Building a house

Status
Not open for further replies.
mine would probably be code minimum. maybe less.

i'm not so much of a fancy-pants. i like one light switch in a room, and i don't like to see receptacles hanging out on an empty wall.

the light switch for our kitchen lights is by the sink, which is equally far away from both entrances. my wife asked me to put a 3-way in; it ain't happening.

none of my hallways have 3-ways.

i like to sell fancy lighting controls and high grade devices; i just don't like to see them in my house. is that odd?

the only real electrical work i've done here besides adding some pendants over the kitchen island and recessed accent lights, was that i changed my panel out from a CH BR type to a QO and filled it with combination arc-faults. to me, that was worth the time and cost.
 
ivsenroute said:
Strip the sheathing off the NM and run it like K&T,
Click to expand...

i had to rebuild a service on a small machine shop that was built in the late '80's; the place was wired w/ thhn ran k&t. orange was the hot leg and blue was the neutral; no EGC. i figured some old-school sparky who had been retired for 20 years did it. it was in a tiny little town though, so its possible that word just hadn't got there yet.
 
If I ever get to build my dream home I'm going to put everything undergound. PVC with spares. Lots of plugs can't ever seem to have enough.
 
Radio RA, no multigang switches, (We are talking unlimited budget, right?) Hot and cold to outside faucets. Layers of light everywhere. Integrated security and cameras that go to my cellphone. Spare chases from basement to attic. One of those really cool home theaters like in the Consumer Electronics magazines, with a starfield on the ceiling. Oh yeah and world peace.
 
All the Christmas lights on a couple of switches. I just did that in my house and it sure beats plugging and unplugging every window candle. It's also a good up-sell.
 
Solar power but still grid tied
Timers on all my remote fan bath fans
Remote wood boiler in detached garage
solar light tubes for assisted lighting in hallways and bathrooms
Automatic led night lights in various locations
Switches at outside doors to turn off phantom loads in the house
Stompin home sound system and data system - hate wireless networks
Timer on a plug for my cell phone charger
NOT undercabinet plugmold but lots of UC trac lighting
Lots of accent lighting and switched outlets
Christmas light outlets
Maybe a lowvoltage lighting control system so I could have a master lights off at outside doors
And a partridge in a pear tree
 
I would build my house like a comercial building except I would have real nice drop ceilings through out, except for the clouds and soffits of course. Lots of cans and layins, lots of spare pipe to keys areas of the house (kitchen, living room, attic). Call me crazy but I would put in a few emergcy ballast for some of the cans as well. I feel this way it would make remodels way easier and less expensive, I could easily change with the times.
 
Oh I forgot to add may data cables for my internet all through the house. Plus a nice wireless system so I could work anywhere anyway.
 
Allow for renewable energies to be retrofitted at a later date and back up generator. Small wind, solar and back up gens, we get jobs to install these systems after the fact and it can be a pain.
 
StreamlineGT said:
I have EMT in my shop wall too, just because I wanted to.

MVC-130F.jpg
Click to expand...

Did you stamp the "quality you can see" on the middle stud, or just coincidence? Nice job.
 
How about dual 1" GRS conduit inside 2x6 walls feeding 4 11/16" deep boxes for every receptacle using 10 AWG THHN. All 20 amp duplex receptacles. Split (20 amps on each outlet). No 15 amp circuits. Second conduit for low-voltage (CAT5/Coax)

P.S. All walls would be 1/2" plywood + 1/2" sheetrock. No more toggle bolts for hanging things.

Overkill?
 
Last edited:
I have built 3 houses, the next one I sub out COMPLETLY....I am still trying to finish the 3rd house 15 years later.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top