re: I am building a new house looking for tips

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Add a second light and fan switch on the wall near your bed. It’s nice to have the capability while laying in bed.

I thought wireless internet was the way to go, but I’d run ethernet to each room if I could do it over. WiFi signal strength can be greatly affected by brick walls.

Run a gas valve outside so you can have a natural gas grill. You can also use it to boil crawfish, but it takes longer to get the temp up than propane does.

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All decent info.

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Unless it’s code, don’t hardwire all of your smoke detectors together. It’s a pain in the arse when one starts alarming in the middle of the night, and then they all start alarming. You don’t know which one started it all. You’ll want to bring each one outside and blow them all to pieces.

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Code requires the smoke/co detectors to be interconnected. You can always spend the extra cash and install the interconnected, smart ones like nest. Easier to control false alarms.

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I've lived in a place like this and I hated it.

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I thought this would be drafty. Nothing sucks worse than the chill you get when you turn off the shower in the winter time. I could see it really bad with no door.

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Would love to have the house wired with speakers where I can pick rooms to play music from my phone.

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Absolutely, look into Onkyo receiver. You can set the speakers in your house to different zones which can be controlled with an app on your phone. I’m sure there are others but we were advised by our AV guy to go with Onkyo.

Also, if you’re building a two story house put the washer and dryer downstairs. We put our upstairs and don’t wash nearly enough.

Avoid Samsung appliances, go with gas stove preferably 8 burner and if you enjoy cooking go with two ovens.

If you are in a hurricane zone put a generator receptacle outside that ties in to the circuit breaker. And a circuit breaker designed so that your main power has to be tripped before the generator circuit can be engaged.

Use low watt LED's for ceiling lights. My lights hardly put any load on the generator, and the electric bills are low.

Put in 2 tankless water heaters. One by the bathroom shower, one by the kitchen/washer. I did one by my shower and it's nice first thing in the morning. But I use hot water more often for the kitchen sink/dishwasher/washing machine so I wish I'd put the water heater over there, or just put in two.

If you do not have natural gas get a propane tank. I much prefer a gas stove and dryer.

Talk with your insurance agent about what you can do to minimize homeowners and flood insurance. I got both to the minimum. (Hip metal roof, Hardie board siding, added elevation)

PLEASE BUILD A GARAGE BIG ENOUGH. Or at least have another detached carport/shed something....

Our's is an 'oversized' 2 car and once the tools, shelves, mower, and wife's midsize SUV are in there, its very tight. If possible, I'd go 3 car and try to have one of the bays deep enough for the boat...All that is very specific to our family, but the point is, BUILD AS MUCH GARAGE AS YOU CAN AFFORD WITHOUT MAKING THE HOUSE LOOK GOOFY.

Also...don't put wood floors in your kitchen, no matter how good you think it looks. Ask me how i know...

If i could start over I would add a butlers kitchen and have all appliances in there.

Variable speed ac unit, I did this and it helps in the summer

His and Hers closets and toilets

And finally a turf yard, I am over fighting weeds and dead spots

I would for sure add a top of the line HDTV antenna into your attic and run coax cable to various rooms. I have a Marathon HDTV antenna in my attic but it’s mounted on a pole in a bucket of concrete. It has a range of 100 miles and I get 70 channels all of it for free. If I was building a house, I’d have it mounted to the attic and wires run through the walls. The HDTV picture quality is better than cable and a few seconds faster.

I’d also for sure use an aluminum attic ladder vs wood

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I would for sure add a top of the line HDTV antenna into your attic and run coax cable to various rooms. I have a Marathon HDTV antenna in my attic but it’s mounted on a pole in a bucket of concrete. It has a range of 100 miles and I get 70 channels all of it for free. If I was building a house, I’d have it mounted to the attic and wires run through the walls. The HDTV picture quality is better than cable and a few seconds faster.

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We did this...digital antenna in attic, wires run in wall with connection behind TV mount. No cable or satellite bill, plenty of content.

+1 on garage space. I've got 3 parking bays with a large storage closet, and it's still pretty full. Bicycles, boat, tools, tiller, mower, weedwhacker, cat litter boxes, fridge, chest freezer....I could use about 20% more space.

I put stairs up to the attic. Makes for easier use of storage and gives me some options to finish off attic space if needed in the future.

A large walk-in pantry with a countertop along one wall for microwave, toaster, and other small appliances. Frees up a lot of space in kitchen and very convenient.