Would you pay 1.5k-2k extra for a house with a central vac?

[drnickriviera]

On a $400k home? I'm going to be living in this house for 2 years then flipping it. The house is down to the studs now so it's easy to add a system now, but i'm not sure if it's a worthwhile investment.

Keep in mind this is west TN, not the kingdom of moronica. The house is 4400 sq ft on 7 acres.

Anyone have a central vac? love it? hate it?

 

[mugs]

No way

 

[Colt45]

2k? damn things are expensive now

 

[Scouzer]

No. Central vacuums are incredibly overrated.

You still have to haul around a giant hose...

 

[ppdes]

I know a few health nuts who love theirs. Instead of exhausting into the air you breath the exhaust goes outside.

 

[Mermaidman]

You might not recoup the cost, but it could help you sell the house faster in a depressed market. A 400K house in Memphis must be quite fancy and buyers would want nicer features. In the meantime, you get to use the central vac, and knowing what happens to best-laid plans, you might have it for longer than you expect.

 

[bctbct]

I think you could find another "bonus" feature that would appeal to a buyer. You could rough in for it and if the buyer wants it, work out a deal on the fianl price.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Definitely get it. 2k on a 400k house is nothing. That is an extra 8-11 dollars a month. It would be an attractive feature on a house that expensive in West TN.

 

[DrPizza]

I think it would be a good selling point, but wouldn't necessarily raise the value of the house by the amount of the investment. i.e. If the house is worth exactly 400,000 today, and you work for the next 24 hours installing a $2k central vac system, then tomorrow it's not going to be worth 402,000. I'd think of it more as something where someone says, "wowwww, and it's got central vac?!" and would help distinguish it from other similar houses as one with more features.

However, if I gutted my house and happened across all the components I'd need for central vac at an auction for $100, would I bother to install it? No. I'd rather deal with the simplicity of plugging in a quality vacuum into any wall outlet in a room, and the ability to wheel it from room to room than have to deal with arranging furniture so that I can easily get to the central vac outlet, and having to drag a hose all over the house.

20 years ago, central vac had one incredible benefit: dust wasn't pushed back into the air in the living space. Today, quality vacuums make that feature moot.

edit: No, I've changed my mind after checking on a few central vacuum sites. I think I'd definitely install it if I had the chance.

For what it's worth, is the price you're quoting the installed price, i.e. someone else installs it for you? Are you paying someone else for doing all the work on your gutted home? It seems that if you're in the business of flipping homes, there's a higher profit margin when you do a lot of the labor yourself. The level of difficulty of installation looks about like something I'd delegate to one of my children to install (15 and 17 years old.) The cost of materials appears to be quite a bit lower than the price you were quoting.

Questions I'd have about these systems: I've noticed in the diagrams of installations that occasionally, they use t's. I've clogged my shop vac on many occasions, particularly where the hose enters the vacuum and material has to make a turn. Wtf do you do if you get a clog in your central vac system?? But, then again, the materials I'm cleaning up with a shop vac aren't typically what you'd be cleaning with a central vac.

 

[Turin39789]

meh, no need to vacuum hardwood

 

[Anubis]

no they are fing useless

this house has one, put it in when they gutted and ridid the house like 10 years ago
the suction is crap on it

normal floor vac is a million times better

 

[Atheus]

No but I'd pay it for a house wired to the teeth with fibre, coax, copper pairs, everything, and in the future so will many other people. IMO. That's what I'd spend the money on anyway.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I owned a house with one. Never used it. Regular vac was easier to carry around the house.

 

[Rubycon]

This guy says yes

 

[irishScott]

Lived in a house with one and loved it. If you go for it just make sure it's quality. Half the reason I loved it was because the suction was insane.

 

[drnickriviera]

Thanks all, you pretty much confirmed my thinking. I'll put that money towards the kitchen and baths or landscaping.

Atheus, my next step is to go through all the low voltage wiring. I was thinking of prewiring for network line, but with wireless getting faster and better, I don't think it's worth it.

Would anyone be interested in me making a flip thread to see the progress on the house and cost for materials and labor?

 

[waggy]

put the money to the kitchen. high end kitchens add more then a central vac. and yes doing wired internet through the house is a waste.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Anubis
no they are fing useless

this house has one, put it in when they gutted and ridid the house like 10 years ago
the suction is crap on it

normal floor vac is a million times better

try changing the bag...

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Anubis
no they are fing useless

this house has one, put it in when they gutted and ridid the house like 10 years ago
the suction is crap on it

normal floor vac is a million times better

try changing the bag...

yea we did that it was still crap

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

If there are a lot of hardwood floors, dust will accumulate fast, and it doesn't require a lot of suction to get it to pick that up. If it can get those, then I'd say yeah, go for it.

 

[MagicConch]

$2K seems a ridiculous price for a vacuum, and I would never pay until I was essentially forced to when I got this house.

However after living here and using it for 1 year, it is easily worth the money and then some. It is fantastic b/c you can really see and smell the difference. Since air and everything gets pumped out. You can literally vaccum smells outside of your house, something you cannot do with a regular vacuum. Much of the dirt/pet hair leaves odor also in your carpets, and it's not apparent how much until you can get it out of your house. you can use it to vaccum up spiders, etc and b/c you change the bag only once every 4 months or so, it's not like it's a hassle. I had a couple things I had to pay for I didn't need, but that is one I would definitely get. also get a 2nd hose so you don't need to carry the hose up and down the steps. then it's really useful. suction on mine is very good though.

 

[vi edit]

If it's the hose type, no. But if you have hardwood floors you can put in these "toe kick" units that are awesome. You put them on the baseboard and you can just sweep dust and junk right into them with a broom. Brilliant little devices, especially if you have pets. You can clean up hair and dirt in seconds with those things.

 

[Rage187]

put it into some granite counter tops. G slab though as tile granite counter tops look chincy.

We actually went with Silestone by Dupont, it cost a little more but with a young child the anti bacterial surface was a huge plus for us. Plus we don't have to have them sealed once a year.

 

[thecrecarc]

Get a roomba for 200$.

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: thecrecarc
Get a roomba for 200$.

thats actually a much better idea.

We have one for upstairs and one for downstairs and with the scheduler the floors vacuum themselves.

You can get all that for under $400 usually from Woot.com