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Help me build/design a house (1 Viewer)

Just going to mention that it still confuses me, that in the US all rooms (living room, office, etc.) are called ‘bedrooms‘. 

 
Just going to mention that it still confuses me, that in the US all rooms (living room, office, etc.) are called ‘bedrooms‘. 
Not sure where you get this.  In almost every city I've been in, in order to be classified a bedroom a room must have the ability to be completely closed off from the other living areas(through a door or multiple doors).  It also must have a built in closet and a second means of egress in order to qualify.  

Now, people try and make as many bedrooms out of their house as possible before selling because most pricing is based off of number of bedrooms and bathrooms somewhat.

 
Agree with the one story wide open floor plan. 

You should also consider just building off of your current house. Here in MD all that code requires is that one wall from the original structure remains and that will save you boatloads on permits and surveying and all that Jazz.
thought about it...but kills the value of the land that way (see above)...way different code here in louisiana as well.

Ever think of putting a a 40'by60' barn, garage.  You could finish off a couple rooms for your boys as play Areas. Use the rest for toys and cars.
see above

What will you do with the old house? Sell, rent? 
see earlier response

I was thinking this same thing. If it's a ranch style, put the master on one side and the other rooms on the opposite side. This also future proofs if the parents do move in with you. Gives them sense of independence and you some privacy. 

From an electronics standpoint, I'd run as much cable to as many areas as you can. Even if you don't put an outlet in the area, it's much easier to run the cables when the walls are open. 

A couple of things that I hate in our current house. We have a corner sink in the kitchen. The dishwasher is right next to it. Making it nearly impossible to stand at the sink and load the dishwasher. If I meet the guy that designed it, I'd punch him in the face.  If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, have the house face south. I have to shovel twice as much as the guy across the street. Plus and ice or remaining snow never melts. Don't buy a lot on a golf course that is owned by the city. When we moved in, the golf course was privately owned. After annexation, the golf course sold to the city, the city leased it to someone else. They do a terrible job of mowing and maintaining the grass and trees that butt up to our property. 
:thumbup:

Agreed with Mrs. R.

Being that you want this as a "grow old in house", the first thing I thought of was "no upstairs". 

I'm 53, and while it's no big deal now, I can clearly see where our stairs will be an issue. 
yep...something to heavily debate for sure.

 
We built a house 3 years ago and building another one currently.  We are currently at the drywall stage, so it is winding down another one.  I’ve learned quite a bit in the last two builds.  Things that were important to me. No particular order, just typed them as they came to me. 

- Recess the mechanical floor couple inches.  Not hard for them to form that and pour it down further, but if you ever burst a water line/hot water heater it won’t flood the basement.  It will run down basement drain.  Cheap insurance if it would ever happen. 

- Garage door openers invest the couple $100 into side mount openers.  They are much quieter and they don’t have to take up ceiling space with the main room mounts.  We did liftmaster and then did the high track.  So the door track is higher on the ceiling to give you more space when the doors are open. 

- Screened in back porch and then extend the deck out so you get best of both worlds.  We put fireplace in the screened in porch with TV jacks above it.  

- Look at Trex new composite deck.  They make a lower cost composite that they have deeper grooves on the bottom so the material isn’t as much, but for all the decking I have it was about $1000 more to go from cedar to Trex.  No brainer so I don’t have to stain a deck again.  

- Run CAT 6 to all the TV jacks when they run the coax.  

- Insulate the interior walls.  ALL of them.  It will help the house be more soundproof. 

- Spend the money and sprayfoam.  We did a hybrid of 2” spray and then they did a wet blow in insulation to fill the rest of the cavity.  Helped keep cost down, but it is solid. 

-  Make sure you have an air exchange system or your furnace system and regulate the interior air.  Our first build was so tight the windows would sweat in the winter time because we didn’t put in an air makeup system.  

- Put stair way lights on the steps

- Put dimmers on room lights.  

- my wife is a night light nut, so we have hallway outlets with the night light built in.  Push button light that you can adjust or shut off.  $10 or $15 more on the outlet,  cheap investment. 

- Bedrooms wire in recess can lights in the corners and ceiling fan in the center. 

- put a couple electrical outlets in the soffits for Christmas lights.  

- walk the framing and think where are you going to have things and make sure you put plug ins in those locations.  

-  If you use pocket doors, make sure they don’t put your return air on the other side otherwise you don’t leave yourself a spot for light switch (learned on the first build)

- Drop gas line to deck for grill and to the garage for heater.  Even if you can’t swing the heater now, run the gas line.  

- Walk the outside and make sure you have waterhook ups in the right places.  Think where do you want to leave a hose exposed.  If you can put it around a bump out that is better to hid the hose reel.  

-  Run water hook up to garage and put drains in the floor.  

- If you have an open floor plan upstairs put outlet or two in the floor so you don’t have cords running across the walk way.  

- I learned this on the current build, but make sure your sewer and water dig team is aware where your driveway is running to they pack the back fill.  They didn’t do that in a spot and the ground settled but the driveway held.  So I need to bring in a mud jacking team and fill the void under the settled area. 

- Cabinet guy.  Look local at the small guys.  I saved over $12K by not going with the main guys, and finding a small shop one man band.  He offered to tour a couple of his homes to see the work.  After the first visit I said we didn’t need to go any further.  

-  If your hiring plumbers or electricians outside of your city, make sure they or you call the city to ask if there are any local codes that they need to be aware of.  learned this the hardway on my current build.  Put in the wrong sewer and the water line wasn’t type K copper. 

- Seal the driveway to prevent the pitting from the salt.  that is something cheap that you can do. 

- Spend some time and make the rooms unique.  Don’t just build a house with 12 x 12 bedroom, 16 x 14 master and all drywall. Put some materials not he ceiling or walls to make the house have some character.  Pinterest if you are struggling.  For example this house we are theming off the farmhouse with ship lap vaulted living room with rustic beam. 

That’s all I can think of that is worth putting down.   Good luck in your build. 
solid stuff....not all applies in my area, but appreciate the input!

 
- one last thing that will save you in the future.  Run a couple 2” PVC pipes from the mechanical room will into the attic if you ever want to run some additional cabeling in the future after the build you have an easy access from mechanical room into the attic to drop the lines where ever you want.  
without a doubt.  i learned this the hard way after lightning fried a few in wall hdmi cables

 
I'm not sure where things are in the industry, but cat6 may not be cutting edge. I bought a 30 ft extension to replace a faulty cat5 last week. The cost between cat5 and cat7 was minimal. So I went cat7. Not sure if I I will need it. :shrug:

 
thought about it...but kills the value of the land that way (see above)...way different code here in louisiana as well.
Why is that? I’m not suggesting you’re wrong just curious as to why that is? 

ETA - I didn’t see anything “above” that discussed this but I did eat two gummies an hour ago. 

 
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Why is that? I’m not suggesting you’re wrong just curious as to why that is? 

ETA - I didn’t see anything “above” that discussed this but I did eat two gummies an hour ago. 
I own the land in full.  If I renovate my current house and extend to that property, that kills the optimization of the value of the  use of the land.  If I were to build a new house on the land, I can use that entire value towards the building cost of the house.  

 
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Did you ever end up getting one? I know you had a thread asking about them a while back.
I didn’t. It turns out our gas line into the house isn’t sufficiently rated for it — not wide enough pipes/can’t push enough gas through to meet code. We’d have to tear out the gas lines all and replace them massively expensive job. Hoping Tesla roof and powerwall will eventually be my solution. 

 
I'm not sure where things are in the industry, but cat6 may not be cutting edge. I bought a 30 ft extension to replace a faulty cat5 last week. The cost between cat5 and cat7 was minimal. So I went cat7. Not sure if I I will need it. :shrug:
Everything is going wireless. Why need any of this at this point?

 
Lots of good ones so far.

I’ll reiterate sprayfoam insulation. IMO it should be required for all new houses. Makes houses stronger, quieter, no drafts and virtually eliminates pests.

If you’re in a cool weather climate there is nothing better than infloor heat, especially in the basement, tiled areas and garage. We have a geothermal closed loop system that runs our heat and AC. 

 
We have a corner sink in the kitchen. The dishwasher is right next to it. Making it nearly impossible to stand at the sink and load the dishwasher. If I meet the guy that designed it, I'd punch him in the face.
WTF?  Can I get in the punching line right behind you?  That's just nuts.

 
I’ll reiterate sprayfoam insulation.
Me, too.  We live in Houston.  This stuff helps keep AC costs surprisingly reasonable.  Even the AC guy said the attic space isn't all that hot in a Houston summer.  For  a 1900 sq ft house, it was $186 in August and $213 in September for the electricity.

You might consider 10 foot ceilings.  I didn't know I cared until I got them.

 
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Prewire roof for solar, even if you don't install it immediately, same for security system/cameras.

Motion activated night lights in the bedrooms/bathrooms/closets/stairs.  Don't need much light at night and it sucks to be woken by someone else turning on a light to go piss.

If you're planning on a huge kitchen island... outlet for the middle of it.  They make ones that can hide when not needed now and it'll save headaches when prepping/cooking etc.

Large PVC pipe under the driveway... Never know what future plans will bring.  Always easier to preplan for them than to cut out part of your driveway to make them work.

Any and all Smart home/ease of use systems....  Make absolutely certain they are ready for future upgrades.  Don't build in anything that will be obsolete in 5 years.  It may be cool now, but make sure it's a 10 minute job to replace it with it's better counterpart in the future.

 
Agree with the Cat6 wiring.  Also plenty of can lights.  They are inexpensive and provide plenty of light add dimmers to them.  Built 2 years ago and the best thing we did was a walk in pantry.  Walk in shower in the master bath a must too.  

 
If you're planning on a huge kitchen island... outlet for the middle of it.  They make ones that can hide when not needed now and it'll save headaches when prepping/cooking etc.
I've seen these are they are really cool. Not just in an island, but also in wall-adjacent counters - nice if you don't want outlets in your back splash.

 
I built 3 years ago and have a list of stuff I wish I did differently.  Same age as you and the Wife, but boys are 8&5.  We love our school district and can sell for a nice profit right now so I am very tempted to build again but prices are crazy.  We built for $150sqft and houses are selling for $170-180sqft now

1.  I would have had the area above the garage framed out for an additional room if ever needed.  I need it now...

2.  Electrical outlets and hose bibs.  Make sure they are strategic in where they are located.

3. Soffit plugs for Cmas lights mentioned earlier.

4. A full 3rd car garage for a wood shop or whatever with a mini split A/C unit.

5.  A hidden room built in a bookcase somewhere.  Not sure why I just think it’s cool.

5.  Solid doors to the bedrooms to keep noise down.

6.  A hood above my outdoor kitchen to catch all of the smoke from the burgers.

7.  A big *** fan outside and a misting system.

8.  One electrical / component closet.

9. Lights in the soffits.  I may or may not have Hue bulbs that flash purple and gold when the Tigers score.🤐

10. Outdoor kitchen stuff in general.  Check out bbq guys.com.  They are in BR. I picked up my outdoor fridge from them.

11.  A full size single basin sink outside so I can wash things easier etc.

12.  Epoxy that garage floor.

13.  I am very intrigued by solar shingles.

14. Whole home generator or at least have a transfer switch wired in.

15.  PVC in the walls for cable runs.  PVC/cat 6 to possible WiFi access points.

16. Wooden plantation shutters all the way around. These are $$.

17.  Plenty of garage lighting.

18.  Ritz cracker throwing court.

19.  I will have a rainfall style shower one day.

20.  Pot filler over the stove.

21.  Prepper size pantry.

22.  Auto sprinklers.

23.  I would love a 6 burner gas grill with a small griddle to one side.

24.  Double wall ovens.

25.  If doing bar stools make sure the edge they overhang faces the TV.  I like to watch the game when I am cooking.

I am sure I am missing a ton.

 
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I built 3 years ago and have a list of stuff I wish I did differently.  Same age as you and the Wife, but boys are 8&5.  We love our school district and can sell for a nice profit right now so I am very tempted to build again but prices are crazy.  We built for $150sqft and houses are selling for $170-180sqft now

1.  I would have had the area above the garage framed out for an additional room if ever needed.  I need it now...

2.  Electrical outlets and hose bibs.  Make sure they are strategic in where they are located.

3. Soffit plugs for Cmas lights mentioned earlier.

4. A full 3rd car garage for a wood shop or whatever with a mini split A/C unit.

5.  A hidden room built in a bookcase somewhere.  Not sure why I just think it’s cool.

5.  Solid doors to the bedrooms to keep noise down.

6.  A hood above my outdoor kitchen to catch all of the smoke from the burgers.

7.  A big *** fan outside and a misting system.

8.  One electrical / component closet.

9. Lights in the soffits.  I may or may not have Hue bulbs that flash purple and gold when the Tigers score.🤐

10. Outdoor kitchen stuff in general.  Check out bbq guys.com.  They are in BR. I picked up my outdoor fridge from them.

11.  A full size single basin sink outside so I can wash things easier etc.

12.  Epoxy that garage floor.

13.  I am very intrigued by solar shingles.

14. Whole home generator or at least have a transfer switch wired in.

15.  PVC in the walls for cable runs.  PVC/cat 6 to possible WiFi access points.

16. Wooden plantation shutters all the way around. These are $$.

17.  Plenty of garage lighting.

18.  Ritz cracker throwing court.

19.  I will have a rainfall style shower one day.

20.  Pot filler over the stove.

21.  Prepper size pantry.

22.  Auto sprinklers.

23.  I would love a 6 burner gas grill with a small griddle to one side.

24.  Double wall ovens.

25.  If doing bar stools make sure the edge they overhang faces the TV.  I like to watch the game when I am cooking.

I am sure I am missing a ton.
#5 is a winner.  You can at least change out the doors you have.

#13  What on Earth are solar shingles?  Link?

#16  Mr R wanted these and I didn't really care.  I care now.  They are fantastic.  Ours have a magnetic latch for window cleaning.

Toss those Ritz Crackers.

 
Me, too.  We live in Houston.  This stuff helps keep AC costs surprisingly reasonable.  Even the AC guy said the attic space isn't all that hot in a Houston summer.  For  a 1900 sq ft house, it was $186 in August and $213 in September for the electricity.

You might consider 10 foot ceilings.  I didn't know I cared until I got them.
yep, have both in current house :thumbup:

 
Prewire roof for solar, even if you don't install it immediately, same for security system/cameras.

Motion activated night lights in the bedrooms/bathrooms/closets/stairs.  Don't need much light at night and it sucks to be woken by someone else turning on a light to go piss.

If you're planning on a huge kitchen island... outlet for the middle of it.  They make ones that can hide when not needed now and it'll save headaches when prepping/cooking etc.

Large PVC pipe under the driveway... Never know what future plans will bring.  Always easier to preplan for them than to cut out part of your driveway to make them work.

Any and all Smart home/ease of use systems....  Make absolutely certain they are ready for future upgrades.  Don't build in anything that will be obsolete in 5 years.  It may be cool now, but make sure it's a 10 minute job to replace it with it's better counterpart in the future.
Good stuff.  May be a dumb question, but can you elaborate on the bolded.  I tried to google some pictures, but I don't think I'm looking or the right thing.  If you get a sec, can you send a link?

Thx

 
Good stuff.  May be a dumb question, but can you elaborate on the bolded.  I tried to google some pictures, but I don't think I'm looking or the right thing.  If you get a sec, can you send a link?

Thx
Just Google “pop up outlet”

 
I built 3 years ago and have a list of stuff I wish I did differently.  Same age as you and the Wife, but boys are 8&5.  We love our school district and can sell for a nice profit right now so I am very tempted to build again but prices are crazy.  We built for $150sqft and houses are selling for $170-180sqft now

1.  I would have had the area above the garage framed out for an additional room if ever needed.  I need it now...

2.  Electrical outlets and hose bibs.  Make sure they are strategic in where they are located.

3. Soffit plugs for Cmas lights mentioned earlier.

4. A full 3rd car garage for a wood shop or whatever with a mini split A/C unit.

5.  A hidden room built in a bookcase somewhere.  Not sure why I just think it’s cool.

5.  Solid doors to the bedrooms to keep noise down.

6.  A hood above my outdoor kitchen to catch all of the smoke from the burgers.

7.  A big *** fan outside and a misting system.

8.  One electrical / component closet.

9. Lights in the soffits.  I may or may not have Hue bulbs that flash purple and gold when the Tigers score.🤐

10. Outdoor kitchen stuff in general.  Check out bbq guys.com.  They are in BR. I picked up my outdoor fridge from them.

11.  A full size single basin sink outside so I can wash things easier etc.

12.  Epoxy that garage floor.

13.  I am very intrigued by solar shingles.

14. Whole home generator or at least have a transfer switch wired in.

15.  PVC in the walls for cable runs.  PVC/cat 6 to possible WiFi access points.

16. Wooden plantation shutters all the way around. These are $$.

17.  Plenty of garage lighting.

18.  Ritz cracker throwing court.

19.  I will have a rainfall style shower one day.

20.  Pot filler over the stove.

21.  Prepper size pantry.

22.  Auto sprinklers.

23.  I would love a 6 burner gas grill with a small griddle to one side.

24.  Double wall ovens.

25.  If doing bar stools make sure the edge they overhang faces the TV.  I like to watch the game when I am cooking.

I am sure I am missing a ton.
awesome, thanks :thumbup:

 
Everything is going wireless. Why need any of this at this point?
Again, I'm not sure where the industry is going. If it's wireless, great. But, I believe that there will still be wired connections needs. I'd rather have it ran during construction than try to run after the walls are full of spray foam.

Thinking about my network, we have lines from modem to router (2 wired ports in use)- router to 8 port un-managed switch (8 ports used) - switch to 4 port un-managed switch in office (2 ports used). Also have over a dozen pieces of equipment that could be connected to wifi at any given time (roku, google home, alexa dot, chromecasts, fire sticks, cell phones, tablets, laptops, printer). I couldn't go to just wireless without updating some equipment. Plus, I like being able to plug a cable in and get a connection. If there is a conflict with wifi setup, it can take time to get everything to play nice. 

 
If you live in a hurricane or tornado prone area, consider building out of concrete. I lived on Okinawa where we would get hit by several typhoons each year. Damage was minimal because most of the buildings were concrete.

 
Mrs. Rannous said:
#5 is a winner.  You can at least change out the doors you have.

#13  What on Earth are solar shingles?  Link?

#16  Mr R wanted these and I didn't really care.  I care now.  They are fantastic.  Ours have a magnetic latch for window cleaning.

Toss those Ritz Crackers.
I haven’t looked into them in depth but here you go.

https://www.tesla.com/solarroof

 
KCitons said:
Again, I'm not sure where the industry is going. If it's wireless, great. But, I believe that there will still be wired connections needs. I'd rather have it ran during construction than try to run after the walls are full of spray foam.

Thinking about my network, we have lines from modem to router (2 wired ports in use)- router to 8 port un-managed switch (8 ports used) - switch to 4 port un-managed switch in office (2 ports used). Also have over a dozen pieces of equipment that could be connected to wifi at any given time (roku, google home, alexa dot, chromecasts, fire sticks, cell phones, tablets, laptops, printer). I couldn't go to just wireless without updating some equipment. Plus, I like being able to plug a cable in and get a connection. If there is a conflict with wifi setup, it can take time to get everything to play nice. 
Agreed - Wired >>> WiFi.

On a semi related note when moved into this house 16 years ago I disconnected the antenna on my roof from the control box hidden behind an access panel thinking “nobody is watching stuff over the air anymore”. Boy was I an idiot. I cut the cable about 5 years ago and now I have those crappy HD antennas on the backs of all our TVs which all need to be adjusted for different channels. 

When I get some time I’m going to reconnect the roof antenna to the box that mechanically rotates the antenna again.  

 
Agreed - Wired >>> WiFi.

On a semi related note when moved into this house 16 years ago I disconnected the antenna on my roof from the control box hidden behind an access panel thinking “nobody is watching stuff over the air anymore”. Boy was I an idiot. I cut the cable about 5 years ago and now I have those crappy HD antennas on the backs of all our TVs which all need to be adjusted for different channels. 

When I get some time I’m going to reconnect the roof antenna to the box that mechanically rotates the antenna again.  
I wish I had one of those. We cut the cable probably 8-10 years ago. I'm one of the luck few, my wife doesn't care about cable channels. She's happy with just the local channels (and an occasional Netfilx movie) Chasing signals can be a pain at times.

@Tiger Fan this might be something to add to the list. Run cable and have an OTA antenna installed in the attic. If your cable or satellite goes down, you can still get weather updates or local coverage of sports. 

 
A few more things--

1) May not be necessary for you, but if you run the heat for any significant time where you are, built in home humidifier. So worth it.

2) Conduits (like pvc) anywhere you may have to run any wires. The wires may change with technology, but this allowed you to change them without having to cut drywall, fish them out, etc. 

3) Timer for bathroom vent fan switch. You should always run the fan during a shower to clear moisture. Get a switch with a timer so you don't have to go back and turn it off. Especially if you shower right before leaving.

4) Timers for outside lights if you plan on having/using them.

 
Make sure you have enough amperage in your electrical service to handle 2-3x the Tesla home charging station needs.  No reason to skip on the drop.

 
3) Timer for bathroom vent fan switch. You should always run the fan during a shower to clear moisture. Get a switch with a timer so you don't have to go back and turn it off. Especially if you shower right before leaving.
Even better is a vent fan with a built in humidistat so you don’t have to worry about turning on or off. 

Turns on automatically when gets to a certain humidity level and turns off automatically when gets back to desired humidity level.  If you have kids, this is a must IMO.  I just installed this one recently after some research . recommended  

https://www.homedepot.com/p/NuTone-Roomside-Series-DC-110-CFM-Ceiling-Bathroom-Exhaust-Fan-with-LED-Light-CleanCover-and-Humidity-Sensing-ENERGY-STAR-AERN110DCSL/307771439

 
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offdee said:
Even better is a vent fan with a built in humidistat so you don’t have to worry about turning on or off. 

Turns on automatically when gets to a certain humidity level and turns off automatically when gets back to desired humidity level.  If you have kids, this is a must IMO.  I just installed this one recently after some research . recommended  

https://www.homedepot.com/p/NuTone-Roomside-Series-DC-110-CFM-Ceiling-Bathroom-Exhaust-Fan-with-LED-Light-CleanCover-and-Humidity-Sensing-ENERGY-STAR-AERN110DCSL/307771439
How does the light work? Our fans are operated by wall switch. With this unit, if the switch is on, does the light only turn on when the fan operates?

 
How does the light work? Our fans are operated by wall switch. With this unit, if the switch is on, does the light only turn on when the fan operates?
You have 2 manual switches connected to it

1) light

2) fan manual (to take stank out when needed)

then there is a third wire not on a switch (hard wire it inside outlet box to always be live) which turns on and off the fan by humidity sensor. 

See pic below...I have 3 switches in my bathroom  (main light over vanity is big one on right and then two small on left operate the ceiling light and ceiling fan) 

https://flic.kr/p/2hoonJW

ETA: the light is a bright led, but can be put on a dimmer switch if too bright

 
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You have 2 manual switches connected to it

1) light

2) fan manual (to take stank out when needed)

then there is a third wire not on a switch (hard wire it inside outlet box to always be live) which turns on and off the fan by humidity sensor. 

See pic below...I have 3 switches in my bathroom  (main light over vanity is big one on right and then two small on left operate the ceiling light and ceiling fan) 

https://flic.kr/p/2hoonJW

ETA: the light is a bright led, but can be put on a dimmer switch if too bright
That's pretty sweet.  I would've never even know that existed.  Thanks!

 
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I'm not sure where things are in the industry, but cat6 may not be cutting edge. I bought a 30 ft extension to replace a faulty cat5 last week. The cost between cat5 and cat7 was minimal. So I went cat7. Not sure if I I will need it. :shrug:
Cat 6 = 1Gbps

Cat 6a = 10Gbps

Cat 7 = 10Gbps +

Cat 8 = 40Gbps

I could see needing Cat 7 at some point with so I'd probably run that instead of Cat 6 or 6a especially to your wiring closet from the internet termination.

 
Everything is going wireless. Why need any of this at this point?
Because you have to have some type of back haul, can't all be done over wireless and wired speeds are significantly faster than wireless. I'd run it from where the internet terminates in the house to a wiring/telco/whatever you'd like to call it and if you want it any rooms like to your media closets/home theater room run a few runs there.

 
Because you have to have some type of back haul, can't all be done over wireless and wired speeds are significantly faster than wireless. I'd run it from where the internet terminates in the house to a wiring/telco/whatever you'd like to call it and if you want it any rooms like to your media closets/home theater room run a few runs there.
So help a dummy wire this.

The way my house is designed I could actually run cat cable to all of my TV's or computers. Is it simply: Run a cat cable directly from the router to your device? So cat cable from router to TV (if it has a plug in)? Cat wire to xbox? Etc....

 
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So help a dummy wire this.

The way my house is designed I could actually run cat cable to all of my TV's or computers. Is it simply: Run a cat cable directly from the router to your device? So cat cable from router to TV (if it has a plug in)? Cat wire to xbox? Etc....
It's not quite that simple. Typically, everything is connected to a switch. Most routers will have one but usually it's like 4 ports which really isn't enough. Generally speaking the cable runs are terminated into a patch panel (numbered panel) in the wiring closet/telco/whatever you want to call it and on the opposite end terminated into a wall jack. Then you connect the patch panel into the switch and the device into wall jack.

 
A nice but often overlooked upgrade is soft-close doors/drawers on cabinets.

Try to go solar. Think of roof line for southern exposure. For panels, Panansonic is making some excellent high-efficient panels that are comparable to SunPower but significantly less expensive.

May be required by code, but make sure there is a quick water turnoff valve at main house water entry (often in garage or kitchen pantry). 

 
Add onto the current house and turn the lot into an entire man land!  A garden ofn dudes hanging out talking home automation, basking in whole home wifi, grilling meats, and drinking white claws!!!!

 
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