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[wombat]

 It makes a chore into an entertainment!

That I can appreciate.  It will have to wait till we live somewhere where there's any room at all to sit in front of the washer, though.  Maybe where I could sit in a big bathtub (NOT a big cooler!) watching the laundry spin round, even.  A girl can dream can't she?

[side_show]

In-floor heating and one of them on-demand hot water tanks, where it doesn't keep the water sitting there, but heats it as you need it. Very economical. My ex-in-laws have both, and they're great.

Big bath tub, certainly, that's a must.

Front loading washer, if you are also doing the appliances now. Those are the coolest. I miss mine so bad. Very economical, also.

Done - this house, as part of the program for the low-income housing thing-y that my SO and I are part of, is a "Power Smart" home.  We have like a super efficient furnace with heat return, an on-demand hot water tank, the house will come pre-installed with those funky lightbulbs, top-o-the-line insulation etc.  

And for building a Power Smart Home, we got the choice of either $600 off our hydro or a FREE front loading washer.  We chose the washer.

[side_show]

Big tub is for yes

I agree with everyone - I wants me a big ol' tub.  I must soak.

Also, see if upgrades in stuff like UV window tinting (keep you from greenhousing as much), dual paned windows, window/door weatherstripping, wall/attic insulation and door quality (outside acces esp.) are available and semi-cost-reasonable.  It'll affect your comfort and be a cost saving for you in the long run.

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba where these are all standard requirements due to the -40 C winters. Actually we're getting triple paned windows as part of the standard package.  I have very fond memories of going to other places and being all confused by single paned windows.

On fixtures: it's easier to do them now during initial build.  Do you want filtered drinking water?  If so, see about build in for a sink tap with filtration device built in under sink.  How about a handy dandy extendable hose handset for doing dishes linked to your hot water line hard mounted in the sink?

An under the tap filter is an excellent idea.  As for the handy dandy hose on the sink, I have one now and all I use it for now is spraying my SO when he gets too silly.

On electrical: if not included, make sure GFCU wall sockets are set up to protect line runs in particular areas, like bathrooms and wash/utility rooms.  That way you can have an accident and just trip the circuit instead of having a fire or an electrocution.

All standard. And as for the rest, we get to have a meeting with the electrician on the build to determin where we want things and any other extras we need.  We get two phone jacks and two cable jacks as part of the standard package.  And as for a garage, this is not part of the deal, but my dad is clearly super excited about building one with us - I've witnessed him build three in my life-time, and I myself have never had us of a garage in my life, so I'm happy to wait, but look forward to not scraping frost, clearing snow, etc off my windows.

[side_show]

 It makes a chore into an entertainment!

That I can appreciate.  It will have to wait till we live somewhere where there's any room at all to sit in front of the washer, though.  Maybe where I could sit in a big bathtub (NOT a big cooler!) watching the laundry spin round, even.  A girl can dream can't she?

The reasons why hydro so happily offers to buy us a front loader are as follows:  takes half the water, because of the way it spins clothes are much dryer at the completion of washing and therefore need less time in the dryer.  Other benifits include that is is gentler on clothes, and yes is strangely fun to watch.

So thanks to all for your input.

We settled on the major cost add-ons yesterday, and they included:

- a complete appliance package of fridge stove and dishwasher, all engergy efficient.  (because of the free washing machine all we need to buy on our own is a dryer)

- a full lenght front porch (expensive, but enjoyable)

&

- central air

Next up comes chosing countertops, flooring etc.

I'm all about hardwood flooring in the living room, rather than carpeting & a deep tub.

The only problem we faced so far is the builders resistance to giving us smooth ceilings.  For some reason all these homes come standard with textured (aka popcorn) ceilings, and when we raised this issue the builder was not willing to negotiate it -he said it would be much more expensive.  Which makes no sense to me.  So in the end, we may simply tell the builder to take the ceilings to the primer stage, and that we'll do the painting.  I'm so opposed to the popcorn ceilings - so dated, so 1984.

It's very weird to care about all these silly little details, I feel like a super-dork for getting excited over vinyl floor samples!

[Va]

I want this washing machine.

[Nabubrush]

I appreciate that the washer there is the most energy efficient.


However, if you don't get the little window in front to watch your laundry, you may as well be bashing your clothes with rocks on the banks of the river.

[Va]

Y'know, I like doing laundry as much as the next person (:dunce:), but the idea of sitting around watching it when I could be playing Metroid...why the hell would I want to do that?

Seems to me that if you're going to sit around and watch your expensive machine slave do the laundry, you might as well be bashing your clothes with rocks on the banks of the river.

[Nabubrush]

Philistine.

[CortJstr]

I just want a washer that doesn't require 6 quarters.

Also, a dryer.

[Va]

I spent the vast majority of my life in coin-op laundry hell.  All having to wash my dad's tightie-whities at the laundromat next to the 7-11.  All drinking Slurpees and reading teen-girl magazines on cracked vinyl couches for 4 hours every weekend.

[V-Adore]

I will freely confess that I used to be a laundry-minder -- but that was in my freshman year of college, when I was paranoid that someone would come in and steal my laundry if I left it alone for even a minute. That, and it was a good excuse to get some reading done, because what else are you going to do?

Thankfully, now I realize that nobody in their right mind would ever want to steal my under#####. Life is calmer now.

[Gimpson]

Thankfully, now I realize that nobody in their right mind would ever want to steal my under#####. Life is calmer now.

Well, I did in fact have under##### stolen from my dorm room's laundry room in college.  I could not tell you why, but they took all the flannel boxers from a load of laundry and left the rest.

[Va]

I could not tell you why, but they took all the flannel boxers from a load of laundry and left the rest.

I'd guess someone who wears the same size as you needed some flannel boxers.

[CortJstr]

I college all our machines operated off of our student ID's. My currently appartment is the first time I've delt with coin-op and it's a pain. But 4 hours? Damn. Our laundry only takes an hour and half.

[Nabubrush]

Coin-op laundry is almost a deal-breaker as far as I'm concerned. My wife picked out our present location before I moved down, and it had to have a lot of things going for it for me to agree. And even then, it was the fact that a good friend of hers agreed to sell us his washer/dryer for $50 that finally sealed the deal.

I despise the laundromat. There are never cute girls dancing around there like I see in the television commercials and music videos.