What upgrades do you wish you had done?

[Grainraiser]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Get the best appliances you can.
If your house is going to be plumbed for gas, even if you want to use an electric stove, be sure there is a gas line run to the stove area.

To add this great advice. Have the builder use 3/4 gas pipe instead of the normal 1/2 inch pipe. If you ever decide to install a professional range you want be disappointed to find out your gas line is not large enough. The extra cost is less than $50 and would cost thousands to do it later.

If you don't have a 3rd bay in your garage and your garage faces the rear have the builder pour a extra pad. I really wish I would have done this when I built my house.

[Dragonfly8]

Trade several lower cabinets in kitchen for deep pull out drawers. So much easier to keep organized.
Get full gutters rather than the short pieces over your doors.
Wood floors or stained concrete in living areas,
Granite counters
Floor plugs in family room etc

One thing I wish we hadn't gotten in our 5 bedroom 3 bath- one bath had an optional 2nd sink/cabinet - a $4000.00 waste. I could have put a nice chest in the opening for towel/linen storage



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[tyanger]

Not necessarily a builder upgrade, but I think the best money my wife and I ever spent on our house was the custom shelving/cabinets/drawers in our master closet and utility/laundry room. Both rooms set us back a liitle over 2k after we had closed, but we use them every day and the basic builder setup with 2-3 rows of closet rods with a single 12" shelf above each was completely useless. (California closets, closets by design, home depot, lowes are a few vendors)

Other projects I've done include dedicated home theater (mostly diy), backyard covered patio with built in gas grill and fridge, upgraded carpet/padding, upgraded fence to 8th board-on-board.

[expatChicagoan]

We have been living in our house for almost 2 years. The carpet needs replacing; it's cheap builder-grade carpet. I don't regret not upgrading when we bought the house, because we got a german shepherd puppy shortly after we bought the house, and we figured we'd just wait a couple of years until the puppy was grown, and was less likely to have accidents on the carpet.

I wish I had a big back deck. We have a "patio" outside the back door (it's covered), but it's not big enough to entertain on - it's just big enough to put the grill on, and to get to the backyard. Would love a large deck or patio.

We only got a few upgrades (our home was a spec home already under construction when we bought it, so there wasn't a lot of opportunity for upgrades). We haven't regretted the few upgrades we asked for (power outlet half way up the wall in the home theater - we actually ended up not needing it, as we got a projector and screen, rather than a TV); stainless steel appliances; wall and double doors to turn the home theater area into two rooms - a small office, plus the theater area. By adding the wall, we essential turned the home theater into a room with no windows.

None of the upgrades we made cost us a dime; the builder wouldn't negotiate on price, so we asked for those upgrades in lieu of a discount on the price of the house.

[kreeyax]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Get the best appliances you can.
If your house is going to be plumbed for gas, even if you want to use an electric stove, be sure there is a gas line run to the stove area.

I'd also add a gas stub out for the back patio. That way you don't have to bother with refilling propane tanks all the time if you grill a lot. Of course you'd need a natural gas compatible grill.

[skids929]

Originally Posted by kreeyax

I'd also add a gas stub out for the back patio. That way you don't have to bother with refilling propane tanks all the time if you grill a lot. Of course you'd need a natural gas compatible grill.

I thought they only cooked over wood in Texas? Gas of any sort is for amateurs from the Northeast who like to dry out their food.

[dlleon]

Here are a few things that I with I had done differently when building a house:

1. I would have increased the number of water spigots outside the house. I hate having to lug dirty hoses to each side of the house. While I'm at it, I would have set up a sprinkler system that could wash the outdoor a/c units. I HATE DOING THAT!

2. I wish I had done a better job setting up the a/v connections in my house. Same for the alarm system. Trying to re-wire this stuff after the fact has been a real bear.

3. I probably wouldn't get another pool. I haven't used it in years. Now, it's in need of a replaster, and costly upgrade. Also, the monthly upkeep and increased energy costs to run the pump are just wasted.

4. I would have spent a little more money making the house energy efficient. I found out late in the game just how much energy is wasted. adding radiant barriers, insulation, upgraded windows and doors is a great idea when building. Also, having a site survey can be helpful. (For example, you may want to reduce the windows on the sunny side of your house, and increase windows on the shady side.)

5. Gas hookups in the kitchen. This is something that you should do in the building phase. Even if you don't want gas appliances in the beginning, it's nice to have the option later. Also, consider getting kitchen vents that can pipe kitchen smoke/odors outside.

6. Go for stone floors. They last forever, and are easy to clean. My builder put carpeting in the bathrooms (!) They didn't last long.

7. For cabinets, drop the builder grade crap. Get adjustable shelf cabinets. I recommend having California Closets or someone of their ilk to design cabinets. You can always reface/paint, but you'll appreciate the adjustable shelving (especially when you're buying large cereal boxes, etc.)

[dlleon]

Originally Posted by expatChicagoan

We have been living in our house for almost 2 years. The carpet needs replacing; it's cheap builder-grade carpet. I don't regret not upgrading when we bought the house, because we got a german shepherd puppy shortly after we bought the house, and we figured we'd just wait a couple of years until the puppy was grown, and was less likely to have accidents on the carpet.

I wish I had a big back deck. We have a "patio" outside the back door (it's covered), but it's not big enough to entertain on - it's just big enough to put the grill on, and to get to the backyard. Would love a large deck or patio.

We only got a few upgrades (our home was a spec home already under construction when we bought it, so there wasn't a lot of opportunity for upgrades). We haven't regretted the few upgrades we asked for (power outlet half way up the wall in the home theater - we actually ended up not needing it, as we got a projector and screen, rather than a TV); stainless steel appliances; wall and double doors to turn the home theater area into two rooms - a small office, plus the theater area. By adding the wall, we essential turned the home theater into a room with no windows.

None of the upgrades we made cost us a dime; the builder wouldn't negotiate on price, so we asked for those upgrades in lieu of a discount on the price of the house.

I forgot about the backyard! I'd also include a gas line for the backyard (easier if you grill as much as I did back then.) It's nice not to have ot lug around propane tanks. Also, you can cook out whenever there's a random nice day in February.

On the decks, my builder put a 5'x5' concrete slab by the back door (that didn't even cover the whole back door.) WTH? Anyway, check out readydecks.com They have some nice decks for low cost. If I had it to do over, I'd probably go with one of those, with a built in section for outdoor dining.