Building a Home

[Pushka]

In the 'you never know' category.

Not part of the build, but if you ever think you might want a safe installed, consider where it might go. Mine is bolted into onto the floor slab in an 'innocuous' place, as it was retro-fitted. Could have been much more convenient if a certain wall was made appropriate.

No, not holding bearer bonds or a jewel collection (family or otherwise ), mostly irreplaceable family history stuff (its fireproof). OK, a few gold coins too

We inherited a safe that is in the floor, obviously post the 1928 build. I never used it because I was worried I'd forget the code on the dial

 

[Matt_01]

@RooFlyer you beat to that suggestion, I only thought about it 20 minutes ago as I was opening our safe. @samh004 as RooFlyer said this is a good consideration during your build as you should be able to work it out with the builder for positioning and access. I agree with the fireproof, bolted down and in a a hidden location, we also don’t have bearer bonds but we do use it for jewellery, computer backups, wills, passports and foreign cash.

Also when it come to the kitchen and depending on you design consider draws within draws and getting extra shelves for your cupboards this way you can maximise any potential wasted space.

 

[get me outta here]

Yes, probably unrealistic for a build it’s not a Passive House. A PH is quite different.

I vote for externally vented rangehood as the only way to go.

Recirculating is utter cough (what I have in my apartment), ineffective in reducing odours, and expensive having to replace the charcoal filters and pain having to wash the grids.

 

[samh004]

Not part of the build, but if you ever think you might want a safe installed, consider where it might go. Mine is bolted into onto the floor slab in an 'innocuous' place, as it was retro-fitted. Could have been much more convenient if a certain wall was made appropriate.

An interesting idea.

Recirculating is utter cough (what I have in my apartment), ineffective in reducing odours, and expensive having to replace the charcoal filters and pain having to wash the grids.

We also have this currently. Complete hate!

 

[cove]

With air conditioning we updated and went for split system units as our family never liked not having the opportunity to select their desired temperature. Those split systems are excellent for warming or cooling a room or two. We don’t now use the big central system.

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

We inherited a safe that is in the floor, obviously post the 1928 build. I never used it because I was worried I'd forget the code on the dial

Pushka, have you thought about writing the code on the door of the safe ?

 

[p--and--t]

Pushka, have you thought about writing the code on the door of the safe ?

Yellow sticky notes are all the go apparently especially for passwords on PCs & laptops

 

[love_the_life]

My take on on this is that as this is the first 'forever' home you are building, you will learn to live with whatever the builder (and you decide on) It will be fine and you will love it. It may not be perfect but it will be OK. We all have things that could be improved on but who cares.

 

[vetrade]

Firstly, I admit I haven't read the full thread so it may have already been commented on, but one thing I picked up from the floorplan that you might want to reconsider is having any cupboards at all in the kitchen or elsewhere. Soft close drawers are infinitely more useful because you have access to the full space and nothing gets lost at the back. You can use various drawer heights to accommodate whatever size utensils etc you have. We found that 20cm high drawers are ideal for many things as they are tall enough to avoid stuff getting jammed and 30 cm high ones fit all our pots & saucepans.

For a usual bench height a configuration of 2 x 30m + 1 x 20cm is great under the cooktop and 4 x 20cm drawers work well for everything from cutlery to glad wrap etc.

 

[blackcat20]

Soft close drawers are infinitely more useful because you have access to the full space and nothing gets lost at the back.

I have to disagree with that, stuff constantly falls out the back of my drawers and its a pain in the behind to fish them out

 

[jakeseven7]

Firstly, I admit I haven't read the full thread so it may have already been commented on, but one thing I picked up from the floorplan that you might want to reconsider is having any cupboards at all in the kitchen or elsewhere. Soft close drawers are infinitely more useful because you have access to the full space and nothing gets lost at the back. You can use various drawer heights to accommodate whatever size utensils etc you have. We found that 20cm high drawers are ideal for many things as they are tall enough to avoid stuff getting jammed and 30 cm high ones fit all our pots & saucepans.

For a usual bench height a configuration of 2 x 30m + 1 x 20cm is great under the cooktop and 4 x 20cm drawers work well for everything from cutlery to glad wrap etc.

My sister just did this in a holiday rental..... All was great UNTIL they realised that non of their drawers fit their air dryer and 2 other bigger pieces of kitchen appliances! So definitely ensure you have the depth to cover what you need now / may need in the future...

(Their air dryer now lives in the spare bedroom.... until they get the cabinet maker back in)

 

[WA flyer]

Looking at the layout of the "entertainment" room I think it will be too small for a projector and you will be too close to the screen for anymore than a 50" tv. If you want a top quality projector like a Sony or JVC true 4k then a better setup would be to have a screen on the narrower wall backing onto the hallway and moving the door. Make sure you have sufficient support aboe the ceiling if the centre line of the room does not have a joist above as they are very heavy. You can find projector distance (throw) calculators on line. As others have said pre- install coduits for speakers hdmi, cat6, etc. I've built a gutter downpipe into the wall from the roof space to 300mm from the floor in the last two theatres I did!

 

[vetrade]

blackcat20 and jakeseven7 - good quality design and construction would avoid your problems.
When done correctly, the functionality of drawers is without doubt light years ahead of cupboards

 

[Hvr]

I have to disagree with that, stuff constantly falls out the back of my drawers and its a pain in the behind to fish them out

Isn't that @TomVexille 's job? Or don't you want him going through your drawers?

 

[qaz]

Figure out the wine storage area.

design considerations - central position for easy access

 

[equus]

The trap with downlights you have to watch out for, is that a batten holder for the light sits underneath the ceiling, but a downlight goes up into the ceiling space. If there is a truss above where you want to put the downlight then two into one won't go.

More than just a trap - in many cases a batten holder will be deliberately put directly under a truss so that it can be screwed into it - saves having to reinforce above plaster board. This is especially true if just a bare batten - as it allows for more weight for whatever light fitting is added.

If this is close to where you want to then change to a down light, you are up for filling holes, repainting etc. - which would make the original cost of getting the builder to just do downlights much more palateable.

Another thing to watch (with builder and electricians) is actual placement of a string of lights, to actually light an area evenly.

Placing three lights along the run of a room, the electrician (despite clear instructions) drilled holes in the centre, then at the 1/4 amd 3/4 lines. The centre is correct, but for even lighting, the others need to be at 1/6 and 5/6 dimensions (so that each light is in the middle of a third of the area). Holes will filled and lights moved (caught before any painting).

 

[TomVexille]

More than just a trap - in many cases a batten holder will be deliberately put directly under a truss so that it can be screwed into it - saves having to reinforce above plaster board. This is especially true if just a bare batten - as it allows for more weight for whatever light fitting is added.

If this is close to where you want to then change to a down light, you are up for filling holes, repainting etc. - which would make the original cost of getting the builder to just do downlights much more palateable.

Another thing to watch (with builder and electricians) is actual placement of a string of lights, to actually light an area evenly.

Placing three lights along the run of a room, the electrician (despite clear instructions) drilled holes in the centre, then at the 1/4 amd 3/4 lines. The centre is correct, but for even lighting, the others need to be at 1/6 and 5/6 dimensions (so that each light is in the middle of a third of the area). Holes will filled and lights moved (caught before any painting).

Depends on the design. While I expect that the some of the battens that were originally on our plans are directly under trusses, and the bedroom ones that I changed to fans were (saved me putting up supports), every one that I changed to a pendant was merely held up by the cheap plaster plugs, and not even a wallmate.

 

[Billtrain]

Not sure if this one was mentioned; bulkheads above kitchen cabinets or even cabinets to the ceiling to avoid horizontal surfaces that are hard to clean... It gets pretty gross up there when fats and oils are able to settle out of the way.

It has definitely been mentioned, but I concur; future proof with a bunch of Cat6 cable runs. Our new build (should be ready in September) has just shy of 1km of Cat6 all running back to my server room. That is also mandatory - a server room... I have spent the last 12 months convincing my wife that it is, anyway...

 

[travelislife]

It has definitely been mentioned, but I concur; future proof with a bunch of Cat6 cable runs. Our new build (should be ready in September) has just shy of 1km of Cat6 all running back to my server room. That is also mandatory - a server room... I have spent the last 12 months convincing my wife that it is, anyway...

I actually did this in our build with multiple points to TV locations, but not actually using many of them. Good for PoE for security cameras too. Saying that, wasted a whole heap of cash getting foxtel hardwired to 6 different areas back to central location that will likely never get used due to it all going to internet streaming!

 

[cove]

Our beach apartment now has flood sensors fitted and they are hooked up to our wifi system. It is a product that we will test and get ready to sell once the testing is completed. It took 15 minutes to complete the job and test it by wetting a sensor.....instant report scared Mrscove who received a warning email when she was at our home rather than at the apartment. We intend installing the sensors in all of our places once the product is released for sale. Water damage inside your home can be expensive to fix as cabinets and wood flooring are not designed for floods.