Custom Home - Must Haves?

[bdgr]

Small processing room in shop with sink and table to fillet fish cut meat etc

 

[actionshooter]

Tagging, great thread... the wife and I are starting the process right now.

 

[Rokbar]

On kitchen cabinets, check out custom cabinets. We saved a lot of money going custom over the big box stores/factory cabinet stores. Also a lot better product. If possible go with the 36" upper cabinets over the 30" ones.

 

[Haggin]

lots of great ideas (i haven't read them all), but will add:

Plumbing manifold in the basement/utility room. All lines run from this spot and each end point has its own hot/cold valve at one location (shutoffs on the end are still used). Makes remodeling in the future and repairs easier. Open spots on manifold for future use (garage water, wet bar, etc).

And a gun/trophy room, always a gun/trophy room. Say, 20' by 20' minimum.

 

[KurtR]

a bigger garage with a bathroom and a sink for processing game. In floor heat in the garage with floor drain. A room built in the garage for all the hunting and fishing stuff and a bigger garage. A couple ceiling fans in the garage. The door openers that go on the side of the garage door so the ceiling is clear. Lots of lights in the garage.

 

[kickemall]

I didn't read the whole thread so maybe its been mentioned. Lots of times I come home and am filthy so a good mud room thats easy to clean is important. Step out of the truck and it should be a few steps to where you can shed wet, muddy clothes and have a place to put them until you can get them to the washer then a shower to step into as well as a sink nearby if your not that dirty. Racks for coats, hats and boots. It needs to be able to be kept warm also so an independent heater if the house one doesn't do it. And easy to clean dirt and mud up. You could incorporate it into a man cave, reloading room, processing room or whatever but for me the convenient place to clean up fast is essential.
Edit - I'd make the landscaping as low maintenance as possible. I don't want to waste my life mowing and trimming when I can be doing things I enjoy.

 

[dreamingbig]

I am 47 years old and have been in a custom home for 16 years and I can tell you for sure if it was me I would save my money and build a 1000 sq ft simple square ranch house with nice outdoor kitchen and zero maint landscape and pay cash. All the stuff and add ons and bling I was for sure was important to me when I built is pretty much just a selling point now and I could easily do without any of it. I would much rather have the money and time to roam rather than be a slave to the 3000 sq ft empty nest.

Sell it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ben h]

A lot of really good ideas on this thread. A few of my suggestions, some of which have already been said, but I'd do long overhangs on the rafter tails if possible (3-4') which really help with keeping sun off the siding and keep water/snow further from the building. If you're in a cooler climate radiant heat is really nice and gives tons of flexibility with heat zones, for example I like my bathroom about 80 degrees, but sleep better with my bedroom about 67 or so. That's no problem with radiant. if you have extra bedrooms, you can turn the heat of completely in those areas. I do like the on demand (tankless water heater), but if doing raidiant there is no way I would because you can just have an indirect tank right off the boiler which you'd need anyway. Something that I don't think I've seen posted is the use of ICF (insulated concrete forms) from the footings to the roof. I don't think there's a better wall system available with other products and it offers advantages that are not possible with wood no matter how well you insulate. If water table permits, I don't understand why people don't do full basements because it adds so much square footage for not that much more cost. Related, if you do basements, pouring suspended slabs on attached garages doesn't cost a ton either. If zoning permits, planning areas to be used as an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) and creating a separate livable area can be nice. My brother did this with his basement and rents it for $1300/month. He doesn't need the space and usually rents to a single professional and hardly even knows they're home except for he sees their car. You can use it as your own space if necessary or if you have house guests they're totally sperate and can stay for month(s) and it won't cramp your style.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

A lot of really good ideas on this thread. A few of my suggestions, some of which have already been said, but I'd do long overhangs on the rafter tails if possible (3-4') which really help with keeping sun off the siding and keep water/snow further from the building. If you're in a cooler climate radiant heat is really nice and gives tons of flexibility with heat zones, for example I like my bathroom about 80 degrees, but sleep better with my bedroom about 67 or so. That's no problem with radiant. if you have extra bedrooms, you can turn the heat of completely in those areas. I do like the on demand (tankless water heater), but if doing raidiant there is no way I would because you can just have an indirect tank right off the boiler which you'd need anyway. Something that I don't think I've seen posted is the use of ICF (insulated concrete forms) from the footings to the roof. I don't think there's a better wall system available with other products and it offers advantages that are not possible with wood no matter how well you insulate. If water table permits, I don't understand why people don't do full basements because it adds so much square footage for not that much more cost. Related, if you do basements, pouring suspended slabs on attached garages doesn't cost a ton either. If zoning permits, planning areas to be used as an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) and creating a separate livable area can be nice. My brother did this with his basement and rents it for $1300/month. He doesn't need the space and usually rents to a single professional and hardly even knows they're home except for he sees their car. You can use it as your own space if necessary or if you have house guests they're totally sperate and can stay for month(s) and it won't cramp your style.

They make tankless combi units. I put a Navien NCB-150 in my carriage house / detached ADU / AirBnB.

NCB-150E Brochures, Manuals & Documents | Navien

Find brochures, manuals, guides, labels, specs, drawings, revits & certificates for Navien NCB-150E condensing combi-boilers.

www.navieninc.com

Lochinvar makes a really nice combi unit, too. Had a client put one in a remodel.

Noble Combi Gas Boiler | Noble® Combination Gas Boiler/Domestic Hot Water Appliance | Lochinvar

 

[vectordawg]

I haven’t read every response yet so this may have been mentioned. A drain in your laundry room floor.

 

[dwils233]

I have an aunt that is paralyzed. Their hallways are one and half standard size, all doors are one and half standard and their light switches are lower so she can reach them from her wheel chair. I highly suggest contemplating each one of those. The hallways and doors are nice, even not being in a wheel chair.

I'm so glad I didn't have to get past the first page to see this. I work in the kitchen and bath industry and it's honestly the most important afterthought: living/aging in place. Wider halls and doors, backing for grab bars (or just install nice ones now and be done with it) quality lighting design, zero threshold doorways. Dont plan your home for tomorrow....make it place you'll be comfortable in for 30 years no matter the circumstances.

If OP wants some cabinet tips, I'm happy to offer what I know. Custom is spendy but if your shop is decent you can get some cool features. If you're not going custom, you can still get some neat additions.

Also, spring for Emtek (at least) on your door hardware...skip the home depot stuff. It's the only thing you touch in your house everyday and use for security

 

[dwils233]

Oh and if you're going to do a gun/safe room, find a local hollow metal (division 8) door shop to build your door/frame and spec hardware

Someone said earlier in this thread that if a salesman pitches you something you've never heard of, then it's probably not a good investment. I don't think that's true, too often tradespeople are resistant to change, even if it makes a better product or saves them money or their customer a headache. Go see a design center and then go back to your builder and discuss what interested you

 

[JakeJD]

Don't short yourself on the garage...

 

[Cameron.25]

Im a custom floating home builder/remodeler and I've done some cool projects and im actually building one for my wife and myself currently, almost ready to sheetrock!
I second the heated tile floor suggestion, its a must. Be sure to use something thin like the schluter heat system. The extended eves are also a great idea. And you can never have enough storage..
Im not sure if it would make your home stick out like a sore thumb in your area but i like using commercial grade metal roofs. Its a forever roof if done correctly and very easy to add solar later on.
Another thing I think is a must is an instahot or other type of instant hot water faucet in the kitchen or in a bar if you have one.
Instead of using cupboards on the lower cabinets consider different pullout style drawers so you dont have to get down and dig in the back on your knees for stuff.
Its more expensive but when i built my parents custom home they had me put 2 dishwasher drawers in the kitchen instead of one dishwasher. Once again, kinda nice not having to bend over to load/unload
Also id have your electrician run #12 wire instead of #14 for all your plugs.

Good luck with your home sir, im getting excited about finishing mine!

 

[Cameron.25]

I'm so glad I didn't have to get past the first page to see this. I work in the kitchen and bath industry and it's honestly the most important afterthought: living/aging in place. Wider halls and doors, backing for grab bars (or just install nice ones now and be done with it) quality lighting design, zero threshold doorways. Dont plan your home for tomorrow....make it place you'll be comfortable in for 30 years no matter the circumstances.

If OP wants some cabinet tips, I'm happy to offer what I know. Custom is spendy but if your shop is decent you can get some cool features. If you're not going custom, you can still get some neat additions.

Also, spring for Emtek (at least) on your door hardware...skip the home depot stuff. It's the only thing you touch in your house everyday and use for security

Ability to age gracefully in the home is important if its your forever home. We kept this in mind designing my parents home i just built. Wide hallways, wide doorways, master bedroom on the main level etc

 

[browning2480]

For those who have done floor heating, how expensive is that to run?

 

[zion zig zag]

For those who have done floor heating, how expensive is that to run?

I use 1000 gallons of propane a year. Floor heat, hot water and cooking. 2000 square feet in USDA Zone 4a (cold climate). I keep the floor heat set at 67 in living areas and 60 in bedrooms. I can tell you that 67 is more comfortable with floor heat than a forced air furnace set at 70.

 

[Cameron.25]

For those who have done floor heating, how expensive is that

New construction or remodel? And just under tile or are you asking about a whole radiant floor system? Ive only installed it in new construction situations personally and not a whole house. Its not crazy expensive to do a bathroom especially if you do it yourself, and you save on energy costs in the long run supposedly. The schluter kit i got for my bathroom was like $550 i think. Then you just run a wire for power to a metal box with flex conduit to the floor

 

[zion zig zag]

^^^Sorry, I'm a dumbass. For some reason I thought he was asking how expensive it was to heat the house. Mine was in an existing house so I don't know installation costs.

 

[Cameron.25]

I feel like a dumbass too cause i feel like his question could be interpreted either way haha..