Building a home

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

My mom (after watching MTV Cribs!!) decided that she wanted a small slit in the wall, adjacent to the floor, so that she could sweep, push the dust and dirt toward the hole, tap a button with her foot, and have the mess be sucked into the wall so that she'd never have to use a dustpan (it's the coolest thing!)

I'm totally curious about this: where does the dust end up? Just in the wall? Outside?

[kddani]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

Lastly, if you have the money, think about any added "bonuses" you'd like. For example, my mom and stepdad completely remodeled their house a few years ago. They have a central vacuum system. My mom (after watching MTV Cribs!!) decided that she wanted a small slit in the wall, adjacent to the floor, so that she could sweep, push the dust and dirt toward the hole, tap a button with her foot, and have the mess be sucked into the wall so that she'd never have to use a dustpan (it's the coolest thing!)

My aunt and uncle have that and it's fabulous. They have a whole house vacuum system- it was only about $1000 for them to put in, but then again they did a lot of the work on their house themselves.

Honeychile- I grew up in and currently live in a Ryan home. We know some people who have built with them in the past few years - most are pretty happy. I think that there are so many things that can happen when building a house something almost always goes wrong. Heartland is good, but I think for the amount of space we want it's going to be too expensive.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Keep 'em coming. (happy to say we've thought of many of the things mentioned - i.e. we want a big kitchen, may not want hardwood floors because we don't want them to get beat up- get something that wears better with less work. We can always put them in later).

[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.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

I'm totally curious about this: where does the dust end up? Just in the wall? Outside?

Central vacuum systems are becoming more common. They allow you to put special "outlets" in your house where you can hook up a vacuum attachment so that you don't have to pull a big, heavy vacuum cleaner around with you.

http://realestateinsider.files.wordp...entral-vac.jpg

And I believe there's a tank where all the dirt goes.

I've looked up the replacement dustpan... I guess they're called VacPans? I found this video. It's not exactly used for what this guy is doing with it, but you can at least see what it is and what it does:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX6dgm25CQM

[honeychile]

I thought about this late last night - when a sister remodeled her house, she had one cabinet just for charging batteries, cellphones, hand sweeper, etc, etc. It's somehow lined so that a fire would be contained, too.

The other thing she has (I have no idea what it's called!) is under the floor cabinets, in that 6-8 inches or so that's wasted space? You can kick that, and a step comes out. She & her husband are both "vertically challenged" and that six inches is great to help reach higher cabinets.

[EtaPhiZTA]

As many others have already suggested -- electrical outlets -- the more, the merrier. When my husband general contracted our house eight years ago, he did a great job with this.

We have a central vac system with the built in dust pans. I love it for our handwood and tile floors. I still prefer to use my Miele for my carpets.

If you can do 9 foot ceilings, I would say to go for it. It is wonderful to have a full height basement and I love that I was able to get extra tall cabinets for my kitchen. The extra storage space cannot be beat. I also let my husband talk me into installing the double oven. I didn't see a need for it at the time, but it is a real lifesaver during the holiday season.

When you install HVAC, zoned heating and air conditioning is a real plus. I think we have saved a lot of money by being able to concentrate our energy costs to the areas of the house that we use most.

The one extra that I didn't fight hard enough for (and I still regret it to this day) was radiant heat under my master bathroom tile. I hate cold tile in the winter (I live an hour outside of Chicago, and the floor gets cold in the winter). If we ever build again, this will be at the top of my "must have" list.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by EtaPhiZTA

The one extra that I didn't fight hard enough for (and I still regret it to this day) was radiant heat under my master bathroom tile. I hate cold tile in the winter (I live an hour outside of Chicago, and the floor gets cold in the winter). If we ever build again, this will be at the top of my "must have" list.

My cousin and her hubby have this and I LOVE it. I babysit overnight for them sometimes and I love being able to get out of the shower and not freeze to death (we're in Ohio). They also have heated towel racks.

[amanda6035]

omg, thank you for starting this thread. We're also considering building a house...this is some really good advice

[ree-Xi]

I agree - spend the time to have a spreadsheet.

Also realize the need to budget for extra outlets, your driveway and walkway (expect to pay up to 10k depending on the size of both), landrscaping other than the cheapest grass they might throw down, etc. Although I read the building and neighborhood document inside and out, these things easily are forgotten or not addressed, and you suddenly have these costs that add $$$ to your final number.

If you had the opportunity to add in the cost of your appliances and extras to your mortgage, think carefully about trying to pay for those upfront. It's easy to think, oh we have 30 years to pay it off, but once those appliances need replacement, you are probably not going to be done paying them off.

Lastly, research the town you want to live in, and research their tax system. A year after we moved in, my town reassessed properties (home and cars) and they increased the mill rate almost 70%. They staggered the increased into two stages, but our current property tax for our size house in our town would be twice the amount in another town. However, the cost to build in the other town would be a lot more.

Try to reach for a mortgage that is $300-400 less than the max you think you can pay. Things happen, not everything is covered under warranty or home insurance, and other things come along that you realize you need. Plus, consider what it will cost to furnish, plus window treatments, etc.

Consider all methods of heating. Our new neighborhood was built with propane as the method of heating. We were amazed with the cost difference compared to oil, which we had at our previous home. We went from speniding 500-700 a month to less than $300.

Multi-zone heating is worth putting in now rather than waiting. It saves on heat, especially if you have two floors. We were too nervous at that top number and thought we could wait. Now it will cost us more to retro-fit it in.

Ask for building incentives, if your builder seems to be pushing you to sign by a certain time. We got free a/c and free gas fireplace by signing by the end of a calendar year. AND we got a lock down on cheaper prices (which were going up after the new year).

Consider windows that are almost floor to ceiling. Natural light saves on electricity. We love our huge windows, which are super easy to clean.

Best of luck. If I think of anything else, I will come back, if that's okay.

[iastategal]

I had my house built 7 yrs ago - some of the best advice I got at the time was:
1) put in the vaulted ceiling - it really does make the rooms look bigger,
2) upgrade your kitchen cabinets and get the pull out cabinet shelves and lazy susan in the corner - really helps you utilize what would otherwise be awkward/dead space better
3) electrical outlets - you always need more
4) cable and phone outlets - at a minimum in your family room, living room, kitchen, master bedroom and home office
5) ceiling fan prewire - this really helps with circulation and helps with both the a/c bill and the heating bill.
6) extra wiring for things such as surround sound, burgler alarms etc - it is much cheaper and easier to have it put in when its being built than putting it in later - even if you dont conect it up right away
7) I recommend upgraded appliances - typcially for a small fee you get much better appliances than the base model that comes with the house - for example the $200 extra I paid for my gas range/oven gave a model with a warming drawer, 2 high output burners, and a precise control burner.
8) if you opt for carpeting - upgrade the carpet pad - a thicker pad can make even cheap carpet feel better and last longer
9) If you can't afford to have the builder finish a bathroom or other rooms (a basement area) - at least have them rough in plumbing and electrical - much easier and cheaper to finish later when your checkbook recovers

When you sign your contract, find out how long you have to make changes before they start to cost you - when my house was built I had 2 weeks to make any changes at no change cost, and then after that there was a change fee ($100/change I think) + the cost of the option.

[libramunoz]

whatever you decide to do, use copper piping (not PVC). I know that it might cost more, but it will LAST longer in the long run--esp. if you live in a place where it freezes easily.

[summer_gphib]

Something else we did before we built was to create a list of requirements. (Can you tell hubby is a Systems Engineer?) We ranked them in importance, and then found the area/neighborhood/house we wanted based on that. It was really, really specific, and it helped us not get so overwhelmed or caught up in the "emotional" part of it.

Also think about things you may want/need ahead of time, and look for them on sale. For example, we came from a wooded area, where we had no grass to mow, so no mower. Even though the house wasn't nearly done, we bought a lawn mower when they were on huge sale at Sears, just before the new models came out. We also shopped online and sales for bathroom fixtures, light fixtures, our pot rack, etc.

I also really agree with the vaulted ceilings. Our home is small (but it's just us, and we won't be having kids) and the vaulted ceilings throughout make it feel bigger.

[SydneyK]

I'm going to respectfully disagree with the comments suggesting vaulted ceilings. I hope I never live in a home with vaulted ceilings ever again. I'd rather have a room that looks smaller but holds heat. It seems like we're paying to keep the ceiling warm, and since don't often hang from the ceiling fans, it's a waste of money. I'd suggest tray ceilings over vaulted ones.

[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.

[KSigkid]

Also, on the spreadsheet/budgeting issue - you'll want to build in a good buffer above what you expect to spend. There may be issues that result in higher costs, or the price may increase as the project goes along (contractors are great for being a bit low on their estimates).

Also - it may be a little thing, but with all those outlets, make sure they're putting in the GFCI outlets in all the right places (around sinks, etc.). The last thing you need is an electrician's apprentice forgetting to do it, and having to have the guy come back (potentially at an added cost).

I'll also reiterate the importance of choosing the right windows. When we moved into our current house, the windows hadn't been updated for a while. We had my dad install new windows, and we saw our energy costs go WAY down. It really makes a difference, and it's worth it to spend a little more on windows to make sure that cold air isn't seeping in.