The Features Parents Wish They Had Added When Building Their Home

When you ask the parents who have constructed a home when their children were young what they would do differently now, they will seldom talk about changing anything regarding the size of the house or the kind of counter material. What they want to change is the mundane stuff: where the washing machine stands, the number of electrical outlets, whether the entrance to the front door leads to the drop-off place for a school bag.

Storage Near the Entrance

The biggest problem is the lack of a landing area. With the entrance of four people wearing shoes, jackets, sporting goods, backpacks, and groceries through one door, a hallway stripped down to a blank slate causes chaos on the floor.

The mudroom doesn’t have to be big. A small recessed space, only four feet wide, can accommodate hooks, a bench with cubbies underneath, and a key/letter holding shelf. The placement of the mudroom between the garage entrance and the kitchen prevents the entrance of wet/muddy stuff into the main house. The installation of a drain or tiled floor helps deal with the snow, an important consideration in the Midwest region, including Indiana.

Laundry Where the Laundry Actually Is

Laundry room placement in most floor plans is on the first floor by the garage, with the bedrooms upstairs where most of the dirty laundry originates. Parents frequently complain about the trips they have to make up and down the stairs carrying laundry baskets a few times per week.

A laundry room beside the bedrooms or even a laundry hook-up in another location on the second floor will solve this problem. The costs are minimal during the framing phase: the supply line for water, the drain line, a 240-volt outlet for the dryer, and the venting pathway to the outside. Retrofitting the same items is costly, as it involves opening finished walls and ceilings. Another low-cost feature is a drain pan under the washing machine.

Outlets, Lighting, and Internet Access

Electrical design is another aspect where parents usually misjudge their future requirements. Every kid brings their tablets, laptops, game consoles, and charging devices over time, but a room with one plug per wall will not work.

Useful upgrades would be plugs on both sides of each bed, an individual plug and internet connection at a study place, and outlets equipped with USB ports at the kitchen and family rooms. Exterior plugs at the front and rear facades of the house, along with an additional one at the roof level for Christmas lights, will cost practically nothing during the construction process. Also, a personal plug close to a well-lit window could be considered if there are people who intend to grow herbs and lettuce inside, as hydroponics systems, such as Gardyn or Lettuce Grow Farmstand, require energy for pumps and artificial light sources. The last point is an Ethernet cable leading from the central point to the living spaces.

Choices That Are Hard to Change After Move-In

There are things that would not make sense to add later due to the high cost of doing so. This includes widening doorways. The doorway width of 36 inches is a universal design idea recommended by experts, and it provides enough space to allow movement of strollers, wheelchairs, and even furniture in a home. Moreover, it will benefit any family in any age bracket in the home.

Another thing is soundproofing. Adding insulation to the walls surrounding bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry rooms and installing solid-core interior doors is inexpensive during the initial construction process. Many couples with young children or teenagers who keep different hours say that this is an aspect they wish they had known about earlier.

Many families that do their own research on custom homes in Indiana agree that the pre-construction walk-through is the best time to consider this information since it is possible to get a quote of the change made during the framing or wiring on paper. It is advisable to carry a list of everyday routines in the house, for instance, laundry habits, bag placement, and devices in use.

Safety Features Worth Building In

Radon presents an excellent example of a hazard that can easily be dealt with when constructing buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that buildings with radon levels of 4 picocuries per liter or higher undergo remediation. It also recommends using radon-resistant techniques when building new structures in areas characterized by high radon concentration. There are several counties within the state of Indiana in the EPA’s high radon zone category. Installation of a passive radon venting system under the slab and through the roof is much cheaper at the time of construction than adding it later.

Window treatments are another example of hazards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been warning people of the strangulation hazard posed by window treatment cords. This can be avoided if one decides to use cordless window treatments or those controlled by a motor at the time of construction.

Planning With Daily Life in Mind

One good method for examining all features is to go through the floor plan, following a typical day on weekdays. Look at the route taken from the entrance of the garage to the kitchen, from the children’s bedrooms to the laundry area, and from the entrance to the bus stop. Each point where things get awkward in the route is an opportunity for improvement in design.

The people who have gone through this process always say that it is the small features that match the daily schedule of the family that are important and not the large rooms that remain unused. Maintaining a constant record of such features during planning and discussing it with the builder before making final plans is the most reliable way of avoiding common regrets.