There is a seemingly endless list of areas to customize in your home. Below is a list of common areas and features we are sometimes asked to include. Each of these features requires preplanning whether its plumbing, wiring or structural support that makes it significantly more cost effective to complete at time of building rather than in the future. Many items can be roughed in during the building stage for later use – such as plumbing for a wet bar or electrical wiring for a sauna.
Heated Floors
A basically maintenance free option that makes your home feel more luxurious and keeps your toes warmer during the cold months.
Wine Cellar
Climate control, specialized flooring and wall covering and shelving are things to consider in the design stage of your home. This is especially true if you want to incorporate barrel ceilings and odd shaped wine cellar doors.
Wet Bar
Having a wet bar in your home makes entertaining simple and can add value to your home. If planned at the design stage, plumbing and electric can be ran in advance therefore more cost effective than adding in hindsight.
Kitchenette in Basement
Whether you would like to create a basement apartment, add food prep area, a wet bar or build a hosting space for game nights, the options are endless. If you want the ability to entertain large crowds with easy access to cooking and cleanup, the options are endless.
Sauna
The biggest benefit of an in-home sauna is that it allows you to have a luxurious spa-like retreat in the convenience of your own home. if you want to create a relaxing spa retreat at home, you can consider adding an in-home sauna to your bathroom.
Entertainment area
If you would like to have a pool table in your home, designing the space for it is imperative in the design stage as is with a home theater, golf simulator or arcade game machines.
Workshop
There are many elements of a workshop that can make it function better. For example, for the last woodworking workshop that we included in a custom home we had to add a ventilation system to deal with the wood dust and made sure we sized the electrical system to have the right amperage. Having an outside entrance is also a big advantage for bringing items in – sheets of lumber, car engine, lawn mower for repair.
Home Gym
Having a home gym is very convenient. Things to think about would be flooring, proper electrical circuits for cardio equipment, tall enough ceilings for a pull-up bar, extra blocking in the walls for hanging mirrors or TVs.
Concealed Safe/Vault
Planning for a safe or vault is much easier at the building stage as it allows for more options and can be built into the home. It can be designed for the home in such as way as to be concealed in inconspicuous areas.
Safe/Panic Room
Are the walls thick enough? Are they constructed from a more durable material and reinforced? Do you want special doors? Do you want to conceal it?
Hardscape Lighting
As with many other features, having the electric wiring ran during construction is much more cost effective. It can be used right away or for future use. An example can be to light the steps to your patio. Do you want your electricity prepared for future exterior lighting?’
Heated Driveway
Shoveling snow is a pesky chore that can be a pain in the back, literally. Two ways to bring the heat are an electric system or water based (hydronic) system. Both need to be installed under the final driveway.
