Things you forget - summary page 32
Page 3 of 62
extra powerpoints in garage for 2nd fridge & dryer
Just thought of one - check the location of ceiling vents for heating and air con - our (first) CSR, whose mum had built with PD alerted us to this. PD locate them right above where the kids' heads will be once the bed is in, and she suggested we move them away from there - which we did!
Thats a good point... I don't know where ours are located in the kids rooms
Great idea to bump this up...
Insulate your cold water pipe too! One hot day & I have to run the tap to get cold water!!! I do save the water for my plants, but it still adds up to a lot!
Check where they place the taps in the shower. Not good having to reach through the water to adjust it before you get in.
Power point in your microwave space. (Yep .. my builder tried to get away without installing one!)
Check where your outside taps are going to be positioned.
Door stops!
Light globes ( I kid you not! Moving in day & I didn't have one light globe in the place!)
Got small rooms? Maybe sliding doors instead of opening ones. Could give you a heap more space in your wardrobe! (Hmmm more clothes!)
Pantry shelves. Do you have enough? Is it a walk in? Got a light in there?
Shelves under your bathroom sinks not just open space.
And check out how they install all the pipes under your sinks and stove tops. Mine made a mess of it & took up so much space I could have used if they had taken care to install neatly.
Check where they place the taps in the shower. Not good having to reach through the water to adjust it before you get in.
Power point in your microwave space. (Yep .. my builder tried to get away without installing one!)
Check where your outside taps are going to be positioned.
Door stops!
Light globes ( I kid you not! Moving in day & I didn't have one light globe in the place!)
Got small rooms? Maybe sliding doors instead of opening ones. Could give you a heap more space in your wardrobe! (Hmmm more clothes!)
Pantry shelves. Do you have enough? Is it a walk in? Got a light in there?
Shelves under your bathroom sinks not just open space.
And check out how they install all the pipes under your sinks and stove tops. Mine made a mess of it & took up so much space I could have used if they had taken care to install neatly.
Got small rooms? Maybe sliding doors instead of opening ones. Could give you a heap more space in your wardrobe! (Hmmm more clothes!)
That is one feature we definitely didn't forget....makes a world of difference and the bonus is your doors wont be banging up against bedside tables etc. ...no scratching of furniture or door paintwork
And if you're provisioning for PayTV, don't forget the phone cable that should be installed to the outlet as well as the coax cable (we did, but caught it just in time).
Is this necessary to make the pay tv work or only if you want to order movies etc?
The reason I ask is that we don't have a phone point next to our current Foxtel and it works fine...the only problem we have is if we want to order something through Main Event/Movies we have to ring up to customer service to do it rather than order it via our remote.
Also I have never heard of insulating hot/cold water pipes - I thought this would come as standard. For those building with PD is this an option they allow? Costs?
And if you're provisioning for PayTV, don't forget the phone cable that should be installed to the outlet as well as the coax cable (we did, but caught it just in time).
Is this necessary to make the pay tv work or only if you want to order movies etc?
The reason I ask is that we don't have a phone point next to our current Foxtel and it works fine...the only problem we have is if we want to order something through Main Event/Movies we have to ring up to customer service to do it rather than order it via our remote.
I think you are right about the phone line being for ordering movies on
In our previous rental home we had Foxtel but there was no phone point near where we had the TV connection so we were given a wireless connector to plug into the power point near the tv that had a phone line going from it to the set top box and another wireless connector in the kitchen hooked up to the phone line.
Was a bit of a pain in the bum as it took up an extra power point in the kitchen when I would rather have had my kettle hooked up
So I suppose it would be better to get the phone put in near the TV point just for convenience sake which is what I have done on our new place
And another one - check which way your shower doors open, and whether they face towards where you'll have a towel rail, and whether there will be enough room for the door to open without hitting that towel rail...
Good one Mr T!!
Yes Mr T & ensure that the door directions are included in a PCV. We have.
Also in a PCV, we've stipulated the location & height of towel rails and on which wall the taps, spouts, mixers are to be located.
Also in a PCV, we've stipulated the location & height of towel rails and on which wall the taps, spouts, mixers are to be located.
Make sure you have a t-towel rack installed inside a cupboard, if I hadn't asked I wouldn't have gotten one.
A special pull out drawer for the your dirty clothes if you don't want or have room for a laundry basket in the laundry.
A pull out ironing board, in the kitchen or laundry, hubby requested this one for quicky ironing jobs.
Power points in the floor for table lamps.
A special pull out drawer for the your dirty clothes if you don't want or have room for a laundry basket in the laundry.
A pull out ironing board, in the kitchen or laundry, hubby requested this one for quicky ironing jobs.
Power points in the floor for table lamps.
We are building a two storey and made sure to include a laundry chute from the upper level straight into the laundry
- skirting boards to be laid after handover (gee they are cruel)
Is there a standard gap they leave between slab and skirting to account for tiles, carpet, floorboards etc?
Great thread!
This thread IS great! I'm sure all our answers are too late for the OP but the suggestions are helping me and many others I'm sure...
Some things we added:
* Insulation between downstairs and upstairs (for sound proofing)
* Doors to close off open planned areas - once you have a teenager, you'll appreciate them!
* We're getting all of our tiles cleaned and sealed as I'm tired of having stained grout, especially around the toilet!
* Drawer and shelf towers in wardrobes
* gas point to alfresco area
* Outdoor light near clothesline
* Pay TV, TV and Phone points in every single room - you never know...
* IXL tastic light/heater/fans in bathrooms
* overhead/underbench cupboards in laundry
* We're having a custom built huge floor to ceiling shelved cupboard built in our garage, along the entire rear wall of the garage - for our toddler pool, suitcases and things like that
* double glazed windows
* solar boosted hot water service - once again, for when you have selfish teenagers who, even in a drought, steal all the hot water.
Some things we added:
* Insulation between downstairs and upstairs (for sound proofing)
* Doors to close off open planned areas - once you have a teenager, you'll appreciate them!
* We're getting all of our tiles cleaned and sealed as I'm tired of having stained grout, especially around the toilet!
* Drawer and shelf towers in wardrobes
* gas point to alfresco area
* Outdoor light near clothesline
* Pay TV, TV and Phone points in every single room - you never know...
* IXL tastic light/heater/fans in bathrooms
* overhead/underbench cupboards in laundry
* We're having a custom built huge floor to ceiling shelved cupboard built in our garage, along the entire rear wall of the garage - for our toddler pool, suitcases and things like that
* double glazed windows
* solar boosted hot water service - once again, for when you have selfish teenagers who, even in a drought, steal all the hot water.
Items I now wish we had included in our house at build time (some which we are retro-fitting now). Granted not all are essentials but at least worthy of consideration !?
- 15A power outlet in workshop / garage and outside. (cant run anything but a small arc welder on standard 10A outlets ... also some other power tools, eg table saw, need 15A outlets)
- dimmers on downlights - I would have never thought of this before but now that we have a newborn home he is fascinated by the lights and undimmed downlights are too intense to "stare" at (at least to me the new worrying father)
- which way the pantry door swings, or what type of door you use here. In our case the door swings back onto usable shelf space (now accessible only by getting into the pantry and shutting the door). Meanwhile we have a service duct / void on the other side of the door, so if the door swung the other way it would be blocking only the void!
- location of outdoor taps - somehow we failed to notice that our plans didnt have a tap at the rear of the house, only on both sides (and then towards the front of the house)
- whirly birds in the roof
- paying extra to get electrical cables fixed in the ceiling to allow easier later installation of ceiling insulation, (we have an anticon blanket under the roof but I also now want to add batts)
- provision for laundry greywater collection - even if just have a covered hole in the laundry external wall to pass a greywater hose through from the washing machine so dont have to have the door open.
- a secure / external door between the garage and the house, ie internal access. Rather than the lightweight non lockable internal door that you get as standard.
- check windows noted as fixed glass and reconsider / reassess if you really want a window that cant be opened.
- assess extra cost to have section of the ceiling timbers designed for attic loading - ie future attic conversion
- second showerhead in ensuite - check your shower size and if it supports two showerheads I would advise to do it now when building even if dont think you would use it
some items we did remember and I'm thankful:
- sound insulation in internal walls (majority of walls at least)
- thermal insulation batts to all external walls (make sure electrical cabling is designed for this)
- lots and lots of powerpoints (all doubles)
- the location of downpipes and how it will look
- ceiling fans in bedrooms and outdoor entertaining area (alfresco / gazebo)
- TV point and powerpoints in main bedroom times 2 - ie we have doubled up to allow us to swing the orientation of the bed in the room. In our case this was because we couldnt decide / agree at build time which way we were going to orientate the bed in the room! Now wish we had done the same in our living room.
- lots of linen cupboards
- wide openings to passage ways - I think standard is 900mm, go for 1200mm. Apart from day to day living you will also love it for moving furniture around! (not to mention less patching / repairs and/or pulling furniture apart)
- width of garage
- provision for greywater collection from showers, baths. We got separate sewerage lines run from our top floor so we can easily connect into greywater "later". minimal cost for separate lines, dont have to expend big dollars up front for a greywater system just make it easier / cheaper if you want to do it later.
- 15A power outlet in workshop / garage and outside. (cant run anything but a small arc welder on standard 10A outlets ... also some other power tools, eg table saw, need 15A outlets)
- dimmers on downlights - I would have never thought of this before but now that we have a newborn home he is fascinated by the lights and undimmed downlights are too intense to "stare" at (at least to me the new worrying father)
- which way the pantry door swings, or what type of door you use here. In our case the door swings back onto usable shelf space (now accessible only by getting into the pantry and shutting the door). Meanwhile we have a service duct / void on the other side of the door, so if the door swung the other way it would be blocking only the void!
- location of outdoor taps - somehow we failed to notice that our plans didnt have a tap at the rear of the house, only on both sides (and then towards the front of the house)
- whirly birds in the roof
- paying extra to get electrical cables fixed in the ceiling to allow easier later installation of ceiling insulation, (we have an anticon blanket under the roof but I also now want to add batts)
- provision for laundry greywater collection - even if just have a covered hole in the laundry external wall to pass a greywater hose through from the washing machine so dont have to have the door open.
- a secure / external door between the garage and the house, ie internal access. Rather than the lightweight non lockable internal door that you get as standard.
- check windows noted as fixed glass and reconsider / reassess if you really want a window that cant be opened.
- assess extra cost to have section of the ceiling timbers designed for attic loading - ie future attic conversion
- second showerhead in ensuite - check your shower size and if it supports two showerheads I would advise to do it now when building even if dont think you would use it
some items we did remember and I'm thankful:
- sound insulation in internal walls (majority of walls at least)
- thermal insulation batts to all external walls (make sure electrical cabling is designed for this)
- lots and lots of powerpoints (all doubles)
- the location of downpipes and how it will look
- ceiling fans in bedrooms and outdoor entertaining area (alfresco / gazebo)
- TV point and powerpoints in main bedroom times 2 - ie we have doubled up to allow us to swing the orientation of the bed in the room. In our case this was because we couldnt decide / agree at build time which way we were going to orientate the bed in the room! Now wish we had done the same in our living room.
- lots of linen cupboards
- wide openings to passage ways - I think standard is 900mm, go for 1200mm. Apart from day to day living you will also love it for moving furniture around! (not to mention less patching / repairs and/or pulling furniture apart)
- width of garage
- provision for greywater collection from showers, baths. We got separate sewerage lines run from our top floor so we can easily connect into greywater "later". minimal cost for separate lines, dont have to expend big dollars up front for a greywater system just make it easier / cheaper if you want to do it later.
Absolutely fantastic recommendations Just Started!! Thank you!
And if you're provisioning for PayTV, don't forget the phone cable that should be installed to the outlet as well as the coax cable (we did, but caught it just in time).
Is this necessary to make the pay tv work or only if you want to order movies etc?
The reason I ask is that we don't have a phone point next to our current Foxtel and it works fine...the only problem we have is if we want to order something through Main Event/Movies we have to ring up to customer service to do it rather than order it via our remote.
I think you are right about the phone line being for ordering movies on
In our previous rental home we had Foxtel but there was no phone point near where we had the TV connection so we were given a wireless connector to plug into the power point near the tv that had a phone line going from it to the set top box and another wireless connector in the kitchen hooked up to the phone line.
Was a bit of a pain in the bum as it took up an extra power point in the kitchen when I would rather have had my kettle hooked up
So I suppose it would be better to get the phone put in near the TV point just for convenience sake which is what I have done on our new place
Just asked my brother about this as he works for foxtel, he says not only is the phone point for ordering movies, and doing interactive stuff, but they often, in the middle of the night do updates to software on the iq boxes and it is done via the phone line
We are in the final stage now, so still got a few things to go before we know everything we may have forgot, so far we have notice in the kitchen, our sink is on a bench which doesnt have a wall against it, so if a dish is to fall it falls on tiles! so should have had added something at the back of the sink to make sure that couldn't happened!
A good thing lve notice a lot of ppl do forget is outside powerpoints, so if you haven't done your electricals think of those! and was also told to remember conduit for outdoor lights, its something you should do before a driveway or path goes down, if you want outside lights later on, adding the conduit now will save you LOTS of money later (so im told!)
A good thing lve notice a lot of ppl do forget is outside powerpoints, so if you haven't done your electricals think of those! and was also told to remember conduit for outdoor lights, its something you should do before a driveway or path goes down, if you want outside lights later on, adding the conduit now will save you LOTS of money later (so im told!)
Hi there all,
I must say, we can add realms of points, but taking into consideration the following points:
- your brand new home,
- you paying the mortgage,
- getting through the first winter,
-etc, etc, etc,
A MUST for all new homes is a Heater Point in the Bathroom!!
You'll thank me for it once you move in!
I must say, we can add realms of points, but taking into consideration the following points:
- your brand new home,
- you paying the mortgage,
- getting through the first winter,
-etc, etc, etc,
A MUST for all new homes is a Heater Point in the Bathroom!!
You'll thank me for it once you move in!
Hehe
This is so true for me - All the things I am reading on this forum I wish I could afford to do but may have to be done later
Kel
love all the suggestions so far ... keep em coming people ... we all need our houses PERFECT
Suggestions !
- data cabling GALORE ... we did like every room in the house... (multiple points in some rooms)
- extra phone line for security system if you feel the need
- the special cable for foxtel so we can connect easy at some point in the future.
- organised the split system air con before building started.. so all our cables are now hidden inside the walls and dont require ugly pipes hiding cables everywhere
Think about cross breezes etc when considering window positioning. For example our master bedroom.. standard was a window facing the east... we added another window on opposite side (west) so the breezes can now flow straight through.. its lovely ! and im so glad I did it !
If you are wanting just that bit of extra space.. but dont want to go nuts with extensions, consider pushing the walls out to the eaves (i.e. so you have no eaves). We did this with 2 sides of our master bedroom.. which made the bedroom and ensuite bigger
Security lights out the back and the front
- data cabling GALORE ... we did like every room in the house... (multiple points in some rooms)
- extra phone line for security system if you feel the need
- the special cable for foxtel so we can connect easy at some point in the future.
- organised the split system air con before building started.. so all our cables are now hidden inside the walls and dont require ugly pipes hiding cables everywhere
Think about cross breezes etc when considering window positioning. For example our master bedroom.. standard was a window facing the east... we added another window on opposite side (west) so the breezes can now flow straight through.. its lovely ! and im so glad I did it !
If you are wanting just that bit of extra space.. but dont want to go nuts with extensions, consider pushing the walls out to the eaves (i.e. so you have no eaves). We did this with 2 sides of our master bedroom.. which made the bedroom and ensuite bigger
Security lights out the back and the front
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No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s