New House Build (What I would do different after a year of living in it)

[Torvy]

We are about 2 weeks into our build...meaning they are doing dirt work, getting ready to pour.

Thanks for the advice. We only have 2 baths, but we are not entertainers. Once the shop/garage is done we will have another in there.

One floor of living space only. We are not getting younger. There is some attic space, too.

Put a separate mechanical room with outdoor access. No need for maintenance or repair people to haul themselves and/or equipment through the house. It also has an interior door for us.

 

[BackRoad]

We also are building. It's the last one planned for us...the one our kids will clean out and sell.

Still making minor adjustments, even as we're finishing up the forms for frost walls for the final foundation pour.

We'll know in a few years what we missed.

 

[JasperFrank]

My new neighbors are making everything Natural Gas. What a world of hurt they will be in, in 10 years...

 

[Diggin It]

If I ever build from scratch (which I never will) ... the plan in my head is exterior perimeter of something like 50 x 50 or 50 x 60 and not a whole lot more from any contractor. No interior walls ... only whatever posts/columns to hold the roof up. One story, no stairs unless a basement is done. If so, the basement will have ground level access or a ramp of some kind.

Once the place is 'in the dry' and the contractors is gone, I'll take over and the interior will be done as a work in progress over as long as it takes. One common water wall with kitchen, baths and utility/laundry all located close to each other. NO plumbing to other areas.

Rooms may even be partition walls initially so they can be moved if I decide to try something else. More or less open plan to allow for better airflow to help with heating/cooling. Houses before the 60s were laid out with windows, doors and vents to provide circulation before the common use of A/C. I'd be shooting for as little energy use as possible.

Exterior doors will be steel in steel frames.

Garage attached with access to both main floor and basement, though I haven't quite figured out the best way for that yet.

Possibility of a simple elevator/cargo hoist to the basement if ramps can't be worked out. I hate stairs and trying to carry stuff up or down.

Bottom of exterior windows will be 7' above ground so that no one can stand outside a window and look in. That would mean the floors would have to be elevated too so the windows are at proper height from inside.

Raceways wherever possible to make running wires easier if changes need to be made later.

 

[RalphVa]

I just copied your stuff to see how many I agree with after owning houses for 48 years.

1. Next house will be 2 1/2 bath. I kind of let my builder talk me out of this. Had some family get togethers and definitely wish I had the 1/2 bath. I know I saved a little on the cost but if I ever do it again this is going to be a must have. (Think this is what we had in first house, a much smaller one in NJ.)
2. I kept my house at a certain square footage based on dollar per square foot. I was worried to death about my appraisal. This caused me to have the architect draw a 2 foot bump out for the bathroom on one side of the house where the kids rooms are. I should of sucked up the 5 to 8 grand it would have cost to push the whole house out 2 feet and been done. (This is probably the biggest thing that bothers me about the house and my decision on the size). (We popped our NJ out about 6 feet or so, enough to get a big kitchen downstairs and master bath upstairs.)
3. I did not put a garage in. Again, I was worried to death about the price of everything. Next time, if we do it again, I will HAVE a garage done with the house. This is the one extra I wanted and needed and still did do not have. Who knows when I will ever build one. Almost everyone I know that did not do the garage initially, still have no garage. I am currently building a shed, have a shipping container and will build a pole barn but I wish I would have done a garage. (Garage is a must have. The inital garage in NJ was long enough to park 2 small cars end to end, but we added a 2nd. Do not forget a people door. Did forget that on 2 car carriage house added to built-in 2 car garage here in Va.)
4. My kitchen could be bigger and I would have liked to have had more counter space. I do have a plan moving forward to add some more space to this. (Wife ended up with a huge kitchen and has one here in Va, too.)
5. I wish we would have put an extra room, for an office/spare room, etc. (Yes, we had a spare BR upstairs and had an office in the den off the garage in NJ. Got 4 BRs here, including the critical 1st floor one in case one of you gets disabled. Used recently with wife after she broke her leg.)

Here is a list of items I did right and happy with:

1. Had the entire house bricked. Back deck, front porch all concrete and brick. Every time I come home I smile about the brick. Probably THE best thing I did on the build. (Wife painted the barn red NJ house once in 20 years. Brick and vinyl windows here in Va and gutters with tops on them, a must. NO gutters in La because stuff would grow up downspouts and plug them. None in tiny Vt house either.)
2. 9 foot ceilings - I know this is an extra and not needed but I really like the tall ceiling height. (That's what many wanted in the huge 5500 sq ft house in La when looking at it to buy.)
3. House was designed around the wood stove. My house is like a square and I put the wood stove right smack dab in the middle. House holds heat great in winter and makes you walk around in your underwear. (Had wood stoves in NJ and Vt house. One in NJ was in basement which was almost inhabitable only naked. Had vents just above it for the 1st floor. The Franklin stove, very leaky, was the only heat when there in Vt. Had backup electric heaters set for about 40 or 50 F.)
4. Bathrooms are huge. You can lay down in them. Love it!!! (1st floor and basement ones here in Va are a tad small. Of course, little house in Vt barely had room to trun around in. All baths in La were large.)
5. Me and the wife never needed 2 sinks, so we added more closet space in the bathroom. We have a closet and shelving in the master bath and Love it!!! (Got 2 sinks AND closet space in the MBR one here in Va. One in La had 2. Think we only put 1 in new MBR in NJ.)
6. 3 ft wide doors through out. (We always wished for solid wood doors. Think the house in La had them.)
7. We sacrificed a dinning room for a mud room/laundry room. This was a great decision. We are out door people and have lots of nasty shoes/clothes/jackets and other junk filling up these spaces. Really glad we did this. (Good choice. Dining room is rather useless unless you entertain a lot. Va house has huge "breakfast room" and dining room.)
8. Utility sink in the laundry room. A must have!!! (Wife had HUGE laundry room in La and wanted to bump the garage wall out to increase the one here in Va even though it does have a utility sink. One in NJ was fairly large but don't recall a utility sink. Maybe.)

EVERY house should have an outdoor shower. Only need a 2.5 gallon "Tiny Titan" hot water tank connected to outdoor spigot. Just shut off when lathering up.

Good idea to have a whole house generator. The little 12.5 kw Isuzu from Central Maine Diesel combined with new Gentrol 200 amp panel for it has been great in Va all electric house.

 

[beowulf]

Things I can think of right now:

When I remodeled our kitchen I added a second sink. Love it. Few kitchens have a second sink but if you ever do have one you will always want one.

I installed a whole house fan. If I ever move I will install a whole house fan there. When it cools a bit in the evening, you open selected windows (you can sort of choose where you want to cool things down) and turn it on and it sucks fresh air in. It will blow the hot air out of the attic (which otherwise sits up there like a hot lid), it exchanges the stale air in the house with fresh air, and cools things down. I have also used it to remove any smells from burnt cooking and for the occasional miscue with the fireplace, or whatever. Just don't turn it on if there is an active skunk outside. (We also have ceiling fans in several rooms).

A gate alarm. Our gate is about 850 feet away and we are instantly alerted if anyone approaches - great to know if and when an expected delivery arrives, or if someone is out there you need to check on, or when guests are arriving.

And in the TMI department - bidets on all toilets. I got one during the great TP shortage. The wife and family sort of scoffed at the idea. After one was in, the wife wanted one in a second bathroom (insisted on it), and then one daughter wanted one in a guest bathroom. Then a friend asked for the link because he decided he wanted one. He loved it and told his daugther about it and she now has one. Our other daughter visited and then got two for her house. Two other friends have since put them in. Very inexpensive (I paid $40). Very easy install. And a no-brainer. After all, we're not barbarians.

 

[RalphVa]

Things I can think of right now:

When I remodeled our kitchen I added a second sink. Love it. Few kitchens have a second sink but if you ever do have one you will always want one.

I installed a whole house fan. If I ever move I will install a whole house fan there. When it cools a bit in the evening, you open selected windows (you can sort of choose where you want to cool things down) and turn it on. It will blow the hot air out of the attic (which otherwise sits up there like a hot lid), it exchanges the stale air in the house with fresh air, and cools things down. I have also used it to remove any smells from burnt cooking an occasional miscue with the fireplace, or whatever. Just don't turn it on if there is an active skunk outside. (We also have ceiling fans in several rooms).

A gate alarm. Our gate is about 850 feet away and we are instantly alerted if anyone approaches - great to know if and when an expected delivery arrives, or if someone is out there you need to check on, or when guests are arriving.

And in the TMI department - bidets on all toilets. I got one during the great TP shortage. The wife and family sort of scoffed at the idea. After one was in, the wife wanted one in a second bathroom, and the daughter wanted one in a guest bathroom. Then a friend asked for the link because he decided he wanted one. He loved it and told his daugther about it and she now has one. Our other daughter visited and then got two for her house. Two other friends have since put them in. Very inexpensive (I paid $40). Very easy install. And a no-brainer. After all, we're not barbarians.

We put in a whole house fan in the NJ house before eventually putting AC in. Worked well.

We've a Dakota driveway alert. Love it. Also have a battery powered gate. Audio sucked but love having the gate.

I just use the water in the toilet bowl after a flush to clean bottom with hand. Use TP only for drying and as a check. Be tough to find space for bidets in many toilets.

 

[beowulf]

We put in a whole house fan in the NJ house before eventually putting AC in. Worked well.

We've a Dakota driveway alert. Love it. Also have a battery powered gate. Audio sucked but love having the gate.

I just use the water in the toilet bowl after a flush to clean bottom with hand. Use TP only for drying and as a check. Be tough to find space for bidets in many toilets.

Regarding the bidet - they attach under the toilet seat so no space issue actually. This is the one I bought (three times). Installs in about 15 minutes.

https://www.amazon.com/Bidet-Non-Electric-Mechanical-Attachment-Self-Cleaning/dp/B00P2XZDGG/ref=sr_1_6?crid=13SCWL17S146B&keywords=bidet&qid=1660825918&sprefix=bidet%2Caps%2C336&sr=8-6

 

[bigtiller]

Put a separate mechanical room with outdoor access. No need for maintenance or repair people to haul themselves and/or equipment through the house. It also has an interior door for us.

An old house I owned in the 70's had a basement/house door like that. It sure was handy.

 

[beowulf]

We put in a whole house fan in the NJ house before eventually putting AC in. Worked well.

We've a Dakota driveway alert. Love it. Also have a battery powered gate. Audio sucked but love having the gate.

I just use the water in the toilet bowl after a flush to clean bottom with hand. Use TP only for drying and as a check. Be tough to find space for bidets in many toilets.

RalhVa, I had a Chamberlain driveway alert for many years then it stopped working - got another (same brand) but it did not work as well. So bought an eMacros unit with a half mile range - so far loving it - choice of four 'alerting' sounds and volume adjustment and other options.

We have found that with a whole house fan we have cut back significantly on AC.