When we were building our home 5 years ago, it was the first home we ever built and it is safe to say that we were a little terrified. No one gave us any home building tips or had any real suggestions or advice to offer so we turned to the internet, but even that was a little limited in information.
Needless to say, there were a few things that we didn’t even think of during the process – and many things we learned along the way so we wanted to share some of our experiences from our process.
While we are definitely not experts in home building – it is amazing how much you learn living through it! We also looked at a lot of online shopping tools to see where we could costs on furnishings and things for our new home – on the resources we loved was Wikibuy. It was really neat to see how it could find us the lowest price on so many things – you can check out my Wikibuy Review here. I highly recommend trying it!
On to the home building faux pas you can learn from!
During the building process we were very involved and keeping our eyes on everything going on from both the builder and designer of the home. But, until we removed in there were things we definitely missed while keeping an eye on things!
Some of the items we can fix fairly easily – but a couple would have been better off done during the building process so we are a little upset we missed them. Not everyone will have the same needs/wants as we do – but hope this post helps someone!
What We Forget While Building Our Home!
So, not all of these are things people would want – but we did. Because I am in my 50’s and knew this would be our last home, we wanted everything to be perfect!
Shower Bench
Most people would probably say that isn’t something that is really needed. I on the other hand need somewhere to either sit or place my leg so that I can shave comfortably.
I also need somewhere to sit in order to wash my feet because of my bad legs. It’s hard for me to pick up my foot and balance on the other.
So if you have an elderly parent, someone with disabilities – or even just want some extra comfort while showering, a shower bench is a great add-on that should be done during the initial build.
Sadly, this is going to cost quite a bit to have it done the way we wanted it – but for now I am using a chair. It does not look pretty but does what I need it to.
Electrical Outlets In The Floor
I never placed my furniture in the middle of the floor before, but in my new home I do have some tables that are in fact in the middle of rooms. Because the rooms are so big it means I have to run extension cords for lights or electronic devices which of course is ugly as all heck.
My furniture was always placed against the wall, and there are always plugs on the wall. So, we couldn’t have a lamp on our end table by the couch because someone was sure to trip over the wire if we plugged it into the wall.
We are evaluating wireless options – but these can be pricey. This is another item that is too late to do anything about due to cost!
Outdoor Electrical Outlets
We did have one outlet installed in our soffit at the front of the house, but after spending our first Christmas in our home – we realized we needed more.
Did we make it work with one outlet? Yes, Was it easy? No.
We had 4 strings that needed to be plugged in and having a few extra outlets would have made the whole process so much easier.
Light Switch In The Garage
Most homes do have a switch inside the home by the front door to turn outdoor lights on and off – but what about the garage?
We often leave and come home via our garage and sometimes need to turn that outdoor lights and or off and that requires us to walk through the house to do it. Having a switch in the garage based switch would have made our lives so much easier.
Linen Closet In Master Bath
I’ve lived in plenty of houses without a linen closet in the bathroom, but when you are building, you aren’t thinking about where you going to put all your towels.
Why the master bath had no linen closet is beyond me, maybe because we had two huge master closets in the bathroom and they thought we had plenty of room to put our towels…who knows.
I am just mad that I missed this! Every bathroom should have a linen closet!
Spa In The Pool
We knew we wanted a pool and spa – but so many talked us out of it because they said they had a spa in their pool but never used it.
We listened and opted out of the spa.
After being in the home a bit we realized just how much we wanted one and began to get quotes.
What would have cost us about $3,000 during the building of the pool – is now being quoted at $25,000 to add to an existing pool.
Lesson learned – if you want something GET IT! This is one of our biggest regrets because I know the spa would have been great for my aches and pains and would be a great way for my husband and I just to relax.
There you have it. At least I will know these things when we build our next home. Have you ever forgotten something when building a home?
Harri
We made several mistakes when building and designing our home. We didn’t design an area for a tall cupboard in the utility room for brushes and mops, thanks to the location of windows and doors, we can only have base cabinets. We forgot to include mat wells for the level threshold entries and we live in the country so plenty of muddy boots. We also made a costly mistake when installing real wooden floors in the hallway outside the bedrooms. The wood is noisy and it wakes our sleeping baby every time it’s walked on in the evening.
Jill
Hi Harri, thanks for sharing your experiences as well! Building a home is so hard – and in our case no one really seemed to help us plan ahead! Hopefully your issues will help others with their planning as well.
Marybeth
Ah! The outlet in the middle of the living room is sooo smart! I never would have thought of that and would have had the cord issue!
Mary Walker
Learned that in our first house. I couldn’t have a lamp next to the couch because there was no plug. Wasn’t going to forget that during building. lol