Building new house - what are your must haves?

shell820810

morg_monster wrote: »

If it's a big house, one idea my uncle put in his new big house was vacuum points in each room. My aunty just carries round a tube and nozzle from room to room and fits it in each room in turn, all the dust hoovers up, whizzes around these tubes in the wall and ends up in a big bin!! HOwever it is a big house (3 storeys, 5 kids) and they do live in Canada, I've never heard of it in this country...

also, garbage disposal unit in the kitchen sink. no more scraping crap out into the bin, it can all wash down the sink!

Yeah, there is a system here called BEAM that works like that, though I think there is a point on each floor as opposed to each room.

Garbage disposal unit is a new one.

loki13

Downstairs WC (sick of running upstairs with a child who "needs to wee, mummy")
Double the number of powerpoints you think you might need.
Underfloor heating (especially downstairs) - especially since then you can put your furniture anywhere.
Dishwasher in the kitchen.
I wouldn't want wired network points in every room - I'd rather have wireless.

vaio

The way utility costs are going I'd look at heat pumps, grey water recovery and good heating controls for sure with solar as a maybe

wallbash

Out of interest, why are these any better than a shower?

Its the space You can now get bigger shower trays but you can run around in a wet room :j


To be more practical , extra ducting . You never know what wire/pipe you might need in the future. Less than 10 years ago who thought about networking your house. ( if you were up to date you ran win 98 :rotfl:)

andrew-b

Air conditioning?

kmmr

shell820810 wrote: »

Yeah, there is a system here called BEAM that works like that, though I think there is a point on each floor as opposed to each room.

We had this when I grew up in Australia. It was fantastic, and made you more likely to do the hoovering as it was quicker and easier.

My parents are also property developers and put storage in every unused corner, and make small spaces into little offices around the place. Even if there is an area with a low celing height, consider if it can be used as a small space off a bedroom. Makes for a great family home as there are lots of places to put things, and to do homework/office stuff etc.

benood

Aga

love the laundry chute idea.

laurel7172

Pantry.

Somewhere to store an upright hoover. Have you noticed, when you're looking at houses to buy, how many modern houses have the hoover standing in the spare bedroom?

If going for an open fire, consider the Baxi that you can empty from the outside. Everyone I know with a Baxi swears by them, outside or not. But there are also some fabulous wood burning stoves that meet smokeless zone regulations now.

Housework robot. I can dream!

Abbafan1972

Nilrem wrote: »

Plenty of sockets...

I am with you on that one. All 3 of our bedrooms just have one double socket for the whole room which can cause problems.

MX5huggy

It would have to be built to PassivHaus standards then you can forget heating or air con they will not be needed.