One of my favorite things about custom building + owner building is that you get to control the quality of your construction project. 🏡 Even though there are approximately FIFTY BAJILLION decisions to be made during the process and fatigue is inevitable, the payoff is SO worth it. If you are in the process now are considering it, I hope this list can give you some ideas about things that you may want to plan to do. These are just some of the little details we chose to add the improve the quality and value of our home. Our coastal farmhouse is located in Florida ☀️so we spent a lot of time considering wind impacts due to expectations of hurricanes.🌪 I added a few details about finishes in this post, but I tried to stick mostly to the nitty gritty of the actual construction. I’ll definitely share all our finish and fixtures choices in an upcoming blog.

What We Did:

🗝 Tongue n groove porch ceilings (this option was more costly than using the standard vinyl)

🛠 Installed header boards between studs during framing for TVs, decor etc (we did a bunch of these and in every room)

🚪Craftsman trim style with large headers + 8” Baseboards throughout interior

🖼 exterior framing boards 2x6

🚰 Matt reinforced the waterproofing on all windows during framing phase

🚽 Put essential electrical wires together to easily run the whole house on a generator if needed

💡Put 4 ceiling lights plus a fan in every bedroom (I will do a lighting/electrical post in the future so stay tuned!)

🕯 Retrofit recessed LED lights except in rooms that had super tall ceilings that would require scaffolding to reach, those we used the recessed can lights so that we just had to change out the bulb and not the whole fixture

🚿 Curb-less shower entry on both shower stalls

🔥 Extra large fireplace insert

👩🏼‍🦽Extra wide handicap accessible doorways downstairs (36” width)

🚧 Fairing bracing between the studs in the interior walls.  When a house shakes in the wind, fairings provide extra support.

🏰 Extra Hurricane straps on every “T” joint.  Placed hurricane straps well beyond the required code limit. 

🏗 Heavy Duty Steel Straps securing adjoining studs on the house frame. 

⛓ Heavy duty Steel straps connect the edge trusses to the frame they sit on top off. 

⛏ For the floating stairs, used extra straps and reinforced with stainless steel screws to tighten the connection of the stairs to the truss they connect to for additional support.  Also attached OSB boards to the underside of the stair risers to increase support from the bottom side. 

👂🏼 Put insulation batting throughout the interior walls to cut down on sound travel and add privacy.

🚙 Fully insulated garage to help keep the inside temperature cooler.

🚿Used spray foam insulation throughout the home focusing on the ceilings and attack spaces

🪑 Fully custom, hand-built cabinetry. We chose this option because this cabinet maker came highly recommended and we did not want any half-cabinets, which the several other cabinet makers were going to do. We liked the idea of having the cabinets custom fit to each space.

What We Wish We Would Wave Done:

🛒 Impact resistant windows (they were double the cost but we should have just done it)

🗜 Hurricane rods on the truss gables to connect them to the concrete foundation. Probably would have been less than $500 to install. After surviving a hurricane, these rods should probably be code for southeast coastal homeowners. The long metal straps we used were the next best option, so we expect the gables to remain secure for any future storms that may blow through.

📦 Ordered semi-custom cabinetry. We would have gotten more bang for our buck.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

If I think of more details, I will make a list and do this post again. When we were in the planning stages, I was always looking for lists and blogs from real life people’s experiences to try to help us determine where to spend extra money and where to cut back, so I really hope this helps!

Have a blessed week yall!