New House Build in the Country!!!

   / New House Build in the Country!!! #111  
We installed lever door knobs thru out. Makes it easier for everyone to use, especially if your hands are full or dirty.
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!! #112  
Im thinking about things that I should do during the build process. I already ran extra electrical lines while the trench for the water line was still open. I plan to pre- wire for surround sound and CCTV. I also plan to upgrade all of the bathroom vents to ones with heaters. What are some things that you did - or wished you had done in your house?
Foundation looks real good, I like that they filled all the block with concrete. I would wire a receptacle in your soffit at at least two corners tied to a switch in a closet for Christmas lights. Very nice when it's cold out and you have to turn your Christmas lights off.
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!! #113  
Foundation looks real good, I like that they filled all the block with concrete. I would wire a receptacle in your soffit at at least two corners tied to a switch in a closet for Christmas lights. Very nice when it's cold out and you have to turn your Christmas lights off.

Good point. I did that once and completely forgot.
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!! #114  
I forget, will you have a walkout basement, or just the first floor?
Assuming that you have a basement, run a couple of 2-4" pieces of conduit from the basement to the attic. That way down the road if you need to add a circuit (or run low voltage wires) you have a place to do it.
I would also put in 1-2 boxes in each wall that for low voltage (leave them empty if you don't need something there now) and run a 3/4" conduit from each box to the basement (or to your low voltage distribution area).
Yes, it will be a pain now, but in 3-5 years when "the next big thing" comes along, it makes things much easier.

Aaron Z
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!!
  • Thread Starter
#115  
I forget, will you have a walkout basement, or just the first floor?
Assuming that you have a basement, run a couple of 2-4" pieces of conduit from the basement to the attic. That way down the road if you need to add a circuit (or run low voltage wires) you have a place to do it.
I would also put in 1-2 boxes in each wall that for low voltage (leave them empty if you don't need something there now) and run a 3/4" conduit from each box to the basement (or to your low voltage distribution area).
Yes, it will be a pain now, but in 3-5 years when "the next big thing" comes along, it makes things much easier.

Aaron Z
The house will be built on a crawl space. A basement would be nice, but they just aren't popular out this way. We have a pretty high water table.
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!! #116  
The block looks very nice!!!!

Will you have a sink in the garage? I use mine all the time and would hate to not have one.

Where is your HVAC system going? Seems like a lot of them end up in the attic. I hate this location with a passion because it's so much more work to get to it to change the filters every month. Some will put the filters at the return screen so you can change the filters there, but then you never inspect your unit. I also add bleach to my condensation drain every month when I replace my filter. I get a lot of jobs where people have never done this and then one day they have water coming through their ceiling and they don't understand why. I go up there and the pan is full of water because the drain line is plugged up with mold that has built up over time from not adding bleach. I also get jobs to replace filters for clients. Some have not been changed in years and they are solid dirt!!!!

When I built my parents house, I had five AC contractors bid on it. Only one would put the HVAC unit where I wanted it. The others said the attic is the only place they would do it.

If you end up putting it in the attic, remember that it needs to be above your insulation if you want the insulation to work properly. You will also need a path to get there that is above the insulation.

I like lots of dusk to dawn lights. They make my wife feel better, and with livestock, it's good to see what's going on out there when we here something. It's also very nice coming home in winter with the shorter days and having lights on outside the house.

Add lights in your attic and in your crawl space. The more lights the better!!!

Be careful with your colors and tile choices. I see people jumping on fashion trends all the time. Then the trend changes and their place looks outdated. I'm a huge fan of keeping it neutral and timeless. Glass tile is the latest trend. I install it all the time, but I don't have it in my house, nor do I want it. Everything flashy goes out of style. Kind of like green toilets. :)

Figure out what you want your faucets to be. Your plumber will need to start installing the manifolds once the framing is done while running our plumbing lines. Shower and tubs are number one. You have to have them first. People stress out when they have to have them there and they haven't even decided on what they want yet.

I'm adding on to my master bathroom and creating a huge walk in shower and a room for just the toilet. This is something that I didn't think about too much when I built my house, but has become one of those things I really want. Once this is done, I'm tearing out the ugly single piece fiberglass bathtub shower in my common bathroom and then I will build a special wash area for our dogs there. Probably not something most people want, but for us, it's pretty high on our list of things we want.
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!!
  • Thread Starter
#117  
Eddie,

I thought that they were doing a good job too, but really have no experience to base that off of. Glad to see that nothing jumped out to you as wrong. Im thinking that the garage is going to be smaller that I expected. I suppose it will work for our two daily drivers. We have just been spoiled in our current house with a really wide and deep garage. As long as we have enough room to get out of our cars comfortably and for the freezer - it should be ok.

I know first hand EXACTLY what you are talking about with the air handler in the attic. Our previous house had one in the attic. Luckily it was a walk in attic that I used for storage. One day I walked in and their was water on the floor...... The drain was clogged and the pan filled with water. We had it "fixed" - but it would happen again and again......I am definitely going to see if they can get it in a better location.

I like the walk-in shower idea. That will definitely make washing the pooches easier!
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!! #118  
Eddie,

I thought that they were doing a good job too, but really have no experience to base that off of. Glad to see that nothing jumped out to you as wrong. Im thinking that the garage is going to be smaller that I expected. I suppose it will work for our two daily drivers. We have just been spoiled in our current house with a really wide and deep garage. As long as we have enough room to get out of our cars comfortably and for the freezer - it should be ok.

I know first hand EXACTLY what you are talking about with the air handler in the attic. Our previous house had one in the attic. Luckily it was a walk in attic that I used for storage. One day I walked in and their was water on the floor...... The drain was clogged and the pan filled with water. We had it "fixed" - but it would happen again and again......I am definitely going to see if they can get it in a better location.

I like the walk-in shower idea. That will definitely make washing the pooches easier!

If your garage is standard size, do what you can to put a slightly wider than standard garage door on it. I had an 18' wide put on my barn because I hated parking in what felt like a shrunk wrapped door that 2 cars could barely squeeze through.
 
   / New House Build in the Country!!!
  • Thread Starter
#119  
Few progress pictures from this AM.

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   / New House Build in the Country!!! #120  
We installed lever door knobs thru out. Makes it easier for everyone to use, especially if your hands are full or dirty.

Since the OP mentions dogs, I will say that in our kitchen reno, we made sure to use only _plain_ knobs throughout, to keep the dogs from standing on the levers to raid the pantry food bin or let themselves out the door...and then leave it open for the flies and mosquitos.

Since we have a fenced yard, we also put in a dog door, which is a mixed blessing. The dogs do go in and out on their own, which is good. It's much harder to keep the clean "inside" dog toys inside, and the muddy "outside" toys outside, and they do track in some sand, leaves, and mud. We no longer worry about having to leave a door ajar on rainy days when we will be away in case they need to go out. So overall, I think it will be a plus. But it also amuses me that labrador still prefers us to open the door for her, given the option. The Aussie enjoys being able to go out in the yard whenever necessary to perform his self-appointed patrols of the borders.
 

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