What items would exclude the next time you renovate a house?

[AC43]

As suggested by craigjm on the other thread, what things have you included in a renovation that you would NOT repeat in another build? These are the ones that spring to mind for me.

I wouldn't bother running cat cables to laptops/printers/media devices again if I've got WAPs spread around the place

I wouldn't attempt a wifi mesh set up again either; I failed twice in previous last two places. They kept dropping; probably my fault but I'm not yery technical and the systems defeated me

I would never ever have Lutron lighting again; IMHO it's overkill for a domestic setting. Bear in mind this was in 2010 or something and modern home automation has probably completely replaced Lutron domestically. But I struggle with Hue too and prefer walking around using dimmers and on/off buttons rather than configuring things on a laptop or on an app. Again, I'm not a techie.

I didn't go for separate 5V light sockets in this renovation; I can't really see the point.

I'm not sure about electric UFH in bathrooms; it's so expensive to run it's always switched off. Good for resale I guess.

[Jasandjules]

I would not use resin worktops...

[98elise]

Phone lines and AV cables

In my loft there must be 10 -15 extension box cables converging on two master sockets (I used to have a separate work line). Completely redundant these days.

I also ran 2 satelite and 2 TV cables to every main room. One of the TV cables was to feed a second TV from each sky box. I also have speaker cables running from the living room to kitchen and dining room for a second set of speakers from my main amp. We're all smart speakers and streaming now (other than 2 sat cables to the main sky box)

Edited by 98elise on Tuesday 25th February 19:06

[worsy]

BT Copper phone points

Went overboard on sockets in the study - I have 11 doubles but only 10 plugs in at the moment - Therefore could have got away with 5 or 6.

[Snow and Rocks]

Might be controversial but one thing I've done here is to actively resist the temptation to add lots of gimmicky short lived tech (I hate that word) that typically ages like milk.

I have run good quality data cable to the ceiling of each room, to garden seating areas and outbuildings that feed commercial grade wireless access points but have no smart devices besides TV and audio servers that are easily upgraded.

All the interior and exterior lights are controlled by traditional hard wired dimmer switches, nothing relies on apps including the heating and everything is basically designed so that a stranger (or my wife) can come in and figure everything out easily.

We do let friends use the house when we're away which was a partial driver but it is quite liberating!

[AC43]

Jasandjules said:

I would not use resin worktops...

What's up with resin?

[AC43]

98elise said:

Phone lines and AV cables

In my loft I have two master sockets (used to have dedicated a work line) and there must be 10 -15 extension box cables converging on two master sockets (I used to have a separate work line). Completely redundant these days.

I also ran 2 satelite and 2 TV cables to every main room. One of the TV cables was to feed a second TV from each sky box. I also have speaker cables running from the living room to kitchen and dining room for a second set of speakers from my main amp. We're all smart speakers and streaming now (other than 2 sat cables to the main sky box)

Oh yeah I forgot. I paid for a satellite dish and a terrestrial aerial and the associated cabling into two rooms. This was in 2018. Never used, never will be.....

[EmBe]

Snow and Rocks said:

Might be controversial but one thing I've done here is to actively resist the temptation to add lots of gimmicky short lived tech (I hate that word) that typically ages like milk.

I have run good quality data cable to the ceiling of each room, to garden seating areas and outbuildings that feed commercial grade wireless access points but have no smart devices besides TV and audio servers that are easily upgraded.

All the interior and exterior lights are controlled by traditional hard wired dimmer switches, nothing relies on apps including the heating and everything is basically designed so that a stranger (or my wife) can come in and figure everything out easily.

We do let friends use the house when we're away which was a partial driver but it is quite liberating!

Same here. We did ours 6 years ago and everything still works, and will continue to do so. WAPs around the house suit how we use stuff - only the TV stays in the same place these days and that's only really watched by me, and occasionally my wife, most viewing is done on ipads these days it seems...

Light switches rather than an app on the phone doesn't bother me at all.

Working in the IT industry, I know that we continually 'encourage' customers to upgrade and occasionally 'End of Life' products. Not such a big deal for software, more of an issue when it's hardware, integrated into the house.

The only tech I think we could perhaps have looked at is a more intelligent heating system, 2 stats and a TRV on each radiator is not the most efficient.

[AC43]

Snow and Rocks said:

Might be controversial but one thing I've done here is to actively resist the temptation to add lots of gimmicky short lived tech (I hate that word) that typically ages like milk.

This one reason why I like the (discontinued) Google Audio dongle. Just add streaming to any amp/speaker combo I have today or buy tomorrow.

Snow and Rocks said:

I have run good quality data cable to the ceiling of each room, to garden seating areas and outbuildings that feed commercial grade wireless access points but have no smart devices besides TV and audio servers that are easily upgraded.

I kind of stumbled across this approach. More trial and error than foresight ie I've wasted a lot of time and money in the past.

Snow and Rocks said:

All the interior and exterior lights are controlled by traditional hard wired dimmer switches, nothing relies on apps including the heating and everything is basically designed so that a stranger (or my wife) can come in and figure everything out easily. We do let friends use the house when we're away which was a partial driver but it is quite liberating!

That's actually a very good point; Hadn't considered that

[AC43]

EmBe said:

The only tech I think we could perhaps have looked at is a more intelligent heating system, 2 stats and a TRV on each radiator is not the most efficient.

I have Honeywell Ecohome put in by a mate of mine who was conflicted in that (a) he thought it was the most efficient system on the market at the time but (b) was sold by an arms manafaturer.

Anyway, its reliable and extremely easy to use. In theory it should have significantly trimmed my energy bills but I have absolutely no way of quantifying that.

[Crumpet]

The only thing for me that’s been a total disaster and waste of money has been a resin bound driveway. Looked good for a year or two but after ten years it’s a wreck. Should’ve gone with block paves!

Oh and black bathroom hardware. In a hard water area it’s a complete nightmare.

And I regret fitting a couple of rooms out with cheap gear because my budget was limited at the time and I needed the them finished. Buy cheap, buy twice, so I’ll need to ditch some laminate in one room in due course and probably the Ikea kitchen cabinets I used in the utility room. I should’ve waited until the funds allowed for higher quality as both laminate flooring and IKEA kitchens are hateful things.

[98elise]

Snow and Rocks said:

Might be controversial but one thing I've done here is to actively resist the temptation to add lots of gimmicky short lived tech (I hate that word) that typically ages like milk.

I have run good quality data cable to the ceiling of each room, to garden seating areas and outbuildings that feed commercial grade wireless access points but have no smart devices besides TV and audio servers that are easily upgraded.

All the interior and exterior lights are controlled by traditional hard wired dimmer switches, nothing relies on apps including the heating and everything is basically designed so that a stranger (or my wife) can come in and figure everything out easily.

We do let friends use the house when we're away which was a partial driver but it is quite liberating!

My smart stuff does both. All the normal light switches work as normal switches, but they can also be controlled by voice/app/automations. It's just a sonoff smart module wired behind the standard light switch (£10-15 each). We have smart plugs on all the lamps.

In fact they work together. If you leave a light on in a bathroom I have an automation that will turn it off after a set period.

We're also adding motion and presence sensors so that halls, bathrooms and the kitchen will work without any interaction. They are battery powered so no wiring or hassle.

I'm also about to add a shelly smart relay to the heating so that the old timer/thermostat system will still work, but the relay will give us a parallel smart over ride.

I don't think of it as short lived as there is nothing to change. They are just on/or off and work with Google home.

Edited to add....

I do understand why you would take that approach though. I have a mate that spent tens of thousands on a whole house AV system. That included putting all his media on a server, and having the ability to play in on any TV or speakers in the house, all controlled from touch screen control panels.

All now made redundant by streaming devices, smart speakers, and a mobile phone/tablet!

Someone buying that house now would need to spend 1000's stripping out the panels and wiring.

Edited by 98elise on Tuesday 25th February 19:07

[AC43]

Crumpet said:

The only thing for me that’s been a total disaster and waste of money has been a resin bound driveway. Looked good for a year or two but after ten years it’s a wreck. Should’ve gone with block paves!

That's interesting; resin does look amazing new but I've noticed that there's a lot of block paving going down now where I live. Which us what people used before resin. Maybe that's why.

And maybe it's like all the flat roof sections on my place. Done (badly) with GRP in 2017. Replaced with felt in 2024. Grr....

GRP roofing - that's going on the list!

Crumpet said:

Oh and black bathroom hardware. In a hard water area it’s a complete nightmare.

Yeah, very hard water here. White/chrome all the way.

[silentbrown]

Snow and Rocks said:

All the interior and exterior lights are controlled by traditional hard wired dimmer switches

Actually, dimmer switches are moving to my 'hate' list.

Previous owner had fitted LED lamps but not changed the dimmers, so they were a flickery mess.

I replaced dimmers with Varilight V-Pros, and while it's fixed the flicker they're incredibly slow to respond. They also randomly go into a fade-up/down/up cycle when you turn them on. One failed and has been replaced with a regular switch, and we don't miss the lack of dimming at all.

[TownIdiot]

Snow and Rocks said:

Might be controversial but one thing I've done here is to actively resist the temptation to add lots of gimmicky short lived tech (I hate that word) that typically ages like milk.

I have run good quality data cable to the ceiling of each room, to garden seating areas and outbuildings that feed commercial grade wireless access points but have no smart devices besides TV and audio servers that are easily upgraded.

All the interior and exterior lights are controlled by traditional hard wired dimmer switches, nothing relies on apps including the heating and everything is basically designed so that a stranger (or my wife) can come in and figure everything out easily.

We do let friends use the house when we're away which was a partial driver but it is quite liberating!

Surely the smart systems do both?

[cb31]

Crumpet said:

And I regret fitting a couple of rooms out with cheap gear because my budget was limited at the time and I needed the them finished. Buy cheap, buy twice

We were refurbing 5 bathrooms about 3 years ago, costs were getting stupid so I bought some cheap bottle traps and chrome pipes for the sinks. I thought they looked ok and how could a bit of metal go wrong? I've since replaced 3 as they started rusting from the inside out and leaking, no doubt the remaining 2 will be failing soon.

Not the end of the world but annoying nonetheless, glad I didn't skimp on the expensive stuff.

[essayer]

I wouldn’t bother with a wood burner. Just turn the heating up!

[Craikeybaby]

I think I included my excludes in the other thread, but...

• Wooden worktops in the kitchen - they look good, but require ongoing maintenance.
• Burglar alarms in house/garage - after a few false alarms we stopped using them.

[tim0409]

essayer said:

I wouldn’t bother with a wood burner. Just turn the heating up!

I really, really miss our wood burner from our last house, and was one of the (many) reasons I’ve just sold the new build we moved into. You can turn the heating up but it just isn’t the same in my opinion. I find having a fire very therapeutic. Our next self build will definitely have one!

[AC43]

essayer said:

I wouldn’t bother with a wood burner. Just turn the heating up!

No way!! :-)

On the fourth attempt, I finally managed to withhold enough budget at the end of the project to get one. Me & the wife have in on in our favourite part of the house every evening in winter where can kick back and read/watch TV/listen to music.

The cat likes it too.