Tips for Dream Homes

You would think a spacious and well-designed pantry is in every home. Think again!
Tips for Dream Homes
DEAR TIM: My husband and I are about to build our dream home. We want to get it right and are afraid some design mistakes will pop up after we move in. Is it possible to build the perfect house? Surely you discovered some must-have design features that worked well in the houses you built. Will you share a few? Veronica B., Lansing, MI
DEAR VERONICA: Building the perfect home is possible, but only if you can do it twice! I have gotten very close to building the perfect home for certain clients but eventually they find one or two things they would do differently if given the chance. If you are really serious about building the perfect home you should consider building what you think will work and live in it for three years. Within that time period you will discover the pesky flaws and can start to build the final product. But, very few people can afford to do this, so let's try to get it right the first time.
Some of the most bothersome problems are the easiest to fix. Hallways in many houses are almost always too small. Frequently architects or designers stick with the building code minimum width of three feet. In my experience, hallways work best when they are a minimum of four feet six inches wide. Stairways are the same. Try to make them as wide as possible.
Doorways into rooms tend to be problem areas. The minimum width a door should be for rooms that contain furniture is two feet eight inches. Do not overlook the benefits of pocket doors. They can be used in many situations and they free up nine square feet of room space in almost all instances. Be sure to use a pocket door frame that has metal stud channels. These frames will not warp over time. Be sure the electrician places wall switches on an extra block of 2 by 4 material so that wide door casings can be used to trim doors.
Your foundation, crawl space or foundation slab are also very important. Houses with full foundations should have foundation walls that are at least nine feet eight inches tall. This allows finished basement rooms to have full height eight foot ceilings. Crawl spaces should be at least three feet tall for easy access. If you are building on a slab, make sure the slab is at least six inches thick and contains 5/8 inch thick reinforcing steel bars placed two feet on center in both directions. This steel will help to hold the slab together so that shrinkage cracks do not widen or offset. This can produce problems with finished flooring materials.
Bathrooms are very important. The space created for the toilet should be at least 36 inches wide.If you can provide 40 inches, do so. The minimum width of the bathroom seems to work best if you make it six feet wide. Make the bathroom as spacious as possible.
Try to include a large pantry within the kitchen, not in an adjacent hallway. An efficient kitchen pantry is a must.
Try to design the laundry room as a separate room if at all possible. Do not succumb to the temptation of using it as a hallway from the garage to the main portion of the house. Who wants to walk over dirty piles of clothes on the floor while carrying groceries? Be sure that there is a pantry in the laundry room or plan for plenty of wall space for storage cabinets.
Create an alcove or nook for the home office computer and desk setup. Many people just plan to place it in a room. The trouble is most people are not neat and the desk looks like a disaster zone. If the desk and computer are in an alcove flanked by pocket or bi-fold doors, you can hide the mess in a matter of seconds just before guests arrive.
The space over the garage needs to have full attic trusses or at the very least affordable storage trusses. Plan for a real disappearing staircase for safe access to this supreme storage space. Finally, have the electrician install numerous strategically placed exterior outlets in the front and rear of your home for your festive holiday lights. When nightfall approaches you can walk to your front or rear door and flick a switch like I do to broadcast the cheer. Good luck on your new home!
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