building a new home, where would you spend your money? (1 Viewer)

[Charlie C]

Phillip, I just moved to denver, so dont forget to build me a studio behind your house or convert the attic for me . think about it, I can definately help with those payments! PS Ive got lots of HT gear to play with.

 

[Shawn C]

We are facing the same issues that you are. We are having a house built now and just had to pick our options/upgrades a few weeks ago.

We pretty much only upgraded what really had to be done during construction. For example:

1. Extra hose bibs outside
2. Cable TV and power in the garage (mounted near the ceiling)
3. Rough in for sink in the garage.
4. Any extra pre-wiring
5. Jetted bathtub (only because the control box and wiring is easier to install when building.)

We skipped on all of the appliance upgrades since they charge an arm and a leg for them. Our builder even told us not to bother since it's too expensive to go through them. The standard stove they offered was pretty cool anyways....It's one of those fancy countertop models with the motorized fan that pops up in the back and exhausts outside.

As far as CAT-5 goes, my house comes standard with it anyways but I probably won't be using it. Everything I have is already wireless. It's super convenient having TIVO running off of a wireless internet connection.

So, anyways, I guess my advice would only be to upgrade those things that are too much of a pain to do after the house is completed. Oh, any anything that could possibly be selling points for you later...

 

[shaniceMW]

why dont builders just include that crap as a standard? geesh!

 

[SethH]

I would definitely have the Cat5 installed. Data transmission is significantly faster for moving files, you can use if for the phone system, you can use it for an installed security system, etc. Wireless is great, but it's still coming of age. As mentioned, it also has some security issues. MAC address filtering is not too difficult to get through, but someone would really want to get into your system. It could be done in probably 3-4 hours, but most people won't take the time unless they're specifically after you.

 

[Robert_J]

I don't see how any of you put up with the builder nickle and diming you to death. My wife and I built a custom house using an independent builder. We agreed to a flat building fee based on the square footage listed on the blue prints. No cost plus. No "upgrades" that cost an arm or a leg. He came up with what he thought was an appropriate budget for a house the size we were building and we went from there.

For example: Lighting - we went to his recommended lighting store and got contrator discounts (for life). Plumbing fixtures - his favorite hardware store for fixtures except for the half bath. We went to Lowes for it. We picked out the tub for the master bath before we even had blueprints. There was no negotiation on this item. Dropped the detailed specs off with the draftsman and they were included in the blueprints.

There were a LOT of decisions to be made along the way since we were basically working with a blank slate. On the other hand, we are living in the house EXACTLY the way we want it. And we can in under budget.

-Robert

 

[Philip_G]

don't have a choice.
Not sure if I mentioned it, the builder is giving me ~6k to spend on upgrades, so I'm not "spending" anything but just allocating the funds where they're most needed.

 

[Kwang Suh]

Some builder's don't nickel and dime to death. Mine was actually quite reasonable, except for flooring and outdoor decks - because they don't want to do them, and so they charge an arm and a leg for them.

 

[Charlie C]

philip, you never said when I could move in!?!

 

[todbnla]

Things I would like to have and would have paid extra if I had the option, the house was built prior to us buying:

Additional insulation; ceilings & walls, can you ever have too much, really, also most garages today don't come insulated, mine didn't, have it insulated!!

Extra 110v outlets on the out side of the house, is one on the front and one on the rear really enough, NO.

More cable and PHONE outlets, garage, bathrooms, etc.

Surround sound wiring in the main areas. Speaker wires on the patio area.

If you have a great room, FLOOR outlets cause how often is an end table close to an outlet?

Better ceiling fans and light fixtures.

Better grade of faucets and toilets, what do your use EVERYDAY?

Better windows, think energy.

And last, a good pull down metal stair way (ladder) to the attic, those flimsy cheap wood stairs suck!!!

 

[Philip_G]

mine comes with nothing! I'll see what I can get...

 

[Chris]

CAT5 is a must. While we like to think nice things about wireless, it still has issues that will never be resolved because of format (latency being one) more then that, having a fully wired home provides easy access to put in wireless access points in multiple locations should you want them, or you can ditch altogether.

CAT5 also provides you support for Gigabit, etc. as that comes around handy, and beyond.

If there was one other big suggestion I'd make it would be this, put serious upgrades into your bathroom at the beginning, and I concur on the external electric. Bury your power lines if you can get it done.

But do your bathroom as a priority.. if you get it right the first time, it will appreciate faster; bathrooms are a major selling point later.. and bathrooms done with cheaper components create a "bleh" kind of look/feel that's more difficult to quickly change.

 

[Philip_G]

as an ex system admin I'm not arguing the merits of cat-5, but I'm also not paying THEM to do it. I think you're missing my point.
which, btw you're neglecting that wireless is also getting bigger/better/faster

I want to upgrade the bathrooms but will have to do sinks, toilets, and lighting myself, I don't have enough to pay the builder's insane fees.
That reminds me, how does that laminate fake wood flooring hold up to moist areas such as a bathroom? Anyone have experience? I'd worry about water seeping down between the joints.

 

[SethH]

I certainly agree with this, but if you run Cat6 now you can get up to 1Gbps. If you run Cat5e you can get roughly 500Mbps (I think). That is 10x faster than current wireless technology and also has faster ping times (important for gamers). Wired networks also prevent the constant upgrade cycle, or at least slow it down. Wireless will certainly continue to mature over the next 5-10 years and the improvements could be so vast that there would be reason to upgrade each time (particularly for security and bandwidth). If you go wired now that will likely not be outdated for at least 10-15 years, and at that point it could become a dedicated network for phones and/or security system.

I do agree that it would be much cheaper to do it yourself though. Go to lowes and check the prices on Cat5e cable and I think you'll realize that you could save lots of money by spending a weekend wiring it yourself.

 

[Philip_G]

You can go much cheaper than lowe's!
It's pretty easy to fish the wire down an interior wall, put the patch panel in the garage, then run through the attic to each room, would take ~4 hours tops. Wait until winter when the attic isn't 90 million degrees.

 

[shaniceMW]

right now i have laminate in my foyer, powder room and family room. really do not get any moisture. one thing i found out is that splattered paint just peels right up after it dries and you notice it three hours later. whew! really easy clean up with the laminate. in the new house wood flooring is standard in the foyer and powder room and i'm not paying them a dime else for wood flooring anywhere else. they charge thousands over what a contractor would cost.

 

[Philip_G]

well, my final apointment was monday. Don't think I did SO bad.
Boy they really nickel and dime you.


I spent about 7500, minues the 5k in incentives/freebies I financed in about 2500, not too bad.

I got;
maple cabinets
a second lav in the mater bath
decent carpet and pad (1500 fugging dollars for carpet? sheesh)
some lights on the outside, either side of the garage door, 100 bucks each??!?
some extra CATV drops
some extra can lights here and there
better insulated windows
corean countertops in the kitchen
drawers in the bathrooms, they charge you for freaking drawer?
6 panel interior doors
a kick ass refrigerator, I had a credit for one so to get a cool side by side it wasn't much money, like 600 bucks. Actually all the appliances I got are quite nice..
some weird plastic sink in the kitchen
and that's about it.
the kitchen will be a bone colored corean counter, black appliances, and a bisque colored sink. The coreanis such a ripoff, it's like 1000 bucks for group 1, which your only choice is WHITE, then 1500 for gp. 2 with a few extra colors, then 2000 for 3, 2500 for 4, 3000 for group 5.
You can't tell me any of those colors cost more than a few bucks more than white.
also paid to have ceiling lights put in the bedrooms, otherwise all you get are switched outlets ugh.

 

[Wes]

I am glad I went with a $250 upgrade of having my Driveway go from side of the garage to the otherside instead of just the garage door width. Makes getting in and out of cars parked in the driveway easier with out stepping out onto the grass.
If your planning a theater make sure they don't put a duct or pipes in the ceiling that you will have to work around.

Wes

 

[Philip_G]

wiring shouldn't be a big deal, the AV people charge $650 to prewire HT speakers, WTF!?

it's a concrete slab below and attic above, so I'll run the wire up inside the wall, through the attic, and down.
after the house is framed I'll sneak over with a drill and pop the holes through the top of the walls to make things easier to find later, shh!

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Ask the builder, some of them will let you just come and do the wiring right there. The guys who show up to work on your house are just contracted by the builder and could care less if you're there running speaker wire or cat5... as long as you don't get in their way.

I don't know how handy you are, but the guy across the street from me just had his house built and did a lot of work himself. He did the siding, roof and trim work on the outside of the house himself and saved a ton of cash. I think he did some of the trim and flooring inside as well during the building process. And, here's something you wont get from your builder... because he did a lot of work himself his house was done ahead of schedule!

 

[Philip_G]

I had to sign a thing saying I wouldn't do any work, but that doesnt mean that I can't ask the foreman...

If I was building a custom home or contracting a home myself I'd DIY some things, but this isn't nearly that nice, it's a small ranch style 1500ft^2 bottom of the barrel happy meal house, you pick the floorplan and a few modifications, and the interior crap and they slap it together for you.