[ajfoggy]

Originally Posted by JustChris

Gym.
Spa.
Pool.
Lap Dance pole in the bedroom.

No offence Foggy but what we would suggest surely might not be anywhere near your wants or needs, or is this just brainstorming?

If so.

Ensuite for every bedroom
CAT5/6 cabling throughout
Double garage / man cave
Mega kitchen and family open plan
Binfolding doors to garden area

Brainstorming more than anything because there is bound to be stuff we forget about so the more ideas the better.

Some ideas we?ll be well past budgets but some have already been added to the list.

Think all that you have mention there are on my list

[TimMcC]

Have a neutral at your light switches and deep pattress boxes so you can retrofit smart switches later. Not mainstream yet but you will want these in future.

[EvilDrPorkChop]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Have a neutral at your light switches and deep pattress boxes so you can retrofit smart switches later. Not mainstream yet but you will want these in future.

This. I've just renovated our new house, as it didn't need rewiring I haven't done this however it would be a thing I would strongly consider.

CAT6 everywhere is a must and to outside to where you would want cameras as they then can be POE and give you more flexibility on what CCTV you want.

Make a cupboard a networking cupboard, and have the master socket (For either BT or Virgin) installed there. Put HDMIs to all TVs and run them back to this point, and have all your devices in one cupboard. You can do HDMI over CAT6 however from my experience it's not reliable enough and it's just as easy to put HDMI in at the same time.

Invest in a good Wi-Fi system such as Unifi and have the ethernet cables put in place in the ceilings ready. https://unifi-sdn.ubnt.com/

Ensure you put enough wires in for outside lights - can be a pain to do afterwards and nothing worse than cables running outside.

Avoid digital showers, they always go faulty and the majority start leaking. They then are costly to replace (plumber by trade).

As mentioned always go for Wet underfloor heating. Also consider smart zoning for your heating system, this will need to be considered when whatever work you are having done as pipework will have to be put in a particular way. It's always useful having your towel rails on a separate circuit so you can have them on independently in Summer - we've done this and it's great.

[MrChumley]

Originally Posted by EvilDrPorkChop

Avoid digital showers, they always go faulty and the majority start leaking. They then are costly to replace (plumber by trade).

Interesting comment. Must admit my eyes watered when I got the bill for fixing one of ours

[Watsey]

To add to the great suggestions, a water softener for the entire house plus a separate filtered hard water supply for drinking.

Soft water protects your investment in new boiler etc, nicer to shower/bath in, and if you run a supply to the driver you can wash the car with it as well.

[Trialskings]

Insulation, insulation & insulation.

Tempered with Planitherm 4S glass & integrated blinds.

Warm with Solar Control for the hot days.

[JustChris]

Fritzel underground lair?

Edit not for family members, that's too far.

Helipad?

Charging port with cables for 4000Amps or whatever a supercharger would need?

Triple Glazing?

Panic room?

[ajfoggy]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Have a neutral at your light switches and deep pattress boxes so you can retrofit smart switches later. Not mainstream yet but you will want these in future.

Already been looking into these

[mikeygold]

Add waterproof electric sockets next to your drive way to charge your future electric car.

[Broncho]

Make the master bedroom special, we have a balcony, vaulted ceilings, velux skylights a big ensuite, it really makes the house and is a proper wow factor when people see it for the first time.

[gr4z]

Underfloor heating for me and CAT 5 or 6 cabling for WiFi access points (UniFi for me) and/or POE CCTV.

[pmgreenwood]

[QUOTE=MarkG_M3CP;22273761]I think you are on the right lines... cabling.

[*]Laundry chute to the utility room


I once stayed with a school friend who moved to the US who had a utility room upstairs with all their bedrooms for washer and dryer. No carrying piles of washing up and down stairs.

[MrChumley]

Originally Posted by Broncho

velux skylights

Not the exploding ones, I hope?

[ajfoggy]

Been thinking about the smart switches / sockets. Whilst I can see the point of the light switches I just can't really think of an application that I would use the sockets for apart from a lamp.

What would you use smart sockets for??

[454697819]

Whilst loading a house with tech is appealing, I would spend time investing in quality, if this means pairing back the spec then fair enough -

I don't mean buying the most expensive, I mean finding the right balance.

Running cat 6 wont be cheap, but most applications are Wifi these days so set the house up properly with wifi coverage and this should give you good options to expand the digital kit later - Like sonus etc.

I spend my money on the finishes, Hardwood where possible, quality paints, wall paper etc, its the stuff I notice all day every day.

Spend it on stuff that will actually help the day to day, I don't believe anyone needs 760 possible dimmer levels for the lounge lights but I could be wrong.

Don't over spend on light fittings, find cost effective alternatives that still look good but invest in the lamps - cheap LED's are just not worth it.

As said before - double sockets - everywhere - until electricity is wireless they are needed.

Future proof for external elements too - Run a 40 amp (or bigger) supply to a point of connection for SWA externally for garages or workshops - Enough cover all future needs outside.

Hope this helps and enjoy.

[dbramley]

I agree with the above, don’t see the need for cat6 cabling or hdmi. In a few years time it will soon be out dated. As will any digital home system you put in.

[MrChumley]

Originally Posted by dbramley

I agree with the above, don’t see the need for cat6 cabling or hdmi. In a few years time it will soon be out dated. As will any digital home system you put in.

Yep. Far better off sticking with traditional entertainment.

Now, where's this nice shiny pole and circular stage gonna go?

[Daftasabrush]

Originally Posted by EvilDrPorkChop

This. I've just renovated our new house, as it didn't need rewiring I haven't done this however it would be a thing I would strongly consider.

CAT6 everywhere is a must and to outside to where you would want cameras as they then can be POE and give you more flexibility on what CCTV you want.

Make a cupboard a networking cupboard, and have the master socket (For either BT or Virgin) installed there. Put HDMIs to all TVs and run them back to this point, and have all your devices in one cupboard. You can do HDMI over CAT6 however from my experience it's not reliable enough and it's just as easy to put HDMI in at the same time.

Invest in a good Wi-Fi system such as Unifi and have the ethernet cables put in place in the ceilings ready. https://unifi-sdn.ubnt.com/

Ensure you put enough wires in for outside lights - can be a pain to do afterwards and nothing worse than cables running outside.

All of this, did all of that when renovating our house and it's made life so much easier. We ran close to 1KM of network cable when re-doing our house. We also tripled the no of power sockets and ensured they were in the locations we were going to need them (obvious stuff like behind TV, behind stereo, beside the sofa etc).

Also consider lighting, not just technology but design. My wife and I had an odd shaped ceiling in our sitting room and some ductwork for the HVAC so had a think about what we could do to improve it and so we built a tray ceiling and I filled it with professional LED architecture lighting controlled with an eldoLED DMX controller (our sitting room light switch has two runs of cat5 to it). I also pre-wired the ceiling for a projector and extra speakers as well as extra runs of network cable for as and when required.

As a result of the lighting design and the quality of the kit I used while building it, we've not had a single LED failure and we rarely use the downlights as the tray ceiling has 330W of LEDs in it which is specifically designed for architecture lighting (not your usual cheap shit) and has aluminium heatsinks underneath it, it never gets warm. I could have spent a tenth of the cost on the lighting but I'm so glad I didn't.

[JLR1969]

Originally Posted by Daftasabrush

All of this, did all of that when renovating our house and it's made life so much easier. We ran close to 1KM of network cable when re-doing our house. We also tripled the no of power sockets and ensured they were in the locations we were going to need them (obvious stuff like behind TV, behind stereo, beside the sofa etc).

Also consider lighting, not just technology but design. My wife and I had an odd shaped ceiling in our sitting room and some ductwork for the HVAC so had a think about what we could do to improve it and so we built a tray ceiling and I filled it with professional LED architecture lighting controlled with an eldoLED DMX controller (our sitting room light switch has two runs of cat5 to it). I also pre-wired the ceiling for a projector and extra speakers as well as extra runs of network cable for as and when required.

As a result of the lighting design and the quality of the kit I used while building it, we've not had a single LED failure and we rarely use the downlights as the tray ceiling has 330W of LEDs in it which is specifically designed for architecture lighting (not your usual cheap shit) and has aluminium heatsinks underneath it, it never gets warm. I could have spent a tenth of the cost on the lighting but I'm so glad I didn't.

Where is that coffee table hiding.....

[Daftasabrush]

Originally Posted by JLR1969

Where is that coffee table hiding.....

Too busy getting compliments every day

[JustChris]

[QUOTE=pmgreenwood;22283454]

Originally Posted by MarkG_M3CP

I think you are on the right lines... cabling.

[*]Laundry chute to the utility room


I once stayed with a school friend who moved to the US who had a utility room upstairs with all their bedrooms for washer and dryer. No carrying piles of washing up and down stairs.

I love that idea!