if you have ever built a house...

[dalmatian7]

Yep, we have 9ft ceilings in the basement and the main floor. I wanted a feeling of space in a small house without the expense of vaulting a ceiling.

And, we are doing the tankless hot water heater too!

I am actually going to make some working photo copies of the plans this weekend to start playing with outlets/switches etc.

 

[tiggerluver12]

Everyone is mentioning extra outlets - YES....but make sure to think about where you recharge your phones, tablets and computers and have your builder install outlets WITH USB ports. You will love it!

 

[dhuba]

A few things I wish we did and didn't was put a roof over our deck. It's either too sunny out there or raining. Make sure you get your plumber to rough in any future bathrooms you may put in down the road. Ours suggested doing that in our basement, since we weren't finishing that off right away, and it's served us well for out of town guests who stay down in our basement. It's like a mini apartment. Definitely the high ceilings down the basement. Hose hookups all around the house is another. Although we have a couple, I don't have one right on our deck and that would be extremely handy for watering deck planters. Luckily, my husband is an electrician so I have a ton of outlets and switches in my house. Definitely check on your contractors often. If you don't know what you're looking for, have someone who does look in the walls before they are closed up. Laundry room on the second floor is wonderful. I would never have it anywhere else again. Good luck. It's so exciting. Ours was built 14 years ago, and sometimes we think we are ready to do it again, since we are ready to downsize a bit now that the kids are grown.

 

[seasheller]

We had our home built in 2001. At the outset I asked our contractor why each page was not itemized with cost of each item being done. He said, "The house will cost you this much, why do you need it itemized?" We didn't insist and boy were we sorry. It was to be a turn key house - everything finished and ready to use. Then he didn't even want to put steps up to the door (said it wasn't in the plan). We had been using a short ladder to get into the house. Everything ran over and the house cost $20,000 more than what we signed for. We were on site as much as possible since we were retired. We had moved to a new town and this was a recommended contractor that had been in business for 50 years. Now we would never recommend him to anyone else. I'm sure there are good contractors out there, we just weren't lucky enough to find one.

 

[holden]

Trim out the windows and get crown moulding in each room if you like it. Both are a pain to do later.

 

[UCFGrad01]

Totally agree with the advice on the outlets. I had extras installed (along with cable and speaker wiring) on the middle of the living room wall so they'll be behind the wall-mounted tv when I finally get it up.

I have smaller dogs, so a laundry sink in the garage is awesome. I'm glad I added that.

Be thoughtful about the placement of outlets, cable, and hose hookups. Think about what you'll put there, how you'll set up the rooms, and where you want the hose to be located to be convenient for you. I wish I had added an outlet in the floor in the living room. My floor plan is really open, and I didn't think about plugging in a laptop, cell phone, whatever next to the couch. Anything that may involve any kind of wiring in the walls is so much easier before it's up. Put fan prewires in all the rooms.

See if you can buy the interior paint, or at least have them get what you want. Builder grade paint SUCKS.

Photograph the walls and take some measurements before drywall goes up. That way you'll know what's in there, including where all the studs are.

 

[Lumiere Lover]

Insulate extra around all walls. Homes these days aren't as sound proof. We did this and are very glad we did. We also plumbed in a bathroom I. The basement. We haven't put in a bathroom down there yet but it will be much easier when we do. Check on the house regularly and remember the builder works for you. Keep on top of the builder.