What would you do differently?

[water]

personally I like Engineered Stone, but if you have the bucks the easy pick is real granite

I guess I should've been specific and said "granite alternative".

 

[Fat Burger]

Great thread, thanks for all the advice everyone

 

[Syrup Beaver]

What are good materials for counter tops these days?

I personally prefer granite or slate. Slate has a satin finish but is virtually impervious to damage you might cause in a kitchen - scratches buff out exceptionally easily. It does make for a 'cold' appearance to some people, even though the feel of it is fantastic.

Granite is nice 'n shiny and super strong but it can scratch (Not with normal use or even moderate abuse)

I don't care for manufactured solid surfaces, the SileStone and similar products are fine physically but look really fake to me. Corian and similar products look UUUUGLLLEEEEE over time, I've looked at a few places where someone had cut stuff directly on the countertop and there were deep, stained scratches that would still look like crap even sanded and polished out.

Most Formica looks like garbage after a few years, there is a trick to cut down on the eventual peeling and chipping and have it look classy to begin with. Putting wood trim on all of the edges and just the top of the line Formica on top will save thousands of dollars in a kitchen initially and look pretty good. I think we managed to not actually scratch ours in the 3 years we had it in NH.

 

[kiwi]

If I were building a house this is exactly what I would include.

Also NO BERBER carpet anywhere. It might stand up against wear longer, but if it gets dirty it's sooo much more difficult to clean. I've got this stuff all over my house and with 6 animals I'm always cleaning it. I imagine you guys will have the same challenge with kids running around.

And it's not very soft on the toes either. I prefer the plush stuff.

 

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

I guess I should've been specific and said "granite alternative".

The engineerd stone stuff is cool (I forget what its called) especially the way they seemlessly meld the sink into it. It looks like its all one piece.

 

[Syrup Beaver]

I plan on having such a sink in the garage.

That's a good spot too(I've got one now in the new Boston place), but if you're going to have a workshop in the basement you'll want one there

 

[kiwi]

That's a good spot too(I've got one now in the new Boston place), but if you're going to have a workshop in the basement you'll want one there

He's not really into that type of stuff (well, except for his gun cleaning, but I may just make him do that in the garage).

 

[water]

What type of tile do people tend to like?

I'm a fan of the rock look as opposed to the polished, thoughts?

Hard wood..HA HA!..hard..is more expensive than tile, yes/no?

 

[Syrup Beaver]

Also NO BERBER carpet anywhere. It might stand up against wear longer, but if it gets dirty it's sooo much more difficult to clean. I've got this stuff all over my house and with 6 animals I'm always cleaning it. I imagine you guys will have the same challenge with kids running around.

Animals are worse than kids in that regard we had good stainmaster NON berber in a couple houses and just the two cats made numerous patches that lingered for a long time.

I've got friends with two little kids with berber in a few places (Husband didn't want plush, since he's allergic to most everything) and it's still stain-free as far as I can tell

But then again, he could've paid for professional cleaning

 

[kiwi]

What type of tile do people tend to like?

I'm a fan of the rock look as opposed to the polished, thoughts?

We can put rock in the bathrooms, but I want more polished/smooth in the Kithcen, it will be easier to clean.

 

[Pandora]

I plan on having such a sink in the garage.

We use to have one in our garage, until the hose line to the facet busted open one cold winter morning....even tho I left it dripping the night before. While we were at work that day it managed to blast away half of the wall away between it and our laundry room, and SOAK our bonus room carpet. Now we no longer have a sink in the garage.

 

[kiwi]

We use to have one in our garage, until the hose line to the fauct busted open one cold winter morning....even tho I left it dripping the night before. While we were at work that day it managed to blast away half of the wall away between it and our laundry room, and SOAK our bonus room carpet. Now we no longer have a sink in the garage.

So it's going on the outside wall of the garage, thanks for that information.

 

[water]

We use to have one in our garage, until the hose line to the fauct busted open one cold winter morning....even tho I left it dripping the night before. While we were at work that day it managed to blast away half of the wall away between it and our laundry room, and SOAK our bonus room carpet. Now we no longer have a sink in the garage.

Then it will be war!

I'll have to ask around here and see that is a common problem, it wouldn't surprise me if it was with the climate here.

 

[b_sinning]

My in laws have a Central vac and after a few years they seem to work like crap.

Plan in a hidden room or false back to closet that can be secured to store the illegal weaponery Kynte has in case of ATF raids. Or when in laws come over kynte has a place to hide.

My in laws have a very cool hidden room that is fireproof insulated with a safe to hold any very important documents, cash for emergencies, and jewlery you don't wear that often but is expensive or heirlooms. He's also got ak47s and a tons of other not so legal weapons. He was one of those w2k fanatics.

He does have an awesome generator, cool backup battery system that has the batteries recharge themselves with solar panels and turbines he has mounted where you can't see them. I've never ever seen the power go out at his house.We've gone over them before when power was out everywhere and they didn't even known power has gone out becuase his system kicks in so quick.

 

[Syrup Beaver]

Ours is the same way, do I need to worry about repainting any specific areas before selling our current condo?

Not a bad idea, if the walls are just white a product called 'Killz' makes short work of covering nasty spots

Thanks for all the great ideas! There are definitely some things I didn't think about.

No problem, after owning 7 houses I don't want to see people make the same mistakes we've made in the past

 

[Sarcasmo]

If I built another house, these are the changes I'd make:

No linoleum ANYWHERE - I hatehatehatehatehatehatehate it, and you REALLY don't want to put a washer and dryer on a linoleum floor. Even when perfectly level they vibrate like CRAZY

Keep the carpet in the bedrooms, but hardwood everywhere else including the kitchen

Have the contractor finish the space over the garage

Not put a jacuzzi in the master bath, hardly used the damn thing, would've been more cost-effective to put a real hot tub out on the deck

Make sure the electrician doesn't wire the phone jacks in series, same with the cable lines, no splitters in the walls only direct runs to the basement

Get all in one vanity tops/sinks in the bathrooms, or solid surface with undermount sinks - the above-mounted sinks allow water to go all over the counter and make a mess

Great post. I agree with all of these. Especially the hardwood/carpet one.

 

[water]

Plan in a hidden room or false back to closet that can be secured to store the illegal weaponery Kynte has in case of ATF raids. Or when in laws come over kynte has a place to hide.

This is hilarious, because my plan is for a small room in the basement with reinforced framing and a solid metal door to act as my gun room as opposed to by a seperate safe.

 

[kiwi]

Not a bad idea, if the walls are just white a product called 'Killz' makes short work of covering nasty spots

Yes, we have had many a people tell us about this product due to the green permanent marker drawings all over my hallway and office walls.


























Knyte got bored one night while I was out.

 

[Syrup Beaver]

What type of tile do people tend to like?

I'm a fan of the rock look as opposed to the polished, thoughts?

Hard wood..HA HA!..hard..is more expensive than tile, yes/no?

Rock is nice, but it's hell to clean ( Not that you notice much dirt on it ) and you have to buy expensive sealer/resealer for it.

Polished or matte finish (I prefer the matte/satiny kind not the high glossy polished kind) are easier to clean but cold - you'll need rugs at least on those floors or radiant heat, which is easy in small rooms like bathrooms.

I don't know if hardwood is more expensive or not, I don't seem to recall the price of it in NH being all that exhorbitant, I just like it better - tile cracks when you drop heavy stuff on it, hardwood barely dents and those can be steamed out.

 

[Syrup Beaver]

My in laws have a Central vac and after a few years they seem to work like crap.

Plan in a hidden room or false back to closet that can be secured to store the illegal weaponery Kynte has in case of ATF raids. Or when in laws come over kynte has a place to hide.

My in laws have a very cool hidden room that is fireproof insulated with a safe to hold any very important documents, cash for emergencies, and jewlery you don't wear that often but is expensive or heirlooms. He's also got ak47s and a tons of other not so legal weapons. He was one of those w2k fanatics.

He does have an awesome generator, cool backup battery system that has the batteries recharge themselves with solar panels and turbines he has mounted where you can't see them. I've never ever seen the power go out at his house.We've gone over them before when power was out everywhere and they didn't even known power has gone out becuase his system kicks in so quick.

those are things I want, but get vetoed on