Can't help you there, but it reminded me about security screens if you like to open things up for a while house fan:Originally Posted by BJXDS
Hopefully the price has come down over the last 5 years because these were quite spendy, but where I live it is so nice to be able to securely open up at night and enjoy the onshore breeze after a 100° day...
I would definitely put thought into the low voltage wiring for communication, internet, alarms, cable, whatever. My current house has a central junction box in basement for all that "stuff" and it sure is convenient. I would run power and cabling for security lighting and cameras for exterior.
You should investigate manufactured houses too. There are some key advantages to this kind of construction, including repeatable high quality and lower cost. There are plenty of options and customization is easy.
I've been researching companies in the northeast and this one IMO stands out - http://westchestermodular.org/
If I ever get to build another one, this is the way I'm going.
What about a hot tub instead of a pool?
--Jason--
I can't believe no one has mentioned a gun room/vault/saferoom yet.
The first indication a bad guy should have that I'm dangerous is when his
disembodied soul is looking down at his own corpse wondering what happened.
I am anticipating building a house soon as well. I knew next to nothing about construction methods, building science, technologies, etc. until I started following The Build Show channel on YouTube and their website. You may find it helpful too. Looking forward to hearing some wisdom from our members.
https://buildshownetwork.com/search?...ilding_science
I believe the doors start about 800. Not sure about the other stuff but that may not be a deal breaker if I can use in select locations. I really like the concept, and it sounds like they work for you, any downside?
I did that in my existing house with phone, surround system and coax, before I could fully utilize it all things changed to CAT 5 and most is now wireless with the exception to power for the devices.
I looked at that when I built in 92 but stick was cheaper when all upgrades were factored in. This may now have all changed considering a lot of stick and even custom builders are using engineered truss and joist systems.
What seem to drive the cost up is when builders deviate from the canned options and hit you with upgrade and change option charges.
I threw that out there and she said OK you get the hot tub and I get the pool.
She wants a safe room also, Safe’s are a must and the rest of the house will be secured as much as possible. I have not bought into the safe room with in a safe house concept..... yet
I wanted to build the last time last two times I moved but Wife was not willing to move and I could not find land that I liked that I could afford. If I was building again I would want rural and too much land. Many states have tax breaks for agriculture land. Bees or trees usually count. I would definitely want a flat lot around my house. When I replaced my AC unit I looked into geo thermal. Every contractor that said they installed geothermal meant they could do it but hadn’t done it or had only installed one or two.
I would want hospital style extra wide doorways. All the age in place stuff. I would prefer a two story with and attic and a basement with a residential elevator over a one story.
I would want a detached garage with a basement. I know most home construction guys would tell you no way, talk to commercial guys. They would say no problem but we don’t do small jobs. They build parking decks with precast slabs.it would work great for a garage.
Solar power, generator, cistern , etc
Window shutters, security doors, security screen doors. It gets expensive and is generally not really available in pleasing residential appearance.
Now for the crazy-
I would harden the house against fire and gunfire. I know expensive. Jeff cooper wrote about it. Cooper also wrote about how the Rhodesians hardened their houses back during that war in Mel Tappan’s Personal survival letters. It might be dated but farmers defending themselves against communist terrorists armed with AK47s and RPGs seems very topical with today’s drug cartels and antifa mobs.
I was talking to a neighbor and he mentioned that he has an AR so he is ready if a mob attacked his home. I reminded him that a violent mob that required that level of force to repel (you are not stopping them if they really want in) would just set his place on fire and shoot who ever came out.
Hidden doors, Safe rooms, bunkers and escape tunnels - how crazy do you want to get?
Outdoor pools are no fun if there are many trees. Bigger individual leaves mean that fewer leaves are needed to cause leaf-jams. The trees need not be hanging over the pool to be a problem; trees some distance upwind can use the wind to help them make your pool maintenance MUCH more of a headache. Our neighbor’s sycamore tree, for example, dumps huge leaves in our backyard, and into the pool, as it is upwind, during the prevailing breeze.
If you like the view, be sure to buy every piece of real estate between you and that sunrise/sunset/water/hill/mountain/whatever. We lost our sunrise, last year. The landlord who owns the house west of us may, at any time, decide to sell, or re-build, and we will then lose our sunset. (He is not putting one dime into maintenance of the old rental bungalow, that is there, now. He is an absentee landlord, almost certainly waiting for the right time to flip the property.)
If you like backyard privacy, keep in mind that your future new neighbors may build multi-story castles. We have been losing backyard privacy, step by step, from more and more angles, as almost all of the new housing is multi-story, to “maximize the value of the lot.”
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
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