what makes a great family house? Wish List.

Marietta said:
Somehow I reckon the OP is a long way off from being a whiskered old man hobbling along on his walking stick.:D
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You've missed the whole point about adaptability. Adaptability means NOT waiting until you are whiskered and hobbling to start thinking about your accomodation. It means that you design appropriate infrastructure (drainage, supporting walls etc) into your design at the outset, at little or no cost. This means that you avoid the major costs that would be involved in retrofitting this infrastructure, and you get away with fairly minor adaptation in the future.
 
+1 What Complainer has posted.
This is the principle behind the design of apartment blocks according to Part M.
The writers of the Building Regulations realised it was foreseeable that you don't need to grow old, you can have an accident at any time which can disable you permanently or temporarily.
Therefore it would be wise to consider matters of access into the apartment at this point in time.

ONQ.
 
Plenty of sockets, think of the maximum you could ever possible need in each room and then double it! And make sure there is at least one on each wall to avoid leads crossing the floor.

Also, a built in central vacuum system.
 
Complainer said:
You've missed the whole point about adaptability. Adaptability means NOT waiting until you are whiskered and hobbling to start thinking about your accomodation. It means that you design appropriate infrastructure (drainage, supporting walls etc) into your design at the outset, at little or no cost. This means that you avoid the major costs that would be involved in retrofitting this infrastructure, and you get away with fairly minor adaptation in the future.
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+1. I know 2 different parents of friends who have had mobility issues due to surgery or accidents - in both cases a downstairs bedroom/bathroom combo would have helped enormously.

I myself have had knee surgeries at age 15 and again at age 35, at 15 I was living in my parents house and getting up and down stairs to the loo while wearing a full length leg cast is not easy - at 35 I lived in a ground floor apartment - and it was much much easier.

Also useful to have the downstairs bedroom/bathroom option if you have a guest with any mobility issues stay over.
 
+ 1 on the downstairs bathroom

Big big garden, why not build a playhouse out the back for them to put their outdoor toys etc into, or do what we did and split the shed in 2

If this is in the country, and assuming you're not a farmer and don't want cattle coming in, you will need to fence or wall the place off + a cattle grid can be good as well, or automatic gates
 
Anyone know how much it would cost to install electronic/electric gates?

Not overly fancy ones - fairly basic, standard size gate entrance.
 
Hi there, its my personal view that good location and good schools near by makes the perfect family home!

All interiors can be updated over time.
 
Planning the style of your house is one of the most important things you will do during your lifetime. Setting the layout, picking the colours,choosing the furniture and how many rooms.

Get a good architect who knows what it is you want from your home and you wont go too far wrong. Stay calm and try think things through with a clear head and the ideas will flow. Dont rush it and plan your house as the time allows you to do so. Building a house can also be one of the most stressful things you will do and it is not for the faint hearted and will put strain on your relationship with your partner. So try plan well in advance. if you plan well the build will go allot smoother. Plan your building materials well in advance and do not leave it till the last minute to order or price, your building project costs will spiral out of control if you dont do this.

DO NOT IMPULSE BUY EVER.

Build4less.ie
 
Plenty good soundproofing insulation between upstairs rooms especially if toilet is next to bedroom. I'm trying to do this now so many years on. I have read not to put meter box on wall of house where you spend a lot of time, seemingly a lot of radiation also not to have fuse box underneath or near where you sleep. Now this may not be true, just stating what I read and which there is for and against but I've met people who have built new houses and put their meter box on garage wall for that reason and if I were building now thats where I would put it also. If your putting an island in the kitchen put plugs on that also.
 
If I had my time again (despite the fact that I love my home).....
1. underfloor heating
2. solar panels
3. a much bigger utility
4. more sockets inside
5. phone and TV connections in pretty much every room
6. wet room instead of standard en-suite
7. more storage

One thing I did, that loads of people have commented on, is put the hot press between the utility and the hall with doors on either side. I iron in the utility, clothes/bed linen go into the hot press and then can be accessed from the hall as required - very handy :)

Very best of luck with your venture
 
these suggestions are fantastic. thanks so much to everyone.we're meeting the architect on thursday so i'll print this off and some of onq's other posts to bring along.
 
speedy said:
.we're meeting the architect on thursday so i'll print this off and some of onq's other posts to bring along.
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I actually don't think it is a great idea to bring along these posts to the meeting. That might well give the impression to the architect that you don't know your own requirements. It might give the impression to the architect that his client is going to be a pile of unknown posters on a website, rather than the individual sitting in front of him.

I'd suggest that you need to digest these posts yourself, and bring your requirements to the meeting.
 
Double sink in the en suite.........

.............the key to a long and happy marriage according to Larry (J.R) Hagman, and I belive him.
 
Try to make the children's bedrooms as similar as possible in size and spec - they won't notice when they are little but if one has a much bigger room or an en-suite, you'll never hear the end of it when they are teenagers...
 
I decided against putting a hob or sink in the island unit as I think that could get dangerous or messy while the children are young (and are sitting up at the island) but the plumber put in piping to allow gas and water to be brought to the island at a later stage, if we wish.
 
My suggestion for your toy room, along with toy room, you can use small library with good books not only for child but for young people also.
 
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