Building a home

[alum]

This may sound bizarre, but I would put a full laundry room on the 2nd floor with the bedrooms rather than in the basement or main floor. Laundry tends to generate in the bedroom area. You can have a drain pan installed in case there would ever be overflow.

Carpeting is less expensive but I would go with hardwood for durability and beauty. I would not have wood floors in the kitchen or bathrooms.

[ree-Xi]

One thing you can't have too many of: electrical outlets. I added an extra one in the master bath, but we forgot to add extras to the basement and garage, where they only put one in each.

[33girl]

This isn't really about "features" but something I've heard more than one person say:

Make your very very careful and thought out decisions as to floor plans, etc, and then DON'T THINK ABOUT IT AGAIN UNTIL THE HOUSE IS DONE. If you keep thinking about it, you'll keep changing things...like when you have a big paper due and keep going back and looking at it and changing sentences until eventually you've rewritten the whole thing. Even if it is to your specifications, nothing is ever going to be perfect.

[libramunoz]

Originally Posted by alum

This may sound bizarre, but I would put a full laundry room on the 2nd floor with the bedrooms rather than in the basement or main floor. Laundry tends to generate in the bedroom area. You can have a drain pan installed in case there would ever be overflow.

Carpeting is less expensive but I would go with hardwood for durability and beauty. I would not have wood floors in the kitchen or bathrooms.

Actually that isn't crazy at all! My Aunt (when she and my Uncle were married and had their house built) put her washing machine/dryer on the second floor of the house! It is the best thing to do because that way, you don't have to go up and down the stairs traipsing clothing, dropping clothing, and find the "missing" sock that never made it downstairs!
Also, depending on where you live, if possible, get a wood stove! It really, really, really saves on the heating, and if the power goes down, yes you can cook on them babies! I know when my grandparents built their house, they put one in the den and it REALLY saves me when I'm unemployed (like now!)
Actually I prefer laminate flooring. It's easy to clean, and if you have dogs like I do, then it's easy to clean up their dog hair! Also, if possible, get get two bathrooms (one for the guests/kids and your own personal one!). It's much easier to keep up with.
And if you can avoid, do not DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get a ceiling with that popcorn crap! 30 years later, that crap will come down in pieces and be a friggen nightmare (trust me, I have it).

[summer_gphib]

We built a house this year, an the one thing I really wish we had done different is more electrical outlets and cable outlets. I didn't even really think about it at the time.

Also-- think about how much time you want to spend on maintaining things vs. style. If you HATE to clean, you may not want stainless appliances or granite. (I have stainless and Corian Countertops and love both!) If you are going to put up ceiling fans, get the kind with remotes, and think about your room size and the size fan you will need.

We bought some great lighting fixtures, and I'm glad we spent the extra money to do so, it makes a big difference and gives our house character (literally-- my chandelier is a great Mickey Mouse chandelier) that other houses in our neighborhood don't have.

Our family blog (linked in my signature) details everything we went through with the building process.

[honeychile]

FWIW, I've known quite a few contractors through my family, and none of them will touch Ryan homes. Haven't heard the same about Heartland. Spend a lot of time with non-Ryan/Heartland/whomever housing plans and see what you and your husband like & don't like. Some people like Great Rooms, others like the separate living room/dining room - things like that. Styles, wood shades, wood floors vs. standard floors, kitchen styles (even what type of faucet!), window styles, number of bedrooms/bathrooms/powder rooms, even landscaping - the more you know prior to making the leap, the better.

There are a lot of online sites with this type of information are sometimes overwhelming. Southern Living has a large number of house plans, plus how to go about planning. My brother & sil used their own plans, but Southern Living's information - it's good stuff.

ETA: Like everyone else says, you can never have too many cable connections or electricial outlets, and a sister of mine who sells real estate won't even touch a house without an upstairs or at least a kitchen area washer/dryer.

[AOIIalum]

Picking up on what Summer said about outlets: remember the basement/attic/garage when it comes to outlet planning. We bought a new home but didn't build it ourselves. The first thing we did after moving in was contact an electrician to add more outlets to the basement and garage. Trust me, you won't regret adding as many outlets as you can in both areas!

[AGDee]

If it were me, I'd not only put cable outlets and phone outlets in every room and possibly on more than one wall in each room, I'd also put networking cables. I know everybody has wireless now, but it's really not as secure as hardwired is and it's also not as stable. If I have a stationery computer or game system, I want it hardwired. Laptops are great for wireless though!

[KSUViolet06]

Make sure you have enough bathrooms. No seriously.

My parents have a master bath, a full bath upstairs, and a half on the ground floor.

When all 3 kids were living at home, we were all jockeying for the one full bath in the morning (my parents were usually using their master bath).

[Munchkin03]

I'm not directly involved in buildings, just construction observation from the client's side. Obviously, I deal more with condos and co-ops than free-standing houses, but I've seen so many people who buy $2M apartments that become serious money traps because they were developed by fly-by-night building companies:

• Have an independent inspector go through the building. The builder will want to provide their "own," but pick someone you're comfortable with.
  
  Make sure that the roof is watertight. Make sure that the contractor is willing to have a 20-year No Dollar Limit warranty on the roof.
  
  Make sure that the windows, doors, and skylights are properly caulked, are installed properly, and have 5 to 10-year warranties and acceptable Energy Star ratings.
  
  How are the walls? Gypsum board is what's common, but a bad leak (see above) can require an entire re-plastering of the affected room.
  
  Have your own architect and engineer review the plans. The builders work for themselves, but the architect/engineer work for you. You'll want the house to keep you cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and dry year-round.
  

Good luck!

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Have an independent inspector go through the building. The builder will want to provide their "own," but pick someone you're comfortable with.

Make sure that the roof is watertight. Make sure that the contractor is willing to have a 20-year No Dollar Limit warranty on the roof.

Make sure that the windows, doors, and skylights are properly caulked, are installed properly, and have 5 to 10-year warranties and acceptable Energy Star ratings.

Can't believe I forgot these three - all of these are EXTREMELY important. Some builders get pushy about their own home inspectors ("I've worked with this guy before, he's the best, yadda yadda.") but at the end of the day, it's your house, and you'll have to live with the consequences if there's a problem.

The roof is a BIG deal, as it costs an arm and a leg to make any renovations. Along those lines, if you have chimneys, make sure that the masonry work is solid, because you don't want any leaks or to have brick falling off.

One more thing to think about - if you need heating, give a lot of thought to whether you want electric heating or gas heating (a lot of times a cost decision), and (if you have a furnace/oil tank) what type you'd want installed. If you're living in a cold area, it could mean the difference between a comfortable winter, and hours spent on the phone with the repair people.

[Tippiechick]

Originally Posted by alum

This may sound bizarre, but I would put a full laundry room on the 2nd floor with the bedrooms rather than in the basement or main floor. Laundry tends to generate in the bedroom area. You can have a drain pan installed in case there would ever be overflow.

That would be the last thing I would do. One of my friends JUST had their washer flood their entire home b/c it was on the second floor. It flooded so quickly, the drain was overcome. They are now having to COMPLETELY GUT the entire house. It has been an absolute nightmare for them.

[madmax]

Originally Posted by Tippiechick

That would be the last thing I would do. One of my friends JUST had their washer flood their entire home b/c it was on the second floor. It flooded so quickly, the drain was overcome. They are now having to COMPLETELY GUT the entire house. It has been an absolute nightmare for them.

There are things you can get to prevent the flooding. There are automatic shutoffs in case the hoses leak. Second floor washers can also have a pan under the washer. A washer can flood the house from the first floor or basement too.


The one thing I don't like about my parent's house is the crank out windows. Double hung is the way to go and they are cheaper. The crank out are a pain in the arse. You can walk into them on the deck. If you don't have the crankout unlocked and you start to crank you can crack the window. The double hung can also be tilted in to clean.

[WinniBug]

Originally Posted by alum

This may sound bizarre, but I would put a full laundry room on the 2nd floor with the bedrooms rather than in the basement or main floor. Laundry tends to generate in the bedroom area. You can have a drain pan installed in case there would ever be overflow.

Carpeting is less expensive but I would go with hardwood for durability and beauty. I would not have wood floors in the kitchen or bathrooms.

My ex's family home had a laundry chute going form the second floor with the bedrooms into the laundry room.

And I agree - I'm glad I paid a little extra for the hardwood floor in the living room.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by alum

Carpeting is less expensive but I would go with hardwood for durability and beauty. I would not have wood floors in the kitchen or bathrooms.

I can't think of a contractor or architect in their right minds who would specify wood in a bathroom or kitchen. No professional is going to take on that liability.

Clearly, I'm coming at this from a different angle than most people, but my primary concern would be to ensure that water cannot get in the house, and that it's comfortably warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Vaulted ceilings aren't the most energy efficient, even though they may look pretty.

Estimate 10-15% of the cost of construction for things that pop up. That's where the contractors make a lot of their profits--those things that weren't considered part of the original contract and the client isn't in a good place to negotiate. There's a contractor in my hometown who has a yacht named, you guessed it, "Change Order," since that's what paid for the boat!