Obligatory -

It will take twice as long and cost twice as much

Save money for landscaping. Real landscaping. Not the builder "one tree here and three foundation bushes plus some crappy grass" landscaping.

Need more details - custom on your land, semi custom in a neighborhood, etc.? What is the builder willing to work with you on, what are they not?

For me, and I'm a contractor by trade so I come in with a really different outlook on things:

1. Foundation. Spend the money on a good soils report and engineering on your foundation. Excavate out, bring in select fill and have them actually compact it. Pay a lab to do field densities. Code only calls for I think 80% or 85% density, which is just about what you get when you slap a mound of select fill with a shovel. 95% is generally our minimum, sometimes we have to get as high as 97%-98%. Makes a world of difference on how good your slab will be.

2. Concrete. Use 4000# mix, have a tech on site to make sure the slump is right, the water is right and that you aren't getting old reject concrete from somewhere else. Don't let the contractor add a crapload of water as they are placing it - it makes it easier to work, but gives you a lower quality product. Make sure they vibrate it in so you have good consolidation and a homogenous foundation.

3. When the framing is done, walk around on the outside and anywhere you say to yourself "I'll never need a hose bib here" - put a freaking hose bib there. Most homes have all of 2, and they are never in a place that is actually convenient. Ever.

4. Put a soft water/water filtration loop in while you are building. It is stupid easy to do when you are framing, an abject pain in the ass to do after.

5. Pay your electrician to number or label your circuits in the electrical boxes, and make sure they do a really good job labeling your breaker box. It will make life a billion times easier in 10 years when you are trying to figure out what breaker you need to flip to kill the outlet you need to work on.

6. Take pictures before the sheetrock goes up of each room, measure where pipes or electrical lines are. Make a quick sketch or mark up digital photos with dimensions. You will love yourself later.

7. Insulate the master bedroom and all bathroom walls. You arent' worried about thermal, but the sound dampening will be very much appreciated.

8. Things like laundry rooms need to be way bigger than you intially think. Nobody ever says "man, my laundry room is just too big and all of this room to do things is awful". But they do say, with regularity, how awful it is when they are too small.

9. Make sure your garage is deep enough for the vehicle you intend to drive. My garage is 3 cars wide, but whomever designed it must have thought that 2 door smart cars were the only thing that would ever be parked in there - it is way too shallow and it sucks to not really be able to put a full sized vehicle in it as a result.

10. Put expansion joints in exterior piping where it goes into or under the slab

11. Don't ***** about the paint colors, let your wife pick that out. Smile and tell her she did a great job. You'll be painting over it again in 5 years whenever Joanna goes with a new style anyway.

I second Shmellbaa99's #6. I took a video 5 years ago the day before drywall of every room, every wall, every pipe, and every wire. I've had to go back and look at them at least 15 times. I thank that friend on a regular basis for it, and that's my 1 recommendation I make anytime someone is building.

We went with a builder in a subdivision, so a "light build". Friend in Gunter hired an architect and started from scratch. Two VERY different experiences.

Things I wish we'd done:

1. Three car garage minimum. We have two bay doors and that *&^&%^$^% strip of brick separating them is a PITA. If you go two, get one big door.
2. Outdoor lighting - coming home late, etc, I hate a dark house. The built in lights on the exterior, both on the walls and in the ground that illuminate the hose really make it stand out and help you have better visibility on the property
3. Dedicated freezer switch in the garage. I can't tell you how many times we tripped a switch in the garage tied to a fridge or freezer. Get a dedicated line.
4. If you are not going to start with a pool or outdoor kitchen, at the very least extend the back patio as far out as you can manage. When we built it was about an extra $1K/foot and we went out another 3-4ft, I think?
5. Stone fireplace - the white builder ones, I hate those
6. Tankless water heater
7. Super wish list: mud room with a dog washing station. Saw this on Fixer Upper. Raised, mini shower with a wand for washing dogs. God, I'd like to have that.

Wow schmellba,

That is a great list. I just build a custom home and what you say is so true. I did everything on your list, and I don't regret any of it.

I have a few to add.

1. Put blocking everywhere you want a towel bar, towel ring, robe hook, or toilet paper holder.

2. Make the pantry large enough to have a freezer or 2nd fridge. I hate having that in the garage.

3. Spend time on the plans to get them right. Change orders stink. They slow you down, cost more than you think they should, and make the contractor less than they should. Nobody wins.

4. As for a mudroom, we built a large laundry room between the back porch and the garage. We also have a bathroom off of it. It is great when you have been working outside to have a shower without going through the clean house.

I literally have a contact card in my phone for "Home" and save various crap in the notes section. I have added these in the notes over the years.


Next House Wish List:
-sink in laundry room
-drain in laundry room floor.
- over sized laundry room for deep freezer and possibly gun safe
-over sized closet in office for hunting gear and possibly gun safe
-sink in garage
-garage floors painted/epoxy coating.
-drain line in floor of garage
-larger work space on the side of the garage when vehicles are parked inside.
-deep garage for truck (my 5.5' bed on my ford barely fits)
-water spigot next to garage door (think cleaning ice chest)
-hot water spigot next to garage (might not be as important if I have sink with hot water in garage)
- Insulated garage walls, ceiling and garage door
-hot water loop. Continuous hot water
-minimize west facing windows
-walk in safe room
-Cat5 Ethernet cable outdoors around the house. For future use of security camera. Think of where you want them beforehand.
-HVAC - don't let the HVAC contractor run flex duct everywhere. I hate that stuff, it's the lazy way of doing things. Use rigid insulated ducts for your main runs with minimal flex duct going to registers. (Stole this last one from someone else).

I have said this before, but pay attention to prevailing winds and choose which way your home sits accordingly, if you can. My front door faces straight south and blocks all the breeze making the backyard insanely hot. Hot to a point it is unusable for 4 months. If you have the ability to choose, think about more than just approach from the street.

schmellba99 said:

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Need more details - custom on your land, semi custom in a neighborhood, etc.? What is the builder willing to work with you on, what are they not?

For me, and I'm a contractor by trade so I come in with a really different outlook on things:

3. When the framing is done, walk around on the outside and anywhere you say to yourself "I'll never need a hose bib here" - put a freaking hose bib there. Most homes have all of 2, and they are never in a place that is actually convenient. Ever.

5. Pay your electrician to number or label your circuits in the electrical boxes, and make sure they do a really good job labeling your breaker box. It will make life a billion times easier in 10 years when you are trying to figure out what breaker you need to flip to kill the outlet you need to work on.

6. Take pictures before the sheetrock goes up of each room, measure where pipes or electrical lines are. Make a quick sketch or mark up digital photos with dimensions. You will love yourself later.

7. Insulate the master bedroom and all bathroom walls. You arent' worried about thermal, but the sound dampening will be very much appreciated.

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^ x10

There are some excellent suggestions in the previous posits. We are about four months into the construction process.

1) get soil tests done and have your slab engineered.

2) before you sign your contract with the builder, look closely at all your allowances and determine if you can buy these items for close to that amount. If not, you will see some big dollar change orders once you start construction.

3) include a safe room in your plans. Hope I never have to use mine but I use it once and it saves my life, it will be worth the cost. If you install a safe room, ensure it has an A/C supply and return vent that will shut down due to heat.

4) add a generator. Much easier to add it during construction.

5) add a whole home water purification system. If you add this system, run a separate water supply line for your hose bibs. You don't need to purify the water for the bushes and it will extend the life of the filter.

6) if you are going to have an extra freezer in the house/garage, add an ice maker line.

7) if you have anyone in your family or guests that come to visit, ensure doors, thresholds, switches, Etc. are ADA compliant.

8 insulate all Bedroom/bathroom walls that are common to the public areas in the house. Insulate the garage and install an insulated garage door.

9) if you have a shop, install a small A/C or mini split. Do not run the house air into the shop. If you do, you could have any fumes from chemicals you use in the shop flow into the house.

10) on your patios and porches, look into having tongue and groove wood on the ceiling.

11) Install a steam shower in the master bath.

12) look at installing a Lutron lighting system.

13) look into installing a Control 4 audio/video system.

14 ) if you are installing composition shingles, install Class 4 shingles. They will cost a little more up front, but they will save you 20-25% per year on your homeowners insurance.

15) install a tankless water heater that has a hot water circulating pump. This will ensure your have instant hot water throughout the house.

Good luck!!!

A few more items.

1) install outlets in your eaves for holiday decorations.

2) if you have a shop, install 2-3 outlets on separate circuits.

3) depending on your vehicles, install an 8 ft garage door with an upgraded opener.

4) look into the Todo toilets.

5) wire for up lighting and downlighting on the house..

6 wire for security cameras. Ensure your security system has motion detectors and glass break sensors and more than one keypad. Depending on the layout of the house you may want 2-3 keypads. If your builder installs a security package, understand what they install and determine the cost to add all the extra items you want.

7) if you are going to have any automated shades/window treatments, run low voltage wire during construction or run them on batteries.

8) make sure your plans show any unique ceiling design you want, I.e pop up, drop down, beams, etc. if not, every change will cost.

9) install quad plugs plugs on each side of your beds. ensure these plugs have the ports to plug cell phone, iPad, etc for charging.

10) install variable switches for all your fans.

11) run coax and cat 6 to every room for your tv's. Put blocking in for all tv's.

Great tips so far. Here are some of my thoughts:

Use plywood on the walls instead of sheetrock in your trophy room. This was, you aren't d*&king around looking for studs and you can hang your 350" bull elk anywhere you want to.

If this is your "forever home" make sure it is one story & ADA Compliant so you aren't remodeling your home in your 70's/80's & up to make it workable.

May be an unpopular opinion, but don't go with the super popular "open floor plan" for the whole house.
It's loud (especially when you have kids) you see everywhere which means it's a pain to try and keep everywhere clean. When I build my next and final house, the design is going to be a little more old school than the trend of having kitchen, giant island, dining table & living room all open.

A good book to read on architecture & design in general is " A Pattern Language". It does a good job explaining why many modern homes, design & cities are pretty to look at but suck to live in. Hint: they are designed by architects with huge egos who chase trends instead of designing stuff that actually works & is livable.

Take off work and watch/help every day. Only way to get it done right.
And make the garage half the sq ft size of the house.

One thing the outdoors board will agree on is to walk through as many houses you can under construction.

Why bother? You can always find them when you build a trellis to hide the air conditioner.

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/3111397

AggieChemist said:

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The two best days of boat ownership: The day you buy it and the day you sell it.

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FIFY

Lots of good stuff, I'm a civil engineer so I tend to pay more attention to concrete and foundations than the rest.

Like others have said, an engineered slab, 4000 PSI concrete vs 3000 are well worth the extra money. For a garage or shop go for a 6" slab. Make sure they aren't adding a ton of water to any concrete, including the driveways and sidewalks.

ONe thing I haven't seen mentioned is look at where the neighborhood is, and see what it was before it was a neighborhood. Up here in Amarillo they built some incredibly nice homes on what used to be an old playa lake. The soils there are insanely bad. As soon as they started building there my aunt and uncle who own a foundation repair company bought a huge billboard right across from the entrance to the neighborhood. That billboard paid for them to have one of the nicest class A motorhomes I've ever seen.