Real Estate News Radio with Rowena Patton

Essential Home Building and Organization Tips: Avoid Regrets and Create Your Dream Space

August 31, 2024 • Rowena Patton

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What if your dream home came with a ready-made list of features you'll wish you had thought about? On this episode of the Plain English Real Estate Show, we promise you'll walk away with the insider knowledge you need to avoid common home building regrets. Our trusted producer Randy joins us as we share practical tips like installing pull-out drawers with outlets in the pantry and creating shallow cupboards for better organization. Randy also brings a slice of local life with highlights from the 78th annual Apple Festival in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Don't miss our engaging discussion that combines essential home building wisdom with a touch of local charm.

Ever wondered how to make the most out of a tiny home? We focus on maximizing space and efficiency with real-world examples from our own experiences. Learn how to cleverly stack appliances like washers and dryers to create additional storage, and discover the benefits of using rechargeable tools for home maintenance. We discuss the advantages of luxury vinyl plank (LVP) flooring and share insights on sustainable cleaning tools that make life easier and more eco-friendly. Whether you're building, remodeling, or just looking for smart home tips, our episode offers plenty of valuable insights.

Decluttering and organization are more than just buzzwords; they're essential for a functional, stress-free home. From maximizing closet space to using modern cleaning gadgets, we cover practical storage solutions that can make your life easier. We also dive into the importance of radon remediation and proper ventilation to ensure a healthy living environment. Tune in to hear our thoughts on optimizing your home for modern conveniences and share your own experiences as we explore the joys and challenges of creating a home that truly works for you.

Speaker 1:

This is the Plain English Real Estate Show with your host, rowena Patton, a show that focuses on the real estate market in terms you can easily understand. Call Rowena now. The number is 240-9962 or 1-800-570-9962. Now here's the English girl in the mountains, the agent that I would trust, rowena Patton. The agent that I would trust Rowena Patton.

Speaker 2:

Good morning and welcome to the show. This is Rowena Patton on WNC 570 AM and you can listen anywhere live. For your friends that might want to listen at realestatenewsradiocom realestatenewsradiocom. Click on listen live. I guess that's pretty obvious, right? That would be pretty obvious, don't you think, randy?

Speaker 3:

That's right.

Speaker 2:

Yes, randy's here, our trusted producer. You go into the Apple Festival today.

Speaker 3:

Already been. It's wonderful, it's 78th annual. The King Apple Parade is Monday afternoon at 2.30. That wraps it up, but between now and then, 200 vendors on main street and a delicious apple fritter.

Speaker 2:

That sounds so good. Oh, my goodness, I want to go. Are you covering it today, randy?

Speaker 3:

no, I'm just working here I'm here today and uh, just uh went yesterday for opening day and it was wonderful.

Speaker 2:

Wow, very cool yeah. So is it all weekend?

Speaker 3:

Yes, Today, tomorrow and Monday. It culminates with the parade at 2.30. And it's the King Apple Parade. The Grand Marshals this year Hall of Fame North Carolina coach Roy Williams and his lovely wife Wanda. They are the Grand Marshals of the.

Speaker 2:

You just know all the details, don't you?

Speaker 3:

I've been promoting it all month. I love it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a very fun thing to go to in wonderful Hendersonville, north Carolina. It's about 35 minutes away from Asheville, and today we are talking about all the things that you wish you'd remembered when you built a house. Isn't that a fun topic? I'm excited.

Speaker 3:

I saw that on.

Speaker 2:

You saw it on Facebook already.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and it did get my brain going. I know I built a couple of houses and, yes, there are. You know, almost immediate, when you move in, almost immediate. I wish I had, I wish I hadn't, I wish almost immediate. Do you have one for us?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I just remembered another one that was 30 years ago.

Speaker 2:

to be honest with you, OK, well, I'll go through mine and you can be thinking about whether you've got any. We'd love to hear from you too, 800-570-9962. Give us a call, 800-570-9962. I'd love to hear from some builders as well, because, okay, builders for you.

Speaker 2:

It's what's that annoying thing, when you're almost finished, that your client says to you and says, oh, could we add this? Is it too late? Because that's the same thing. Right, it's something you didn't think about when you were planning your house. I think the worst thing about building a house is there's always something that you wish you'd have done, you know. And when you're moving into an existing house, well, yeah, you're still saying, oh, I wish we had this, I wish we had that. But when you've built it yourself, who have you got to blame yourself? Oh, my goodness, can you believe? So I've remodeled I mean, we should really call that a good job 42 different places and I've never built a house. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, that is kind of wild, I think it. It might be time. So here's one.

Speaker 2:

And I actually put this in my current house when I redid the kitchen. So I have a pantry with pull-out drawers. You know, slide-out drawers. I've actually got the soft clothes on them as well. Lots of people have got pull-out drawers in their pantry. I know I put outlets at the back, so that's where the coffee maker goes, that's where the mixer goes it back. So that's where the coffee maker goes, that's where the mixer goes. That's it's actually where the toaster goes too, so you just pull it out in the morning, make your coffee, push it back, and nothing is on the countertops. It's so fun, um, and you know I've got a really tiny kitchen so it's uh really nice to to have a place to put all that stuff away and I really enjoy it. I love that.

Speaker 2:

I thought about it at the time. What I didn't think about at the time was that space on the. So if you look face on at your cupboards on the side, there's usually a little space there or I don't know you've put some uh, uh finishing piece on it or something like that. You can build a little eight inch cupboard that's the same eight or nine inches that has the doors the same as your cabinets, especially if it's white. It's so easy I added it afterwards because it was, I didn't think about it at the time and it provides a little space to tuck the doggy bowls underneath. But, most importantly, all the glasses, all the cups, cans, boxes, all kinds of stuff are in there actually. Cans, boxes, all kinds of stuff are in there actually, but they're one layer deep.

Speaker 2:

You know how in your cupboards maybe some of you are organized and it's all beautiful in your cupboards. You know it's the endless seeking organization, like your spices. You know you're getting all those little special things to organize your spices so you can actually see them. When your cupboard is only eight inches deep, you can put anything in there. Even if you're a hoarder, you can stash a screwdriver, like all that stuff. You know that's in that mess of drawers where you can't find anything ever. You can put it in that shallow cupboard. It's really, really cool.

Speaker 2:

Mine goes floor to ceiling. My ceilings aren't very high so it's not that big, but you can fill a lot of stuff in there. All those glasses you don't use all the time, you know, or the glass cupboard. When you pull them out and they're chink, chink, chink and they're all shoved in and for some reason, when you put your stuff in the dishwasher and then you take it out, it doesn't fit in your cupboard anymore. Have you ever noticed that? It's like the magic sock trick. You know where do those socks go? It's the same thing. Oh, I just thought of another one A cupboard to put your vacuum cleaner, floor washer, you know whatever in there? Because what do most of us do? We put it in an old-fashioned house. You have the coat closet as you go in. In an old-fashioned house. You have the coat closet as you go in.

Speaker 3:

But it has no outlet in there to recharge the battery.

Speaker 2:

Exactly right no outlet. So I actually built the washing machine. It was an old house, it was a 60s house. It used to have the washing machine in what I call my dirt basement downstairs and I don't want to be going up and down stairs. Who wants to be going up and down stairs to the washing machine? No one, ever.

Speaker 2:

It's really great, if you're building a house, actually to have the extra washing machine like an all in one in your, in your primary bedroom we're not allowed to call it the master bedroom anymore In your primary bedroom, in your gigantic because often they're very large these days bathroom. So you know you've got that bathroom with a double thing like put your all-in-one under there. All-in-ones aren't as efficient and you don't want to be washing a lot of stuff in. They do work. I mean, lots of apartments have them, lots of condos have them. But to have the extra one in your primary bedroom, I have to keep thinking what to call it. Put your smalls in, throw your towels in and an all-in-one, by the way, you put them in, it washes it and then it dries it. So you pull them out dry and if you know if your partner really annoys you and leaves wet towels on the floor. Now you can just put them straight into. Imagine having to do that instead of putting things in a laundry basket and then take it just skips a step right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, um, but I actually built, uh, like a cupboard, basically, to put I had to stack the washing machines, because I'm in a tiny house and next door to that I had space for a cupboard, because I wasn't giving that up. I could have actually had my washer and dryer side by side, but I stacked them instead and I used that extra space to build a cupboard that I put outlets in. Thank you, randy, for that. And the outlets recharge the batteries. What do they recharge? The batteries to my blower so that I can now blow things off the deck, because every flipping day right now, the walnut tree next door is blowing leaves onto my deck. It is not fun.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, is blowing leaves onto my deck? It is not fun. Yeah, and after the lawn crews come, they don't blow off my porch.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 3:

So I got one of those little. Yeah, it needs charging.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I used to leave it under. I had a little like a little love seat out there and I used to leave it under there, but it's bright green and it's ugly and you don't really want to leave it under there, especially if it's not covered. So now it goes in that area, it goes in there with I must be a gadget girl or something with the charger. The charger also chat, you know, because you can get these all-in-one systems. The charger also charges my strimmer. We don't call it a strimmer, do we? Weed eater? Yeah, I call it a strimmer. Go figure, it's an English term. Yeah, every time you don't understand me, I just say it's an English term. So that's where the strimmer goes as well, and the same battery operates on it yeah.

Speaker 2:

And actually I've now got oh, I got an electric lawnmower. I had a little push lawnmower because my lawn's so tiny.

Speaker 3:

It's just too much lawn's so tiny, it's just too much. But that electric mower Amazing, I'm sure it is. It's amazing I love it.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure it is, I love it. So the battery charger for that, because that isn't the all-in-one thing, because I couldn't afford that one, I bought the cheap one, but it's really good and it's quiet. Oh my gosh, it's so quiet and it cuts the lawn so easily and it makes me very happy and Sophie the dog's very happy too, because she gets tickled by the longer grass. Her tummy she's a Dachshund, so her low belly gets tickled by the grass. So what else is in there? I've got my. You know, I've got one of those little. It's like a vacuum and you put water on it and it's got brushes in it and it mops the floor. I've got one of those too, and of course like the Swiffer thing. But and of course like the Swiffer thing, but it's not a Swiffer. I don't know why. I'm sorry, I'm going to get sued by Swiffer now.

Speaker 2:

I'm not sure why you buy these disposable ones. That's just wasteful. I think you can get one with like a microfiber bottom and it's got a bottle that's refillable. Forget that stuff that you have to keep buying. You know where. It's like two, three dollars to put the liquid on. Just buy a concentrate, put a little dribble in it Even water works or vinegar, and you put the bottle on and it's got a microfiber that pulls off the bottom that you just throw in the washing machine and you get two or three of them and it's fantastic. It's like you would never use them up again if you got one of those.

Speaker 3:

And you combine that with the right flooring. I'm so amazed at the flooring that's in this place where I am just moved into. It's LVP.

Speaker 2:

I think it is. Yeah, luxury vinyl plank. If you haven't heard of this stuff or used it before, it's amazing.

Speaker 2:

That's definitely something that could go on the list? Definitely, yeah. So here's the thing about LVP luxury vinyl plank Don't buy the cheap one. You can buy it for $1.99 a square foot. Usually that's not the one to buy First off. The surface on top isn't very thick and $1.99 doesn't sound like much. But you're still going to be talking about a lot in materials, right? So if you've got, it's thousands of dollars. Imagine if most people have I don't know 1,500, 2,000 square foot on average. That's a lot of money.

Speaker 2:

You don't want it to wear off in a few years or ding and dent more easily because the surface is very, very thin. The other very important part is you don't want the 24 hours of warranty if you drop liquid on it, because, especially if you've got a little dog or kids come over or your parents, I don't know, are getting a bit dropsy, or you know your beer can falls over behind your sofa, whatever it is, if you get liquid on it and you don't notice it, it blows that piece and it's not easy to take liquid on it and you don't notice it. It blows that piece and it's not easy to take out one of those planks and replace it. It's very hard.

Speaker 3:

Because this is one sheet.

Speaker 2:

No, it's planks that click in together. Basically, then, that's not what you have.

Speaker 3:

Because this is like vinyl, like a vinyl sheet all throughout the house that looks like expensive wood flooring.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God. So it looks like it's got planks in it yes. Wow, you sure it doesn't, because it looks. You can't see, there's not holes in between.

Speaker 3:

No, this is a solid sheet.

Speaker 2:

Now, I'm fascinated.

Speaker 3:

It is fascinating and it is durable, moving in with all the furniture. And I was worried because I came from a very inexpensive wood type floor. That dings and scratches, oh, so easily.

Speaker 2:

So easily we see it sound like an ad for a flooring manufacturer.

Speaker 3:

Now Whatever this is, buy it Is it like the stuff at a hospital maybe yes.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 3:

I've seen it in doctors now too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's amazing, it is amazing Because everybody right now is thinking oh, randy's talking about vinyl flooring, it comes in a roll, but it has gotten so much better and there's other materials you can put down now, whether you use the LVP, that's the luxury vinyl plank. So actually, here's what's changed. The nerd in me is coming out now that a few years ago and you'll notice this with tile as well that we increased our ability to take pictures of things and then transfer that to materials. That's why all of the marble tiles that you see look like marble. It's amazing. Same thing with. It's a little different because it's not a photography process, but the same thing with silestone and quartz. That stuff looks like the real thing.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, the tiles I mean gosh, how inexpensive those tiles are and they look like marble and you don't have the same issues that you have with marble, which is wonderful. Yeah, um, anyway, we, we did we get off the subject? No, we really didn't, because it's like the and you don't have the same issues that you have with marble, which is wonderful. Anyway, did we get off the subject? No, we really didn't, because it's like the things you wish you'd have done. Another thing I did that I always wished I'd done before is floor-to-ceiling tile. It's so much fun, especially now that those big tiles are they two-by-ones. Two-by-one? Well, they're rectangular most often.

Speaker 2:

And you know again, they come in so that you can have marble ones, slate ones, whatever you want. Don't do them in the subway, one that everybody's doing. That's a bit old hat. Now. If you want it to look a little bit more modern, set them like you are in in subway, but shift it over. So it's a third and two thirds, if you follow what I mean. You normally set them, so you set a tile, and then you, you take the two tiles underneath and the line of the two tiles underneath is in the middle of the top one, shift it over. So it's a third and two thirds. It looks way better. Oh I see you follow what I mean.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, yeah, um, and you can do them vertically as well. They look really cool. Same thing third, two thirds. It looks way better than just the straight subway. And if you've got little subway tiles and you put them up right now, try it. A third and two thirds. It just looks better, oh darn. You know the other thing it saves saves you from any little mishaps, because you can't see when it's a third and two-third, the lines aren't lining up on top of each other, right, Right, right. So the nice thing about tile is it doesn't get dinged. It is harder to put pictures up and things like that, but you can buy those sticky hooks now that are amazing that you can put on top.

Speaker 3:

Dave, come a long way, they really have, they really have, they really have, but you're never painting again If you use something neutral.

Speaker 2:

Always for your walls, for your floors as well, use something neutral. If you like bright colors, great, add those in your pillows and your throws and your vases. Did you say a vase or a vase, randy Vase? Okay, and your vases. Or you say a vase or a vase, randy Vase Okay, and your vases. Or all those little your pots and pans, like when you get, you know, when you get fed up of lime green, you can toss all of that stuff. Or if lime green, you can laugh. But lime green is actually a great one to use. So you've got it in your flowers and, you know, in the greenery, even if it's fake green. He did have really say that. You've also got it in like a good old-fashioned lime green pillow. It looks kind of mid-century modern in your pillows. And when you get and it's wonderful for the spring and the vases that you can get the glassware, you can get in lime green, it's actually a very fun pop of color. So there, randy.

Speaker 3:

Okay, okay, I follow.

Speaker 2:

And now it's the fall. You can do the deep oranges and have your bowl of apples there, which make it all look very pretty, but add all your color in your things. Where it's not too expensive to get rid of them. Have a neutral sofa. Don't go out getting a deep orange sofa. What happens when you get bored? Buy your deep orange throw from TJ Maxx or something for 30 bucks and then, when you get bored of it, you can change out all your color.

Speaker 3:

A lot cheaper than buying a new sofa.

Speaker 2:

A lot cheaper than buying a new sofa. The allergies are getting me again. Can you tell?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, they're getting everybody actually.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So apparently it's the ragweed right now. So what else did I say on my list? And when? Then we'll go to their list, because they've got 77 things. Um, hose bibs, there's never enough. Hose bits the faucets on the outside yeah, the outside of the house yeah every, every side at least, if not two on every side.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I know it adds, adds cost, but right now I'm working with a 75 foot hose that's heavy. Actually, you can buy this stainless steel one. It's inexpensive and it's light and it's the best thing I've ever bought. Good, those expandable ones that everybody raves about. I've been through so many of those. Yeah, they are junk, I agree with you. Maybe I'm buying the wrong one, who knows? Give us a call and tell us the right one to buy. It is 800-570-9962.

Speaker 3:

I thought of you. You're always giving us cleaning tips Cleaning tips. Yeah, you know, the best one you ever gave is vinegar and water for cleaning glass.

Speaker 2:

Yeah anything.

Speaker 3:

Actually, I was at another radio station the other day and picked up a can of Windex to clean my glasses. I could not get the smudges off, Thinking if I was at home the vinegar and water would do this.

Speaker 2:

It's wild, isn't it?

Speaker 3:

Have you read of death cleaning? No, death cleaning. It's a thing you should read about it. It usually strikes at about age 65. Oh, no. As you're preparing you know it's a subconscious thing You're cleaning to make everything. When the day comes, there won't be this big pile of stuff to take care of, like we've talked about many times on this show.

Speaker 2:

You sure it isn't to keep yourself safe.

Speaker 3:

No, it's a thing. It's called death cleaning.

Speaker 2:

Well, but death cleaning could also be to keep yourself safe from all the germs that might be there. Because it's not clean enough or something. Do you mean clearing out stuff?

Speaker 3:

Clearing out stuff. Cleaning out stuff, clutter, simplifying your life, minimalizing Well that's depressing, Randy. I'm sorry, but it's a thing.

Speaker 2:

You know, when everything gets organized, and especially if you live in a smaller house, it makes you get organized, it does. You don't need all that stuff. And here I am saying build all these shallow covers, because the nice thing about that is, if you just can't get away from being a hoarder, you can shove all of that, you know. You know all the stuff that you don't know where to put it yeah, yeah, it's out in that closet off the porch you know, yeah, in boxes yeah but there's many less boxes than there used to be.

Speaker 2:

I just um, okay, here's, here's a silly secret in in mine. I had a little space in there and I was just clearing up the other day because I was tired of looking at everything and I have a real problem in my beds. So I had a renter in my house for a while and I made the mistake of having them look at the landscaping. They were responsible for the landscaping and the grass grew feet high on the beds and now can't get rid of it. I've had it all dug out. It just keeps coming back. So I used the vinegar and salt and you know that natural method. It killed it all. But I can't get it all out and it's brown and it's coming through all my mul, my mulch, and it looked terrible. So I found this mulch spray. It's amazing. It is amazing it's. It was about 25 bucks.

Speaker 3:

I think it's dark brown.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it's unbelievable and it so. Basically, I had these bits of straw sticking out and also had bits of dirt sticking through the mulch, and then old mulch and new mulch and um, all I can tell you is you can spray the dirt as well. It is amazing, it's absolutely amazing. Don't buy new mulch, just spray. It's about environmentally friendly, blah, blah, blah. So then I broke down and got the grass one. You could spray grass too. That one was a bit more expensive it was 30 bucks but I I sprayed my entire lawn. It it's amazing. So now I've got a dark brown line against a dark green line, but you can't see it looks natural. I know it sounds bizarre, but all the dead patches in my lawn OD you sprayed over dirt, yes, I sprayed over dirt.

Speaker 2:

So behind my trash cans is this big mound of dirt that's all clay and light and it just looked terrible and I couldn't get the mulch. Oh, I got mulch glue as well. That's the other story. So I haven't got that far yet. But you can make very nice edges on your gravel and things. You know where it keeps getting kicked out and it's annoying. You can glue it down. I haven't got that far yet but I did. I sprayed all the dirt behind the trash can. So now it's dark brown and your eyes tell you it's mulch. It just. It looks so much cleaner and neater. It's amazing. If I haven't had stalkers before, I'd give you my address so you can drive by because it's looking pretty darn good, even though I say so myself.

Speaker 2:

I had people I felt like such a nerd out there spraying the lawn and people were going. This is awesome, you know, they were walking. I'm on a street where lots of people walk by with their dogs and people are going. This is awesome and I felt like such an idiot. Well, really.

Speaker 3:

I mean, what's the difference in that and going to get a spray tan?

Speaker 2:

Oh, you're right, same thing, oh, you're right, yeah. And then you just lay in the yard and you've got your beautiful sprayed body Brown. And if you lay on the mulch, you know you just blend it. In fact, I bet using that stuff would be a whole lot cheaper, although you'd be very, very dark brown.

Speaker 2:

Okay, we have my friend I was going to say old friend, but she's not old because we're the same age um, just a friend from a while ago, my lovely friend in dc, joni Janicki, who's actually an architect, and she replied to me. You can look me up, rowena Patton, on Facebook. You can see the post on there and the post with the 77 things as well. And Joni said energy savings. Make sure you look at energy savings and everything that that involves. Maybe Joni will call in. Joni, call in, if you're listening, don't be scared. I'm very gentle. I promise Airtight construction and I did make a comment to her on this, because people argue about that and I get it right. You don't want drafts anywhere. So airtight construction can really help with the energy savings, of course.

Speaker 2:

And then some people say, oh, it shouldn't be airtight because there's no flow of air and it used to be better back in the old days when we left the window open at night, you know, back before it was too unsafe to do so. Same with basements as well Crawl spaces, excuse me, not basements. So you know the code changed actually a few years ago and hey, if you're a builder, call in, we want to hear about it 800-579-9962. So the code changed whereby we have the vent blocks in the crawl spaces. Then they said you could shut them off and it's better if you shut them off. Then they said maybe it isn't because they were finding all kinds of mold problems with shutting them off. It's oh my gosh. It goes on and on right. I don't know if we'll ever know. Maybe there should be a fan in there or something.

Speaker 3:

Who knows? There definitely should be some type of radon eradication device if you have tested or have not tested for radon gas in your crawl space.

Speaker 2:

They say it kills more people than tobacco. I don't know how they know that. I have yet for anybody to explain to me how they would know that. Because when somebody dies they don't say, oh, you died of radon poisoning, because it's little and it affects you over time and who knows whether it was from secondhand smoke or anything else. No one can explain to me how the government can say oh well, actually I think it was the radon. Uh, people, the people who do radon remediation, got together and said let's put it out there, that kills so many people because everybody's going to want one. But here's the thing all new buildings have to have them, so new homes have it automatically.

Speaker 2:

And it's a very simple, very inexpensive, less than a thousand dollars to run the pipes. It's basically just ventilating. It comes from granite or other materials, but primarily granite in the soil. It's all over the country. Don't think you can escape it. Go look at the radon map. It's everywhere, it's not just in the mountains, and the gas emanates. The radon gas emanates out of the stone up into your crawl space and it can be even worse in a basement because it can get trapped. So crawl space is often a ventilator. I mean we just talked about, are they ventilated or not? They are often ventilated, so you find less radon. Then generally, if you've got a crawl space but you still want to have it tested and it's less than a $2,000 remediation. When they find radon over the four, number four is the magic number. You don't want it over the four. It's naturally occurring in soil and actually out of your granite countertops too, it comes out.

Speaker 2:

I remember having inspectors here and said what happens if you sleep on your granite countertop? Are you going to get radon poisoning? But, yeah, definitely something to make sure that you look at when you're buying a home. That's one of the things to look out for. Did I miss anything that I got in there? Because, of course, my little tips are important. Oh, outlets, outlets everywhere. Porch with outlets, outlets everywhere in your house. There's never enough. You know you're saving money by only putting the required outlets in. However, put more outlets in. You always need them. And again, I would love if any of you are builders, electricians 800 570 99 62. Why do outlets go at the bottom of the wall?

Speaker 2:

yeah, why you plug things in. Why?

Speaker 3:

do you have to bend down to plug them in? I?

Speaker 2:

agree, I don't understand. And there's lots of walls where the outlets aren't so obvious and outlets aren't that unattractive. You put them next to the switch. I actually did that when I remodeled a basement once and they had to go for reasons beyond me, but they had to go at arm height basically, and it was wonderful, because now you don't, you know, think about your laptops, all of that stuff. Oh, my gosh, on countertops, make sure you've got. You've never got enough outlets, Never, that's true. Make sure you've got enough in there.

Speaker 2:

So, and yes, it costs extra money, but that's one of those things I think not to skimp on, right, not to skive on. Oh, we had build a call in called skively. Actually we need to. Uh, randy's looking at the phone, so really he's calling in now. So, um, don't skively on those, he'll kill me if he's listening. But that's all right, just kidding joe, all right.

Speaker 2:

So let's have a look. Uh, what are the 77 things that bungalow company have on there? And you can, it's the bungalowcompanycom 77 things to consider when building a new home. You can see the link on my page at Rowena Patton on Facebook. Just go look up Rowena Patton. There aren't many of me. Uh, fortunately, that makes it, fortunately for most people. There aren't too many of me, so here's the things that um, and and this is where they surveyed dozens of people that that built a home and things that they wished they'd remembered. Closet and organization is such a big one. You never, you know, you think you've got lots of closets, especially if you're in an older house. You know that there aren't as many closets because people didn't have as many things. Think about the 60s houses, right? So people in their 40s, in the 60s, are. If you were 40 in 1960, how old are you now? You're 100. Okay, that doesn't work very well so all you hundred year olds out there.

Speaker 2:

I guess if you were 30 or 20 when you moved into, you know you. Okay, you were a first timetime homebuyer in 1965, and you were 20 years old and you are now 79. Yeah, 79 years old and apparently we're struggling with math this morning.

Speaker 3:

They told me there'd be no math in this job.

Speaker 2:

We think you're 79 years old and you know that back in the day, and you know a bunch of us were born in the 60s um, that they had little closets. Any of you that live in an older house know it has a little closet, little or no. And do you think that everybody then was going? Well, probably some people were, um, but when they were building those houses, no, they weren't, because people didn't have all the crap that we have now is the truth right.

Speaker 3:

Very true.

Speaker 2:

They also didn't have the crap that I have a vacuum cleaner, a floor washer, you know all the other. I've got a carpet cleaner. There's three things the size of a vacuum cleaner. That you didn't have then and you just shoved in the cloak closet because I guess that was a new thing in the 60s. You know, as you go in, because people were getting more coats, I mean, oh my gosh, my mom for Christmas, she was one of 13. She got a pencil case, an orange and a pencil for Christmas Now, and I'm sure she had one coat and I bet she was growing out of that coat when she got her new coat. You know it was probably three years to to um, probably a hand-me-down. It probably was a hand-me-down, yeah, so how many cut? Well, actually she's one of 13. They probably had a whole lot of coats going on exactly.

Speaker 2:

There's an assembly line here yeah, but you didn't have all those. You didn't need a coat closet because you didn't have all those coats. That's exactly right. You definitely didn't have all the clothes. You didn't have Timu, where you were buying 19 things at $13, or Walmart, where you're buying all that cheap stuff every weekend to stash in your. I'm not saying it's wrong, guys, I'm just saying it's different. That's all. Now we have to have a walk-in closet and we all know we wear. What is it? 8%, I think it's less, I think it's like six percent, and buy the.

Speaker 2:

Buy the velvet hangers. That's the other one, and they're inexpensive. Go on amazon, go into, go into walmart or whatever one of your local stores. Look at those velvet hammers hangers. And here's the little trick don't change or switch all your hangers out. You can fit a lot more on and clothes don't fall off them. You know how your clothes fall off your hangers and dries your nuts. When you're in the morning, you're rushing to get out and things fall off the hangers. The velvet ones don't do that and they're very thin. Get the slightly more expensive ones, because they don't break like the cheap ones. Just saying so, when you wear something, take your velvet hammer and then um, did I say hammer? Yes, you did take your valve velvet hanger. Velvet hammer is a word for somebody who's very directed and um dominant, but has a very nice way of doing it. That's what you call the velvet hammer hammer.

Speaker 3:

It's also the name of the coffee bean in our coffee grinder in the kitchen the Velvet Hammer.

Speaker 2:

Oh.

Speaker 3:

That's our coffee. I'm drinking it now.

Speaker 2:

Oh my gosh, who knew? Well, that's where it comes from Definition again. A. Velvet Hammer is somebody who is in disc language. It's a high D, but you've got some S and some I in there where you are very direct and dominant. That's what they call it. It's like an A-type personality, but smooth, but you do it in a very nice way. Yeah, velvet hammer.

Speaker 3:

You know how to say it in that way. Gene Austin keeps calling me the velvet fog.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's your voice, and I know Gene, and he's thinking of bourbon.

Speaker 3:

And cigar yeah.

Speaker 2:

Oh, and a cigar? Yeah, absolutely so. That's where he's getting that from. But anyway, coming back to the velvet hammers, hangers, Hangers, the clothes that you wear right, put them on the velvet hanger and put them back in a different place. It doesn't matter Now your closet's not going to be organized and then see how many things after a month that you actually wear. And, of course, it's seasonal If you live in a seasonal place with people listening everywhere 800-570-9962. You can call in from Mars or you can listen anywhere at realestatenewsradiocom and you can hear all our wonderful podcasts with some great guests on as well. All right, let's get back to closet and organization and get to the start of the 77 things that dozens of people wish they'd remembered.

Speaker 2:

Put outlets in several closets. That's what you were talking about, randy. Yeah, not only that. Put the double or the four in there. A quad, a quad. Yeah, because you've got lots of you. You may not have the all-in-one system. You know that has the batteries that fit everything and there's a number of things that you might want to plug in. It's definitely worthwhile. There's another thing not to skimp on, I think. I agree.

Speaker 2:

Make sure your closets have enough space for both double hung rods and singles to accommodate long clothes. How does anybody not think about that? Actually, I've seen it in new homes. Now I say that Builders don't necessarily think about it. And you have especially for ladies or guys, for that matter you have longer coats. You have things that you don't wear very often, particularly matter. You have longer coats. You have things that you don't wear very often, particularly you know. You've got maxi size dresses. You know things that are longer than that, and then they're all flopped over the second rod and it's such a pain in the butt to have to change it afterwards. Yeah, that should be a really obvious one. Surely, if you're doing a new house, well you know, maybe you're thinking, well, I don't really wear longer dresses anymore, or something like that, but there's always the longer things. Even if you just do a foot of that, there may be something that comes up that you may want to hang Spare curtains. I don't know. Put it in there.

Speaker 2:

Anyway, I'm actually going to take out, because I took one of my bedrooms and I turned it into a closet and shower and sinks. Everybody thought I was nuts because I didn't put a toilet in there, because there's a toilet right outside the door. Now. I wanted the space for my closet because I needed a walk-in closet. I'm going to take the built-in old-fashioned one in my bedroom and just put shelves in there, because I want shelves with clear tubs on them. Clear tubs you just throw all that seasonal stuff in there or all your jeans. You just throw all that seasonal stuff in there or all your jeans. You just throw them in there. You don't have to be neat or tidy or anything, and you pull it out. It's like a drawer. You pull it out, you dump it on the bed, you find the jeans you want. You throw them all back in again. It's so much easier. Okay, I'm really giving an insight into my messy life now. I'm sorry, this is too funny.

Speaker 2:

Include, as this is what we talked about, include a full-size broom cupboard in pantry or laundry room to hide all the cleaning items away from sight and again. So have that. That narrow shelf. I've got one at the top of my stairs. Used to go down to my dirt basement where the washer dryer was, so, um, I did end up finishing it'd been all roughed in and everything. I ended up finishing that out.

Speaker 2:

But when you open the door to go down the stairs. There's enough room behind where the door's placed to put in. I doubt it's even six inches, and I put maybe 10 shelves all the way up, just with like a simple bracket underneath. They were inexpensive ones that I put in there and, oh my gosh, that hides so much, you know. So the extra dishwashing liquid, the extra everything you can possibly think of, can go behind that door. It's just a way of claiming back that space that used to be there for spiders. And again you can see it. You know, it's like oh, where did I leave it? Oh wait, and it doesn't matter if it's not all beautifully organized, because it's one layer. You know, you just, it's like oh, where did I leave it? Oh wait, and it doesn't matter if it's not all beautifully organized, because it's one layer.

Speaker 3:

You know.

Speaker 2:

You just look up and down the shelves and there it is. So yeah, keep all that stuff away from sight. That doesn't. The broom cupboard is is great, though, because that's where does anybody have brew. Why would you have a broom? Get a? Oh my gosh, I took my roomba back. I've had a roomba for three years. The full is a shout out. I should get paid for these shout outs. Best buy does a what's called a total program, and I'm telling you you go in there and you go. I'm not paying 220 a year for this crap. No, you go in there, you buy a tv, they'll come out and they'll hang it for you yeah, I've had that done before they'll put the brackets up.

Speaker 2:

But not only that, it doubles and triples your warranty. I've seen people standing at the customer service desk asking about this total program thing and I'm there selling it for them because it's so amazing. So I take my own room back. It's not working anymore. And somehow I got a60 voucher and I've got this all-in-one thing Ridiculously expensive because I had one and I took it back on this program. It now vacuums and mops.

Speaker 3:

It's like a Roomba. It is a Roomba.

Speaker 2:

It's an iRobot now they call it, but it's a Roomba.

Speaker 3:

Those are about $500-$600.

Speaker 2:

It's a bit more than that. It's the all-in-one, but you don't have to empty it for three months or something, and I'm not kidding, it's got a big tank in it to put the water in and it does all of it. It's amazing. And then you don't have to build your broom cupboard to put all those things away. Anyway, it's really amazing and it picks up everything. And you can even buy, of course, another subscription for like 10 bucks a month, that when you leave the house it sets it off.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yeah, boy but you can program it so you know, if you leave your house every day at you know 8, 30 or whatever good to go to work. I mean, I know, not everybody does that anymore. Um, it's an app on your phone as well. You can just hit it to go, or you can program it three days a week to clean three One room.

Speaker 3:

It's pretty amazing.

Speaker 2:

And you know, if you do it when you're building a new house, you can have everything built in. Build a little station to put your Roomba in. Actually, I hadn't thought about that, because mine sits out. I don't have enough outlets, so mine sits out. I don't like it sitting out, I'd like it to sit somewhere, right. So anyway, that's the Roomba thing. Include cubbies in mudroom with an outlet in each one. What a great idea. So when we say mudroom, it doesn't have to be fancy. I've talked to so many people like, oh, we're not fancy enough to have a mudroom, or we don't have enough space. That's the real thing, because everybody needs it. In fact, if you're not fancy, you need a mudroom even more, because you come in in your boots, your hunting boots and all your gear and I don't know. You've been digging in the yard because you don't pay somebody else to do it.

Speaker 3:

You've been spraying the mulch.

Speaker 2:

You've been spraying the mulch, yeah, and I've been digging in the. I actually put 20 plants in yesterday in flip flops. I need a mudroom. I made a little space before the cupboard that I mentioned that I built for the washer dryer. I just built a bench there. I put shiplap behind. I did all myself so proud of myself. I wish I'd put an outlet in, because I'd love a little shelf there with an outlet, uh, to put my phone and my keys and the dumping ground that's what we're talking about and a space to sit down to take your shoes on and off, and then you just throw them under the bench so you're not traipsing all the dirt in your house. Yeah, that's a good thing.

Speaker 2:

Add a motion sensor to pantry and closet lights. That's a killer one. Oh my God, it's so inexpensive. Yeah, and while we're at that one, add a timer on your fans in the bathroom. Oh my gosh, I don't have them in this house.

Speaker 2:

I switched everything out in my old house to have them. It doesn't cost that much. It's a timer like 5, 10, 15 minutes. They used to have them in the 60s houses on a little knob. Yeah, randy and I, you can't. Well, you can see us. If you're watching on YouTube, you're twisting a little knob to the minutes, but now they have little push button ones that they're much, you know, nicer and modern and everything. Well, I don't know. The timer was kind of nice, you'd hear it ticking, but it turns the fan off after five minutes. Who wants to leave your fan on the whole time? So can you call air out and it's just all kinds of wrong and it's not. I don't like the sound of fans. So you know, maybe you like to go to sleep in your bathroom and and you need the sound of a fan to sleep or something I don't know.

Speaker 3:

So the goal here is to leave the fan running five minutes after you've taken a shower to eradicate all the humidity.

Speaker 2:

I wasn't really thinking about a shower, but yes, yeah, shower, or any smelly things going on in there that you've got to put your fan on for, absolutely yeah, okay. However long you need five, ten, fifty minutes but you don't have to remember to go back in to turn the fan off. I don't know, all bathrooms should be designed that way.

Speaker 3:

It should be mandatory, like in the Cracker Barrel where you walk in and the light comes on.

Speaker 2:

That's how it should be, and the light comes on in the toilet, yeah, exactly, but also in your closet. So I've got battery operated ones, and now you can get them with a USB power. But who wants to keep powering the darn lights in the closet, for goodness sake? Yeah, really, motion sensor lights are so awesome. Have them hardwired in and then it turns. It's not just about being environmentally friendly, it's about you don't have to. You've stuffed your closet so full you can't find the flipping light switch anymore. Right, that's funny. So you know, and it just goes on. It's another thing not to have to think about Add outlet and master toilet for nightlight. Well, I've got another one for you. You might want one of those bidet lids that you put on top of your toilet at some point. Then seal those things as an add-on.

Speaker 2:

It's so great, warms your bum when you sit down. It's. It's a great thing. You can even get ones that, um, you can get ones that dry you yes, really, and that heat up the water, so that's something to you need an outlet for that. Um, I see people having them plugged in on the back of their vanity and then the wire dangles, you know, down onto the toilet, and it's so easy when you're building a house to put that outlet in by the side of the toilet and put your nightlight down there too. Who needs a light, like you know, blinding you out from your vanity or using it. One of those outlets, so, if nothing else, you can use it for that right motion sensor lights are just cool, cool, cool I know.

Speaker 2:

So have your outlet by the toilet, in case you at all think about putting one of those toilets in in the first place. So it's not an add-on, because I am telling you it sounds like a luxury. However, having you be warmed when you sit down on the toilet and it washing and drying you, is an amazing thing. Once you've had one of those, it's hard to go back.

Speaker 3:

You say that with your British accent. You know, we were just learning here. You've had that for a long time.

Speaker 2:

No, no, not in England. We didn't have that's. You know, france and Italy and Germany have a bidet. That's like a little toilet with no lid on it. I'm not. I think you wash your feet in it. I mean, I'm kidding, but I don't know how you like it's cold. Well, I, I'm kidding, but I don't know how you like it's cold, or I guess sometimes they have hot water. I don't know. This is something that sits on top of your toilet. Yeah, that does everything. You can just sit there and then you can have your little sleep while your fan's still running as you're being blow dried and the hot water's coming out and everything else. I'm telling you you'll never go back. It's not because I grew up with a bidet. We didn't even have running water when I was a little girl. Go look at my post for my back-to-school post with me in my school uniform.

Speaker 3:

I saw that. I saw that.

Speaker 2:

My school uniform is like three years too big for me because my parents didn't want to keep buying school uniforms. So I'm in this little skinny girl in this big giant school uniform.

Speaker 3:

But no bidet.

Speaker 2:

But no bidet, yeah, our bidet.

Speaker 3:

but no bidet. Yeah, our bidet was a path about 20 feet down exactly we didn't even have a running toilet we had like a one of those, whatever they are, the old joke is the the bathroom. The bathroom caught on fire the other day, but we got it put out before it got to the house yes, actually my grandparents house had an outside toilet too.

Speaker 2:

I'm just remembering that I don't know what. I was sort of strange because they had one inside too.

Speaker 3:

We've come a long way.

Speaker 2:

We have come a long way and here we are. This is like first world problems really, isn't it? But it is annoying when and these are things to think about when you're remodeling and go through and some of them you'll like the idea and some of them you won't Like the idea. In some of them you won't. So include heated towel racks. That's another one. So your wet towels? Now you can have an all-in-one washing machine too, but not everybody. Why would you wash your towels every day? They don't even do that in hotels now. Well, they don't do that because they want to save money. But that's a whole other thing. Since COVID right, when all that changed Now you have to put a sign on the door to say yes, please, I would like my room cleaned.

Speaker 2:

Include heated towel racks. Yeah, that's a real nice one. And again, that's a power thing. You don't want to be thinking about that afterwards. I'd also say think about a heated floor, because they're not expensive at all, they're really not, and you can put them on. Make sure you put them on a timer, Because you know the only thing there is if you get up in the middle of the night, you're going on a cold floor, and if you go back to your LVP, your luxury vinyl plank, you don't have to worry about that at all because it's warm, You're not going on that cold tile.

Speaker 2:

And if you're in a small space, you want that luxury vinyl running on the floor everywhere. It's waterproof. Remember we were talking before and I said don't buy the cheap one, Get the one that's vinyl all the way through. Reason being is if it is backed by wood which even Pergo used to be backed by wood originally, so which everybody's bought Pergo for years. Now they've got competition. Lvp is way better, but you want it. It costs you another dollar per square foot, but my gosh, it's worth it. It's fully waterproof.

Speaker 2:

Run it in your bathrooms, Run it everywhere. You can run it in your basement. You do want the vapor barrier on top of the concrete. You can run it in the basement as well. Having the same floors throughout makes a small house look way bigger. When you chop up the floors it doesn't. So just run it throughout and then you don't have to worry about your underfloor heating because it doesn't feel cold. Make use of the pony wall in the bathroom by turning it into storage. I don't know what a pony wall is, so we need to call in for that one, 828,. Why have I lost it? 570-9962. Is that the little wall at?

Speaker 3:

the back Half wall that you hide the commode behind.

Speaker 2:

Okay, I didn't know if it was the wall at the back of the commode, where you put all the plumbing, or the wall at the side. You're right, it's the wall at the side. Yeah, and in a new home, most people prefer to have a separate toilet room, like a pocket door or something, so you won't have that pony wall. But, yeah, make use of that pony wall. I don't know if I like that one, really, because you used to see, first of all, I think a pony wall is a bit old-fashioned, personally, yeah, but you used to see shelves in it, and shelves in a toilet, I don't know. And those are those glass blocks.

Speaker 2:

Oh no, please don't do that. I agree, no, and I see that in modern homes as well.

Speaker 3:

Really.

Speaker 2:

Don't do the glass block. They build showers out.

Speaker 3:

No, it's just all kinds of wrong. It's like the old doctor's office.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and don't put them in the window too, where your window's been leaking, it's nasty. Put the sandblasted window in instead, if you want the privacy, just saying, just saying and make sure you close the lid. Oh, soft closing lids. Please, guys, take your clanky dingy lids off your toilets and put soft closing lids in. Make sure they're built into it. If you buy a toilet, that's like $20 more, it'll be built in anyway. Soft closing lids. First off, you want to close your lid. Do you know why?

Speaker 2:

Fecal plume? It's a real thing. You do not want fecal plume going on your shelves, on your freaking pony wall or on your toothbrush that you've left out on the back. That's why you don't leave your toothbrush out, people. That's why you put that little thing on it or put it in a in a cabinet. Because fecal plume is a real thing. Do not stand over the toilet making sure it's all gone down when you're flushing it. Fecal plume is a real thing and it's. It's not nice. It's all those germs coming out. So, um, outdoor, as usual, we're running out as usual, we're running out of time yeah, yeah, poop, oh, we got it back to poop, all back to poop.

Speaker 2:

Run conduit. Better go through these quickly. How did we get through having only three minutes left? Randy, put conduit under the driveway for future wiring or plumbing needs. Very important one, because the conduit I guess that's like, well, I guess it's like plastic piping I don't know because I'm not a builder, but I'm guessing that's what they mean and it's light radon. It's very inexpensive to put it in. When you're building it, um, you know you're just dropping a pipe or whatever the kind of conduit is that isn't going to get crushed by your cars and try and do that afterwards not fun. Ensure you have out hose, outlets and power on all four sides of your house. That's so funny. That's what I put on my list.

Speaker 2:

We never have it. It's it's rare. You might have it on the front and back if you're lucky. And what a pain in the butt. Hot, cold outdoor water is good for washing pets. That's interesting. Um, another thing is to have the spray in the shower. So not only have the overhead thing, have the spray. Buy the one that's all built in, don't put the rinky one most of us yes, most of us have the rinky one that that we put on afterwards.

Speaker 2:

I've got somebody messaging me right now going fecal plume. Yes, Joe, Fecal plume is a real thing. Comes out of your toilet when you do. Randy's holding it too. I think he means.

Speaker 3:

Two minutes left.

Speaker 2:

I thought you meant number two. You have a two-minute warning. Wow, I better be quick, hadn't I? You meant number two. Two minute warning wow, I better be quick, hadn't I? Motion sensor pre-wire for selected exterior lights absolutely, especially when you buy your front door. Keypad entry on garage door. Oh my gosh, guys, keypad entry on all the doors. Oh yeah, buy the schlage one. I'm sorry, another shout out don't buy the cheap one. Schlage is is 250, something like that. It's a lot, but here's the thing you can control it all from your phone. I'm just telling you it's way better.

Speaker 2:

Gas line to grill yeah, gas line to grill abso-freaking-lutely, or by the ninja. Go look it up. The xl grill you can put outside. It's electric and it's got a little wood pellet thing on the side. It's a best seller. It's amazing.

Speaker 2:

I'm dying to get one with wide islands. Put cabinets on both sides, why they're not easy to get to. Good for storage, totally agree. Um, you want a shallower. You don't want that big, deep thing. Um, under your under your island, and put wheels on them too. There's another little tip include a built-in paper towel holder abso-freaking-lutely, like they just stand all and take things off your countertops. Can I? Let's see if I can get through all this in the minute we have left.

Speaker 2:

Custom storage organization and kitchen doors. I spent a fortune on mine and I absolutely love it. Warming drawer in dining room that's a nice. To have Pantry entrance near both kitchen and garage. My dream is to have a pantry in the garage that is actually cooled and maybe even refrigerated on one side, that you'd lift it out of your car because I'm a hoarder, I guess and you put all the stuff in the garage and then there's a door on the other side of it to the kitchen. Wouldn't that be amazing, right? So there's a room, basically, where you can enter from the garage and in your kitchen, custom shelves and a place to plug in appliances and pantry.

Speaker 2:

We already did that. That Wow. Apparently I got some of these Outlet above cabinets for Christmas lighting. That's not what a great idea. Oh my gosh. Okay, you have to go to Rowena Patton on Facebook to see this post and all of these things. Click on the link. There's about 20 more things on there. Thanks for listening today, guys, and thanks for all the comments you made on the post with your stuff. We'll cover them next week. See you on the radio next week.

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