Advice on building a new house?

[carguy]

Are you going to get satellite tv? I assume so if you are talking about a home theatre. If so I would reccomend getting the runs from the dish on the side of your house (run 6 runs of rg6) down into a closet where you can distribute from there. Also run at least 3 runs of coax to each TV location in the house 2 for the dual tuner sat receivers they make now and 1 one for cablevision if needed. Cheap to do now very expensive later.

Also wire up the ceiling for a front projector you will need a power outlet in the ceiling and I reccomend just running some conduit up to a box besidet the power outlet. You can add the projector cable later.

And as someone already mentioned pre-wire the theatre room for speakers.

[chief444]

Unless you have an exceptional builder the cost of upgrades in general is likely more than you need to pay. I'm assuming since you're asking that cost is at least a consideration.

Our house is just about complete (March 30 possession). I got basically no upgrades. But I'll do a lot myself once I move in. Even if you aren't much of a do-it-yourself type just getting a seperate contractor after it's built for some upgrades may be quite a bit less. Things like wiring obviously should be done before drywall however. But many upgrades are nice but not worth the price they charge. So I'd recommend keeping it basic and adding upgrades yourself later.

[skylos]

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I was wondering if anyone has any other advice.

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Dude you gotta do all the bathrooms like this


And oh yeah for my bedroom you can go ahead and paint the walls green you rich biatch [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[pudley4]

In Ontario? In-floor heating in the basement. My in-laws have it in their house in northern MN and it's wonderful.

[AJackson]

1. How much prewiring should be done? I'm planning to have a home theatre in the basement, and a couple other tv's around the house. What's the deal with home automation?

You should do whatever prewiring you can, you really need to think about how you're setting up rooms and where tvs will be. Wiring after finish with a finished basement is very difficult. Unless you are a really do it yourself type I would get with someone who does home theaters and they can give you ideas and get you set up. If there is some spot in the unfinished storage area by the breaker box it is a good idea to run a 1" pipe through the walls up into the attic. This way if you need to add electrical to the upstairs later on you can run wire up to the attic.

2. Any advice on materials for counters/floors/etc.?

There a ton of options. Someone mentioned concrete contertops. Very expensive. I've actually done a few and they are pretty cool. I would go with granite if it were my house. Granite is more than Corian, but well worth it. The house I closed last month had granite it ran about $6500 and it had a big island.

For floors I like tile in the bathrooms and laundry. I wouldn't do vinyl. I like wood floors in the kitchen and dining. There are a ton of options. If you use a prestained product make sure it's not a veneer. For the rest of the house I like carpet. Upgrade to a good pad, it will make a big difference.

General advice is to really think through the project. A lot of people go crazy early on spending upgrading windows, brick, insulation and so forth and then don't have anything left when it really matters and they're picking out tile and cabinets.

Sounds like you've already contracted with a builder. Be very aware of extra costs. I regularly hear stories about builders putting budgets very low and then over charging for extras. Around here extras are 10-15% above cost and your budget should provide for a reasonable good product.

Other than that, keep a good relationship with the contractor and sub contractors. They will try harder for someone they like. If you see something that isn't right speak up right away, even though they're professionals they miss things, don't assume they'll get around to fixing it.

If you have any other specific questions feel free to PM me, I've been a general contractor for 7 years and while I mostly play poker for a living I still build a dozen or so house a year.

[TwoOuter]

If your local code allows pex, it has some advantages over copper.

[Schwatt]

Working in the industry of residential construction I have a few tips:

It may or may not suprise you to hear that many contractors cut corners to save $ for themselves. They markup all materials, charge you for stuff they didn't use but you will never find out about. Generally these practices are employed by large companies that build MANY houses each year. Find a contractor that builds only a few, and has a small crew of workers. These are usually the most honest/trstworthy people. They usually take longer to build a house, but do much better and much more thorough job doing so.


1. Use ICF's(insulated concrete forms) for the foundation at least, Some homes use them for the first and second floors as well. The are extremely energy efficient, fast to assemble, and make your house near indestructable and waterproof. They have 2 1/2 inches of foam on both sides of poured concrete between 4-10 inches thick. The R-value, strength, and sound-deadning properties are excellent. Not to mention gypsum panels(sheetrock) can be fastened directly to the foam (they have plastic tabs inside). This saves a lot of time/money by not having to build energy walls in your basement.

2. Cambria countertops(quartz) are some of the best in the world(made in MN too)

3. Fiber cement siding is probably the best siding out there now. Vinyl is crap, alum/steel is OK but it dents easily. Wood rots, needs to be painted often. The Fiber-cement siding we install is guaranteed to not need repainting for 30 years, not to mention it is tough as hell.

4. Make sure you get blown cellulose/fiberglass insulation in your attic. Some contractors use batted fiberglass which is not as efficient when used in an attic.

5. Another poster mentioned PEX tubing. This is a huge time/money saver. One guy can plumb a whole house in 2 days.

6. Buy good asphalt shingles (40 yr at least). Make sure the roofers use tar paper or roof wrap underneath.

7. Buy good windows. Don't settle for vinyl crap. Good windows that are properly installed will save you a LOT of money in heating/cooling costs.

8. Request that the builder uses OSB instead of plywood for sheathing and roof decking. I have seen several instances of plywood delamination on homes only a few years old, which required a new roof to be installed.

The last point I will make is this: Doors, cabinets, windows. These 3 things can run from 10k to over 100k in the same size house depending on the quality and durability of each product. Windows are the most important, but all 3 play a big role in the total cost of your house.

Most importantly of all, find a good, respected general contractor to build your home. Good luck.