New House Questions (Rule: neighborhood, maintenance, live)

[futurehouse]

I have some questions for a new house:

The exterior should be Brick or Limestone?

Should we go for upgrade in Shaw Carpet with 1/2" 7 lbs rebond with vapor barrier or is it okay with 1/2" lbs rebond which is standard?

How useful is Rainglass in Master bath with the blinds?

Also the main door should be solid wood or should it have glass panel.I am bit concerned about glass breaking and visiblity from outside. Although I like the look of the door with glass panel.

Thanks!

[funicorn]

I can only speak for limestone vs brick. We've lived in 2 limestone houses because we really like the look. Where brick is basically no-maintenance, limestone does need to be power washed every year or so if you want it to stay bright. The bottom few feet of our homes start to look kind of muddy, I guess from mud splashing from heavy storms, gunk sticking the house that was blown from our mower or leaf blower, etc. Also, if any branches drip onto the house, (bad anyway) it can cause greyish-black staining down the face of the limestone. I've seen other limestone homes that seem to have stains originating from window sills and other architectural features that might collect dirt.

Even though it takes a little more maintenance, we just like it. It's very central TX, but I can totally understand why most people might vote for brick.

I think that the front door is completely personal preference. We had a crummy-looking solid door in our old house, and now we have a pretty glass-paneled door that I hate. I hate when solicitors can see that I am home. Also, my dogs freak out MUCH more when people come to our glass door. Decide your level of hermit and choose accordingly.

[futurehouse]

Thanks a lot !

I read somewhere Limestone has issues with cooling and heating of the house? Whats your say on this?

Yeah I feel the same way about the doors!

[futurehouse]

I also wanted to ask all of you about Dual Floodlights at the back yard? Is it important?

[janejanejanejanejane]

Originally Posted by futurehouse

I have some questions for a new house:

The exterior should be Brick or Limestone? personal preference

Should we go for upgrade in Shaw Carpet with 1/2" 7 lbs rebond with vapor barrier or is it okay with 1/2" lbs rebond which is standard? go with better carpet

How useful is Rainglass in Master bath with the blinds? dont know what that is

Also the main door should be solid wood or should it have glass panel.I am bit concerned about glass breaking and visiblity from outside. Although I like the look of the door with glass panel. personal preference

Thanks!

see above bolded. you are going to have to make a lot of these decisions on your own, this is your house. good luck.

[pbnj07]

Originally Posted by funicorn

I can only speak for limestone vs brick. We've lived in 2 limestone houses because we really like the look. Where brick is basically no-maintenance, limestone does need to be power washed every year or so if you want it to stay bright. The bottom few feet of our homes start to look kind of muddy, I guess from mud splashing from heavy storms, gunk sticking the house that was blown from our mower or leaf blower, etc. Also, if any branches drip onto the house, (bad anyway) it can cause greyish-black staining down the face of the limestone. I've seen other limestone homes that seem to have stains originating from window sills and other architectural features that might collect dirt.

Even though it takes a little more maintenance, we just like it. It's very central TX, but I can totally understand why most people might vote for brick.

I think that the front door is completely personal preference. We had a crummy-looking solid door in our old house, and now we have a pretty glass-paneled door that I hate. I hate when solicitors can see that I am home. Also, my dogs freak out MUCH more when people come to our glass door. Decide your level of hermit and choose accordingly.

Your description of brick vs limestone is not always the case. Our model house is one of two in the neighborhood, with ours being limestone. The red-brick house looks horribly worn at the base while ours still looks great (haven't even powerwashed it since we moved in 4+ years ago).

Totally agree on your assessment of the front door. Adding to that, a good hail storm might very well break any glass on the door. By the way, a front-door intercom is such a great investment around here. We do and it's so cool knowing the solicitors are watching me walk right past them at the front door on my way to the phone/intercom to tell them we're not interested...."click".

[hoffdano]

I agree with jane....

I don't think limestone needs to be powerwashed unless your home is somehow exposed to lots of dust or dirt that sticks to the rock. I have lived in a stone (not all limestone) house for over ten years now and the only reason we powerwash occasionally is to get rid of spider webs.

As far as energy issues....I'm not aware of any significant difference between brick and limestone. There is probably published data on that. I suspect the quality of the framing and insulation behind the stone/brick matters far more.

[Trainwreck20]

Limestone MIGHT need more maintenance. It depends on the design of the roof and the use (or non-use) of gutters to prevent splashing near the base of the walls. Limestone, imho, looks more 'local' than brick, but other than that, I don't think there is any significant difference. Energy rating is probably (as mentioned above) almost independent of the facade material - especially when the difference is only brick vs. stone.

As for carpets - if you plan on keeping carpet long-term, you are probably generally better off upgrading. If you have any plans in the next 5 years to change floors to wood or tile, it might not be worth it.

Not sure on the terminology for the bathroom glass, but we have just regular glass with blinds next to the tub. We rarely open the blinds due to the privacy loss, but we also bathe the kids downstairs and open it in the early evening and it is nice to get full sunlight in the window. If the glass you are referring to is the frosted or diffracted looking glass, you might end up keeping the blinds down anyway so there are not shadows or silhouettes visible from the outside.

[G Grasshopper]

We have a window over our tub that is frosted glass. We keep the blinds open because it would otherwise be too dark in the bathroom, and it is difficult to reach over the tub to open and close them. So we are quite happy that the glass is frosted.

As to flood lights in the back, it depends on how you are going to use your back yard. If you are adjacent to greenbelt, you might like having the flood lights with a motion sensor to discourage racoons and such. The kind of lighting you use in your backyard is personal preference, but since you are building a new home, it might be good to have the flood lights just so there is some light while you are deciding on how the yard will be landscaped, etc.

As said, definitely upgrade the carpet unless you are planning on changing it soon.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by futurehouse

I have some questions for a new house:

The exterior should be Brick or Limestone?

Should we go for upgrade in Shaw Carpet with 1/2" 7 lbs rebond with vapor barrier or is it okay with 1/2" lbs rebond which is standard?

How useful is Rainglass in Master bath with the blinds?

Also the main door should be solid wood or should it have glass panel.I am bit concerned about glass breaking and visiblity from outside. Although I like the look of the door with glass panel.

Thanks!

Are you in the selection stage of a new buy? You'll torture yourself if you go into any deep level of worry about these cosmetic things.

Rule of thumb: stick with choices that appear to be prevalent in the neighborhood. Generally, if a selection costs more, it's better and more desired (in general), so the upcharge itself will be a clue. Just don't upgrade too much.

Other things which might be either/or with no cost difference, are totally personal preference, but I'd still stick with the norms for homes in your area.

Brick is considered lower end, but limestone is passe also, so those are probably an either/or personal preference. I wouldn't put brick on a $200K+ home though.

More natural light is better, whether at the front entry or bathroom. A well lit house is always more desirable.

Good luck,

Steve