New Home Construction Recommendations

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Front and back porch ceilings. We were originally thinking bead board for both but saw a house this weekend with smartside siding on the ceilings. Would you guys recommend beadboard, smartside or something else entirely?

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it is my opinion that the beaded vinyl as the other poster said is a cheaper easy way to handle it. it probably allows for less coloring choices though. likely have to go white or sky blue (traditional)

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We were also going to do a standard tub surround for the kids bathroom but now looking at just a tub with cultured marble or tile. Is there a big increase there?

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yes. its going to be in the material and install. depends on what you use to see how high it will go

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Lastly, is there a benefit or cost increase to doing rounded sheetrock corners?

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cleaner more casual look, and chips less imo. associated cost is minimal. really depends on how you plan to paint and what style your house is. its tougher to transition paint colors with rounded edges

I did cellulose in wall and attic with almost double normal thickness in attic.

Back in the day I was listening to WWL and there was an architect from Arkansas named Doug Rye explaining how to build an energy efficient house. At the time he had a VCR tape about 80 minutes long explaining insulation, caulking, extra insulation, seer ratings, windows etc which I bought.

I had already started on my house so I only able to do about 70% of what he recommended. Excluding the more energy efficient AC units it cost me an extra $1,900 to follow his recommendations. I doubled my sq. ft. and cut utility bills in half.