Two years in with a designer build in Fenney. Here are some things that worked for us:
1. Stretched to 3100 sq ft, also stretched garage on all sides to get extra storage. Less expensive to do up front as opposed to changing later. We opted to remove the lanai and enclose it instead.
2. We put insulation in some interior walls to limit noise between rooms. Insulated garage door and above attic will help with energy cost.
3. Did not upgrade carpet from TV. Instead had high end LVP sent from American Wholesalers and had Jason's Flooring remove the carpeting and installed the LVP in the entire house. Total cost of $15K for the upgrade. If TV had done it, would have been double plus it would have been part of the cost basis for the house and would have to pay property taxes on the upgrade.
4. Install a Nova Water Softener and Whole Home Water Filter. Potassium Chloride from Sparr is better then salt and will not kill the grass/plants when it recycles. If you do not get a water softener, you will start to have calcium buildup within 6 months on dishwasher, shower heads.
5. NEVER pay for any services in advance. NEVER use Good Neighbor / Service Smart. Within first week of moving in, you will have people coming around trying to sell you stuff, turn them away.
6. Solar tubes (Solar guys) helps with light in the house, plus you get a tax credit for the cost.
7. Quartz is the best option for kitchen. We also replaced the cheap garbage disposer with a high end 1HP. Also easy and inexpensive to put in under cabinet lighting later.
8. If you expand the house, consider going for a higher end AC unit. Having a home with Lanai/Florida Room facing North will also help keep home cooler.
9. Be sure that each room is wired for a ceiling fan and box, as you may want to add later. Adding ceiling fans up front is cheaper. Consider ceiling fan with remote or alexa in the master bedroom.
10. Go for upgraded 4" molding, two tone paint, round corners.
11. Get garage epoxy done up front. We used Tim Miller and he also put in an attic stairs. Has numerous positive reviews.
12. We also got garage door with windows to provide light. For $10, you can get magnetic garage door accents from Amazon. If you get the garage door from TV that has the accents installed it will be $2K extra. I went for the $10 option and works great.
13. Concrete block construction (not wood frame).
14. Easier to put extra electrical outlets and outdoor water faucets in up front .
15. We did pocket doors on all bedroom closets
16. Higher ceilings will provide a more open look as well.
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