Renovations -- what do you wish you had done/what do you regret doing?

[Anonymous]

We are doing a pretty substantial renovation of our house -- a two-story addition including a master suite, finishing the basement, renovating the kitchen and dining room, adding a mud room. Are there things you did during your renovation that you are very pleased with? Are there things that, in retrospect, were a waste of money?

Some things we are considering in the way of upgrades:

Built-in ceiling speakers
Heated floors in basement and master bath
Built-in bookshelves in basement playroom
Insulation upgrades
Tankless hot water
Humidifier addition to HVAC system

Looking for feedback on those, but also other thoughts and ideas.

[Anonymous]

Tankless hot water is fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are doing a pretty substantial renovation of our house -- a two-story addition including a master suite, finishing the basement, renovating the kitchen and dining room, adding a mud room. Are there things you did during your renovation that you are very pleased with? Are there things that, in retrospect, were a waste of money?

Some things we are considering in the way of upgrades:

Built-in ceiling speakers
Heated floors in basement and master bath
Built-in bookshelves in basement playroom
Insulation upgrades
Tankless hot water
Humidifier addition to HVAC system

Looking for feedback on those, but also other thoughts and ideas.

I wish I had gotten the steam humidifer instead of the fan assisted

[Anonymous]

I was about to post that tankless HW is a waste of money, but different strokes, I guess.


I would put heated tile floors at the very top of my list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was about to post that tankless HW is a waste of money, but different strokes, I guess.


I would put heated tile floors at the very top of my list.

Why don't you like your tankless?

[Anonymous]

Yes to heated floors! Also:

wire any room that you may ever want to put a TV in for cable and wall mounting. They can do it an hide the stuff behind the wall, but it is there if you ever decide to use it.
SONOS system
Dishwasher/fridge in basement
Floor outlets

[Anonymous]

Recycling/trash center instead of lazy Susan in your blind corner kitchen cabinet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are doing a pretty substantial renovation of our house -- a two-story addition including a master suite, finishing the basement, renovating the kitchen and dining room, adding a mud room. Are there things you did during your renovation that you are very pleased with? Are there things that, in retrospect, were a waste of money?

Some things we are considering in the way of upgrades:

Built-in ceiling speakers
Heated floors in basement and master bath
Built-in bookshelves in basement playroom
Insulation upgrades
Tankless hot water
Humidifier addition to HVAC system

Looking for feedback on those, but also other thoughts and ideas.

By all means, if your budget allows. Have at it. But for a basement playroom, you might consider using some IKEA pieces and having a carpenter add molding, etc. to make it look like a built in. I believe someone posted a photo recently on DCUM, and you can find many other examples on the web.

[Anonymous]

Something i didn't do, but wish that I had, is an instant boiling water tap. Not sure if you can get them here but they are becoming common in the UK, where people drink lots of tea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something i didn't do, but wish that I had, is an instant boiling water tap. Not sure if you can get them here but they are becoming common in the UK, where people drink lots of tea.

you can use a keurig or buy this http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-CD-WBC40-TS-4-Liter-Boiler-Warmer/dp/B00M0GOI78/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1428947329&sr=8-3&keywords=hot+water

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are doing a pretty substantial renovation of our house -- a two-story addition including a master suite, finishing the basement, renovating the kitchen and dining room, adding a mud room. Are there things you did during your renovation that you are very pleased with? Are there things that, in retrospect, were a waste of money?

Some things we are considering in the way of upgrades:

Built-in ceiling speakers
Heated floors in basement and master bath
Built-in bookshelves in basement playroom
Insulation upgrades
Tankless hot water
Humidifier addition to HVAC system

Looking for feedback on those, but also other thoughts and ideas.

I would not make built ins a specific size because tvs and media changes. I would also think that books might disappear

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are doing a pretty substantial renovation of our house -- a two-story addition including a master suite, finishing the basement, renovating the kitchen and dining room, adding a mud room. Are there things you did during your renovation that you are very pleased with? Are there things that, in retrospect, were a waste of money?

Some things we are considering in the way of upgrades:

Built-in ceiling speakers
Heated floors in basement and master bath
Built-in bookshelves in basement playroom
Insulation upgrades
Tankless hot water
Humidifier addition to HVAC system

Looking for feedback on those, but also other thoughts and ideas.

I like all of these, other than the bookshelves (completely up to you and your use of the room), heated floors in the basement (only if you get enought use out of it to justify), and tankless hot water (why?).

[Anonymous]

Huh. i would vote yes on the built-ins, and i'm indifferent to most of the others. I vote no on the built in speakers. We have bought a few houses in recent years with all built in speaker systems, and they start to look old so fast. Like, what was super technology 10 years ago now looks 20 years old now. Sort of the equivalent of buying a house with a built in intercom. So built in speakers are a big minus for me.

[Anonymous]

I agree - no built in speakers. they date too quickly.

[Anonymous]

Speakers do not date quickly. What dates is the equipment they're hooked up to, which you should be able to change out.