If you built a house what are you top tips/ biggest mistakes with hindsight.

[2000lightyearsaway123]

Hi all,

I am planning to build a house in the next few years provided I can get planning permission. I already have a piece of land.

If you've built a house what would he your top tips or pitfalls to avoid using the hindsight you now have?

We have a 6m x 7m entrance hall which it sounds like most think is too big.. for us it its just part of the feature of a nice big entrance. We hate narrow halls/corridors. We put a big rooflight over it and as pp said it lets in so much light. Its actually my favourite space in the house.

I do wish we had a separate little room for a cloakroom to store coats and shoes. We have them in an unused walk in wardrobe which we have to go through a (downstairs) bedroom to get too.

*to not too

Think about how you will manage your project early on - remember no one cares about your money as much as you do.
Make sure your architect really understands how you live your life day to day.
Set aside a fixed amount of your budget at the start to accommodate the wonderful ideas your architect will suggest along the way that you hadn't thought of.
Make sure you have a substantial contingency built into your budget.
A good QS is worth their weight in gold to get the true cost of your build and a great investment prior to tender.
Future proof your home as much as you can - have you included space for a permanent stair case up to the loft, can every downstairs toilet be easily converted to a wet room with minimal expense, etc.
Build a great relationship with your planning officer - don't use an agent.
Whatever hurdles you may face in the planning process, someone somewhere can overcome these for you.

No such thing as a hall that's too big! It's the only room everyone sees (even ppl who don't step inside!) and sets the feeling of space and light in the house from the off.

Hallway storage so it stays looking the part
Plenty of sockets including outside and on kitchen island (if you have one)
Funky coloured kitchen lighting (parties!)
Outside taps front and back
Couple of en-suites
Vaulted ceilings
Plant trees, if the plot isn't already mature

I slightly disagree with the wide hallways comment.

look at the plans with mobility in mind.

my parents built a house that has a bedroom on the ground floor (currently used as office).
the house can also easily be split into 2 apartments, all necessary pipes and electricity are already there in the wall of one of the rooms for kitchen installation.

basically they can downsize in their own home and sell or rent out the upstairs apartement.

Go onto your local council planning site, most of it will be extensions and other tedium, but it will also give you some great ideas. Download all the plans you like the look of, this would also be great place to get architects contacts. I then went and drove round to each of the properties and took pictures. Choose the best bits from each, you can mix and match.

Also you can be pretty clear about what you want it be might worth considering an architectural technician, it's a slightly different skill, more engineering than arty, but often much more affordable.

@Daftasabroom

Re storage and utility. We have a downstairs utility with a shower for after sports 2.2 X 2.2 it's a little cramped. We have a walk-in airing cupboard 2.5L x 2.2W it has all our bed linen, towels, airing, spare duvets, blankets, upstairs hoover, ironing board etc. Fantastic.

Any chance of a pic please?

Plan for more electrical plugs - think about things like positioning of Christmas tree and other
Christmas lights, phone chargers etc

I hate seeing coats/bags/shoes everywhere, built in storage for these, plus your hoover downstairs, good sized airing cupboard upstairs for your bedding/toilet rolls/cleaning materials/hoover for upstairs.
Extra sockets in hallways for the hoover.
If you’re having a utility room, you need a big cupboard for sweeping brushes etc/ big boxes of laundry powder. Separate sink in the utility room for all messy jobs/ keeps kitchen sink just for cooking/washing up etc.
If room allows have a pantry for all your food/ large pans you only use every now and then/food mixers etc. Have more pan drawers than you think you need/ brilliant for storage - not just for pans.
More worktop space than you think you need.
More sockets than you think you need everywhere, get some with usb points on them.
Look at your local plans on the council planning portal, lots of good ideas.
New house showrooms also good for inspiration, they usually don’t have enough storage where you need it.
Built in wardrobes make rooms look bigger and more spacious.
Basically, the more storage you have, the less likely you’ll have clutter everywhere, so rooms and hallways look spacious and easy to clean.

Just came back to this threads. Lots more great advice. Thank you everyone!

I’d say built in storage, a laundry room and a walk-in closet (we have one for the entire family it’s nothing fancy but makes laundry so much easier).

Apart from that big bedrooms and at least 2 bathrooms, but no en-suite.