Current considerations:
- Japanese toilet
- Hydronic heating
- Wine cellar/closet
- Ethernet everywhere
- Heated towel rails
- Smart doorbell
Building a New House, Thoughts on What I Should Spec?
netpenthe on 10/09/2020 - 14:23
Comments
I have been living overseas where houses are built with full bricks/concrete so the insulation and acoustic is good. You hardly feel the outside temperature on the wall, and almost no noise from adjacent rooms or floors. Since moving to Australia 15 years ago, I really hate standard built houses here. The walls are so thin with just plasterboards on the 2 sides of a hollow wall. Same goes for the floors, if you don’t have full carpet on the upper floor then the lower floor suffers from noise from upstairs.
Imagine the parents having intimate moments while the kids in the adjacent rooms can hear almost half of the noise. Let’s not forget the internal doors are hollow too.
So if you are building with sufficient budget, insulate the wall/subfloor with the best acoustic and thermal insulation you can afford. Internal solid doors if possible. Use soundproof plasterboards, can even go double layer to further help. Many people suggest a lot of wiring/cables, even conduits inside wall, so that may interfere with how much you can put insulation inside. Buts if you go that part, do it properly and don’t leave any gap.
At the end of the day, it cannot compare to brick/concrete house but at least it helps, if you have a family where everyone likes to make noise in their room.Sounds like you need to move to WA :) all double brick here.
What about inside walls? Are they double brick as well?
All internal walls are generally single brick, otherwise they just take up heaps of floor space. However inside the house, single brick is more than enough to keep noise down.
Infinity hot water system
If two story build put a laundry chute in. Built one during renos. Great addition.
I hate having a two story house, never again. Ofc I know it's pretty unavoidable on some blocks.
Why do you hate it?
I have a 4 level house over 660m2 and it is superb
Moat and draw bridge to keep the mother in law away :)
Sadly a broom trumps a moat and draw bridge. think you need to combine that with AA guns
Might have to use silver bullets in the AA guns just to be on the safe side
Just built a new home. Here is what I made sure I got:
- Double brick with concrete slab on the 1st floor (if building a 2 storey). Insulation will go in the cavity between the brick. Avoid the cheap polystyrene crap they use on the 1st floor these days.
- Colorbond roof
- Full height tiling to the bathrooms.
- Wifi LED lights throughout the house. Same for external lighting.
- Smart Garage
- At least 2 Ethernet points, more if possible
- Lots of power points. Powerpoints next to the toilet for a bidet
- 3 Phase Power, remove gas connections.
- Ducted Aircon with Wifi
- Heat Pump for hot water
- Induction cooktop
- Solar Panels
- Powerwall battery if you can afford it or get it in a few years when prices drop.
Eufy security cameras and doorbell can be installed later.
Avoid the cheap polystyrene crap they use on the 1st floor these days.
They use it to keep weight down on the top floor. But I guess if you are going big double brick concrete second storey then maybe you can support the weight.
Insulation in the cavity between the brick skins? Did the builder do it or you will do it post handover?
Yes the builder will have to do it to meet the required R values.
smart garage?
Sorry, I meant a smart garage door with an app.
Custom builder? None of the “mainstream” builders I have enquired at so far is doing double brick in 2020.
Shelford Homes
door handles, not door knobs
Heated toilet bidet is a must in today's unpredictable toilet roll shortage 🤣
Alot of good ideas here, but most don't tell you about specifics of improvements that is critical
double glazing is good but only fully beneficial if a thermal assessment is done and calculated by the architect using software, and also the calculation factors in other building elements. You need to model the building to take full advantage of double glazing, as there are different types of glass
(Just putting in 2 layers of clear glass isn't going to benefit you)large north facing windows in your house is the best way to maximize natural sunlight and heating.
All architects know this in their studies, but choosing land and house orientation with potential for north facing windows is very important.Eithernet in every room is good, but be mindful every extra data point requires a seperate data cable which will cost you (not alot), and you will have multiple data connections on the main end to the router. This will need to be kept in a cool dry place so having 10+ data cables on the main end is going to need dedicated area / cupboard.
Also as suggested above go with the best cable available within your budget, CAT7e for future proofing but may be overkill. CAT6a is fine.definitely get Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) NBN connection. That is the best NBN connection you can get for future proofing.
You may already be assigned FTTP connection by NBN for free, but you can check on the NBN website.
If you are assigned FTTC/FTTN/HFC you can apply to upgrade to FTTP. It will cost you at least $3000, to $20,000 depending on circumstances.
I would invest in FTTP and scrap the cost of heated towel rails, for example.
a common overlooked improvement is having timber/plywood noggins inside the walls, especially the living room where the TV/shelves/picture frames may be wall hung
Particularly if you are going to upgrade to 85inch in future aswell, put in conduits for power/data/aerial. Bigger and better TVs are only going to get cheaper.gas stove is always better than induction.
A 6 burner is handy, but being gas alone isn't enough. Ensure the megajoules of the gas stove is at a high rating (particularly the main burner), and also ensure your gas supply is sufficient to run the particular gas stove model. Builder/plumber can tell you.
Compare different models and check the MJ rating.ensure you have rodent control in your roof and around the house. Prevention is always better than elimination.
Was about to post this. A northerly aspect is the most important, yet seemingly most overlooked part of the house design process. And get big eaves!
You want the back of the house to be north facing in Vic.
100%. Ideally living area facing north which also is the outdoor patio or deck.
Front of house facing south which is darkest all day, as no one socialises there apart from redheads who talk about cars all day :)
Internal walls, steel or timber, if timber use termite resistant framing including the roof.
Some really good ideas so far. Ones I'd include which I haven't seen earlier are these:
- Laundry shoot (saves a lot of wasted trips) or…
A Small home lift if possible and budget permits you can replace the shoot.
Under sink/kickback vacuum sweeper thing if you plan to have ducted vacuum
Drainage grate in bathroomDoesn't cost much but if ever a flood or overflow it'll be worth it.
Do the same for external driveways and have drainage covered. Won't ever want to do it after driveway or slab is down.
Others I'd second are
- Ethernet to each room (highest category you can go)
- speaker runs & points in media rooms
- projector/TV points.
….Good luck.
We have a laundry chute from our main bedroom down to the laundry. It is great. It sits behind a cupboard and empties into a roll out basket we have underneath.The cupboard hides the chute and provides extra storage in the laundry. We can roll the basket out and sort the clothes, they can the go into the sorting basket under the washer/drier ready to be put into a load when ready. We went for a wall of cupboards, around our washer/dryer, so that it looks tidy most of the time. It has lots of storage space. We also have a pull out, small, clothes Airer over the sink so we can drip dry things, if necessary.
I like that idea of the clothes airer over the sink but feel we may have too much to only be above the sink. We always 2-3 airers over the ducted heater vents which works.
We also have a "chute" (thanks for the subtle correction - my england is stupendously bad ;) but it's in its own walk-in cupboard/room which hides it. I'm really contemplating a lift like the one (or nicer) listed above, as it just gets too much to walk from one end to the other (having older parents living with us also makes this more necessary).
I also liked that your kitchen hasn't dated, that's brilliant… we're in the market for a kitchen reno (but a recent quote of ~$200k - mind this was 1 1/2 months ago - put a spanner in the works. It surely can't be that much!). Lots of great ideas in the kitchen space but colours etc seem to go in/out of fashion every 5yrs and after that it starts looking dated.
- Smart light for the whole house - you can blackout/turn on lights in one click
- App controlled AC - you can turn off AC while you are away, or turn on before you arrive
- WIFI planning to cover every corner. - WIFI is now a necessity as electricity. No one wants a dead spot (no WIFI signal)
Isn't wifi planning is as simple as having one extra ethernet point in lets say Rumpus room upstairs to which you can connect wifi router. I think people experience problem with wifi upstairs only when router is downstairs.
Yes, definitely for double storey home. So, it is still requires a planning.
Based on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11, 5GHz is about 35m range.
Although I am still struggling to get good overall coverage living in a small apartment eg. balcony area, corner room.yep. I would probably scope in 2 upstairs, 2 downstairs + one in media room and wifi around these should take care of rest.
If you think you have enough power points, add more and make them doubles.
Same goes for Ethernet points.
Seriously consider whether you need an aerial and aerial points.
Free to air? Just use the Freeview function on most new TV's or chromecast.
Don't waste money on in floor heating.
If you're going to mount a TV. Put a power point and Ethernet point up there behind where the bracket will be. And have conduits for hdmi and optic cables to where the console, amp or bluray will be etc.
In the midst of a pandemic,
Hey ozbargainers, what should I put in my brand new state of the art new home
This post reminds me of the high yield investment post.
Nah, that’s different. There are a myriad of decisions associated with doing a house and it doesn’t have to be “state of the art” for suggestions to be useful.
You're right, everyone should curl up into a ball and do nothing except cry about the pandemic
no, I really don't care if that person buys a mansion, what concerns me is when they tell everyone about it, more like boasting. Boast to your friends and family but not the public forum.
Thanks for gatekeeping, you're a hero of our time
what ever price you came down to, add 50K to it and thats how much it will cost
There are plenty of great suggestions here. Can someone please give rough idea of custom built cost they have paid in Sydney with these inclusions? Thanks
not in Sydney, but i'm guessing costs are probably not THAT Much different.
if you go with volume builder, looking at $1300 / sqm lowest… i think this would be a very basic build
- for a 250sqm house that's $325,000if you go with highish end architect, lowest would be $3300 / sqm (i heard an extension quoted at $10k/sqm, but that must be insane)
- for a 250sqm house that's $825,000i think if you go for a custom builder, you can do what you want, but around $2200 seems pretty nice houses
Thanks mate. I wish there is some website where people have shared their inclusions, built cost, area, builder etc. Sigh..
Hydronic heating and ducted AC cooling.
going to add link to this tread to my list of similar topics:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/538928
things you forgot treads
https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=5823
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2257669
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/538928?page=1#comment
forgot h
High ceilings
Additional lighting in large rooms.
Wall lighting or glass blocks for additional lighting in long corridors.
Recessed wall panels for tv and speakers.
All wiring in plastic conduits.
Keyed locks on all internal rooms.
Cartridge water filter on sink.
Water connector for fridge ice.
Good idea bout the keyed locks on all internal rooms - especially bedrooms is a blessing and you'd be surprised when you may need it.
Other suggestions are good too but what do you mean by glass blocks?
Recessed wall panels for tv
They look neat, but if you have one that perfectly fits a 'current' TV, wouldn't you have problems years later should you wish to get a bigger TV? 55 inch was probably considered huge some years ago, now its average size. So best to get one that is actually huge?
Agree. It is best to recess the whole wall for a very large future TV.
100"
Some drawers in the kitchen instead of just all shelves.
Anyone knows a good passive house builder in Melbourne?
There are quite a few out there, just check https://passivehouseaustralia.org/
Possibly have a look at CarbonLite, these guys have me interested.
Have been doing some research on passive house as well. Eastern suburbs.
Stripper pole and mirrors on the ceiling.
And mirrors on floor too.
Dungeon for "adult activities"
Headaches
Solar Panels and Battery.
Raise the height of your house.
Rain water tank for garden and toilet flush.
Plan our our door deck and pergola in advance. Consider if you will like screenings.
Central ac wiring in advance of build.
Weather bond roof
Sensor flood lights with timer outside, you'd want to plan this since it's weather bond roofing.
Concrete around the boundaries of the slab.
Factor in landscaping planning and a cubby house if you have toddlers.
Vege patches to grow your vegetables if you fancy, think about where it gets most sun and whether that location will suit.
Gas heating, make sure you bring in the zoning functions. Those devices are made in Switzerland and Braemer sells them.
When you build your doors, factor in reinforced doors or get security doors installed.
Cctvs outside, Arlo inside
Sonos everywhereWe built 2 years ago, it's a very exciting time!
When budgetary considerations bite make sure you focus on the stuff you can't easily change later ( high ceilings, double glazing etc).
Also spend more time focussing on getting natural light into key areas given the orientation of the block you are working with, whist also protecting from midday sun in summer- it's the best thing we did with our house. While we installed ethernet, distributed audio and integrated security system the reality is that the wireless versions of these products are nearly as good and can be changed earlier (unless you're into competitive gaming or something)
Good luck! It's quite a journey!Most important feature of a house in Australia:
North facing.
Sacrifice your garage, carport, parking space etc for north orientation. Design living spaces and bedrooms to the north and bathroom and other services like laundry on the south.
Second most important: calculating the suns azimuth for the houses location so that thermal mass will "charge" during the winter day and be shaded during the summer. This can be achieved by correctly distanced eaves and window placement.
Go to an architect of draftsperson with this requirement.
All other items will be trivial compared to these two items. If you get these right, the house will be comfortable all year long.
Other suggestions: The best insulation you can afford in the walls (all, including all internal) and ceiling spaces.
Double glazing and U-PVC windows.This is all well and good, but at the end of the day people want their living spaces to face their backyard……..
This is where block selection is important. Or you can just do as what 95% of project homes owners do and slap on an AC unit and "Bob's your Uncle".
Our block is (rear) South facing but was attractive for reasons other than its orientation. Part of our strategy to remidiate this to build a courtyard on the north side of our open plan kitchen / dining / living situated on the southern end of our block. Brings plenty of light in along with the big east facing windows and in the end the courtyard is actually our favourite part of the house. We have a Japanese maple in there so it's leafy in summer to block the sun and bare in winter to let the winter sun into our living area.
we are actually talking to an 'eco builder'.. i think you're right
All this talk of insulation to cut noise and heating/cooling costs and extra noggins so you can mount your TV makes me take WA's double brick external and full brick internal walls for granted!
I'm trying to work out where to base my network from… How big of a cabinet are most using for their modem/router/switch etc? Will a 9RU cabinet be big enough for modem, router, switch, NAS, CCTV hub? Anything else that should go in there?
I'm an IT nerd and even I don't have a "rack" or cabinet at my place. In saying that you can easily get yourself a small shelf or similar and check everything in there provided there's enough cooling space.
At my place, I have modem/routerx2 + 24 port switch + CCTV box + additional switch + small monitor (also keep in mind others have additional CCTV boxes stored somewhere else for security purposes).
Factor in a UPS/battery backup - and these range on size depending on how long you want power to be on for.I'm trying to work out where to put it, if it ends up in the garage, it will be a wall mounted cabinet, if it goes in the walk in linen or a robe (I'll have to fight the wife for space) then it won't need to be as dust proof and a cabinet is probably overkill…
I did think about a UPS, no idea what size though, need a powerwall!
We have an Ikea room divider and we just have our router, etc sitting in there. Because it is all squares you can put a whole bunch of eclectic stuff in them and it’s fine.
- Water access behind the fridge for ice dispenser.
- Extra ethernet points for WiFi access points (ceiling?).
- Mains gas for BBQ outside.
- Ethernet / electricity for security cameras.
- A decent place to store routers / networking.
- Delivery dropbox.
- Automated watering system
- Hammocks.
- Digital locks (less keys)
So many things depend on lifestyle, location, money and whether you can DIY it.
I'm very happy with the extras I went with.
- Planning my own powerpoints/ethernet. They don't have to be everywhere.
- Outside powerpoints.
- Soft (more expensive) carpet underlay and carpet.
- Main bedroom ensuite.
- Ducted heating/AC.
- NBN NTD in laundry cupboard + cupboard space for other network gear.Electrical plugs and ethernet ports in as many locations as you can have. Never once have I been annoyed at having an electrical plug in a place where I didn't want it. Plenty of times I've been annoyed at not having electrical plugs in places where I need it. It's also hugely expensive to have these put in after the fact.
Little trapdoors in the ceiling of the living room, so you can pack them with balloons and release them during birthdays and new year.
Build it to "passiv haus" specs. That's my dream 🏠
Raised ceiling - we went from the standard 2400mm to 2750mm for extra $3k. It normally increases the value of the house by about $10-20K (according to my builder friend - not the one who built our house)
How big is the house?
Ours is about 300sqm and we've gone from 28c to 31c through the whole house which is the same ceiling height as you've spec'd and it was a bit under $1800.
38c in the living area was another story!
10GB Ethernet Cable throughout (future proofs you for about 5-10 years). Use the best Cat6 you can afford. Get a server spot set up where the phone/nbn lines come into the house and base everything out of this cabling wise.
Solar - as much as feasible, maybe a smart battery to help offset your costs overnight, note it will take about 10 years to be cashflow positive in general.
Heating/Cooling - Ducted Aircon and really good insulation. Double glazed windows.
House Orientation - make sure its facing the optimal direction for your location. (Cool in summer, warm in winter, etc).
Smart Doorbell - can be wired in or wifi'd easily after construction, and you'll probably want to do this so you can upgrade it easily.
Japanese Toilet - Why not! (except maybe maintenance? IDK)More powerpoints + more powerpoints.
Think about what appliances you will be plugging in. 4 behind the TV, 4 on the bench. Phone charging area. USB?I think triple glazing windows is a better option. Much better experience than double glazed.
You will appreciate even more if you have a dick of a neighbour who wont turn the volume down.Each inside door should have a lockable cat flap, so you can seal the pets into certain sections of the house when you have people over.
- Double glazing, extra insulation. I built my house in 2011. 7.2 stars energy rating, really keeps the bills down.
- Wider garage. My garage is 1m wider than a standard 2 car garage. This allows me to park both cars and have shelving on the sides.
- Recycled water to toilets. If you have recycled water, get it plumbed to the toilets. I would advise against wash machine, as the water is a tad more saline and will increase rust.
- Made sure you have enough cupboard space for towels, sheets, etc. and brooms mops, etc.
- If you have an island bench, power points on the sides.
- If you do wire the house for Ethernet (get cat 6A 10 GB), think about where you will put your switch and patch panel. I have 4 ports around the house, but only for places where I have a TV or server, those are the only things that need lots of bandwidth. WIFI is good enough for the rest.
- Put insulation into the cavity around the bath, it really helps to keep the water warm. If you have enough space for a corner bath, get a spa.
- Pay a bit more for higher ceilings.
- I have ceiling fans in every room, but it was cheaper to get them put in later. Get a quote on this if you are interested.
We got power points installed on the side of the island kitchen bench but I wish I asked them to install them 'under the bench as they poke out and not as nice aesthetically
Great suggestions. I wanted to ask you more but you have PM disabled. How much did it cost you all up and in which city?
- Ethernet everywhere
Use CAT6
Squat toilet?!
Perfect for an ensuite in a highset house…. Cut a hole in the upstairs floor directly above the downstairs toilet with a rope to pull the lid up if someone closes it
- good insulation in the walls and ceilings
- try for plenty of natural light (skylights)
- solar panels
- powerpoints with usb points
We build ours from scratch, if i had to do it again, here's what i would add.
- One large living room and a separate study. As against many smaller living spaces.
- The tallest ceiling heights you can afford. At-least 2.7m on the ground floor.
- If you are building a double storey, make sure to have enough power points on the ground floor.
- Smart light the house to the moon or atleast future proof it in such a way that it can be done after handover.
- When you are getting the front and back yard done think long term in what would suit your needs, it is usually very expensive to replace once done (expecially if you have
concreted the whole thing) - If you have the space stretch the garage to the end of the boundary.
- Get eaves on all the sides of the house.
- Better insulation might be expensive, but will contribute to lower bills over the years.
- Get the best quality carpets with the best underlay in the bedrooms.
+1 on eaves. I have eaves on my house. It helps keep the house cooler in summer.
Hot water heat pump .. about $5K .. elec so works with solar .. unlike gas
Concrete all around, NO wood anywhere so you don’t have to bother sanding / staining
I would also invest extra and explicitly ask for a better foundation. These guys get away with doing the shittiest foundations that will still withstand the house for few years.
Do you mean footings? Foundation is the earth upon which you pour footings on to then build on top off.
… if you are going to correct someone (and I don’t have a problem with that), at least google it before you do… https://www.thespruce.com/types-of-house-foundations-1821308
Smarten everything
- lights
- plugs
- garage
- curtains
- windows/doors
- cameras
- door locks
- temp sensor
- AC
- water sensorAlso, heated floors, both tiles and timber floors, just like in Korea
I will miss my kids running commentary.