Something I think would have been easy for us to forget: a flood light pointed at the driveway to help with snow clearing in the evening and early morning. Obviously this isn't needed everywhere. :)

Please link the original thread. Because, it was a good one!

This topic never gets old! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Original Thread

Love it! Copied the entire thing! Going to re-read and make my own list.

Thanks
Loribug

yep, thanks Autumn.4 for catching the original thread for me.
I actually thought I had linked it, but when I went to find this thread I couldn't find it either. Computer has a mind of its own!!

The original link is excellent!

Love the flood light suggestion too, z4n, so true. ;)

We are the 2nd owners of our current home. I was surprised when we first looked at the home, to find that it has two sinks in the kitchen (this is neither a large kitchen nor a large, expensive home). One sink is a double basin with one really large deep side and one smaller (but still good sized) deep basin. This sink is in the corner between the dishwasher and range...angled, so there is space between the back of the sink and the corner. The other sink is a single, large, deep basin and is in the island...but really only a turn around and a step away from the other sink. Both the largest of the double-basin and the sink in the island have garbage disposals in them. After living with this arrangement, I cannot imagine EVER living in a home with only 1 sink in the kitchen! If you are in the planning stages of a home, you might consider this arrangement. It's great when we've got a houseful of people, was a life-saver when the disposal in one sink died (on Thanksgiving, of course!), and even when I work in the kitchen alone I find myself using both sinks.

We don't have snow problems here, but outdoor flood lights are still useful for any number of reasons: Loading/unloading the car after dark, searching for a lost something, playing basketball after dark. Oh, and security. Even if they're only used once every month or so, I would never skip flood lights.

wow cbw....I never thought of putting two full size sinks in, although if I get my way I'll have one in the bar also, which is just steps away from the kitchen. Our builder did say, to look for a full size, b/c sometimes they can be bought cheaper than the small "prep/bar" sinks!

Food for thought!!

What a great topic. I've included several of the ideas in my remodel including: electric outlet near the toilet for an upgrade to a washlet, recessed hidden storage areas with electric outlet in bathroom for hiding the electric toothbrush, water pik etc, recessed area for fire extinguisher, doubling the amt of electric outlets that I thought I would need. switching to a tankless water heater, and putting a mini pantry under the stairwell located right outside the kitchen.

Take pictures during construction so you can find electrical or plumbing lines if/when needed.

Put a small PVC pipe under driveways (in several places) and sidewalks (near house) in order to install outdoor lighting, driving gates, well, etc that need power. Be sure to mark them somehow, so you can find later (not always easy with pictures!)

Put an outdoor electrical outlet at your dog enclosure for dog house outdoor warming pad and/or defrosting water bowl. (Yes, this dog comes in when it's cold - to his HVAC garage kennel.)

Don't underestimate needed storage area.

One thing that I read on here, quite some time ago... If you have a water closet, it is helpful for the door to swing out. If a person were to collapse and be unconscious, etc., they could end up blocking the door, barring entrance.

Santa here. Run a circuit for a receptacle up near the roof ( I hide mine under the soffit behind the downspout.) for Christmas lights, can also be used other things including snow and ice melt if your gutters to to freeze up.

Marji!!

You made me remember that's on my list too!

Thank you :)

Things I want to remember
A plug near the front porch for seasonal decorations.
Plan out placement of thermostats so they are not eyesores

Electrical outlets on the eaves of your home. They are great when hanging Christmas lights -- no need for extension cords!

This is a great solution for a small room where adding a regular door takes up too much space.

I don't think this is small forgotten thing, but maybe a solution to make a room larger.

Inside Barn Doors (sliding)

This post was edited by cricket49 on Thu, Jan 9, 14 at 16:47

Think about aging.... wider doors, higher toilets, grab bars in the bathrooms, curved handled door knobs, lowering the light switches and raising the plug ins (in case you'd be in a wheelchair at any time in the future). My Mom was going to live with us after my current house was built. The stock plan has a short wall in the kitchen with only a pantry and refrigerator on that wall. I had the builder put in a pull out bread board between the top and bottom of the pantry (half way up). Mom pulls out the bread board and uses it as a shelf to put things on when she's in the refrigerator. Also, we've found having more drawers in the kitchen rather than cabinets has made life better. Instead of a bank of four drawers, one standard drawer plus two larger ones below gives us better storage.
Also, having an outside plug and water bib on each side of the house is very useful. My house has only a crawl space and a friend suggested I have the contractor put PVC pipes through one wall in each side of the house (and have them capped, of course). This way, if I need to have wires going through the foundation wall, a pathway is already in place.

My kitchen has stairs leading down to the basement... inserted in the wall opposite the railing are three "cabinets" about 5" deep inserted between the studs and finished with doors with piano hinges and a press to release latch.

Absolutely perfect for canned goods, jars of Mayo, fruit, etc. Takes up zero usable space and augments the pantry.

In our house, the main floor has 2 bedrooms-the master & one other room we would use a nursery. Since we plan on four kids, there are 4 bedrooms upstairs & the main floor nursery would essentially stay a nursery until all 4 kids were big enough to be on a separate floor from us.

For safety, we plan to put all electrical outlets in that room at chair rail height so we don't have to worry about little ones sticking their fingers in. Ditto for the playroom.

Ah, this is a great thread, and I'm glad to see it come around again . . .

To add to Linda's thoughts about planning a house in which to age, we just lost my grandmother, who lived to be not quite 100. In caring for her, I saw things that were /weren't easy for her, and I've filed those thoughts away for our house project. Doorways and hallways weren't even remotely a problem for her; likewise, she never had trouble with outlets. These are the things that did give her pause:

- The bathroom was her biggest problem, and it was also the place where she did not want help! While she was in her old house, stepping into the tub was difficult for her. She had a shower chair and could pull the curtain around herself, but raising her legs up over the tub ledge was next to impossible. When she moved, her walk-in shower was better . . . but it would've been better still if it had been a true no-barrier entry. She put her shower chair into the shower, but it was cramped. A BIG, accessible shower should be tops on the list of every person concerned with aging in place.

- Her at-home toilet was easy for her because it was not jammed into a closet. She could scoot her walker right up to it, and then she had a handrail on the wall. However, she was forced to wear Depends when we went out because getting in /out of a bathroom stall in a restaurant /store was difficult /time consuming for her.

- Changes in flooring, even small increments like a 1" threshhold between carpet and tile, was a difficulty for her.

- One of the things that helped her most in going in/out of the house (where one step was unavoidable) was a grab bar both inside and outside the door.

- We were glad that she had a garage with ONE big door rather than two small doors. This meant that whoever was driving her could pull into the center of the garage, allowing her ample room to move around the edges with her walker.

- In her last year, she started to use a wheelchair when she left the house, but inside she still used only her walker -- I think this is very typical. She had a little spot right by the door that was PERFECT for storing a wheelchair. If she hadn't had that little spot, the wheelchair would've been knocking around in people's way all the time. If you think you might need an electric wheelchair (or Rascal, or whatever), plan an electrical outlet in this spot so it can charge.

That's what comes to mind at the moment. I may think of more later.

Paige, I'd think twice about putting ALL your electrical outlets mid-wall. Kids are only small for a short time, and you can block off outlets (personally, mine never even noticed them, so this was never a problem for us at all), but you don't really want all your electric cords to be "so visible" constantly. Some are hidden behind sofas, beds, whatever -- but think about where this is appropriate and where it would be an eyesore.

Paige, I agree with Mrs Pete. This is only a concern for a few years tops and during that time, those little plastic inserts work fine. I'd much rather has the outlets at a standard height.

Paige, please use tamper-resistant outlets. You might be required by code to do so anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: Video on tamper-resistant receptacles