Building a new house - what's a couple of your "must haves"?

[Deadeye]

Looks like I'm on the same page with everyone for the most part. You guys have impecable taste...

Already have on the plans:
1. Screened patio (36x17) with outdoor kitchen and sink. 50'' LED mounted opposite wall of kitchen for grilling/football pleasure.
2. Mud room off entrance from garage with benches and lockers.
3. Incredible shower in master. 4x7 shower with dual heads and a rainshower head over the center. Dual side entrances with clear glass enclosing the shower. This thing is awesome.
4. 1/2 bath is located from the side entrance to the patio.
5. No ceiling mount projector, I have several of them at my office that frequently require bulbs at $600 per pop. I like your thinking though.
6. Large front porch 56x8
7. 3 car garage
8. Eventually I will enclose one end of the pole barn and build off of it (like a guest bunk house with all the trimmings.
9. Reclaimed tongue & grove in the kitchen and dining ceiling. I demo'd a 75 year old sharecroper house a couple weeks ago, all cypress and heart pine. Will also build a 4x8 dining table out of the pecky cypress from the old house.


Great ideas, keep 'em coming.
Since yall so good with ideas, I could use the help moving in a couple weeks. Volunteers?
Dead

[tombstone]

Heck, I just want to come stay at some of yall's house for a three day weekend

[JMallard]

honestly....small house, just the necessities. if you want to spend the money, do the kitchen / family room deal. kitchen big enough for everyone......then take the savings, and buy another one.....somewhere on 100 acres that you leave every friday with your kids and wife and go to, then you spend every holiday there, and every break and weekend....with your family......

[Ster]

One last thing, if you are building over a crawlspace then make sure you place a dehumidifier underneath the house. Houses built today don't "breath" like they use to with all the energy efficient windows, spray foam insulation etc.... Because of this moisture can become a problem coming out of the crawlspace that will cause some problems down the road.

Latest and greatest building techinque here in south LA is "fully encapsulated homes". It's the biggest craze in construction and to me about the stupidest craze there can be. Contractors and everyone in the home construction is swearing by this. The home literally does not breath AT ALL.


I feel for the people building new homes in about 25-30 years. I'm also not looking forward to how said homes will handle a tornado where there can be sudden changes in outside air pressure.

The idea of a fully encapsulated home, is nothing more than using the newest techniques in insulation and energy efficiency. The only big problem that has been noticed, as I mentioned before, is the issue of moisture. In the past when constructing a home you put vents in the crawlspace to let fresh air move in and traverse through the home because it was "breathable". Now that there are insulated doors and windows, spray foam etc... houses are essentially air tight. If moisture comes from the outside air and ground under the crawlspace it can cause floors to buckle, mold to accumulate etc.... Now, it is recommended to not place vents in crawlspace, cover the ground with moisture retardant material, and dehumidify the area under the floor.

[arduckslayer]

With all the extravagant suggestions made, my little simple one might get overlooked, but put a built-in ice maker in the kitchen. Those things are worth their weight in gold.

[deltadukman]

With all the extravagant suggestions made, my little simple one might get overlooked, but put a built-in ice maker in the kitchen. Those things are worth their weight in gold.

x's a million. But get a good one, because the cheap ones tend to break, alot. I would go as far as say when I build and have room, I am going to put a full size one in the garage.

[DoublePslayer]

Heard of a guy in Ruleville that has 2 forty ft storage containers buried under the slab of his house to us for storage etc.

[Deadeye]

With all the extravagant suggestions made, my little simple one might get overlooked, but put a built-in ice maker in the kitchen. Those things are worth their weight in gold.

Yep, it's in the design. Already have the kitchen appliances budgeted and picked out. The ice maker will be a Scotsman under the counter, 60lb per day. We have refrigeration experts at my office, all recomment Scotman or Manitowic.

[Redhead]

My shower is 5 x 15 double heads with the rain head in the ceiling... The rain head is the only one that ever gets used, If I had to do it over I would have 2 rain heads and that's it... also the heater in the shower would be good. anybody got info on these? can you add them after it's finished?

also get the "Handicap" elongated Toilets... worth every penny!

[Deadeye]

For kitch appliances, I'm leaning toward Bosch stainless steel, from cooktop to dishwasher, all Bosch except for ice maker.
I've read alot of good info on Bosch. Anyone have these appliances? Pros and cons?


As for the heat lamps in the bathrooms, I have one in the plans for 3 bathrooms. Right over the entrance to tub or shower.
Never had one before, but should be a cool item. I'm more excited about building the dining room table, just so I can say this was my project in the entire build. Just ready to get this construction started, been waiting a long time to start my dream house.

Dead

[Click]

60x60 pole barn with 40x40 enclosed

Deending on if the house is 100% electric: 15-25kw DIESEL generator. Stay away from NG as it's to expensive and burns more being the BTU rating of NG is much lower than diesel. If electric and gas, 12-15kw and still diesel.

Outdoor patio with fireplace

Acadian Style (wrap around porch)

GUTTERS

Kitchen sink on an exterior wall with a large window looking outside

Functional shutters

Regarding ng and even propane you can't just look at btu. Must also consider cost. For instance propane burns 1.5 gallons for every one gallon of diesel. If propane costs $2.00 and diesel is $3.50 you are better off with propane on cost of product alone not to mention that propane is cleaner burning. Cleaner burning means the equipment ladts longer. No doubt propane is better option right now in terms of cost.

[JLT]

Just built my first and I pray, my only home. I am in the construction business and I would strongly suggest that you look into ICF construction if it is a home that you plan to stay in for a long time. I did ICF exterior walls and spray foam insulation above the ICF's and in the roof. I am on a crawlspace foundation and I did not insulate the floor, but I did cover the vents that I had installed in the crawl space and I poured a mudslab in lieu of plastic. I also poured concrete walls around the master closet and put a concrete top on it. I installed a 20kw propane generator.....just like insurance......great if you need it....waste if you don't. I have a large shower that I have a wall head and a rain head and I never use the rain head. I do enjoy the large seat that I put in it. We also have a one burner gas heater in the bathroom that is nice. I also love my wood burning fireplace. Large front and back porches have not been used yet, but will be enjoyed this spring and summer. I put my hunting room right by where I park my truck in the garage so I don't have to lug hunting stuff very far.......great idea. I also put a golf cart garage in and I am not totally satisfied with the size.....wish it was bigger. Put walk door into and out of the garage so you don't have to open garage door to go in and out. Think hard about elaborate stuff before you fork it out. I found that several things that I had to do have not been well used yet. We did not skimp on room size and have been glad of that.

[adame]

a bidet......

[Greenhead329]

Hardwood floors
Humongous A/C
2 bathrooms
Fireplace (wood)
Gas water heater

[gtk]

Gas Stove. If you don't want gas now, run the lines to the stove anyway.

Do you have kids? If you are building a two story house, do NOT put your daughters room above yours, especially if you put in a tile bathroom floor upstairs. Those girls can make some racket !

Put the master bedroom on the end of the house that will be away from the family room, so when you decide to go to bed early, you don't have to listen to all the chatter.

Go ahead and run cat 5E network cable wherever you think you may need it.

Make your garage about 4' longer/wider than you think you will need ..