Things Not to Forget When Building a New Home

During the last few years, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole house-building and house-designing process. However, now that I’m all settled down, I can easily list a lot of things that I’ve missed out on during the designing or building process. And, if you don’t want to go through the same thing, have a look at my list.

Light Switches and Socket Outlets

Light Switches and Socket OutletsMaybe this one isn’t overlooked, but I know when building a house people often wonder about how many electrical outlets each room of the house should have. That’s a nice question.

Well, let’s see. Currently, I’m using 4 outlets – one for my laptop, one for my phone that I’m using as a reader over 1000 books and audio books, one for a lamp and one to plug in an air conditioner. My spouse had to plug in his phone, one for his Fitbit and one for his reader (he’s also a bookaholic). So, that already makes a total of 7 electrical outlets.

I cannot set an exact amount of how many electrical outlets you should have in your house as that will depend on your needs. However, it’s always recommended to add some extra as you don’t know what needs will be in the future. And, this will also depend on your country’s electric code. For example, in the US, there are specific guidelines set by the National Electric Code (NEC) for the installation of electrical outlets in a house. Here are some of these guidelines:

  • Every spot along the wall must be within 6ft of an outlet.
  • Starting from a door, there must be an outlet within the first 6 feet and if there are more than 6 feet to the next door, additional electrical outlets must be placed no more than 12 feet apart.

As long as you are complying with your country’s electric code, there should be no problem. But, here are some additional tips that are worth remembering:

  • Bathrooms usually accommodate things like hair dryers, space heaters and dehumidifiers and so it is better to have more than one or two electric outlets in a bathroom.
  • You should always have more than one electrical outlet in a bedroom. Laptop charger and cell phone charger would take up one alone and don’t forget that there’s the TV, your desktop pc and maybe more.

I’m sure you know how annoying or frustrating it can be not to have sockets or light switches where you need them. So, here are some of the places where sockets and light switches are often overlooked and yet are a must:

  • Basement
  • Garages
  • Outdoors
  • Home office
  • Kitchen countertop

Closet Space

Closet SpaceMost buyers today expect a bedroom to have a closet but technically the International Residential Code does not mandate a bedroom to have a closet. Whether your room should have a built-in closet or not depends entirely on how many clothes you have.

In my opinion, men have fewer clothes than women. They don’t purchase clothes often and they have a minimal wardrobe, where they’ll keep some clothes for regular use and some for special occasions. However, since women are “picky” about what they wear and always make sure not to wear the dress with the same patterns or colors the next day, they will require more clothes and hence need a compact closet. Of course, this is my personal opinion and the choice is still yours.

Television Location

Television LocationI guess I could say this is my all-time favorite as when my spouse and I were designing our ideal living room, we kind of forgot to leave a spot for the TV. Since the television is the most “loved” member in a family, maybe instead of overlooking it, many will take the time to think about where they want their most favorite member to live. However, when you are engrossed in the whole house-designing process, it becomes very easy to forget that something goes on the top of the mantle or in the corner of the living room.

 

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