As a builder, I can tell you that saunas, an item no "luxury" home was once without, would have to rate at the top of the deck. Or is that bottom of the barrel? There's one in our current home, circa 1963. Like other people I know who inherited them, I find it makes a dandy storage room.

If I weren't tearing the whole place down, I'd remove the dated and wasteful wood-burning fireplaces too.

A hot tub, is also a neutral to negative, as is a pool in cooler climates. Some specialty kitchen appliances such as indoor grilles, built-in coffee stations and the like, re not desired by everyone. I have read one of the least utilized items over its lifespan is the large jetted tub in the master suite. Giant multispray showers that require a dedicated water heater may be headed in the same direction over the long run.

Thanks for the ideas. Yes, I had heard that those big whirlpool tubs were not really in favor anymore.

And I can vouch for the sauna. Anything else come to mind?

Granite is definitely still "in" for now. Every slab is unique and beautiful - I call it "kitchen bling". If you ask this question in the kitchen remodeling forum, you'll get tons of responses.

In my opinion, most remodeled kitchens and baths add a tremendous amount of great, updated and useful features.

The items I think are overhyped and expensive beyond sensibility are the new front-loading washing machines. They supposedly slice, dice and etc, but do they REALLY wash clothes any better than the much simpler front loader types? I don't think so. More electronics and features than most people will ever need - and more electronics inevitably mean more (and more expensive) repairs. The top-loading machines have simple and streamlined moving parts. They are mechanical as opposed to electronic, hence cheaper to repair and can last forever with once-in-a-while replacement parts.

Tankless water heaters are also over-hyped, expensive and klugey items.

Pedestal sinks in bathrooms are yucky (like my grasp of the English language?) - they give you no storage, don't hide the plumbing and are just cheap items pushed as trends by cost-cutting contractors and designers.

High-end (very expensive) stoves are also on my list of amazingly useless items. They suck electricity and don't cook your food better than any old stove.

IMO laminate flooring is the worst stuff ever dreamt up.
"let's make formica for floors!" Ermm, no.
Casey

Casey, I believe laminate flooring is the flooring of the near future - it is "greener" and more sustainable if you go for that kind of thing, is all the rage in Europe because of those things and the fact that Europe favors a more modern design aesthetic than we do (we are still stuck on "traditional" and "tuscan" etc.), and has improved immensely in design and durability over the past few years.

You are certain to receive varying mileages! Unlike gina w I think front loaders are the only way to go, but then I've been using them happily for the last 40 years! I also can't imagine ever reverting to a tank type water heater, again I have many, many years of experience of tankless, and live in a climate where they make even more sense.
I do wish we had never installed the behemoth whirlpool tub. In almost 4 years I have never used it and DH has used it no more than 5 times!

One person's treasure is another person's trash. Hashing it over is a pointless exercise but it just won't die.

Well, we have a swimming pool (in Pennsylvania) and we're installing a whirlpool bath in our addition that we're building, but we apparently like water than most! I think that formal living rooms that nobody ever uses are a giant waste of space and furniture. But I do agree that the appliances that are super-electronic are going to be the most problematic. My mom still uses her microwave that we bought when I was a kid and they first came out. It has a dial to set the time, a dial to set the level and a button to open the door. That's it, and it works fine. My new dishwasher has more lights than the space shuttle and I cringe every time I wonder what will happen when the buttons and lights stop working!

"I believe laminate flooring is the flooring of the near future - it is "greener" and more sustainable if you go for that kind of thing"

Trees for hardwood flooring continue to grow and be replaced in the US.

overhyped and expensive beyond sensibility are the new front-loading washing machines

I saw how efficient front loaders were when I was writing about laundromats and institutional laundries in the 1970s for American Laundry Digest.They use a fraction of the water, detergent and electricity of top loaders. I wondered how long it would take for individuals to catch on.

I can only speak about my market. Here, bubble air tubs have taken over from the whirlpool types. They require no special maintenance and they don't sound like you're "relaxing" near the blades of a power boat.

Melamine on the top and bottom of laminate flooring is a thermosetting plastic so it cannot be recycled by melting.

Laminate flooring uses a lot of energy to produce high temperatures and pressures. It's primary advantages are that it is cheap, looks good in photos, and can be installed by anyone. It's disadvantages are that it looks cheap and fake, cannot be repaired and if it gets seriously wet the edges swell permanently.

If you can afford to build a new house you can afford a better flooring material.

Wow, strong feelings about laminate! I guess you either love it or hate it.

Are there any other features that you either haven't used, or wound up costing way more than you thought?

How about attic to bedroom conversions? Mother-in-law suites? Whole house vacuums? Everyone seems to love or hate those....Outdoor kitchens? Indoor grills, pizza ovens or rotisseries?

Any other remodeling horror stories, or projects that SEEMED like a good idea at the time? :)

We remodeled the master bath in old house about 12-13 yrs ago, put in air tub. Was nice for a while, but then after having kids seemed like the kids used it more than I did! The water got cold too. Put in a small but deep soaking tub in new house instead (haven't used it yet - have to tile and put in faucet), with a separate shower.

The only "feature" we put into the new house that I wish we hadn't was the electric radiant heat in the kitchen. Works great, and it was an ($800 installed) experiment to see if we wanted it in the master bath (we do!). But not really necessary in that area (sink to range) b/c HVAC installer put kickspace vent under sink and that warms the tile enough. I put it in b/c old house didn't have heat in the kitchen, had electric BB in eat-in part but none in working part. New house has forced hot air (geothermal).

The *bad* thing about the supply vent under the kitchen sink - the tile/my feet get cold in summer when the AC is on! So maybe the solution would have been to keep the radiant heat and skip the vent in that location?

Electric under floor heat should not be used to heat a room; a hydronic system should be used instead. Electric mats should be used for warming a cold floor on a timer where you will be barefooted for a short time. With properly designed heat in the flooring, HVAC supply air grills should not be placed in the cabinet kickspace.

There is no excuse for a bad design and it should not be considered a bad feature.

In my experience, the most important element missing from most home designs is professional design input. Because of the high cost of building a home you would think that would be a prerequisite but it is not.

the most important element missing from most home designs is professional design input

But didn't you know that everyone --especially when they're a professional themselves and are stinking rich--is an architect/designer when it comes to having their own home custom built?

My favourite was a buyer who, amongst other changes, insisted that the builder redesign the HVAC system so that you could actually feel a breeze coming from the ducts. He then walked from his $125,000 deposit; the builder moved in and suffered with this nonsensical design for several years.

(BTW, the vent in the kickplate mentioned above was the homeowner's idea.)

The vent in the kickplate was NOT my idea, the radiant heat was. And just to warm the cold tile, not to heat the room. What I was saying was that I didn't need both, so the radiant heat was a waste of $. It will be very nice in the master bath though (which has forced hot air in the ceiling).

I am putting in another vote in favour of frontloading washing machines. Not only do they use less water and less detergent they are also much gentler on your clothes than a top loader because they tumble the clothes and there is no agitator to rough up the fabrics.

I read in a kitchen remodel article a few years ago that one thing people often regret paying for is a breakfast bar. The designer said his/her clients say they never use it because they prefer to sit at a table. Personally I hate the things. They make me feel like I'm sitting at a diner lunch counter if I'm the guest and if I'm the cook I don't want to feel like a short-order cook taking orders for eggs!

And having watched far too many episodes of Househunters and similar shows I will say that the most wasteful extravagance in American houses is the duplications of rooms and functions. A formal living room and a family room: guess which one is never used or is so formal guests feel uncomfortable there. A formal dining room, a breakfast table in the kitchen and a breakfast bar: how often do people have so many guests that they need three places to eat? And again guess which one rarely or never gets used because most people don't give formal dinners anymore.
A four bedroom house with four bathrooms! Does each person really need their own private room that is used only for half an hour or so a day? I could go on, but you get the picture.

Worse home project is definitely what the previous owner of my house did to cover his awful and old laminated countertop: he had them painted with a paint finish that included some sort of sand or something that felt like sand! Gross!!!! What waste of money! I refused to use these counters and used this excuse to completely redo my kitchen. The worse old fashion kitchen idea ever invented were "soffits" which were installed over cabinets to reduce the cost!!! Another waste!

i wish i had installed a hot tub outside instead of the whirlpool in the master bath. but the best features are the steam shower and the bidet. i cannot understand why americans don't all install bidets. they are so nice to use, even if only for shaving legs and foot washing!

ajsmama

Sorry I didn't realize the "it" was referring to two sentences back.

I've put in radiant electric mats in bathrooms when the homeowner insisted on it. I know some brands have a 25 year warranty, but if this doesn't cover the cost of wrecking your tile, then redoing it, big deal.

I remember an electrician who proudly showed me his own basement done with electric radiant. Instant heat. I noticed when he sold his home a couple years later, the radiant was kaput.

Yes, "it" was referring to the "feature" under discussion. It is a nice feature since we go barefoot, wish I had put it in the rest of the kitchen (and the general bath), though we don't need it in the area near the air supply.

Before we install electric heat mat in the master bath, can you clarify your comment about longevity? Are these prone to breakage? I figured once it was installed (provided that wires were not broken during installation) there would be no problems. Is there a problem with the floor flexing and breaking the wires? Did the basement slab shift and break the wires?

Hot water radiant is not an option on the 2nd floor, and I'd *really* like warm tile in the master bath. Thanks