Throughout my time as a superintendent building houses, I have found there are some common upgrades that should be considered when building a new home, as well as some upgrades that will be commonplace in the future. A lot of times, people don't always consider the future necessities as our world is constantly changing and improving technology. Here are 5 items I would suggest you consider if you are working with a builder to build your home. There are many factors that play into what would be ideal for each person(home environment, location, lifestyle necessities, etc) but my goal for this blog is to keep the suggestions as widely applicable as possible.

1. Generator

It is FAR easier and cheaper to have a generator pre-wire done during the rough-in stage of your new home build. Rough-ins simply means anything that goes in your walls, attic or crawlspace prior to drywall (plumbing/hvac/electrical). There are two main ways to setup your house for a generator. One is a manual setup, and another is an ATS (automatic transfer switch). Simply put, the automatic setup is more expensive but the generators are setup to automatically turn on when the power goes out. Oftentimes the ATS generators require a fuel source such as natural gas or propane, so there will be additional costs to have the gas piping extended to the desired generator location. The generator will then be in a permanent location somewhere on the exterior of the home. For the manual setup, you will need the electricians to wire for a generator outlet. You will also need to buy a "roll-up" style generator, these are very common and can be purchased pretty much at any hardware store or sporting goods store. You will want to buy one that is equipped to run any desired appliances within the home, so have your electrician or builder look into this for you.

2. Hand-held shower attachment

These are very underrated and serve multiple purposes. Those with tile showers know the pain of scrubbing grout and cleaning the glass enclosure. We love keeping a clean home. Not only does a hand-held shower serve as a shower attachment, it also is great for cleaning the shower. Most shower heads don't have enough range of motion to rinse all areas of the shower so it can make cleaning pretty cumbersome at times.

3. Cat-6 Ethernet Wiring

You have probably seen ethernet wires sold at any electronics store. They allow internet to be hard-wired versus wireless, and often-times it can be more reliable and faster than wireless internet. Cat 5 is pretty standard these days but Cat 6 will be the new norm in years to come, so if you can afford to do so, I recommend doing Cat 6, especially as streaming is becoming more commonplace.

4. Electric car charger

Even if you do not own one now, times are changing, and the EV market is growing. I would recommend you consult with your builder or electrician to get it pre-wired to your electrical panel, if you foresee yourself purchasing an electric vehicle in the future.

5. Built in Trash/Recycle cabinet

These are very common in new builds, and we love having ours. It is simply a cabinet with trash cans inside of it that rolls out. It makes life easy when cooking in the kitchen, it also allows the cans to roll out toward you versus having to reach under a cabinet like a traditional stash location for a garbage can. It also keeps the garbage can out of site and keeps the smells subsided.