What house feature is a must have if you were building today?

[sarmanz_male]

Or dream garage/workshop feature perhaps.

[lannie]

9 or 10 ' basement walls. 12' for garage

[CaberTosser]

As noted a basement must be at least 9' ceilings, 10' preferably. Heated floors throughout with a quality condensing boiler. Spray foam insulation. An exterior finish that isn't flammable vinyl siding. Garage access to the basement, even if the garage is detached . A real wood-burning fireplace.

[riden]

Floor heating

Wow it’s so comfortable. It’s a deal breaker for me now

[mattthegorby]

Originally Posted by riden

Floor heating

Wow it’s so comfortable. It’s a deal breaker for me now

If you are building new, garage or house, it seems a shame to me to not prep the slab for radiant floor heating. Even a shop that you can't afford to heat at first is worth prepping for future.

[Bushrat]

A house and garage in one, that I can clean with a water hose. Don't like vacuming, sweeping, or dusting. It must be cool in the summer, warm in the winter. I like utilitarian features, I don't like fluff and formality. Large kitchen with gas grille, indoor open fire cooking year round. Industrial cooking, butchering and meat processing facilities. Open fire pit in center of home, Open floor plan, only walls would be for bedroom and washroom privacy. Preferably single level, vehicle access to interior. Out of bed into vehicles without going through doors. 16 foot ceiling...

[EZM]

Assuming the majority of people live in a urban area ........ I'd say ......

1) a reasonable sized garage big enough to actually park 2 vehicles in with enough room in it to open your doors and get out of the vehicle and enough room for a shelf or two. To me that's at least 24 x 24 but something closer to 28 x 28 would fit the bill nicely. Most new builds are 20 x 20 give or take a foot and forget about putting your truck in there.

2) a reasonable sized lot with enough room to have a nice deck, fire pit and let the kids and/or dog run around a little

3) air conditioning

4) a shower that isn't one of those plastic one piece 24" x 24" stalls where you are crashing your elbow every time you move your arm - I have a 48" x 60" and it's the greatest shower in the world .......... I will never own a home with a small shower stsll again.

5) gas range or cook top

6) high ceilings and bigger windows in basement - preferably above grade

7) High efficiency furnace, instant hot water, air conditioning, led lighting - the money you save is extraordinary.

8) well ventilated attic space with lots of insulation

9) heated floors in bathrooms (and maybe even basement if the budget allows)

[Dewey Cox]

Sunken mechanical room, and all the appliances on curbs.
Now that's living.

[elkhunter11]

At least a triple garage, and air conditioning.

[CantThinkOfAName]

I currently have a 24x28 garage and it's not big enough. If you can't go much bigger than that, at least go taller so you can get a car lift.
Go with 2 garage doors instead of 1.
We have a ranch/bungalo right now. We find ourselves having to tiptoe and be super quiet after the kids go to bed because kitchen cupboards are located on kids bedroom wall. So I would find a design that separated living areas and bedrooms more.
A house and layout to watch (the kids) out back if I'm still in the house.
Got air conditioning this year. Yep, always gonna have a house with that from now on.

[trailraat]

ICF construction, south facing windows, and no neighbours closer than a mile.

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[Justfishin73]

Garage/shop non withstanding, MULTIPLE mud rooms.

[Jack Hardin]

A formal dining room.

[expedition]

Attached garage with access to pantry / laundry room
Access from garage to basement
Detached garage behind house so any one going to your detaced garage is seen.
Mudroom

[fordtruckin]

On demand hot water
Wood stove
As many bathrooms as bedrooms
9’ trayed ceilings
NOT some gawd aweful huge roof. I can’t stand a single story house with a roof pitched so high the roof dwarfs the living quarters!
A double sided gas fireplace in the wall between the master bedroom and master bath.

[Trochu]

Bathroom, our house has one and it's super convenient.

[MountainTi]

A urinal...at least in the shop or garage anyways

[burnme]

Agree with good sized garage, need space for two vehicles, shelves, freezer, fridge and all the wife and kids shoes!
Ac is a must
Yard depends on life situation.
The basement needs infloor heat, high ceilings, a wet bar and nice open mechanical room.
At least two bathtubs if kids still at home!
Most importantly though, as we have learned is sound proofing! We can hear our kids talk in the basement, you can hear someone fart in the bathroom and I am sure the kids car hear other things😳

[Xbolt7mm]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

On demand hot water
Wood stove
As many bathrooms as bedrooms
9’ trayed ceilings
NOT some gawd aweful huge roof. I can’t stand a single story house with a roof pitched so high the roof dwarfs the living quarters!
A double sided gas fireplace in the wall between the master bedroom and master bath.

I have the fireplace thing you mentioned, looks fantastic but dumbest thing ever, wife uses the fireplace when in the tub and you cant stand to be in the bedroom for the next 6 hours because its too hot

[overkill 19]

42””or 48”” man doors on garage, easier to get lawn mower etc thru. I also put out swing door with tamper proof hinges to make it harder to kick in doors.
Central vac in garage for vacuuming cars etc.
Sky lights in garage, they were $149 each on sale at Home Depot, framed them in with 2x8”s to lift them off the roof so snow/ice melt does not have a chance to leak in.
Make garage as big as you can, they fill up fast. Mine is 1400sqft and I’m constantly trying to purge junk! I wish I had made it bigger but it took me 2 years of fighting to get approval from city of RD for what I got.


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[overkill 19]

I’m not sure if all insurance companies are the same but I was going to put a wood stove in my house but magically my insurance goes up $400 a year for having one. So I never did it. Love to have one but not really worth it.
Mind you if I was on a farm or average where power loss is more common I might think of one but back up generator with auto switches are getting very reasonable. I’d probably wire in that if I was building!


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[Au revoir, Gopher]

A question for those of you who said stairs from garage to basement, why?

I'm struggling to come up with a scenario where I would use them...

ARG

[1cuz1]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

A question for those of you who said stairs from garage to basement, why?

I'm struggling to come up with a scenario where I would use them...

ARG

truck in the garage, gun safe in the basement, wife in the upstairs........


My safe isn't used in order to appease the government its to save my marriage!

[Xbolt7mm]

Originally Posted by 1cuz1

truck in the garage, gun safe in the basement, wife in the upstairs........


My safe isn't used in order to appease the government its to save my marriage!

Lol so true

[jpohlic]

Multi zone furnace with a thermostat on each floor.

ICF basement, and if you can afford it use it for the main and upper walls also. We had a client with an ICF basement also rough in the pipes for in floor heating, but he found the basement so comfortable he never hooked it up. If you do a complete ICF house you probably won't need air conditioning, plus they are very quiet inside.

Do a blower door test after you insulate and install the vapour barrier. Fix any air leaks you find and you should be able to get below 1 air change per hour. You'll save on your heating bills for the life of the house.

Spray foam insulation if your budget allows. This also helps with air leakage.

Sound proofing

Sheltered barbecue area off the kitchen with a gas line.

Laundry room with direct access to the master walk in closet.

Big garage with storage space, taller and wider overhead doors

Covered entrances front and rear, decent size mudroom

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by jpohlic

Multi zone furnace with a thermostat on each floor.
.....
Spray foam insulation if your budget allows. This also helps with air leakage.

If a person want different temperatures in different areas, it’s more easily accomplished with a boiler system than hot air.

I agree with the spray foam, we did our house and drafts are non existent, the closest thing to a draft is feeling the ‘radiant’ (absorptive) cold from the windows, and those are high-end Pella’s.

[Immigrant]

Make sure that if you install a range hood exhaust fan, you can replace the air that you suck out. A “small” unit these days are around 450CFM. And you would want to heat that air you replace in the winter

[fishunter327]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

A question for those of you who said stairs from garage to basement, why?

I'm struggling to come up with a scenario where I would use them...

ARG

All my camping gear/ fishing gear is stored in my basement , must take shoes off every trip to basement to retrieve anything.

[sgill808]

Originally Posted by fishunter327

All my camping gear/ fishing gear is stored in my basement , must take shoes off every trip to basement to retrieve anything.

You could get all the stuff and put it by the front door and then move it from there to the truck.

[Trochu]

Originally Posted by sgill808

You could get all the stuff and put it by the front door and then move it from there to the truck.

You just blew someone's mind.