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

[Kaspian]

Nope. I wouldn't.

 

[vi edit]

I still say that if you are building new, consider putting in the "toe kick" styles in the kitchens, bathrooms, and any other living areas that will have hardwood or non-carpeted surfaces.

Doubly so if you have pets.

 

[mattpegher]

Athough, I have one in my house I don't use it. A nice light weight upright vac with a hepa filter works better. The hoses are a pain to lug around the house. And you have to buy plug in unit to have a head with a spinning brush. That said, do houses in your area in this price range have central vac? It is a selling point because many buyers have never had one and don't realize that their useless. It may effect the speed of your sell. Also in homes over 400k many people employ a maid service.

Of course, being on ATOT we don't have to tell you to wire the house for ethernet with Cat5. Also remember that metal studs screw up wireless. Might be a nice time to prewire the house for sound system. The wire is cheap and a few small speakers in the ceilings of different rooms, may be a selling point.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: mattpegher
Athough, I have one in my house I don't use it. A nice light weight upright vac with a hepa filter works better. The hoses are a pain to lug around the house. And you have to buy plug in unit to have a head with a spinning brush. That said, do houses in your area in this price range have central vac? It is a selling point because many buyers have never had one and don't realize that their useless. It may effect the speed of your sell. Also in homes over 400k many people employ a maid service.

Of course, being on ATOT we don't have to tell you to wire the house for ethernet with Cat5. Also remember that metal studs screw up wireless. Might be a nice time to prewire the house for sound system. The wire is cheap and a few small speakers in the ceilings of different rooms, may be a selling point.

Good points. I suggest using 2x6 studs in place of 2x4 for the outer walls. This will do two things for you:

1. Provide you with a stronger house
2. More importantly, 2x6 studs around the perimeter will allow for 50% more insulation to be packed in the walls for better home efficiancy.

This should add only $2000 to the cost of the house but it will pay for it's self in resale and energy savings.

 

[mattpegher]

Originally posted by: Googer
Good points. I suggest using 2x6 studs in place of 2x4 for the outer walls. This will do two things for you:

1. Provide you with a stronger house
2. More importantly, 2x6 studs around the perimeter will allow for 50% more insulation to be packed in the walls for better home efficiancy.

Agreed and it gives you that old school deep window look that everyone loves. But he may not be touching the outside walls. He could do the same with 2x2s on top but thats a lot of work.

 

[Googer]

The only place I can think a central vacuum would be of any appeal is if you had a workshop and connected it to all your equipment to collect all the sawdust.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: mattpegher
Athough, I have one in my house I don't use it. A nice light weight upright vac with a hepa filter works better. The hoses are a pain to lug around the house. And you have to buy plug in unit to have a head with a spinning brush. That said, do houses in your area in this price range have central vac? It is a selling point because many buyers have never had one and don't realize that their useless. It may effect the speed of your sell. Also in homes over 400k many people employ a maid service.

Of course, being on ATOT we don't have to tell you to wire the house for ethernet with Cat5. Also remember that metal studs screw up wireless. Might be a nice time to prewire the house for sound system. The wire is cheap and a few small speakers in the ceilings of different rooms, may be a selling point.

Good points. I suggest using 2x6 studs in place of 2x4 for the outer walls. This will do two things for you:

1. Provide you with a stronger house
2. More importantly, 2x6 studs around the perimeter will allow for 50% more insulation to be packed in the walls for better home efficiancy.

This should add only $2000 to the cost of the house but it will pay for it's self in resale and energy savings.

I would definitely second this. My dad designed one of the houses I grew up in and we missed a lot of the features that went into it when we moved into another home. That house was a large 2.5 story w/ basement with 6in exterior studs. It cost as much or less to heat and cool that house than the much smaller two story house w/ 4in exterior studs that we moved into. Other things that I really liked was that the fireplace was moved off center of the focal point of the family room, which allowed the TV to take the focal point instead of ackwardly pigeonholing it off to the side at an angle, or even worse above the fireplace (I hate that about my dad's current house). We also had the laundry room on the second floor so my mom did not have to lug clothes up and down stairs. We had a central vac but I think there were mixed opinions. The hoses were annoying but at the time, it was a lot easier than lugging a good vacuum around (we did buy a Kirby but it was a monster). I think it depends on the quality of current systems as high end vacuums are much smaller and lighter these days.

 

[soydios]

You still have to carry around the hose. It's more trouble than its worth. A single vacuum cleaner can be easily replaced if it breaks. A central one, not so much.

 

[drnickriviera]

I plan on using spray foam insulation in the house. If I use closed cell foam, that should negate the need for 2x6 walls.

 

[Kelemvor]

Especially on a 4400 sqft house.. That's a lot of vacuuming to be done. It'd be a nice feature but for me, it'd just be an option but nothing I'd really care about if it wasn't there.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Born2bwire

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: mattpegher
Athough, I have one in my house I don't use it. A nice light weight upright vac with a hepa filter works better. The hoses are a pain to lug around the house. And you have to buy plug in unit to have a head with a spinning brush. That said, do houses in your area in this price range have central vac? It is a selling point because many buyers have never had one and don't realize that their useless. It may effect the speed of your sell. Also in homes over 400k many people employ a maid service.

Of course, being on ATOT we don't have to tell you to wire the house for ethernet with Cat5. Also remember that metal studs screw up wireless. Might be a nice time to prewire the house for sound system. The wire is cheap and a few small speakers in the ceilings of different rooms, may be a selling point.

Good points. I suggest using 2x6 studs in place of 2x4 for the outer walls. This will do two things for you:

1. Provide you with a stronger house
2. More importantly, 2x6 studs around the perimeter will allow for 50% more insulation to be packed in the walls for better home efficiancy.

This should add only $2000 to the cost of the house but it will pay for it's self in resale and energy savings.

I would definitely second this. My dad designed one of the houses I grew up in and we missed a lot of the features that went into it when we moved into another home. That house was a large 2.5 story w/ basement with 6in exterior studs. It cost as much or less to heat and cool that house than the much smaller two story house w/ 4in exterior studs that we moved into. Other things that I really liked was that the fireplace was moved off center of the focal point of the family room, which allowed the TV to take the focal point instead of ackwardly pigeonholing it off to the side at an angle, or even worse above the fireplace (I hate that about my dad's current house). We also had the laundry room on the second floor so my mom did not have to lug clothes up and down stairs. We had a central vac but I think there were mixed opinions. The hoses were annoying but at the time, it was a lot easier than lugging a good vacuum around (we did buy a Kirby but it was a monster). I think it depends on the quality of current systems as high end vacuums are much smaller and lighter these days.

My grandfather was an engineer and when he designed a house, he would always make sure the laundry room was close to the bedrooms. This did make life much easier for the people who lived there as they did not have to carry the baskets from the basement to the second story. So I agree with you too.

Kirby's are nice for the first floor, but a good eight pound Oreck is a better choice for the second story, it's great for cleaning the carpet on the staircase.

 

[Electric Amish]

I would not, no. My parents put one in one of the houses they built. It was ok, but nothing special, IMO.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: 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.

Just use the central vac wall tubes as a conduit for all that stuff!

 

[senseamp]

No, Roombas/robots are going to replace all vacuums at some point not too far away.

 

[senseamp]

Oh, and central vacuums suck. Get it? Haha

 

[erniec]

yes i would :beer:

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: senseamp
No, Roombas/robots are going to replace all vacuums at some point not too far away.

Especially with Woot becoming more popular