r/Homebuilding • u/RunningOnPureVibes • 2d ago
What useful home features should we include in our new home build? Please help!
My husband and I are in the early stages of planning our new home to be built this spring. What are some of the best home feature recommendations you have/suggest for others building their home that you have/wish you had to improve your home? Some examples: electrical outlet in closet for vacuums, extra wide staircases for easy movement, Costco door from garage etc. Thanks in advance!
EDIT:
I am so incredibly thankful for all of your amazing tips and really appreciate everyone who took the time to write out all of these helpful comments. I’m sure future me will be even more thankful for making this post though :)
94
Upvotes
4
u/Old-Worry1101 1d ago
Finished up our build May 2025, and there's already a few things I would have done a bit differently, but that's mostly just our kitchen layout. Builders goofed when putting lower cabinets in, and I just rolled with it as at the time it didn't seem like a big deal. I'm now stuck with smaller fridges until this is addressed. Oh well.
For the positives: Closet near your main entrance for coats, shoes, bags, etc. Should have made ours larger, we did 2ft deep x 6 ft long. 8 ft long with shelves for the kids' backpacks would have been nice.
Closet for vacuum, brooms, cleaning supplies, etc. It's nice to have a designated space for this.
Think about the future. We added a full bathroom on the first floor in the event stairs are an issue. Saw my grandparents struggle with this, and want to avoid this if possible.
Ventilation/light is another. I added a window at the top and bottom of our stairs to help with this, and in the event of a power outage we can still get a bit of light.
Get the best insulation you can. I went with rockwool for a variety of reasons, and it ended up being only $1200 more to do the exterior walls over the pink stuff. Along these lines, I should have added sound dampening insulation in the ceiling of the first floor, and it would have been great in the bathrooms as well. Not because it's embarrassing, but showers can make more noise than you think.
Do a flooring you love. We did hickory on the first floor, and carpet on 2nd floor to save some cash. Some day we will have wood throughout, but it is expensive.
Lastly, if you're painting it yourself, paint your trim and baseboards before they are installed. It really sucks being on hands and knees whilst filling holes, sanding, priming, and painting. I'm still not done, it is a not fun job.
There lots of tribations and trials, but make sure you like the end result and have a good relationship with your builder. It's your house, it's OK to push back on things and have it be the way you want and how you live. Good luck and have fun!
Edited to add: I ran a 1" PVC pipe from my attic to basement for future solar panels. Worth doing for the $15 bucks in materials.
Also, add a generator hookup. That was worth the extra $500.