Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Things to include in a new build house.

95 replies

JaxG · 02/08/2017 20:16

We are about to start work on a new build (5 bed detached). Love to hear your tips on things you couldn't live without. (Anything from plug sockets, light fittings and switches to kitchen and bathroom advice). Thanks so much.

OP posts:
yikesanotherbooboo · 02/08/2017 22:36

We stayed somewhere with an outdoor shower which was brilliant for dirty children/ dogs as it was warm and nee the back door.
On a similar note make sure that your outside tap is sensibly placed so that you can run a hose from it easily to all parts of your property.
Outside lighting and electrical access.
Outside storage
Somewhere easily accessible for garden seat cushions and similar

Ojoj1974 · 02/08/2017 22:38

Upstairs laundry room. I don't get bringing all the clothes and bedding downstairs alternatively a laundry shoot . We have both they are amazing!!
Built in cupboards, storage, storage and more storage!
Large entrance hall
Enormous kitchen opening onto the garden
Have fun!

senua · 02/08/2017 22:40

What everyone else said. And high ceilings.
Try to future-proof; the idea, above, of a vehicle charging point is genius.

senua · 02/08/2017 22:45

Things not to include: bay windows because they are a pig to fit out for curtains.

JessieDoops · 02/08/2017 23:00

Double sockets in the corner of each room.

Plenty of cupboard space

MikeUniformMike · 02/08/2017 23:08

You might want to consider what curtains you want before thinking of which windows to get. For example, you might want the glass that becomes opaque at a touch of a switch or you might want blackout blinds. You might also want the glass mentioned in a pp if the windows are not easy to clean.
I once lived in a house that had upstairs windows that opened in a way that meant that they could be cleaned properly from inside.

If you are planning on more DCs, you will want stairs and other things like upstairs balcony to be child friendly. Might you need to consider a granny annexe?
You might also want to consider how you would escape if there was a fire. I think this is probably covered by building regs but if you were going to jump out of a window would you be able to land safely.

Is the house in a floodplain. What about security issues.

BackforGood · 02/08/2017 23:18

Solar panels.

I would love a computer system so I can programme all heating to come on and off at different times of day, at different temperatures.

If designing a house from scratch I'd try to think about flexibility of rooms too - having to go through one room to get to another doesn't work when the next people use tht room for a different purpose.

MikeUniformMike · 02/08/2017 23:21

Bathrooms. How many? Jack and Jill or ensuite? Family bathroom(s)?
Showers or baths? Are you building a house that you might be selling in a few years?

zzzzz · 02/08/2017 23:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MikeUniformMike · 02/08/2017 23:28

Great suggestion BackforGood. Flow. Will the floorplan work?
Will the flow from front to rear work, round the outside or through the house. If you bring in food shopping can you take it to the kitchen without carrying it through the house? If you have a lifestyle that means you come home covered in mud, can you get to the boot room or wet room by the back door without coming through the house?

Do you need somewhere where parcels can be left fairly well hidden?

MikeUniformMike · 02/08/2017 23:31

Outside storage area for leisure equipment like bikes, boat, skis ...
What do you want from your garden? Herb garden, greenhouse, shepherd's hut...?
Will you have a garage?

OrangeRhinoInTraining · 02/08/2017 23:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BackforGood · 02/08/2017 23:35

Ooh... I wasn't clear.... I want the heating to be able to come on and off in different rooms at different times (so I don't need it on in the dining room or living room in the morning before work - no-one goes in there, but there are times during the 'no heating' months it would be nice to put it on in the bathroom, or maybe later in the evening in the living room once you'd been sitting for a bit. I can already prog. it to come on and off during the day Grin.

redcaryellowcar · 02/08/2017 23:44

Somewhere sensibly sized (big enough) to put bin, recycling and food waste in the kitchen, utility with space for washing machine, drier and ideally one of those Sheila maid things hanging from the ceiling? With plenty of high windows for ventilation and some space for the dog to sleep.

stayathomegardener · 02/08/2017 23:46

I'm spending my first night, tonight NOW! in our new build 8 years after we started.
The Electritian was finishing outdoor lights today and said I'll swap one of the kitchen sockets for a USB one so sounds like they just wire in.
Love huge kitchen with island.
Laundry room.
Lots of sockets.
Double doors to garden.
Verandas

Balconies
Wood burners.

GreenTulips · 02/08/2017 23:51

Do you need somewhere where parcels can be left fairly well hidden?

You see I thought this might extend to grocery shopping - Tesco Cold Store - they can just deliver and you don't need to be home - could have 'electronic 2 hour delivery open' type key !!!

MikeUniformMike · 03/08/2017 00:30

genius GreenTulips.
Another one. Somewhere to put the wheelie bins that won't irritate you.
Stayathomegardener - you lucky thing! So envious! Have a good night;s sleep. Just think you'll wake up tomorrow morning in your new house.

MikeUniformMike · 03/08/2017 00:31

stayathome - we want photos. We demand photos!

MikeUniformMike · 03/08/2017 00:32

please. Love this thread. So many ideas.

hiddenmnetter · 03/08/2017 06:08

Uhm, a central access shaft through which I would run all services which could also double as a laundry schute. Has the benefit of making laundry collection as well as maintenance of all plumbing/wiring easier.

Data cable (Ethernet/cat6) to all rooms.

UFH zoned and controllable for each room.

Airtight house insulated to within an inch of it's life. Passivhaus standards. Mechanical Ventilation with a heat exchange so that during winter your house is warm and doesn't stink. Also important for controlling damp in the house.

Smart lighting linked to a smart thermostat so that all lighting/heating/smoke alarms are automatic & voice controlled (look up nest & Phillips hue). Other cool smart house features like a google home. I am not personally convinced by the tech of smart locks for the moment because they seem unreliable but I would love something like that for keyless entry. Shuttereaze on plantation shutters on all external south & west facing windows that are automatically opening and closing in response to light detection/sunrise & sunset.

Ground Source Heat Pump for cheap heating (can potentially be around half the cost of Gas) - less important if you have a passivhaus.

Roof designed for optimum effectiveness solar panels because you can potentially reduce your energy bill to pretty close to zero with a good house battery and decent PV cells. If your property has any kind of stream flowing through it I'd investigate the possibility of domestic hydro. For it to be feasible it really requires a fairly steep fall and flow rate, but able to reduce your electricity costs to zero all year round (not just when the sun is shining!).

As loads of PPs have said, sockets to all have USB charging ports - Costco now sell them with 3100mA so you'll get a fast charge on even more power hungry items like iPads. They're like £7/piece as well, so utterly negligible cost increase.

Kitchen to have 2 double ovens to make roast dinners that little bit easier.

All flooring to have acoustic felt laid underneath the floorboards to dampen sound up and down, and all walls to have acoustic foam and acoustic plasterboard to dampen sounds through the walls.

Water accumulator with a good size tank; 500L+ with all your plumbing designed to withstand very high pressure (6-10 bar). Then you can live every day in your mega-shower with hotel type water pressure and flow.

Ensuite for master bed and a toilet/shower on every level.

Walk in wardrobe for master bed. Built in wardrobes where feasible.

Kickboard hoover so you can just quickly sweep the floors and have it disposed of rather than get the hoover out every day.

House-wide tannoy/PA system.

A method of cutting off the internet to all non-house-related use to motivate action when action is called for on the above tannoy (this would probably be more software related but if you had a google home there are apps that can do this; you could even create a voice command for it; "OK google, make them all come to dinner now" - bam, everyone gets kicked off the internet...)

Sufficiently large utility room to sort washing prior to use and to store washing prior to returning to where it lives. Make sure whoever plumbs in your washing machine also puts the waste pipe close enough to the dryer so you can have the dryer automatically send waste and you don't have to empty the damn drawer all the time.

Possibly a drying cupboard?

Larder/cold room - walk in, around 3 or 4 m2, with passive cooling

I haven't thought about this at all.....

gonegrey56 · 03/08/2017 07:03

This may not be feasible given your house design but my temperature controlled cellar is so useful - apart from wine (!) bought cheaply which matures into fine wine, I can store endless food supplies/Costco bulk purchases/Jams and preserves / sacks of potatoes and racks of apples/ pears ....
So many new build houses in Europe have cellars, now I understand why

TroysMammy · 03/08/2017 07:08

Gates on your drive so no CFNs can take advantage of your parking space when you're out.

Athrawes · 03/08/2017 07:17

Power sockets and taps on both front and back of the house outside. Draw out each room on the ground/spray paint on grass and do a pretend walk through, where you act out what will happen in that room. So walk into kitchen, turn lights on - where? - dump shopping - on what? Put down keys - where?

Jaxg · 03/08/2017 07:26

These ideas are fantastic. What a fab website this is!

OP posts:
packofshunts · 03/08/2017 08:16

Hidden you rock!