Mumsnet Talk

....either doing a major refurb/extension or building from scratch....will soon have 4 teenagers (2boys/2girls) rampaging thru house ..... what is essential

Blimey, could you build them a separate house to live in?

Space for them to get away from each other/you. So either bedrooms rooms big enough for them to chill out in with friends, or a separate den or two. Plus as many bathrooms as you can manage. Cheap carpets in these if not laminate floors.

A room off the hallway for all their Stuff - coats shoes football stuff etc etc so it is out of sight. I know someone who built a mini utility room by their back door with a shower so anyone really filthy from rugby, biking etc could leave the mud there. Was great for muddy dogs too.

Hardwire internet access into every room they will ever enter, plus more power points than you could possibly think necessary. It was made clear to me that Wifi was NOT good enough for serious gaming and you need hardwired ethernet cables in the wall if you are to avoid cables snaking across your Dream Newbuild Home.

Underfloor heating EVERYWHERE, ideally wet-system, then when they throw their wet towels on the floor they still dry beautifully.

If humanely possible, a laundry chute...my dream, never fulfilled...

cheap carpets in bedrooms, not bathrooms by the way. for spilled coffee and coke,

mmm jealous now, going to House Porn sites to browse...

I particularly like the Freudian slip 'teenangers'.

underfloor heating....genius idea, that is where all the towels end up.

An exractor fan in the bathroom with a humidistat so it works automatically when needed.
A fan heater on the bathroom wall, so the heating doesn't get turned on every time the teenager has a shower, even in the summer. With a timer to turn it off after 15 minutes so it doesn't get left on for hours.
Stopped lots of nagging/arguments with our teenagers.

Fabulous ventilation in every room.

Second as many bathrooms as you can physically fit in.

ooh ooh

those slow closing doors you get, so they can't be slammed shut, extra bathrooms, soundproofing in bedrooms (so they can play music and also they can't hear anything from your room) a cupboard with shelving beside the front door for school bags and homework...

um, all bedrooms (except yours) to be exactly the same size, so it's all fair, lol

lots of storage in the kitchen (because they eat loads so you can stockpile, lol)

I once saw the perfect house for teenagers in a magazine, it was very pretty too. It was slightly H shaped. The horizontal bar of the H was entirely glass at the front, like a long covered porch. The front door was in the middle, and at each end of the porch/hall/corridor was a staircase. One staircase went up to the master bedroom and guest room and the other went up to the teenagers rooms. The bedrooms were on the two vertical bits of the H. The sitting room/main reception was behind the porch (so also on the horizontal bar). Both porch and sitting room had a ceiling height of about 1.5 storeys. The other reception rooms/kitchen/study/utility etc were underneath the bedrooms and were the usual single storey high.

A special room off the hallway for all their stuff? nice idea, except that they'd never put their stuff in it.

@arfnarf - DH installed an extractor in the bathroom with a humidistat. All it needs is the switch to be turned on - but alas this is often forgotten. On the other hand, be thankful that your DTs remember to wash