smoke test to check your ouse for leaks around windows and doors to find any air gaps.

[2011GT]

Insulate the garage

Run a gas line into your back patio for a fire pit

Run a gas line to attach to your grill

Speaker wire for the backyard speakers

Prewire the house with cat 5 cable and run it all to a closet with a cable and ac oulet for internet

Insulation between walls

Storm doors

Door from garage to backyard

[zemog]

house alarm and intercom
sound proof the master bedroom

[yellowstang]

The prewred idea is great! Most new homes come with cable/phone/internet jack in each room, but having the speaker wires in place was so easy when i hooked up everything. Had a 7.1 surround wire setup (6 in the ceiling), and 2 outdoor speakers. There is a volume control next to the patio door too.

Get the security camera option too, I fucken should have!

Attic decking as Jedi mentioned if there is room. Dont want to take away from insulation doing its job.

Gutters if available and not included already.

Check the zones for the sprinkler system. I have 2 flower beds, but one uses the same zone as my side yard, which doesn't get as much water. Whoever set it up was a dumbass and tried to be cheap!. I had Junior come add a few more heads too, the coverage wasn't optimal.

Get the tile installed at an angle, I think at least on the walls it looks better IMO. They do charge more tho.

I paid extra to have white ceilings, they paint every room, walls/ceilings the same color. White ceilings look better, and are just normal! That was extra too.

Paint the garage white if you get a choice, helps it look lighter in there.


Good luck with the build, and as mentioned, chk it every day if you can. Especially chk if we get rain, see how it runs away from the house, chk for pooling, etc. as well as leaks. We found one before we moved in and they fixed it up.

[JJs89lx]

Safe in the wall or incased in concrete flooring in a closet, cabinet, or island.
A separate beverage cooler in kitchen as well as patio area.
Double oven in the kitchen.
Island with a sink.
A A/c unit big enough to keep your house cooled on a 100 degree day.
Do all prewiring for sound, cable, phone, cat 5, and security.
Plenty of exhaust ventilation in the kitchen for stove and cook top.
A stand by gas powered generator.
Make sure the ground around your house is solid and backfilled properly so your yard doesn't have sink holes in a few years.

It's all I could think of on the top of my head so far... Good luck