<p>seiclan – Look at the reliability ratings for SubZero before you buy them. I’ve heard they have a lot of ‘issues’.</p>
<p>I heard mixed things online about sub zero but everyone I know that has them is happy (and I know about 10 people who own them). </p>
<p>About microwave drawers…do you guys ever worry that they could be putting dangerous “waves” at a level that is most vulnerable (our reproductive areas)? I know it sounds silly but…</p>
<p>I LOVE hardwood floors (especially for those of us with dust mite allergies), everywhere but kitchen & baths. I also love having LOTS of storage space, built in. Would NOT have built-in appliances again–when they need to be replaced, it’s a MAJOR pain & you need to do a LOT of research to fit the exact space. My sister has a corner kitchen cabinet that she loves–it pulls out in some special way. Another sister has two dishwashers (I prefer to have more cabinet space instead).</p>
<p>I love having our entire house on ONE STORY instead of several floors. Would consider ramps, grab bars & other handicapped accessible issues (wide doorways), as our population is aging, including us & our folks. Love having a kitchen counter we can eat at on bar stools.</p>
<p>Have not read the entire thread, so don’t know what others have written. I also love having good insulation (mylar bubble wrap) in our ceiling, solar water heater, would consider photovoltaic. Hubby would love a woodshop/workshop area in our garage in his next life. 
Sliding screen doors & screen front door help with ventilation & breezes.</p>
<p>My dream kitchen will have Miele appliances. Although my current Thermador gas cooktop is great, and cleanup is a breeze.</p>
<p>I would love to hear more opinions about bathroom designs, especially* mirrors and lighting * Has anyone considered wall-mounted toilets - much less toilet to clean?</p>
<p>Our family home when we grew to five kids had a laundry chute. It was fantastic! The ground floor was a converted indoor garage which had linoleum flooring that looked like a Twister gameboard. The laundry chute dropped its load about 20 steps from the laundry room, which had a washtub as well. Mom would put the clean, dry clothes in the basket and leave it downstairs for us to fold and bring upstairs to put away.</p>
<p>We have a laundry chute “door” on two floors - the main floor and the second floor - so the same chute going down to the same spot in the basement. Of course, the second floor chute gets the most use with all the bedrooms being upstairs, but the main floor one is nice for kitchen towels, main floor 1/2 bath towels, dirty stuff like wet socks, mittens, etc this time of year. Something to think about if you would have a multi-level house. If it’s the same chute, there is likely little cost to install the second chute door.</p>
<p>Are wall-mounted toilets available in the US? My apartment in Switzerland had them. They are much, much easier to clean around and under.</p>
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I like my Subzero ok, but in 10 years we have had to repair it 4 times, at multiple hundreds of dollars per repair. For what it cost I would have expected to last 50 years. I’ve never had to repair any other fridge I’ve ever owned.
They are available, but I think they are generally a commercial item. It’s possible a builder would never have used them before, then he gets to learn how on your nickel.</p>
<p>Yes, they are. And not just for commercial installations (as seen at local home shows):</p>
<p>[Aquia®</a> Wall-Hung Dual-Flush Toilet](<a href=“http://www.totousa.com/ProductDetail/tabid/75/Default.aspx?ProductId=b959c1a2-91e3-4d8c-95c8-54efe176ac02&SearchId=5e386b02-1d82-4293-967d-0c257ded6f53]Aquia®”>http://www.totousa.com/ProductDetail/tabid/75/Default.aspx?ProductId=b959c1a2-91e3-4d8c-95c8-54efe176ac02&SearchId=5e386b02-1d82-4293-967d-0c257ded6f53)</p>
<p>I’ve seen these in houses around here, so I assume there will be local builders trained in installations. Judging by the spec sheets, etc., DH and I can do this - it is not rocket science.</p>
<p>^^^ Wow, that thing is pricey, plus you need an in-wall tank, and all the plumbing has to be in-wall. So installation will be more expensive also.</p>
<p>I wonder if the wall it hangs on needs special construction, that’s a lot of weight (toilet+person) to hang on the wall.</p>
<p>radiant heating…</p>
<p>I have a wall-mounted American Standard toilet, which DH installed a few years ago. It replaced the original wall-mount toilet in our ca. 1961 home, so has a traditional tank setup. (He is an aerospace engineer, but not a rocket scientist. ;)) It does make cleaning the bathroom floor easy.</p>
<p>We have radiant floor heat and plan to put it in our new house. (There is also radiant ceiling heat.) Some friends just remodeled their master bath and put in radiant floor heat that’s on a timer. They can dash from their cool-for-sleeping bedroom into the toasty bathroom in the morning. I like that idea.</p>
<p>We are looking at FSC Ip</p>
<p>I just clicked on the Aquia link. One thing I have wondered about those is allowing for access; what do you do when the tank is running? (I have one Toto toilet here and will have all Totos in the new house.)</p>
<p>I am bumping up this thread because we now have final plans and will be meeting with the builder and subcontractors in a few weeks to choose house color, roofing color, lighting, plumbing fixtures, kitchen cabinets, granite etc… I am making a huge notebook of information to take with me. </p>
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<p>I wish I could figure out how to do that ^^. The mudroom dosen’t have a wall that lends itself to a built in shoe rack, yet that is where everyone’s beach flip flops will end up. I do have room for 2 racks of coat hooks and we have a 3 foot coat closet. The opposite wall from the door and closet is the staircase and the elevator/door. Any suggestions on how to accomodate the shoes? I suppose I could give up a foot of the closet and build in a floor to ceiling shoe rack there?</p>
<p>Could you build-in a bench under the coat racks with some shoe storage underneath?</p>
<p>^^It would block the walkway from the door to the staircase OR block the walkway from the closet to the elevator. That is the problem.</p>
<p>Our builder and my DH want to put a tankless HW heater in the house. I read here that it takes a bit to heat up but then you don’t run out of HW. Yesterday my cousin told me that she heard that they don’t get hot enough. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? This is for a “summer house” but we do plan to visit for isolated weeks through out the year (like Thanksgiving). </p>
<p>Also, is there any advantage to one piece toilet over a two piece one (they are double the cost)?</p>
<p>seiclan – There should be a temp rating on the water heater. How hot do you really want it? And your ‘hot’ may be different from your cousin’s ‘hot’. Tankless is more efficient, saves space, and we would have gone with it if it hadn’t meant extra work and expense to retrofit this house for one.</p>
<p>I think the main difference between the toilets is aesthetic; the one piece have a cleaner look. Of course, they are actually a little easier to clean as well. :)</p>
<p>My sister remodeled a small 1940s house and installed a tankless water heater. It works great and the water is plenty hot. It does take a few minutes to get hot when you turn on the shower but then that is also true with my tank water heater.</p>