Need design advice- outlets and lighting
 

We are getting ready for our design session and are working through the many pages of questions we have put together. We are going to build an Iris/Lilac in Ghilchrist and are looking for your opinions on:

1. Outlets- we are going through each room on the plans and thinking about electric outlet locations. But was wondering if after you moved in- were there any places where you wish you had an extra outlet?
2. Living Room floor outlet- did you find that the central outlet in the floor of the main living room was positioned appropriately for the furniture layout most people would expect?
3. Living room ceiling lighting- did you put any ceiling "can" or recessed lights in the main living space or just rely on lamps and perhaps lighting on the ceiling fan?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks alot- we are very excited to get this process started.

They have no clue where the dinning room light should be so spec that out,
other outlets can be added cheap now but they also need to follow the building code.

Plan where your tv's are going to be and have the outlet and cable connect placed there usually up high

we are building a Begonia, so different ... however, we have had a ceiling fan in our dining area for the 2 homes we have had, here in GA for the last 16 years and we feel a godsend. so we took out the can lights in the nook and are having it wired for fan/light. Left the outlet in the lr although we tiled that whole area. I am sure we have not helped, but basically, where they can, they will. Our brick wall was I wanted a ceiling fan in the M bath but there was not required allowances.
Good luck with your choices. We are about five weeks from the close and until then we can only hope we did the right things ... but cannot wait to get there and see what we think will be awesome!!!

That ceiling fan advice was something I did not think about. Thanks for the advice as my design appointment begin Thursday and we are arriving tomorrow to go through models with our agent.

Bruce and Marcy

We added additional outlets in the garage - a couple were also counter height to allow for future work bench area. Also added a dedicated line for a future freezer or refrigerator in the garage.
Good luck with your design meeting!

BTW, we are building a Lantana

Hello, we built an Iris last summer in Sanibel.. We also added the dedicated outlet in the garage for a future refrigerator. I don't believe we added any additional inside and found the one on the floor in the living room is fine. We have two lamps on either side of couch with no issues. We have a fan there but no light, I do not feel it is necessary, but can add at a later date if we desire. You will most likely want 3 solor tubes which will be after market. Thus far we put one in the kitchen which is wonderful and one in the master bath which we love. Could really use one in the guest bath, but that will come later.

In the lanai we did add an outlet up about 5 ft along with cable connection to mount the tv on the wall. We also added an additional plug on the middle lanai post to place end table and lamp on.

Should you have any additional questions on the Iris or Lilac, feel free to ask. Best wishes on your upcoming design.

Lpierleo (Rich and Linda) has a wealth of advice experience..
 

We can vouch that they have a wealth of information and experience to help you through the process which we have greatly taken into account for our design appointment this week. Thanks again Rich and Linda !!!

Marcy and Bruce Snell:bowdown:

We added more plugs where we will install our computers, printers, etc. Also need to think about how you will mount your televisions. Any additional freezer or refrigerator will require a dedicated circuit. Added outdoor plugs where we will use electrical power tools. Added more ceiling lights in areas with no outside light source (windows/doors) and also in task areas.

If installing fan/light make sure to have a seperate control for the light (switch/dimmer) and a controller for the fan it makes it alot easier than pulling on chains.

We addeded an outside light where we grill. Put it on a dimmer so we have bright light to cook and soft light to sit outside when we want.

We can vouch that they have a wealth of information and experience to help you through the process which we have greatly taken into account for our design appointment this week. Thanks again Rich and Linda !!!

Marcy and Bruce Snell

Thanks Marcy and Bruce for the wonderful compliment.:mademyday: Just things we have learned along the way and people sharing with us. Always happy to share our experiences. Hope to meet you soon.:wave: Keep us updated on your progress!

Outlets
 

I added outlets to the garage....

I also added outlets to each closet!

Ceiling Lights
 

We purchased a Bridgeport and added recessed high hat lights in the living room. Glad we did!

We added a truck load of plugs, can lights, and cable outlets, but the most important ones were the ceiling fan and wall mounted flat screen connections in the master bath. We added a study behind the GC garage so it is full of special wiring.

I would add a fan with a light outlet in most rooms. Thus if you want a light latter you have the wiring. I would put the can lights in. You do not have to turn them on but I think you will find that you will. Floor lamps will not do the trick
Think of vacuuming. Do you want to plug in at the floor level or the light switch level? I would have several outlets added at the light switch level.
Think about how you will park your car and where the plug is for your electric cart. You might want the plug on the other side of the garage.

We are here and meeting with our designer in the morning...saw the two new Iris Models today...We are very, very excited. Thanks again and can't wait to meet you both...

Plan on having to move your light fixture in the dining room area. They cant possibly plan on where you we place your table and or hutch. Th good news is Pike Electric can come after you place the table- put a laser on the table and perfectly center it. With drywall repair it was about $130. The other thing is to remember to have the additional switches for the lights in the ceiling fans. We really want the pressure of picking the perfect fan so we went wih cheap ones and added lights. Pike had a deal - 3 sets of lights to go on the fans for $250 installed. They will work fine until we are here permanently.. We also did a prewire for speakers and volume control switches, plus reinforced the living room wall for mounting the TV because they use a lot of metal studs. Galaxay Solutions worked with the Villages and it showed up on the build estimate. Good luck

Which model did you build that could accommodate a Study behind the GC garage? What are the dimensions of the Study? I am very interested in learning how you designed this....very intriguing. Thank you, in advance, for any information you are able to share.

What are the two new Iris models? Although I can check on the TV model website, I was just wondering what is different from before.

We also added spickets outside. Made sure we had one in each corner of the house and agree to decide in advance where you want tv cables and separate switches for fans, dimmers and fans My master bath had only one towel bar so we added one

study behind GC garage
 

Am sending you a PM

We started with a Zinnia with an outboard GC garaage. Then we added a study to the back side of the GC garage and reconfigured the laundry and utilities room to fit in a hallway from the kitchen to the study. Then we started stretching every which way but Sunday. If you want to see the plans, send me a PM with your email address.

They just opened recently in section 210 and I believe at least one of the models is on the model tour on the villages website. They have some new floor, fixture, cabinet and other choices and I think they deleted some styles that were in the old models.

lighting
 

have them switch half of each plug outlets in the bedrooms and living room, came in real handy for lamp placement.the cost is $35 dollars a room.

Since we have not yet moved to TV, nor will we be visiting before our design appointment, I'm not able to do other than a virtual tour through the new model(s). It appears that many of the models have new decor as well as other subtle changes in dimensions in certain rooms. I just hope for those changes are for the better and not extra cost options for what was once standard!