Share practical and useful tips/ideas. Building a house...

MGmom

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 10:56 am

We're currently in the process buyng our first home. I am so excited about this since we have been saving up money for a while and were finally able to make this a reality. We are going to have to renovate alot but we're trying to stay on a budget. Im not going to build anything fancy or lavish. I would love to hear practical ideas and tips of people with experience that have built have found something neat, convenient and useful. The layout is a full flat and basement. Were currently just going to live on one floor.

I.E. a friend of mine gave me an idea of doing a door between front and back of house to reduce noise levels at night and generally keeps bedroom areas cleaner and off limits during day. another one advised installing a little fridge in master vanity area which I love and planning to do.

Im all ears! share em all! Thanks in advance!.

doctorima

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 11:17 am

I don't have any specific recommendations, but since you say you're on a budget, just know that these things ALWAYS go over the planned budget, so you should probably aim to spend about 75% of what you can afford to give yourself the buffer to still come in on budget.

alef12

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 11:36 am

doctorima wrote:

This!
It also always takes longer than you think it will. Always.

Ms.MaryMack(inblack)

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 11:47 am

Put a bath in the master suite.
Also you can put a bathroom in between two bedrooms, so if you ever have guests you just lock one of the doors and voila you have a ensuite bathroom.

HonesttoGod

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 11:53 am

Make an area by the door (side or front entrance) that can be for dirty shoes, coats, bags, etc so you don't have dirt traipsed through your house.

Make a toilet in the basement (if possible) so if you send the kids down there to play, they stay there.

If you are making an island in the kitchen rather go for small than larger leaving less room to move around it. Also make a waterfall counter - it looks good and causes less damage when the kids kick it and sit by it. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks.....nters

Go for less of more than more of less. For example closets - less bigger ones than more small ones. Less cabinets/rooms with more space than v.v.

Another thing in the kitchen, make a pull out cabinet for the corner ones. Instead of having to reach all the way to the back dark corner, install and pull out door that extends into shelves.
http://www.kitchensource.com/c.....tems/

amother

Smokey

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 1:37 pm

Lots of insulation surrounding the master bedroom.

Definitely an entranceway.

Spray foam.

Kitchen drawers - rather than cabinets.

rgr

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 1:49 pm

A light switch between beds in the master bedroom, that you can reach while in bed.

A separate light for above the shower/tub area so you can see whith the curtain drawn.

Insulation and a lot of it!

Lani22

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 2:14 pm

Def an area by your front or side entrance for coats, shoes, bags, strollers. We built cubbies. Everyone has their own, so when u walk into the house everyone's stuff goes into their cubby and stays neat and organized.

amother

Gold

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 2:14 pm

We just put in a kitchen. I added under cabinet lights that are amazing. A switch to turn off electric to dishwasher so no problems on shabbos. A hot water cut off under the kitchen sink so no problem on shabbos if you get a one handle fauset.or you can put a cut off for hot aater on the actual boiler. Dont just get cabinets get draws. Much more pratical. One thing that I regret not doing is puting in a fauset over the cook tops or at least preparing the pipeing for a later time. I thought it was an extra at the time but it is a real pain to keep on bringing water over from the sink.
Have the plumber put the pipeing as far back as possible under the sink cabinet so that you can make use of the cabinet. Install a ac unit in the wall of kitchen and masterbedroom or a split unit. As there are times that you dont need the ac on in the whole house but can use it in thoes two rooms
Much hatzlacha in your new home

MGmom

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 8:32 pm

Thanks thanks thanks ladies!!! Keep em coming!!! Making notes of it all!!

pause

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 8:39 pm

HonesttoGod wrote:

Go for less of more than more of less. For example closets - less bigger ones than more small ones. Less cabinets/rooms with more space than v.v.

With closets I can understand this. But why do you say it about rooms? Isn't it better to have more rooms to spread out people in the family not congregating on each others' heads rather than fewer rooms that are bigger?

rachel6543

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 9:03 pm

amother wrote:

Lots of insulation surrounding the master bedroom.

Definitely an entranceway.

Spray foam.

Kitchen drawers - rather than cabinets.

I have kitchen drawers and hate them. I honestly would prefer cabinets with the pull out shelving.

amother

Maroon

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 9:15 pm

Lani22 wrote:

This is my dream, but I don't think its happening anytime soon since I live in a condo and not planning on redoing anytime soon. Right now you open my front door and walk straight into the dining room!! At wits end

rachel6543

Wed, Mar 09 2016, 10:10 pm

Everything will cost more than you budget for! When you rip out the old stuff, you don't know what is underneath and there may be extra repairs needed or additional issues found. The advice to plan for 75% of your budget is a good idea, because there are always extras that come up. I know because I just did a full bathroom remodel. When the old bathroom was demolished (original from 1945), there was a lot of damage behind the bathtub wall, requiring extra repairs and $$.

More tips:

Get multiple quotes! And I would advise you to get a quote from Home Depot too. We replaced our kitchen countertops before the bathroom remodel and it actually came out about $1500 or $2000 cheaper through Home Depot than all the other vendors we got quotes from - because of a special sale and we were able to buy granite by the square footage, not by the slab. And Home Depot did an amazing job and was super professional. My new countertop looks amazing.

Also, make sure to research what the laws are in your state for contractors. Where I live contractors are not allowed to charge more than a 10% or $1000 for a deposit (whichever is less) before a job starts. Well, I didn't know this. We had hired what we thought was a reputable local company to tile my kitchen floor and they required a 50% deposit before the job started, which we paid. BIG MISTAKE!!! They did a horrible job, were unprofessional and installed an uneven tile floor. Long story short, we file a complaint with the state licensing board and we actually ended up getting our full deposit back. (Yelp reviews with pictures of the shoddy work helped also with getting our $ back). So whatever you do, make sure to not give a large deposit before work starts!

Ask lots of questions. The more informed you are, the better. It's best to get referrals from people you know and trust. And make sure to see examples of a contractors prior work. I did that for the contractor we used for our bathroom remodel. Found them through word of mouth, saw their prior work and we really vetted them. Turned out to be a great experience. They were professional and did an excellent job for a reasonable price and they finished the job on time.

I also recommend getting indoor cameras so you can monitor work if you are not home. We did that with the contactor who did my bathroom. We weren't home most of the time they did the work. We have motion cameras installed, so I knew the moment they arrived at my house. Plus we had cameras in the other rooms of the house where they were not supposed to go. I would get an email if they went to those other parts of the house. Not once did they ever go where they weren't supposed to. And I would periodically check on the camera while at work to monitor what they were doing.

STMommy

Thu, Mar 10 2016, 12:16 pm

This is maybe going to sound crazy, but speaking for myself I would love heat lamps in the full bathrooms (they make three-in-one units with the light, vent and heat lamp) so when you step out of the shower in the winter, you don't freeze.

Iymnok

Thu, Mar 10 2016, 12:35 pm

Negel vasser sink in the dining room.

Orchid

Thu, Mar 10 2016, 12:40 pm

STMommy wrote:

Why wouldn't you just have heat in the bathroom via a vent like in every other room?

amother

Olive

Thu, Mar 10 2016, 1:56 pm

http://www.houzz.com/photos/40.....ronto

To the condo poster and op. We recently renovated and did this at the entrance for the triangle dead space under the stairs going up to my neighbors apartment. Obviously can only be done if there are no stairs going down directly underneath (which was the case for us). It's brilliant use of dead space and I use it for briefcases, boots, shoes etc...

Another piece of advice I implemented was to have my doors be the highest possible height. I did 8+ foot doors with a 10 foot ceiling and it makes the whole house feel spacious.

I also painted my doors the same color as my walls and did just the moulding white. More practical than a white door and looks magnificent.

Night lights or floor lights as we call it (though it's not in the floor it's a foot or 2 above the floor on the wall) in every bathroom was an excellent suggestion from a friend. No need to leave bathroom lights on at night for little kids.

We renovated on a budget and shopped around a lot. Home Depot, Lowes and Ikea were our best friends!

I did closet systems - from the container store and ikea to get custom closets without custom prices (I was quoted $900 for a small closet, ended up doing that one from ikea for $250).

Good luck!

reality mom

Thu, Mar 10 2016, 10:56 pm

I agree with all the above posts. I have made many mistakes and I will share what I wish I would have done differently.
Put some sort of mudroom into my plan. The kids walk right into the kitchen and dump their coats and briefcases on the floor or kitchen sofa, its so much easier than walking to the closet!
I painted my house an eggshell finish. NOT WASHABLE, don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise!!
My biggest regret of all is my gorgeous, and highly impractical kitchen. If I can do it all over again I would stay FAR AWAY from white cabinets.
Good luck!!

12rivkyk34

Thu, Mar 10 2016, 11:42 pm

* Transom windows complicate things when buying shades (that's the little windows on top of windows)
* I did all pull out drawers in kitchen and love them. No more bending down! & everything is so organized.
*Home Depot is a bit cheaper in all items then Lowes although Lowes carries some higher end items if you need specifically that. Both stores are great for vanities, lighting, door stoppers (make sure to put in so you don't ruin fresh paint!), mailbox, knobs for cabinets, shower rods etc.
* Use space under stairs for closets.
* Don't put thermostat in a room with a lot of windows as that doesn't represent the rest of the house necessarily.
* Yes- you will spend much more then you think no matter how in budget you plan to be and even if you don't want fancy.
* Good luck- you'll need it! It's a hassle and there are a lot of mistakes, mix ups, last minute emergencies...but you'll enjoy it IH when you move in Smile