Naveronski said:

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Plus with the ecobee you can have the additional sensors to put in bedrooms, etc.

I don't care what the hallway temp is when I sleep, I want the bedroom to be XX.

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Ecobee sounds like the way to go. Do you pay for the monthly subscription? Do your home insurance/energy savings more than pay for the $90/year subscription fee?

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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Naveronski said:

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Plus with the ecobee you can have the additional sensors to put in bedrooms, etc.

I don't care what the hallway temp is when I sleep, I want the bedroom to be XX.

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Ecobee sounds like the way to go. Do you pay for the monthly subscription? Do your home insurance/energy savings more than pay for the $90/year subscription fee?

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Maybe I bought my Ecobee before a subscription fee was a thing but... There's a subscription fee?

The little research I did shows it's primarily for security monitoring which sounds like it pays for itself in insurance savings. Looks like there is one energy efficiency feature that comes with the subscription

I do not have the subscription.

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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Tell me about Hailstorms in Centex/North Austin/Georgetown.

If I convert half my 2 car garage to a gym/workshop with the mini split idea above, can a car cover do enough to keep one of my vehicles mostly protected from the hailstorms I've heard so much about?

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Only if that car cover would protect your car from having baseball size hail stones from being hurled at it. We live about 30 minutes north of Georgetown & have had storms with hail from the size of golf balls to the size of baseballs multiple times in the last 10 years. I grew up in Georgetown and we never had hail like that back then.

Have the water heaters flushed

Get on an HVAC maintenance plan to service them 2x a year and blow out the drain lines

If you don't have a gas tap in the back patio area get one installed

Check your backyard drainage. Last 3 houses I bought had low spots where water collected. Might need to bring in some dirt or install French drains

Have an electrician install an outlet connected to your breaker box for a portable generator

Make sure you have a ladder that can reach your highest smoke detector and can get you on the roof

Install gutter guards

Security cameras with dvr for recording and playback

Install some outlets in your garage ceiling so you can add more lighting

If it will freeze where you live get something to protect your outside faucets, attic pipes, and any flower bed plants

Indoor/Outdoor thermometer so you can talk about the weather.

fullback44 said:

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Ghost of Bisbee said:

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Curious, why not install a smart thermo?

Only 2 of the rooms have carpet. We don't mind keeping it for those rooms, but this has come up in conversation.

Also, why epoxy the garage? Debating putting a gym into the garage too.

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My mom has 2 smart thermo's, those stupid things will stay at the temp you set for a few hours then start moving on their own, if you put 71 F for cool, they will be at 75 F and burning up by morning. I'm fixing to change both of hers back to simple up and down fixed temp set.. none of that smart BS

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My honeywell smart thermostats have been great. I haven't physically touched my thermostat in a couple years.

Bridge said:

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I have a ring and had the same issue. It would adjust temps on its own to save on electricity. There is a setting you can change to prevent it from doing that. Once I changed that, everything has been great.

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Thanks I need to figure this out for her, the part of the house I stay in has a nest and I don't know much about it, I need to do a little research. The other one is maybe a GE, it does the same thing

If you have not closed, make sure contract states that the previous owners remove all items from the house. Attics, garages, everywhere before close. Luckily we still lived in an apartment and had access to a dumpster.

If your sewer lines are cast iron, make sure they work and are in good shape, becasue replacing them tears up everything (landscaping, patios, possibly flooring) Something to think about.

Also, the wife will not care about any of the conditions of the working facilities of the house. Those items are wasted money to them. They only care about the items that their women friends will care about (paint, decorations). If the studs were all infested with Termites, but you never saw the termites, they would not want to fix it if it would ruin their decorations. It is odd.

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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Curious, why not install a smart thermo?

Only 2 of the rooms have carpet. We don't mind keeping it for those rooms, but this has come up in conversation.

Also, why epoxy the garage? Debating putting a gym into the garage too.

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I put a gym in mine. I have it wall-to-wall with horse stall mats. I've had it that way for years and I love it.

Take a step back from the house aspect.

Evaluate the neighborhood thoroughly.

Drive by early in the morning and late at night. Check weekends too.

In my case I didn't realize that I was within a quarter mile from a leaky oil well that blew H2S right at my back door.

I've got a running list of things I'll do on our next house:

Run Cat5e cable everywhere for POE cameras.

Backyard to be prepped with gas/extra electrical hookups. Water and French drain would be nice too.

Fans in every room

Definitely get flooring done first if needed.

May be overkill for some, but I'll have a water line manifold somewhere under my kitchen cabinets with access ports either drilled through the counters, or as pvc pass through in the wall. I want to be able to convert any appliances with water reservoirs to be direct-line. (Espresso machine, nugget ice, etc)

Inline garage door openers with wifi (no middle of ceiling unit).

Floor outlets anywhere if needed or possible.

chickencoupe16 said:

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Best way to miss the sprinklers with a lawnmower is to make sure they're buried low enough. If you have to worry about hitting them, they need to be lower.

One thing I wish I had done is to add more insulation and insulation baffles.

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100% to both of these. And get a separate HVAC inspection, if you haven't already. Might even be a good idea to get an irrigation guy out to inspect that system as well.

Also, make sure you know where all the valve boxes are located in the yard for your irrigation system.

We're probably neighbors in North Austin/Georgetown area. The hail storm a couple years ago was absolutely nuts. Both cars were not inside the garage so they got wrecked.

I have a gym in my garage so that's the risk I'm taking.

I just purchased my first house ever. We used the VA Loan and everything was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Do any kitchen upgrades first and before you move in. We spend 80% of our time here. Kids use it as their crafting area as well.

This is the before and after. (Well the microwave isn't installed yet in this picture). We knocked down that stupid wall, removed all hanging lights and put a giant breakfast bar separating the kitchen and living room. Knocked down a non-load bearing beam as well.

Like I said, start with the upgrades in which you will use the most. Went with a private contractor in the area. (Central Texas)

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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Curious, why not install a smart thermo?

Only 2 of the rooms have carpet. We don't mind keeping it for those rooms, but this has come up in conversation.

Also, why epoxy the garage? Debating putting a gym into the garage too.

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I did try to read all the comments on smart thermostats including the poster whose mom had issues with temperatures changing and another poster who claimed that had to be user error.

A couple points. Utility companies in Texas can adjust smart thermostats during peak demand according to a number of sources. I have noticed changes to my settings a few times over the years. Not often, but it happens.

During the last hurricane in Houston we had a weird glitch with one of the thermostats. After the hurricane we went to our Austin house for a few days. I guess the power in Houston went on and off a few times and it messed with one of the thermostats.

When we got back the upstairs thermostat was reading the correct temp in the house and attempting to cool it. The downstairs thermostat erroneously thought the temp was 58 degrees (it was actually 81 downstairs) and attempting to heat it. So probably 48 hours of heating and cooling simultaneously.

I rebooted the nest thermostat and it returned to normal, but obviously that wouldn't have happened with an old fashioned thermostat.

So 99% of the time I think they are great, but you have to accept the fact that they can glitch under rare circumstances and they are subject to external control.