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Posted: 8/8/2017 10:01:16 AM EDT
I'm about to start the build process on a home in north Houston (off Hwy 99) and don't want to regret not adding some of the small but important things later down the line.
Examples would be Ethernet drops in most rooms and key locations, a gas drop for an outdoor kitchen i want to build in 5 or so years, things of that nature. I don't want to over inflate my build budget with unrealistic items but I would love to hear people suggestions. Possibly what ya'll wish you had in your homes. I hate the fact that the homes I've rented never have Ethernet drops. The home is about 4,000 sqft. |
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A sink in the garage (maybe even a small bathroom pending on the amount of time you spend working out there).
Ethernet for not only the rooms, but also ran to corners of the house and front door if you plan to ever install security cameras. light above where you plan to have your bbq grill for nightitme grilling if a 2 story house add in a laundry shoot Plenty of electrical outlets around outside of house and more than you think you can ever use in the garage |
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A sink in the garage (maybe even a small bathroom pending on the amount of time you spend working out there). Ethernet for not only the rooms, but also ran to corners of the house and front door if you plan to ever install security cameras. light above where you plan to have your bbq grill for nightitme grilling if a 2 story house add in a laundry shoot Plenty of electrical outlets around outside of house and more than you think you can ever use in the garage View Quote I've found that I want to add in more outlets on the roof of my garage for tools and lights. I like using my dremel from there, as I don't have to worry about hitting the cord or it getting in the way. Same with soldering irons. |
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Building a basement in Texas is pretty much unheard of. It would probably cost a large fortune.
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Vault.
Extra support for shag swing. Dungeon. Beverage system and bar. |
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Sink in the garage is a must. Use it damn near everyday.
I prewired for security cameras. Made set up a breeze. Spray foam insulation is worth every penny. I added USB power outlets to every bedroom, office, and kitchen. If you do a walk in shower, make sure you do tile to the ceiling. We did stained concrete and hardwood floors throughout the house. Makes the house easier to clean. We use the fireplace on the back patio a ton. Glad we got that. |
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Sink in the garage.
Floor drain and waterproofed floor under the washing machine. Ethernet cables to all walls of all rooms and any locations a security camera would be used. Run them all back to a single point where you could add network equipment. 2" PVC conduit from crawlspace to attic for future cabling. Electrical outlets (preferably double duplex receptacles) high on the walls where you would mount a flat screen TV. ENT conduit from where media equipment would be to where the TV will be mounted on the wall. Speaker cable from media equipment to where surround sound speakers will go. Hose faucets on all sides of the house. Make them waist high so you don't have to bend over. Hot water hose faucet on the front of the house for washing the car. Outlets in the soffits and yard for XMas lights. Recessed lights in the soffits to provide accent lighting. 30A and 50A 240VAC receptacles in the garage for air compressors and welders. Never put room lighting and receptacles on the same circuit. Each room should have at least 2 circuits. Discharge all downspouts underground into dry wells, pop-up emitters, or to daylight (if possible). Install catch basins and French drains to drain low spots in the yard. Use channel drains where you need to drain concrete surfaces. If you PM me your email address, I have a Word document that's been shared around ARFcom for a while with lots of ideas for new houses. |
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Slop sink with hose adapter in the garage would be awesome along with more outlets. If i was in GA I might want AC out there if I were to spend a lot of time out there.
Set up the house for back up power if possible ahead of time. Radiant heated floors for bathroom A 220 line run into the backyard for future hot tub |
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Put a lightswitch in the master that turns on all outdoor lights.
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I plumbed compressed air throughout the garage and outside between the second and third garage doors - love it
Also, which may not be as important in Houston, a Hot/Cold spigot in the garage... |
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I've always thought those baseboard vacuums were such an amazing idea. With 3 little kids I find myself sweeping the floor 2-3 times a day. Other than that a metal roof would be worth the cost assuming you plan on staying in this house for a while. Same goes for foam insulation. Definitely think ahead to any potential future electrical work like the others have said.
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I've always thought those baseboard vacuums were such an amazing idea. With 3 little kids I find myself sweeping the floor 2-3 times a day. Other than that a metal roof would be worth the cost assuming you plan on staying in this house for a while. Same goes for foam insulation. Definitely think ahead to any potential future electrical work like the others have said. View Quote |
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I just did this same thing in April.
Things I did: More outlets in garage. A dedicated circuit for power tools. Ceiling lights are simply 5 outlets across the span of the garage that are powered by the light switch. So I have LED strip lights plugged in and my garage lighting is AWESOME! Plus, I can feed hanging extension cords to the lights and they will be on anytime the lights are on. Love my garage. I also had a hot/cold spigot ran to it so I can keep a clean hose in there ready to spray out my garage. I use this more than I expected. I ran CAT5 wires in my attic down through the walls during framing into a centralized place in my basement. I wanted to use a 2" PVV pipe as a conduit run but never got around to it in time. Bathroom fans were replaced with Panasonic fans with 6" venting tubes. Well worth it. Wish I painted the ceilings with water resistant paint. Bathrooms still get steamy. I bought all specialty plugslike timers for outdoor lighting and USB plugs before electricians got there and had them hook them all up. Outside lights on a timer is a must! I poured as much concrete as I could! HUGE driveway plus an extra walk around the house to the rear patio. Best decision of the house upgrades! Do it before finish grade and it is much cheaper than adding it later. DON'T add a floor outlet in the living room area until AFTER you get moved in so you know exactly where you really want it. My electricians ran the wires in the basement but we have yet to cut into the floor. Glad I waited as we changed layouts a bit after moving in. Only thing I wish I changed would of been to run the CAT5 outside to actual junction boxes in the concrete in certain places since the roof is so high. I could have gotten a few of the cameras several feet lower near the front door without any visible wires. |
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As others have said,
garage sink Garden hose spigot just inside the overhead door/s Lots of power to the garage including a 220 box Lots of lighting in garage and mudroom Mudroom between garage and home |
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Besides sink in the garage, I would set it up so you can use part of it as a wash bay.
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Oval toilets (Unless you like to rub your nuts on the front lip of the bowl when you sit down).
Verify doors swing the way you want them to. Verify light switches activate the outlets in the locations you want them to. (My builder skimped, and the switched outlets are nowhere near where they should be...) Prewire windows for wired alarm sensors. (It stinks replaceing batteries in the wireless ones.) Cat5 home runs to a 18U wall mounted cabinet in basement. 2x12 behind all doorknobs. (If a door swings open HARD, the knob wont go through the drywall.) 2x6 where you want to mount anything. I added one by my shower so the hook I added mounts to wood NOT to drywall. |
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A small secret room. I seriously would if I was building.
Put it behind a shelf of some sort. |
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Quoted:
I'm about to start the build process on a home in north Houston (off Hwy 99) and don't want to regret not adding some of the small but important things later down the line. Examples would be Ethernet drops in most rooms and key locations, a gas drop for an outdoor kitchen i want to build in 5 or so years, things of that nature. I don't want to over inflate my build budget with unrealistic items but I would love to hear people suggestions. Possibly what ya'll wish you had in your homes. I hate the fact that the homes I've rented never have Ethernet drops. The home is about 4,000 sqft. View Quote Include security camera locations. I've been tossing around the idea of adding a security camera system, but the thought of running all that wire is making procrastination easy. |
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Here's a few do's, and maybe a few don'ts. These are the top of my list because we just moved into another house.
-Glass top electric stoves suck hardcore. I miss my damn gas range and oven. I'm planning on replacing the glasstop here with an induction top. -Full extension slides anywhere there's a drawer. The previous guys cheaped out on my current kitchen. Some of the slides are barely half-extension. -I love a bar-height breakfast bar. I spent a ton of time there in my last house. -USB outlets in the kitchen, office, and bedroom. -French doors suck unless you live in a climate where you can actually use them (i.e., not Houston) -Spend the extra on a good dishwasher, make sure it's quiet. -Laundry room needs doors to stay quiet. -Good outdoor living space is really nice, especially when there's company. We had a screened in porch in our last house. Loved it on stormy nights/days. -Tile in common areas, carpet in bedrooms. -Concrete pad beside the garage for guests/turnarounds. -Garbage disposals are one of the world's dumbest inventions, especially if you're on a septic system. -Natural gas Rinnai system was on our last house. We loved it. You could run two hot-water items fullbore without problem on the single system. -LED lights for everything. CFLs suck, and incandescents are just tiny heaters that also make light as a by-product. -Keypad deadbolt for the garage service door or other outbuildings. -My absolute favorite: If you can swing it, have a garage door that opens up into the backyard. I thought it was dumb as hell when we moved in. Now I wonder how I did without it. I'd workout with both doors open, got great flow through ventilation. I could open up the door and move big stuff into the backyard, or work on projects without my neighbors knowing. My current house has one too. They're great. |
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Floor drain in garage
Raise outdoor faucets to waist height,,,,,you`ll never have to fight the shrubs again 30KW natty gas standby generator. Switch in Master Bedroom controlling kids rooms outlets...shut them down when YOU are ready to go to bed |
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Can you educate me to why to is so expensive? I am just curious... It is almost unheard of not to have one here in MI. I would not buy one without! View Quote 1. In the north basements provide places for water pipes that wont freeze. In Texas the freeze line is so close to the surface that digging deep for water pipes isn't needed and more expensive. 2. Texas soil has a lot of clay and expands and contracts with excess water or drought. 3. Shallow water tables. In parts of Houston you can dig into the water table at just 10 feet down. 4. Limestone bedrock- its very expensive to excavate rock. source: http://www.zarealestate.com/4-reasons-homes-texas-dont-basements/ |
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Sink in the garage. Floor drain and waterproofed floor under the washing machine. Ethernet cables to all walls of all rooms and any locations a security camera would be used. Run them all back to a single point where you could add network equipment. 2" PVC conduit from crawlspace to attic for future cabling. Electrical outlets (preferably double duplex receptacles) high on the walls where you would mount a flat screen TV. ENT conduit from where media equipment would be to where the TV will be mounted on the wall. Speaker cable from media equipment to where surround sound speakers will go. Hose faucets on all sides of the house. Make them waist high so you don't have to bend over. Hot water hose faucet on the front of the house for washing the car. Outlets in the soffits and yard for XMas lights. Recessed lights in the soffits to provide accent lighting. 30A and 50A 240VAC receptacles in the garage for air compressors and welders. Never put room lighting and receptacles on the same circuit. Each room should have at least 2 circuits. Discharge all downspouts underground into dry wells, pop-up emitters, or to daylight (if possible). Install catch basins and French drains to drain low spots in the yard. Use channel drains where you need to drain concrete surfaces. If you PM me your email address, I have a Word document that's been shared around ARFcom for a while with lots of ideas for new houses. View Quote I'd install larger gutters and downspouts than the standard 4'' Gas line for furture outdoor kitchen...don't have to mess with small propane tanks anymore Landscape lighting low voltage wire for future wiring Irrigation Line at least a main run that you can tap into Easy access to water shutoff, a shutoff outside the house in case you need to install irrigation down the line Gutter Guard for leaves In ground hose storage areas instead of on house Drop ceiling basement, i love mine and would never have a finished ceiling in the basement ever. Concrete vault with safe door. Size HVAC large enough for heated/cooled garage or do a mini split in the garage for heat/cooling If not doing finished basement, do walkout on back with windows so you can add actual bedrooms down the line. Id have more than one rough in in the basement for half bath/jacknjill/or an extra master Heated flooring in the bathrooms Sound deadining (Roxul) or insulation in the flooring. I have a home theater downstairs and its nice that you cant hear it upstairs since I have insulation in the floor joists. Have them install a Large Diameter pipe 4-6 inches that runs from the attic all the way to the basement that you can run cabling in. If running electric and ethernet have them install 2 cables so you can seperate the two as you don't want the two running in the same pipe. no 15AMP circuits, all 20amp or larger. Outlets in one room on breaker, lights on another, repeat for each room. no slam cabinet drawers have them run extra ethernet to put up wireless access points at least 1-2 on each floor. wherever there is a tv run at least 2-3 drops. Ethernet cable is cheap like 1000 ft for less than a hundred bucks. |
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I would have a wire the entire house with CAT VI (or whatever is current) and have everything routed to a telco type closet.
that would be in or including conduit for future needs (FO, Coax, etc..) bring all the services (catv, elec, telco, etc) in via that room, just like a commercial building, I'd also incorporate a Motorola R56-ish grounding system and have a Type 1 TVSS system installed. in the garage I'd have a dedicated power panel and a couple stategically located 220v 50A(~) outlets for whatever. |
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Wire everywhere.
Conduit in case you need it. All utilities to one location. Insulate all walls of master bed, laundry, and anywhere the kids will be loud. Oversize your electrical panel and at least one 220 for the garage. Are are you building a custom home or working from someone else's plans? look to use all available space. Even in the best plans, you can always find wasted space. (Sometimes its as simple as flipping a door hand to utilize all available storage space) |
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the only odd thing I might have missed being mentioned.
I would put important circuits on a sub panel you can back feed from a gen set and cut off main power to with one of those compliant interlocks. If I could go back and rewire my house, I would have an outlet in each room, the fridge and freezer outlet and maybe a few lights on a single sub panel. If you were planning on a gen set that could run it, central air too, but that would be asking for a bit more. But it should be cheap to do now vs trying to fix later. |
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It's just not done here. In parts of Texas its way to rocky to dig out the space for a basement, you'd probably have to use explosives to get deep enough down in the rock. 1. In the north basements provide places for water pipes that wont freeze. In Texas the freeze line is so close to the surface that digging deep for water pipes isn't needed and more expensive. 2. Texas soil has a lot of clay and expands and contracts with excess water or drought. 3. Shallow water tables. In parts of Houston you can dig into the water table at just 10 feet down. 4. Limestone bedrock- its very expensive to excavate rock. source: http://www.zarealestate.com/4-reasons-homes-texas-dont-basements/ View Quote |
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Don't opt for the cheapest HVAC option. If it's two story or more get a multiple stage zoned system. Or two systems.
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tons of great info here. Thanks a lot guys. This has been a huge help.
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I thought it may be because of rock.. bummer..... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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It's just not done here. In parts of Texas its way to rocky to dig out the space for a basement, you'd probably have to use explosives to get deep enough down in the rock. 1. In the north basements provide places for water pipes that wont freeze. In Texas the freeze line is so close to the surface that digging deep for water pipes isn't needed and more expensive. 2. Texas soil has a lot of clay and expands and contracts with excess water or drought. 3. Shallow water tables. In parts of Houston you can dig into the water table at just 10 feet down. 4. Limestone bedrock- its very expensive to excavate rock. source: http://www.zarealestate.com/4-reasons-homes-texas-dont-basements/ |
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Garage - if the design allows it, widen and lengthen. The house I'm in I can only get my Tahoe in and barely close the garage door behind it - I can't walk in front of it, or open the back gate because it won't clear the garage door.
If the house is currently being designed - make sure you have enough general purpose closets. Coat closet by entry door, linen closet by bedroom/bathrooms, etc. You'll never wish you had one less closet in your house. Have your cable/satellite inputs run to a central location and connect or split from there. If you have provisions for satellite, make sure you run multiple cables to the antenna location (you can only do 1 channel at a time per line, and can't "split" lines going from the antenna to your satellite boxes). Cheaper to do that up front than add cable runs later, and the builder may not know that you need more than a single line for satellite input. The good news is that it seems you no longer need multiple cables to a single satellite box with multiple tuners.Make sure that they are labeled at the central location when they are put in. Phone and Ethernet cables as well - figure out where you'll want your router and how you'll have service entering (cable? DSL? wireless receiver outside?) and then being distributed throughout the house. A single wired ethernet jack to your entertainment center or bedroom TV location will let you hook up a cheap switch for smart tv/stereo/video games and be more reliable than wireless. You don't necessarily need a full up rack, but being able to plug multiple lines from your cable modem directly to a wall outlet to feed your bedrooms and perhaps wireless APs will make things much easier when it comes time to set up your network (make sure you know ahead of time which connection goes where). Mike |
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More receptacles than you need. Ceiling fans in every room. Mud room. Washer and hot water heater over cement drain. Outdoor shower. Safe room. Two heat/cool units. Just a few of the things I would change or have changed.
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So I went over build options, details, and pricing with my builder today. My biggest shock was what they wanted for each line run. The home only comes with 4 runs, coaxial or Ethernet cat6. Each additional run cost $110. I'm having them add crawl space entrance which will give me direct access to the space around my electronics closet. Right now Im using 2 for Ethernet and 2 for coax, media and living room. Im running 2 more cat6 for outside cameras. I was planning to run everything else off smart tv or fire sticks. Combined with regular attic space I should be able to run cables almost anywhere I want. Ill also try to visit the build site during construction and add my own cables but no guarantee. Also running in home speaker wires is also $90 a pair which is painful. Outside garage sink and plumbing for it is $1100, damn. I don't have unlimited funds and the house is already breaking 400k on a desired budget of 385k.
Should i bite the bullet and add more coax and ethernet. I was doing to add access points to the media room and tech closet, first floor and 2nd right above and below each other. What say you... input needed. |
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I know a guy that talked the contractor into letting him subcontract the work out himself.
not sure why but there was some legal reason. Anyway he became a sub contractor to the builder and got "paid" part of the 110 per line back. Another person subcontracted floor work themselves. Didn't get paid but saved the labor cost. doesn't hurt to ask, unless it is one of the big neighborhood builders, who will probably tell you to foad. I would at least get cat 6 runs from the attic to down stairs. It is easy to put drops in the upstairs yourself. But from top to bottom sucks. |
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Over insulate, over insulate, over insulate!! I can't emphasize that enough....especially with the size of your house. Rigid insulation on the exterior and air seal it well. Insulation ALWAYS pays off.
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I insisted on cat6 instead of cat5e for all runs and he agreed.
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I'd suggest beefing up the door frame. I was burglarized a few years ago by a thief that simply pried the frame back from the lock bolts and pushed the door open easily. When I tried it myself it was faster than using the door key and silent.
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I'd suggest beefing up the door frame. I was burglarized a few years ago by a thief that simply pried the frame back from the lock bolts and pushed the door open easily. When I tried it myself it was faster than using the door key and silent. View Quote |
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You can just put Door Jamb Armor or similar on your door frames. About $100/door.
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Quoted:
So I went over build options, details, and pricing with my builder today. My biggest shock was what they wanted for each line run. The home only comes with 4 runs, coaxial or Ethernet cat6. Each additional run cost $110. I'm having them add crawl space entrance which will give me direct access to the space around my electronics closet. Right now Im using 2 for Ethernet and 2 for coax, media and living room. Im running 2 more cat6 for outside cameras. I was planning to run everything else off smart tv or fire sticks. Combined with regular attic space I should be able to run cables almost anywhere I want. Ill also try to visit the build site during construction and add my own cables but no guarantee. Also running in home speaker wires is also $90 a pair which is painful. Outside garage sink and plumbing for it is $1100, damn. I don't have unlimited funds and the house is already breaking 400k on a desired budget of 385k. Should i bite the bullet and add more coax and ethernet. I was doing to add access points to the media room and tech closet, first floor and 2nd right above and below each other. What say you... input needed. View Quote |
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A place for water storage
Larger than average roof overhang Extra insulation everywhere Minimum 200 amp home service and 100 amp garage with 220 Gas appliances, especially stove and dryer Steel roof Reinforced doors Exterior outlets and water spigots on all sides of home Switched outlets for exterior |
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