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one of the favorite bathrooms i ever had was in a place that had been remodeled by a Persian restaurant designer. It had the most beautiful stonework indoors I have ever seen anywhere. the walls surrounding the tub were stone, it was like being in a cave, absolutely gorgeous. Floating slab of pink granite for a bathroom counter. He had turned all the doorways indoors into stone arches.
when the place flooded i had to move out and due to damage they ripped out all that beautiful stone work and did not replace it. it was very sad. if i could ever custom create features in a home, it would be that bathroom.
No trusses that eat up your attic space. Rafters and a pitch that lets you stand straight up, and sufficient to satisfy your local building codes if you one day are interested in building a room.
This makes absolutely no sense!
If you're building a custom home with all the bells&whistles you'd ever want or need, why is constructing a roof system that will supposedly render a possible "expansion"???
Had a friend's parents once install one (had it installed) and noticed a consistent $100+/month change in their power bill for a few months before they finally stopped running it.
Do you think it was installed incorrectly? Is this to be expected?
Incorrectly? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on "how" it was setup.
Expected? Again, depends on how it was setup. Not all "recirculating systems" are recirculating constantly (which sounds like your friend's parents system).
Mud room if you enjoy gardening or have dogs: shower for you and dogs, stacking washer/dryer, separate heat controls to keep the room warm while you shower. Hair drier fir dog with table.
Lots of outlets and USB charging stations.
Lots of lighting, dimmable.
Safe room for family/built in safe for valuables
Solar ready
Auxiliary propane powered generator power for power outages
A view to woods and/or water
Lockable cabinets like my neighbor has that resemble wooden school lockers for electronics
Spare no expense on sturdy construction
Tile roof
Walk in pantry for bargains you find on sale that you have to buy 5 of like paper towels
Sunroom with real plants, tile flooring with drain, a view
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xPlorer48
Mud room if you enjoy gardening or have dogs: shower for you and dogs, stacking washer/dryer, separate heat controls to keep the room warm while you shower. Hair drier fir dog with table.
Lots of outlets and USB charging stations.
Lots of lighting, dimmable.
Safe room for family/built in safe for valuables
Solar ready
Auxiliary propane powered generator power for power outages
A view to woods and/or water
Lockable cabinets like my neighbor has that resemble wooden school lockers for electronics
Spare no expense on sturdy construction
Tile roof
Walk in pantry for bargains you find on sale that you have to buy 5 of like paper towels
Sunroom with real plants, tile flooring with drain, a view
This is just a start
This is if money were no object
^^^^ (Mostly) My farm dogs have never had an interest of need to come in the house in the last 50+ yrs.
Built many homes, and helped kids and friends build theirs. (I have found it impossible to find a contractor to do this stuff, so we just do it ourselves) Have never got it quite right. (I don't expect to every accomplish perfection.) My friend that built the every 24 month $500k tax free gain home 9x, never got it right either.
remember future property tax implications (Build / permit accordingly) My taxes have gone from $800 / yr to $14,800 / yr same old worn-out house...
View can't be stressed enough, enjoy it, place the home correctly and have plenty of windows and open spaces within home. (See-through-home). View homes done correctly are a very nice place to retreat to. + ez to sell.
Don't forget lots of stone (inside and out)
Wood trim (inside and out)
Built ins (bath, bedroom, closets, kitchen, pantry...)
No hallways
Lots of curved and angled walls
Vaulted ceilings
Basement (cool in summer warm in winter) QUIET!!! anytime
I like my 2 story garage (drive cars on each level)
We have a 5'x13' kitchen "island" that looks over a National Scenic area.
Fireplace / woodstove / alternative heating and cooling (cool-tubes) natural convention
Sustainable materials
Noise dampening techniques
Classical additions (fixtures, devices, often 'used')
triple pane windows (Euro style are nice, open as Casement or sideways)
BEST sheetrocker / texture you can find (View a LOT of their work at least 3 yrs AFTER it was completed)
Wood case all windows.
Have a separate living space in or near home (eldercare, adult kids, grandkids, visitors, health care aides, recovering spouse, rental income, free place to stay when you age...)
Excellent energy efficient and sustainable materials (exterior)
Run extra conduit and water and cooling lines end to end of the home / basement BEFORE you sheetrock
Use an appropriate building schedule / weather (I never sheetrock before August = one more yr cheap taxes).
The last thing I will ever use again is Hardi-plank exterior(cement board). It is the antonym of energy efficient (High convection loss).
Me and my wife are in the process of working with a contractor to design a home and build this coming year, we have rough layout done but would like input on what people wish they would have done different or features they added that they really enjoy. any input on new home construction is welcome! thank you!
When my husband and I were having a 4 bed, 2.5 bath house built we added certain custom features that proved to be much too expensive and impractical in hindsight. Most of these custom additions involved lighting fixtures that entailed the removal of all sorts of coverings, enclosures, glass rods, and other accessories whenever a bulb needed to be replaced.
Our single biggest mistake was keeping the original design for the large master bedroom which featured an overly-spacious adjoining double-sink and full bathroom. We later thought we should have downsized the master bathroom area and enlarged our son's bedroom (located next to the master bathroom) since we rarely, if ever, used the bathtub or shower in the master bath, opting instead to use the family bathroom.
Also, if I had to do it over I'd have put more time and expense into anything kitchen-related and less to do with spaces in which minimal time is spent.
I'm assuming from your username that you will be building in Iowa, so you may decide not to read the link I've added below since it centers around construction in southeastern PA (although I think it should be required reading for anyone signing on for new construction these days, but that's just my overly-cautious nature).
A critical defect discovered in hundreds of Philadelphia-area homes might interest you as you proceed with construction plans. This problem has imposed untold expense and anguish to the owners of newly-built and renovated homes in southeastern PA, spawning lawsuits against up to 27 home builders. The problem pertains to water damage that seriously damaged or destroyed homes constructed or renovated from 2001 to the present. Home buyers and home inspectors share their stories, detailing the horrors of hasty construction, inferior materials, improper supervision, and incomplete or improper installation of components designed to prevent and/or divert water intrusion and damage to homes. Some of the builders provide their side of the story as well and how they will - or won't - rectify the situation. https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20181115.html
Last edited by StayingAfterSunday; 12-23-2019 at 06:27 AM..
This thread is basically facilitating all of those who have an obscure fetish for some or many features in their home that they would love to have regardless of the practically or cost.
Curved angle walls, triple pane glass, two story garage, tile roof, best sheetrock, it’s comical, IMO!
Had a friend's parents once install one (had it installed) and noticed a consistent $100+/month change in their power bill for a few months before they finally stopped running it.
Do you think it was installed incorrectly? Is this to be expected?
I don't remember exactly, I think it was 10-12 years ago, when we saw some sort of documentary or extended news story about a young couple in Maine who built a little 2-story house around 600 square feet with all sorts of clever storage in nooks and crannies all over the place.
The tiny house bug had bitten.
Didn't realize it yet, but houses get a lot tinier than that. Wish I could find that story again, but oh well.
We came this close to doing something unconventional last time around, but balked for reasons surrounding our circumstances at the time.
In hindsight, I wish we hadn't worried so much and went with smaller-simpler.
We're currently renting. Next time what would we do differently? Probably no more than 600-700 square feet total. Maybe much less if it's cleverly designed. 300 square feet with a couple of sleeping lofts if it means it has wheels and we can move around at will. Don't worry, we pretty simple and minimalist, and we have a small travel trailer for actual travel.
Never been at peace trying to live the conventional daily grind.
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